CW: Dental issues, opinions

I should've had my wisdom teeth taken out a long time ago.

In fact, a couple of years ago, I went to a place that does that. I had a nice little consultation with an oral surgeon, discussed options, decided on a plan; Then I returned home with a nice thick packet of information and forms... which my mother promptly lost.

So, as a direct result of that, I ended up putting things off for a little too long, and actually forgot the whole idea... until, approximately two years later, I suddenly started hurting.

Basically some of my teeth are trying to crush other teeth to pieces; one of them already has a chunk out of it and a couple of them just feel like they're about to swell up and explode like that one enemy in that one video game. I've been envying my plush fursona's lack of teeth a lot lately. I also find myself becoming more and more incredulous that wisdom teeth and people who believe in a merciful and competent god exist in the same universe.

Thank goodness for topical oral analgesic spray - mainly meant for sore throats, but it works on teeth too and that plus 4 or 5 ibuprofen pills a day have so far been enough to keep me mostly sane while I wait for my next appointment. I've had to restart the process, but now the date is set and my wisdom teeth are coming out in about three weeks - perhaps (and hopefully) sooner if I'm lucky. And then afterwards there will be a lot of collateral damage to repair: A good chance of at least one root canal, maybe even braces for the second time in my life.

Such is the price for dropping the ball, I guess.

Now, if I really wanted to get into trouble, I could say this is also a political metaphor, and that a lot of present-day suffering throughout the country could have been avoided if so many people hadn't simply lost their paperwork two years ago... but nah, I probably shouldn't actually say that... not out loud, at least.

But I am going to talk about something I witnessed recently, that proved two important things about the internet:
1. There is such a thing as "stupid" passwords.
2. Never underestimate the ability of script-kiddies to be obnoxious, offensive, immature, and downright disgusting if one of them ever manages to guess your password, especially if it's on Picarto while you're in the middle of streaming.

There are probably several lists out there of the 1000, 10000, or 100000 most commonly-used passwords. Anything that's short, simple, or on those lists for any other reason, can be far-too-easily guessed by some brat who downloads the right scripts.

As for the specific incident I witnessed, fortunately the streamer (I don't want to name names here at this point, but it is someone I and many others watch regularly and respect) was able to quickly reset his password, regain control of his account, and clean up all the stupid offensive gibberish that got posted. The only lasting damage was psychological. Hopefully, that too will pass, in time.

Was a lesson learned? It's certainly a reminder that it's a good idea to periodically think about all the different passwords you use, especially the ones that you've been using for a while, and ask yourself if there's any chance that any of them might not be strong enough for the present-day internet. (You could ask https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords as well.)

While I'm at it: We are already over a month and a half into 2026. Have you backed up your hard drives lately?

Some things you just don't want to end up regretting putting off for two years.

(And of course [the opinions I expressed here back in 2021] still stand: The internet is out to get you. So let's all be careful out there!)