☮ Social ☮ PD Social Distancing Talk Thread: Swirly Congregation That's 100% Pandemic-Proof

[Bagseed]

thanks for the recommendations, I will look into those products.

 

[Xorkoth]

I was just about to say, Shure SM57! Can't go wrong. They're not too expensive either, not cheap, but not ridiculous. Like $100. We have a lot of microphones, and most of them are SM57s. We have some much more expensive ones too and they each are better for certain things but the SM57 is best for vocals and recording amps, in almost all cases.

That food looks delicious. I love cooking a lot, and especially when you harvest your own vegetables.

 

[Bagseed]

yeah growing and harvesting veggies is awesome.. I even think about getting into it as a profession eventually and bailing on the whole chemistry thing

and well, I can get the shure mic in a bundle with a pod and cable for 118?... within my price range, I'd say. thanks also for the advice, I will look a bit more into it, but maybe I'll get one of those.

btw, anyone else in middle europe getting frustrated with those ever getting hotter summers? 34?C plus everyday for the past few days... can't take it anymore. spent most part of the day in my flat, windows and curtains shut to keep out as much heat as possible. harvesting and garden watering I did early in the morning.

 

[blistersinthedark]

the GLS knockoffs are garbage (i have them)

for general recording you could look into a portable recorder such as a Zoom H4N or H6, which can also be double as a sound card. pretty good bang for your buck.

 

[psy997]

Yes but he already has a Tascam and wants a mic that he can directly record and monitor from his interface.

SM57 is the right call, for sure.

Since we're on microphones, I'll brag and share that I grabbed a used Rode NT2-A for only $150 a few weeks back

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

I stopped drinking coffee so much when I got into kratom. I might take a$1store energy shot, but no coffee. FYI Kratom withdrawal is real and it sucks. I was ordering a kilo every 1-2 months Dosage was probably 10-25g/day for over a year straight. Just stopping isn't killing me, but it's like what I would think is 1/4 of a hydro/oxy/weak h withdrawal. I can still do shit by eating some cannabis edibles and drinking a lot of whisky and eating diclaz, but my throat is all fucked up, i'm shitting like fuck, and I feel sick.

I don't know where this myth that kratom doesn't have withdrawal started but it really needs to stop. It isn't as bad as most opioids but it is there and it sucks when you come off. I did the stupid thing and tried some from the local headshop and next thing I knew I was buying an ounce of it every other day. I got to the point where I was running out of ounces by the end of the same day and quit it cold turkey and the old symptoms of withdrawal came back after only a few weeks of using. It also gave me hives, dried out my skin, and my hair stopped growing. I tapered off of it about two weeks ago with minimal withdrawal and it was nothing compared to oxy/morphine/heroin/oxymorphine/methadone/subs but definitely there and had more side effects than all of those while using it. The dry skin/hives/hair is really worrying. I knew better than to get started with an opioid again but that old addict in me comes out from time to time. It was supposed to just be a treat while I had the place to myself for a week but then I got caught in that old avoiding withdrawal trap. Really wished I'd just taken some MDMA or something instead.

The green strains were really good for getting shit done in the yard. I mixed a red with some benzos one night and got a full on nod near the start of my use of it. After a few days it was mostly a background thing though and I was mainly using it like coffee. I do hope it stays legal but the side effects and the fact that it causes withdrawal need to be publicized more for sure.

ILU to anyone who lurks or post here. We need to stop dying, because one of us (with an open mind) could be worth 5 people who don't give a fuck and just want to rape the earth to live and then die.

I'm sick of seeing so many people die too man. I attended a funeral for a BLer that passed in my area back near the start of spring or summer. Went with a close friend of his and it was really sad. You could tell the family wanted to hide the fact that it was an OD but his sister got up there in front of everyone and read excerpts from his journals and told everyone what really happened. Major props to her. She called some of us out while we were waiting to get in. She could tell right off who the friends of his that used opioids were. I wasn't on any at the time but that look doesn't really leave you for many months if you haven't been eating.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah kratom is getting pushed by the "recovery industry" as a miracle cure, non-addictive opiate replacement. While I admit that if someone gets on kratom instead of IV heroin they're doing themselves a huge favor, the idea that kratom is non-addictive is dangerous, because it most certainly is. It's an opioid because it agonizes both the delta and mu opiate receptors, the same as other opiates. For me, the worst part of opiate w/d is the RLS, and kratom produces the most intense RLS of any I've been addicted to, when you're deep in it. I think kratom can be great for using short-term, like 5 days, to get through the withdrawal of another opiate. But it's not harmless by any stretch of the imagination. In the places where it grows indigenously, it's a major drug of abuse. I was addicted to it for 7 years, it got me into opiates.

 

[ShroomySatori]

A couple 1mg dilaudid got me into opiates. I had already tried heroin and decided I didn't like it but realized I had the dose too high after that 2mg dilly. The original dose I needed of raw was around 5 milligrams. 2.5mg a half percocet would get me high as fuck. Yeah. Crazy how tolerance went up to the power of 10 or even more. Oxy was fun for a while but eventually nothing but H was worth my time. Never liked kratom made me nauseated might have been bad kratom though.

Was always a functional opiate user. Physical relaxation, cognitive stimulation and euphoria, little itchy scratchy, floaty and dreamy. My mind would be focussed like a laser though, never understood what people see in nodding off. I have done that but by accident and it just scared me felt like I nearly died. Well. I did nearly die. If I was doing that intentionally it never would have been kept a secret for so long.

It has been 8 months I started experimenting again. Tried 5-meo-dmt, ibogaine, and 4-ho-mipt. 5-meo is some trippy stuff that is for sure but I haven't smoked it since they took my dab rig when I od'd. Damn I miss that thing it's how I'd take real smooth hits of DMT. Would love to try DiPt just a little expensive for me at the moment. I'll probably end up trying 2c-t-2 I feel like pushing my boundaries a little this time. Been through so much shit not so apprehensive anymore.

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

For me it was hydros/oxy that I started using for wisdom teeth but thinking back I was predisposed to it. My Dad went through a little stint of pain pill abuse in the 90s and would often give me half a pain pill for headaches and what-not growing up. Never often enough to cause dependance and never enough to really get high that I can remember but I'm sure giving a 7 year old half a hydro 10mg wasn't the best idea. I didn't even realize I was addicted to them until the guy that was trading me some for pot got locked up on a felony charge and I got "the flu" for a week. Should have ended there but then the opioid crisis exploded and every party had people just handing them out. Before I knew it I preferred them to everything else.

The nod is something you kind of warm up to although I enjoyed my first one when I did it by mistake through use of an OC 80 split between friends. I think certain people just love that state of mind. It's like a waking dream where all your worries go away. It's an escape not something special itself although with certain opioids like morphine you can find yourself in a somewhat tripping/disso landscape. Imagine ketamine, on a cloud, in a warm heated blanket, with clarity and the ability to remember everything. I would often sit on recliner all night being able to go into the dream state and back to reality at will. Good times but not worth all the trouble it caused. Although, if it were possible to use them without it destroying your entire life I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't continue using them almost daily.

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

For me, the worst part of opiate w/d is the RLS

soon as the runny nose starts i?m begging existence that i quit in time to not have severe rls.

if i?m physically dependent on opiates i?m usually am for benzos as well. so i ditch the opiates first and the benzos take care of the insomnia and rls. but if i started the opiates first and caught myself in time where i don?t have to taper the benzos as long as i quit using them right away, so that i have to do the opiate withdrawal without, the rls at night throws things over the edge. still better then having to do a benzo taper.

 

[swilow]

Hey PD crew, haven't posted in a while I believe, what's up?

A question for Xorkoth (or any other person well versed in music recording): I am looking for a not too expensive microphone to record some things into my Computer (through a Focusrite saffire interface), mainly baritone ukulele, maybe some vocal or random percussive things. so basically a device to be able to record these kind of things in the context of my bedroom "studio". I have no clue about microphone technology, so I am a bit lost with what type of mic would suit my needs... I used some uke plucking on a house track I have been playing with today, but the detour of going into my tascam recorder, then having to import it via usb is a hassle. unfortunately I cannot directly connect it to the computer to work as a mic...

Definitely the SM57 or SM58 from Shure, both are industry standard for vocal recording. And really affordable.

Though honestly, if you can get your hands on a decent ribbon mic, that'd be my recomendation. I got the Avantone CR-14, which is a weird looking, awesome sounding and relatively cheap ribbon mic, and sounds totally awesome recording vocals- got that warm analogue feel to it. Pretty fragile though, I dropped my brothers from about 1.5 metres onto concrete and it never worked again. Woops.

Honestly though, the voice recorder on most smart phones is actually very good. I like to use it to record speech or 'field recordings', has a pretty reallistic stereo response.

 

[Xorkoth]

I was also a functional opiate user. Never got into IV, and though I liked the nod, I was more into just feeling good throughout the day and doing my normal life stuff. I was addicted for 10 ye3ars and I kept and even excelled at my job the whole time (fortunately), even though my personal life pretty much fell apart.

Gonna to my first of two AA meetings I'm required to go to for my DUI this afternoon. Can't wait til all this court-ordered stuff is over... though tomorrow I'm doing my first 8 hours of community service, with 40 more after that. Honestly I'm thinking of taking 2 vacation days, one per week, over the next couple of weeks to spend it doing community service instead so I can do 16 hours per week til it's done. I really don't like my Saturdays being taken up by it...

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

soon as the runny nose starts i?m begging existence that i quit in time to not have severe rls.

if i?m physically dependent on opiates i?m usually am for benzos as well. so i ditch the opiates first and the benzos take care of the insomnia and rls. but if i started the opiates first and caught myself in time where i don?t have to taper the benzos as long as i quit using them right away, so that i have to do the opiate withdrawal without, the rls at night throws things over the edge. still better then having to do a benzo taper.

Be _very_ careful when you decide to quit the benzos. I came off opioids and benzos cold turkey at the same time and I'm sure that nearly killed me. I remember sitting in my room watching the walls wave. Wanted to crawl out of my own skin and suicide seemed like a good option. I'm pretty sure I had some mild seizures in that time period as I woke up covered in drool without any idea how I'd gotten there. Would lose hours at a time. Watched a close friend nearly die multiple times from quitting xanax cold turkey and having seizures as well. Guy used to really piss me off. He got big bottles full of xanax and opioids for conditions he faked, would lorde them over people like an asshole, then without fail go through the stash in a week then blame everyone around him for his own mistakes. I eventually had to cut him out of my life. He's attempted to get back into it (and many other friend's lives) by lying about having cancer. Last time he came around I could tell he'd developed a large crack habit and was asking me to get him a gun to "defend himself with". Catch was it "has to be a pistol" and I knew right off he was planning to rob his dope man with it. Sucks when people you care about end up like that.

I was also a functional opiate user. Never got into IV, and though I liked the nod, I was more into just feeling good throughout the day and doing my normal life stuff. I was addicted for 10 ye3ars and I kept and even excelled at my job the whole time (fortunately), even though my personal life pretty much fell apart.

Yea I was a functional user too but I would eventually get a habit that became more expensive than I could support. If pills were still as cheap as they were back in the day I don't think that would have ever became a problem but when they got up there in the high prices I just couldn't support the habit with my jobs anymore. Every time I thought I had a decent connection at a price point that would allow me to continue to do them without fail they'd go up in price because some asshole from out of state would offer them $2-3 more per pill. I can't blame them for taking free money but these people were supposed to be friends and it pisses you off when they do that. Especially when most of them were getting the pills for free with the tax money I pay in for socialized health care. Meanwhile I couldn't even afford to see a doctor even though I had legitimate reasons for taking them on top of my addiction to them. I developed such a distrust of doctors that I won't even go to one unless I'm dying now.

Gonna to my first of two AA meetings I'm required to go to for my DUI this afternoon. Can't wait til all this court-ordered stuff is over... though tomorrow I'm doing my first 8 hours of community service, with 40 more after that. Honestly I'm thinking of taking 2 vacation days, one per week, over the next couple of weeks to spend it doing community service instead so I can do 16 hours per week til it's done. I really don't like my Saturdays being taken up by it...

Sounds like a plan man. Get it out of the way ASAP so you can move on with your life and get the stress off of you. Good to hear things are going well besides that.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah I'm moving along. In 5 weeks all my court-ordered stuff (treatment and community service) will be done. Still have 10 more months of no license but whatever. Thinking about getting a 49cc moped to be able to travel to the store and stuff myself as you don't need a license for one and can drive even with a suspended license, but not sure, I have great friends and girlfriend who give me rides. Girlfriend is moving in, music is going great, got great friends, I love where I live... so yeah it's pretty good, I refuse to get bogged down in stress even though some shit is stressful right now (divorce, dad's health).

But yeah I was functional in terms of keeping my job, house, etc, not living on the street or having everything fall apart, but it got too expensive for me, by the end I was $40k into debt (because I was on kratom and then poppy tea so could buy them with credit cards, and when I bought illegal opiates for a time I also largely got cash advances from credit cards, plus a signature loan - I refused to steal from people). Plus paying my bills and supporting a lazy, non-working wife and buying food... once I quit I had to declare bankruptcy, it was my only feasible option. Worked great though, I was able to rebuild my finances quickly because of it.

 

[Cream Gravy?]

 

[Xorkoth]

 

[yepyepwoah]

Been an interesting last page. PD Social - THe opiate years... Seems like a lot of PD users end up on opiates or using dissos as opiates basically.

HeadphonesandLSD - I fully agree with your post about kratom and funeral on all accounts. If I went out an OD or suicide I would want it to be known. Maybe my death can help someone?
There should be no shame in depression and desperation. We should love eachother and want to help.


I remember when I first got high around 18 and discovered drugs. Went back home, found like 5 mostly full liquid codeine/hydrocodone etc etc bottles from me and my brothers being sick as kids. Was so stoked. lol. I was in an area where 10mg hydros were 3 a pop max for just a few.

Had a dude from highschool whose dad was a 20 year disability junkie. Got introduced to those beautiful 80mg green purdue OC's for $20 a pop. Fuuuuck. I could make one last me a week. I was always a good little chipper. Plus I liked to shit and getting backed up is not fun for me.

I smoked opium (probably black tar) a few times. I never really got a habit or looked for heroin because I knew once I was hooked I was fucked. I'd be robbing or dealing and end up dead or in prison pretty quick.

Long story short found a few huge bottles (literally found, dude was in prison and a piece of shit and found in his stuff) of hydros/dillys/methadone. Each with multiple refills. Oh man we tried to come up with ways to refill those but never felt like taking the chance. It was a potential ten thousand dollar come up. Sold off the hydros and methadone. Kept the dillys or myself. Plugged them mostly. Sporadically for a year off and on. Then flushed them when I was arguing with my mom to make a point. Bye bye $1k . hahaha. I'd say that was the best pharm opiate I've ever had. Except when they shot me up with it when I broke my wrist ;-)

Pretty much only used opiates sporadically since they shut down the doc shops in my area maybe 2008-2010ish.

Only got on Kratom to try and help get off alcohol and benzos. I couldn't use marijuana at the time and was so fucking tired of being an alcoholic. Dissos were making me crazy (duh) and decided to try something new.

I knew they were addictive, I knew there would be a withdrawal ya know. But I also knew it was way less than "real" opiates so I said fuck it.

Pretty quick taper from 20gish a day to none in like 6 days (that involved a lot of weed, diclaz, o pce, and about a half pint of whiskey and a few more beers a day). It was mostly they lethargy and depression that got to me. I never really used it for pain. More for motivation and anxiety and shit.

I've been fully off Kratom for five days now. Mostly my bowels are a little weird and I still feel a lethargy. I woke up today, took a dab, did some yoga, dosed 1.5mg diclaz. I felt ok/good, but really lacking a bit of a kick. I still have a weird bit of energy from doing the Kambo sessions, but I can feel a hole where the Kratom is missing. It's okay though, going back now would be stupid. I gave my stash to someone and said don't give it back unless you see me ordering more (wasting money) or i'm mailing it to a friend.

I've been using the last 100-200mg of o pce I have to that bit of motivation. I tried coffee, it helps a bit, but not really wanting to become a caffeine fiend again.

Weirdly vaping nicotine has been weird since doing Kambo. I cough wayyyy more and am hacking up stuff. I never used to do that from my vape. Don't get me started on dabs. Its definatly a bit more than the usual coughing. During the ceremonies, between the sananga, rapeh, and kambo, I blew out about 20 nasty snot rags of all types color mucus. One was big and orange. WTF?

It's kinda like my body just got rid of a lot of stuff and is like "yo, why are you putting it back in moron?"

I think I am going to switch mostly to edible marijuana for a while. I like it better anyway. I'm usually just too lazy. It only takes like an hour to make a weeks for of firecrackers so I think I'll stop being lazy.

I ordered 3 samples of amazonian rapeh snuff yesterday. I am pretty excited. I liked my experience with what I tried this past week. I am hopeful that this can become a good plant ally to help me stay grounded, focused, and off a bunch of other shit ;-)

started reading book two o Stormlight last night. Allready remembering shit and getting stoked.

Xorkoth I can't believe it took someone that long to mention "YO GO TO SHROOMERY" in that mushroom Id thread. lol Thats where I ided my first picks ohhhh about 14 years ago

 

[pharmakos]

I, too, am affected by opiates. Really hooked on morphine right now, prescribed for my pain I still am having from my cancer (even tho things have been improving). Sucks because I need to take it even on the days I don't hurt, or I feel awful. And of course I end up taking extra and getting high here and there, and sometimes running out by the end of the month and suffering through a few days of withdrawal. Blah.

I'm going to ask my doctor for a dose increase on Monday. Not 100% sure I should, but not 100% sure I shouldn't... I've been on pretty much the same dose for a few months now, so tolerance has made the same supply not have the same effect...

 

[yepyepwoah]

there are a lot of factors to consider... for your personal situation I'd say it couldn't hurt to ask for a dose increase. You've been through a ton of shit and (if it were me) thinking about tapering and getting off wouldn't be on my mind. I'd just be thinking about getting through, and if more morphine does it, more it is.

also, TNW, if you are gonna run out, maybe get a bag of Red Kratom and just eat the shit out of it the last few days of the month? Maybe poppy pods, but I'm pretty sure it's not like 2004 when you could hop on ebay and buy however much you wanted.

 

[pharmakos]

Yeah I turned to kratom last month. Kratom is hard to stomach for me anymore tho. If I could afford extract I'd try that but I can't, it's way more expensive per dose than leaf