u/Huncho_Levitate

Hey r/SantaBarbara,

I’m new to the area and am a crypto enthusiast that’s worked in the industry and broader financial services my whole career. I’ve been thinking about organizing a casual meetup for people in the Santa Barbara area who are into Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3, or are just curious and want to learn more.

Crypto gets a bad rep from a lot of people on Reddit. Rightfully so, yet I think it's prudent for people to at least be curious in this technology that is rewriting the standards for money. If you understand what money is and how it comes about, I ensure that you'll be 100x more interested in this technology.

The idea is a relaxed hangout to network, share ideas, discuss trends, and chat — no sales pitches or financial advice. Just good conversation with like-minded folks (all experience levels welcome, from total beginners to seasoned holders).

Before setting a date and location (and likely putting it up on meetup), I’d love your input to make it actually happen:

• Would you come out?

• Preferred days/times? (Weekday evenings? Weekend afternoons?)

• Good areas? (Downtown/State Street, Funk Zone, beach area, Goleta, etc.)

• Format or topics you’d like? (Casual networking, short talks, market discussion, beginner Q&A, etc.)

• Any other suggestions?

Comment below if you’re interested — if there’s solid turnout, I’ll organize something soon and post the details!

Looking forward to connecting with SB crypto folks.

Onwards 🚀

[repost since my last one was taken down due to Reddit filters? It also got a lot of hate for the short amount of time that it was up — so I'm not sure what that is about... You'd think people would be curious, but I think it's a broader reflection of society. Anyways...]

Hey r/SantaBarbara,

I’m new to the area and am a crypto enthusiast that’s worked in the industry and broader financial services. I’ve been thinking about organizing a casual meetup for people in the Santa Barbara area who are into cryptocurrency, blockchain, Bitcoin, DeFi, NFTs, Web3, or just curious to learn more.

A lot of understanding about crypto first revolves around people's understanding of money actually is and is not (debt-based vs commodity-based)

The idea is a relaxed hangout to network, share ideas, discuss trends, and chat — no sales pitches or financial advice. Just good conversation with like-minded folks (all experience levels welcome, from total beginners to seasoned holders).

Before setting a date and location, I’d love your input to make it actually happen:

• Would you come out?

• Preferred days/times? (Weekday evenings? Weekend afternoons?)

• Good areas? (Downtown/State Street, Funk Zone, beach area, Goleta, etc.)

• Format or topics you’d like? (Casual networking, short talks, market discussion, beginner Q&A, etc.)

• Any other suggestions?

Comment below if you’re interested — if there’s solid turnout, I’ll organize something soon and post the details!

Looking forward to connecting with SB crypto folks 🚀

I've been dealing with pain in the ball of my foot at my second metatarsal since January.

I didn't know what it was at first. With some rest and ice, I came back to sport (running, BJJ, surfing, hiking) and eventually the pain started again.

I had an acute injury surfing where I stretched my toe further and noticed toe drift. After more research, it was clearly a plantar plate tear — never terribly bad compared to photos I saw online, but enough that my toe was separated a bit and I had that marble-like feeling under the ball of my foot. My toe never lifted out of the socket.

Leading up to the overuse, I was putting in quite a bit of trail mileage in barefoot shoes (Vivos, ~9mm) or sandals (Earthrunners, 7.5mm sole), which I think prompted the issue. But I believe the real culprit was my anatomy catching up with me.

I have Morton's toe (Greek toe), so my first metatarsal is shorter, shifting the main load-bearing point to my big toe and the ball of my foot. I've also previously injured my left big toe and lost mobility in that joint — I have noticeably less control extending and adducting it compared to my right. From what I've read, this can be helped with hands-on big toe joint mobilization and arch activation work.

I also have tight calves from transitioning to barefoot shoes and relearning to run. All that soft tissue tightness limits my ankle dorsiflexion, which dumps even more pressure onto that second toe.

Current status: I just spent two days at a music festival on my feet all day, and my toe barely got sore. I don't really limp anymore and the marble-like feeling is mostly gone.

I still struggle a bit coming up onto the ball of my foot in a calf raise, or in a lunge where the back toes are bent sharply and pressure loads right into that spot. I've run twice (2 miles each) since the festival and the soreness has been much less than I expected.

My questions:

• Do you think I can return to normal running?
• Should I keep doing specific big toe exercises? Right now I'm just looping a band around it and running through different ranges of motion and contractions.
• I assume calf soft tissue work and stretching are always going to help here.

I'm ready to be done with this injury — it's held me back a lot — but I don't want to rush it.

https://preview.redd.it/wug8olbwcfyg1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1cb5d1ef6a3254c660e5dd290435579bcf93f0c9

https://preview.redd.it/czefwlbwcfyg1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76f52088c75a9a1e8743abd769d246eb8874df04

I've been dealing with pain in the ball of my foot at my second metatarsal since January.

I didn't know what it was at first. With some rest and ice, I came back to sport (running, BJJ, surfing, hiking) and eventually the pain started again.

I had an acute injury surfing where I stretched my toe further and noticed toe drift. After more research, it was clearly a plantar plate tear — never terribly bad compared to photos I saw online, but enough that my toe was separated a bit and I had that marble-like feeling under the ball of my foot. My toe never lifted out of the socket.

Leading up to the overuse, I was putting in quite a bit of trail mileage in barefoot shoes (Vivos, ~9mm) or sandals (Earthrunners, 7.5mm sole), which I think prompted the issue. But I believe the real culprit was my anatomy catching up with me.

I have Morton's toe (Greek toe), so my first metatarsal is shorter, shifting the main load-bearing point to my big toe and the ball of my foot. I've also previously injured my left big toe and lost mobility in that joint — I have noticeably less control extending and adducting it compared to my right. From what I've read, this can be helped with hands-on big toe joint mobilization and arch activation work.

I also have tight calves from transitioning to barefoot shoes and relearning to run. All that soft tissue tightness limits my ankle dorsiflexion, which dumps even more pressure onto that second toe.

Current status: I just spent two days at a music festival on my feet all day, and my toe barely got sore. I don't really limp anymore and the marble-like feeling is mostly gone.

I still struggle a bit coming up onto the ball of my foot in a calf raise, or in a lunge where the back toes are bent sharply and pressure loads right into that spot. I've run twice (2 miles each) since the festival and the soreness has been much less than I expected.

My questions:

• Do you think I can return to normal running?
• Should I keep doing specific big toe exercises? Right now I'm just looping a band around it and running through different ranges of motion and contractions.
• I assume calf soft tissue work and stretching are always going to help here.

I'm ready to be done with this injury — it's held me back a lot — but I don't want to rush it.

https://preview.redd.it/xkndssf4cfyg1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d4fc4b17024a394b6a2b99c9047f37e9e17e3e43

https://preview.redd.it/59d6e4uhcfyg1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0fcb5c260c7061dce33f85931af68f82a457a2f