#cut makes wayyyy more fun videos watch cut instead | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tfw-no-tennis · 4 years ago

Text

mtmte liveblog issue 33

[sees rewind cover] time to be emo

swerve giving us a nice lil recap of the wild events of slaughterhouse thus far

and then the roll call page...I love how the last one is ‘rewind?!?’

OUGHGHGGHGHGH REWIND TINYYYYYYYYYYYY

I adore that nautica has a list of in-jokes to check off

ohhhh man I forgot that alt-lost light rewind doesn't really know skids?? bc the alt lost light never picked him up....

POOR REWIND he wakes up all elder scrolls style and then immediately autobot megatron is just There without explanation lmao this poor lil guy

love the casual gender stuff honestly

nightbeat: ayyyy rewind!! sup? what horrific slaughter happened here? spill the tea!

hvakjdfbskdf poor rewind is going thru it jesus

nautica and riptide hvbhkjasdsfasdfn ‘are jokes not funny where you come from?’ immmmm

nautica is so cute I love her

ohhhhh I love the panel of the two lost lights going off in separate directions with the title right below

‘I remember it well. kind of’ that's a really funny line actually hbvkdjfnasdfl

I really like how on the alt lost light, rodimus’s risky stunt with the sparkeater actually kills him - I mean I'm glad that didn't happen in the main story but that's such a cool jarring discrepancy

ok but its inherently VERY funny that the djd like, murdered the entire lost light, but later in the story the lost lighters are obviously still around and not dead...that's so fucking funny, the djd were probably like ????????????????? what the fuck didn't we kill these guys?????? but also they were tripping so they cant be sure

isn't it brainstorm who called the djd on the alt lost light??? oof

LOVE the continuity of the alt lost light being the place that the djd went at the end of the scavengers 2 parter wayyyy back in the beginning of s1

more horrific slaughter, as one would expect from an arc called ‘slaughterhouse’

jeeeesus I forgot how completely fucked up all the shit was for poor rewind 2. christ

also the like, thematic irony of alt-chromedome refusing to erase rewind from his memory and choosing to die horribly instead....SCREAMS I cant handle it

ITS SO HORRIBLE I'm so sad. poor rewind

‘silly string’ I love riptide

nautica is so smart I lov her

oooh skids going off on megatron is really good. I find the whole ‘cons are super anti-organic/alien life’ angle interesting, bc it like, Makes Sense that a race of robot aliens who live for millions of years wouldn't consider shorter-lived organic life to be on the same level as them, but its also like, not morally right, so the autobots are correct w/the whole ‘freedom is the right of all sentient beings’ thing...its LAYERED

rewind: ‘I'm tiny’

me, crying: yeah...

honestly I really really love the quantum duplication plot in this arc. its like, peak sci fi nonsense but it also like, Makes Sense, and is presented in a very understandable manner...plus its like, super entertaining and fun, so I just love it

love how they're perusing brainstorms lab and just stumble across a dead body. classic

aaaand the plot thickens, with the reveal that brainstorm is a decepticon????? whoaaaa

I love that twist too oh man. I cannot WAIT for the time travel arc yessss

oof nautica being in denial about brainstorm being a con :(

I find it kinda funny that getaway is IMMEDIATELY like, punching walls and going full that-one-wack-storm-trooper-from-that-star-wars-movie abt brainstorm being a con lmao, like what's even ur beef dude

when nightbeat is all like, wait there's a Type™ for decepticon double agents? and megatron says ‘hm. have you never been approached?’ bvhjaskdfbaksfd

mannn tho, I love all the character stuff this issue...I love the panels of megatron where he looks mad and crushes brainstorms mask, bc like, he’s gotta be thinking abt the fact that the djd, his personal squad of bloodthirsty attack dogs, were the ones responsible for all of this, as well as overlords presence, and brainstorm secretly being a con....

ok rewind and megatrons interactions are fantastic

like, rewind IS the nice one, but the definition of ‘nice’ is probably a little different than it used to be due to Big Ole War

how are they propelling themselves in space????

NOOOOOOO I'm so fucking sad, rewind 2 is literally like ‘I'm fine with being deleted from existence bc my husband and everything I knew is gone’ aughhhh

and then megatron lies and tells him that he and chromedome, on the og lost light, are ‘inseparable’ 😭😭😭 I mean I guess that's not a lie if you count cd rewatching rewinds goodbye video on loop...AUGHHH

‘let’s not drag out the goodbyes’ but rewind, what about one of the story’s themes, ‘how to say goodbye and mean it’?

and we cut off right there for maximum suspense...

omg I love swerve like, fistbumping cyclonus in the chest, and cyclonus is just like ?

skids,,,,,maybe surprising chromedome with his not-so-dead alternate-version husband isn't the best idea...like, this isn't exactly a zero-explanation-necessary kinda situation...

I adore rewinds massive shoulder pads tbh

oh god. GODDDDD. the panels of rewind and chromedome sitting next to each other, not saying anything, and just slowly moving closer to each other while looking out at the stars....literally these gay robots invented romance, thank you very much

I'm so fucking tender guhhhhhhh

like,,,,the fact that both of them separately watched the other die horribly and could do nothing to stop it, and now they're reunited here, and they don't even need to say anything...AUGH.....

OUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm sorry I can’t. SO tender

and MANNNN I'm so so glad that rewind is back. I don't always love when characters don't stay dead but I'm completely happy w/it here for multiple reasons, like the fact that I really like rewind and chromedome’s story after this arc - like, I LOVE that they addressed the fact that rewind 2 is different from OG rewind, despite being fundamentally the same person, so he and cd cant just immediately get back together and pretend everything's fine, but also there's really only an 18 month (?i think) disparity between the 2 rewinds which is nothing compared to literal millions of years, soooo

ALSO I literally never considered this until this reread but it would've been kind of an L for rewind to die and stay dead considering that rewind and cd were The First transformers gay couple, and that's a really big deal! and I don't really consider it bury your gays bc like, rewind doesn't stay dead that long and also there are soooo many other gays, but STILL

plus rewind and cd ended up having a lot of story left to get thru, which is awesome

also I just love rewind so I'm glad he’s back :)

ok the fact that the suspense over brainstorm being a con still isn't resolved bc not everyone knows....spectacular tbh

don't knock the power of love, nightbeat!

the briefcaseeeeeee

ok but I really don't remember jros explanation as to why rewind 2 and the briefcase didn't get deleted hvbhjsdkhfk I gotta go look that up again

OHHHHHHHHHH I FORGOT THE EPILOGUE IS THIS. OHHHHH MANNNNNN THIS IS ONE OF MY FAV PARTS

BRAINSTORMMMMMMMMM ILYYYYYYYYY

I fucking love this scene bc this is basically the culmination of brainstorm being Completely Ominous for the entire story thus far, like, it really hit me this readthru that brainstorm was so totally sinister for like most of his screentime up until this arc...and this scene is the pinnacle, I love how everything brainstorm says is overlaid with so much tension for the reader bc of what we know now about him

like brainstorm saying ‘yes - here’s to fixing things’ is so fucking sinister even though out of context that sentence is just normal

and when atomizer basically voices what the entire audience is thinking as brainstorm opens the briefcase - ‘brainstorm, you can’t do that.’ bc yeah, what the hell, he’s opening THE briefcase, Oh Shit

AND THEN THE FINAL SHOT....brainstorm front and center looking SCARY AS HELL.... ‘I can do whatever the hell I like.’....everyone suddenly collapsed around him...the fantastic shadowy lighting...the ominously open briefcase...the clear segue Directly into the next high-concept arc....[chefs kiss] ART

seriously I love this issue so much. SO many good things. such good character stuff, really great interactions, some fantastic plot development, super creative sci-fi fun times...all around just an extremely solid and enjoyable issue, 10 outta 10

and MAN OH MAN I cannot wait to get into the elegant chaos arc, it fucking SLAPS, that arc and remain in light have always been my favs, I'm so excited to revisit it

AND ruth bought the physical comic TPB for like issues 34-38 or something and I'm so so glad I can read that instead of braving the many split-up double page spreads on the online comic

so yeah, cant wait!

#lj rereads mtmte

3 notes · View notes

xhaotixaesthetica · 6 years ago

Text

College! Jaebum x Kinda Mad Genius! Reader

Starlink Intergalactic Navigator

You are in: a genetic mutation of Gaia, the dwarf planet

look at this cute ass idiot ugh my heart

so WE’RE GONNA SPICE HIS AU UP A BIT totally not because I’m already sick of the same reader inserts, just enjoy this as a story and don’t complain pls

in this au you’re an astrophysics and computer programming major, minoring in bioengineering

in other words, you’re smart af

like you’re one of those child prodigy kids

Graduated high school early and took a bunch of AP's and CLEP tests so you’re way ahead and somewhere in between a junior and a senior but since you’re so young, you just say you’re a junior

you literally have the IQ of a genius and a bunch of Ivy league schools got in a fight over you but you were like nah nah i want something fUn so you came to SEOUL WOO HOO

you get A's in everything without even trying but that's OK because it leaves more room for you to do more SCIENCE

currently in a polyamorous relationship between you, Math, and Science

you’re really fascinated by the complexity of the universe but at the same time really into physics and math so when you found out that astrophysics existed when you were like 12, you knew that was it for you

you barely have time to eat, much less be fashionable, so you wear pretty nothing but jeans, huge hoodies, Converse, and a super hero t-shirt underneath (same but just because i’m too broke to dress nice)

with good brains comes bad everything else and you’re a hot fucking mess

clumsy, notes scattered all over the place, writing astrophysics shit in the margins of all your papers and doodling constellations on them while the professor lectures, it’s bad

you’re actually kind of extroverted and hyper but you just focus all that energy into astrophysics so everyone thinks you’re a hermit

you’re not obsessed with video games and comic books specifically, you’re just obsessed with space

like Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Ender's Game, Prey, Alien, Dead Space, and even Halo, you love em all, cause fuCkinGH spACE MAN same i’m a space gay

you aLwAyS pLaYS THE FUCKIN SPACE OVERTURE ON YOUR PHONE AND WALK IN SLOW MO INTO YOUR APARTMENT AND YOUR ROOMMATE IS LIKE I HAD TO WATCH THAT WITH MY OWN TWO EYES

always writing reminders on yourself but they only help 60% of the time because you’re a hot mess

you can play the harp and the sitar?? the most random ass instruments, you literally have your harp in your bedroom and your sitar in your lab and like they were gifts from one of your cousins and you’re really protective over them

whenever you have a mental block you sit cross-legged and start playing your harp/sitar and chanting OM or the lyrics to We Will Rock You and your roommates are like omg they really are a mad scientist

you don't mind relationships but like no one wants to be with you cause they think you’re kind of fucking insane so you try not to think about it and just blow stuff up in the chem lab

like you’re really excited, you’ll gladly talk to people and you’re really bubbly and happy and friendly but all you talk about is astrophysics??? and you’re not on like level one, no you started reading college level astrophysics books when you were 14, you’re like wayyyy past PhD level so it's like you’re speaking another language

and no one wants to hang out with you like they think it's cute how passionate you are and how fucking just warm and open you are but still no one wants to be around you cause you’re like some sort of mad scientist and they're not interested in what you’re talking about

but you keep a smile on your face and keep to your astrophysics even though you start to think something's wrong with you and start getting kinda sad

aw bby :’(

and tHEN THEY WERE ROOMMATES that's when Jaebum came along

Jaebum is majoring in Ancient Studies and minoring in Greek and he’s Captain of the Football Team

pretty much every male-attracted person likes him but ain't no one going near that boy cause he is T E R R I F Y I N G

wears all black and never says anything and then when you talk to him he just has this resting bitch face on with no expression and everyone's like I’ll I’ljust go now and he just continues reading

he’s always reading with his earbuds in, you bother him it's your funeral

and it's weird cause like he has friends a precious few and ppl know he's not cold with them so why’s he ALWAYS COLD AND APATHETIC TO EVERYONE ELSE LIKE YOU GOOD MATE???

knows he's terrifying and uses it to his advantage

has no problem glaring down people who reach for the same thing at the supermarket or try cutting in front of him at starbuck’s and they near shit themselves

does not give two shits about all the people staring at him all the time as long as they don't talk to him or interrupt his reading

stays at home unless he's at class, practice, or a game

on the Dean’s List, and a massive teacher’s pet

but still, people just like to admire him for his looks and gush about how mysterious he is and that really irks him cause no one wants to actually spend the time to get to know him he’s not even that mysterious, he’s actually a bit of a crackhead so he's like i don't need y'all i have the Gupta Dynasty to keep me company

youngjae and yugyeom rolling their eyes, like HeRe HyUnG GOES AGAIN

knows more about ancient worlds than the current world?? like sometimes mark catches him staring at technology like it's an alien concept and he's like dude you've had a cell phone since you were like 12, when was the last time you had a break from reading that, chill out for a second and come back to modern times

and jb just scoffs like i don't need your modern times and buries his head in the book again but he just wants someone who's able to talk about the present AND the past with him without ignoring one cause he thinks both are really important

anyways one day you were late to an 8am class and you were rushing and dropped some papers and Jaebum came across it and he was like what in ThE HELL IS THIS cause first of all it was almost completely illegible and then when he did manage to read it, he couldn't understand it cause it was real complex math and science shit and he looked at the name and he knew who you were cause you’re the campus genius and the campus crazy

so he hunts you down until he comes across your lab later on in the day and you’re frantically looking through your BILLIONS OF PILES of looseleaf paper and jb's just thinking about how much of a fit jinyoung would have if he saw this tomfoolery

and he handed you your stuff and you were so grateful and friendly and you reminded him of a crazier version of youngjae

he couldn't help but be curious when he saw the really complicated math and science going on on your paper and he was like what's that, how does it work, what's the history

for a full fifteen seconds, you looked at him like he was god incarnate and you like i'M gLaD yOu AsKeD

and you were talking really fast but the way your eyes lit up when you talked about astrophysics and the way the sun from the window illuminated your features jfc

jb didn't believe in love in first sight he swore he didn't

unless it was you

like even if you weren’t conventionally pretty and most people wouldn't even notice you, bummie didn’t care, it was like you were the goddamn sun or something

he stops you in the middle of explaining and he's like look you're going a bit too fast, so could you repeat what you said but just a lil bit . . . slower

and for a long moment, you were stunned jungshook because like this boi . . . this devastatingly handsome boy who blows everyone off and makes them wet their pants in fear wants to hear me rant to him about astrophysics

and he actually wants you to slow it down so he can understand instead of just pretending to listen

and like you may be a genius but JB just broke your brain for a second

but then you jump back into it like yeah sure

and jae honestly finds you fucking adorable like how excited you get about astrophysics and he actually finds himself interested in it and then he starts talking about ancient cultures and greek and you already kinda know everything he's talking about and enjoy the conversation and he's all heart eyes

gets protective over you after like 2 days???

you don't care, you’re just happy there's someone who thinks you’re interesting so you don't even notice him glaring at anyone who talks to you and always hanging around you to scare other guys off

tbh bummie doesn't really comprehend why people don't like being around you cause like??? you’re so fucking pretty and cute?? you took all his uwus reader

only takes like 10 days before JB finds out you’re really affectionate and you’re hugging and cuddling all the time but he actually???likes it

and soon he's the one begging you for cuddles and you’re like ( ^_^) ofc babe lemme just finish doing these calculations right quick and JB's like asdfghjkl did they just call me what i think they just called me

but like you guys are always hanging at your lab and since JB doesn't really talk except with you and his friends and you never talk about anything but astrophysics on the off chance she gets back to the dorm in time enough to talk at all no one knows that you guys are even hanging out

it's not long after that jae asks you out and he takes you to an amusement park and you have a FiElD dAy because sooooooo much math? and pretty colors? and cotton candy? and he's made you the happiest person ever and in that moment when he sees your face he just can't help himself like pls be my s/o and you’re like ASDFGHJKL ARE YOU PLAYING WITH ME RIGHT NOW JFC OFC

and he just drops a bomb on his friends like they're all going out to dinner and he brings you and he's got his arm around your waist and he's just like guys meet my s/o and everyone's choking like S/O We ThOuGhT YoU wErE aRo oR sMtHiNG and for a minute they're so confused because no one even knew jaebum was talking to someone much less the mad scientist person when did this happen

and like they can see all throughout dinner that you’re really fucking strange but it's kind of cute and it makes bummie happy so Welcome to the Family, we have cookies

lol friends? nope, say goodbye to those, everyone is so terrified of bummie and his resting bitch face and them muscles that they refuse to come near you cause you’ve basically got Jaebum stamped on your forehead but that's ok because somehow you became really good friends with his friends and like you have this group chat that jae's not in specifically so they can share embarrassing things for you to tease him about later

but bummie highkey encourages it because if he pretends to get mad, you’ll play your harp for him and he loves that shit

jaebum will knock the living daylights out of anyone who mistreats you or makes you feel bad

like one time yall were walking back after a date and this dude grabbed your ass and was about to open his mouth to say some vulgar shit but he didn’t even get the chance before jaebum LEAPED ON HIM LIKE A FUCKING INSECT AND MOWED HIS ASS D O W N

jae had like two scratches on him meanwhile the dude on the floor probably needed a goddamn ambulance and he just took your hand and continued walking like anyways, like i was saying, no one can give me a valid reason why I shouldn’t get a cat

yall will 10/10 adopt a cat together

well it was supposed to be one but yall were weak bitches, so it turned into 3 same

at first yall rotated the cats between y’all’s apartments but then you were both like let’s just fucking move in together omfg

bam bam constantly breaks into your apartment to play with your cats

you come and cheer jae on at his football games

the first time everyone was SHOOK

for fuck’s sake, you just learned what a touchdown was when you infiltrated a superbowl party for the food sAME, why tf were you even here

but then they saw jae beam at you and they were like omfg, they’re these people

when they win, he runs up and scoops you into his arms and spins you around, pressing a bunch of kisses all over your face and calling ou his good luck charm and you’re screaming at him for hugging you while he’s sweaty and gross even though you’re laughing and kissing him back

when he loses, you and him go to McDonalds after he showers and you just sit at a table eating while he nuzzles his head in your neck and sulks

reader, i highkey advise you to get a couple tats or a body piercing and not tell him

just have your hoodie off one day so he happens to see the tat/piercing and you’ll see his eyes darken and he’s trying to keep calm like

“i didn’t know you had tattoos/piercings”

and he’s looking down at you so intensely he’s almost glaring

“i do, wanna try and find them all?”

you did it

you activated beast mode

whenever jae sees you upset or sad, he’ll just engulf you with his whole body and you can smell his aftershave and feel his warmth while he puts on calming music and tells you greek myths in that smooth, soothing voice

and when you have your head on his chest, half asleep, he’ll just kind of stop for a second because holy fuuck, you’re so gorgeous and you’re his? how did he land you?? he’s the luckiest guy in the world?

and when you look up, wondering why he stopped talking, you see him looking at you with just this really soft, mushy look of complete adoration and before you can even say anything, he’s like i fucking love you

I WAS GONNA WRITE MORE, BUT I GOTTA END IT NOW, I’M FUCKING SOFT HNNNGGH

Gaia, the dwarf planet

#got7 #fluff #jaebum #college au #got imagine #got7 headcanon #reader insert #genius! reader #kpop #got7 scenarios #this is highkey cheesy and cliche and idgaf i love it #youngjae #mark #jinyoung #bambam #yugyeom #gaia #genetic mutation #gaia genetic mutation

95 notes · View notes

golshxd-blog · 5 years ago

Photo

By late this past summer, our trusty and beloved Chevy Tahoe Franklin had carried us safely almost 40,000 miles, through almost 40 states, and was getting close to hitting 200,000 miles. And honestly — he was starting to look like it. The carpets looked terrible; some small tears in the leather seats had turned into not-so-small tears; one of the rain guards was coming loose; the wheel wells had all kind of garbage in them — he was just looking old and run down. I’ve always cared about the vehicles I drive, and although I’ve always bought higher mileage older cars, I’ve also managed to buy ones that look good, and then try to keep them that way.

So in August, I started what turned into a months-long visual restoration project on Franklin, to help him look his best again. I started with the one that was annoying me the most — the loose rain guard over the driver’s side window. Whenever I got up over 40mph or so, it would start relentlessly flapping and driving me nuts. So it had to be the first to go.

That turned out to be a pretty quick and easy project — I bought some 3M tape designed for rain guards, scraped off the existing tape and residual adhesive, cleaned it with Goo Gone a few times, let it dry, and applied the new tape. Took me about 45 minutes, and it hasn’t budged since!

Oh yeah.

The item I was most excited to upgrade was the radio. Before I bought the truck, I checked to see that the radio worked–but didn’t think to check the CD player. The first time I tried it was at the beginning of our first road trip out to the PNW — and no dice. So, we spent a year with JUST THE RADIO. I’d previously owned one of those little am transmitters you can plug your phone or iPod into, but was never really impressed. The broken CD player didn’t have an audio input jack either, so we were pretty much SOL. And on top of that, the paint was coming off of the knobs, a few of the lights were out so the display always read in a weird language — it was rough.

Apparently, it was so bad, I avoided taking any pictures, because I can’t find one anywhere. But I saved up over the summer, and before we took off for Maine, I was able to get a brand new system with all the works — CD player, DVD player, Bluetooth, aux in, hands free, and it was even wired for a backup camera! This system ended up being my possibly my favorite — and certainly my most used — purchase of 2016. We listen to music, enjoy Audible books together, and answer phone calls while keeping both hands firmly on the wheel!

New hotness!!

Those two projects got me through our Maine vacation and fall road trip, but once we got up to New Hampshire in late October and set up shop through the holidays, I jumped back to it.

First up was the carpets — and they. were. ATROCIOUS. Faded, dirty, stained — even after several rounds of vacuuming and OxyClean (my all-time favorite vehicle carpet cleaner), they were only moderately better. So, I did some Interneting, and discovered that carpet dye was a thing! I watched some videos, and quickly decided to give it a shot — even if it went horribly, it couldn’t possibly look worse!

What, am I gonna mess THAT up? (This doesn’t even show the red koolaid stains in the back!)

I decided on the Dupli-Color Vinyl and Fabric coating in charcoal grey, grabbed a stiff brush from Home Depot to scrub the paint down into the carpet fibers, and taped everything off.

And let me tell you, spraying this stuff on was pure catharsis. I’m the kind of guy who could watch powerwashing videos all day long, and this was right up there with that. The difference was night and day — just look at that!

Ohhhhhh yeah. Seriously — check out this line.

Greatly encouraged, I taped off the rest of the truck, and went through a few more bottles of spray. It was fun, easy, and made for some great before and afters. This one is my personal favorite:

It’s been about 8 weeks since I did it, and I will say — the spray is not a huge fan of water. I’ve already done a few small touch ups, but frankly, that’s still wayyyy better than what it was before. If every six months I buy a can or two and my carpets keep looking awesome, I’ll still consider this project a complete win.

So next up was the leather. This was one of those creeping problems — small tears had gotten much larger, and needed to be dealt with. I actually priced out professional leather repair just out of curiosity, and it was going to be over $800 to fix it — not even remotely an option.

So instead, I headed over to Joann Fabrics, and was really lucky to find a pleather material that was an almost perfect color match for our seats! Rebecca sent me a coupon, I got 2 yards for $8, grabbed some Gorilla Super Glue Gel, and got to work. This was not difficult, just rather painstaking. The material cut with scissors, I matched the curves and seams as best as I could, and then superglued it to death. This was the most visible spot, and it came out great!

It’s been almost 2 months since I did the glued repairs, and they haven’t budged at all, even in the high traffic areas! The other repairs were right along seams, and my lovely wife really saved the day here. She got a strong needle, some matching thread, and closed up big gaps in 3 or 4 very visible areas in the front seats. Another cheap win!

That pretty much completed the inside projects I wanted to do, and I turned my attention to the outside. The paint job isn’t in terrible shape, and with a decent wash, I’m fine with it. However, the chrome tape that was on the door trim had almost completely peeled off on both sides, leaving hanging plastic bits and glue residue, instead of a nice clean shiny line. That I knew I could fix with a little time and a can of spray paint — in this case, Rustoleum Metallic Finish.

As you can see, it was just dirty and nasty. I went around with a razor blade and tweezers, pulled off as much of the leftover plastic and tape as I could, then gave the whole thing a good scrubbing with the firm side of a dish sponge. That worked even better than I’d anticipated, and left everything looking significantly better already.

Smooth and clean, but still not shiny!

Then came the fun part — a very careful taping job, then wrapping the surrounding area in paper. However, I ended up doing this on a really gusty day, and I had to upgrade and put old tarps all over the rest of the truck to keep the overspray off. However, it came out pretty well!

So shiny! Inspired by how relatively easy that was to do, I turned my eyes on another cheap and easy spray paint fix — the nasty, dirty wheel wells. Below are a few “before” pictures, and just so we’re clear: that residue was all caked on there. These pics were taken after I scrubbed the wheel wells.

I upped my game, and went after them again, this time with a degreasing soap and a very firm scrub brush, then covered the tires and carefully taped off all the trim. A lot of guys I saw online used more expensive truck bed spray or high temperature engine spray. But at this point I was getting tired of putting money into this project, so I just went with the no-name-brand flat black spray paint for 87 cents a can from Walmart. Frankly, it was a solid decision.

Seriously, how much better does that look? I think I used 7 cans overall, it went on smooth and nice, and when I got my truck washed last week after 6 weeks of New Hampshire snow and ice and road salt, the wheel wells still looked this good. Success!

And obviously, when you spend all this time making your vehicle look so much better, you get it washed, and take great pictures. So please enjoy this short montage of Franklin in his Sunday best.

I’m more than a little proud that after 45,000 miles of camper towing and off-roading and road tripping, Franklin looks and runs better than he did when we got him. But this was only the beginning — stay tuned for my sleeping platform redesign, and our best new idea — the Hitchenette!

1 note · View note

acomplexjourney · 7 years ago

Text

Four stories from surgery

Hello everyone! Since I just finished two months of surgery rotations at Arnot Ogden Medical Center, I thought I’d share four of the more memorable experiences I had during that time. During my first month, I was assigned to two weeks of general surgery and two weeks of orthopedics. During my second month, I did another two weeks of general surgery, a week of wound care, and I just finished a “study week” for my surgery shelf exam (something new they’re trying in Elmira this year, hopefully it catches on). After spending wayyyy too much time last week answering practice questions and watching review videos, I’m excited to return to being in the hospital again next week.

Ms. T.’s appendectomy

General surgery is rough. I was at the hospital from 4:30 AM to 6 PM most days and the residents somehow work even longer hours. The first patient I was responsible for following was Ms. T. Ms. T. had appendicitis, but because of a lot of other medical conditions she had, the surgeons decided to initially manage her conservatively with medications. One day, however, Ms. T.’s vitals started to become unstable and she became acidotic. The surgeons decided that they needed to operate to save her life and when they explained the situation to Ms. T., she agreed. Since she was “my patient,” I volunteered to stay that night for the operation. I figured it would be a good way to earn some brownie points with the surgery residents too. When the attending surgeon, Dr. M., entered the abdomen with the camera, we all saw an extremely inflamed peritoneum. The colon was an angry red color and covered with pus. It took the surgeons almost an hour to locate the inflamed appendix and even after they cut it out, they still wanted the pathologist to confirm that it was indeed the appendix. When they finished just before 11 PM, Dr. K., the resident, told me that I had done a good job and could come in at 6:30 AM tomorrow. I was elated, two extra hours of sleep! As I went into the locker room, I passed Dr. M. as he was leaving and wished him a good night. It was in that moment I realized I would never become a surgeon. When I’m in my sixties, like Dr. M. is, there’s no way I want to be at the hospital at 11 PM. I do have a ton of respect for Dr. M., Dr. K., and all the other surgeons at Arnot though. They are probably the hardest working doctors in the hospital, extremely skilled at what they do, and really care about their patients. (Fun fact: on the last day of my first general surgery block, I found out that Ms. T. had been discharged and cleared to go home that afternoon).

Mr. S.’s peripheral neuropathy

Dr. D. is an orthopedic surgeon at Arnot who specializes in foot and ankle procedures. What makes her an excellent physician in my mind is not only the fact that she is an adroit surgeon, but she also spends a lot of time counseling her patients in the outpatient clinic, even when they are not good surgical candidates. One patient who comes to mind is the fifty-year old construction worker, Mr. S. Mr. S. had been referred to Dr. D. by his primary care physician for bilateral numbness in his feet. Within about two minutes of taking a history, Dr. D. was able to diagnose Mr. S with alcohol-induced peripheral neuropathy, which there is no surgical treatment for. Nevertheless, Dr. D. spent about ten minutes explaining to Mr. S. what his condition was and how it is likely connected to the “couple of beers” he drinks every night. She also arranged to have blood drawn to check his vitamin B12 levels before he left, since vitamin B12 is critical for proper nerve function and often low in patients who consume excess alcohol. As I drove home that day, I had two thoughts: 1) When I become a primary care physician, I am going to do my best to avoid careless mistakes like sending a patient with alcohol-induced peripheral neuropathy to an orthopedic surgeon. 2) I hope that I am able to be as caring and effective in the outpatient clinic as Dr. D. is.

Ms. L.’s saddle embolism

It’s Friday night. I’m standing in a dark room with others, bobbing my head to “Despacito” and the other top tracks of the summer. No, I’m not at a party celebrating the end of general surgery, but I’m doing something even better! I’m watching a heart beating on the TV screen in front of me as Dr. A., an interventional radiologist, carefully threads a catheter toward the saddle embolism that is threatening the life of Ms. L. In year two of medical school, we were taught about the saddle embolism through autopsy pictures, because it is a large, bilateral blood clot in the lungs that often kills the patient before they are able to get help. Luckily for Ms. L., she was in the hospital recovering from a seemingly uncomplicated appendectomy when it occurred, so the nurses were able to spot it quickly when she suddenly became short of breath and hypotensive. Usually, the anti-coagulant heparin is the drug of choice for pulmonary emboli, but because this patient had just had surgery, the doctors decided systemic anticoagulation was too risky. Instead, Dr. A. recommended injecting a special protein called tPA, normally used for breaking up clots in stroke patients, right at the site of the blockage. To get there, Dr. A. had to thread a catheter from the internal jugular vein to the superior vena cava and finally through the heart itself. I’m happy to report that the patient survived the procedure and is doing well now as far as I know. I didn’t get out of the hospital that night until midnight, 19 hours after I had arrived, but it was definitely worth it!

Ms. A.’s folliculitis

There’s one patient from my week in wound care that I’ll never forget. A teenage girl I’ll call Ms. A. came in for a follow-up appointment after her pilonidal cyst excision (if you don’t know what a pilonidal cyst is, I would encourage you to look it up, but not while you’re eating anything!). Ms. A.’s wound did not look so good and she had newly-formed pustules surrounding it as well. The nurse seeing her said she would ask the doctor to prescribe tetracycline to help clear it up. Luckily, the father was there and asked us, “does it matter that she’s pregnant?” It’s a good thing the father mentioned this, because tetracycline is a teratogen, meaning it causes birth defects. As a result, we ended up prescribing a different, topical antibiotic. You know what they say about how you should never assume. . .

0 notes