Hello everyone,
I don't know if I should tell my story because I will get alot of down votes for sure as everyone will think either I'm paid to say this or lying or etc...
well to keep my story short First I'm posting from anonymous reddit account
I was doing online gambling as it was huge promoted on twitch before it gets banned, I won money "The casinos do that to get you hooked" in the beginning then lost that money and lost more money with it over time
Then after 1 year of leaving gambling I ran into a post here on reddit https://www.reddit.com/IAmA/comments/hm7zk/iama_guy_who_for_3_years_made_a_living_of/ And Yes the post is way too old but I'm very experienced also on so many stuff like multi accounting etc.. and not to leave traces I was able to do a scheme which led me to win around 70k$ In 1 Year, and I was able to double that money gambling "Not from the first time I gambled many times and was losing then doing the scheme again to go up then go gamble again and losing and so on 4 times doing the same mistake"
I remember when I ran up to 140k$ I had no goals at all like I wanted more money but for what I don't know, till I started gambling and stopped being lazy to keep doing the scheme as my brain shut down so many stuff and the scheme takes alot of steps/patience/self control many stuff but doing that for a year has destroyed my brain for multiple of stuff I became compulsive and not controlling myself anymore and I wanted to keep gambling, even though if I tried to do the same scheme again I just do it and risk and end up losing.
I lost most of the profit with time I tried to stop myself so many times but I couldn't I relapsed many times, and of course I didn't work for 6 months because I took that scheme as a way to make a living "biggest mistake of my life" I work as a freelancer so that is a huge issue.
I attended GA online meetings came clear to my family and talked to many friends after losing most of the profit almost all of it yes left with a very low amount of the profit that makes the time spent is means you didn't win anything. GA Meetings and my friends and family helped alot because the addiction is so hard to quit.
My problem isn't gambling anymore I mean yes it is I'm still trying to recover but my question is about another thing, my problem in the past I used to open bloomberg website and look at the top 500 billionaires "I'm not rich and not from a rich family" and I always dreamed to be there of course gambling never a way to do it to there I know I was stupid enough to join gambling in the first place even if I knew a way to make money from it but i ended up doing it for a very long time which made me addicted and losing control of doing what I'm doing and gambling "imagine doing a scheme involve gambling for 1 year trying to control yourself daily you will know what i mean"
I look now to the to billionaires and I remember years ago I always have positive thoughts I always searched about business and even spent more hours to work daily some days 20 hours a day yes. but now when I look at the top billionaires It is so much negative feeling wen I'm at the bottom now and I'm 30 Years old and keep thinking about the money that I blew away.
I know all of these are the side effects of gambling I would never want to go back to there again, gambling controlled me even I remember when I was up money I was never happy, I was happy for a moment but when I spent a very long time thinking about it, It never made me happy, I had less money before gambling saved and I was so much happy,
My biggest problem is I always think money is EVERYTHING and I need someone to convince me it isn't I have enough money to make me live but I don't know why I'm a greedy person like my brain doesn't even convert my thoughts and tell me why shouldn't you be a millionaire first before becoming a billionaire and I'm like nope I wanna be a billionaire which leads to an ego problems with myself and then keep saying money is everything
Has anyone ever been in the same situation like ever?

I was an cashier in supermarket. I worked there for 2 months. I worked from 2 pm to 12 pm or 6:30 am to 4:30 pm. I had 1 hour drive with bus to work. I didnt wanted to move in to this city where is this supermarket. I was late 1 hour in my last day of work beacuse I was late for the bus 10 seconds. Before I was late to work sometimes too. I was late once 5 hours, then 2 hours, and 2x 1 hour. Is that bad 20 days? Store managers were nice to me.Could I be blocked in this company? I want to work here. There are 18 more markets in this city of same company. 1 year ago I went to this supermarket and I asked store manager if I can come back. He said that theres no work here and that I should ask somewhere else. He meant same company. Im sending my cvs but nobody calls me. I think they are not calling me because im neet for a long time and they could think that Im unsuitable for market beacuse I worked only 2 months. Im neet for 15 months. I want to live in this city where is this market now. Sorry for bad english.

I accepted this position as an assistant auditor for my state 3 months ago. Lots of things need to be remembered and you have to be able to work on your own without asking a lot of questions. I thought I'd do okay but I feel like I'm failing. Let me explain why. It might be long but I need to explain why I have an issue.
Twelve years ago I had brain surgery. Two large parts were removed and it took away nearly everything I had learned. I had short and long term memory issues, speech, mobility, sensory issues. I was granted disability and was told by doctors I'd never be able to work or live alone again. I saw that as a challenge.
Fast forward eight years. I went to college starting in the lowest levels of classes. Elementary algebra, pre- English. I had only taken accounting because someone told me I would never be able to do it. I graduated with my MBA last August. I had worked for 3 years in Accounts Payable and it just didn't challenge me enough. I had always wanted to do Auditing so when the position opened up I jumped in and landed it. I was told 5 minutes after my interview that I was hired. I was excited. It's been twelve years since my surgery and I'm proud at where I am in life.
It's been 3 months and I've been trying hard but there is a lot to remember and research. I was told that it would take at least a year for me to be able to do much without needing help so it's expected to have questions. I just ask too many. There are 2 people who explain things to me and they are nice and I get it. My main person to help me is not great at explaining and I just get more confused.
When I get confused, my brain does not work well. That's when I start struggling with memory and say the wrong things. I can't think very well and I fail. And then I hear from my manager, "I've already told you this 2 or 3 times! I don't know what else to do with you."
Those are just words but I'm hearing this with every conversation now and my anxiety is through the roof making things worse. She's a nice person but not good at explaining things. I'm supposed to ask her when she's available before asking anyone else, so I can't just skip her. I understand I'm the one struggling in this situation but I'm doing well when the others help me. I don't want to quit but I'm about there. I know I will like this when I can figure out how to handle this situation without saying the wrong thing.
What would you do? Should I just give up? There is a lot to remember and I still struggle in that area. Nothing is ever the same in Auditing so nothing is ever the same. I really like doing the work when I learn it.

I just finished 'The Half of It' by Madison Beer. I gave this book a 3.75/5 stars. I wouldn't call myself a Madison Beer fan, I don't think i've really ever heard of her music, but watched her episode on CHD and got me interested in reading this. She called it the 'Half of It' because she stated that no matter how much she put or talked about she still would feel like it would only be the half of everything, but I have to say, this felt like a quarter of it. I paid 30$ and finished it in less than 2 hours at 157 pages? It was nice to hear her open up and talk about such hard things, but the memoir was just all over the place, not linear, and very brief descriptions or explanations of stuff I basically already knew from the 1 hour podcast I listened to before the release. She even had to add pages of journal prompts and questions from fans. Just felt a bit weird for it to be so short, while this title and the price of it.
Anyways, here are my updated personal reading goals for this year:

• 42/105 books read (40% done, 3 books behind schedule)
• 22,362/45,000 pages read (50% done goal, 3,006 pages ahead of schedule)
• 4.09/5 is the average rating i've given the books i've read so far this year
• 157/157 days of the year read (read everyday of 2023 so far)

I F (21), have recently been putting clues together my dads cheating, now back story my parents Dad 66 Mom 61 have been married for 20 something years. There marriage hasn’t always been sunshine or rainbows but yet again what marriage is, but I shall say I have told my mom sometimes if you wanna get a divorce I’ll support you cause my dad can be an asshole anyways. My dad has always thought my has been cheating/ cheated but my mother never has I’m always around my mom I’m basically with her 24/7 helping her around the house and taking care of my brother. So my mother is 100% innocent she wouldn’t have any time to do anything foolish, moving on today my dad asked to see me and I came down stairs and he asked he could borrow money 20$ max I was like of course and I was trying to ask him what the money was for . He kept dodging the question and I gave up because I thought to myself I’ll see no what it is when the charge goes to my account, 30 minutes go by and I go to look and I don’t what I was gonna fine so I was prepared for this but I wasn’t at the time same time. I open my app and I look and the app is some private dating app/ hook up app and I checked it 100 times to make a sure I was reading it right and I was. Now I’m in this position and I don’t know how to tell my mom I wanna support her in this cause I Believe my mom deserves better she 1000 does and I just know this will absolutely kill her. I’m now sitting here trying to figure out how to break this news to her. For my dad tho I’m so surprised his first wife had cheated on him multiple times and he swore he would never do this to anyone else. But at the same time I don’t know if I should tell my dad first and ask him about it or if I should just tell my mom so this way she can handle it the way she wants too..

We got married two months ago so I could get on his insurance. That was a mistake. Now we get less money because the cost for insurance is too high, and we can barely afford to care for ourselves. We don't qualify for medicaid or snap because we make slightly above poverty line, and they count net income, and after I got on his insurance, our premiums are through the roof. We barely ate to begin with, barely can afford to spend money on things we need, never do anything or go out because we don't have the money. I can't even get a job because he works the night shift and I'm the only one with a license, so I have to drive him to and from work, I have to drive to the grocery store, I have to drive everywhere. Even when I'm sick, or when I don't want to drive. He pays for everything so I have to drive, even though I have driving anxiety.
His brother moved in, and now we live out of one room because his best friend took the living room, despite never being here other than to drop off his dog so we have to take care of it. I hate dogs. At least he pays rent, at the expense of my sleep and my mental health. I'm on summer break from school, but even when I wasn't I did all the cleaning, the cooking, the shopping, yet any time I need something we don't have the money. I wear clothes with holes, I haven't worn a bra in years because they're too small for me. I can't even do laundry because we need to go to his mom's, or I'd have to sit alone at a laundromat in our dangerous neighborhood, spending money we don't have. We have no food, the cats need litter, our car needs to be fixed, and instead he spends $70 buying elden ring. I ask for a bra, and he rants about how I always ask for stuff when we don't have the money, and I already have two bras. That don't fit and hurt to wear. But I don't need a bra. I don't need new clothes, or cat litter, or food. He needs his stupid game so he can play it all hours of the day, while I have to either clean, drive somewhere, or sit in bed all day on my phone because my laptop's gpu fan is dying. Everything I do is wrong, and he can do no wrong in his eyes. Eating rice for dinner but we need elden ring.

Pt 1 If you haven't read it.
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Pt 2 If you haven't read it.
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Pt 3 If you haven't read it.
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Hope you enjoy Pt 4 and happy reading!
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*Flick* "Aligning descent profile for re-entry." I had made all the final preparations
*Flick* "Prepare for comms black out in 10" William began the countdown.
"9"
"8"
"7"
"6"
"5- when you get back I absolutely *have* to show you this really old movie, interstellar, its a classic" Will interjected.
"4-Oh my stars we're about to enter the atmosphere of Ix-5 at 7km/s and all you can think about is showing me some old movie when we get back?!"
"3- Fine."
"2"
The plasma had begun to lick around the edges of the heat shield and up onto the windows.
"1"
The comms began to make a static hissing sound.
"Just breathe." Will muttered to himself.
The whole shuttle began to shake violently.
"PASSING MAX-Q" Will had to shout to be heard over all the rattling.
Just like that, it began to quiet down, the fiery inferno of re-entry plasma died down and we began our coast down to find a suitable landing spot. Comms had also returned.
*Click* "I'd just like to let everyone know that we made it through re-entry just fine." Will had radioed back to the ship.
The sound of faint cheers from bridge could be heard.
"Engaging cloaking device" *Flick*
A loud hum could be heard as the cloaking device not only prevented us from being seen by eyes, but also seen by any radar, sonar, or other means of detection spun to life.
"So where should we land?"
"Oh just a few more kilometers to shore, then I'll just find a nice, secluded spot and we'll spend the next couple of days getting to know the locals!" I responded gleefully, as this was my first time with a civilization that didn't just learn how to farm.
After carefully gliding down we landed in a patch of grass-like vegetation. Will pointed out all the leaves were all black, to which I responded by telling him that the vegetation had to adapt to capture more of the light spectrum than the vegetation on Earth, because of the dimmer, red dwarf this planet orbited.
We had set up the basics, communications equipment, synthesizers, and a variety of other scientific tools.
"Hey, remember when you said you wanted to see an example of human food! Because I do!" Will exclaimed giddily.
After plugging in a drive and pressing a few buttons, the machine whirred to action, printing out a most unusual dish.
"So keep in mind this is just one dish out of... out of well I don't really know how many different kinds of dishes we have, all you need to know is that it's a very large number... But here's too hoping you enjoy it!"
What came out were this white, almost sphere like but more so a squat raindrop shaped... things. Will called them "Dumplings", and they smelled delicious, though he had dipped them in this brown liquid he called "Soy Sauce" that I really did not care for as far as smell goes.
I carefully picked one of these dumplings and bit into it.
"Oh my" I said, albeit muffled by the food.
"It's good isn't it! I told you!" Will grinned.
"That's quite the... texture. I don't really know how to process this. It's so soft and yet firm. Nutrient packs are so much easier, they don't make a mess and they're just so efficient, I mean, you could probably play around with the recipe, make them tastier. Right?"
"You just don't get it do you." Will said, shaking his head.
"Oh well, more for me." He grabbed at my half eaten dumpling.
"Hey! That's mine!"
"So you DO like it then!"
"No, just, ugh, leave me and my dumpling alone, I've already had my Nutrient Pack for the day I'm going to hibernate now."
Will rolled his eyes at my response.
"Fine." He said in that same begrudging manner as before.
I walked on over to the hibernation chamber, a circular area just big enough for me with a warm, gentle breeze flowing over. As I was going inside I heard Will behind me closing up the door after bringing everything inside.
"Wait... you were going to tell me about.... sleep..." I muttered out.
"Oh yes so hold one, could you just fully wake up for a little bit so I can explain, so your species, and for that matter every other alien species I've met, sleeps one hemisphere or one part of their brain at a time, but humans sleep the whole brain all at once."
"What's that like?" I replied, still in the grip of hibernation.
"So for starters we are like, FULLY unconscious the whole time, we can be woken up but we have a very, VERY limited understanding of what's going on around us. We also go limp so we don't move around accidentally, we still do. It's not perfect but it works enough to where I can say, "yeah we go limp"."
"But aren't you... what happens... if... someone ambushes you at night?"
"In all likelihood unless we happen to be right next to a weapon or something good enough, we die."
"Oh my. How... how did this not drive your species extinct?"
"I'm left wondering that same question too Tomō."
This might be the first time I've heard about a human ever being truly defenseless. Will had disappeared off into another room to change, returning in only a pair of shorts. Which left me examining his exposed torso. Human skin is wrapped quite tightly around the internal structure, and there seems to be very little, if any, loose skin, it also seemed to only be composed of one layer, most others I've meet without loose skin have special layers that can break off. Perhaps humans might be less sturdy than I had come to expect. No no that can't possibly be true I thought to myself, or as much as I could with half a brain working.
The morning was punctured by this infernal clattering from Will's bed, his arm swung up and smashed down on a small table next to him, causing the sound to stop.
"What was that?! Did someone find us?!"
"No... it was just my [Yawns] Alarm, we need to be startled to wake up and that [Will yawned again] was the startling noise."
Will climbed out of bed, shuffled over to another table (Those humans have a lot of tables) grabbed a fresh change of clothes and made his way over to the bathroom to change.
That's when I heard it, a loud SHHHHH sound from the bathroom, I made my way over to the locked door and shouted:
"EVERYTHING OKAY IN THERE WILL?"
"YEAH, JUST TAKING A SHOWER."
"A WHAT?"
"SHOWER"
"WHAT'S THAT?"
"I DON'T CARE FOR THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW."
"OH OKAY."
I shuffled back over to my hibernation chamber, pulling the divider closed I took in a bath of UV sterilizing light and changed out of yesterday's uniform, and into todays, which on scout missions is always a set of cloths made to imitate the look of whatever cloths are common on whatever world we're scouting. In this case it was a brown turtleneck sweater, some black pants, 6 pairs of gloves as the basic orbital scan of their unencrypted communications revealed they obsess over cleanliness, often sporting multiple pairs of gloves for specific tasks, kept in separate pockets, land lastly, a sort of shawl like piece of fabric, apparently used to protect yourself from the midday dust and wind storms.
The disguise of our more... alien features was provided by some makeup, changing our skin to a sort of pale grey. We also made use of some printed prosthetic noses, wigs, and ears, which made our faces impossible to distinguish from the local inhabitants.
Once I had finished applying all my disguises, I exited my chamber and walked over to where Will was, standing by the synthesizer watching it print up a breakfast.
Will, who hadn't even donned the appropriate clothing at this point (he was wearing a simple outfit of black shorts and a grey t-shirt), was oddly enough, sopping wet. His hair had turned a jet black color due to its saturation of water, releasing its store down his face and his neck, resulting in the back of his shirt, and the front collar turning a visibly darker shade and sticking to his body, at this point I also noticed that his skin was covered in beads of moisture glinting in the sun.
"Why are you so wet?" I asked him.
"It has to do with a shower, I get myself under this sort of, simulated rainfall, only the temperature is nice and hot, and use soap, not the same kind you use to clean your hands, but the function is still the same, I then put some stuff in my hair which gets rid of oily build up, the water rinses everything off, but by the end I'm soaking wet, I will need to dry off properly though before I put on all the disguises."
As he grabbed his tray with his hands, still damp from the shower, and the skin around his fingers was all shriveled up.
"Your fingers look like mine now! See!" I asked, moving right up next to him to better show him my fingers.
"It just increases the surface area so I can grip things better underwater, only happens if they get wet."
"Why wouldn't they be like that all the time?"
"Once again I'm left wondering that question myself."
"So what's on the menu for "break-fast"?" I asked
"Well for starters, it's just one word, breakfast, and secondly, I'm having two slices of buttered toast, an egg, and a black tea. Standard human breakfast, though Coffee is more popular."
"Black tea...?" I had heard of Coffee before and its danger to other species, and was hoping that this tea drink lacked any of this substance known as Caffeine.
"Yeah just a little caffeine to wake me up."
"CAFFEINE?! That's... that's a.... that's a Class IV chemical weapon! They banned that centuries ago! How?! What?! Oh my... Oh my..." I began to hyperventilate.
"Relax! There's only what... 50 milligrams in a cup."
"FIFTY?! FIFTY!?! ONLY FIFTY?!? THAT'S TEN TIMES THE DEADLY DOSE! WHAT ARE YOUR THINKING!" I shrieked, though deep down I did take note of how that was less than that of Coffee.
"Shhh, you'll risk us getting caught, calm down, don't worry I'll have the cup disposed of properly, I've done this every day and so far, no one's gotten hurt." Will said in his standard, nonchalant attitude that has become so typical of him, a tone which did not seem anywhere near appropriate for the situation.
"SO FAR?!" I was not heeding his instructions to calm down, it's typically very hard to do so when faced with something that could lead to a violent death.
"Look, look, it's totally harmless for us humans, besides, the Federation strictly manages our recreational use of substances highly dangerous to other species, such as but not limited too: Caffeine, Capsaicin, and Cocoa. I make one wrong move and my ass is sent to jail."
I was shocked, frozen with shock, at least I wasn't screaming but I felt like I couldn't move a muscle. Capsaicin was last used by the Rx'lac to murder billions, Cocoa I hadn't heard of before so it must have been something unique to Earth, but it terrified me still. In my frozen state I waited for the cup he drank from to be destroyed, and at this moment I began to regain my motor functions.
After rigorously drying himself off with a towel and this awfully loud machine he pointed at his hair, Will began to
"Now, could you help me apply the makeup?"
Human hands, while much sturdier than what most of us use, in the case of Captain Reloxyn, she has 6 tentacles which can vary their diameter, and in the case of Zorxians like myself, we have the two hands attached to their respective arm much like a human, but the geometry of the fingers themselves are different, each finger is made up of 3 fluid filled sacs, attached one after another in segments, each sack is attached to the previous with a variety of muscles, which gives each joint the ability to make movements with a full 120 degree range of motion, in any direction. While this makes them far more fragile, due to the lack of skeletal structure, this makes us quite dextrous.
But yet, I noticed that Will's right hand, arm, and ankle were already painted, which puzzled me, if he could paint his right side, then why couldn't he paint his left?
"Do you really need my help? You did just fine painting the right side of your body."
"Tomō, do you really know so little about humans?"
"You know you're the first human I've met!"
"Humans tend to have what's called a dominant hand, what it means is that there's one hand I am really good at using, and another that I'm not so great at using, I *could* train myself to use both hands equally well, but I never really had a need, and even when it would've come in handy, there's always been someone else who can help me. Like you!"
"Aww, thanks!" I responded.
"In my case, my dominant hand is my left one, fairly uncommon. Only about 10% of people are like that, the rest are right handed, and a very small number are born with both hands being of equal capability."
"But you really should get on it with the whole training your right hand. There won't always be someone to help you."
"And yet there always has." Will responded jokingly.
"We ready?" I asked.
"Just have to get some things ready, hold on, if this society is so obsessed with cleanliness, how come they don't wear face masks? I doubt they've gotten to a point where they've already eradicated all diseases. That should take them at least another century."
"Oh, this is the really cool thing about this planet! So basically, airborne diseases never evolved! They just... don't exist here!"
"Absolutely fascinating." Will responded.
"Everything we need is now in the bag." He pointed to the black bag slung over his shoulder made from the local flora.
"And we should be ready to go!" Will enthusiastically marched over to the shuttle door, opening it at saying;
"After you!" With a look of pride on his face, odd, if anyone should be proud, it should be me, after all, this mission is already off to a good start considering he's a rookie.
The red light of Ix bathed the planet in this warm glow, Ix was rare for a red-dwarf system, as most habitable planets are tidally locked, but we marched through the woods, noting observations of the local ecosystem that we stopped periodically to jot down in our notepad.
About halfway through the forest Will stopped suddenly, turning back to face me.
"You forgot to tell me what bridge came up with for our secret identities? Oh stars, saying it like that makes me feel like some kind of super-spy!"
"Oh yes, I must have gotten distracted..." I reached for my communicator.
"Okay, so we're two hikers, you named Po'ol and I named Gra'aul, and we just finished up a nice long hike and so we're off back to Hl'Ix, population 12.8 million, and about a 2 hour train ride. Oh by the way, I have to share the language file hold on... yup that should do it! Congratulations you are now fluent in Ix!"
A requirement of working for any Federation job was the implantation of a language chip which allowed the user to become fluent in all 608 languages and, what they called "Significant Dialects" spoken in the Federation, though for people working on exploration vessels like me and Will, we had access to a file sharing system so we could download new languages for the planets we visited after the central computer processed them.
"Thanks!" Will responded from a meter or so ahead of me.
We continued our march down to the road, where we walked parallel to it as cars zipped by. Eventually the forest we had landed in cleared way for farmland, which after about 5 kilometers or so more walking, started to turn to houses with expansive yards, which gradually became smaller and smaller as we neared the center of town.
"You getting tired yet?" Will asked me, we had decided it was best for him to walk behind me, so we could make sure we stayed together.
"Yeah, but just a bit longer until we make it into... whatever the name of this town is."
"Alright."
We continued to make our way into the town, named Urup and with a population of about 3 thousand. When we got there it was almost devoid of any activity, and the wind had started to pick up, which carried in dust. Thankfully we anticipated this, having donned contact lenses to keep debris out of our eyes, and using the shawl to cover up our mouth and nose. At this point will stopped to pull out a small, and very thin, weather sheet, which he released into the wind. This device would record the weather conditions as it gets carried by the wind. Just after doing this, he turned to me and said,
"Weather at time of release: Temperature: 10 degrees Celsius. Wind speed: 56 Kph, rising. Feels like: 5.2 Degrees Celsius, falling. It wasn't able to get a good reading on dust concentration because it's rising too fast so that should tell you everything you need to know."
The wind nearly blew Will's shawl off, but he grabbed it just in time, and me, being too focused on Will, had let my own shawl blow away in the wind, and while Will had tried to reach for it, the wind carried it away far too quickly for him to get it in time, only missing his fingers by a handful of centimeters. I quickly covered my mouth with my sweater, though this did leave part of my midsection exposed to the elements, a suboptimal position to be in during a dust storm of this magnitude.
"Dammit! Almost had the blasted thing!" Will shouted, the rush of the wind was beginning to drown out our voices.
He put his hand in one of the many pockets on his pants, that's something everyone can appreciate about Ix fashion, anything below 10 pockets is simply unacceptable. Anyways, Will pulled out a small pair of scissors, and quickly removed his shawl.
"What are you doing you can't remove your shawl in these conditions!" I shouted back at him.
"I'll be quick, don't worry!" Will responded as he cut his cloth in two.
"Here!" He said handing me the now removed half of his shawl, and quickly covering his face with the remaining half.
We continued on, though this time much slower than before, as we didn't want to loose our balance and be toppled by the wind. Never before had I ever had to deal with wind this intense, no wonder they assigned the human.
"Squat down! Boundary layer winds should be slower!" He shouted to me while bending down to waddle his way across the street to the hotel.
Squatting down only provided minimal relief, as I suppose one would have to crawl to truly take advantage of this effect. Slowly but surely we made our way across the road, over to the hotel. Opening the first set of doors we were met with a powerful blast of air, which prevented any dust from getting in. Only until after the doors had closed, and our clothes were sufficiently purged of any particulates that had somehow lodged their way into the remarkably dense fabrics. Eventually though, the blast died down, and the second doors opened automatically.
The doors opened to reveal an interior with a largely brown, beige, and black color pattern. The whole lobby was lit with a quite warm color tone, with the lightbulbs occasionally flickering and all the windows had been sealed off behind steel plates. Eventually Will turned his head to face a desk spanning quite a large distance, located just in front of a large board with all the room numbers located next to a light.
We could vaguely hear someone talking to another person, emanating from behind a door marked "Employees Only", Will glanced at me, pulling my attention to his gloves, which he began to swap out for a new pair. I quickly followed suit. Eventually, just moments after I finished putting on a new pair of gloves, one of the people from behind the door exited.
"Why on Ix would there ever be customers walking in during the middle of the storm! We issued the alert 2 hours ago!" The woman said to the man who stayed in the room as the door closed behind her.
Turning around to face the two of us, and walking over to the main part of the check in desk, she began to speak to us.
"Hi my name us Za'ul!" She said, showing us her name tag.
"Now what can I do for the two of you! Must've been miserable trapped out there in the storm!"
Will began to approach the desk, seeing this I decided to sit down and catch my breath, the 10 kilometer walk had exhausted me, it was remarkable to see Will barley fazed by it.
"Hi my name is Po'ol and this is my hiking buddy Gra'aul, we just finished up the most beautiful of hikes through that nearby forest, so we're on our way back to Hl'ix! I was wondering if you could get us a room please and thank you ma'am." He said in a sort of folksy manner, not too dissimilar from the way Za'ul spoke.
"Alright you want one bed or two?" She responded.
"-Two please." He said, almost cutting Za'ul off.
"All right! You want first floor or second floor?"
"Oh second floor would be lovely."
"Well here's your key and have a lovely stay!"
Will walked over to me.
"Got us a key for room 203, here's your key" Will had switched from his folksy mannerisms to a soft whisper, but I just let the key hit me, I was far to tired to catch it.
"Well I see our hike took quite a bit out of you, so just come up when your ready, I got the bags don't worry."
I nodded my head in silent agreement, I was exhausted, but I knew I should probably go upstairs to the room with him.
"Hold on.." I said, slowly lifting myself up onto my feet and carefully making my way over to the elevator.
Standing in the cramped elevator I noticed Will suddenly had this terrible and persistent oder.
"You okay?" I asked him
"Yeah... why do you ask?"
"It's just... you smell kind of... bad."
"Oh!" He chuckled with that same old chuckle I had heard a million times before.
"Yeah, uh, I'm sure after I explained to you what a shower was you were probably perplexed as to why we don't do the standard UV bath, but basically humans smell bad after a long day, or after a long enough, or intense enough period of physical exertion. Showering gets rid of the smell. I did notice the Ix had only a single layer of skin, and hopefully this means they too have the scent issues that humans have, and thus also make use of showering."
"I see. Can you take another shower when we get to the hotel?"
"Tomō! That's... don't say that to other humans okay, you can be direct with me like that but... a lot of other humans will not take that kindly. Just letting you know that."
ding
The elevator had made its way up to the second floor.
"Let's see, 203... 203... here it is!"
Will unlocked the door and opened it.
"Oh thank the stars they have actual beds and it wasn't just a translational error!" He cried out in relief.
Will ran over to the bathroom.
"And they have showers too! Just Wonderful! Don't worry a shower should adequately clean you too."
"Oh I brought my own portable UV sterilizer, I'll be fine."
"You just relax down I'll take care of the report back to bridge."
I made my way over to the beds and just collapsed into it. Hibernating while laying down was not ideal, but at this point I'd do anything not to be on my feet anymore. Eventually I decided that I didn't care for lying face down, and instead rolled over to face Will, just to make sure he didn't botch the report.
Eventually once he finished his report, he walked over to the rooms corners and placed the sound barriers, which would cancel out our voices making sure nobody heard us. Which he, well, I was supposed to do first thing upon entering, though I was far to tired, and Will must've only just noticed. You know, when he first got here he really just annoyed me to no end, but now, he's really settled in and has gotten really into the hang of things, and sure, he's weird, but you know what, he's a human, he's not weird, just... different.
​
I think I'm going to leave it off here, I know I promised some action but this is just where the story lead me, and it was already getting long. Part 5 will be out tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed reading!

I’ve recently heard that you can reuse pickle brine to make more pickles instead of having to buy a new jar every time. I don’t eat pickles super often, I’ll maybe have some as a snack, or dredge and fry some as part of a lunch 1-2 times per month. It takes me a very long time to go through a big jar of pickles.
Today, though, I thinly sliced a couple cucumbers, crushed a couple cloves of garlic and put them in my near-empty jar, added probably a half-tbsp of salt and a tsp of sugar, and just enough vinegar to fully cover the cucumber. I gave it a shake and set it in the fridge for a few hours before curiosity got the better of me and I tried one, and oh. my. gosh.
They were amazing!! They weren’t super pickle-y, but they weren’t super cucumber-y either; it was like a perfect middle ground, and I love them!
So I’m wondering if I can continue reusing this pickle brine as I eat through these pickles, or how long it would be safe to do so? The ‘best by’ date on the jar was a few months ago, but the cucs are fresh.

Am I being mentally abused or am I the problem??
Im asking this question because I don’t know what to believe anymore.
My older sister seems to always want to pick a fight with me.
For example, I’m watching TV and I have my laptop while eating breakfast by myself. She comes home with hot food and doesn’t ever ask me if I’m hungry. I always ask her if she wants anything when I’m out and most of the time she says yes.
Anyway, she comes in and says “Do you know I pay for the electricity”
and I said, “What’s the problem?” My laptop is running on battery so the only thing on is the tv. Then she says, “Well pick one unless you want to pay for electricity.”
I pay for the internet which is three times more than electricity. But I don’t bring it up or cap her data usage. I learned from the past that it’s better to just stay quiet because it’s not worth fighting. So I turned off the TV.
She goes to the kitchen took look for anything she can blame me for. She opens the microwave, and asks, “Have you seen the microwave?” I said, “What’s wrong with it?” She said, “It's dirty ass hell.” I replied, “Well if I saw it was dirty I woulda cleaned it.”
Then she replies, “No you wouldn’t you don’t do shit. You wait for me to do everything. When do you mop the floor?” What she doesn’t know is I do all of these things but I just don’t report it or tell anyone because I’m an adult. I’m 31 years old. It’s’ probably 11 AM I don’t want to start my day like this.
She never has anything nice to say. Yesterday, she got mad that I parked my car in the garage. She said, “Why did you park in the garage?” I usually park on the street but I just got back from the doctor and I could barely walk. My foot was swollen doctor said to lie down as soon as I get home and keep my feet elevated.
So she comes downstairs (knowing I just got back from the doctor, I asked her if she can take me and she said I can't take care of you. All I wanted was a ride. had it been the other way around I wouldn't let her drive herself to the hospital, I would take her and stay with her.
So she tells me, ugh you're useless I always have to do everything!
Which is not true.. she actually has beef with my cousin right now because my cousin told her the same thing. She said.. “we moved grandpa here to my house because you guys don't do anything to help him. Only we do when we visit”
So she and my cousin are not speaking because of the same reason that she’s mad at me. Supposably, I don't do anything. I do so much for her especially before I was diagnosed with a disability. It was only when I stopped working she started being more violent toward me.
We use to have a joke in the family that we were born in the wrong order because I use to pay for all her cell phones, cell phone bills, and food, and when she was on the run cause my mom kicked her out when we were teenagers I was the one helping her survive by giving her and her bf money which I know they used for drugs maybe. She's not an addict but her ex-bf is an addict.
So I’m at the dinner table and I decide I don't want to have this conversation because it's not worth the fight. My home is a lot better when we are getting along. Then she chases me and tells me to put my food away and I said I will but I don't want to be near you right now. You’re being violent.
Then she follows me up the stairs and tells me that I’m going to end up a lonely man and no girl is ever going to want to be with me because I'm such a pig. Her boyfriend comes in the house and tells me to just go in my room then she proceeds to take the dishes that I left on the table and placed them in front of my door.
I'm not asking for sympathy. I'm asking for evidence or some kind of idea about what I’m doing. Am I really the problem? Why does she hate me so much? I told her once that I loved her and whatever it is that changed the way she looked at me, I told her I apologize. I said Im sorry I wasn't a better brother.
I’m not asking for who is right or wrong. I don’t think that matters. But I feel like I’m being mentally abused, gaslighted, or maybe Im being too sensitive. She literally will find anything she can around the house just to bitch as me about. I think she gets happy when she finds out I fucked up somewhere in the house and she just loves to point it out.
I remember when I bought her an iPhone X when it first came out and she destroyed the phone within hours of having it because we unfortunately had to change her number. She said its all my fault and she threw the iPhone to the wall and shattered it. I felt bad because I didn't know we were getting new numbers. I apologized.
I called Sprint and figured out a way to get her old number back. It took a few days but I was able to. and I had to buy a new iPhone X because she destroyed the first one. When I told her her phone came in the mail and her number was restored. She pulls out an iPhone X and says she got her own now. I was furious but I just said whatever as long as we’re getting along that's what my mom would want. mom passed away years ago.. she never apologized. She didn't even give me her new number for maybe two years.
I guess what am i asking is…
what can I do to be a better brother?

I [m30] have been dating my current GF [f27] for 7 months and things have been going really well and we have been getting more and more serious. We communicate wonderfully and I feel comfortable asking any question I need to but I'm not always sure I'm asking the right thing. Her ex BF [m31], who is also her best friend, has recently moved into her shared apartment. He does not want to meet me despite my desire to meet him and I need advice or suggestions on what to do. For context I am white, my GF is international (from China), and her ex BF is also international (from China).
My GF and her ex BF were dating for 2 years (they lived together) before they broke up and there was a 1.5 year gap before meeting and starting to date me. In the interim she had a fling with another man who is no longer in the picture. After breaking up with her BF she remained close friends with him and currently sees him as one of her best friends.
After my GF and her ex BF broke up, she moved into another apartment with 4 tenets and her ex moved to a different state for a job but they remained close friends.
Two months ago, her ex lost his job, and he moved into one of the vacant positions in the apartment. My GF did not tell me he moved in, I had to find out on my own when I visited one time.
My GF does not spend much time at the apartment. She spends nearly every weekend with me at my house and works from home from my house Monday and Friday. She is required to go into her office 3 days a week and stays at her apartment for those 3 days. I trust her to be honest with me whenever I ask questions (she is a terrible liar and knows it) but does not always offer info on her own. We have had discussions about her communication and she has been more open since this. She really seems like she is committed to our relationship and willing to work on herself.
I have been anxiously waiting to meet the ex BF since he is close friends with my GF and she has mentioned him multiple times since we have been dating, discussing aspects of their friendship etc.
Yesterday I found out the reason why we have never met. He does not want to meet or see me at all. Apparently he even got mad at my GF one time that I came over to their apartment and she did not adequately warn him I was coming so he could go hide in his room. I have never met or seen or spoken to him. She told me she asked him why he does not want to meet me and apparently he just didn't give a reason, according to my GF. I find this behavior odd since my GF seems to think they are good friends but I'm not sure a good friend would behave this way. If they are truly just good friends, I would think there should be no problem with us meeting.
I think a big part of her continued friendship with him is their shared cultural background and shared experience coming to the USA. I really don't want to get in the way of that aspect of their relationship or make her feel like she should abandon her friend.
My GF feels stuck in the middle because she wants me to be happy and wants me to meet him, but also wants to respect her friends decision to never meet me and she does not want to push him to meet me. The fact that he is her ex BF makes everything more confusing.
Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice on how I should be feeling about this? I didn't really have a problem with him moving into their apartment since they are just friends and she spends so much time with me, but his lack of desire to meet me is really raising some red flags. Any help would be appreciated. I am feeling very insecure about the whole situation.

Okay guys, I'm sorry but this is a seriouspost. And a long one at that.
Mods, I'm sorry if this violates any rules, but I think that what I have to say here is important so please read it all before rendering judgement.
...
So, where to begin?
I've been feeling worthless lately. I keep on top of the news coming out of Ukraine. I have for the last 467 days, religiously. 0700, 1100, 1330, 1615, 2200. Check Ground News. Check NCD. Check in with OSINT. Check headlines. And what always strikes me is what the hell am I doing?
Not to say "what am I doing wasting my time keeping up", but rather "why aren't I doing something to help?"
To understand where I'm coming from, I'll give you a little background about myself.
I live in England. I don't come from a military family, but for the last three generations across all branches of my family exactly one member has served per generation. My great grandfather served in the navy aboard the HMS Enterprise. My great uncle served in the Manchester Regiment. My uncle served in the Royal Marines. Adding in stepfamily, my stepdad served in the SBS during the Falklands conflict.
My point is: I wasn't raised to believe "military service makes you a man" or anything. But growing up, I fell in love with flying, with military equipment and the sense of duty and camaraderie.
I joined the Air Training Corps at fourteen and, over the next four years worked my way up to Cadet Flight Sergeant. I won awards for Fieldcraft and Marksmanship. I got my Junior Pilot's Licence. I attended the first Air Cadets Future Leaders course at DCC Shrivenham, led a two-day field exercise and was selected Best In Camp by the Group Captain who came to oversee our "passing out parade" (no actual qualifications given out, but it was meant to be a real taste of life as a junior officer) . I made up my mind that I was going to enlist in the RAF as a pilot.
And then I let my family convince me to go to university instead. "You're a bright lad." they said, "You've a great mind for science and numbers, it would be a shame to waste it."
I failed my degree in my third year. I studied Forensic Science and failed my Law module twice. Three years of my life wasted, £45,000 of debt accrued for nothing, and on top of it all I'd realised I was failing and burned every bridge I'd built over those three years, and I'd got out of shape.
At 21 I found myself stuck in a dead-end weekend job working shitty hours for minimum pay, all my hopes and dreams up in flames. I fell hard into depression. Compound that with a pandemic and repeated lockdowns, and I don't mind admitting that I considered taking the easy way out on many an occasion.
I'm still clawing my way out of that today, another four years down the line. November 2021 I finally managed to get myself a decent job, get back into rough shape and thought that the future was looking up.
Then, as we all know, February 2022 happened.
Russia invaded Ukraine and I, along with most of the West, was shocked and appalled. As soon as the first volunteers went over, I made up my mind to go myself. Sure, I was just getting my life back on track, but I couldn't stand idly by and watch, I felt that lingering sense of duty calling to me again. Sure, I'd probably end up dead in a ditch within a couple of weeks, but I made my peace with that. I'd be doing something.
So I made myself a vow.
I was going to Ukraine, and I would come home either in peacetime, or in a body bag.
There was just one problem. My passport had expired and I'd shredded the old one. Being dirt poor and depressed doesn't lend itself to going abroad, so I'd not foreseen a need for it.
By the time my new passport came, the Russians had begun shelling the staging post near Lviv. The Ukrainian Embassy put out a statement not to travel to volunteer. They'd be tightening restrictions. Former servicemen only from there on.
I'd missed my chance. Again.
Needless to say, the depression hit again. But, shortly after, I found this sub. It has been my hub, my rock through this past year.
Recently (very recently) I decided to become a more active member, rather than lurking. I've begun shitposting in the comments, and a couple of days ago made my first original post (about Putin using porn to win the war, of all things).
I've come to realise that, what we do here, what NAFO is doing, it's important.
It's important for people like me. People losing hope, or their sense of purpose, or so wrapped up in "what-ifs" that they begin down a very dangerous rabbit hole.
But it's also important for the wider war. We are part of the information war going on around Ukraine. We are there, reminding people that there is a war going on whether they see it or not. We keep it in the public conscious so they will not forget. We keep up the pressure on politicians to keep the aid flowing. We relentlessly mock the shit out of the incompetence, idiocy and objective evil of the RuAF and the Kremlin.
We may not be boots on the ground, but we are, in our own way, fighting as hard as we can to support Ukraine however we can.
I'm going to quote myself from a comment on my previous post:

Bottom line is, memes are playing a surprisingly large role in the information warfare going on around this war. If not by actively informing people of the facts, at least by keeping the fact that there is a war going on in the public conscious. Its the whole foundation of NAFO.
I missed my chance to enlist in the RAF. When I was young enough, I wasn't fit enough. Now I'm fit enough, I'm too old.
I missed my chance to volunteer to fight in Ukraine. By the time I had my affairs in order and was ready to go, they were turning away volunteers due to Russia shelling the staging post near Lviv.
This is what I can do. I can keep reminding people that the war is happening. I can ensure that people are aware of the atrocities being perpetrated by the RuAF. I can relentlessly mock the barbarity, incompetence and wilful idiocy of the Kremlin and the RuAF.
I may be the little kid in Starship Troopers joining in on the "I'm doing my part!" and getting laughed at, but damn it all if this is the most I can contribute then I'll die before I stop.

What we do, here in this sub, on Twitter, on Facebook, on YouTube and a myriad other sites, and out in the real world, it matters.
Keep fighting the good fight, my fellow Servicemen and Servicewomen of NCD and NAFO.
And thank you for giving this depressed keyboard warrior a sense of purpose once again.
Slava Ukraini!

I plan to start an apprenticeship and I can't really make a decision. I want something that is mentally challenging. I graduated from an electrical engineering technology program in college. I really enjoyed learning and lab work.
I need to find a secure position with high pay. I want to start at $30/hour but I understand that not many companies offer that.
Is there a place I can move to make more money?
I've worked construction and labour jobs for the last 5 years, I'm 30 years old now, very strong and active. I'm skilled and precise with tools because I've used them since I was young.
I've had various roles as a technician. Installed phone internet and tv. I was a repair and calibration tech for an electronic manufacturer. Irrigation tech at a golf course.
Woodworking comes very naturally to me, like I was born with the ability. Carpentry or cabinetmaking would be my first choice but I want to explore all the possibilities and make as much money as I can in a short amount of time.
I am easily trainable and I want to learn.
What are the most challenging and highest paying jobs I can aim for? I want to be mentally challenged, I am getting paid $24/hour right now for hard labour most days. I just find it not worth the money, and it drives me crazy that I'm just doing repetitive tasks all day.
Currently, I am a rope access tech and I love climbing but it's not worth it. I can't get myself out of debt and this can't go on for any longer.
I'm really not doing well in life and I need to make a decision in the next year.
If you can give me local unions please do.I am willing to relocate anywhere.

hope you enjoy this rant
I hate how playing the game automatically forces you into unlocking boxes to fill the slots for a few reasons. the boxes that you unlock are not worth the time it takes to open them. you will wait for hours and hours for a box to open just to receive like 3 genre cards for a genre you dont even care about. maybe you get a good genre if you're lucky. but even if you are lucky you still need 30+ more of those cards to even unlock a song and you have to keep getting lucky over and over in hopes of getting a genre box (let alone a song you like within that genre) to even enjoy it.
the way to earn those boxes with the genre cards is by playing normally so you can fill up your box slots which you have ONLY THREE OF..... and you can't play at all if your slots are full. boxes can take 3-5 hours to open and your only option if you want to play a level is to spend money buying gems or watch a 30sec ad. the boxes should not take that much less time to earn than to open and free up a slot. you could earn a box in <10 minutes and then you're stuck waiting hours and hours for one box to open so that you have a free slot to earn a box which you will fill in <10mins again. it's a never ending loop of playing for 5 minutes and then waiting for 5 hours. it's horrible
the game requires way too much patience for those who can't spend money on it. it just bothers me because the gameplay is so good and they could really make the experience enjoyable without forcing the users into spending money just to play at all

Back story. My mom passed away in 2005 and had a best friend Cara from high school until she died at 65. I became friends with Cara after mom died. We would go and walk on beaches and parks. Go to restaurants. So now in 2023, Cara moved to a fun new city and I am to visit for a week. Just me and her. She lives alone and her kids are adults. I have a family with hubby and adult children and it was nice to go myself. So Day 1. We venture out to a famous market and walked around for four hours. We ate a tourist restaurant so think seem good. Cara invites me to her activities and a play her family is in. Day 2 we go a park beach with no food or activities for four to six hours. We ate at 2-3pm at a diner. Day 3 or 4 we go a museum and a tall building to see the view. It’s 5pm when museum was done. Cara wanted to go back to the museum and see it again and back. Then watch the five movies and the gift store. It was 6:30pm when she finished that. I got light headed, nauseous, and tired feet as we never ate lunch. I say I just need caffeine to calm my stomach and headache or go to eat please. She has no plans. We walk a mile to get to the bus. I finally found a McDonald’s to get a coffee. I stopped clutching my stomach. I told her I feel sick. She said I should have mentioned that I needed a coffee earlier. We didn’t have lunch or dinner. We finally ate at 830pm. I cried myself to sleep as I had more days. The next day I insisted no more 8 miles a day with no food plans. I started using google maps as and is leading us wrong or have us walk 2 miles for a bus when there is one in 5 blocks to connect with. The last day we went to a beautiful beach and walked to the map I used. She insisted the trail is not here but it has a sign. We go in the trail and it’s wonderful. We then go to a restaurant i wanted to go and it was good Asian fusion food. We were at outside seating and the waiter took a while to give her water but I had her water bottle. Then she wanted soy sauce which is not common in the dishes but they got it for her. She starts telling me she is not going to tip. I am like what? We got two checks and since I knew she wasn’t going to tip, I gave the tip to the guy in cash like a $20 while she is going the buttons 18%, custom tip, no tip etc. she said she is going to press no tip. I say go ahead. At the bus stop she did press 18% (like $5) on her receipt and was mad like the did it on purpose. I asked her if she heard of a Karen. They don’t tip either. Then she said it’s not my business to give the waiter the amount of tip she was not providing. Now since I gave the waiter for dealing with Cara a 40% tip and she gave a 18%. That waiter got the biggest tip ever for a $50 check. She also mentioned she doesn’t celebrate birthdays (kids hated her for that)…. There was more.

Hi all,
Me and my partner were victims of a hate crime attack a couple of weeks ago by neighbour. I’m disabled and not only that we are a same sex couple and the “neighbour” decided that he was going to use that and launched a vile attack on us. This is all because an ambulance blocked them from getting off the street while they were looking after me when I was quite unwell.
This was reported to the police but due to the lack of evidence it was a “he said they said” case they dropped the case and gave him a warning of leave them alone, they have put a marker on our address so if it does happen again they’ll attend straight away. The copper also advised us to look at a home security system or CCTV and a video doorbell. Now I can’t afford to pay for this off the bat, but I have received an email from sky about Sky Protect and the tech bundle of a video doorbell and indoor security camera. I wanted to know is there anything else like this out there? Is there anywhere that does more of a security system ie 2/3 CCTV cameras, alarm, video doorbell?
The whole incident has left me really shaken and I’m going to be honest it’s terrified me, we had to go out the other day and when we got back home this neighbour was outside I got out of the car and was trying to unlock my front door and I was visibly shaking and almost in tears because I was terrified that something was going to happen. He was stood at his van just shouting “liars” “lairs” “best not say anything otherwise the lairs will go to the police” obviously I had no evidence of this so even if I did they couldn’t do anything.
I do get quite poorly at times due to having a fair few health conditions so ambulances are inevitable for me and all this because I was unwell the crew needed to get the ambulance as close as they could and they blocked a private road for about 40 minutes. It was about a week after that I got home from hospital that he came storming out of his house just as my other half was getting me into the car to take me for an appointment that all this happened. Even worse it took the police nearly 24 hours to get out.
Sorry for the rambling but if anyone can suggest anything that is like sky protect or a company that will allow me to make monthly payments and fit the system once it’s all paid or a company who will allow me to pay it off monthly would be great. The only down side to the sky protect is the home insurance, we don’t really have anything that is worth getting insurance but if no one can suggest anything else then I’ll give them a go.
Again sorry for my rambling and thanks in advance :)
Edit: incase people didn’t realise we’re based in England.

I work an office job where I’m in a cubicle and take calls all day. I’ve been there 6 months and work my absolute hardest. Life happens and I’ve missed a handful of days and had some tardies throughout my time. Supervisor is aware of my situation and told me that as long as I work 124 out of 186 hours I’m good. I have not dropped below or anywhere near this.
Either way, I was put on attendance probation today. Attendance probation means that I can’t miss a single day of work from now until September 4th. Technically with probation, I’m allowed 6 pre scheduled days off until then, but because I originally prescheduled 6 random days off this summer (prescheduling = no attendance penalty) and it’s during the 90 day period, those are counted as my days allowed. I am now expected to be at work at 6:45 am no later, regardless of outside factors, for 3 months straight. I’m angry crying as I type this. I try so hard in every aspect of my life but it always comes to a penalty. I don’t even know how any functioning human being could go 3 months without life getting in the way of work.
Edit: My ADHD just made my life 10x harder.

I’m worried. I spent hours reading the store manager reviews on Indeed and they were mostly one star reviews saying how horrible it is to be store manager.
I was an assistant manager for three and a half years so I know what I’m getting into but part of me is worried I won’t be able to handle it.
Someone tell me it’s going to be okay lol

ive applied to over 200 jobs on indeed since i opened my account in 2019, and have no track on which companies i applied to, but i suddenly got this email today.
Dear [my name]
After reviewing your resume on the Indeed site, we inform you that you have been selected for a position at Brandi's Investments.
At Brandi's Investments , we strive to hire the best talent. We believe your qualifications and experience make you the perfect fit for our team.
We are confident that the salary and benefits package we offer will make you an attractive candidate for this position. You will receive a competitive salary, along with health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as a 401(k) plan. We also offer generous vacation and sick leave, as well as other benefits.
We look forward to you joining us. Please let us know if you have any questions about the offer.
Best Regards,
Michelle Garner Brandi's Investments Inc
​
I asked for more details so I was sent this
Dear [name],
I am pleased that you are ready to begin the employment process and become part of our company. Brandi's Investments Inc values each candidate and individually trains them in basic skills and professional ethics in the workplace.
We are currently recruiting for the online position of Remote Invest Manager. - With this email you also received a Job Description. Do me a favor read and familiarize yourself with your position.
Salary and Schedule:
- It is remote job, using your smartphone or laptop. - 48 CAD per hour (bi-weekly). - Full-time: Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. - Part-time: 20 hours weekly (selection of an individual schedule). Each candidate is required to complete a probationary period of 21 business days. Note, our company hires Canadian citizens (we do not provide work permits).
Each candidate has a probationary period. During the probationary period we guaranty you a full learning of your main responsibilities and official employment after completing your training (training is paid). During the probationary period you will have 3 test tasks. During this time, you can make 600 CAD -900 CAD for one task. If you complete 3 test tasks in less than 21 days. Then your probationary period will be completed in less than 21 days. And then you will start earning 48 CAD per hour on an ongoing basis.
Employment process:
If you are ready to start a probationary period with our company, you need to fill out the Probationary Period Agreement. Once you fill out the Probationary Period Agreement and submit it, I will receive and review it. Once your Probationary Period Agreement has been reviewed, I will contact you for the further recruitment process.
On behalf of the entire Brandi's Investments Inc team, accept our warmest congratulation, we are excited to welcome you to our team! Contact me if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to answer them.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you
Sincerely
Senior HR Manager Michelle Garner Brandi's Investments Inc. www.brandisinvestments.com +1 (682) 297-7866 2 Ralston Ave Dartmouth, NS B3B 1H7

I am a high-octane person by nature. I work with tech startups. Because I'm so focused on my career projects, board advising, volunteering etc. I've never been very good at feeding myself balanced meals or giving myself permission to just take it easy. After years of dealing with sexist bullshit in my career, I can be competitive and aggressive at times, and I find it hard to unplug and relax unless it's a long-planned vacation. I've often felt that my personality is at odds with my biological sex, though to the casual observer I look cisgender female.
My husband is "soft" in a lot of ways. Where I am self-critical, he is self-soothing. Where I'm combative, he empathizes with the other viewpoint. Where I get satisfaction from career wins and creating a lifestyle for us, he gets joy from cooking us meals and emotionally supporting family and friends. He tears up easily when he's upset. He's a little squishy around the middle, like a big cute dumpling. 😄 He works part time in the evenings, and I work the traditional 9-5, so if we ever decide to have kids, we won't need as much childcare help. He deals with annoying chores and errands so that I'm not interrupted during my work hours. I get the occasional cup of hot cocoa delivered to my desk when he overhears me getting testy on conference calls.
When people ask me why I don't "demand he get a real job" I'm like, "WTF would I do that for? If I don't mind him staying at home, then why do YOU care what goes on in my marriage, lol." What does he do when he's not working? Probably enjoying his hobbies or cooking, good for him. His contributions to our household are just as valuable as mine. He's modeling an emotionally mature, self-loving value system that counterbalances me perfectly, and we benefit from each other's energy. Being with him has helped me examine a lot of toxic capitalist traits that I had deeply ingrained, and I have a cheerleader and sounding board through the crazy ups and downs of tech startup life. He knows I consider myself gender fluid and he doesn't feel threatened by that. His gentleness and softness have opened up my ability to tap into my femininity when it feels safe and good to do so.
All this to say, it's really upsetting to me how much pressure we put on men to fit a certain mold of macho provider dude - AND how much pressure there is in general for people to play gender roles that don't fit them. Just find the person who balances you out, and leave the outdated gender roles in a steaming bag on DeSantis' doorstep.