Manufacturing is for Robots, THC is for Back Pain

Manufacturing is for Robots, THC is for Back Pain and TOTS is for Everyone

Justin’s back. It’s been a month. And manufacturing almost killed him.

Not literally. But close enough that he earned a nickname — Chafee Chafersen — from walking funny after a week of 10 hour shifts in 45 degree heat. This week on Thoughts Off The Stem it’s a full shoot the shit sesh covering the manufacturing job from hell, a real talk breakdown of THC vs CBD for back pain, and an honest life update from a 45 year old single dad who is very much still figuring it out.

Cheers.

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Manufacturing is for Robots

Here’s what nobody tells you before you start a manufacturing job. You have 43 seconds per unit on the conveyor belt. You will pick up approximately 67,000 screws per 10 hour shift. Your feet will feel like someone from Misery got to them by the end of day one. Your hands will swell to the point where a size 13 ring no longer fits your middle finger. And the billion dollar company you work for will charge you $18.99 for a replacement work shirt and make you pay for your own lunch.

You’re welcome.

The first week Justin could barely walk from his car to the front door. By week four his hands had built their own muscles. The conveyor doesn’t care about your arthritis, your fat fingers, your leather shoes that need three weeks to break in, or the fact that yesterday you were doing absolutely nothing. It just keeps moving at exactly the speed it was always moving at and you either keep up or you don’t.

It’s grueling, it’s mindless, and it’s temporary. Six month contract. That’s the only thing keeping Chafee Chafersen sane.

THC vs CBD for Back Pain: What the Dispensary Got Wrong

Justin’s dad has been dealing with back pain — specifically degenerative disc disease — and went to the dispensary for help. What he got was a 100mg CBD gummy with barely any THC. What he needed was something completely different.

Here’s the real talk breakdown — and this is not medical advice, talk to your doctor:

CBD is non-psychoactive. It helps with inflammation, joint recovery, muscles and ligaments. It can help you feel calm and relaxed and ride the wave of the day. But CBD alone does not kill pain.

THC is the part of the plant that, because it’s psychoactive, actually helps your body deal with pain directly. If you need real pain relief — especially for something like degenerative disc disease — you need a minimum of 10mg THC alongside your CBD. Not 1mg. Not 0.1mg. Ten milligrams minimum.

The dispensary gave Justin’s dad the wrong thing. A 100mg CBD gummy with trace THC is going to make him feel calm. It is not going to touch the disc pain.

Talk to your doctor. Talk to a physiotherapist. And if you’re using cannabis for pain relief, make sure what you’re getting actually has enough THC in it to do the job.

TOTS is for Everyone

Here’s where the episode lands. Justin is 45. He’s been out of work for a year. He spent that year trying to get TOTS420 off the ground, took a project management certification, watched the listener numbers climb to within 385 of 1000 on Spotify, and then took a manufacturing job because the bills don’t care about your goals.

But the six months isn’t wasted time. It’s a reset. A chance to stop investing emotional energy into jobs that don’t deserve it and redirect that energy into the things that actually matter.

TOTS420 is one of those things. The sesh is one of those things. And if you’ve been listening — share it, follow it, tell someone about it. Because a 45 year old single dad with fat hands and a touch of arthritis is out here putting screws into car parts for 10 hours a day so he can come home and do this for you.

Those are the thoughts off the stem. 🌿