Car accidents in fort worth today

Pretext: So, after almost 30 years of absolute and utmost bitterness in not having a father throughout my life, and knowing my father got ill not long after I was conceived to the point of almost death, and my Ngrandmother wisked him away saying my mom needs to abort me blah blah blah, and never telling my dad's family I existed until I went looking for them five years ago, I finally got over my feelings enough to go visit her.
After hearing of all of her medical issues (out of control diabetes and not taking care of herself), I knew my time was short. I had medical questions, general concerns, and maybe just hearing some stories about my dad (BIG SIDE NOTE: I don't want money out of her or her family, I just wanted the opportunity to know her before things got bad, and even upon her death, all I want are pictures, videos, recordings, and medical records of my dad, even if they're copies, and to remain in the family which shouldn't be a problen). I met her May 17th, just a few short weeks ago. She had just come back from a doctor's visit but was doing fairly well, and I was told later from the family that was with me, that they hadn't seen her that happy since my dad was alive (he was the GC from what I can gather).
And then last Monday, she'd called and texted at an inconvenient time, so I'd planned to call my cousin Tuesday morning to plan another visit with her, but Tuesday morning, my aunt messaged me and told me the Ngma had had a diabetic attack, flatlined in the driveway, and the EMTs had brought her back and took her to ER then ICU. Turns out she had four boxes worth of full sugar jello and ate all of it in one sitting... Yeah...
It makes no frickin frackin sense how it took me months from September (when she really started trying to reach out again), to get the balls up to go see her and she's dying three weeks later. The doctors told us she was without oxygen too long before resus and too much brain damage from that and the blood clots in her legs are probably spreading throughout because she's comatose, so her kids decided to take her off the ventilator today to make sure she's peaceful.
Like, I didn't really want a relationship, I just wanted to know her side, you know? Ive always heard my mom's side of what happened, but I was just too nervous upon meeting her to ask, and the thought on next visit was gonna be when I asked.
Maybe I was never meant to know, and maybe I'll find out what I need once I can look through those medical records, at least for those questions, but I'll never know what was going through her head the day my parents split for good... Y'all pray for me. This is all led to so many feelings to the point I feel like SpongeBob after he's been scared by the Flying Dutchman too much. 🤣 Literally the last 5 to 7 years has been one wild sorry after another tragedy and then a plot twist happens in the middle for a little razzle dazzle. I'm fucking tired 😭😂

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.
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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 spoke with a lawyer today regarding 11 months of harassment I have been receiving from someone I dated and I ended things with back in February 2022. The lawyer instructed me that my case was worth filing a harassment prevention order at the courthouse, tomorrow. This person has called me, requiring me to block his number and his work number through my phone company, has found me on Venmo, Instagram, paypal, personal email and work email. The last straw was he found me through a work app (I work at a hospital) and synced his contacts, and found me. All of his texts had been pleading with me “why won’t you talk to me” “say something please”, etc. I’m now afraid, and looking for any words of advice as I face this tomorrow by myself. Any words are appreciated, as this is profoundly anxiety inducing - especially with the thought that he may show up at the hearing if it is granted (he lives 2.5 hours away, but still no telling what he’ll do.)

Because of exams and having to study my bf and I have not been able to meet up in rl for several days now. The only contact we have now is through online chatting.
Whenever I miss him, I tell him. Sometimes I just want to sent a daily reminder that he’s cute and he means a lot to me. Or that i’m excited to spend summer together. I like to share my thoughts now and then with him.
My bf however chat much and leaves me on read for some time . I think it’s because he is also busy with exam preparations. I don’t mind if he’s busy but I like the important updates of what is going on in his day so i don’t wonder in uncertainty. Something like
“I’ll be studying now, talk around … maybe”
or
“Won’t be able to text much today, but will send goodnight when going to sleep”
or
“You are prob sleeping right now, but still i like to tell u a little about my day because I wanna make sure you don’t worry about me”
Small things like these make me feel assured and that he is doing okay and that we are still good.
Because I have a problem of overthinking if he doesn’t text me for long hours or only short replies/takes a while to respond, I don’t know what he’s thinking or has been doing all day and it causes me to create scenarios in my head.
For example, that he’s mad at me or doesn’t care enough to give me updates. He doesn’t like me anymore or he has had an accident and is in the hospital. I can go on about all the possible scenarios. It’s making me feel anxious, worried and sad (I don’t bother him with these thoughts, cause i know he’s busy and me telling him i overthink makes me overthink telling him i overthink and that i made it worse by telling). Why am i like this :(
In real life we don’t have these problems, because i can directly ask him things and he just tells me if what i was thinking was true or not or he just hugs me a lot to reassure me. It also helps in rl I can tell by his face what he is feeling or thinking better. So in real life our relationship is wonderful and he is just the best.
I just create problems in my head when something feels different about the way he texts usually (before the busy exam period his texting was better)
So any advise what I can do best or similar stories of overthinking when a partner doesn’t respond for long periods? Thanks for taking the time to read!

Hi friends, I'm a 40 year old with autism living in the States and money/finances is just a really difficult concept for me.
I only just began building credit by getting a secured card last year in 2022. I also managed to get approved for the worst, most criminally insane car loan. Today, I now owe 125% of what my car is worth, $17k. Other than that, I have no debt besides a random hospital bill.
Within the next week, a 50k inheritance is being wired into my account. This account has less than $20 in it with no savings right now. So I'm going crazy trying my best to not let it go to waste.
I have three questions that I just don't know who to ask. If you have some time to bring a little wisdom into my life here by answering, I promise, I'll take your advice to heart and really really try my best to execute.

1. What the hell do I do about this stupid, stupid car? I got this Kia after I was struck by a car while riding my crappy Walmart bike to work in the middle of the night (I live somewhere with 0 public transportation, 0 sidewalks, and can't afford ride-sharing services). Had a nervous breakdown and agreed to a batshit crazy 3 year loan out of desperation. I'm aware this is a system designed to fail, but how do I get out of it?? Do I just...pay the remaining 17k all at once? The idea of that makes me a little sick, but if it's the best outcome, I'll do it
   
2. My living situation is not good. The home I'm in sucks in every way, from location to expense to the HOA and it's horrible condition (inlaws were hoarding alcoholics for 25+ years here and still have 70k left on the mortgage, if that helps you understand why I won't stay here and agree to inherit this debt-trap when FIL dies). With this kind of windfall, is it wise to invest in some land with a used mobile home, maybe? I can't really afford anything like a proper house or even a townhome long term, probably. Moving is a HUGE priority but it can wait since I'm not paying much rent here where I am now.
   
3. Investments? Do I even really consider this right now? Or do I just create a savings account and don't touch what I'm not in immediate, urgent need of?
   

I do not plan on aaaaany kind of treat, vacation, tattoo, or other ridiculous spending with this money. I'd like to use it to it's maximum power to turn my life around...where do I even start?
I know this is hugely messy and maybe no one can answer my questions. If you can't, can you direct me to a resource? Really any lead at all, I'll be all over it.
Thank you for any help. Hugely appreciate your time

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?

Okay, i want to preface this with: I am a car enthusiast. I love all things cars and all cars in their own quirky ways, even the Honda Element and PT Cruiser. Also, I had a 2015 F-Type v6 for around 55k miles before it was aggresively taken from my existence by a UHAUL that ran a red light. I am a shade tree mechanic (extra emphasis on the shade-y) and do basically all of my own work. Ive had a Veloster N, Mini JCW, Miata, Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Ram SRT10 and currently own a Jeep XJ, and a Kia Forte GT. I am nit scared of doing most all work myself, save sone of the more complicated engine rebuilds.
With all that, which one do I get? I loved the F Type and so did my partner, but I am a whore for the XKR and GT as well. The Ferarri v8 sounds orchestral, but Jaguar is no slouch. Performance wise, I dont mind amhave a base model 340hp F Type. I dont race everyone, but love the pick up. The one thing I remember is the v6 F type REALLY struggled at the top end of the RPM range to gain much more power, while the v8 engines obviously maintain that power through the rev range.
Honestly im babbling and need help. Out of the three, can you list your pros and cons to them, and what you would choose?
Im looking around a 2014 Maserati GT, 2015-16 F-Type, or a 2012-2014 XKR
Please send help, I am a lost soul with a choice for only one.

I'll make this post super simple as I understand long posts lose alot of us.
I'm 29/M with a life of what I thought was just anxiety. Ive been on SSRIS for 10+ years but despite it helping me a bit, my racey thoughts never calmed down. I always though ADHD was that real hyper guy that you work with that won't shut up and looks like he's really wired. I guess there are different types of ADHD. I realized my whole life Id shy away from certain projects and learning new things at work because I cannot retain information worth anything.I never had good productivity at work as I'd get distracted way too easily and put off work until the last 2 hours and get a bunch of work done. I'll talk to someone and 99% of the time I look at them while they talk, i cannot bring myself to actually listen. It's affected my relationship with my 1 year old daughter as I was hoping to be a lot more present with her and my wife, but my brain cannot be in the moment.
Fast forward to starting Vyvanse. Immediately. When I say immediately.
My anxiously wired brain with 50 stress provoking thoughts per minute diminished to FOCUSING ON THE MOMENT. I did not think about ANYTHING other then... Making breakfast. It was bonkers. I had my first deep conversation with my wife in who knows how long. The biggest thing is my focus and alertness. I sat at work for 8 hours at the office today and was so determined to produce.
Most of all, I actually put off trying Vyvanse for 5 months because I was terrified of taking it and driving me right into a panic attack as I do not like any mind altering substances. Boy was I wrong. For the first time in my life - my extremely anxious brain is the most focused, relaxed, and stress free.
Probably helps to point out I was absolutely the most hyper kid growing up. My siblings laugh about it when they tell me about it. I was the craziest. I'd jump from couch to couch, be annoying as hell and would never calm down.
So maybe me being so crazy hyper as a kid switched as I got older and could not have all that energy to be so hyper, but my wired brain stayed the same as when I was a little boy.

Hey everyone!
I've looked at quite a few coding for kids/homeschool topics on reddit lately, this sub included. And I don't agree with some of the approaches or advice on introducing kids to code.
It's not enough to teach kids coding if you want to prepare them for the future job market. There are a lot of free resources that can help, but they often need more going beyond the code. Some paid resources aren't worth the money because they barely cover code, let alone any extras.
And honestly, many parents need to be more knowledgeable about the space to create the best custom packages. So they get discouraged or neg others trying to help or guide their kid down a different path. Homeschoolers can have an advantage in the tech industry based on their self-direction, critical thinking, and other qualities that come naturally from homeschooling (I'm biased, but I'm sure there's overlap).
I'll share a few questions to think about when researching coding programs at the end of this.
I'm by no means the end all be all of the tech industry, but I hope to start a discussion where I can answer questions and help if possible. Or at least be a connection to someone/something that can answer your questions. I'll share a simple way.
Warning lengthy post ahead
It's been a few years since I've posted in this group, so let me get a few things about my intentions out of the way so this can be a productive conversation. Feel free to skip the list if you aren't one of those skeptics that ruin great discussions with intent questions or "this is a scam" comments.

• I was homeschooled from 5th grade until college (I did drop out of high school for a bit in protest of not going to traditional, but that's another story). And I've multiple styles of homeschooling, from unschooling to structured curriculum to correspondence lessons (we lived in rural places at one point, so online was too expensive).
• I got a GED, an undergrad in math, an MS in Computer Science, and a PhD in Computer Systems Engineering by my mid-20s. I've done freelancing, consulting, and careehomeschool coaching over the last 7 years. I also have over 5 years of experience teaching or tutoring coding classes.
• Yes, I have a paid self-guided online coding camp/mentorship program. No, I'm not posting to promote it here. If you're interested, you can message me privately, but that is not the point of this post.
• Yes, I have a Youtube, but again, the point of this post is not to promote it. Message me privately if you care about that.
• No, I'm not a regular poster on Reddit, and when I have, it's usually to promote some project because I usually just lurk.
• Yes, this post is genuine because of what I've been reading online and the personal conversations I've been having recently. There's a discussion to be had where I can help clarify some things.

Actual post starting
I want to start by opening two points, then let the conversation go where it goes:

• Why coding isn't enough/where I believe the industry is going
• Free vs. Paid Options

Why isn't teaching kids coding enough?
I'm not old enough to have experienced this, but my older cousins have described a time in the 90s when you good 2 or 3 times minimum wage just by knowing how to use Microsoft Word. It was so new and rare.
Today, knowing how to use Microsoft Office is expected. The same is going to be true for coding.
When your homeschooler hits the job market, coding will probably be as common as knowing PowerPoint.
A future of tech jobs will be knowing how to filter and piece technical information together to solve problems.
Lots of coding for kids programs put together fun mini-projects for students but need to teach kids how to continue growing technically independently. They need sustainable next steps.
They also need to help students understand their career options besides getting a job. A large number of homeschoolers end up starting businesses.
Coding/tech is a perfect space for homeschooled kids to try freelancing or start their own company because a lot of it can be low cost.
I'm not saying every kid learning code needs to start their own business, but kids should know it's possible.
Free vs. Paid Options
Now we get to the free vs. paid portion. As I mentioned earlier, choosing whether or not to pay for a coding curriculum isn't black or white. It depends on your goals, budget, and child (I know, Captain Obvious).
I'll share a few scenarios of how I would approach choosing free vs. paid programs. If you have a different scenario, share it in a reply. Then, I'll share a framework I think every parent should consider when considering a plan.
When would I choose to go with a *paid** coding program*
I'd go with a paid option if my child showed a genuine and consistent interest in creating software. And my child was at least 10 years old. I would like at it as a similar investment in my child's future as piano lessons or sports training.
This program should be project-based, include a grading service, and have some regularly scheduled live sessions.
There are a lot of ways to solve problems with code correctly. Not initially, but a good program should transition your child to creating more and more of their own solutions. To do this, kids will need someone who will take the time to understand your kid's thought process and provide steps to correct how they think about the problem. It is a different experience from just being shown the answer or looking at an answer key.
I would also look for soft skills training and some career planning resources. Things like how to work on a coding team, how those projects are structured, how to find good mentors, and how to get paid or unpaid internships. I might even want this paid version to provide me with a coding mentor my child could talk to a few times.
I also expect this program to provide us with clear next steps for my student once the program is done. This may be the next class in a progression of classes, a certification, a job (paid, part-time, or internship), and or a roadmap entrepreneurship/freelancing.
When would I choose to go with a *free** coding program*
I would choose free coding programs if I aimed to introduce my child to see if they were interested in coding enough to invest in it.
Here I would want a program that covers structural basics, projects related to things my child cares about, an answer key or auto-grading system, and a series of lessons.
If my child was under 10, I'm looking for visual blocks programming lessons like on SCRATCH or some offline assignments that use physical items to teach problem-solving/logic. I would ensure my child learned key terms and design or system thinking.
If my child is 10 and older, starting with visual block programming is ok, but the lessons must move toward a text-based language like Python, JavaScript, or Java. I suggest Python first because it is easier for new coders to quickly understand and implement early concepts. It's like learning to speak English before worrying about all the technical rules behind how it works.
The free coding program challenge
A challenge in using many free/low-cost coding programs for kids is that the projects don't always teach kids to go off and create their own problem-solving projects. Kids will sometimes only learn to copy and paste or get good at doing that one project but do not understand the process of expanding that project. They don't learn how to continue to grow as developers.
This point is where parents will need to do the legwork to find additional resources and mentors for their child. Bonus points if that coding mentor looks like your child or comes from a similar cultural background. Many studies support that if we see someone we feel "looks, talks, walks" as we do, we are more likely to believe we can do it too.
Lastly, I need to figure out the next steps for my child before they even start the coding program. I won't want to lose momentum if they get excited about coding. These steps could be free resources, a paid program, or a paid program because I now know my child is interested based on the free program.
Framework/questions for parents
As promised, here's my framework for any parent or homeschool group leader looking to create a coding program for their kids. Then, questions I would ask when evaluating a program.
Framework is called ACRES.
A - Ask questions - Discover local computer science resources C - Categorize - Group like resources and identify hidden access challenges R - Reach out and select - Contact experts and select the best options for your community. E - Educate - Hold your program, include soft skills training, and educate your parents S - Sustain - Ensure student success by pointing them to vetted resources for their next steps
11 questions I would ask myself

• What's my goal for finding a coding program for my kid?
• How serious/self-directed is my child when interested in new topics?
• What's my max budget for this each month?
• Does this program teach basic coding concepts and have a progression of courses/lessons?
• What are the testimonials for this program?
• Does this program provide grading/parent support?
• Do I have possible coding mentors in my circle? Or is that something I need to pay fofind?
• Which programming language is this program going to use?
• Will this program teach my kid soft skills that apply to the tech industry?
• Will this program expose my child to tech entrepreneurship, internships, and jobs? Or do I want to handle that exposure myself?
• Does this program have instructors, coaches, or mentors reflecting my child's culture?

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now.
Are there any questions or concerns? Do you agree? Or disagree?
Is there something I didn't cover that you wished I had? Or that is unique to your situation?
Happy to continue the discussion.

Suburbanites seem to love pickup trucks and SUVs because they are "safer in collisions". This is probably the stupidest argument alongside "I need a truck because I have a yard".
My complaints with these large vehicles only applies to those who buy them because of their perceived safety and don't otherwise need a truck. There's nothing wrong with farmers, builders, or boaters driving around in big trucks.
Three people in a regular car were killed near me today when a pickup truck hit them head-on. The mass and high bumper of the pickup truck meant that there was no chance of survival for the three occupants of the sedan.
Yet people buy these massive SUVs and trucks in the name of "safety". While the SUVs/trucks may be safer for those inside the vehicle, they are deadly for everyone else. And, they may not even be safer for those inside it either!
The first problem with SUVs/trucks is the poor visibility. Kids, pedestrians, smaller cars, and other things are harder to see from the seating position of these vehicles. Adding cameras and sensors to the front is a poor way of fixing this issue.
SUVs /trucks also have worse handling compared to a similar sedan or wagon which means that an accident that could have been avoidable in a smaller car results in a collision.
The huge mass also means that SUVs/trucks take longer to stop.
The higher seating position of SUVs also changes the perception of speed. You are higher up so it is harder to perceive how fast you are moving, which leads to accidental speeding.
SUVs don't even have more cargo capacity compared to a wagon or van of the same size. I was able to fit an Ikea kitchen table in my Volvo sedan with the seats folded down, and my friend has no problem living with an even smaller Audi A3, even taking it on longer trips with plenty of luggage on board.
It's time to stop this SUV nonsense. We need to tax SUVs more heavily to make up for the damage they are doing to society (I haven't even mentioned the environmental problems).
Since pickup trucks are already registered as commercial vehicles in America, I think they need something like a CDL-lite license. Not quite a full CDL, but a simple written test that adds a pickup truck, RV or other large vehicle endorsement to a regular car license. The test would cover basics like the dangers of a higher seating position, perceptions of speed, pedestrian safety, and 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 currently live in Fort Collins, Colorado. I've never had a significant (or even mild) issue with a landlord before, but my current living situation has me on edge. The most severe problem I've had with my current property is that my car was stolen directly out of my leased parking spot in a garage under the apartment building during a period where one of two garage doors was left open in disrepair. It's been perpetually open since at least September of last year. The police found my car, and I have gotten it fixed, and since the theft in January I've been repeatedly bugging management to repair the door to no avail.
The other thing that bothers me about this door is that there is no lock on the door into the building from the garage. Access to the garage allows unrestricted access to the rest of the building. Is it reasonable to consider theft of tenant property, a lack of security measures, and explicit refusal to remedy the issue (They have emailed my verbatim "Your lease does not promise a secured parking space," ignoring my concerns about security to the rest of the building) a breach of the Colorado Warranty of Habitability?
Is it worth contacting an attorney? Thanks in advance for any insight.

Ok, so probably a lot of context needed.
So my fiancee has been seeing this therapist since.... Probably early last year. This therapist is a half hour away so the first few times I was willing to drive her to see this person. They hit it off right away.
Now here's where my friends started throwing red flags. Early on, the therapist (female if it's relevant) felt bad I was sitting in the car and offered to have me sit inside. It started with the hallway/waiting area and then a few sessions later offered me to come in and sit with them. Now, as far as I'm aware, my fiancee also assured me it was ok. Kinda odd only because it's her sessions but some of what they discussed was relevant to my family. Friends threw a red flag saying that's really odd for a therapist to do.
So, we as a couple have had on again off again fights. Nothing physical but mentally a lot. I've offered a few times to do couples therapy and she has down right refused to do it at all. It seems really odd she's down with solo but not couples therapy.
Now fast forward to a few weeks ago. Her latest session she informed her therapist that she's switching insurance (same job, new company acquired them) and informed her therapist that she's been using the health savings account to pay for the copay on sessions (current insurance she has is awful).
So because I've been at all of those sessions now, it was brought up by her therapist about using my insurance and just labeling the sessions under my name. All my online friends raised a red flag here. They stated even if it's meant to be helpful, it's still fraud and a lot of legal things that could go wrong with it.
So I guess I want to know, are these red flags worth looking into more? As much as I love my fiancee, I don't want to start getting the short end of the stick with my insurance if I need something as well. Or the therapist as well, even if they mean well, should they really be doing this? Thank you.

Today I decided to go to my local kia dealer to get my tires rotated along with a multi-point inspection. They mention the inspections free. After a solid 35 minutes it was done and they said “49.54”. I just gave him my card and didn’t even argue. After I left, I was a little livid. Fairly new car, 2022 Kia Forte GT. I know I got ripped off. Dude put it on the hoist and took him 5 minutes then was done.

Hey everybody! This is my first post so please be kind! :) The fine state of Colorado will be gaining another Ent this summer!
My family and I will be moving to Fort Collins and I’m looking for some recommendations by locals. I have more than one of the qualifying conditions needed for a medical card in Colorado and I have documentation, so i’m looking for the best and easiest provider in the Fort Collins area to help me get a recommendation or referral and help me with the process hopefully? “MMJ Exams of Colorado” has some pretty good reviews on Google if anyone has any personal experience with them.
I’m also looking for some recommendations on the best dispensaries in FoCo for MEDICAL. I do Rosin and Flower. I’m not too interested in the Rec side. My usage is far too high to justify it. I’m also aware that the drive into Denver is always worth it, but I might not always have the opportunity to make the drive.
Also, Am I understanding correctly that you have to choose and lock yourself into a particular dispensary on the med side? Are you able to shop at other medical dispensaries other than the one you’re married to? I’m a little confused on this part…
Thanks for the insight everyone and looking forward to moving into the area!
EDIT: Daaang y’all! Instantly got mad messages from scammers. Y’all getting ignored, just FYI

I live In the northwest of the united states. Where the cost of living is extremely high. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a house in a nice area during the recession. Meaning I got a lot of Bang for the buck. A twenty five hundred square foot house overlooking a beautiful mountain With four bedrooms. plus bonus room. Since, The children have grown and I have gotten divorced. I am now the sole owner of said house. I rent out rooms to make a little extra cash. It went well for the Most part Two years. Then I met someone. I had three roommit's and my mother living with me at the time. One of my roommates at the time was oil to my vinegar. At the same time I asked her to leave I did move my boyfriend in with his teenage daughter. For those that are counting, That is six people living in five bedrooms, boyfriend shares room with me. About a year later one more roomate moves out leaving five people in a five bedroom house. My BF and the remaining roommate Are not each other's favorite people but they manage. It's been this way for about a year now. Now comes the beginning of the end. The roommate asks me if she can move her adult son and wife in. My roommate has been here the longest and I thought we had built up a friendship in the past Three years. I also do feel guilty for moving my boyfriend. I have tolerated her Side comments about how she did not sign up for this (Dealing with a man and Teenager). I do not hold my tenants to a rental agreement. As long as they pay their rent they are on a month to month basis. I do have one not so normal household rule, you can't drink in my home. I am in recovery. So far The previous mentioned reasons I said yes to Her request of moving her son and his wife in. My boyfriend and her son are both dominant alpha males. There has been issues from the start. Key moment was when I was asked if a specific amount of things could be moved in my garage by her son I said yes To the specific amount of things. While I was at work a load of items were delivered; Filling half of my two car garage doubling the previously Agree Upon space. The resolution was an increase to their rent. Since then, there has been micro territory aggressions but nothing I couldn't Handle.Now comes where I have reached out to a layer. In the past two days my roommate has accused me of abusing her dog. I allow pets. My roommate has a large poodle mix with floppy long hair hanging from her ears. My roommate says when she was brushing her dog she she found The dogs' hair on one of her ears had been cut. The best way I could describe it is when a child gets bubble gum in their hair and it has to be Cut out. No harm to the skin. She is accused everybody in my house of "abusing" her dog Except her son and his wife. Aiming most allegations at my BF and his daughter. Stating one of them did this to make her move out. But the very next day leaves her dog in my care without permission while she goes to the beach all day with her son. Today she demanded that I pay for the dogs complete grooming. $179.00. To be deducted from her rent that she is already late paying for this month. She claims since she thinks it happened in my house I am responsible for the "damage". I have contacted a lawyer. Per his advice I am paying the money I have set my roommate a message saying she can Deduct The cost of the grooming and I am serving her was a twenty day notice. I am not kicking her out because because she's demanding the money. I am kicking her out because of the word "abuse". I no longer trust her. I feel this is a ploy to not pay rent. She has yet to pay me the rent she still owes me for this month. AITAH?

Hi, last week my car started stalling when I’m parked and today it did it when backing out of my driveway. It never did this before. Right before it happened I got gas at a new place and didn’t see that the truck was pulled in on the other side filling the pumps. My dad said that can stir up sediment and clog filters. Is that what happened? How expensive is this to fix? Would filling my tank with new gas (I’m at half) help at all?

It strikes me as out of character for Riker to receive the design for the colony ship that can haul 10,000 people, and that's the end of the discussion, like that design is an immutable truth. IMO it would be totally in character for the Bobs to design their own take on a colony ship, perhaps starting with the 10,000-capacity ship. Give an engineer and opportunity to make a design better, but Riker isn't interested? Ridiculous.
Given the 15,000 ships or 10,000 trips math, it seems obvious that a better option would be a much bigger ship. If the ship's capacity was 100,000, then the math is 1,500 ships or 1,000 trips -- which is much more feasible.
However, you object, Sol / Earth doesn't have enough metal to build the 10,000-sized ships, how could they build ships ten times that size?
That raises the question: why aren't all the Bobs on Scutnet (spelling? I listen to the audiobooks) building ships? If they are in a system and the materials available, then they could build a ship; fill it with the materials to build more ships; send the ship full of materials to Earth guided by an AI; then repeat the process. If they are not in a system, then they should go to a system with metals and get to work.
If the average Bob is 18 light years from Earth and it takes him 2 years to build the ship and fill it with (let's say) 4 ships' worth of materials -- and 5 Bobs are doing that -- that's in effect 5 ships every other year --after the initial 20 years. If Riker / Earth doesn't have the capacity to use the materials, then the remote Bobs would build more ships instead of filling them with materials.
The number of ships available for moving people off of Earth would increase rapidly. 5 Bobs making a ship every year:
Year 1: 5 new ships, start for Earth Year 2: 5 new ships, "" ... Year 18: 5 new ships arrive Year 19: 5 new ships "" ...
After 30 years, there would be 115 ships, plus whatever Riker managed to build during that period.
If they each hold 100,000 colonists, with 115 ships we're down to 130 trips.
If the remote Bobs have plenty of metal in their system, they could ramp up their production capacity and soon start sending 2 ships per year, 3 ships, 5 ships, etc. They would make the usual trade-off between adding capacity and producing ships.
There's no reason to limit colonial ship production to just Earth.
Bad segue
At several points in the book, Bobs fail when they try to send incremental backups. They are blown up before the entire backup is sent off. Each time, it is presented as a tragedy -- like now that unfortunate Bob is dead.
Nonsense.

• Why aren't Bobs sending incremental backups all the time? Esp. once Bobs are SCUT-enabled, they could squirt today's activities daily. It is an incredibly obvious thing to do, when they are doing anything remotely dangerous.
  
• Why is it supposed to be a tragedy, when an incremental backup is lost because the Bob was destroyed mid-squirt? All that is lost is the stuff since the last completed incremental. If a Bob did an incremental last week, he loses a week. Hardly a tragedy.
  

Luke, I heard that you got destroyed a few weeks ago. Bummer.

Luke replies:

Nah, it's no big deal, I lost a few days. I did manage to broadcast how I got killed, so I won't make that mistake again. Otherwise, no big deal.