u/waterfox17

I'm a bit new to the area still, haircuts can get pretty pricey and you can only do them so often as it grows out.

I'm looking for a women's hairdresser anywhere up to 40 minutes out of Frederick. I'm looking for someone who's good with short hairstyles, I tend to go anywhere from pixie cut to shoulder length, and I've got wavy hair that hasn't been dyed and is decently healthy.

Anyone have any hairdressers they've been to that they can recommend? How much do you typically pay to get a haircut from them?

Hi everyone -- I would really like it if we could just have a little talk.

I've been part of this community for a long while, and was paired with my service dog for just over 5 years before she unfortunately passed away. I still browse here often to help answer questions, because I remember how scared and uninformed I was until I started, and took on the months of strict training to get my SD to performance-ready and do her job effectively, and I had quite a bit of help in my journey.

I'm going to say this as politely and delicately as I possibly can, but I would like to stress that it does not affect the severity of my ultimate point -- the commenters in this subreddit have, more often than not, seem extremely negative and almost hostile to posters who've come here to find help.

Now, this has just been my perspective, as I've taken time to try to be informative in my own responses to questions, only to see a flood of negative comments, comments deleted by Mods for disobeying rules of respect, and posters who end up deleting their accounts and are chased out after coming to us for help. Am I wildly wrong about this? Do you see the same, or is it simply the luck of my small litmus test over my years browsing here?

I know that this post won't appeal to many of you, anonymous persons on the internet who have your own feelings, experiences, and biases.
I know things are hard for us as service dog owners/trainers/hopefuls in particular, the hoops we have to jump through just to get to experience the world like everyone else.
I know how much research we've all done, and sometimes it stings when people don't make the effort we've made.
I know how much we and our dogs have had our safety put at risk due to irresponsible animal owners and people.
I know how much danger, politically, the Service Dog community at large all be in if there are momentous mistakes, changing both public perception and maybe even permission laws forever.
I KNOW you're tired from having to answer all the same questions over and over again, and STILL having to experience the trauma and grief of terrible experiences in public.

There's a lot at risk, here.

But I want to make a personal appeal to you, the redditors reading this-- patience, please. If someone's perception about a service dog appears misinformed, respectfully tell them why. If they don't know where to start, point them in the right direction and give them resources. If they haven't considered safety, tell them about your experience and allow them to learn from your mistakes.

I don't mean that we should enable things like task shopping or encourage misuses of service dog permissions for ESAs or pets. I know you all know the difference, but sometimes the strangers and newcomers don't. Tell them WHY it could be harmful to public perception and safety.

The world is hard enough for those of us with service dogs, those in training, those who are making do without support. All I'm asking is that we try to respect and have patience with each other, because asking questions and getting information and asking for support shouldn't be the hardest part of our service dog journeys.

This is an open discussion for people to weigh in on how they feel about the service dog subreddit, and your perspective and experience. I look forward to reading any of your replies. I hope this is allowed, as there don't appear to be any expressly written rules in the FAQ forbidding it. (Mods, let me know if we need to chat.)

I hope you all have a nice weekend. Love and respect one another, and especially the strangers.

Edit: this blew UP, I'm glad that we have extensive conversations going on, and meaningful discussion from lots of perspectives. I'm reading a lot of you and responding when I have the spoons, but I really appreciate you all weighing in, whether you agreed with me or not. I understand that kindness isn't always practical, and constantly giving does lead to exhaustion, but if I can make one more request of you -- remember to rest and be nice to yourself, too. The world is hard, and we all deserve a good break.

My doctor wants to keep tabs on my BP, and it's entirely new to me. I've selected the Omron Bronze as the model that best fits me and my budget, but I have pretty thick upper arms, 19.5" diameter.

I've been browsing through Amazon's many off-brand options, and often see "not compatible with Omron, even though the listing says it is" tucked away in the comments. I don't see any extra large cuffs made by Omron itself, which would settle my mind even if it would cost a bit more money.

Does anyone have any experience with having swapped to a larger upper arm cuff compatible with Omron that can make a recommendation?