Le, they or he, 20. Feel free to correct any of my image descriptions, as I'm always open to ways to improve!
[Icon: A digital illustration of Shin Megami Tensei's Jack Frost by @katribou. He has a big smile and is holding a hand up to his face.
Header: A digital illustration of a stuffed animal-like bear and cat tucked into bed with a yellow blanket by @morickyyy. They are smiling and looking up at the viewer with puppy dog eyes. /End ID]
Fellow epileptics, I have some fantastic news for you. There’s an add-on that makes the internet safer for us. It’s called Epilepsy Blocker. The creator had me test it out, give feedback, he made adjustments, and it works great. It may even help those with migraine disorders that are triggered by the same thing that messes with those of use with photosensitive epilepsy (mine is a case of being absurdly sensitive).
This is the only add-on I’ve encountered made specifically for those of us with epilepsy. It’s not a well known add-on, but I hope to see that change.
gonna forgo the usual rage monologue about the pharmaceutical industry here and get right to it: a coworker just shared this fundraiser for a family they know whose kid has spinal muscular atrophy and needs a single dose of lifesaving gene therapy before his third birthday on may 27th (at which point he’ll no longer be eligible).
they’re just over seventy percent funded, but it costs just over two million dollars for this one-time treatment that can stop (and potentially reverse) the effects of SMA, which otherwise has pretty severe mortality rates. they need about $640k in the next week. only so much I can do on my little slice of the internet but if you can spare any kinds of donation here it’ll put my own soul at ease and could make an immense difference for ayaansh.
as of 22nd April 2021 we have about 16.3M new cases and a death toll of 187K . Only about 1.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated yet.
on top of that, we’ve been facing a major shortage in oxygen supply (to the point where the govt has decided to airlift oxygen from other nations), a shortage in hospital beds and services. The numbers keep rising and with the spread of the new strain, the scenario has transformed into something deadlier than ever.
our infrastructures are falling apart and we need all the help possible at this very moment so the nation can be atleast saved when there’s still a chance. I’ve already lost two of my friends, a teacher and family to the second wave and I can only imagine how much worse it can get. so i would like to take this opportunity to link in some donation posts below–
If you don’t have to deal with this kind of cold normally you might be tempted to use what you have for heat, but you might not know what’s safe. This is non-exhaustive and I’ll link as many resources as I can, but the bottom line is you gotta be extremely careful when burning anything for heat because even with ventilation carbon monoxide can easily build up and that shit can kill you fast if you don’t notice.
-Never idle a car in an enclosed space. If your garage is attached to your house, never warm up the car in your garage even with the door open. If your garage is detached, you can warm up the car in the garage as long as the garage door is wide open.
-Don’t sleep in an idling car, especially during a snowstorm. A few reasons: First, if it runs out of gas during the night you’re stuck with no heat AND no fuel to get anywhere. If it snows overnight it could block your exhaust pipe and allow CO to flood the cabin. And this last one is rarer but even with a perfectly clear exhaust pipe, there could be a leak in your exhaust system that allows CO to build up.
If the car is the only warmth available, idle it for brief periods to warm up and then turn it off and set an alarm to idle it later. Open the windows every once in a while to vent the air.
-Never pile up snow around your car. Either you got snowed in, or you’re stranded off the side of the road. You’d think that snow will insulate the car and let you stay warm longer- DO NOT. Snow makes it harder for rescuers to find you. It gets your car even more stuck and it’s really easy to damage your car in the process of digging it back out. Finally if you block the exhaust system too much then CO will quickly build up in the cabin.
-Never start a car when the tailpipe is blocked by snow. Even in the short time it takes to dig out the car, CO can reach deadly levels. Dig the car out first, THEN start it.
-Never use propane or charcoal (like a grill) for heat indoors. I get it, it’s available, but it’s incredibly dangerous. People have already been hospitalized in Houston this week from using their grills for heat. These grills are made to be used outside, where there’s no way for dangerous gases to build up. Also, it’s a huge fire risk.
-Never use an oven or gas range for heat. Same reasons as propane.
-If your house has a fireplace and chimney, don’t use it unless you know it’s been inspected and deemed safe. Just like a blocked exhaust pipe on your car, a blocked chimney won’t vent CO properly and it can build up in your home. Also, if it hasn’t been inspected in a long time, it may be structurally unsound or full of stuff like twigs or squirrel nests that are a serious fire risk.
-If you have a gas generator, make sure it’s far enough away from your house. Never run it inside, or in a basement or garage.
Dallas: Dallas Homeless Alliance President and CEO Carl Falconer said donations can be made to Our Calling, who is managing the city’s shelter at the convention center.
Austin: Chris Davis, communications manager for Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO, said people can find a list of ways to help here. These donations range from sleeping bags to monetary donations for hygiene and snack kits.
San Antonio:South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless Executive Director Katie Vela said their biggest area of need is volunteers to work the overnight shifts, especially those living in the downtown area who might be able to walk to the shelters. Vela also said the shelters are also in need of hot meals beginning Tuesday. People can find the list of shelters here.
Houston: Catherine B. Villarreal, the director of communications for the Coalition for the Homeless, said people can donate to any of the organizations in The Way Home listed here.
