bad stuff thread.

[Sméagol]

So I believe there's a war going on.

[drahkon]

Woke up to a text message from a member of a group chat with several Ukrainians and people from the town where I live.

She said she got woken up by sirens and explosions. She's living in Eastern Ukraine and is in the middle of the war.

I've always had the "privilege" to only read about wars and not experience them myself and I still do. But it's something else when you know a person who is affected by war right now.
A few years ago I've attended workshops with her about pan-European relationships, about mental health, about public speaking. I partied with her and her friends. We cooked meals together. We celebrated German carnival. We enjoyed life.
And now she's sitting in a bunker. Waiting for...something. And there's no telling what that something will be.

It's easy to say that I feel helpless. And I really do. But this is nothing compared to what Ukrainians are experiencing now. 

I just hope that the people I know in that group will be able to write happy messages soon. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by drahkon

[Julius]

I've been following the developments over the last few weeks, as I imagine you guys have, and to say it breaks my heart is an understatement. 

But I've been complacent, undeniably so. We all knew this was coming. I still remember a friend freaking out over the annexation of Crimea back when we were in our second to last year of high school, some 8 years ago now, overwhelmed at the possibility of us being on the precipice of a third World War, and as things quickly came to a head, countless lives being lost, the situation a powder keg awaiting only the slightest spark, and...

...nothing.

It's been what feels like radio silent, despite that very much not being the case in practicality. But the world quickly moved on. Now here we are again. 

There's a reason why sci-fi so often depicts humanity having run itself into the ground, and it stems from the maligned greed and selfishness of a privileged few being so undesirably lacking in humanity - in empathy - to be opportunistic at the cost of human life. 

Now, I'm hopeful - glaringly and obviously naively hopeful - that this situation is going to fizzle out before it comes to a head (to be clear I mean more than it already has done). Russia's economy was in the hot seat before - it has for as long as I can remember - with the rouble dropping in value to a stupidly absurd degree, and the sanctions that they're looking at it going to surely see a lot of oligarchs turn on the man of the hour; it's clear from the protests today in places like St. Petersburg (if it wasn't already clear before) that Russian citizens do not want war; and I even read that a bunch of higher-ups in the Russian government have signed an open letter denouncing these actions and urging their citizens to not take part, and that there would surely be ramifications. 

The main thing that gave me a glimmer of hope when I woke up this morning was the ballsy metaphorical mic drop from Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.N., because he's a certifiable badass. 

A reminder I guess to try to keep an eye on your own mental health the next few days in particular. I've had increasingly painful headaches the last few days and was absolutely exhausted by the time I finished work this afternoon, to the point I needed to close my eyes, and after waking up I realised I've probably been pushing down and not dealing with a lot of my thoughts on what's going on in Ukraine at the moment. 

As humans I think there are two things we can starve for: food and knowledge. This is going to sound incredibly privileged given what is going on, but if what's going on becomes overwhelming, it's okay to disconnect and distance yourself from it if, like me, the only thing really tying you to this news is the news itself – I think I'm saying that for myself just as much as I am wanting to remind everyone else of that. That feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness is practically impossible to face in situations like this, where the scale and undeniably aggressive and violent stupidity is impossible to comprehend, and where we are a lot of us so physically removed from the situation. 

@drahkon I don't even know what to say, I can't begin to imagine a friend going through something like this. I pray that your friend and others in that group will be okay, and that they'll be writing those happy messages soon. 

[WackerJr]

It all just sounds horrendous and my thoughts are with your friend @drahkon and all those others caught up in this horrific situation.

@Julius some excellent words and thoughts there.  I also agree about everyone looking after their mental health too, as with this being all over the news, the recent storm (which I was lucky enough not to have suffered any property damage in, although did have to cut my holiday short), and the global pandemic, there’s a lot of difficult things going on.  Talk to someone, use these boards if needbe to vent and get the weight off your shoulders, but most importantly look after yourselves!

[bob]

Energy bill is going up by £720 a year, so that's great.

[CrowingJoe79]

Last week, my mother suffered a heart attack, brought on by near renal failure. 

I think she is improving, but I only found out on Sunday night that she was hospitalised.

You can imagine I was very agitated that nobody had informed me sooner.

[Will]

That’s terrible, @CrowingJoe79. Glad it seems she is improving, must have been really tough to hear about it later than you’d have wanted. Hope she makes a swift and full recovery.

[CrowingJoe79]

Health is wealth. 

Don't ever take up smoking.

[bob]

That sounds awful. Maybe everyone else thought that someone else has told you? Hope she makes a full recovery!

[Cookyman]

Well I have cancer, which fucking sucks.  So far I have had a tumour in my bladder removed, I also had a tumour in my left kidney which was 11cm long resulting in my left kidney being removed leaving a nice 30cm scar.  

I'm currently in hospital as I have another op tomorrow morning.  This tumour (3rd and final one in scan) is in front of my heart meaning to get to it they'll have to go through my sternum.  As you can imagine I'm shitting it but just want the fucker out.  Apart from that I'm tickety boo!

Not to worry though we'll all be a smoking pile of ash if Putin keeps going.  

[darksnowman]

8 minutes ago, Cookyman said:

Well I have cancer, which fucking sucks.  So far I have had a tumour in my bladder removed, I also had a tumour in my left kidney which was 11cm long resulting in my left kidney being removed leaving a nice 30cm scar.  

I'm currently in hospital as I have another op tomorrow morning.  This tumour (3rd and final one in scan) is in front of my heart meaning to get to it they'll have to go through my sternum.  As you can imagine I'm shitting it but just want the fucker out.  Apart from that I'm tickety boo!

Not to worry though we'll all be a smoking pile of ash if Putin keeps going.  

I'm so very sorry to read this, Cooky. 

Hope they get the third tumour out of you in the morning without any hitches and you're fighting fit before long! 💪 My thoughts'll be with you so as soon as you can, get online and let us know you're alive and well.

[Will]

Sorry to hear that, @Cookyman. How did today’s operation go? Hope it’s the start of a full recovery.

[Cookyman]

Hi guys, 

Quick update, I had the op and I'm ok.  I'm not too sore and according to the anesthetist it went well (I never had the chance to speak to the surgeon yet).  This tumour will be sent off for analysis and I'll find out if it's cancerous or benign in two weeks.  I might get into a regular ward later today and all being well I might get home for the weekend.

[Will]

Glad to hear it went well. When will you know what’s next on the treatment front?

[Ashley]

5 hours ago, Cookyman said:

Hi guys, 

Quick update, I had the op and I'm ok.  I'm not too sore and according to the anesthetist it went well (I never had the chance to speak to the surgeon yet).  This tumour will be sent off for analysis and I'll find out if it's cancerous or benign in two weeks.  I might get into a regular ward later today and all being well I might get home for the weekend.

Glad the operation went well and I hope you hear back from the analysis soon. Fingers crossed you get out of there swiftly.

[Happenstance]

Sorry to hear that @Cookyman but I’m glad to hear the operations have gone well. Hope everything is a lot more positive for you going forward.

[Sheikah]

Wishing you all the best @Cookyman, really sorry about your situation . We're all hoping for your speedy recovery and that you're out of there soon.

[Dcubed]

That's great that they got the operations all done so quickly, should hopefully bode well; wishing you the best of luck with your recovery and post-op analysis 

[darksnowman]

Glad to hear that's over with and hopefully this is you on the road to recovery, @Cookyman!

[Iun]

On 15/03/2022 at 10:18 AM, Cookyman said:

Hi guys, 

Quick update, I had the op and I'm ok.  I'm not too sore and according to the anesthetist it went well (I never had the chance to speak to the surgeon yet).  This tumour will be sent off for analysis and I'll find out if it's cancerous or benign in two weeks.  I might get into a regular ward later today and all being well I might get home for the weekend.

Blimey, mate, that's good news. Hope all stays well.

[Cube]

20 week scan was today. Found out that we are having a boy.

Also found out that his heart is abnormal, will need further checking but most likely he'll need surgery within the first week of birth. It's good that it's a treatable issue and that finding it now can help prepare for it, but still horrible to hear.

[bob]

Sorry to hear that Cube, that must have been hard to hear. At least it sounds like there is a treatment though!

[Sheikah]

Sorry to hear about that Cube, it does sound as though they have a solution and that they're confident about it. Just think about how wonderful it will be after that and all the great things to come.

[Ashley]

Being an adult sucks sometimes. 

[Happenstance]

7 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Being an adult sucks sometimes. 

It certainly does