• Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Paid for a colon repair to fix diverticulitis. 10/10. Can eat fajitas again.

    Had to pay, because American.

    • JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I recently was diagnosed with Diverticular Disease, I wasn’t sure such a procedure existed. Is it a rather daunting procedure? How was the recovery? I am rather intrigued, as this is quite debilitating.

      • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, it’s VERY common. Most people just need to watch what they eat, keep high fiber up, and they’ll be fine.

        I got to the point where diverticula kept perforating and that would send me into the hospital to be on aggressive IV antibiotics for several nights.

        The surgery is all laparoscopic these days. I needed opiates for the first 2 days, but was on ibuprofen after that. Not too bad of a procedure. Basically just played Nintendo Switch for a few days while I got served food in bed.

      • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I think it cost me like $50. Maybe like $300-$400 if you account for all the doctors visits and medication around it. Lucky to have a job that has a good healthcare plan with a not-for-profit HMO.

        • ____@infosec.pub
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          1 year ago

          You sure are - my insurance is great, as they go, but for profit and they force me into Caremark.

          Also lucky HMOs evolved into something different than they used to be, where anything other than primary care requires a referral, that you could only get if the doctor changed the right incanttion under the right phase of the moon, after sacrificing a meerkat.

          Kinda screwed up that I - and probably you - could go out and get more money at a new job tomorrow, but the insurance keeps us pinned down. Not that I hate my job, but some choice would be nice.

          Glad you got it taken care of, I can relate very much to “vast health and quality of life improvements, but only because I have good insurance. “

          • insomniac@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            I’ve been really confused at why people hate HMOs. My company has two options and the non-HMO is way more expensive. The only downside to the HMO seems to be very strict rules about out of network coverage but all our doctors take it so it’s not really an issue. I’ve also never needed a referral and they’ve never gotten in my way on aging, at least so far. But the hate makes sense if they used to be worse. I’ve only had a job with insurance for like 5 years.

        • PunnyName@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          That’s a rich American. Believe it or not.

          Edit: guess people don’t like truth bombs this small? Fact is most Americans are either uninsured or underinsured. And that procedure would likely never get done. Period.

    • Fonzie!@ttrpg.network
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      1 year ago

      Ooh, how do you think it compares to the Nintendo Switch? And what about to a Windows gaming laptop?

      I’m asking because I’ve seen pretty mixed reviews on this.

      • twistypencil@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The steam deck is amazing. It’s better than the switch because you can do so much more with it. Gaming laptop? Dunno, that is different, you will get better graphics I guess, but the form factor of the deck is great.

      • jws_shadotak@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Just don’t put anything important on there without a backup. You never know how good the refurbish is on those.

        I’m eventually gonna set up a proper RAID array with them to prevent data loss.

        • didnt_readit@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Remember RAID is not a backup! RAID is for increasing uptime and only happens to help protect data (in some cases) as a side effect. Make sure you have backups of anything important or irreplaceable on that drive, preferably offsite!

          • jws_shadotak@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            It’s definitely not going to store anything important - that’s all done by Backblaze.

            It’s more for convenience so that I don’t have to download all my shows again if a drive fails.

    • killeronthecorner@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This is the situation I’m in but also using a QNAP which I’m going to decommission in favour of a proliant, but of course I can’t just swap the drives because of QNAPs damn proprietary FS

      My purchase of the month (and year) is the proliant. I’ll never touch QNAP kit again.

    • flames5123@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I got a 12TB HDD for the same reason this year. Finally sailing the seas again and got my parents on it with overseerr. Very easy for older gen X to use.

    • sylphio@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Nice deals! Thanks for sharing.

      Does anyone knows of something like that based in Europe?

  • Infynis@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    A high quality desktop easel for my girlfriend’s art. It makes her feel more competent and professional which increases her confidence in her her art, and the amount of joy she gets from making it, which, in turn, makes me happy

  • JPSound@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I got a kickass drill press. May not seem that interesting but when you step in front of that puppy, fire it on, crank that lever down and put holes of all sizes in any and everything that’s not bolted to the ground, you feel the raw power and adrenaline pumping through your veins. Your conciousness is immediately elevated to that of a hindu goddess and you begin to lift from the ground, effortlessly floating 2 inches off the ground as all turns bright white extending into infinity. Also, your wife gets super pissed.

    • TheBiscuitLout@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A new, cleaner drill press is high on my list. I have an old greasy one, but a decent one for woodworking is becoming necessary

        • TheBiscuitLout@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Ah, it ain’t that old unfortunately! It’s ok, but nothing special. I do a lot of metalwork, so it makes sense to have a dirty one and a clean one. The dirty one has channels in the table for coolant too, so that’s definitely staying in the metalwork shop, and if I can find a small a small radial arm drill then I’ll build a nice big table for that with a proper fence for that.

  • ExtraordinaryJoe@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    I bought a house. It’s not my first house, it’s my fourth, but it’s my favorite by far. It’s smaller than any of them, it cost more, but it met all my criteria.

    • decended_being@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      Thanks for that! I also got an ebike this year, sub $1,000. Gets me to work and back, local grocery stores, and is fun! I’m voting to increase my city’s biking infrastructure.

      • FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        ENGWE EP2 Pro: I wouldn’t recommend it just because the company really seems to suck at support - they just keep asking for videos of stuff but never actually repair or reimburse for repairs. They also have their own subreddit (r/ENGWEbikes) where they post weekly AMAs but ignore all questions: Probably just a bot set to post once a week.

        If you’re in the market for an ebike: I strongly recommend stopping by your local bikeshop and finding something from them so you don’t get screwed over by some shitty corporation and can actually get service and repairs.

        If you’re looking for something cheap and don’t mind buying from a Chinese company, Lectric and Aventon are OK choices but if you can afford it, you’re better off buying something a little more quality from a company like Tern, Specialized, Riese & Müller, or Trek. If you’re looking for a lot of bang for your buck, conversion kits are probably the way to go.

        • MeanEYE@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          ENGWE EP2 Pro

          You say it’s not a good one, but it has a “pro” in its name. Don’t you know that means it’s pro?

            • MeanEYE@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Sometimes chinsy stuff lasts quite a while. If they didn’t complicate things too much with controllers and batteries, you can probably have a local electronics guy fix things for you.

    • Critical_Insight@feddit.uk
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      1 year ago

      I bought an eFatbike almost exactly a year ago and have already put almost 4000km on it. In my case it’s for recreational use though.

  • BallShapedMan@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m not sure this counts but paid off all the cars, credit card, and medical debt. Only the mortgage left. Paying bills has never been this easy! And all the extra cash is pretty great too.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m in the office one day a week and pay someone to visit and walk my dogs twice a week. I do it twice because it’s fun for me to be at home and see how happy they are when their friend and walker comes to visit.

    That $40 I spend for them to have a buddy come walk them is 100% the best money I spend every week.

  • RalphFurley@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    We bought a modest playset in the backyard. It cost a lot but the value of having kids play outside when we can’t orchestrate a trip to the park yet keep them away from screens while we can get stuff done around the house is priceless

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A huge selling point when we bought our house was that it had a nice wooden playground in the back. Our daughter was 3 when we bought it and we got a good 8 years of use out of that playground. It wasn’t the only reason we got the house by any means, but it definitely was one of the factors.

      • RalphFurley@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        My daughter is almost 3! Little man just turned 6. They love it. Never thought I’d be that guy with something like that in the backyard but now I understand.

  • FollyDolly@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Starlink. Went from effectively no internet to fantastic internet. It’s life changing not having to drive into town to use my banking app and send emails. I feel like I’m finally living in 2023!

    • RockyBass@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      My in-laws have starlink. It’s excellent and a huge improvement from their previous Internet setup. There’s no fiber on their side of town for the foreseeable future.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    My best purchase was a gift for my 13-year-old daughter- a record player. She’s into a lot of different music, but almost all of it from the 80s and before. Her favorite musician is Todd Rundgren. We were able to find 3 albums of his in a local used record store too, which I consider part of the purchase even though it wasn’t until a little while later.