Carlin and Evan 13: Living on SM Income

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

16 hours ago, FiveAcres said:

I remember when being trapped by your host who wanted to show you his home movies or slide shows was a standing joke. It seems ironic that people are now monetizing what is essentially the same thing. (And invading their kids' privacy in the process.) Yes: if you knew the cute little critter since their proud parents made you look at the ultrasound, I can imagine that watching a short video of the cute critter smashing a birthday cake is fine, but more than that?

I remember that as well. And even now, when coworkers or more distant friends constantly post on facebook about vacations or babies or pets even and it's 40 pictures of 1 person standing in front of every monument on their trip/holding baby/pet, I roll my eyes hard.

However, to be honest, I watch a lot of youtube content just in the background while I do things on computer/phone/tablet. Probably not the best thing to do. But since Covid, I've found watching people's daily life videos sort of comforting in a "life is boring! isn't it great!" sort of way. And I watch a lot of pets type content, cuz dogs and cats are cute. 

Pre-covid I used to read just SO MUCH. But since Covid and some various major non-covid stress events, I find I can't actually read anything more than a page or two. My mind wanders. I keep trying but it doesn't work. I never understood people who said they didn't like reading or didn't get anything out of it. But I get it now. 

So now youtube fills some of that hole where I used to kick back and relax with a good book. It's a fairly cheap hobby, if boring. 

[Nothing if not critical]

Clearly I'm a weirdo, because I LOVE looking at other people's vacation pics! I'll gladly take a slide show and some travel anecdotes over sitting around gossiping or playing board games. I love to vicariously travel through other people's experiences, and have done so since I was a kid and we couldn't afford a vacation.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I’ve been watching YouTube videos about how completely overrun some of these tourist destinations are. And it’s often blamed on social media. People see some destination on social media and immediately book a trip there. After watching these videos on these overrun and often harmed places, I’ve decided that if we take trips, they will be less common places. Especially since I hate crowds anyway. I’ve read that only a handful of state parks get the most visitors overall. For example, Yosemite or Joshua tree are hugely popular. So while I would visit them someday, maybe I’ll look for the less popular ones first. It’s a very interesting topic. 

[SassyPants]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I’ve been watching YouTube videos about how completely overrun some of these tourist destinations are. And it’s often blamed on social media. People see some destination on social media and immediately book a trip there. After watching these videos on these overrun and often harmed places, I’ve decided that if we take trips, they will be less common places. Especially since I hate crowds anyway. I’ve read that only a handful of state parks get the most visitors overall. For example, Yosemite or Joshua tree are hugely popular. So while I would visit them someday, maybe I’ll look for the less popular ones first. It’s a very interesting topic. 

My family is currently in Yosemite. I had to stay back as our dog is sick. They chose a 3 day trip during the week because of the possibility of fewer people. Friends went last weekend and it was packed (and 105 degrees). Truly, I’d rather stay home with a sick dog.

[JermajestyDuggar]

15 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

My family is currently in Yosemite. I had to stay back as our dog is sick. They chose a 3 day trip during the week because of the possibility of fewer people. Friends went last weekend and it was packed (and 105 degrees). Truly, I’d rather stay home with a sick dog.

I agree. I really really hate crowds. I imagine it’s because of my anxiety. I honestly couldn’t enjoy the beauty of Yosemite if it was packed with people. 

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

Not just social media but people have more money to devote to travel and travel is cheaper than it used to be. And there's just more people on this planet.  I don't like traveling and I think so many people just go places to avoid boredom at home. It's kind of sad. In USA at least, it's so hard to get people to get together and create community at home. Our society just isn't set up to appreciate things that don't generate an instagram picture or a side hustle! (vlogging about your travel for example).

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

Have any of you read this article

 

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-case-against-travel

"What is the most uninformative statement that people are inclined to make? My nominee would be “I love to travel.” This tells you very little about a person, because nearly everyone likes to travel; and yet people say it, because, for some reason, they pride themselves both on having travelled and on the fact that they look forward to doing so...."

 

It led me to this quote from Emerson:

“Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

 

I've read a lot of people who quote Emerson, refer to Emerson, talk about Emerson, but I've never buckled down and read Emerson myself. Seems timeless. 

I have read a lot of Thoreau, but can't get through Walden. Thoreau's other books are delightful though. 1800s snarky. oh to read again!! arg!

[Giraffe]

Late response. There are so many problems with the medical system in the United States. @CanadianMamam asked if we have to schedule our own appointments. It’s not that we go into the computer and literally schedule our own appointments. But the ones who are more likely to receive the care they need are the ones who advocate for themselves.
 

Say a doctor inputs a referral to neurology. If that neurologist’s office doesn’t have enough staff or competent staff or good procedures for getting referrals scheduled, it’s possible someone’s referral is in the system but not getting anywhere — until the patient calls up and says “doc sent a referral; I need to schedule an appointment.”

Unfortunately as with so many other things, those who aren’t able or who don’t understand they need to advocate for themselves are the ones who get overlooked. 
 

(At this point IMO Carlin not getting the test is because Carlin just doesn’t want the test)

Edited July 21, 2023 by Giraffe

[JermajestyDuggar]

I think a lot of people are probably disappointed when they actually get to their destination because the pictures on Instagram are edited, filtered, and cropped. So you get the perfect view that wasn’t even reality when that person took the picture. 

[JDuggs]

10 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I think a lot of people are probably disappointed when they actually get to their destination because the pictures on Instagram are edited, filtered, and cropped. So you get the perfect view that wasn’t even reality when that person took the picture. 

Not totally true. I just returned home from my first international trip in 30 years. I saw a lot of beautiful architecture and scenery. I don’t have any photography skills and I feel like my photos captured what I was actually seeing. I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

Spoiler

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

30 minutes ago, JDuggs said:

Not totally true. I just returned home from my first international trip in 30 years. I saw a lot of beautiful architecture and scenery. I don’t have any photography skills and I feel like my photos captured what I was actually seeing. I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

  Hide contents

 

You aren’t an influencer right? Or wanna be influencer? Those are the ones who do things like that. 

[JDuggs]

2 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

You aren’t an influencer right? Or wanna be influencer? Those are the ones who do things like that. 

Yeah I’m not an influencer, but I wanted to visit Prague based on photos and videos that I’ve seen and the reality lived up to the hype.

[FinallyStoppedLurking]

12 hours ago, JDuggs said:

Yeah I’m not an influencer, but I wanted to visit Prague based on photos and videos that I’ve seen and the reality lived up to the hype.

Prague is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to! I haven’t been in a long time but it truly is a wonderful place and I hope you enjoyed your time there! I hope I can go back in the text two to three years.

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

For what's it's worth, I actually do go into an online portal and schedule all my appointments for medical. No doctors in my HMO schedule appointments.

And it turns out I can do that for the vet. Which saved me a phone call. Nice!

-----------

Today's blog included clickbait title and the stupid hat. So BINGO.

Zade got bloodwork done previously that showed elevated lead. Carlin said they listed off various ways that he might have ingested lead. She says they don't have any of those. She doesn't seem to be taking it seriously. But personally, I'd be checking out all their toys and what not they get off the internet. Anything from china could be suspect in particular. She didn't mention that though and seems to think it's a glitch and that he "needs to work it out of his system"

I haven't googled it - but isn't the problem with lead that it never leaves your system??

Oh well, they're going to get follow up blood work later to see if it's gone down.

They stated again that Carlin has been having a worse time this summer. Then specified that she was having headaches every other day (unclear if that was the only issue). Evan cut himself off and said he wasn't going to talk about it. I wonder if they've noticed people commenting and don't like it and are trying to avoid mentioning?? Or if Evan now extra frustrated that they're having a set back? 

Evan bought himself a pressure washer. Though I'm pretty sure he just paid somebody to pressure wash the patio and house?

Evan's got nothing better to do I guess but buy more and more stuff. (lately, a tesla, a fancy griddle/grill thing, and now a pressure washer). 

They were trying to get Layla to say like and subscribe. GAG!

And Evan was riding a bright white stupid hat up high so he doesn't mess up his hair. WHY ARE YOU WEARING IT! He's got it turned around so you can't say it's because he needs a hat to shade his face. And he's got it floating super high to not mess up his hair. He looks ridiculous. If you're so worried about your hair don't wear a hat...inside your car. Also the tesla (Evan has a tesla did you know??) has white interior and he's wearing this bright white hat. Evan - Did you match your stupid hat to the car interior!?! 

Also shown but of no interest - Layla went to dentist, zade to dr, evan's full haircut, evan working on editing while charging his tesla (he has a tesla guys, did you know?), kids in backyard, evan power washing a perfectly clean piece of concrete and saying he can see the dirt going. 

 

[Kiki03910]

On 7/20/2023 at 9:20 AM, SassyPants said:

My family is currently in Yosemite. I had to stay back as our dog is sick. They chose a 3 day trip during the week because of the possibility of fewer people. Friends went last weekend and it was packed (and 105 degrees). Truly, I’d rather stay home with a sick dog.

I hope your dog gets well soon!

[clueliss]

Good grief, Evan.  Please connect the dots.  You’re coughing,  Katie has bronchitis.  Alyssa had two kids coughing and a baby with RSV.  Your cough didn’t come from the rarely used attic/upstairs room you blamed.  Someone brought cooties to the Fourth of July/papa bill’s birthday shindig and you all managed to turn it into a super spreader event.  

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

haha. oh yeah I left that out. I was so annoyed.

Evan if you're still coughing from "dust" like 2 weeks later - maybe it's not dust. Go see a doctor.

Come to  think of it - everybody else in his family is always going to the Dr. Have we ever heard of Evan going to the Dr. Everybody else's generic check ups are documented. Why haven't we seen a dramatic clickbait about Evan's own doctor visits.

(the following is my imagining of such a video, not a recap)

"SHOCKING BLOOD TEST RESULTS!"

"Hey Stew Crew! I just can't believe it! It's so crazy. CRAY. ZEE! but my doctor wants me to take a multivitamin! Maybe it will help me drive my tesla! Guess what else I bought this week?"

=======

What I don't understand is why he even put his cough in the video. I think that's when he was in his tesla. He just HAD to put some tesla footage in despite nothing in that footage being important even by the usual Stew Crew standards. 

[HeartsAFundie]

Evan constantly reminding us that he owns a Tesla = Duggars constantly reminding us that JD is a pilot.

It's like a bad SAT analogy question.   

[Giraffe]

Why would they even test for lead? Is that a normal childhood test?! Her lack of understanding how alarming a positive result is shows once more how utterly lacking her homeschooling was and how lacking in curiosity she is as an adult!

[Coconut Flan]

In some communities it is normal to check for lead levels, but there are signs and symptoms that would a doctor a reason to check it out to usually rule it out as a cause.  

[sabretooth]

1 hour ago, Giraffe said:

Why would they even test for lead? Is that a normal childhood test?! Her lack of understanding how alarming a positive result is shows once more how utterly lacking her homeschooling was and how lacking in curiosity she is as an adult!

In my state (New York) lead screening is mandatory for kids. If the test pulls above a certain lead limit in the blood, the doctor is required to follow-up and keep the parents moving with info, whether its about environmental hazards or dietary issues. I'm not sure what Tennessee's rules are, but an elevated lead level is not something to mess with. 

[gobucks]

Lead testing was a mandated test at certain well checks for my kids. They asked if we had lead paint or lived in a house over a certain numbers of years old. It is just a quick finger stick. 

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

I've been googling now:

From CDC:

"Any amount of lead in the blood means the child has been exposed to lead and may be still exposed to lead in their environment. The healthcare provider recommends follow-up actions and care based on the child’s blood lead level.....

However, no safe level of lead in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in the blood can negatively impact a child’s health and should be viewed as a concern...

Lead quickly enters the blood and can harm a child’s health. Once a child swallows lead, their blood lead level rises. Once a child’s exposure to lead stops, the amount of lead in the blood decreases gradually. The child’s body releases some of the lead through urine, sweat, and feces. Lead is also stored in bones. It can take decades for lead stored in the bones to decrease. "

There's a chart for when to do "confirmatory" testing. If it's higher then you check again sooner. The longest time is "within 3 months." I assume that's what they were talking about when Carlin said they would test again after it had time to "work out of his system"

Apparently most lead exposure comes from pre-1978 houses and the paint.

They have a newer house. Looking at the list the next likely choice is toys from china.

 

[noseybutt]

6 minutes ago, WatchingTheTireFireBurn said:

I've been googling now:

From CDC:

"Any amount of lead in the blood means the child has been exposed to lead and may be still exposed to lead in their environment. The healthcare provider recommends follow-up actions and care based on the child’s blood lead level.....

However, no safe level of lead in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in the blood can negatively impact a child’s health and should be viewed as a concern...

Lead quickly enters the blood and can harm a child’s health. Once a child swallows lead, their blood lead level rises. Once a child’s exposure to lead stops, the amount of lead in the blood decreases gradually. The child’s body releases some of the lead through urine, sweat, and feces. Lead is also stored in bones. It can take decades for lead stored in the bones to decrease. "

There's a chart for when to do "confirmatory" testing. If it's higher then you check again sooner. The longest time is "within 3 months." I assume that's what they were talking about when Carlin said they would test again after it had time to "work out of his system"

Apparently most lead exposure comes from pre-1978 houses and the paint.

They have a newer house. Looking at the list the next likely choice is toys from china.

 

Or any homeopathic and alternative medications on the home. (I don’t know details on this family so it may not apply)

[HereticHick]

I'm Liz Bontrager or a Wissmann sister can sell them the perfect essential oil combo for elevated lead levels.