This has been an on going issue for years, no matter how many times I ask about this, I always get the same runaround"Is everything connected right?""Is antyhing interfiering with your connection?""Is everything plugged in tightly?"YesYesand yes!
but every single time it rains, our net just cuts out and is 100% unusuable for hours till the rain departs and the net stablizes. The only clue we have is that, last time someone serviced our line (3 years ago now.) They told me that the ports that everything connects too on Spectrums end is horribly out of date and is in dire need of attention and that they would put in a ticket for it for someone to come back and fix it. But nothing has come of it, nothing has happened since thing, I have gone to spectrum over and over again and always get the same runaround. We know what the issue is, they know what the issue is. All that needs to be done to fix it, so why hasn't it been done? Why hasn't anyone been out there to come and do a couple replacements to make sure that something like this wont keep happening every time it rains???
The last time the thing was ever serviced was in the late 1990's and its never been touched since, so what will it take for spectrum to come out and actually replace these damaged parts to keep something like this from happening? Go to another ISP or something???

Hello ppl, just bought a Minolta x700 but the seller told me there was a little problem related to the mode/on off switch which was stuck. I managed to fix it (it was just a rusty ball bearing) but after that the shutter stopped working. It worked for some time and stopped on the next day.
The capacitors are not the original ones, so I presume they were changed recently, the battery is also new so I think that's not the problem despite their the cheap ones, it beeps and the panel is working but the shutter won't fire
Please, can someone knows how to fix it? Old camera repairs are very expensive in my country and I can't seem to find what's going on

Long story short, I’m building a 3D printed whip sword! I’m looking for something to use as the cable retracting mechanism. Through my calculations, the blade part should weigh about 16oz.
So far I’ve researched dog leashes, tape measures, chalk lines, keychains and tape mesures but I can’t seem to find the right device that can support+retract the weight of the blade and is small enough to fit in the guard (8cm X 10cm)
Keychains seem to only hold a load weight of 10oz or less and I’m unsure about dog leashes.
Any help is appreciated!

I've seen older posts about Stumpjumper Alloy Base vs Mythique. Now that the 2023 Mytique has updated geometry and won the MTB top pick, I'm just waiting for the VRX medium to come into stock (US). It'll come out to ~$2600 USD all in.
In the mean time I found a used 2021 Stumpjumper Alloy base model in good condition $1750, claims to be ridden for a year by an adult. I've heard the frame is great but components are all below average, which is where the VRX shines. With sale new Stumpjumper Alloy base would be for $2300 all in so I'd rather pay $300 more for VRX.
I'm a beginneintermediate trail rider, who currently has Rockhopper expert for 1.5years. I enjoy climbing and descending mostly green, blues and non-technical blacks. Summers are great but other seasons its wet with rocks and roots. I've only been to a bike park once (Whistler), so I think I'll go maybe 2x a year. I'm also dad with small kids who wants to ride in the mornings so can spent time with family the rest of day.
My question, should I go with brand new bike that I won't need to upgrade or fix. I have very limited experience in maintaining bikes, I'm willing to learn but don't have a lot of time to dedicate to it. Or should I go for the Stumpjumper, that I've heard is great frame and all rounder bike that I can upgrade over time (hopefully myself or with some help). Its used but then again I bought my Rockhopper used and its been great so far.
Side note: I've kept an eye out for Stumpjumper Alloy Comp used but the only ones I've ever used for sale are EVO ones, which I think is more downhill oriented so I'm not interested in that. Also, I was original I was waiting for Polygon T8 medium 29 to come in stock, but then I found the VRX.

Many people won't like this like from Bohm; we take comfort in our traditions, we are proud of and will die for them. To that discomfort or anger I am reminded of what K said before speaking to a group of potentially hostile theosophists:
"It is not at all my intention to attack anything, but rather to help you to discover if what you are upholding is true. If it is true, then no one can attack it, and it does not matter if anyone attacks it, if what you hold is real; and you can only find out what is real by considering it, not protecting it, not being on the defensive."
New Zealand Talk to Theosophists 31st March, 1934
Which I really wish all the religious,governmental authoritarians/zealots of all sorts would consider.
I am also reminded of K's question of whether constant conflict, trafficing in thought was another factor in brain damage. Always interesting that Bohm was a physicist and K had no scientific degree but they don't seem to have discussed anything about the brain thats been discredited in how many years since.

DB: It occurred to me that tradition is a form of brain damage. JK: I agree. DB: Any tradition, good or bad, makes people accept a certain structure of reality, very subtly, without their realizing they are doing it, by imitation, or by example, or by words, just by statements. So very steadily the child builds up an approach in which the brain attributes things which are in the tradition to a reality which is independent of tradition. And it gives it tremendous importance. Tradition has real effects of all sorts, which may even be valuable in some ways. But at the same time it conditions the brain to a reality, which is fixed. A person may look at that reality and say, “That’s reality, I‘ve got to keep my feet on the ground.” But this ground has been created by tradition, by thought; it is no ground, it has nothing under it at all. It is sustained and nourished by this damaged brain, which is unable to get out of that circle.
“The limits of thought”, J. Krishnamurti and David Bohm, Krishnamurti Foundation India

A slave-driving murderer had just publicly declared war on us. The cheering and applause of the people standing around us was an eerie and ominous accompaniment to the feeling of dread swelling in my chest and radiating down to my stomach. He'd captured all of them thus far. I swallowed and dropped my gaze down to the pavement as it dawned on me that all of those people had tasted freedom, and were then immediately and mercilessly hunted down and dragged back to hell.
But there was an interesting caveat there. He called us by the names O'Malley had erroneously wrote down in his ledger. The men that were chasing us that day had picked up our actual fake aliases, but then we'd killed them at the inn. It seemed that knowledge died with them– a drop of good luck in a raging downpour it seemed.
"William," I said just loud enough to catch his attention.
He turned and eyed me. "Huh? Were you talking to me?"
I lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah. Who else would I be calling William?"
He narrowed his eyes, "It's Tovin, you spaz."
I glanced around nervously. Nobody appeared to have been listening to us. I took him by the shoulder and led him away from the crowd gathered around the picture boxes. "What are you doing?" I hissed.
"What am I doing?" he scoffed. "What are you doing? You know my name. What, are you playing a game right now?"
"Our aliases," I said through my teeth. "We're using fake names, remember?"
His expression changed from annoyed and confused to forlorn and somber. He swallowed and looked away. "... I'm losing it again, aren't I?" he asked.
I remained silent. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want him to feel worse about it, but that would have been a dangerous slip-up in front of the wrong person. Before now, I was starting to think that Tovin back home had overblown how quickly the mental decline would be.
"Don't worry about it," I said finally, passing him on the sidewalk further into the city. "Come on. We need to find a way to make some money."
"And fast," he added, trailing behind me. "We need food, clothes, and a couple of beds. And more cigarettes, too. I've only got a few left and I'm trying to make them last."
We walked the mazelike streets of Bronzegirder looking for work. I wasn't used to Diesel society yet and often found myself hung up on storefront windows that marketed all kinds of gadgets and technology. I would do my best not to stare when people walked by wearing metallic pieces on their persons.
Some wore gadgets on their forearms, some on their wrists, and others in various other areas. I wondered what purpose they served, where they were sold, and how expensive they could be. And it wasn't just the gadgets. There were far more dark-skinned people here than we had in Galgia. It was something I had read about but never experienced. They ranged from light tan all the way to almost black, and it just added to the culture shock.
There appeared to be people living in the buildings above the storefronts. The tall towers we had seen in the far distance earlier served as housing as well as business space. Diesillians stood on their balconies, some hanging wet laundry, others leaning over their railing while they enjoyed a drink or a smoke. We passed so many things I would have wanted to stop and look at were we not being hunted. DuPonte seemed awfully sure of himself when he said he'd find us, but for the life of me, I couldn't imagine how one would find antything they were looking for in this city.
"I'm totally lost," I admitted. "We need a map or something."
He remained quiet. I turned to speak to him more directly only to find that he wasn't behind me anymore. My stomach dropped as I looked around at the sea of people.
"William?" I called out. "William!"
It was no good. I'd have to literally scream if I wanted to breach the drone of the crowd, and I couldn't afford to draw too much attention to myself. There was also the possibility that he'd forgotten his name again anyway. I adjusted the straps of my backpack and sighed deeply before doubling back. He couldn't have wandered too far away, and he'd be easy to spot against the horde of people in more modern clothing.
I kept close to the storefronts as I picked up my pace. I began to peer into each store as I passed them. The longer I searched, the more I worried. He wasn't in his right mind. He'd get himself noticed and captured if he let too much slip, or pulled down his hood. I came to the turn we had taken after we'd left the picture boxes. He was with me at this point, I was sure of it. I turned around and swallowed as I scanned the crowd.
This was really, really, bad.
"William?" I tried again. I decided to cross the street and nearly got run over by one of their vehicles. It screeched to a stop and when I lowered my arms, I found the front of the metallic machine inches from my face.
"Git the fuck oudda da road!" shouted the pilot, shaking his fist in the air. I quickly scurried onto the opposite sidewalk and made my way down the street with the flow of the crowd. I kept my eyes peeled as I walked. It was difficult to see over everyone's shoulders. Diesillians were a good deal taller than Galgians as a rule, and it made it a nightmare for an average-sized guy like myself. Just when I was about to start asking around, something caught my ear.
Something I never expected to hear– music.
I stopped in my tracks and the public parted around me like a river around a boulder. I turned toward the sound and followed my ears to a large silver pavilion nestled between two tall buildings. It looked like an empty lot that had been designed for another tall building but instead served as some sort of inner-city courtyard where live entertainment performed.
I slowly approached as a woman stood in front of a mic stand singing while a band performed with shining metallic instruments behind her. She had black hair styled in a way I'd never seen hair styled. It was pulled up and around under a hat and shined the same as her red lipstick did. But what awed me the most was that she was singing.
No danger; no combat; no sign of beasts being summoned forth. She sang beautifully, adding something to music that I had never in my life once considered because in Galgia, to sing was to slaughter. Music was a tool of war and forbidden entirely outside of such circumstances, for if one of us were even to hum, anything could come crawling out of the resulting portal.
But here she was, singing what I presumed were the words to a poem in perfect rhythm and harmony with the band that played behind her.
"You're my machine, my heart's ignition. The gears that keep my love in motion. You're the engine that never tires– the pistons set my soul on fire."
I was completely taken in. It was therefore no surprise to me that here in the crowd, I spotted Tovin watching her with equal admiration from the edge of the stage. I weaved through the crowd as politely as I was able and then stopped next to him. He glanced at me before quickly returning his eyes back to the stage. I didn't say anything to him; no words needed said so long as she was singing.
"You, my dear, a love machine, the one that keeps my bearings clean– I'm addicted to your engine's roar, your power's what I'm living for."
I wasn't a hundred percent sure what she was talking about, but it was clearly a love song written for one lucky guy. When the song was finished, she ever so slightly lifted her ruby-red dress from the sides and took a bow. The crowd clapped, a few whistles coming from somewhere behind us.
"Thank you," she said softly into the mic. "It's important to remember that love conquers all," she said, passing her deep black eyes over us. "Hatred fades over time, but love lasts; it endures. This next song is about a long lost love and reconnection."
We stayed and listened to a couple more songs before she left the stage, and the band with her. She disappeared on promises of returning tomorrow for a second show. Of all the things thus far I had seen in the land of our enemy, something so sweet as non-weaponized music ranked among the most surprising and awe-inspiring.
As the crowd began to disperse back onto the main street, I turned to Tovin. "Hey, do me a favor and don't disappear like that. I didn't know where you were and we've got to stick together."
"Can we come back here tomorrow?" he asked, completely ignoring what I'd said. He stared at me with hopeful eyes, a small smile on his face. It still felt strange of him to ask me permission for anything, but I couldn't deny that it was a pretty magical performance.
"Only if we live that long," I answered with a heaping helping of snark. "We need money so we can get off these streets tonight. Come on, we're losing daylight."
He looked past my shoulder and suddenly pointed. "What about that?"
I turned to see a bulletin board posted on the side of a building not far from us. On it were several posts, but one of them specifically read, "200 Octim Sign-On Bonus." The two of us walked up the board and looked over the job.
"There's a sign-on bonus," Tovin said as his eyes moved down the paper. "The Empress needs you. Galgian dogs sent monsters to run amok in our fair empire. Officials are spread thin amidst heightened tensions with Galgia's military. Find and kill monsters for bounties. Seek employment at the Hunters' Barracks at 443 Alloy Avenue on the north side of town. Look for the men in uniform."
"Monsters?" I asked. "There aren't any monsters in Galgia. None in all of Aurii if our textbooks are accurate."
"You want to at least check it out?" he asked.
"I think we'd be wasting our time," I said dismissively. "We hiked through a bunch of wilderness closer to the Galgian border and we didn't see anything all night."
He folded his arms. "Then let's get our sign-on bonus and leave."
That was such a fantastic point that I pushed my palm against my forehead and visibly cringed. "Oof. Why am I so dumb?" I whined.
"I don't think you're dumb," Tovin said as he moved down the bulletin board to look at other flyers. "I think you're just honest to a fault. It never would have occurred to you to do something so underhanded."
I would never get used to compliments from Tovin. It was like watching a different person wear his body and speak with his voice. Had life at ENU really been such a drag on him?
"None of these other jobs are offering money upfront," he added, turning to face me. "Let's head to the north side of town and see if we can find Alloy Avenue."
x - - x - - x - - ★ - - x - - x - - x
The walk was long and difficult– not because it was too far, but because we had to pass so much delicious-smelling food along the way. I hadn't been sure before if Tovin was as hungry as I was, but the north side of Bronzegirder was quiet enough to hear both of our stomachs growling in concert with one another. The buildings were made of brick in the district we wandered through, and the walkways were closer to cobblestone like the kind we had back home. The roads were three times as wide, there were benches along the walkways, and they had planted trees caged in black iron gates at the trunks. The few people that strolled the sidewalks on Alloy Avenue were well-to-do, dressed in expensive-looking suits and wearing high hats with wide brims.
"I like this side of town better," Tovin said as we looked for building addresses. "Though I have to say, I'm surprised to see trees in the collossity."
"Goes a little against what we were taught doesn't it?" I asked.
"I don't recall being taught anything," he grumbled. "It's just another thing I somehow know."
I cast him a sympathetic glance and he didn't seem to like it. He scowled at me, "Don't you pity me."
"I'm not," I rolled my eyes. "I'd never feel bad for you Tovin, not in a thousand years."
"Just shut up," he snapped. "We're here."
He stopped in front of a brick building with an impressive stone staircase that had bronze handrails running up the length of them. At the top were two men in uniform just as the flyer had indicated. He was the first to start up the steps and I quickly followed behind him. As we passed them I took a good look at their uniforms. I could have sworn that I'd seen them somewhere before. We walked up to the glass doors and pulled them open.
A blast of warm air blew over us as we entered the building and it was a welcome reprieve from the cold. Inside was smaller than I had anticipated. I was expecting high ceilings, murals, metal artwork, and all kinds of stuff from how nice the outside looked. Instead, we found ourselves standing in a dirty lobby about the size of a headmaster's office. There were several rows of chairs dotted with people filling out forms on clipboards. At the back of the lobby was a little window with a man sitting on the other side. He was dark-skinned, had a shaved head, and bore a grisly pink scar across his cheek. He waved us forward when he noticed us.
"Let me do the talking," I whispered to Tovin, taking the lead in front of him as we made our way over; he didn't protest.
"Afternoon, gentlemen," he spoke into a microphone that relayed his voice to us through a little black device on the window. "Thinking about joining up?"
Before I could even speak, Tovin leaned onto the counter. "So when you say monsters," he adopted a skeptical look. "You mean like the ones that don't exist?"
The man behind the counter rolled his eyes. "Oh, great, another conspiracy theorist."
"What did you call me?" Tovin shot back.
"Ahhh, ha ha," I called out loudly, pulling Tovin back by his shoulder. "My brother is better at fighting than talking," I covered quickly. "Just talk to me from here on in."
He cast me a disinterested glance before handing us both clipboards with forms attached. "Whatever. Just read the whole thing and sign the liability waiver at the bottom. He's free to deny their existence while they're chewing his face off, but the empire won't be responsible for it."
I took both of the clipboards and passed one to Tovin. The two of us sat down and began going through them– and immediately, we faced a problem. They wanted first and last names, home addresses, medical history, and something called landline numbers. Tovin and I exchanged glances; this wasn't going to work.
I stood up and slowly walked back up to the counter as I looked over the document. Every time I looked, it seemed more and more ridiculous. Blood type? Social security number? Insurance provider? I didn't know what any of this meant. It might as well have been in an entirely different language.
"Did you have a question?" asked the man behind the counter.
"Yeah, I don't have most of this information," I said, setting the clipboard down on the counter. "Sorry, but we're gonna have to just go."
"Well, hang on now," he said, reaching under the little pass-through window and retrieving the clipboard. "I take it you boys are homeless then?" he asked.
"Uhh... Yeah," I answered tentatively. Did they really have such a homeless problem that he was able to jump to that conclusion so quickly? "We don't know how to answer these questions, so thanks anyways."
"I said hang on, dammit," he called through the mic before swiveling around in his chair and pulling some kind of lever underneath it that caused it to sink lower to the floor. He opened a cabinet and began rifling through it. I peered through the window at his chair– it was on some kind of ball axis that allowed him to spin in it freely. I felt like every couple of minutes I was seeing something I'd never seen before. He swiveled back around and lifted his chair back up before he handing me a new form. It was more like a strip of paper with three questions on it.
Shirt size, shoe size, and pant size.
There was a second slip of paper underneath it. I looked back up at the window attendant as Tovin appeared next to me. I handed him the slip of paper and we exchanged glances.
"The empire isn't being picky right now," spoke the man through the speaker. "You'll be assigned a number, a gun, and a uniform. You won't be eligible for emergency care, and you can't be assigned to a party. It'll be just the two of you. If you're still interested, we need all the help we can get."
I shrugged at Tovin, and he got to work filling out the information. I leaned on the counter and jotted down my uniform size before signing the waiver and handing everything back. He took both of the documents and then nodded toward the door on his right. "Come on back."
He reached under the table and did something that caused the door to make a whirring sound. It popped open on its own, and he thumbed us over to it. "Close it on your way in. Walk straight down the hall and through the third door on your left. Your hunter number is 27B and his is 28B."
We walked down the hallway and found the designated door already opened and with a sign on the inside that read, "Uniforms HERE" with an arrow pointing into the room. We were met by a portly woman with bouncy curls that hung down to her shoulders. She sat behind a desk absolutely surrounded by hanging uniforms, all kept in clear covering. She sized us up with a retractable ruler– the coolest ruler I had ever seen. After she took our measurements, she began sifting through uniforms.
"Why did they ask us for our sizes if they were going to measure us?" Tovin grumbled.
"I don't know," I whispered. "Just be quiet."
"Don't tell me to be quiet," he shot back, elbowing me in the ribs.
She turned around holding two suits by the hangers, one in each hand. "Your uniforms will come out of your first bounty collected," she announced. "No money needed upfront. Change into them and make sure they fit." We took them from her and she breezed past us. "Holler out here when you're changed." She closed the door behind her.
We turned away from one another and began getting dressed. I pulled back the crinkly clear material and looked down at the uniform. Now that I was seeing it closer, it was actually an extremely dark shade of blue, rather than black as I had thought prior. I looked down at the hat and held it in my hands. I had seen it before. Then, all at once, it came rushing back to me.
These were the uniforms of the men that had come to the mine. They had come carrying guns to inspect the worksite after what had happened to Hammer. Skully must have thought a monster had gotten to him based on the state of his body. I stared down at the uniform in disbelief. Could monsters really be running around in Diesel territory?
"You better not be looking over here," Tovin warned.
They had mistaken what Tovin had done for a monster attack. Skully's "fonekall" wasn't a pilgrimage. It was some form of long-distance communication. She reached out to the capital to request aid from someone, and they sent these guys. I began to wonder if I was making a mistake. If we could be dispatched like that, then we could feasibly be sent back to the camp.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. We were only in it for the sign-on bonus. Once we had that in our hands, we'd be outta here. We could even jump to the next town. They knew nothing about us other than our clothing size. We could be dust in the wind by tomorrow morning.
I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind and quickly got dressed. The uniform fit perfectly, it was comfortable, and best of all had been designed with a high collar. It covered our neck markings perfectly. I turned to see Tovin with the hat on already. He looked like a classic Diesel villain from a comic book I had read as a kid.
"It fits nice," he said, testing the range of motion he had in his arms. "I think this will work."
"Yeah," I nodded. "Let's get our money and get the hell out."
"Speaking my language," he smirked.
He moved for the door and leaned out, calling for the attendant. I looked at myself in the full-body mirror and did a quick turnaround. I had to admit, I looked pretty darn stylish. The white gloves, belt, and hat looked pretty good against the dark blue and gold buttons.
The woman returned and smiled at both of us, her curls bouncing as she tossed her gaze cartoonishly left and right between us. "You two look good!"
"Thanks," I smiled back. "When do we get our sign-on bonus?"
"Oh, don't worry about that just yet," she said, moving back to her desk. "Do you boys know how to shoot?" she asked as she sat down.
"Shoot?" Tovin asked.
"A gun," she clarified, her smile fading. "Have either of you shot a gun?"
"No, ma'am," I answered. "Our parents didn't let us near them growing up."
"That's no problem," she said, lifting her hands. "We're happy to teach you the basics. You'll just exit the room and go left down to the very end of the hallway. I'll buzz you through the double doors at the end, and Old Mitchell will take you from there."
Tovin audibly groaned, and I took him by the arm, leading him out of the room. We walked down the hallway as he bellyached about what a waste of time it was. It was unlike him to turn his nose up at the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a new weapon. In fact, he'd been acting weirdly childish lately. I didn't like it. It beat dealing with Tovin-Classic, but it was still a hassle. As we neared the end of the hallway, we began hearing the sound of guns being fired one by one.
The doors buckled and hummed the same as the first door had, and we pushed them open. We passed into a large room with Diesillians shooting at targets a good distance away. This was why the building was so large and the lobby was so small. The brick walls were covered in informational and safety posters, as well as what appeared to be schematics for the weapons themselves.
I looked across the large room to see a man striding toward us. He was wearing shiny black boots that were laced tightly to his calves. His pants and jacket were hunter green, and he bore perhaps the silliest mustache I'd ever seen; It was long and curled at the tips. I had to be careful not to snicker– his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, and I couldn't tell if he was watching me.
"New recruits?" he called out to us from entirely too far away.
"Yes sir," I called back. "My brother and I just signed up."
"Brothers!" he exclaimed. "I love it, dammit!" He stopped in front of us. He was chewing on something and was being as obnoxious as he possibly could about it. He was wearing perhaps the stupidest hat I had seen of the Diesel yet. It had no visible brim and was high on one side while sloping down toward the other. For the life of me, I couldn't discern the purpose of it.
"You boys know how to shoot?" he asked.
"No sir," I shook my head. "We're new at this."
"Good," he smiled widely. "That means you haven't formed any bad habits yet. I love newbies," he said before waving for us to follow him. "Come on, let's get you your rifles. I'm Mitch, but folks around here call me Old Mitchell."
"James," I said as I followed after him. "This is my brother William." It was difficult to talk over the noise of the weapons. I occasionally jumped when someone shot their gun nearby– a reflex I couldn't wait to be rid of. He led us to a small room; so small that it might as well have been a glorified safe. He disappeared inside and came back out holding two guns. The same long metal tubes Tovin and I had been attacked with at O'Malley's inn.
We each took one and promptly inspected it. Suddenly, Old Mitchell stepped forward and grabbed both of our guns by the barrel, lifting them so they were pointed at the ceiling.
"You boys ever even held one of these?" he barked. "Careful where you aim. Never point one of these at anything or anyone that you're not prepared to destroy."
"They sweep you, Mitch?" asked a man as he passed behind us.
"Pointed 'em right at me," he called back with a laugh. "We'll get 'em straightened out, don't you worry about that." He looked at us both, chewing aggressively. "Now I'm gonna let these rifles go. You keep 'em pointed up, you understand?"
"Yes, sir," I answered.
"Sure," Tovin said in a disinterested tone.
He let go of our rifles and we kept them pointed at the ceiling as we were told. I looked up and down the length of the tube before turning it over and inspecting the area under the barrel. It was split underneath with what looked like some kind of spring running along the length of the tube.
"They're not loaded," Mitch said, waving for us to follow him to the other side of the room. "But you will always treat them like they are. I'm going to show you how to load them over here. Set them down on the desk, I'm gonna stand between the two of you so I can watch you both."
I set my gun down in front of me and looked to my right. There was a box of what I presumed to be bullets. I expected them to be round pellet-like projectiles, but they were tubular with roughly textured heads on them.
"Turn your weapon over. You'll notice you can see a spring inside the bottom of the barrel. Close to the other end of your gun, you'll find a little round tab there. Take that tab and push it with your thumb all the way up toward the tip of the barrel. You'll then pop it out to the side there."
I did as he asked, and sure enough, the barrel popped out to the left at the tip of the weapon. I glanced over at Tovin who was struggling with the spring. Old Mitchell moved over and helped him with it. "Sometimes they get stuck," he muttered as he got Tovin to the same step I was at.
"Now," he shouted. "Take your ammunition right there in the box next to you, and begin placing the rounds into the underside of the barrel, flat side first. Then, you'll load more bullets into the gun overlapping one another. Be careful not to let the rounds collide with one another too heavily, or you could have a little accident."
I loaded the bullets carefully one after another until the barrel was about full. He checked on Tovin's rifle, and then inspected mine.
"Good. Now realign the barrel, there and come with me to the bay," he said, starting toward the practice range. I carefully lifted the weapon and rested it against my shoulder, turning with Tovin to follow him. When we stopped at the range, he motioned for Tovin first. "Come on, Will, we're gonna start with you."
"Pass," he said nonchalantly.
Old Mitchell blinked twice. "What?"
"I want to see Gill do it first," he said, stepping out of my way.
"It's a nickname," I said quickly, stepping up to the range. "Anyways, I'll go first, I don't mind, what do I do here?"
Mitch remained silent for a couple of seconds before clapping his hands once. "Okay! Well, go ahead and pull the hammer back."
I looked down at the weapon and then back up at him. Sensing my confusion, he carefully reached forward and pulled back a little tiny lever on the top of the rifle until it clicked. "That's called pulling the hammer back," he said. "Will, you watching this?"
He didn't wait for a response. "Next thing you're gonna do is pull that lever out underneath the gun. That's going to load the weapon with a fresh cartridge. You're gonna do that between every shot, now. Lift it up against your shoulder like this; get it snug in there." He pulled it against my shoulder. "Look down the iron sight there at the tip of the rifle and line it up against your target. Your weapon is primed and ready to fire. You're good for fifteen shots before you've got to reload. You can always flip it over to see how many bullets are left. Go ahead and aim carefully, and try and hit that target paper down there."
At the end of the range, there was a piece of paper with a silhouette of a human head, shoulders, and torso. I closed one eye for better aim and held the gun tightly as I lined up my shot.
"Don't pull the trigger," Mitch advised in my left ear. "Squeeze it. Squeeze the trigger until it doesn't move easily anymore. Then when you're sure about your aim, squeeze with just that little bit of extra strength you need."
I did as he said, and felt what he was referring to. With my target in sight, my hand steady, and my aim as true as I could hope for, I fired the weapon. The shot rang out right in my ear, but interestingly enough, it wasn't so bad when I was the one firing. I was ready for it, and expecting it.
"Holy smokes!" exclaimed Mitch. "You put one right between the eyes!"
"Beginners's luck," said a man from behind me. "I did the same thing first time I shot, and never did it again."
"Let's prove him wrong, James," Old Mitchell laughed. "Now use that lever under the gun to eject the casing and load a fresh bullet."
I pulled the lever and the shiny little bullet casing popped out the top and flew over my shoulder. It was a really satisfying feeling.
"Do I pull the hammer again? I asked.
"Nope, it'll pop back down. You'll only pull that hammer back the first time. Go ahead and fire again, only this time, aim for the neck."
"Alright," I said, closing my eye and tightening my focus. I squeezed the trigger just as I had the first time and shot a hole straight through the center of the target's neck. I lifted my head and smiled. "I hit it!"
"No way," said the man behind me. "Ain't never shot before, my ass. He's taking you for a ride, Mitch."
"You're sure you're new at this, son?" Old Mitchell asked, one eye half shut. "That's really impressive, kid. Seriously, if this is your first time holding a rifle, you might be cut out for the military. Had a staff sergeant with worse aim than you."
"Alright, alright," Tovin pushed me aside. "My turn. Let me show you something you'll never forget."
The two of us took turns shooting for hours. We hadn't even noticed the time going by. For once, it seemed Tovin had found something he wasn't naturally amazing at, and it was infuriating him to no end.
Conversely, I found something I was really, really good at. I hit my target almost every time, and to be honest, I couldn't figure out what was so difficult about it. A crowd had gathered to watch me shoot. I got really swift with the lever, and could shoot out both of a target's eyes, and put one in its forehead in a matter of seconds.
Tovin wasn't a bad shot, but I knew how he felt. If he wasn't first, he was last as far as he was concerned, and at one point he about threw his rifle. Old Mitchell had to talk to him about how some things come naturally to others, and how he shouldn't be discouraged from coming to the range and practicing.
It was rich hearing Tovin get that talk of all people. The natural genius that outshined everyone, struggling with something for the very first time. I almost couldn't believe I was better than him at something, and of course, it just had to be the thing that we'd never do again once we found our friends and went back home.
Our friends.
We were wasting time here. "Hey, Mitchel," I turned toward him. "When do we get our sign-on bonus? It was supposed to be something like 200 octims."
"You get your sign-on bonus when you bring back your first bounty," he responded quickly.
"What?" Tovin shouted. "That's not fair! We signed on, now where's our money?"
I was equally upset. We were lied to. But it made sense that they couldn't just hand us uniforms, cash, and a gun, and let us go. They wanted to make sure we at least killed a monster.
"It's fine," I said with a sigh. "Where can we find bounties?"
"It's not fine," Tovin protested.
I yanked him by the collar of his shirt and looked him in the eyes. "It's fine," I said slowly and firmly. "We'll run out, bag a monster, and be back before dark."
He held eye contact with me for several seconds before shrugging me off of him and walking away. He stormed across the bay and left through the double doors at the other end of the room.
"My brother was the same way," said Mitch. "Hard-headed. Stubborn as a mule. Loyal as anyone you'd ever meet though."
He had no idea. Tovin wasn't just difficult, but he was turning into a walking liability. I didn't know how much longer I could take him acting like this. Suddenly, Mitch extended his arm, pointing to a door adjacent to where he'd gotten our guns from.
"Bounty board is in there. Come on, I'll show you."
It was a medium-sized room with several corkboards wall to wall filled with bounties. Every monster was named and almost all of them were sketched to a professional degree. You could find how much money the monster was going for, which hunters it had killed, where it was last seen, as well as whether or not there were hunters currently after it.
They had a system where you would notate which monster you were going after, and if you didn't return, they'd add your name under the list of hunters that died searching for it. There were so many monsters I couldn't believe it, and according to Old Mitchell, these were only the monsters within a five-mile radius of Bronzegirder.
I learned the process of choosing a bounty and chose a smaller monster with no names under its fatality list. Mitch agreed it was a good monster for beginners, and offered a few pointers for tracking it. I submitted the bounty request and got it approved before leaving the bay and heading down the hall in search of Tovin. I entered the lobby and didn't see him. I left the building and found him at the top of the steps staring out into the street where a couple of vehicles were hauling something massive together under a tarp.
Several uniformed hunters were walking slowly next to the vehicles. Their uniforms were tattered and bloodstained, and a few of them walked with a limp. We watched as the exhausted men passed the building on their way down the road. Two of them were sobbing silently, but we could tell by their exposed teeth and wrinkled expressions that they'd lost someone.
From beneath the tarp, a scaly limb fell off the side of the vehicle and dangled lifelessly. It was a reptilian-looking arm with an open wound, and the shredded remnants of a uniform hanging from its claws.
"Gill," Tovin said quietly. "Is that..."
"Yeah," I answered.
"That's definitely a monster."
Writing Prompt Submitted by u/My-Last-Hope

(I’ve been a frequent reader and infrequent commenter on this sub for years, but am using the throwaway for obvious reasons)
For brevity’s sake I’m going to skip the very long and epic story that has led me to this point, but anyways. For a whole host of reasons, I’ve been entrusted with my dear and lovely and moderately demented mother-in-law Laura’s estate to manage while she slowly and steadily declines with Alzheimer’s in a memory care facility. My husband Ben (her son) and I leanFIRED back in 2016 at age 50 on 1.2 million and have thrived since then. I intend to have FIRE-minded approach to managing this HUGE chunk of money, and to do it only in Laura’s best interest. I’ve come here to ask y’all to look over my simple plan for this and let me know if I’m making any major mistakes or missing something obvious . . .
Here’s the details:
Laura is incapable of all financial decisions, and Ben has durable POA, letters of incapacity, healthcare proxy, etc. and has been managing all of her life details for about a year now. He is also the sole executor of her estate. He has a sibling who is a bit player in this, but will split the estate with Ben when Laura passes. Ben and I have our own big ol’ nest egg and live a frugal life which will not measurably change regardless — our goal is keeping Laura safe and comfortable, and preserving her bankroll.
She’s got $1 million sitting in TIAA-CREF (I do know how bad this is), 50% in equities, 50% fixed income. That’s 700k in an IRA, and 300k in a brokerage account. (Ben and sibling are direct beneficiaries)
We’re closing on the sale of her mortgage-free home next month, a cash sale of $2 million.
She’s got another 100K or so in various bank accounts. We’ve consolidated these, and also opened up an as-yet-unfunded brokerage account at Vanguard.
Her care at the memory facility costs $14,000 per month. After the sale of her house is complete, this will be her only(!) expense.
While part of me is Freaking! Out! about handling so much money in someone else’s name, the other part of me — the one that retired us at age 50 — thinks it’s as simple as managing my own money? So my plan is:
Oh my! Close TIAA-CREF and roll that into an IRA and the existing brokerage at Vanguard.
The remaining money from the house sale — perhaps $1.7mm after closing fees, real estate commissions and taxes — goes into the brokerage account.
BOTH accounts are in a simple lazy portfolio, VTSAX 45%, VTIAX 15%, VTBLX 40%.
We draw down from the IRA to the RMD amount (around $54K/year), her remaining expenditures come from the brokerage account.
I know nothing about taxes, but we have an accountant and he’ll take on Laura as a client.
Am I more or less doing the right thing here? Is this solid, conservative asset allocation? Is my draw-down plan correct? Are there MASSIVE tax implications I’m unaware of?
We are ALL now Vanguard Flagship members . . . should we go with one of their Financial Advisors?
Am I missing anything, or making any big mistakes?
Thank you all so much, in advance.

rules: no op, insta kill/fix, nsfw, or idc ocs
◀background▶
you live in the city, its been very calm. some people had been talking about the return of the peace goddess, others on how her return would bring an end to all you know. the queen and king assured everyone that nothing bad was going to happen. you wake up one day and suddenly...
※pov※
the very earth is shaking. this has never happened before, not a catastrophe on this level. the city is- was supposed to safe from anything. the walls of amethyst, the guards with all their training. the peace goddess had returned to the city a few days before, the beginning signs of the apocalypse according to some. it seems those people were right. you look out the window, a group of teens from the high school are gathered. you recognize the royal siblings, they seem worried. its hard to tell though. a knock can be heard at your door. what do you do now?
⫷more info/routes⫸
royal guards have a different route then the other roles
base route is evacuation, your group will depend on your role
(role re-hash for GachaClubPOV)
guard 💙
citizen 💜
school kid 💚
business ownevagrant 💔(wont let me put normal red)
vigilante 🖤
that is all have fun, go wild

Hi guys,
It will be a long question thanks to whom reads all of this and answers.
Im working as a frontend developer in a company right now, I am 24 years old and I am not experienced on my field. I cannot fit many jobs in this industry because lack of knowledge but the company I am working right now is using the technology that I am familiar with (old stuff). So I am working here with good conditions, I have my own desk, computer, I am working 9 to 6 on weekdays, my salary is above than the average monthly payment in my country and I get upgrades on my salary often. But the problem is, I am getting stressed on this job because sometimes I get hard tasks, and those tasks make me to work at home after work hours also on weekends, also I am sometimes stuck on the task because I am not very knowleded on this industry. I am still working with the knowledge I had 4 years ago. I don't improve myself. Also this job is not guaranteed which may end up anytime suddenly, I even sometimes couldn't get my salary on time because boss couldn't find enough money (financial issues and economic stuff) to pay us sometimes but he does the payment after all even tho its late.
But yet, its not guaranteed, I may get fired or the company may reduce salaries or even shut down. I cannot gurantee anyone that I will work here a full year... But the frontend industry itself is a good opportunity, if I improve myself I can get better jobs but I don't want to get stressed in this industry anymore because I know wheter I change this job to another, I will be stressed no matter what. And the other job will be hard. I want to be stress-free when I arrive at home. I don't want to think stuff on job before bed.
So I have another job opportunity at the moment. The job is so much different than the current one, which is gardening in a public park, the salary is less than the salary I am getting at the moment around 25-30%. Also its not a office job, I will be tired everyday from cutting grass, sweeping floor etc. The working hours is 9 to 5 on weekdays and same as current one no work on weekends. I will be tired at work but I will be calm and stress-free when I arrive at home because I won't have to do anything after work, or I will not have to work after job. Thats the huge reason I want to switch because I want my head to be calm. Also this job is kinda guaranteed because its almost linked to government so its hard to get fired or government cannot be shut down, so Its almost guaranteed that I will get my salary on time and there wont be times that I struggle to get my salary.I will be able to get House loan or get any loans from banks because I will be guaranteed to work many years so I can trust myself to take money because I know I will get my salary on time to pay back.
Here I made a list on pros/cons for me on both jobs.
my current job as f.e. developer: PROS (my POV)
- my salary is 30% higher than the new job opportunity and I get increases often.
- I have a desk and environment which I like
- I am working while sitting
- we get good enjoyable time which we every week spend couple hours as team to enjoy, like watching movies, playing games together, going to eat together, its like a mandatory team activity sessions but we all like that and we really enjoy this
- my team is around my age and I really like them, they are very colorful, we have many kind of people that I enjoy spending my time with, I can make friends here easily,
- my boss is a good man and he accepts many requests,
- i am a liked person in the office the other people like me and see me as a friend I don't know if the people will like me at the other job,
- my job is near my house so its easy for me to go to job in 15 minutes,
these were pros in my perspective, now for the cons, CONS (my POV)
- im not very well knowledged on this field so not many jobs accept me as I am now, so this may be the only job that I can work and if I have to leave this job somehow or sometime I cannot find a better job nor equal one with the same pros as this.
- i cannot find time to improve myself so I am standing where I am for years, I probably cannot be improving myself in the future, I tell myself to improve but it doesn't work. so same as the first con I probably cannot find equal job opportunities as like this if I leave here in the future ...
- sometimes our boss cannot pay us at the right time and delay us because of economic situations, since I am a young person who lives with his parents I can stand that but if I marry and had to pay taxes and rent I cannot stand getting my money late and I am getting older.
- since our salary is not stable I cannot take loans from banks to buy bigger things like houses or cars etc. I cannt marry or live my own life with this situation sometimes we get our salary after a month later.
- the job sometimes be very very stressful because sometimes we get hard task jobs and I work after working hours and weekends to close the gap and finish faster. and this hurts me.
- I get even more stressed because the days are unknown, for example I don't know what I will face that given day, I don't know which tasks will be assigned to me or what revisions will be made to websites I've made so starting the day unplanned and unknown hurts me and stresses me, also this tasks may be hard so it makes them more traumatic to me.
- and lastly our boss sometimes can be a hash on us not everytime but sometimes he can be harsh to us but even a little on this stress it effects much.
now my job opportunitiy as gardener, lets start with pros, PROS (my POV)
- i will be working with many people, so I will not be the focus on the job so instead of being a visible/main part of a small team, I will be a small part of a big team so my job may be easy or not important as like the current one. so the tasks will not depend on me and I will float in the space.
- i will be less stressed because the results of the job is not dramatic as like the current one and not important, so if I forget cutting some grass I don't think it would be more stressful and damaging than the current one.
- i will be getting my salary on time every month because the job is kinda linked to goverment, there is very small chance they delay us or get effected by the economy.
- my working hours will be 1 hour less than the current one which is 9-5
- my job won't require any brain power so I will be tired but not stressed to solve a problem.
- there are less chance to be fired or lose the job, like less than 1 percent, its almost like a guaranteed job for me compared to other one I can retire here if I want.
when we come to the negatives CONS (my POV)
- my coworkers will be older than me and will be less polite guys, they may be harsh or bad on me, they may see me as their child who they can yell or force to do work that I don't have to.
- I don't know exactly what I will do, so maybe job is hard for me as my psycial strenght wont be enough for it and they may yell at me.
- nothing may change on my life and I may get stressed about other small things that I cannot fix.
- someone on my current job may see me working and this may make me sad because of the statue difference.
- this job is far from my home and yet its 1 hour less than the current job but I may lost more time on roads traveling to job and coming back home so this 1 hour pros may be gone in this traveling time.
- my salary will be less than the current one, and won't be increasing so often. but the current one increases so often and doesn't have a limit.
- I may be get very tired after work and sleep everyday and won't have time to improve myself.
- I may be regret but I cannot come back to my current work.

Hi guys,
It will be a long question thanks to whom reads all of this and answers.
Im working as a frontend developer in a company right now, I am 24 years old and I am not experienced on my field. I cannot fit many jobs in this industry because lack of knowledge but the company I am working right now is using the technology that I am familiar with (old stuff). So I am working here with good conditions, I have my own desk, computer, I am working 9 to 6 on weekdays, my salary is above than the average monthly payment in my country and I get upgrades on my salary often. But the problem is, I am getting stressed on this job because sometimes I get hard tasks, and those tasks make me to work at home after work hours also on weekends, also I am sometimes stuck on the task because I am not very knowleded on this industry. I am still working with the knowledge I had 4 years ago. I don't improve myself. Also this job is not guaranteed which may end up anytime suddenly, I even sometimes couldn't get my salary on time because boss couldn't find enough money (financial issues and economic stuff) to pay us sometimes but he does the payment after all even tho its late.
But yet, its not guaranteed, I may get fired or the company may reduce salaries or even shut down. I cannot gurantee anyone that I will work here a full year... But the frontend industry itself is a good opportunity, if I improve myself I can get better jobs but I don't want to get stressed in this industry anymore because I know wheter I change this job to another, I will be stressed no matter what. And the other job will be hard. I want to be stress-free when I arrive at home. I don't want to think stuff on job before bed.
So I have another job opportunity at the moment. The job is so much different than the current one, which is gardening in a public park, the salary is less than the salary I am getting at the moment around 25-30%. Also its not a office job, I will be tired everyday from cutting grass, sweeping floor etc. The working hours is 9 to 5 on weekdays and same as current one no work on weekends. I will be tired at work but I will be calm and stress-free when I arrive at home because I won't have to do anything after work, or I will not have to work after job. Thats the huge reason I want to switch because I want my head to be calm. Also this job is kinda guaranteed because its almost linked to government so its hard to get fired or government cannot be shut down, so Its almost guaranteed that I will get my salary on time and there wont be times that I struggle to get my salary.I will be able to get House loan or get any loans from banks because I will be guaranteed to work many years so I can trust myself to take money because I know I will get my salary on time to pay back.
Here I made a list on pros/cons for me on both jobs.
my current job as f.e. developer: PROS (my POV)
- my salary is 30% higher than the new job opportunity and I get increases often.
- I have a desk and environment which I like
- I am working while sitting
- we get good enjoyable time which we every week spend couple hours as team to enjoy, like watching movies, playing games together, going to eat together, its like a mandatory team activity sessions but we all like that and we really enjoy this
- my team is around my age and I really like them, they are very colorful, we have many kind of people that I enjoy spending my time with, I can make friends here easily,
- my boss is a good man and he accepts many requests,
- i am a liked person in the office the other people like me and see me as a friend I don't know if the people will like me at the other job,
- my job is near my house so its easy for me to go to job in 15 minutes,
​
these were pros in my perspective, now for the cons, CONS (my POV)
- im not very well knowledged on this field so not many jobs accept me as I am now, so this may be the only job that I can work and if I have to leave this job somehow or sometime I cannot find a better job nor equal one with the same pros as this.
- i cannot find time to improve myself so I am standing where I am for years, I probably cannot be improving myself in the future, I tell myself to improve but it doesn't work. so same as the first con I probably cannot find equal job opportunities as like this if I leave here in the future ...
- sometimes our boss cannot pay us at the right time and delay us because of economic situations, since I am a young person who lives with his parents I can stand that but if I marry and had to pay taxes and rent I cannot stand getting my money late and I am getting older.
- since our salary is not stable I cannot take loans from banks to buy bigger things like houses or cars etc. I cannt marry or live my own life with this situation sometimes we get our salary after a month later.
- the job sometimes be very very stressful because sometimes we get hard task jobs and I work after working hours and weekends to close the gap and finish faster. and this hurts me.
- I get even more stressed because the days are unknown, for example I don't know what I will face that given day, I don't know which tasks will be assigned to me or what revisions will be made to websites I've made so starting the day unplanned and unknown hurts me and stresses me, also this tasks may be hard so it makes them more traumatic to me.
- and lastly our boss sometimes can be a hash on us not everytime but sometimes he can be harsh to us but even a little on this stress it effects much.
​
now my job opportunitiy as gardener, lets start with pros, PROS (my POV)
- i will be working with many people, so I will not be the focus on the job so instead of being a visible/main part of a small team, I will be a small part of a big team so my job may be easy or not important as like the current one. so the tasks will not depend on me and I will float in the space.
- i will be less stressed because the results of the job is not dramatic as like the current one and not important, so if I forget cutting some grass I don't think it would be more stressful and damaging than the current one.
- i will be getting my salary on time every month because the job is kinda linked to goverment, there is very small chance they delay us or get effected by the economy.
- my working hours will be 1 hour less than the current one which is 9-5
- my job won't require any brain power so I will be tired but not stressed to solve a problem.
- there are less chance to be fired or lose the job, like less than 1 percent, its almost like a guaranteed job for me compared to other one I can retire here if I want.
​
when we come to the negatives CONS (my POV)
​
- my coworkers will be older than me and will be less polite guys, they may be harsh or bad on me, they may see me as their child who they can yell or force to do work that I don't have to.
- I don't know exactly what I will do, so maybe job is hard for me as my psycial strenght wont be enough for it and they may yell at me.
- nothing may change on my life and I may get stressed about other small things that I cannot fix.
- someone on my current job may see me working and this may make me sad because of the statue difference.
- this job is far from my home and yet its 1 hour less than the current job but I may lost more time on roads traveling to job and coming back home so this 1 hour pros may be gone in this traveling time.
- my salary will be less than the current one, and won't be increasing so often. but the current one increases so often and doesn't have a limit.
- I may be get very tired after work and sleep everyday and won't have time to improve myself.
- I may be regret but I cannot come back to my current work.

Hi guys,
It will be a long question thanks to whom reads all of this and answers.
Im working as a frontend developer in a company right now, I am 24 years old and I am not experienced on my field. I cannot fit many jobs in this industry because lack of knowledge but the company I am working right now is using the technology that I am familiar with (old stuff). So I am working here with good conditions, I have my own desk, computer, I am working 9 to 6 on weekdays, my salary is above than the average monthly payment in my country and I get upgrades on my salary often. But the problem is, I am getting stressed on this job because sometimes I get hard tasks, and those tasks make me to work at home after work hours also on weekends, also I am sometimes stuck on the task because I am not very knowleded on this industry. I am still working with the knowledge I had 4 years ago. I don't improve myself. Also this job is not guaranteed which may end up anytime suddenly, I even sometimes couldn't get my salary on time because boss couldn't find enough money (financial issues and economic stuff) to pay us sometimes but he does the payment after all even tho its late.
But yet, its not guaranteed, I may get fired or the company may reduce salaries or even shut down. I cannot gurantee anyone that I will work here a full year... But the frontend industry itself is a good opportunity, if I improve myself I can get better jobs but I don't want to get stressed in this industry anymore because I know wheter I change this job to another, I will be stressed no matter what. And the other job will be hard. I want to be stress-free when I arrive at home. I don't want to think stuff on job before bed.
So I have another job opportunity at the moment. The job is so much different than the current one, which is gardening in a public park, the salary is less than the salary I am getting at the moment around 25-30%. Also its not a office job, I will be tired everyday from cutting grass, sweeping floor etc. The working hours is 9 to 5 on weekdays and same as current one no work on weekends. I will be tired at work but I will be calm and stress-free when I arrive at home because I won't have to do anything after work, or I will not have to work after job. Thats the huge reason I want to switch because I want my head to be calm. Also this job is kinda guaranteed because its almost linked to government so its hard to get fired or government cannot be shut down, so Its almost guaranteed that I will get my salary on time and there wont be times that I struggle to get my salary.I will be able to get House loan or get any loans from banks because I will be guaranteed to work many years so I can trust myself to take money because I know I will get my salary on time to pay back.
Here I made a list on pros/cons for me on both jobs.
my current job as f.e. developer: PROS (my POV)
- my salary is 30% higher than the new job opportunity and I get increases often.
- I have a desk and environment which I like
- I am working while sitting
- we get good enjoyable time which we every week spend couple hours as team to enjoy, like watching movies, playing games together, going to eat together, its like a mandatory team activity sessions but we all like that and we really enjoy this
- my team is around my age and I really like them, they are very colorful, we have many kind of people that I enjoy spending my time with, I can make friends here easily,
- my boss is a good man and he accepts many requests,
- i am a liked person in the office the other people like me and see me as a friend I don't know if the people will like me at the other job,
- my job is near my house so its easy for me to go to job in 15 minutes,
​
these were pros in my perspective, now for the cons, CONS (my POV)
- im not very well knowledged on this field so not many jobs accept me as I am now, so this may be the only job that I can work and if I have to leave this job somehow or sometime I cannot find a better job nor equal one with the same pros as this.
- i cannot find time to improve myself so I am standing where I am for years, I probably cannot be improving myself in the future, I tell myself to improve but it doesn't work. so same as the first con I probably cannot find equal job opportunities as like this if I leave here in the future ...
- sometimes our boss cannot pay us at the right time and delay us because of economic situations, since I am a young person who lives with his parents I can stand that but if I marry and had to pay taxes and rent I cannot stand getting my money late and I am getting older.
- since our salary is not stable I cannot take loans from banks to buy bigger things like houses or cars etc. I cannt marry or live my own life with this situation sometimes we get our salary after a month later.
- the job sometimes be very very stressful because sometimes we get hard task jobs and I work after working hours and weekends to close the gap and finish faster. and this hurts me.
- I get even more stressed because the days are unknown, for example I don't know what I will face that given day, I don't know which tasks will be assigned to me or what revisions will be made to websites I've made so starting the day unplanned and unknown hurts me and stresses me, also this tasks may be hard so it makes them more traumatic to me.
- and lastly our boss sometimes can be a hash on us not everytime but sometimes he can be harsh to us but even a little on this stress it effects much.
​
now my job opportunitiy as gardener, lets start with pros, PROS (my POV)
- i will be working with many people, so I will not be the focus on the job so instead of being a visible/main part of a small team, I will be a small part of a big team so my job may be easy or not important as like the current one. so the tasks will not depend on me and I will float in the space.
- i will be less stressed because the results of the job is not dramatic as like the current one and not important, so if I forget cutting some grass I don't think it would be more stressful and damaging than the current one.
- i will be getting my salary on time every month because the job is kinda linked to goverment, there is very small chance they delay us or get effected by the economy.
- my working hours will be 1 hour less than the current one which is 9-5
- my job won't require any brain power so I will be tired but not stressed to solve a problem.
- there are less chance to be fired or lose the job, like less than 1 percent, its almost like a guaranteed job for me compared to other one I can retire here if I want.
​
when we come to the negatives CONS (my POV)
​
- my coworkers will be older than me and will be less polite guys, they may be harsh or bad on me, they may see me as their child who they can yell or force to do work that I don't have to.
- I don't know exactly what I will do, so maybe job is hard for me as my psycial strenght wont be enough for it and they may yell at me.
- nothing may change on my life and I may get stressed about other small things that I cannot fix.
- someone on my current job may see me working and this may make me sad because of the statue difference.
- this job is far from my home and yet its 1 hour less than the current job but I may lost more time on roads traveling to job and coming back home so this 1 hour pros may be gone in this traveling time.
- my salary will be less than the current one, and won't be increasing so often. but the current one increases so often and doesn't have a limit.
- I may be get very tired after work and sleep everyday and won't have time to improve myself.
- I may be regret but I cannot come back to my current work.

Storm chasing is actually a safer profession than factory work, public transit, and even teaching now. Every known storm chaser death over the last 60 years has been driving related, most of which had nothing to do with the actual storm itself. You don’t choose to chase tornados because its safe, but when people bring up safety as a reason they could never do the job it proves to me they don’t know what they’re talking about. At least I felt that way for the first 15 years I was storm chasing. Then last year everything changed.
I was in Chickasha county, Oklahoma heading south towards Texas. I was in Norman for a storm chaser meet up a week into spring, tornado season was up and running, I’d already put 600 miles on my truck. Everybody knew everybody else for the most part, sometimes we had newcomers, most of them didn’t come back the next year. It isn’t the storms that drives people away it’s the driving, the tedious radar checking, the disappointment when you been chasing a cold wind for 3 days and the damn twister doesn’t even touch the ground. You have to be obsessed with these storms, the horrific beauty, the terrifying power, it has to be in your bones or you won’t make it back out here. Not to mention Oklahoma is about the least visually appealing place the country has to offer. Now I’m from west Texas and there ain’t much to see out there either, but my god do I pine for the hundreds of miles of desert when I’m in the plains of Oklahoma. Hell, at least we have mountains. But a storm chaser in the mountains is like a fisherman in the in the Gobi, just don’t belong.
Anyway, I was on the tail of storm system making it’s way over to Wichita Falls, it had changed direction on me twice and I almost gave up on her, but there was a warm wind coming up from Louisiana and it was sure to bring a hell of a storm with it. Now I’ve had more sub-par meals in local diners than I’ve had hot meals at home but every single one of them is worth it when I get a tornado that touches ground. I’m not a scientist, I’m not doing this to further the knowledge of mankind. I’m what is now being called a “storm journalist” although “guy who really likes tornados” is more accurate. I document what I see, take pictures, take some measurements of winds and temperatures and then I send them to websites that give me enough money to live. I happened to be a little low on funds and I had to follow this storm and just hope and pray it turned in to something.
Buddy of mine named Jeff Skelton had a real nose for the cold winds and where they were headed told me the twister would turn up about 40 miles northeast of Wichita, I headed out there, saw a couple of other teams on the way. I worked alone but most people didn’t now a days. Safety in numbers and all that. I parked the truck in a field after I paid the owner of the land a small fee for letting me on it. This was my favorite part of the whole thing. Setting up my equipment while the winds grew more powerful and the rain started, the chaos always brought a deep peace to my mind. Like all the shit flying around inside my head finally matched what the outside was looking like. I used to love being in the middle of the storm. Until I didn’t.
I first noticed this storm was different because of the lightning. Or lack there of. I’d never seen it before. All tornadoes come from thunderstorms. Sometimes the lighting strikes aren’t as many, sometimes they don’t even hit the ground, but the sky is always lit up when a twister starts turning. The funnel started to form in the clouds and I hadn’t seen a hint of lighting in an our more when I was up north. My first reaction was how lucky I was to be covering such a rarely occurring natural phenomenon. My second reaction was doubt, and uncertainty. The doubt and uncertainty didn’t have much time with me though. Soon every inch of my body was enveloped in fear.
As the twister touched the ground I could see something moving inside of it. Not the usual swirl of debris from houses and trees, but something gigantic. Something moving against the swirls of the wind, something that you could feel in the ground beneath you every time it took a step. There is a mysterious reoccurrence whenever there are deaths from a tornado. Many bodies are never found. The logical thought is, of course, that the bodies are thrown such great distances and such random locations that the couldn’t possibly be located, but it happened even with smaller twisters. I think I was beginning to understand why.
Whatever was in the twister kept taking swipes at the ground. It was pulling up tress and dirt and whatever else was in it’s path and sending it into the swirling winds. The storm was coming closer to me but I was glued to the part of the earth I occupied. From the field to the left of me a red jeep pulled up right next to me.
“Jerry we got to get the hell out of here. What is that thing?” I didn’t answer. I stayed staring into the storm as much as I possibly could, I needed to understand what I was looking at. The guys in the Jeep were friends of mine, Dave and Harry. They hopped out and grabbed me, threw me in the back seat and took off. Madder than spit and running like a hot damn. But my eyes were fixed on the monster in the twister. I watched it throw my truck into the swirling winds. I watched it as it started to ascend back into the heavens. I watched until Dave turned onto the main road and I couldn’t see it anymore. Dave pulled over about 15 miles down the road and started to weep. Harry was also overcome with emotion. We tried to talk about it then and there but the words kept getting stuck in the back of our throats.
I haven’t chased a storm since I seen the thing inside the twister. The cold winds will disappear soon and then twister season will be over. Usually that’s the saddest part of the year for me. Hell, it can’t come fast enough.

Hi guys,
It will be a long question thanks to whom reads all of this and answers.
Im working as a frontend developer in a company right now, I am 24 years old and I am not experienced on my field. I cannot fit many jobs in this industry because lack of knowledge but the company I am working right now is using the technology that I am familiar with (old stuff). So I am working here with good conditions, I have my own desk, computer, I am working 9 to 6 on weekdays, my salary is above than the average monthly payment in my country and I get upgrades on my salary often. But the problem is, I am getting stressed on this job because sometimes I get hard tasks, and those tasks make me to work at home after work hours also on weekends, also I am sometimes stuck on the task because I am not very knowleded on this industry. I am still working with the knowledge I had 4 years ago. I don't improve myself. Also this job is not guaranteed which may end up anytime suddenly, I even sometimes couldn't get my salary on time because boss couldn't find enough money (financial issues and economic stuff) to pay us sometimes but he does the payment after all even tho its late.
But yet, its not guaranteed, I may get fired or the company may reduce salaries or even shut down. I cannot gurantee anyone that I will work here a full year... But the frontend industry itself is a good opportunity, if I improve myself I can get better jobs but I don't want to get stressed in this industry anymore because I know wheter I change this job to another, I will be stressed no matter what. And the other job will be hard. I want to be stress-free when I arrive at home. I don't want to think stuff on job before bed.
So I have another job opportunity at the moment. The job is so much different than the current one, which is gardening in a public park, the salary is less than the salary I am getting at the moment around 25-30%. Also its not a office job, I will be tired everyday from cutting grass, sweeping floor etc. The working hours is 9 to 5 on weekdays and same as current one no work on weekends. I will be tired at work but I will be calm and stress-free when I arrive at home because I won't have to do anything after work, or I will not have to work after job. Thats the huge reason I want to switch because I want my head to be calm. Also this job is kinda guaranteed because its almost linked to government so its hard to get fired or government cannot be shut down, so Its almost guaranteed that I will get my salary on time and there wont be times that I struggle to get my salary.I will be able to get House loan or get any loans from banks because I will be guaranteed to work many years so I can trust myself to take money because I know I will get my salary on time to pay back.
Here I made a list on pros/cons for me on both jobs.
my current job as f.e. developer: PROS (my POV)
- my salary is 30% higher than the new job opportunity and I get increases often.
- I have a desk and environment which I like
- I am working while sitting
- we get good enjoyable time which we every week spend couple hours as team to enjoy, like watching movies, playing games together, going to eat together, its like a mandatory team activity sessions but we all like that and we really enjoy this
- my team is around my age and I really like them, they are very colorful, we have many kind of people that I enjoy spending my time with, I can make friends here easily,
- my boss is a good man and he accepts many requests,
- i am a liked person in the office the other people like me and see me as a friend I don't know if the people will like me at the other job,
- my job is near my house so its easy for me to go to job in 15 minutes,
​
these were pros in my perspective, now for the cons, CONS (my POV)
- im not very well knowledged on this field so not many jobs accept me as I am now, so this may be the only job that I can work and if I have to leave this job somehow or sometime I cannot find a better job nor equal one with the same pros as this.
- i cannot find time to improve myself so I am standing where I am for years, I probably cannot be improving myself in the future, I tell myself to improve but it doesn't work. so same as the first con I probably cannot find equal job opportunities as like this if I leave here in the future ...
- sometimes our boss cannot pay us at the right time and delay us because of economic situations, since I am a young person who lives with his parents I can stand that but if I marry and had to pay taxes and rent I cannot stand getting my money late and I am getting older.
- since our salary is not stable I cannot take loans from banks to buy bigger things like houses or cars etc. I cannt marry or live my own life with this situation sometimes we get our salary after a month later.
- the job sometimes be very very stressful because sometimes we get hard task jobs and I work after working hours and weekends to close the gap and finish faster. and this hurts me.
- I get even more stressed because the days are unknown, for example I don't know what I will face that given day, I don't know which tasks will be assigned to me or what revisions will be made to websites I've made so starting the day unplanned and unknown hurts me and stresses me, also this tasks may be hard so it makes them more traumatic to me.
- and lastly our boss sometimes can be a hash on us not everytime but sometimes he can be harsh to us but even a little on this stress it effects much.
​
now my job opportunitiy as gardener, lets start with pros, PROS (my POV)
- i will be working with many people, so I will not be the focus on the job so instead of being a visible/main part of a small team, I will be a small part of a big team so my job may be easy or not important as like the current one. so the tasks will not depend on me and I will float in the space.
- i will be less stressed because the results of the job is not dramatic as like the current one and not important, so if I forget cutting some grass I don't think it would be more stressful and damaging than the current one.
- i will be getting my salary on time every month because the job is kinda linked to goverment, there is very small chance they delay us or get effected by the economy.
- my working hours will be 1 hour less than the current one which is 9-5
- my job won't require any brain power so I will be tired but not stressed to solve a problem.
- there are less chance to be fired or lose the job, like less than 1 percent, its almost like a guaranteed job for me compared to other one I can retire here if I want.
​
when we come to the negatives CONS (my POV)
​
- my coworkers will be older than me and will be less polite guys, they may be harsh or bad on me, they may see me as their child who they can yell or force to do work that I don't have to.
- I don't know exactly what I will do, so maybe job is hard for me as my psycial strenght wont be enough for it and they may yell at me.
- nothing may change on my life and I may get stressed about other small things that I cannot fix.
- someone on my current job may see me working and this may make me sad because of the statue difference.
- this job is far from my home and yet its 1 hour less than the current job but I may lost more time on roads traveling to job and coming back home so this 1 hour pros may be gone in this traveling time.
- my salary will be less than the current one, and won't be increasing so often. but the current one increases so often and doesn't have a limit.
- I may be get very tired after work and sleep everyday and won't have time to improve myself.
- I may be regret but I cannot come back to my current work.

My pc will be three years old in October. Its a prebuilt CyberPower PC (I didn't have the time or the resources 3 years ago to build my own). It has been acting normal but I am getting low on storage. This morning (about an hour and a half ago) I turned my PC on and it said the HDMI cable wasn't connected even though it was. It gives me this alert often so I restarted my PC like always and usually it works, but today when I did this it didn't. It showed the "blue screen of death" and said that my computer was restarting and "CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED". I have tried unplugging it, restarting it, letting it sit unplugged for a while and nothing is happening. I have been watching videos and reading articles on how to fix it and everyone says to go to your start menu and fix it from there but I can't get to my start menu since it won't come on. I have tried to use the advanced options and troubleshoot it but every time I do it asks for a password and every time I enter it it says its wrong. I have changed my password using my laptop and nothing is working. If you have any insight on how to help please let me know, I'm a student and need to attend my classes virtually. Thank you

Hey guys I'm new here and I just got into modding skyrim after using wabbajack lists and I have gotten to around 300 mods. The problem is however that when I press New game on the main menu the menu disapears and nothing happens. The little dragon logo and the smoke stay on the screen but the game won't start. Any ideas? This is a copy of my mod list. I used loot and mo2 to download and reorder all the mods. Also, Im using the latest version of the anniversary edition.
Wild Horses - Dialogues.esp
Weapons Armor Clothing & Clutter Fixes.esp
WACCF_Survival Mode_Patch.esp
WACCF_Armor and Clothing Extension_SPID.esp
WACCF_Armor and Clothing Extension.esp
VampireLordsCanFly.esp
VampireFeedingTweaks.esp
Vampire Lines Expansion.esp
Use Those Blankets.esp
Update.esm
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch.esp
UHDAP - MusicHQ.esp
UHDAP - en4.esp
UHDAP - en3.esp
UHDAP - en2.esp
UHDAP - en1.esp
UHDAP - en0.esp
TrueTeacherPaarthurnax.esp
TrueHUD.esl
TrueDirectionalMovement.esp
Trade & Barter.esp
TheOnlyCureQuestExpansion.esp
The Whispering Door QE - USSEP Patch.esp
The Whispering Door - Quest Expansion.esp
Thaumaturgy_WACCF_ACE_AMB.esp
Thaumaturgy.esp
Take A Peek - New Stealth Mechanic.esp
SunAffectsNPCVampires.esp
SunAffectsNPCVampires-Hooded.esp
Stellaris.esp
Stellaris - Adamant Patch.esp
SmoothCam.esp
SMIM-SE-Merged-All.esp
Smart_NPC_Potions.esp
Sleeping Expanded.esp
SkyUI_SE.esp
SkyTEST-RealisticAnimals&Predators.esp
Skyrim.esm
Skyrim Immersive Creatures Special Edition.esp
Skyland Watercolor - Slow Green-Vanilla.esp
SkyHUD.esp
SIC WACCF Patch.esp
SIC CCOR Patch.esp
SIC AMB Patch.esp
SIC ACE Patch.esp
SIC - Skytest Integration.esp
SIC - Immersive Sound Integration.esp
Scion.esp
S3DTrees NextGenerationForests.esp
RoM - WACCF Patch.esp
RoM - The Cause Patch.esp
RoM - Sunder & Wraithguard Patch.esp
RoM - Staff of Sheogorath Patch.esp
RoM - Staff of Hasedoki Patch.esp
RoM - Skeleton Replacer HD Patch.esp
RoM - Saints & Seducers Patch.esp
RoM - ISC Patch.esp
RoM - Ghosts of the Tribunal Patch.esp
RoM - Gallows Hall Patch.esp
RoM - Fishing Patch.esp
RoM - Dragon Priest Masks Pack.esp
RoM - Chrysamere Patch.esp
RoM - Bow of Shadows Patch.esp
RoM - Apothecary Patch.esp
Reliquary of Myth.esp
Reanimated Detector.esp
QuickLight.esp
Quick Start - SE.esp
Precision.esp
Plague - Poison Spells.esp
Pilgrim.esp
Particle Patch for ENB.esp
PaarthurnaxQuestExpansion.esp
ogCannibalDraugr.esp
Obsidian Weathers.esp
Oblivion.esp
NPCs_Wear_Amulets_Of_Mara.esp
NPCs React To Necromancy.esp
NoBrokenWhiterunTower.esp
No Killmoves, No Killcams, No Killbites.esp
Nilheim_MiscQuestExpansion.esp
Necrom.esp
Natura.esp
Natura - Adamant Patch.esp
MysticismMagic.esp
MundusUSSEP.esp
Mundus.esp
MCMHelper.esp
MaximumDestruction.esp
MaximumCarnage.esp
Manbeast.esp
Lunaris.esp
Lunaris - Normal Vendors.esp
Lunaris - Adamant Patch.esp
Lore Weapon Expansion.esp
Lore Weapon Expansion - Relics of the Crusader.esp
Lore Weapon Expansion - Goldbrand.esp
Lore Weapon Expansion - Daedric Crescent.esp
Locked Chests Have Keys.esp
Lit Road Signs.esp
JustBlood.esp
ImprovedAlternateConversationCamera.esp
ImmersiveSoundsCompendium_CCOR_Patch.esp
ImmersiveSoundsCompendium_AMB_Patch.esp
ImmersiveSoundsCompendium_ACE_Patch.esp
ImmersiveInteractions.esp
Immersive Weapons_CCOR_Patch.esp
Immersive Weapons.esp
Immersive Sounds - Compendium.esp
Immersive Rejections.esp
Immersive Patrols II.esp
Immersive Movement.esp
Immersive Encounters.esp
HPP - Vaermina's Torpor.esp
HouseOfHorrorsQuestExpansion.esp
Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation_CCOR_Patch.esp
Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp
Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp
HearthFires.esm
Headhunter - Bounties Redone.esp
HarderLockPicking.esp
HandToHandLocksmith.esp
HandtoHand.esp
H2HBooksandTrainers.esp
Forsworn and Thalmor Lines Expansion.esp
ForcefulTongue.esp
Flames of Coldharbour.esp
Flames of Coldharbour - Adamant Patch.esp
FISS.esp
EVGConditionalIdles.esp
EnhancedLightsandFX.esp
ELFXEnhancer.esp
ELFX Shadows.esp
ELFX Fixes.esp
ELFX Fixes Ragged Flagon Fix.esp
ELFX - Hearthfire Light Addon.esp
DynamicMercenaryFees.esp
Dynamic Impact - Slash Effects X.esp
DVLaSS Skyrim Underside.esp
Dual Block.esp
DragonWar.esp
DragonCultDraugrUSSEP.esp
DragonCultDraugrSimonRim.esp
DragonCultDraugr.esp
DragonbornShoutPerksAdamant.esp
DragonbornShoutPerks.esp
Dragonborn.esm
DiplomaticDragons.esp
dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp
Dawnguard.esm
CRH_USSEP Patch.esp
Coven.esp
Conditional Expressions.esp
Complete Crafting Overhaul_Remastered.esp
Common Clothes and Armors.esp
College Of Winterhold - Quest Expansion.esp
Cloaks_CCOR_Patch.esp
Cloaks.esp
Cloaks - USSEP Patch.esp
Cloaks - Dawnguard.esp
Civil War Lines Expansion.esp
Civil War Lines Expansion - No Guard Idles Patch.esp
Cinematic Sprint - Alternate.esp
ccvsvsse004-beafarmer.esl
ccvsvsse003-necroarts.esl
ccvsvsse002-pets.esl
ccvsvsse001-winter.esl
cctwbsse001-puzzledungeon.esm
ccrmssse001-necrohouse.esl
ccqdrsse002-firewood.esl
ccqdrsse001-survivalmode.esl
ccpewsse002-armsofchaos.esl
ccmtysse002-ve.esl
ccmtysse001-knightsofthenine.esl
cckrtsse001_altar.esl
ccfsvsse001-backpacks.esl
ccffbsse002-crossbowpack.esl
ccffbsse001-imperialdragon.esl
cceejsse005-cave.esm
cceejsse004-hall.esl
cceejsse003-hollow.esl
cceejsse002-tower.esl
cceejsse001-hstead.esm
ccedhsse003-redguard.esl
ccedhsse002-splkntset.esl
ccedhsse001-norjewel.esl
cccbhsse001-gaunt.esl
ccbgssse069-contest.esl
ccbgssse068-bloodfall.esl
ccbgssse067-daedinv.esm
ccbgssse066-staves.esl
ccbgssse064-ba_elven.esl
ccbgssse063-ba_ebony.esl
ccbgssse062-ba_dwarvenmail.esl
ccbgssse061-ba_dwarven.esl
ccbgssse060-ba_dragonscale.esl
ccbgssse059-ba_dragonplate.esl
ccbgssse058-ba_steel.esl
ccbgssse057-ba_stalhrim.esl
ccbgssse056-ba_silver.esl
ccbgssse055-ba_orcishscaled.esl
ccbgssse054-ba_orcish.esl
ccbgssse053-ba_leather.esl
ccbgssse052-ba_iron.esl
ccbgssse051-ba_daedricmail.esl
ccbgssse050-ba_daedric.esl
ccbgssse045-hasedoki.esl
ccbgssse043-crosselv.esl
ccbgssse041-netchleather.esl
ccbgssse040-advobgobs.esl
ccbgssse038-bowofshadows.esl
ccbgssse037-curios.esl
ccbgssse036-petbwolf.esl
ccbgssse035-petnhound.esl
ccbgssse034-mntuni.esl
ccbgssse031-advcyrus.esm
ccbgssse025-advdsgs.esm
ccbgssse021-lordsmail.esl
ccbgssse020-graycowl.esl
ccbgssse019-staffofsheogorath.esl
ccbgssse018-shadowrend.esl
ccbgssse016-umbra.esm
ccbgssse014-spellpack01.esl
ccbgssse013-dawnfang.esl
ccbgssse012-hrsarmrstl.esl
ccbgssse011-hrsarmrelvn.esl
ccbgssse010-petdwarvenarmoredmudcrab.esl
ccbgssse008-wraithguard.esl
ccbgssse007-chrysamere.esl
ccbgssse006-stendarshammer.esl
ccbgssse005-goldbrand.esl
ccbgssse004-ruinsedge.esl
ccbgssse003-zombies.esl
ccbgssse002-exoticarrows.esl
ccbgssse001-fish.esm
ccasvsse001-almsivi.esm
ccafdsse001-dwesanctuary.esm
CC-NordicJewelry_CCOR_Patch.esp
CC-NecromanticGrimoire_WACCF_Patch.esp
CC-Fishing_CCOR_Patch.esp
CC-FearsomeFists_CCOR_Patch.esp
Caught Red Handed - Quest Expansion.esp
CarriageAndStableDialogues.esp
Bloodmoon.esp
BladeAndBluntSneak.esp
BladeAndBluntHealth.esp
BladeAndBlunt.esp
BBStaminaPatch.esp
Bandit Lines Expansion.esp
AVExpansion.esp
AudioOverhaulSkyrim_WACCF_Patch.esp
AudioOverhaulSkyrim_CCOR_Patch.esp
AudioOverhaulSkyrim_AMB_Patch.esp
Audio Overhaul Skyrim.esp
Armor Variants Expansion - WACCF Patch.esp
Armor Variants Expansion - USSEP Patch.esp
Armor Variants Expansion - LWE Patch.esp
Armor Variants Expansion - IA_CoS Patch.esp
Armor Variants Expansion - CCAA Patch.esp
Armor Variants Expansion - amidianBorn_ContentAddon Patch.esp
Armor Variants Expansion - ACE Patch.esp
Arena.esp
Arachnomancy.esp
ApothecaryFood.esp
ApothecaryFood - USSEP Patch.esp
ApothecaryFood - Survival Mode Patch.esp
ApothecaryFood - Skyrim 3D Trees and Plants Patch.esp
ApothecaryFood - Fishing Patch.esp
Apothecary.esp
Apothecary - Skyrim 3D Trees and Plants Patch.esp
Apothecary - Saints & Seducers Patch.esp
Apothecary - Rare Curios Patch.esp
Apothecary - Fishing Patch.esp
AOS_ISC_Integration.esp
AOS_EBT Patch.esp
AnimatedEatingRedux.esp
AnimatedEating_Coffee Patch.esp
Animals Swim.esp
aMidianBorn_ContentAddon.esp
AetheriusSpells.esp
AetheriusSpells - Quick Start Patch.esp
Aetherius.esp
AdamantSmithing.esp
Adamant.esp
AcousticTemplateFixes_ReverbInteriorSounds.esp
AcousticTemplateFixes_CC_Seducers.esp
AcousticTemplateFixes_CC_Farming.esp
AcousticTemplateFixes.esp
Abyss.esp
Abyss - Adamant Patch.esp

The Foundations of Humanity 8 (Cultivation) - an NoP fanfic
​
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.
First -- Previous -- Next
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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RDR2 wont launch. It gets stuck in a launch loop between Steam and R* pos launcher. I had this issue before and quit for a few months to come back to it working randomly. Few days ago issue started again when I tried getting back into the game. Running in admin helped for a while until the game crashed again and now it wont launch again. I've looked up many fixes to no avail. I've tried talking to R* and they don't give a shit. Anyone got anything that might help. verified files, turned off all other programs, ran in admin, set the compatibility to run as admin as well. Nothing is overheating or hitting 100% usage. PC isn't an issue.

RDR2 wont launch. It gets stuck in a launch loop between Steam and R* pos launcher. I had this issue before and quit for a few months to come back to it working randomly. Few days ago issue started again when I tried getting back into the game. Running in admin helped for a while until the game crashed again and now it wont launch again. I've looked up many fixes to no avail. I've tried talking to R* and they don't give a shit. Anyone got anything that might help. verified files, turned off all other programs, ran in admin, set the compatibility to run as admin as well. Nothing is overheating or hitting 100% usage. PC isn't an issue.

My problem area is my face. I cant stand looking at my face, yet i spend most of my time checking my appearance on mirros/reflective surfaces, fixing my haimakeup. Some days are so bad i cant my leave my house bc i cant seem to make my face "presentable". This has taken a toll on me and consumed my life. I cant enjoy life and social events because im constantly thinking about the way i look, and how people perceive me (especially when people are sitting by my side or the lighting is bad). Its been this way since early puberty and im in my early 20s now. My face got skinnier to the point i look sick even tho i have some extra weight, my nose, my eyes my skin, my lips everything is wrong!! Ive measured my face and the propotions are so off its all i see when i look in the mirror! Its only going to get worse when the aging starts. I cant be happy and i cant love myself. I know looks aren't everything but i look hideous. I cant have healthy relationships because im afraid. I always end up ruining everything because im scared the other person will realise they can do better and finally see my flaws. The other day my boyfriend told me he likes my textured skin bc its very "human" and "unique" and now its all i think about when people look at me. I want to be happy but i cant. I dont think therapy will do anything for me. These opinions formed a long time ago and nothing can change the way i see myself. Im sorry for the long post i just needed to get this off my chest, i dont really talk about that. and sorry for my english, it isnt my first language.

Calling all PowerShell wizards! Help me fix my code. I value your time and your help - so whoever helps me get this working is getting lunch on me! (seriously, i'll buy you lunch if you help me find a solution) I am pretty decent with PowerShell but this one I have to call for backup on. First though - please note that I won't take your help for granted. If you help me fix this - I will read it and understand it. I will grasp it and ask questions to make sure I understand what is the correct way and what I'm doing wrong - so please note that! Not looking for a handout here. I want to learn - but also I do need help.
The goal here is to create a custom csv that contains some information - it queries AD user properties and its intention is to also grab AD group data, too. Everything works except what I am attmepting to do with getting the group/group membership data. I need to filter the groups - and have the script write to the csv has table only groups that have a certian name in them. For example - the "group1data" in the csv needs to contain all the groups that have the word "admin" in the group name for each unique user - and the "group2data" would have all the groups the user is in that has the word "users" in the group name for that same unique user. All the way down the line for all users in AD who are enabled.
Thanks ahead of time,
DatHotHoseHit
My horrible code that only half works, below.

Get-ADUser -Filter 'Enabled -eq "True"' -Properties samaccountname,enabled,givenname,surname % { New-Object PSObject -Property @{ account_name = $_.samaccountname status = $_.enabled givenname = $_.givenname surname = $_.surname group1data = ($_.memberof Get-ADGroup -SearchBase "OU=Groups,OU=MyGroupOu,DC=my,DC=domain,DC=com" -Filter 'name -like "*admin*"' Select -ExpandProperty Name) -join "," group2data = ($_.memberof Get-ADGroup -SearchBase "OU=Groups,OU=MyGroupOu,DC=my,DC=domain,DC=com" -Filter 'name -like "*users*"' Select -ExpandProperty Name) -join "," } } Select account_DR, status, sshaccess,rootaccess,givenname,surname Export-csv C:\Temp\data.csv -NoTypeInformation