Sage near me

You were the amber that caught me on fire, You felt it too.
I warn myself not to get near But I played a fool, With the warmth of the flames I flew too close to the sun Risking my wings burning off.
Be prepared to be blinded, Be prepared to get scorched, In the midst of the ashes, In the midst of the growth.
Pay me a visit, A night on the road, A song in a playlist, With the letter I wrote.
I felt a spark When there wasn’t a flame, A painful move With a smile on my face.
I was an escape To the death of your heart, You were my sign To a fresh new start
I wasn’t the cure To your brokenness Only a remedy, In my hopelessness When you hit rock bottom I was at an all time high, You made yourself whole By tearing me apart.
The blow soften, The years came and went But I still think Of when I should have left.
You caught me on fire, You felt it too.

Can anyone help give any information about this ring? It reminds me of a cornucopia spilling out gems lol. I really know nothing about it except for the back story posted below. Its definitely old. It has a 24k gold stamp that is almost completely worn down. It has no other stamps/makers marks. The diamonds are old mine cut, & they are real. Under a loupe at 60x you can see some very small inclusions. They also test positive for Diamond on Diamond tester. I have no idea if the rubies are legit or not. I don’t know much about rubies or red gemstones at all. They test in Diamond range on Diamond tester. They are square & step cut. Very clear, can see right thru them, with some inclusions like needling/silk.. some surface blemishes on some of the stones. Tried to scratch test them but they scratched glass. Could they be glass filled rubies or spinel? Garnet? Tourmaline? I just don’t know. Any idea on the origin of the ring? The old mine cut diamonds and 24k gold setting make me think it really is very old. I would love to know the period of time it came from or anything to point me in the right direction.
Back Story of how I got it - Almost 10 years ago, I met up with an older lady off fb marketplace to purchase a vintage solid 18k gold ring.. her listing didn’t mention it being 18k and neither did she when I got there. She simply referred to it as a gaudy man’s ring lol. I mentioned it being a cool vintage style ring and she explained that it was owned by her father since at least the mid-late 80s. She seemed to appreciate my admiration for the vintage find & said if I really do like old stuff then she had another piece she wanted to show me. She brought this ring out. She said it was even older than the first one.. that her father owned it her whole life since she could remember and believed it to be passed down to him by relatives prior but wasn’t really sure. She didn’t really seem to care about the value or history of either of them, just that they were among several pieces she inherited and that these just sat in a box cuz they were “too ugly to wear” so it was time to part with them.
I asked her if she had gotten this one appraised and she said no, after her dad left it to her, it went into her jewelry box and never saw the light of day again. There was a pawn shop on the corner near her house and I asked if she had taken them there and she kinda ranted a bit about how she brought a gold necklace there and they offered her much less than it was worth melted & that everything in there was grossly overpriced so she would never offer them any more of her business. She ended up selling both rings to me for like 60 bucks total.

I'm annoyed and Idk who else to talk to. I'm a sahp to an almost 3yo and a 7mo baby. It's been pretty rough for me to manage them both since the baby was born, as the toddler is extremely wild and strong willed, and the baby is very clingy. It's been a rough combo. Anyway, my husband and I came up with the idea to put her in a part time preschool, and the best option we found was a daycare near our house that is surprisingly affordable compared to other options. She gets bored at home, especially bc I struggle to take her an baby out at the same time, plus she loves to socialize with other kids, and we thought maybe this would teach her to listen a little bit and cooperate. She doesn't listen to us or cooperate at all. Anyway.
So we talked to this local daycare and they told us the care is available from 8:30-4:30 each day. I didn't think it was probably going to be necessary to have her in there 8 hours, so I made sure to ask if they actually need her there all day, or if there are any minimum attendance requirements. The director said no, you can drop her off late or pick her up early, it doesn't matter. The 8:30-4:30 is just the maximum hours we could send her. Ok cool. My husband is gone for work like 7:30-5:30 so he can't drop her off or pick her up unfortunately.
So I figured I would try a few different things. I wanted to get her there around 9am so she could be a part of free play and the morning activities (they follow a schedule). However I tried that and it always bumped up against the baby's nap when we were trying to get out of the house. So the baby would be screaming while I'm trying to get my toddler dressed and out the door, which stressed me out a ton.
So I decided to try just taking her later in the mornings after baby's nap. I showed up with both kids around 11 am one day and the teacher stopped me at the door. She wouldn't let us in the building bc we had arrived "after the cutoff time" of 9:30 am. Ummm what? Ok so I explained to her that I wasn't aware of that and asked if I could have an exception for the day bc I needed to take my baby to the doctor. Nope, they refused to make an exception.
Ok so this pissed me off. I talked to the director about it the next day and she explained it's fine to bring my daughter anytime but I need to let them know in advance if I'll be after 9:30 so they know whether to count her in for lunch. I told them I was probably going to send her later every day and they said just message them each day before 9:30 and let them know. Um, annoying, but ok. So that's what I've been doing for a few weeks now.
Today I drop my daughter off at 11 and immediately after the teachers send me a message asking if I can start bringing her earlier bc she is missing circle time and morning activity. I haven't responded yet. I'm annoyed. Like obviously this just isnt a good fit but why didn't they just tell me that from the start?
Now I want to just cancel it but my husband suddenly says he can change his schedule to start doing drop off. So I guess we'll see how that goes. He has a history of making these types of offers and then not following thru. I'm just annoyed at the situation. I've been struggling and the solutions we keep trying just come with their own set of problems!! Rant over!!

TL;DR - GP thinks i don't have ADD becuase i had good grades in school, despite my displaying other symptoms like, chronic procrastination, forgetfulness, time blindness and fidgety, but she agve me a referral letter for anxiety. Scared to see Psychiatrist now maybe they wont help me. Anyone with experience getting diagnosed for ADD in Malaysia?
Hi everyone. 24 M here. I have finally come to a realisation that i might have a problem and am prepared to see a psychiatrist. The thing is, even if i had troube doing my homeworks and completing assignments before deadline, i have always been a 'gifted student'. Straight As in primary school and 7As in SPM. Althought i failed my maths in form 3 and barely passed in SPM.
But unintentionally, the education system has been extremely accommodating to my style of studying. Not paying attention in class irrelevant because the teacher will give notes in point forms or mind map and will tell exactly what to study, and what topics to focus, which helped me do well in exams. I will always cram my homeworks in the morning assembly and recess time. Sometimes it wont be enough and i will get in trouble. Every parent teacher meeting, the comment will be, "Gifted student but needs to work on attitude and discipline. Always doesnt complete homeworks".
Everything fell apart when i went to Uni and was left on my own, no more notes and guidance given by teachers. I had to do everything on my own. I can't keep my atention for more than 10 minutes during lectures, i don't know what information to derive from the lecture slides, struggling with deadlines. One day, I was sittign there struggling to focus on an assignmet that wasn't entertaining to my brain to the point where i was in tears. That's when i decided to see my guidance counselor. After 4 weeks of sessions she suggested that i go see a psyciatrist and i'm displaying ADHD symptoms. And it might have gone unnoticed during childhood because ADD is not as noticeable as ADHD because there's no hyperactivity. This was last year.
Fast forward to last week, After nearly a year of procrastinating, I finally got my arse up and went to a GP to get a referral letter. She asked a few questions and she was like "ok, uhumm.. ok. So i don't think you have adhd becuase you have good grades but to me it looks more like behavioural issues for you".
I'm sick of people telling me i'm lazy and that I "have to try harder", "be more disciplined" because that's what i've been trying to do my whole life and i have clearly failed. I might have good grades but other aspects of my life is falling apart and i need help. I'm scared to go to a psychiatrist because if they had the same mindset as my GP, i might not get the help i need and that would break me.
So i wanted to ask you guys, are any of you diagnosed with ADHD/ADD at a later (adult) age? How was the process like and will my being a 'gofted student' affect the outcomes? I'm really scared and anxious thinking about it. I got the referral letter last week but yet to see a psychiatrist. I know. i'm procrastinating and i need to move my arse but any tips or reassurance from you guys might be helpful. Thanks

(The Giving Tree is written by Shel Silverstein, The Hanging Tree is by Suzanne Collins)
“Grandma.”
He chuckled, and called again.
“Graaaaaaaandma.”
Hey where was she, he was a smol, wide eyed childgen snuggled up in bed with his red and white patchwork quilt with his Raggedy Ann doll who contrary to popular belief, was NOT HAUNTED and instead infused with good dreams and good vibes.
Good vibes which included Amon’s grandma READING HIM A FUCKING BEDTI-
Her head peeked through the door, glasses wobbling on her pointed nose. She huffed and puffed, and Amon had a twinge of consciousness, a ‘oh wait I’m in better health than her maybe I should be nice,’ sort of feeling.
He then realized that as a child, he was entitled to entitlement, and threw that notion out the window and into the dumpster, where it rested with other bad ideas like, ‘hey let's make a Bible version of dungeons and dragons, or literally anything else that we find morally reprehensible yeah that’ll hinder sales if we tell people to not do this cool thing that is totally bad for you and will result in your eyes being gouged out by Satan’s asshole.’
He, of course, didn’t voice any of this. Because, above fear of God, he had a fear of grandma.
“Did someone say they wanted a bedtime story! Well, by golly, do I have a story for you!”
He paused, “Is it Narnia?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, setting the book that she held behind her down, “Of course not dear! I would never put my preferences over yours, my oh so picky critic who whittles down what stories I read to you with the sharpest razor I’ve ever seen. I am only here to cater to your preferences because your time is the most valuable in all the world!”
He squirmed under the blanket, “....Look, I hate to admit that you’re right but can you not be right.”
“It’s a talent of mine.”
Why can’t I have come out of the womb as a fully mature adult so I can debate grandma to death into an early grave?
Then another thought came.
Wait, I don't want her to die. She loves me or some shit and I think that’s good.
He gulped, attempting to sound less…full of himself, “Could you um…if possible…by any chance.”
“Spit it out sonny if my hearing gets any worse I’ll have to get some robotic implants and do you really want grandma being the catalyst for the AI uprising?”
Please for the love of God nobody let this women near any missile turrets.
“COULD YOU MAKE UP A STORY FOR ME YOU HAVE A NICE VOICE AND IT HELPS ME SLEEP PLEASE GRANDMA THROW ME A BONE HERE.”
“.....I could throw you a dislocated hip.”
Amon squinted, “You’re going to need those in ten years when your bones start fossilizing.”
She patted his back, “Ten years! You’re very generous, in fact those bones of yours with the freshest marrow look….quite appetizing for a geezer like me!”
“All the better to eat me with?”
“Exactly!”
The night went on, a star or two who hadn’t twinkled out to dream land like he had standing in the heavens, wisps of gray clouds swirling round the moon. He could hear the caw of a crow or two, probably picking off the dead racoons left on the road because of grandma’s driving.
Damned dumpster drivers had it coming.
Grandma leaned back in her rocking chair, its faded brown surface creaking as she swished back n’ forth in it. She folded her arms, closed her eyes, and let out a yawn as she flipped a lightswitch, the thin, pale beams of the moon shining through the shudders.
And the heater chugged along like a train, blanketing them both into a slow, dreary slumber,
Grandma began her story.
“Once upon a time, there was a brave knight. So brave in fact, that he didn’t squirm when doctors, who may or may not have been vampires, took his blood, and always opened up his mouth wide for the dentist when they wanted to see his pearly whites! And the king sent him off on many a quest, to save all the damsels in distress because the king had a bad habit of keeping a harem. After all, in those days, monogamy was a myth.”
Amon wondered if the king was based on grandma’s love life.
“The knight loved his king, so why wouldn’t he serve him? Even as the wounds piled up like a pile of rusty coins, infection creeping up on his flesh as the doctors prescribed him leeches and his blood turned to ice. Even as each step became an insurmountable mountain, he had a duty to serve his king, and the king loved him too, right? There was something beyond that icy stare? Some glimpse of hope, a spark of love? Yet they say be careful of he who slays beasts, lest he become a beast himself.”
She paused, and Amon shivered, like the mist creeping outside was the last dying wisps of smoke from the maw of a decaying dragon.
If the time came, would he be able to slay his demons?
“The knight’s greatest beast he would never slay was the one sitting upon the gilded throne. One day, he outlived his usefulness.”
The silence hung in the air. Amon wondered how long it took for the man’s flesh to be wrent from his shoulders.
He shivered, tears barely restrained, as grandma pulled him in.
“Never let anyone tell you how to be. Never do anything someone else wouldn’t do for you back. This world will want to beat you down and spit you out but I know you’re stronger than that.”
She got up, patting his head as the moon glinted in her spectacles and she grinned back with a fiery stare of her own.
One day, Amon would share it, for she had long since kinded the flame in his heart.
Burn, my grandson. Burn and show this world what you made of. Show them what I see in you, what you don’t see in yourself.
One day, you will.
One day, you will know how to look in the mirror and say, ‘I love you.”
“.....Could the knight have saved himself?”
“Every story has an end. Just….make sure yours is a good one.”
Nearing the end of her days, wondering the length of the shadow she’d cast, and if it brought others shade.
She hobbled off. The door shut behind her.
………God we are both overdramatic as fuck aren’t we.
Amon reminded himself to tell grandma to lay off the old testament for a while. She didn’t need that kind of toxic masculinity in her life.
_________
“You know, I’m going to tell you a story this time!”
Amon was waving a pencil, not because he was going to write God forbid anybody see his handwriting no siree, but rather when his hands were flailing and the unsharpened point was ready to fly from his fingers at any second and impale someone’s eye the creative juices were flowin and his imaginative boat was rowing and sure it may sink once or twice along the way but that was just apart of the creative process!
That, and procrastinate on writing said story for two goddamn weeks and when you went over your plot notes you wondered who this madman was who’d seized your journal and favorite fountain pen.
“It’s about time! You think I have time to keep running my lips Mr. I’m young and needy and I want to drive grandma into dehydration because I want to turn one bedtime story into fifteen?”
Amon averted his gaze, “Can I just say that you’re the greatest woman I’ve ever known and I hope I can have one ounce of your creativity so I can inspire the masses with the love and forgiveness you demonstrate so all the little children, not including me because five foot one and a half is not little by any means thank you very much…”
Napoleon complex much, sonny?
“And through all these wonderful…”, he coughed, “Parables I can conjure up surely everyone can and will find Jesus?”
He gave her the baby blue puppy dog eyes. She melted.
But she really didn’t want to.
“Has anyone told you that flattery will get you everywhere?”
“Yes, actually, you did.”
“Damn right,” she mentally gave her past self a pat on the back.
And Amon struck a match, lighting the fireplace with its grizzled logs, silvery bark peeled back as flames licked their sides all over. He cuddled up with grandma on the oversized recliner, leaning back. Eyes closed.
Like he could see, like he could taste and touch and smell and hear the story unfolding in his mind’s eye.
“Once, there was a tree, and she loved a little boy.”
It was growing now, its roots feeding into the forest. Birds came here to lay their young and worms burrowed in her rich soil beneath. Squirrels always found the best holes in her trunk to bury their nuts in, snuggled up all cozy as the wind battered her outsides but the tree saw that wind and told it where it could shove it cause no breeze would take away her warmth! She was happy and she liked it that way!
“And every day the boy would come, and he would gather her leaves, making them into crowns to play king of the forest.”
The squirrels were scampering away and here he came charging through the grass and falling into the bushes headfirst! He could take and take and take and twist those twigs and thorns into a wooden circlet befitting the child prince. And if he craned his ears he could even hear the fae sparkling and laughing and merrymaking as they poured wine from goblets neverending and gossiped about that adorable little child over there let’s go visit him no wait we can’t interact with humans can we kidnap him NO KIDNAPPING IS BAD.
Remember what happened with a midsummers night's dream, there’s a precedent for this shit!
“He would climb up her trunk, and swing from her branches.”
Don’t look down, whatever you do don’t look down like a tumbling sack of apples about to go splaaaaat. Climbing up to see the forest was definitely a good idea and you’re not going to throw up whatsoever.
“And eat apples, and they would play hide and seek.”
“Ready or not, here I cooome!”
“.....Oh, you’re right behind me.”
“I don’t think hide and seek is the best game if one party doesn’t have legs.”
“.......”
“And when he was tired, he would sleep in her shade.”
“I don’t want to go home, I want to stay with you but it’s getting dark and there’s monsters prowling about!”
“Whenever you are with me, I promise, I will keep you safe.”
And the boy stared up in wide eyed wonder.
“You….you…really mean that?”
She bowed her great head, leaves falling on his face, embracing him in a branch, pulling him close.
“I love you. And I don’t let harm come to those I love.”
“And the boy loved the tree very, very much.”
He pressed himself against grandma’s warm, woolen, side. She smelled like peppermint.
“The tree was happy."
He sighed, and Amon looked down, shivering. The clock went tick, tick, tick, and he wondered if he blinked, if he’d miss the seconds passing by.
“But time went by.”
He grew up and the world wasn’t small anymore. It wasn’t good to just imagine, you could no longer play pretend, you had to have a purpose for your life and fill that aching void that’d grown in your heart, didn’t you feel it beating? Take, take, take, my boy, you’re number one and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Forget about the tree, that withered shrub has nothing for you except to be food for the worms.
“And the boy grew older.”
He peered into grandma’s gaze. How many people had she lost over the years, and what hole did they leave in their absence?
“And he wanted. But that want wasn’t just a I want this colorful toy off the shelf, gimme, gimme, gimme. No, this was a need.”
“I am too busy to climb trees.”
“I want a house to keep me warm.”
But that little boy was left unheard, to just go back to the simpler times when he could just be a boy she could just be his tree. He was worthless and if he just had what everyone else had maybe it’d feel better, if he could raze and tear and break down the tears would stop flowing and the sirens would stop blaring and everything would just fucking shut down, for just one second please, for the love of God, be still.
“I want you. I want you in my life and you’re so far away but I think that’s just me.”
So he ripped the tree down and shed her emerald coat of leaves and wrent her into a stump so for himself he had a home. Her apples laid moldering and discarded, and maybe if he had cast their seeds out into the brush they both wouldn’t have been so lonely anymore.
“And he met the end of his days and they both had nothing left. She asked, ‘What more do you want of me?’ He didn’t know anymore.”
“Would you like to rest?”
He sat down on her stump.
And the tree was happy.
Amon sniffled, then there was snot. He shivered and wrapped his teensie head in his legs and grandma yanked him on over to her side and held him close and he ugly cried and she wailed right with him.
She hoped he knew it was okay to cry, so long as there was a crazy bitch like her to cry with him.
And finally he wiped his nose, eyes puffy, before he looked down, murmuring, “....I don’t deserve you.” Her heart sunk right along with his and she wondered where he learned that self loathing.
Was it by design?
The wind picked up and her’s fell, the wooden, mossy floorboards outside, the red paved bricks littered with cracked nuts and wilted flower petals, creaking right along with her.
“Are you, are you, coming to the tree?”
I could see, grandma and I, sitting there together on that worn stump. And maybe if you turned back the years you’d see the tree at the height of its youth with the freshest apples and sap running for miles. I’d be running too.
I knew who’d be watching and egging me on along the way.
“Where they strung up a man, said he murdered three.”
“Strange things have happened here, no stranger would they be
If we met at midnight, in the hanging tree”
Her dad taught her that song so long ago, with whiskey under his breath and a revolver at his belt. He might have been one who knew how to drink and drink till he dropped but he sure damn as well knew when to pour out, lest he become bloated for others’ sake.
“I never want you to become like that man, I never want you to love someone so much it comes at the expense of yourself.”
Amon’s voice was an echo.
“Are you, are you, coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run, so we’d both be tree?
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree.”
Was the tree’s greatest sin, the inability to say no?
What befalls us when we answer yes?
But if I take and take and take from grandma what shall I have left?
“GRAAAAAANDMA!”
Amon sniffled.
“Are you, are you, coming to the tree?
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee?
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree.”
Her singing became a flurry of notes, tapering out to the breeze.
It was quiet.
“I’m here grandma.”
They stood up and he took her hand.
“Let’s go to that tree together.”
And the grandma was happy.

so everytime i get a new phone contract it lasts two years. at the end of the two years the phone mysteriously stops working. Currently letters on my keyboard have stopped working.
Im posting here to see how many people find their phones die at the end of the contract.
You could blame me but i honestly feel like it happens every two years, think back to how often your phone seemed to brick up on you near the end of a contract .
I keep my phone in good condition, but as soon as i get those warning emails that my contracts coming to an end. I think great I can get all my data and stuff on a different plan, spending way less money each month.
However its always around this time that the phone now has a software glitch that could be water damage, could be any damage. Apart from the fact that you didn't wet your waterproof phone and you didnt drop it and it has a case. Honestly you wake up one morning two years later and its fucked.
so we all know about this concept, that our devices are made to break so we have to buy more. it's not ridiculous, a repeat business model is usually the only sustainable model. Anyone questioning this look up the light bulb that's been running for over. a hundred years. It's not a conspiracy, they perfected the light bulb but realised they cant make any money on a bulb that lasts forever. Many many examples of this in history.

Hi,
My other half and me have a viewing for an apartment in the Spencer Dock/Sheriff Street Area, but anyone we know is advising us against it. But with the housing and rental market being so tough, it feels near impossible to find anything.
can anyone give an idea of how safe it would be living around there?
i know everywhere has good and bad, but would like to hear other peoples thoughts on it.
thank you.

Recently, I moved to Jersey City, New Jersey to sublet for a few months while I stayed near NYC for work. Due to a bunch of reasons, I had to get a place sight unseen. I did not want to do it and it was dumb of me, but I didn't have many other choices. So, I found one place I liked on Furnished Finder and talked to the landlord. I got a reference to a past tenant and checked the reference out to make sure they were who they said they were. The person said mostly good things about the place and I signed due to the price and location.
When I arrived, I noticed there was a smell of cigarette smoke. This was concerning to me as I have a history of lung issues. I checked my lease and the place was indeed listed as non-smoking. However, I don't think she listed any info about it being non-smoking or smoking online. Regardless, the lease says it's a non-smoking place. After I noticed the smell, I asked the landlord about it and she said "Yes, the place is non-smoking, but I can't control what past tenants do."
I asked if there was anything that could be done. She offered to have a maid come, but said I'd have to pay for it. I obviously refused. Later on, I did manage to convince her to agree to pay a professional who specializes in smoke removal for me. She had one come over to get a quote. They quoted 4k and she would not hire them because of the cost. I assume that other companies would also quote high amounts and that she won't say yes to any of them either.
Another issue is that she's not actually the owner of the building. She runs a business where she rents this apartment from the building, furnishes it, and then rents it out on Furnished Finder and Airbnb. The building itself is non-smoking (I think, but need to double check). So by having this place smell like smoke, she might be breaking the building's policies. I am not sure how the building would react if they discover someone smoked in here.
Anyhow, I am at a sort of stalemate with her. She seems unwilling to front any significant money to actually remedy the issue. She did seem willing to replace some of the furniture, but if the smoke is embedded in the walls then that won't solve the issue. Personally, I don't want to go to court or anything over this as it's not worth the time. But, I figured I would ask what my legal options are here or if there's any way to remedy the situation.

About me: 38, attorney, attentive, intelligent, and sensual. Also tall and have a great head of hair.
About you: smart, nubile, and libidinous. Sweet but with a naughty side. Hopefully looking for something exclusive. Ideally located near me

Hello everyone,
I found out 2 years ago that one of my Grandfathers was "Rabbi Benjamin Papermaster". I was circumcised at birth to follow family tradition, but my mother got my father to turn to Catholicism by the time I was 5 or so.
Move forward to the past two years of doing extensive research, about scripture and ending up reading the Hebrew bible, visiting a shul and attending weekly. I want to be sure I am doing everything in a correct manner.
The issue at hand is, I started davening online (while attending reform services) with a small Conservative group, which has been great but I don't have a gadol or tefillin. Which has made it more idk how to say, makes me feel outside the group.
I have been wearing kosher tzitzit, reading information our sages have left us daily. After looking into buying a gadol/tefillin ; I just can't gather how a family of 3 can afford to buy tefillin or a gadol. I understand the need for them to be kosher, but is it okay to use "less than" kosher items until I can one day afford it ? Or do i simply not use anything until? There is only a local reform/conservative shul where I am located.
Lastly, not that it matters, but I hope to one day live in my home of Israel.
Shalom.

Ok so I have a MIM tele from the early 2000’s and I recently got a paranormal offset Tele and I really dig the body of the offset Tele. Never realized how much the body contour helps and it feels really great to play I really just want to put the swap the entire MIM tele onto the new body don’t want to go back to the slab now… I know I can change the pickups but I’ve never changed a neck before.
Would it be hard to swap the necks on these guitars? They have the same scale length as far as I know.
Would this be something that could be done at guitar center? It’s the only guitar place near me.

Had an interview today at an insurance company and couldn't help notice, as I was refilling out my application(because for some reason companies never streamline their recruitment process), that the company had a notice stating that they are an at-will employer.
I live in Michigan, which recently repealed Right-to-Work laws, the first to do so in nearly six decades.
My questions are: How does this affect at-will employers? How can this affect me? How can I bring it up/should I bring it up to my possible employer?

i am finally getting the implant removed after nearly 2 and a half years of debilitating panic attacks and deteriorating mental health. it has nearly immobilized me with physical symptoms of anxiety. regardless, it was my fault for getting the implant knowing i had anxiety. however.. i never expected it do be this bad. i lost 80 pounds from vomiting bile and passing liquid poo every day. i had to quit my job, & at some points i couldn’t even drive. some of the thoughts i have had on the implant are scary.. it is truly dangerous and more doctors need to be aware of this. the last 2 years of my teenage life have been ruined by this. now i am 20 and regret ever getting this mind poison. thankfully, i have an appointment tomorrow to get it removed. anyways.. please feel free to share your experiences or any advice down below.

Hi all, I'm a content creator online and I bought the Dyson Airwrap predominantly to do my hair for videos. I would be lying if I said I didn't use it sometimes for personal use, but I use it nearly everyday for video creation. I know the IRS doesn't like to see any personal care products as deductions, but this is a weird gray area for me because I honestly would not have bought this product if I didn't have to make content constantly. Can I claim part of this product or should I just not claim it at all so I don't get in trouble?
Thank you!

I’m 21 and my girlfriend is 20. We’ve been together for 2 years and sounds cheesy but I wouldn’t give her up for anything.
Her younger sister, 18, keeps hitting on me and it’s really weird. She’s only started doing this in the last few months, but I feel embarrassed to bring it up to my girlfriend. I want it to stop. As far as I know there aren’t any issues between them. Her sister always seemed to be normal till recently.
The first time I felt a bit weird about how she’s acting was actually last Christmas. She kept saying my girlfriend is very lucky to have me and she said she loves me and said I was fit. This happened in front of everyone, and she was drunk at the time, so I laughed it off like everyone else did as drunken behaviour. Thought that was it.
Now it just so happens back in January, she gets an internship working at an office near where I work, and finished at the same time so gets the same bus as me when she goes back home. I guess it’s not that weird, but she always comes and sits next to me on the bus and she gets a bit touchy and cuddles up to me. I haven’t told her off for it, because it’s really embarrassing.
She complained she felt bored the other week, and asked if she could stay over at mine (my girlfriend was away) to which I obviously said no. That scared me away so I started trying to walk home instead, but after a few days I decided to keep getting the bus back.
She’s a nice girl as far as I know, I don’t think there’s anything malicious going on. And I feel awful, because part of me feels a bit attracted to her, or maybe not but flattered. I feel pathetic saying that but I like the attention. I hope that doesn’t make me bad. In any case, she knows full well how much I love my girlfriend and so I don’t get why she persists being weird.
Anyway, at that alone, it isn’t the end of the world. But in the last few weeks she’s started calling me a lot, and she texts me and sends me nudes. I don’t respond to them but it’s crossed the line to where now I feel like I’m cheating.
It’s got to the point where I feel like I’m hiding it from my girlfriend when she messages me or tries to call me. Yesterday, that literally happened when she called me and my girlfriend asked who it was and I just said it was work and said I’ll get back to them in a bit.
I told her last night the messages have to stop and she’s said sorry, but I still feel bad about not telling my girlfriend. I don’t want to put her sister in unnecessary trouble, but it’s weighing on my mind.
I’m really embarrassed about it, and if I tell my girlfriend all of this now, I get the feeling she’ll think I’ve been doing something with her, which btw, I haven’t.
I asked my girlfriend earlier if her and her sister had any issues lately. She said there aren’t and wondered why I would ask. I just said there’s a bad energy between them when they’re together, and she seemed confused.
I admit I do deep down like her attention. Im not pretending I’m completely innocent. The fact I feel flattered makes me feel terrible and I know I can’t really lie to her forever. How do I tell her in the best way without ruining anything?

The Foundations of Humanity 8 (Cultivation) - an NoP fanfic
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Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for establishing the Nature of Predators Universe, and for allowing Fanfics to flourish!
Warning. This is disgustingly cute and very intimate with lots of touching. You have been warned.
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Memory transcription subject: Valek, Venlil-Human Partnership Program Participant
Date [standardized human time]: August 25th, 2136. Early morning
I knew the heat beside me before I finished dreaming, and I knew the arms around me before my eyes opened. Maeve was huddled against me, nuzzled into my collar wool as she dozed. I dared not move, as I knew she had another hour or more before a full rest.
While planning my extraction, I felt her pull harder and take a deep breath, before opening her eyes.
"Good morning, handsome,"
"Good waking, little leafy green." Maeve pushed her face further into my mane at that. "I know you have a longer sleep than we do, please don't wake up on my account."
"It's ok, I'm doing this as much for me as for you," she whispered, as she pressed her lips to my shoulder.
Maeve pulled herself from me and stretched the length of the bed with a loud groan, before settling back against me on her side, and looked at me with a smile, "I'll be honest you are very comfortable, I could see this becoming a habit."
It was only then I noticed, to my horror, my tail had found its way between us. I hoped she didn't catch on to the implications of my tail curled around her foreleg, but my shaking reply left no questions. "I think I could be convinced."
We giggled to each other, while she reached over and started to idly scratch through the tuft on my chest, to my immense satisfaction. I could only see half of her face around the pillow, but the look from that gleaming green eye was the closest thing to 'predatory' I've ever seen from Maeve.
"Well!" Maeve said with a start, lifting her hand from me, "as lovely as this is, it's time to get up, and I wouldn't mind a snack. Do you still want to try the rec room for art supplies?"
"Oh that would be wonderful! My parents couldn't afford art classes, so I only had public events to really try it."
"You didn't have art in school?"
"Well no, we couldn't afford it, that's what I said."
"Sorry, that's not what I mean," Maeve clarified, muffled through her changing of clothes, "Ok, first off, do the Venlil have a concept of public schooling? Education of subjects deemed necessary, paid for by the state, and free to the parents?."
"Of course we do! You can't have modern civilization without everyone knowing the basics of things like math and science."
"Well for humans, several of those subjects are art."
My ears snapped forward, utterly surprised, "Really?? Why??" I asked as we left the room.
"I'll admit, it is relatively recent; for most of human history, several hundred thousand years at least, artistic expression was something that humans just did, without any assistance or education. There were earlier instances of art being treated like a trade, apprentice learning from journeymen, but I think the earliest examples of formal artistic education were in pre-Christian Rome, so that would be… 3, maybe 4 thousand years ago? At that time and for a long time after, artistic education was only taught to the elite. Not because of pay or profit, but because the wealthy and powerful were cultural leaders and needed to be taught as much about culture as possible, including art."
"The concept of public education has come and gone several times in human history, but our current era started I think in the 1500's, almost 700 years ago, and even then artistic expression only became part of it around 300 years ago, or less. There were a lot of reasons why they included it: social reasons, political reasons, scientific… but it wasn't until after the Satellite Wars that such practices became ubiquitous. So now, almost every living human will have had at least one or two years of formal training in the arts by adulthood, to familiarize them with the concept of expression and creation."
"That's incredible!" I exclaimed as we entered the Mess Hall, to the shock of several Venlil and a few humans nearby, "I mean, Maeve! Your people's warlike history is well documented; why, by the sun and stars, would artistic education be compulsory for a species at war?"
"Like I said, there's a lot of reasons" gathering our food, we found empty seats by the window, "In fact, one of those reasons is precisely to prevent war." My mouth hung agape as I nearly dropped my tray; settling in, Maeve now had my full attention.
"You remember what I said about humans feeling too much?" I did, and the reminder of last waking's events did not help my nerves, but I nodded and Maeve continued all the same between sips of what I now know was coffee, "Humans appear to have incredible impulse, or as the Venlil call it 'instinct', control because we have had to learn and develop effective ways to control it. One of the most effective of which is Expression; to put that emotion out of your body and into the world in some way."
Having finished our meal, we started toward the rec room, "True, this can manifest in… unkind ways such as posturing, fighting, or just yelling, but it can also be expressed in others such as running, talking with someone who listens, and, of course, artistic works."
"So we started to teach our children how to express their imagination and emotions in non-violent ways such as the Arts. Not everyone continues practicing, and very few find professional success, but every human knows enough to understand and participate." The door to the Rec Room slid open in front of us, "Here we are, Valek. You said you checked this out on the first day, so how about you give me the tour?"
It was a large room, about the same as the bathing room including the drying corridor. The walls were lined with full bookshelves, colored boxes, and several large viewing screens with comfortable seating. Several tables made up the interior, some with what appeared to be a Pad-mount attached to a keyboard; some designed for humans, some for Venlil. I saw several pairs already engaged in activities; a mixed group of six were seated and watching what appeared to be a world of cubes, and several pairs appeared to be using their pads together, though I couldn't tell what they were doing.
“I didn't have anyone to show me around last time, so I’m not sure what some of this is. Social media is pretty big on Venlil Prime, so I think these are to communicate with the herd," I said, motioning to the Pad-mounts. “It looks like Humans are as fond of reading as we are, judging by the bookshelves. But I’m not sure what that is,” motioning to the large displays, “I think they're watching a movie? I’ve never seen one like that, though.”
“Oh! They’re playing Minecraft. Interactive media, such as video games, are really big with humans. The one they’re playing is a little more than a hundred years old now, but it never lost its appeal.”
“You said it's interactive? How?”
“Oh you just use the controller to… wait… um…” She seemed to be trying to find out how to begin, “So you told me the Venlil have, like, shows and stuff right? Well, just like those shows take place in a False World where the actions of the actors influence change upon it, video games also take place in a false world. The difference is; your actions in the Real World are interpreted as actions in the False World; it’s like you, the player, are the actor in these shows.”
“That’s so cool! I’ll have to try that sometime.”
Maeve and I explored the room further, I was especially interested in their library; what kinds of stories would I see here? About to pull a large anthology book with what appeared to be a large human holding a lightning bolt, I heard Maeve call from the other corner.
“I think I found the art supplies! So when you did your community art, were you a paint guy or a chalk guy?”
“Oh, chalk please! Most of our public works are temporary, so using something that washes with the rain is very useful.” Their artistic education is complex enough to teach different mediums? Such classes are prohibitively expensive to have, and every human learns this??
“Well I don’t see chalk, but that tells me you prefer a dry medium, so let's try pencil and markers.” Maeve said as she pulled out sheets of paper and two buckets of what I assumed were the art supplies.
We spent the next entire claw working together, drawing what fit our fancy. Maeve told me about the forests of earth, and how her family used to go camping. She explained it was like leaving home, to make a new home, in a place where a home has no right to be. I was still wrapping my head around that when she told me about the clear skies, and how her family would stay up late to see the stars, and share ancient stories about their shapes.
We were silent for a moment while we worked, when I heard Maeve speak from beside me, “Are those your woods from back home?” she asked about my drawing, “It's so colorful! Are these broad colors typical of Venlil styles?”
To the human eye, my work appeared as large swathes of color, with vague shapes representing direction and shape, rather than form. Emotion mixed with reality to create something that gave an impression of overall calm and nostalgia over the representational work.
“I do often see something similar in the parks when others are being creative. I have seen some Venlil try a style that is more detailed, but I like to show what I feel rather than what I see.” I explained, while making another long streak of golden sunbeam.
Maeve asked about my home, and I told her how we lived in a traditional burrow-style house; not an actual burrow, it was above-ground, but it made use of smooth lines and soft corners to lend structural support, spreading more out than up. We still had a 2nd floor, which was where most of our living and sleeping space was, but it looked like barely a mound against the modern stem-style houses, which was what used to be my university apartment. I was just talking about the kitchen on the ground floor when I looked over at what Maeve was working on. To my surprise, she was making an incredibly life-like imagining of our kitchen. It wasn't perfect, our dishes never stacked that high, but this could absolutely be someone else’s kitchen.
“How did you draw that?” I asked, unbelieving.
Maeve giggled as I stared, and answered lightly, “I did a lot of things back home, either as work or hobby, and one of them was room concepts and architectural design. I followed your descriptions as best as I could, with some artistic flavor. Some older human cultures also had burrow homes, so I took ideas from that. What do you think?”
“It’s incredible! This could absolutely be someone's kitchen, though it isn't ours. You even have the berry field in the window!” I was so enthralled by the detail I was seeing, I didn’t notice Maeve’s hand reaching for the work. She pointed to two figures in frame: a Venlil with what was clearly my salt-and-pepper pattern and…
“I’ve given it some thought,” Maeve whispered beside me, “and I think, yes. I would like to keep doing this.”
My heart leapt with joy and and my tail thrashed behind me; if any attempt at subtlety was made I clearly ruined the secret. Maeve smiled broadly, hiding her teeth in a vain attempt to hide her quickly reddening cheeks. We quickly packed up our projects, and I saw Maeve making to throw them away! “What are you doing?”
“Oh, I was…” She paused, not truly having an answer. I walked over and gently, wordlessly, took the sketches from her hand, and filled the space with my own paw. The message received, we exited to the corridor. "You mentioned something about camping, what is that?"
Maeve paused in thought without breaking stride, then asked, "You mentioned your favorite place was taking the road between The Grove and University. If you had the chance to live there, for a few days or a week, would you?"
I thought about this. It's a beautiful place, and I would find great joy in staying there for a time. But I remembered the look of that predator, "No. I know, in my head, that the predators in that forest would leave us alone; I'm certain it would be fine. But no, I don't think I'm brave enough for it."
"It's ok, and I won't ask you to. But Humans would, though that doesn't say much for our judgment." she added with a chuckle, "Most humans live in cities. Massive places of steel and concrete with more people than plants. Just like cities on Venlil Prime, they are comfortable, safe, and good places to live; but humans are drawn instinctively to the natural world. Despite our industry, we have to see the Earth and its bounty, or we get out of sorts."
We had reached the room and, picking up on human mannerisms, I invited Maeve to enter first. "Thank you, my good sir." She said through a giggle, "anyway, because of this many humans will leave the city to live in nature for a while. We have a lot of ways to make it more or less comfortable, and the varied ecosphere on earth combined with our diurnal cycle means we have to be very prepared. Personally I prefer a tent, rain cover, and camp stove; but some people take as much as a rolling house, or as little as a sleeping bag."
Maeve sat down on a chair, and I on the bed as we continued talking, "do you hunt when you do this?" I asked.
Carefully, Maeve spoke in measured words, "Not always, and myself never; the vast majority of people bring food with them to eat as-is or cook on site. But yes, some humans do still hunt, kill, consume, and use the dead of wild creatures. But I'd like to point out it has been regulated in most countries for a few centuries now, and even more so in the last few decades. These days, only a couple thousand animals are killed annually due to hunting practices, worldwide. And, as we continue to become more prosperous, cede more of earth to nature, and find alternatives to killing, that number will continue dropping to almost nothing." she said, matter-of-factly.
"But why do you still hunt at all? If you can eat plants, have domesticated livestock, and can now print synthetic meat, why is that number not zero?"
"it is a part of our history, and our culture; such things are very difficult to unlearn. Also, we humans have assumed the responsibility to maintain the ecologies of our world. This is done in large part as penance for the damage we did during our colonial and industrial ages, but that sense of guardianship still carries on. Answering that question is pretty complicated, and I won't dance around the fact that controlled murder is a big part of it, do you want me to keep going?"
I will never be totally ready for frank discussions of murder, but I felt this was nothing compared to what we've already done. With a deep breath, I steeled myself and flicked an affirmation.
"Ok, this is a phenomenon we have seen nearly everywhere on Earth, but we are going to talk about Yellowstone National Park, specifically. Yellowstone is a large evergreen forest that is host to a huge variety of wildlife, but early in America's history, the colonists eradicated the local Wolf population. True we had domesticated wolves earlier, but not here, and these wolves were more harmful than helpful to the colonists, so they killed them. What followed was a process called a Trophic Cascade."
"Wolves were a natural predator of Deer, so without wolves to control their numbers, the deer population exploded. The deer over-grazed on many things, most especially tree saplings. Without saplings reaching maturity, the forest couldn't create new growth, and this reduced usable living space for many small herbivores; so things like squirrels and beavers left the area. Without these small herbivores, small carnivores like the fox left as well, which made very small omnivores, like mice, also explode in population. These mice over-hunted grubs, beetles, and other detritus-eaters, so the forest floor stopped getting new nutrients, which made all plants, including trees, even sicker. With trees dying faster and still not able to make new growth, because the deer were still a problem remember, their root systems became weaker, which could no longer hold the soil. This exacerbated the effects of erosion, causing landslides to be more frequent, and even changing the course of rivers, leading to droughts in places that have never seen it"
"All of this because: we killed the Wolf. There were many examples, this is just the one I know best, but humans are well familiar with the effect of adding or removing a species from local ecology."
I sat for a long moment, letting this sink in. "You changed the shape of mountains, and the path of rivers… by killing wolves?
"Yeah!" She confirmed, with just as much surprise as I had. "We tried a few things to help heal the damage: manually planting more trees, shoring up at risk earth, even controlled culls of wildlife; this is where most of our modern hunting practices came from. But no matter what humans did, we just couldn't keep up with the forces of nature. So, Occam's Razor, we decided to try the obvious option: put the wolves back into the forest, using the natives' local cousins from further north. And you know what?" I flicked my tail expectantly, both ears swiveled on Maeve, "It worked! The wolves hunted the deer to manageable numbers, the trees had a chance to grow, the small herbivores came back… a complete reversal of all the damage I mentioned. So now, the only species that have an overall open-season are invasive species, like the European Rabbit in Australia. Among humans, it is both illegal, and socially taboo, to kill wild animals without specific cause."
This was… a lot. All of this made sense on its own, it logically followed, but I couldn't wrap my head around how everything could be so connected. Predators kill! That's all they do! How could killing be a good thing? Finding my voice, I spoke up, "I won't pretend to know what this means. I cannot get it through that everything is so dependent on murder. But I know you've told me the truth as best as you know it, so I'll leave it alone. Can we talk about something else? You mentioned something about stories in the stars?"
"Oh absolutely!" Maeve seemed to glow with this topic, I loved seeing her so excited, "so humans have a day/night cycle, but some of us would have to keep watch during the night while others slept; so we learned to entertain ourselves by telling stories. At night, and before industrialization, our skies were brimming with stars! So we would see shapes in their patterns, and tell great stories about who they represented. There have been stories since before writing, so sadly most have been lost to history, but one story, Orion, is about-"
A ping from my pad, and then hers, interrupted the lesson.
Please report to the Partnership Program lead office promptly. Suite 4006 on deck 4.
We shared a worried look, sharing an understanding of what prompted the summons. We would face it, together. We left the room and made our way to the elevator, mostly in silence. Sensing my worry, Maeve touched my shoulder, "It's ok, this will work out." I'm not sure I believed her. We stood apart in the elevator, and the distance felt cold. Walking down the hall of offices I felt more fear and anxiety than the past week, but I had to keep moving forward.
We reached the door, and as I reached for the handle, Maeve stopped me, and gently pulled me by the shoulder against her in a desperate embrace, as one would say goodbye. She whispered into my ear,
"Whatever happens in there, I want you to know I love you, Valek."
"I love you too, Maeve."
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Hey all, just stumbled on this community today and was hoping for some advice.
I recently moved states and can't see my stylist any longer and need help finding a new source for good quality shampoo/ conditioner. My previous stylist used Pulp Riot dye (Velvet), and I absolutely love the color and the way it fades. They worked at a Fantastic Sam's, so I was using their salon brand shampoo and conditioner because my stylist vouched for it. Unfortunately, because of the move there are no Fantastic Sam's near me and I'm almost out of conditioner.
I'm still pretty novice at taking care of my hair myself, so I have no idea what to avoid or what would work best for my hair. Any suggestions? Please and thank you!
Side note, I hope this doesn't violate rule one, because it is a question about dyed hair care. If it does, I completely understand taking it down.