You would think, with as many tattoos as I've gotten, I'd remember that the closer to boney areas, the more it stings. Today's was near both my wrist and my elbow. Ow. But worth it.

Hey y'all that have gone through menopause and had hot flashes, were you unnormally cold the rest of the time?

Yes, but I'm like that most of the time, even before menopause. I wear socks to bed 3/4 of the year, and my feet never sweat. So menopause is a problem because I have to layer like a mofo. Sweater on, sweater off, sweater on, sweater off... so annoying.

Speaking of Naomi, my youngest niece (who is 10! wow!) has read Uprooted at least twice, and when I saw her in Colorado, she spent the week rereading her favorite parts of His Majesty's Dragon over and over again. She has read the whole series (mostly on audiobook with her father) but seems to love the first one the best.

Stephanie, you are amazing.

Hey y'all that have gone through menopause and had hot flashes, were you unnormally cold the rest of the time? I am really cold in my house at it's normal temp and my hands and feet just stay cold even when I raise the thermostat to 75.

Still going through it, and yes kind of, just not to the extent you mention. I've always minded the heat though, and am from a colder region than you, so I'm more accustomed to it.

Previously, I'd pretty much felt hot since my first pregnancy (and eldest child is 22 now). I mind the cold more than I used to. Over the winter, I found that if I got too cold, it triggered a hot flash -- like my body was overcompensating for getting cold.

On the other hand, if I get too warm, it also triggers a hot flash.

Apparently my factory settings weren't crazy enough for the universe, so my OS upgrade included an extra-crazy patch, to address those rare times when I was at risk of being comfortable.

Menopause 1.2.1

• Fixes an issue that allowed some users to acclimate themselves to ambient room temperature
• Improves reliability of hot flashes in all four seasons

I barely remember menopause! I remember the hot flashes, but I lived in Florida so not really a big change other than it happening no matter what the environment. I took some herbal stuff, which may or may not have helped. All in all it wasn't too bad.

I'd say at this point it is unlikely I will ever get a tattoo. First because I am a big baby and won't ever sign up for voluntary pain or needles, second because I would see my mom frowning at me. With my skin losing its elasticity I don't think it would work well either.

I have the beta board open in a new tab now to play around. I voted!

Cool. Let me know if you find problems.

I'm trying to keep the feel pretty similar while making it mobile friendly as well. The missing left sidebar is probably the biggest difference in the UI, but you can bring it back with an option in the profile settings. It will still disappear if the browser window isn't big enough regardless, however.

Just in general, the beta board: https://beta.buffistas.me is very much ready for testing. Migration is still only partial (thread positions, bookmarks, blocked users, subscriptions are not migrated currently) but threads, posts, and users are migrated from a month and a half ago so it is possible to log in with your existing credentials (you'll be forced to reset your password for security reasons, though you can reuse your current one) and there are plenty of threads and posts to mess around with. Posting works fine, but all data on the beta board will be deleted at some point in the future.

Congrats, Stephanie!

DCistas, has the weather been worse than usual the last few weeks, or am I just getting outside less? The humidity feels unbearable, and I'm literally dripping in sweat from even a short walk. On the other hand, I'm still using a cane while recovering from back surgery, so a "short walk" takes more time and effort than it did last year.

I've been in dc for the weekend and I can confirm it's been super disgustingly humid. I don't know how that compares to usual though, I've lost any tolerance for humidity over 60 degrees, since moving to the PNW

msbelle, for me, temperature changes trigger a hot flash (hi, Cindy!), but I don't find myself colder than usual. I'm sort of on the other side of it, though, and the hot flashes are all I have left to deal with. When they come on, they are a killer, though.

Stephanie, it's good to see you here! Sometimes it feels like yesterday you were sitting the bar exam and nursing your oldest at the same time! You do amazing work, and we're all incredibly proud of you.