Metatalktail Hour: The Last First Time March 25, 2017 5:44 PM   Subscribe

Good Saturday Evening, Metafilter! This week's topic is from bookmammal: What was the last thing you did for the first time? (That is, what's the most recent brand new experience you had?)

Remember, they're conversation starters, not conversation limiters, so you can talk about any sociable/personal/sharing thing on your mind -- we're here to kibbitz! Except politics, the bouncers hate politics.

If you have a cool metatalktails topic idea, e-mail or memail me, I've got a list running!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 5:44 PM (123 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

For me, it was SEEING FREAKING JUPITER'S MOONS WITH MY OWN EYES, through binoculars, last week, I am like Galileo but with better optics. I did keep accidentally looking at Spica instead of Jupiter, very aggravating, but eventually I managed to sight the planetary disc and I saw three moons! I gasped aloud. It must have been hella crazy shit to be Galileo and be seeing all this stuff for the first time, period.

My husband says his last first time was texting a stranger this week ... someone walking by our house was admiring his garden and wanted to know what a particular plant was so he got her number and texted her after he checked his records. (My husband is an avid gardener and has made our garden awesome. I am more the concept person.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:48 PM on March 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


Indoor skydiving with my boomer parents. Surprisingly loud, not scary at all, super fun, ++AA would float again
posted by bq at 5:51 PM on March 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


That reminds me, I am taking the little McGees on their first plane ride in a few weeks; as you can imagine my mechanically-inclined boys are OVER THE MOON. All they have talked about the last few days is flying.

Their number one highlight from their trip to DC for their aunt's wedding, which they still talk about, was riding "the red line" "from Metro Center to Woodley Park" to go to the zoo, the zoo being an ABSOLUTE AFTERTHOUGHT (despite seeing the pandas!) compared to their first time on a real subway. (It was also their first time riding in and hailing taxis and OH LORD, do not teach your five-year-old how to hail a taxi, they won't stop.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:57 PM on March 25, 2017 [11 favorites]


I had my appendix out a few weeks ago as part of a major surgery. I'm told a person can only have their appendix out once so it's the first and last time I'll do that.
posted by bilabial at 6:04 PM on March 25, 2017 [7 favorites]


Painting, like with rollers and paintbrushes and such.

It was good practice; when the weather warms up we're going to throw a party and paint the house rainbow.
posted by aniola at 6:06 PM on March 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


I left the continent and used my passport for the first time this winter. It was only a weekend in Bermuda but it's a start.
posted by octothorpe at 6:38 PM on March 25, 2017 [6 favorites]


My most recent first time was this week: I started a full crochet project. I'm making a baby blanket for a high school friend. It's working well so far!
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:40 PM on March 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


Two weeks ago I spent my first weekend solo parenting, the first time either of us had been alone overnight in three years. So of course my daughter came down with a wicked cold and a 103-degree fever.

I finally got to sleep in my own bed at 5:30am and evidently forgot to turn off the alarm, because it woke me up at 6. It was not a great first outing, honestly. But we sure did watch a lot of Doc McStuffins.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:42 PM on March 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


I'm told a person can only have their appendix out once so it's the first and last time I'll do that.

Tonsils and the appendix are the two major concentrations of lymph tissue along the digestive tract, and while tonsils can sometimes grow back after a tonsillectomy (mine did), I've never heard anything like that about the appendix.
posted by jamjam at 6:43 PM on March 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


Rock climbing. Just the indoor kind but it was more fun than I expected. Though I'm still not great with heights. I usually have to drop off and be belayed down because I'm suddenly too high and need to GET DOWN NOW. A bit like the ski lift--only safer, actually since you don't get off the ski lift until it lets you off.
posted by crush at 6:56 PM on March 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


Two weeks ago, for the first time, I asked someone to marry me.

Mr. Nat said yes!
posted by nat at 7:01 PM on March 25, 2017 [87 favorites]


I was recently invited to Beijing to talk about what I do. They flew me first class and that was a first too. I've talked about what I do before, but I've never been to China. I got to see amazing things, but I kinda felt tossed around by super-wealthy and powerful people. The people I spoke to didn't seem to understand me. At one point I was asked, "Dr. Stańczyk, here in China people who look like you are usually are either artists or crazy. Are you an artist?" It was a hard question to answer as I'm neither an artist or a doctor.
posted by Stanczyk at 7:04 PM on March 25, 2017 [13 favorites]


I taught myself to cross-stitch and finished my first project. My roommates have given me the go ahead to frame it and put it in the living room.

I loved the process so much that I've already started in on a slightly more involved project.
posted by ActionPopulated at 7:05 PM on March 25, 2017 [6 favorites]


I just finished painting my first mural on the wall in my hallway. I felt like a kid doing something very rebellious by drawing on the wall. Now I want to paint a giant mural on the side of my house that has no windows.
posted by ilovewinter at 7:06 PM on March 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


[CN: Pokemon] I caught a Lapras in the wild this week for the first time ever!

In non-Pokemon news, a bill I've been working on for two years made it out of its first committee this week with one vote more than we needed. Also, I was voted in as the Vice President of the local commission I sit on.
posted by gingerbeer at 7:06 PM on March 25, 2017 [14 favorites]


I got approved for a mortgage this week. Holy fucking shit, you guys: this is some industrial strength adulting, and I don't know whether I'm elated or panicked.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:15 PM on March 25, 2017 [30 favorites]


That was the first time I've been approved for a mortgage, by the way. The other exciting thing that I did this week was finish a knitting project that I started and abandoned in 2009, but sadly this is not the first time I have taken 8 years to finish a knitting project.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:21 PM on March 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


I recently found out that, for the first time, I have a close friend with cancer. :( Fortunately, her prognosis is good, so I've got my fingers crossed.

On a less momentous note, I'm often trying out new recipes for the first time - often with others as my guinea pigs, as some local MeFites well know...
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:33 PM on March 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


I began a (tentative) timeline for possibly moving back to the US recently, the first time I've considered doing so in my 15 years as an ex-pat. It's a pretty big deal to me.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 7:46 PM on March 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


Pretty much everything pregnancy-related is brand new for me right now, but also bae and I scored some free oak & maple trees today, and I think it may have been the first time I've ever planted an actual tree in the ground!

I also tried my first case in front of a jury a few weeks ago, and it was wild! Not least of which was because the guy I represented was a sovereign citizen.
posted by likeatoaster at 8:01 PM on March 25, 2017 [12 favorites]


I'm having trouble articulating it, but I'm a new-ish supervisor and I'm finding that I'm finally starting to be... supervisory. My thinking has switched toward "What's good for the overall program?" rather than just "What's an answer to this particular problem right now?" Also I called my boss to complain about an employee on Thursday in very much a "You and I are peers(ish) [we kind of co-supervise the team], and I need to vent so that I can go back and have productive solutions about this" way, whereas in the past I would have felt I had to be much more diplomatic about it so as not to seem like a problem employee to my boss. Now I'm apparently comfortable enough in my role that I don't feel I have to hide my incompetence from her, I guess?
posted by lazuli at 8:10 PM on March 25, 2017 [8 favorites]


Promoted to Engineer IV (and a super nice raise to go with it)
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:15 PM on March 25, 2017 [6 favorites]


I took my first vacation all by myself! I went to Washington DC in late September and had a great time. It was the first non-work-related trip I've taken in years and the first time I've ever taken a trip without a travel partner or without knowing anyone at the other end, and I loved every minute of it. I especially appreciated the freedom of being able to change plans at a moments notice--without having to negotiate with anyone-- if I wanted to stay longer at a museum, or if I'd had enough on a particular day and just wanted to head back to the hotel sooner than I'd planned. Best part of the trip was the National Archives--I surprised myself by totally geeking out over seeing the actual Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
Now I'm just trying to decide where to go next...
posted by bookmammal at 8:33 PM on March 25, 2017 [10 favorites]


I had to let a temp go on Friday, the first person I ever had directly reporting to me :( oh and unrelatedly, we had a fire at my plant on Wednesday, which was my first real-life disaster as an EHS professional. Lots of phone calls and reports. Not too much damage, 0 injuries, thank god.

On a positive note, last weekend I was in Santa Monica, and it was the first time I've seen or been in the Pacific Ocean. It's been an eventful week!

Next weekend, I get to go to Luge Fantasy Camp, which is very much a first. I'm excited and also very nervous about the whole endeavor. I'll post back here on how it went.
posted by Fig at 8:38 PM on March 25, 2017 [10 favorites]


"I get to go to Luge Fantasy Camp"

Um, I have a new life goal.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:39 PM on March 25, 2017 [9 favorites]


Anyone can sign up and go! it just costs quite a bit of $$$$. My employer is a sponsor, so they get a few free spots, and I was lucky enough to get nominated to go this year.
posted by Fig at 8:43 PM on March 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


Gathering wood: cutting up a downed tree. Running a chain saw. Looping a chain over a log and hauling it out of the brush with a tractor. Slicing it into rounds, splitting them on a log splitter.
Also a recent activity: I am getting pretty good at chopping kindling.
posted by SLC Mom at 8:55 PM on March 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


I am in Puerto Rico for the first time ever this weekend. We're hanging out in Rincon for a few days, which has been really nice.

Our first day here we arrived at our rental at 5 am and were on a fishing boat at 6:30. First time doing deep sea fishing! And we caught a bunch of fish - two black fin tuna, two mahi mahi, a red snapper, and two mackerel. The mahi was a huge fight, the one I snagged did not want to give in and kept running away. We gave the boat captain most of the mahi we caught but we've eaten everything else.

Also my first time snorkeling outside of a pool. The only other time I've tried was at one of the Disney water parks and it freaked me out. I'm not a very strong swimmer, so I did have an initial panic reaction when we went in the ocean this weekend. However, we brought pool noodles with us and having something buoyant to hold on to helped a lot.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:10 PM on March 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


I've always been someone who is self taught in everything I do. All my hobbies, everything I do, even my career to a large degree, I've pretty much done it all without any formal education or training. I also, to a large degree, half-ass everything I do.

So the past year or two I've been getting into woodworking and luthierie and I've been learning a lot from YouTube and books and wherever and I've learned a lot and done some neat things but I decided this was something I just wanted to be really good at.

We are fortunate in Boston to have the oldest and one of the best trade schools in America, The North Bennet Street School. It's an amazing school where they teach trades that are really not taught much anymore. They have full-time classes in furniture making, bookbinding, violin making, jewelry making, and a few other things.

So I looked into their continuing education program and found a night class in woodworking. Very basic stuff, strictly hand tools like planes and chisels, but really the stuff you need to know to build a strong foundation and really get to know the craft. The class was two nights a week for three months. I sat on it for a while, hemming and hawing, not sure I could make the commitment and finding every excuse to not enroll. I mentioned it to my wife and she strongly encouraged me to go for it. So I enrolled.

Holy shit. I was not expecting it to be as good as it is. The teacher is an encyclopedia of wood and woodworking and furniture history, you name it. We learned to sharpen our tools, I mean really sharpen them like I didn't know was even possible. Now we're doing basic stuff like cutting a roundover with a chisel and flattening and squaring a board with our hand planes. We'll be learning to cut mortices and hand-cut dovetails and a few other things.

I've only had about five classes so far but I think it was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made. It feels like when I'm done I'll actually know what I'm doing and maybe won't be half-assing it as much. I'm learning from the best people at the best school for this sort of thing.

So, yeah, it's not the first class I've ever taken in anything, but it's probably the first class I've ever taken for a hobby, the first time I've ever actually attempted to learn a craft. It's good to learn, to really learn. I've not done much of that in my life.
posted by bondcliff at 9:13 PM on March 25, 2017 [39 favorites]


This is my very first time on the Metatalktail hour! I usually catch these threads a few days later. But I was looking at the blue and remembered this was happening right now.

This comment is so meta.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 9:31 PM on March 25, 2017 [9 favorites]


"This is my very first time on the Metatalktail hour! I usually catch these threads a few days later. "

It's a META Cocktail Hour, it goes on all week IN OUR HEARTS. Post whenever you happen to see it!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 9:33 PM on March 25, 2017 [9 favorites]


For an actual brand new experience: this week I experienced what it feels to be called mom by my baby. My firstborn took years of therapy to get him to talk and called me mom when he was almost three and oh I love him so much but when my ten month-old babe said "mamma" spontaneously when I went to get him up one morning I almost cried with joy.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 9:36 PM on March 25, 2017 [37 favorites]


Acupuncture--tried a few weeks ago for the first time. I had strained my lower back. It made a huge difference in relieving the pain. Now I am a regular for various things. Community Acupuncture is an affordable way to go. Lucky for me, the local one is in my office building.
posted by Nosey Mrs. Rat at 9:42 PM on March 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


I baked lemon bars yesterday. They were delicious (witness the speed at which they vanished), but unless I get a juicer and a much faster way of making lemon zest, I think it might be better to buy ’em.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:32 PM on March 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


You can make extremely legit lemon bars with ReaLemon lemon juice and spice-rack lemon zest.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 10:36 PM on March 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


A new thing this week: I had a chance to use someone else's sewing machine (a Janome 521) and it was so, so much easier than my maintenance-heavy vintage Singer that I think I might start saving for one for myself.
posted by janepanic at 10:43 PM on March 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


I was laid off for the first time a few weeks ago, but that's less something I did than something that was done to me.

Like the appendix example above, I had a double mastectomy in January, which will hopefully be the first and only!
posted by AFABulous at 11:07 PM on March 25, 2017 [14 favorites]


(Surgery was a happy thing btw)
posted by AFABulous at 11:08 PM on March 25, 2017 [7 favorites]


I joined the DSA this year as a dues-paying member.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 11:11 PM on March 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


Taught myself how to knit when my son asked for a pussyhat. Knitting had been a lifelong bugaboo for me, just couldn't do it.

It took 4 weeks and more failed starts that ended as cat toys, but I finished it. I am comfortable with knitting now, and everyone in the whole famn damily is getting one.
posted by moonlily at 11:11 PM on March 25, 2017 [8 favorites]


Turned fifty. It was pleasant enough but I can't see doing that again.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:37 PM on March 25, 2017 [19 favorites]


More seriously, some months ago I joined a gym (not for the first time) but started seeing a personal trainer (for the first time); at the same time I took part in a study with a local university on the effects of aerobic exercise, both physically and mentally, on patients with MS. It was about three months and according to a battery of tests at the beginning and end, everything improved markedly (except my walking speed went down by something like 0.4%, but, y'know, margin of error there). I am most pleased that my memory showed marked improvement, but I guess having doubled what I can shift with a lat pulldown is okay too.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:52 PM on March 25, 2017 [9 favorites]


So like Monday or Tuesday I was in north Austin helping out a friend (he's a contractor, he's out of town, I'm catching small stuff for him while he's gone) and "Hey! A Dollar Tree dollar store!" so I go in there. Apparently the Dollar Tree in my neck of the woods is either totally picked over or just has someone else ordering their stuff, this one was not only cleaner but just different stuff. I bought nine pair of socks. Maybe six distinct, different patterns, all colorful and wacky, and they said "Size 9-12" on the label and I've got these gunboats on the end of my legs, size 13W but damned if the socks don't fit. Hurray! They're thin enough that I can wear them with my Chucks (rare) so's I can show them off, I'll be all stylin' and stuff.

Had to go back up there today, pick up leftovers on that job-site, figured to head on back to that Dollar Tree -- who knows what I might find? Well, for one, they had these super-soft super-absorbent towels that are The Best for cleaning up my bike chain and gears and dérailleurs etc -- they had six in stock and I grabbed them all.
My bike mechanic really read me the riot act about four months ago, he got all arm-wavy and everything -- it really upsets him how casual I was about grit and grime, wearing out chains and chain rings and cassettes etc because who cares -- so now everything is always totally cleaned and well-oiled.

I've never seen in any dollar store a two pound bag of brown rice, nor a almost two pound bag of pinto beans. A buck apiece. I am Very Much An Upstanding Citizen w/r/t buying organic food, but ... (shame here) I bought three of each. I'm quite certain that they used the most toxic stuff on the planet to grow this stuff, and probably I will get cancer just from having the stuff in my kitchen.

Then, to top it off, as I was walking out I bought a bag of peanut M&Ms.
Yes, I ate them.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:11 AM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


Last week we were in Hilo and as a result of our Alaskans-in-Hawaii unhinged farmer's market shenanigans* I ate jabuticaba- a new fruit for me! They're the little purple balls in this picture of one of our breakfasts; they taste kind of grape-y and have fairly thick skin. We got a bunch and made jelly, which was the first time I have ever really done a deep dive in an Airbnb kitchen, and had it on French toast made with eggs our host gave us from her backyard chickens.

*Actual Conversation-
Me, with a big pile of compost after two days: hey, where do you want us to dump this stuff? We have filled the green waste container with so so much left over.

Airbnb host: oh, whoa, that container is clearly not large enough to support your....um, lifestyle?
posted by charmedimsure at 12:11 AM on March 26, 2017 [8 favorites]


Mmm, your fruit plate looks delicious, charmedimsure!

I went snowshoeing for the first time ever with the excellent snowshoes I got for Christmas, and I discovered it is really my thing! think I may have found the thing that will actually have me wishing for deep, long lasting snow in the winter now...
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:19 AM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


I've started seeing someone in a very special adult way (it's been 9 years!) and for the first time ever I'm being completely open about what feels good and what doesn't. It's a little scary but a lot liberating and it's very, very fun.
posted by h00py at 12:39 AM on March 26, 2017 [15 favorites]


I tried VR (Playstation Virtual Reality) the other day and it blew my little mind. I kept trying to look down and my hands and then HOLY SHIT A SHARK!
posted by iamkimiam at 1:40 AM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


Last week we had to proctor MCAS, the MA state standardized test. One of my fellow sped teachers volunteered to oversee ensuring that all kids with accommodations got everything they needed. Not an easy task since there are over 60 kids who get different special accommodations and there are all sorts of regulations with MCAS and tests are invalidated pretty easily if this gets screwed up.

So anyway, my nice co-worker offered to oversee this massive project which technically SHOULD be done by an admin, but wasn't. Every other sped teacher wagged their finger and told her she shouldn't be doing this, it wasn't her job, blah blah blah (my team isn't super supportive).

The tests came and went with few hitches. On my way into work Friday, I impulsively got this teacher some pretty red tulips as a thank you.

She was teary and delighted and I was SO HAPPY that I did something nice for someone else.

But for the rest of the day, other sped teachers looked at the flowers and said she shouldn't have been doing it anyway, and now they all looked bad because THEY didn't get her flowers. Ugh.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:30 AM on March 26, 2017 [12 favorites]


I just did my first "TED-like" talk about electronics reliability. I have been in Taipei and then Shanghai for the past week, where we are hosting a technical summit. I typically come here to do training classes that last anywhere from 1 hour to 5 days, but training is a completely different animal from this kind of presentation. This talk was more of a 12 minute influential pitch, and I was pretty nervous, but it went great!
posted by blurker at 3:14 AM on March 26, 2017 [4 favorites]


We had a group of students in a local high school's special education horticulture class begin a weekly series of classes with us in our greenhouse and it went really well - great group of students, we all had a great time and we learned things in the process.
posted by sciencegeek at 3:38 AM on March 26, 2017 [4 favorites]


Listened to a song of mine on the radio for the first time. Sure, it's college radio, but it was totally unexpected and made me think I should at least try to promote what's next in line.
posted by lmfsilva at 4:29 AM on March 26, 2017 [19 favorites]


SHIT A SHARK!

So, I guess in context the swear word is a noun, but as a verb, that's a swear that I'll be able to use again and again, so there's one new thing.

More importantly, I (more or less) stopped buying food that wasn't made from plants about a year ago. Eggs were the last to go, about a year ago. And as I'm coeliac, that put a damper on cake baking, because too many variables and too little emotional capital for experimentation. But I bought some VeganEgg, which is an algal powder with appropriate emulsifying and setting properties, and made my first cake in a year. A near total success, except for the banana I mushed into it, which told me never to eat banana again.
posted by ambrosen at 5:43 AM on March 26, 2017 [5 favorites]


I had my first MRI recently, which in and of itself is not a great experience. However it did confirm that my latest mystery illness was not cancer. So that's awesome goodness, and phew! I think I might celebrate by flying out to the Big Island, do another item on that bucket list.
posted by jazzbaby at 7:13 AM on March 26, 2017 [8 favorites]


I've always had a fascination with the last final bit of land that points out into the ocean, like Lands End, or Tierra del Fuego. Somehow it took me until after I turned forty to finally go to a spot that qualified. Mrs. Ghidorah and I took a trip down to Tateyama at the bottom of Chiba. We met up with a good friend who lives down there, had lunch, and he drove us down to the southernmost tip of the peninsula, and I had a moment to just stand on rocks looking out over the ocean. It was quite literally everything I had imagined it would be, standing on the last solid ground, watching the vastness of the ocean go on about its business as far as the eye could see. and I'm going to make sure it doesn't take another forty years for me to get around to it again.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:20 AM on March 26, 2017 [11 favorites]


I made my first bowl of proper ramen a couple weeks ago - because someone on AskMe recommended this book, which I too now recommend heartily. It was delicious AND it also involved a first time trip to the Asian grocery which was delightful and confirmed my belief that I really like green tea mochi. On a related note, does anyone but me remember an AskMe looking for bowls for salad or ramen? I searched but couldn't find it, and I need some new bowls now as I cook my way through the book.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:22 AM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


Recently I took Lyft for the first time, and holy batman, it is so conventient. I have never used the ride-sharing systems before; where I grew up public transportation was a given, and taxis were a luxury - so it took me until now to gather enough courage to try, inspired by a couple experiences here in the US where I almost missed my flight because the taxi didn't show up.

It took a careful examination of the app, and reading through other people's experiences (I'm also a cautious experimenter, to put it mildly :) ), but I finally bit the bullet. Now my problem is that it's TOO easy and convenient to just order a Lyft, so I have no motivation to get out of bed in time to catch my bus to work :(

It also made me realize that at the age of 40 I am only now getting to a stage where I feel it's ok to exchange money for my own comfort, and it is not "wasteful" or "spoiled". That is a new experience.
posted by Ender's Friend at 7:47 AM on March 26, 2017 [15 favorites]


Inching towards more independent grad student status: I designed a goofy little experiment on a whim, tracked down some oldschool glassware, got advice from one of the near retirement dudes in the department, and set it all up in all its Joseph-Priestly-in-the-yeast-lab glory. Results pending, but it will be my first time growing yeast in low oxygen and (possibly) in a vacuum. I got told yeast won't grow in a vacuum, but I don't really understand why so I'm trying it anyway.

Unexpected side effect: build even the most simple science contraption and basically everyone who walks by wants to check it out.

Also in non-laboratory work I'm trying to start artichokes from seed. Never grown them before. They haven't sprouted yet.
posted by deludingmyself at 8:48 AM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


I went to my first furry convention last weekend and it was three days of awesome.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 8:49 AM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


I painted something I didn't hate!

That was maybe a month ago. My other possible answer is "picked my kid up from school on School Picture day to discover that she had a black eye" but that seems weirdly specific.
posted by KathrynT at 8:53 AM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


Thursday was my sobriety "anniversary." I've now been drug and alcohol free for 6 years!

What was the last thing you did for the first time?

On Friday, I took my kitty Basil for his first annual vet visit/vaccinations. We always had cats and dogs when I was growing up, and I share "custody" of a dog with a relative that lives with me, but Basil is the first pet I've had sole responsibility for. I'm admittedly the worst at adulting (I don't even want to think about how long it's been since I went to a dentist, got a physical, got my eyes checked, not to mention my car is overdue for an oil change, and I haven't cut my hair in like 9 months), so I felt very on top of things that I got Baz to the vet right on time for his annual visit.

And on a related note, I'm seriously contemplating my next major step into becoming a crazy cat lady: homemade cat food. I'm so busy these days that I mostly eat Trader Joe's frozen meals myself, but hey, Best Cat Ever deserves the best everything.

Also Basil has had gastrointestinal issues since even before I adopted him, so I'm willing to try just about anything at this point to resolve his tummy troubles. This will most likely be the subject of an askmefi question in the not too distant future...
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:13 AM on March 26, 2017 [21 favorites]


Ender's Friend--"It also made me realize that at the age of 40 I am only now getting to a stage where I feel it's ok to exchange money for my own comfort, and it is not "wasteful" or "spoiled". That is a new experience."

Oh my--I am so sitting next to you in the front row on that one--except it took me about 10 years longer to get there. It's a strangely empowering feeling.
posted by bookmammal at 9:20 AM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


My trip to Japan in January was my 1st time in Asia. I was very relieved to learn that the subway uses Roman letters....and Google maps was a godsend. I knew that street numbers were ordered by when buildings were constructed, but I hadn't known that not every street is named.
posted by brujita at 9:31 AM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


I don't know if this counts, but in the last week my toddler has been diagnosed with both pink eye AND strep for the first time. Sigh. Eye drops for a toddler, ugh. Will this winter ever end?
posted by john_snow at 9:32 AM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


Gotanda: Today, for the first time in my life, I went shopping for a toilet.

We have a shared first! I've been online shopping for a toilet all week long, and tomorrow I'll go ahead and order it. First time I'm ever buying a new toilet, and it's one of those fancy wall models!
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:05 AM on March 26, 2017


I ate a taiwanese sausage on a stick from some bubble tea place. It was really tasty.
posted by jonmc at 10:27 AM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


I had my first colonoscopy! Lemme tell you, the preparation is much worse than the actual event. And I was proud of myself for not putting it off any longer, focusing on the fact that it's only once every ten years. That's doable, right? And then my doctor told me I have to have another one in THREE years. I feel so betrayed. Unpleasant Medical Procedure, I thought we had a deal!
posted by scratch at 10:31 AM on March 26, 2017 [10 favorites]


I led my first Girl Guides session and it went fairly well! The same number of guides left and everyone had the right number of limbs!

I am a unit helper usually but due to a tragic event on that day, it was either lead or cancel at very short notice so I am glad I could help out and take something off the worry list of the person who is dealing with the tragic events.
posted by halcyonday at 10:51 AM on March 26, 2017 [6 favorites]


> not to mention my car is overdue for an oil change

When I first read this I thought it said "my cat is overdue for an oil change," and I thought "Oh Christ, is there yet another bit of cat maintenance we've been neglecting?" I am much relieved.

My brand new experience was going to be "changing the cats' oil," but it looks like that won't be necessary.
posted by languagehat at 11:44 AM on March 26, 2017 [17 favorites]


I learned the Danish Present Perfect skill in Duolingo today. I earned two lingots.
posted by moonmilk at 11:55 AM on March 26, 2017 [5 favorites]


Thursday was my sobriety "anniversary." I've now been drug and alcohol free for 6 years!

I am a fan of making a big deal about these milestones, so I hope you don't mind if I say congrats and "Go you!" That's hard work and I am proud of you.

I have done two new-to-me things this week.

1. Worked in a public library (done that before) and sent and received interlibrary loans for patrons. I've always done more tech, reference, outreach and just "working the desk" and never gotten into the mysteries that are one of the US's little Secret Socialisms. It was hard! Partly because the software sucks and partly because my neuron paths are crusty and I could feel the dust falling off of them. I bragged about it on social media and you'd think I rescued kittens from a burning building. I have a nice supportive network and I am grateful.

2. not_on_display and I have a fantasy baseball team! I am not big into sports but I've been watching baseball with TV friends (people who have a big TV and so we chill on Fridays and watch something together and sometimes weekend sports) and I have some mailing list friends who wanted to start a league. And I said "Fine!" I love my trivia league, all the weird stats and whatever. So I figured I'd take the leap. They are called the Vermont Solenodons. This is a solenodon. Rawr.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 12:26 PM on March 26, 2017 [4 favorites]


I got my first research fellowship! It's an undergraduate program, but apparently it's a big deal (people who are in the program keep saying "you have no idea how much this will change your life"). It hasn't sunk in that pretty soon I'll be leaving my job to work full-time on my research. I can't imagine myself flying around the country to visit archives, but that's what I said I'd do in my proposal, and apparently that's what they're going to pay me to do. Everyone seems way more excited about this than I am. I'm just like "shit, better make sure I write something really good."
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:55 PM on March 26, 2017 [8 favorites]


I thought it said "my cat is overdue for an oil change,"

Me too, languagehat. (Though it's far from the first time my casual-scanning "prereading" style has done this sort of thing in my head)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:36 PM on March 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


This weekend for the first time in my life I slept on a boat, and it was amazing.

I planned a weekend trip with one of my childhood friends to Mallorca, and found the boat through Airbnb. It's just a little sailboat and it spent the whole time tied up to the dock- no open water for us! I can't exactly articulate what was so wonderful about it, but we both agreed that it took our weekend from a good to unforgettable. I am also returning home with the idea that in the future I want to learn to sail, buy a boat, and live on it either part-time or full-time. Now I just have to convince my husband...
posted by lollymccatburglar at 1:38 PM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


I thought it said "my cat is overdue for an oil change,"

So did I. I've had to give pills to an unwilling cat; the thought of what an oil change might require is daunting.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:29 PM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


This is a tiny first, but it occurred last night: I bought incense for the first time ever. I'd bought scented candles before, I'd bought ScentChips before, but I'd never bought incense. I'd always gotten it as a gift or otherwise for free.

My desk has the best subtle scent right now.
posted by limeonaire at 3:36 PM on March 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


I rescued monster no. 2 the day after adopting monster no.1 almost two years ago. Yesterday was the first time no 2 (Jeeves pictured in the outdoor/enclosed kitty kompound) jumped into my lap. He wanted food, but is finally warming up to me as "good human".
posted by mightshould at 3:40 PM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


Jessamyn! And others! You have about 10-15 minutes to join the Metafilter Fantasy Baseball league before we draft, starting at 8:00 Eastern time!
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:16 PM on March 26, 2017


I think this is my first time commenting in Metatalktails? This is also the first year I've started plants from seed indoors to get a head-start on the PNW's short growing season, and my lettuce is suddenly coming up! Nothing else has sprouted yet, but I'm hopeful.

bondcliff - I am similarly self-taught in many fields, and thrilled on your behalf about that woodworking class! (I recently got a plane iron sharpened by someone who knows what they're doing for the first time since I started messing with hand tools and, while I haven't used it yet, I suddenly see what they mean about sharpening being an important aspect of carpentry. Gosh, that's one shiny blade...)

Also, this thread reminded me to look into applying for a community choir, which would be the first time I've sung in an organized group since 8th grade.
posted by sibilatorix at 4:43 PM on March 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


In the spirit of the milestone birthdays, I had one in December. 62.5 years is 1/16th of a millennium.
posted by Bruce H. at 4:47 PM on March 26, 2017 [10 favorites]


ricochet biscuit, if you're willing to share -- Did they have you doing any specific exercises for the study, or was it just general gym-type cardio?
posted by lazuli at 4:56 PM on March 26, 2017


mygothlaundry -- Was the ramen-bowl thread you were thinking of this one?
posted by lazuli at 4:57 PM on March 26, 2017


Did they have you doing any specific exercises for the study, or was it just general gym-type cardio?

Pretty general. I sent in a log every week of how many steps I had walked or run each day and how much of this and that at the gym. I gather there are a few hundred people in the study so I don't know that they would have had the time or inclination to give more specialized instructions or feedback, but no one contacted me in my sixteen weeks to say "more such-and-such." Indeed the only question they raised was once when I sent in a blank sheet by mistake, someone e-mailed to verify that I had been immobile for a week.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:06 PM on March 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


Reflecting on a colleague's death from a long illness I thought for the first time about whether he realised there were things he would be doing for the last time. Did he realise that it would be the last time he'd ever visit a particular pub, or see a distant friend, or watch a favourite movie, or hear a favourite song, or in the final months, lift up his kids or even make love to his wife?

Then I drank a lot.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:07 PM on March 26, 2017 [5 favorites]


I was recently praised by a TSA employee for the efficiency with which I had packed my toiletries kit, while he wore blue latex gloves and meticulously picked it entirely apart.

That was a first. The praise, not the inspection, I mean.
posted by ardgedee at 5:13 PM on March 26, 2017 [7 favorites]


Oh, more concrete answer: I purchased a shovel. I had bought a five-gallon honeysuckle vine to plant near my porch, got it home, and realized the only digging implement I had was a trowel. So I went to the hardware store and bought a shovel. First shovel I have ever purchased! Possibly the first non-snow-shovel I have ever used! It worked extremely well for what I bought it for, but now I'm not sure what to do with it. I don't have a garage or shed to store it in. There's a curtained-off area on my roofed porch where it will probably end up, but it's entirely more DIY than anything else in there and I worry it will feel out of place.
posted by lazuli at 5:15 PM on March 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


Pretty general. I sent in a log every week of how many steps I had walked or run each day and how much of this and that at the gym. I gather there are a few hundred people in the study so I don't know that they would have had the time or inclination to give more specialized instructions or feedback, but no one contacted me in my sixteen weeks to say "more such-and-such." Indeed the only question they raised was once when I sent in a blank sheet by mistake, someone e-mailed to verify that I had been immobile for a week.

Thanks. I'm new-ish to my MS diagnosis, so kind of trying to get general information about what might be helpful versus getting dragged into a rabbit hole of not-validated pseudo-scientificness. My sense was that exercise in general helps, so I'm glad to know that still seems to be the case. It's actually been weirdly reassuring to hear that most of the basic "healthy" stuff is the stuff most proven to help reduce symptoms overall. Mainly because I already have a baseline sense of what "healthy" stuff means.
posted by lazuli at 5:24 PM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


Found out secondhand (as ever!) that we've had an ongoing gas leak at work of unrevealed duration and severity. That was novel. As one colleague opined "So long as it's fixed, I'd almost rather not have known!"
posted by comealongpole at 5:26 PM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


Thanks. I'm new-ish to my MS diagnosis, so kind of trying to get general information about what might be helpful versus getting dragged into a rabbit hole of not-validated pseudo-scientificness.

Yeah, if your experience is anything like mine you will get a lot of well-meaning e-mails and links from family and friends about some new miracle treatment which will be forgotten in eight weeks. My best general advice is to stay as active as you can because (in my experience) there is some use-it-or-lose-it with physicality. There are certainly some things I could do easily twenty years ago that are nigh-impossible now, although how much is MS and how much is middle age, I can never be certain. Feel free to drop me a memail if you have any questions.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:06 PM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


Monday will be the 4-week anniversary of my first day of work in a full time job. Not a contract job with full time hours, but an honest-to-god 40-hour week full time job.
posted by koucha at 6:22 PM on March 26, 2017 [5 favorites]


I learned to use GitHub a month and a half ago. As soon as I got comfortable with it, my contract ended. Naturally.
posted by pxe2000 at 6:52 PM on March 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


I contacted one of my elected officials earlier this calendar year, and he replied! He's my state house representative, and literally lives in my neighborhood (well, not on the same block, but within easy walking distance, if I were so inclined), but I had a few comments I wanted to send directly, instead of via his survey. On one point, I informed him of a small thing (the significantly cost of putting up food/ gas/ lodging signs via Interstate Logos, a private company that can take over for a State Transportation Department, compared to when they were handled in-state), and he was surprised to learn of this odd little fact, and said he'd look into it. He also said he supported pushing against our governor's nonsense rules about teachers using more than 3 days of sick leave, which was nice to hear that a Republican wasn't just falling behind our Republican governor.

Today, I bought 2 lb of Amish butter, because it was cheaper per oz than other commercial stick butters, so I could justify the purchase to myself. I've been eyeing those wax paper wrapped blocks in the store for a while, and now I want to dig into it, even to put some on toast.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:54 PM on March 26, 2017 [4 favorites]


A private photo-shoot session with a photographer. I wanted to spruce up some of my online dating profile pics, and to also just have some better photos. It had been a long time since I had something like that done. It's a bit unnerving having that much focus and attention but I was mostly pleased with the results.
posted by Fizz at 8:28 PM on March 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


I bought an antique bedroom set off eBay last month because my enabler Facebook friends convinced me it would look good in my new old house, and so I had to arrange to have it shipped down from Maine. For some reason arranging a cargo delivery felt very fancy to me; certainly fancier than hauling it from the curb, which is still how I pick up a lot of my furniture still.
posted by drlith at 9:18 PM on March 26, 2017 [4 favorites]


I started to think seriously about doing lacto-fermentation in the comfort of my own home.
posted by turbid dahlia at 10:23 PM on March 26, 2017 [1 favorite]


At an acroyoga jam on Saturday, I learned a new flow: Swimming Mermaid with a cool lead-in. I started taking acro more seriously a few months ago, and I can really feel the difference in my core strength.
posted by Devika at 10:30 PM on March 26, 2017 [6 favorites]


I'm living in a new country for part of 2017 (itself a thing I've never done before), so there have been a lot of firsts recently. (This weekend I listened to my first Aussie Rules football game; it was the Grand Final of the inaugural season for women's AFL so it was a first for everyone else, too.) Today's first was the first time I've used a city bike share bike. I can count on one hand the number of times I've ridden a bike in the last fifteen years, so I had a bit of a mental block about it. But it was super easy (I only rode on a bike path; this city has a great riverside bike path and hills everywhere else so that might be all I do), and if I make a habit of it it will help fill in the gaps of public transit here quite nicely.
posted by yarrow at 11:36 PM on March 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


Eye drops for a toddler, ugh. Will this winter ever end?

A very helpful hint if you need it: have your kid tilt their head back, close their eyes, then put the drops in the inner corner, then have them blink their eyelids to the beat of their favorite song (better if you have the song ready to play).

Jonathan Richman's Roadrunner accompanied a lot of eyedrops back in the day.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:42 AM on March 27, 2017 [6 favorites]


Go to Chicago, and get on a train from Chicago to San Francisco. It was pretty cool - I got a game and a magazine article out of it.
posted by divabat at 6:14 AM on March 27, 2017 [4 favorites]


I sold my first jar of honey from my hives and got a logo and stickers and a business card and everything and I'm on the verge of having a webpage and an etsy shop!!! Yay!
posted by Sophie1 at 10:41 AM on March 27, 2017 [11 favorites]


I made frangipani, the almond topping for fruit tarts. It was easy, and can be eggless if some of the almonds are ground into water and almond flavor enough to make the consistency of beaten egg. I always wondered how they made that chewy brown topping for certain tarts.

Today, looking up the proper spelling of frangipani, and I knew it, I found out that frangipani is the other name for plumeria flowers, and I can buy one to have where I live. Hey now! Bakers might want to know that places like Winco have rough ground almond flower in bulk bins, for considerably less money than white blanched almond flower. It makes a really nice topping for $3.75 per pound, rather than more than $10.00. It is also lighter because the brown, outer skin of the almond is left on during milling, and the almonds are not boiled, making them heavier.
posted by Oyéah at 10:55 AM on March 27, 2017 [3 favorites]


I took apart my dishwasher, cleaned the filters, changed the hoses--mostly because the air gap was peeing all over the place on our counter.

It was surprisingly easy and I even managed not to injure myself in any lasting or particularly traumatic ways.

I just watched a YouTube video where a nice enough person with his thumb over part of the camera showed how to do it.

Now it is possible that at some future point in time, the dishwasher will explode and whip hoses around like one of those kids' lawn toy bug things, but for now--the sweet glow of success!
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:23 PM on March 27, 2017 [5 favorites]


Oh and went to the USA World Cup Qualifier--I go to soccer matches all the time, but never to an actual qualifier. Squad goals!
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:27 PM on March 27, 2017 [1 favorite]


Does a bladder infection count?
posted by Namlit at 2:14 PM on March 27, 2017 [4 favorites]


while tonsils can sometimes grow back after a tonsillectomy (mine did), I've never heard anything like that about the appendix.

The appendix can't grow back but the table of contents can.
posted by trinity8-director at 3:20 PM on March 27, 2017 [5 favorites]


Tables of contents usually spin out of control, rather.

Also, what is this. The money ain't growing on my back, but tonsils sure don't.
posted by Namlit at 3:26 PM on March 27, 2017


I was informed last week that a painting of mine is being considered for the cover of an upcoming anthology. That really blew my mind.

My reaction to the news was immediately adopted as the title of said anthology. (It will not be titled "Holy Fucking Shit!" -- just to be clear.)
posted by trinity8-director at 3:27 PM on March 27, 2017 [6 favorites]


I made bagels from scratch for the first time on Saturday. They were beautiful and tasted fantastic.

The weekend before, I had my first ski lesson. I've lived in Seattle for six years now and have never been. I got a weekend package for my girlfriend for Valentine's Day and we absolutely loved it. We were doing smooth confident parallel turns on the green runs by the end of the weekend and are eager to try a blue run next time out.
posted by Kwine at 6:35 PM on March 27, 2017 [2 favorites]


Thanks, lazuli! It wasn't that one - I think the focus was salad more than ramen - but since this one is even more pertinent, it is super helpful!
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:05 PM on March 27, 2017 [1 favorite]


I stayed up WAY past my bedtime on Saturday and went to see a friend play drums in an Alanis Morissette tribute band. I was finishing kindergarten when Jagged Little Pill came out, but I knew all the songs and sang along with the rest of the bar.

For the past 3 weeks or so I've been setting up the coffee to start automatically the next morning. It's like getting a gift from my past self when I wake up and there's coffee ready for me.
posted by coppermoss at 7:21 PM on March 27, 2017 [6 favorites]


Wow, so I read this thread, but luge fantasy camp is the only thing I really remember, that is just the coolest thing ever! You're so cool, Fig.

My most recent was that I took my cello backpacking for the first time!

About a week ago I went to Wyoming's Red Desert, one of my very very favorite places in the American west. Of the many places I'm feel great fear about in the new regime, this magnificent, "barren", beautiful sagebrush steppe is the one I most feel likely to lose as so much of it is under the BLM, already the most lax of the federal agencies for allowing fossil fuel/mineral development, and the fight has, well, been kind of lost already. But it has desert elk, the largest living dune system in the U.S. (the Killpecker dunes), a high altitude desert, petroglyphs, wild horses, many rare species, annnnnnd the Great Divide Basin - formed by the Continental Divide splitting in two, it's an endorheic, or terminal, basin wherein water does not flow anywhere - neither the Pacific or the Atlantic. *jumps up and down* you can cross the Continental Divide twice, how cooooool is that!

Anyway. I love playing my cello outside, and as I'm a) an awful player and b) my cello is 25 years old and terribly-used well-loved I felt no real fear hauling it into the sagebrush and sand (although I did give my beloved her own sleeping bag at night). So I rigged up a harness for my cello and took it with me! Into an area bigger than Connecticut - some real isolation, no trails, just miles of flatland sagebrush: it's not everyone's cup of wild tea but I love it. SO a few times a day when so moved, and a few evenings, I played to the sagebrush and the stars, and once to some pronghorn who ran away understandably (I am a terrible cellist) but mostly to that big wild barren beauty I'm so scared of losing, and I have to admit I wept a few times as I did so. So yeah: my cello backpacking*, for joy and mourning - in some ways a burden, both literally and metaphorically - but totally worth it.

*the real hell was the camp chair I also had to haul in order to play, which was just. . . offensive
posted by barchan at 8:29 PM on March 27, 2017 [25 favorites]


Electrolysis! My baseline for comparing hair removal treatments to getting a tattoo is complete!

(If you're interested, it's electrolysis is worse than laser is worse than tattoo... with the caveat that the electrolysis & laser was on my face, and the tat was on my inner arm so YMMV.)
posted by mikurski at 11:38 PM on March 27, 2017 [2 favorites]


Went to the Bibliothèque nationale de France!!!

I am still starry-eyed. Going there again this afternoon. First time ever was three weeks ago.

It has nearly every book under the sun, its "rooms" are the size of university libraries (they're two storeys each for starters), and all of them are placed around a forest populated by local wildlife, because no one's allowed into it other than foresters. Yes: it's so big it has its own forest!

It also binds its own books. As in, if there's a book originally printed as a paperback, they take it apart and re-bind it as a hardback for the library. For some titles, you can even request they be reprinted to purchase for yourself. This is thanks to them scanning so many.
posted by fraula at 2:59 AM on March 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


The toilet has been ordered, it shall arrive on Thursday; I have also ordered the perfect toilet seat. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the only correct toilet seat; furthermore, I'm equally certain that you will all agree. I mean, who could resist such poetry? Not me.

A British standard heavy weight black toilet seat with solid stainless steel hinges designed for toilets with heavy usage

Thermoset is a much harder material than plastic and thus gives the strongest, most durable type of seat

This toilet seat is ideal for families, schools and businesses as it is much stronger than standard plastic seats.

We recommend this seat above all others as for over 30 years of us selling this seat it has never let us down!
posted by Too-Ticky at 3:38 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


barchan, that may be the awesomest thing I have ever heard of anyone doing! Respect.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 9:24 AM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


Recently, I placed my first custom order at a lumberyard.

There was an aspect of industrial-strength adulting involved, but really, I felt that this was something my Dad should be doing instead of me. I miss my Dad.
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:39 PM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Several weeks ago I bought bacon and eggs at Costco for the first time. The bacon, according to the package, was made from European pork bellies and had quite a lot more muscle and less fat than the domestic brands I've tried. I will buy again, assuming they still have it the next time I need some.

The eggs were a carton of 18. I thought I saw flats of 30 the last time I was there, but I didn't see any this time. They did have flats of 60, but that's more than I'm willing to buy at one time. I will probably not buy eggs there again. Watching for sales, I can get prices as good or better at several closer grocery stores.

The last new things before that were last spring when I decided I couldn't face another Colorado winter and decided to move to west Texas. In preparation for my house hunting trip I got my first cell phone and my first AAA membership. The house hunting trip and the move both fizzled out, but I've gotten my money's worth out of the AAA membership and will probably renew even if I don't expect to be doing a lot of traveling.

The phone was from T-Mobile and I hate it with an incandescent fury. The audio quality is very bad, sometimes so bad I can't even use Touch Tone signalling to navigate phone menus.

(I got through this last winter by quitting the volunteer job I had that required driving on Saturdays. Now I just stay home when the weather is bad.)
posted by Bruce H. at 1:07 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Three years ago I actually ran out my health insurance deductible for the first time in my adult life and ended up with a spiffy new stent just before my 50th birthday. None of the health care pros could quite believe I just presented because all of a sudden my blood pressure had gone from 145/90 keep an eye on it territory to 190/120 every hour of the day and night, but I kind of figured out that was beyond my pay grade. So I didn't have a heart attack, I'm on all kinds of FUN!!! medications (not), spent a few nights in the hospital and got a terrifying round of insurance and billing paperwork before it all cleared (when the nice lady at the hospital said BCBS had paid my bill and turned the monitor around, I literally shouted WHERE DID THIS NUMBER COME FROM) but you know what, I'm still alive and healthy. And I probably wouldn't be if I hadn't read that 190/120 number as a dire warning that I needed help. And everyone should be able to get that shit checked out. Because if I hadn't, I would probably be dead. 85% blocked widowmaker. One more event, and I might have learned the hard way that "sudden death" is one of the symptoms of coronary artery disease.
posted by Bringer Tom at 7:27 PM on March 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


I snowshoed! We've been talking about taking the kids out forever, but never seemed to be able to coordinate all the "finding snowshoes to borrow, having a free day to drive to the snow, packing snacks, and-worst of all-pull out all the snow gear and see what fits" logistics-or if we did, we just went skiing or sledding instead. But three nights at a cabin in the snow meant we had to get the gear out anyway, and we were able to ski one day and snowshoe the next. It was great-just as simple as everyone promised, though a definite work out. Our athletic 11 year old happily jogged past us up hills; our 7 year old laid down in the snow literally 90 seconds in and asked when it would be over. All in all, as successful as family outings get for us.
posted by purenitrous at 9:45 PM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I don't recall ever eating dragon fruit before today, so I'm saying it's new experience. It was on a fruit platter at a conference I am attending, sliced in little half-rounds and surrounded by passion fruit and mango (the event organisers pulled no punches with their lunch fare). Despite it being so, so pretty, it tasted fairly bland. My table mates and I all agreed that the passionfruit should really be called dragon fruit, as it makes more sense in both flavour and texture. Then again, if I were to accept that a thing that tame was called a passion fruit, I'd seriously question my commitment to adventure.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:45 PM on March 29, 2017 [2 favorites]


Considering the beau and I got married on Friday, that would definitely work for this!

A co-worker and her husband made this neat birdhouse for me, another first! (Although, evidently not changing my name afterward makes me one of those "independent women.")
posted by PearlRose at 1:37 PM on March 29, 2017 [9 favorites]


For the first time, I made dulce de leche from a can of condensed milk cooked overnight in a crockpot. It's delicious and couldn't be easier, and I'm a little concerned for the future of my blood sugar.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:47 PM on March 29, 2017 [4 favorites]


I think Monday was the first time I've captured a hooded merganser on camera. It was fascinating to watch this guy feed because when he dives/comes up his hood is all slicked back like a 50s greaser and within a minute it would dry and fluff out.
posted by Mitheral at 3:17 PM on March 29, 2017 [6 favorites]


I flashed a phone for the first time in an attempt to fix my partner's phine that was acting wonky with no apparent other fix. It didn't fix it but I know how to do that now and it made me feel a good connection to the me from 15-20 years ago who did stuff like that more often.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:18 PM on March 29, 2017 [2 favorites]


« Older Disposable YouTube playlists from recommendation...   |   Small italicized pony request Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments