(Machine-translated from Japanese):
2023.06.09
On June 7, 2023, Reprocell held a financial results briefing for the fiscal year ending March 2023. The research support business and the PCR testing business performed well, and sales reached a record high since the listing.
The allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells "Stemchymal", which the company had been developing for spinocerebellar degeneration, failed to achieve the primary efficacy endpoint as a result of the domestic phase II clinical trial.
However, the results of the subgroup analysis suggested efficacy, so the plan is to apply for approval based on the results of the phase II trial.
[The rest of the article is behind paywall - imz72]
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/06/08/10792/
May 30, 2023
Reprocell reports mixed results for phase II Stemchymal trial in spinocerebellar ataxia
By Tamra Sami
Regenerative medicine product Stemchymal, an allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell treatment, missed the primary efficacy endpoints in two phase II spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) trials conducted in Japan and Korea, but a subpopulation analysis showed efficacy signals in patients with more severe conditions, Reprocell Inc. reported.
The phase II trial conducted in Japan was a placebo-controlled, multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, parallel-group study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the drug. Independently, another phase II trial with a similar design was conducted in Taiwan by the originator, Steminent Biotherapeutics Inc., of San Diego and Taipei. In the Japan study conducted by Reprocell, of Yokohama, Japan, 31 patients received Stemchymal and 28 patients received placebo.
Spinocerebellar degeneration is a rare disease of unknown cause in which degeneration of nerve cells in the cerebellum, brainstem and spinal cord progressively causes ataxia, such as gait and swallowing difficulties, making it difficult for patients to perform daily activities. There are no approved treatments that delay or halt progression of SCAs.
The primary efficacy endpoint was the change in Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) score from baseline to week 52, and in the overall population there was no statistically significant improvement observed in the treatment group compared to the placebo group.
A review of previously published papers showed that a placebo effect was observed in more than 90% of previous clinical trials in spinocerebellar degeneration, and the placebo effect was higher in less severe patients. The placebo effect was reduced in the higher baseline subgroups with baseline SARA scores of 11 or higher, showing a trend closer to the natural history of spinocerebellar degeneration, with SARA scores increasing by roughly one point per year.
The SARA score is based on the investigator's observation of walking, standing, speaking and finger movements to assess symptoms. The worse the symptoms are, the higher the score is. It has eight categories with accumulative scores ranging from 0 (no ataxia) to 40 (most severe ataxia).
Based on the statistical analysis plan and advice from medical experts, a subpopulation analysis was performed based on the predose baseline SARA score, and the disease progression analysis of SARA score showed a statistically significant improvement with a "p" value of 0.042 in baseline 11 or higher. Reprocell concluded that the effect of Stemchymal was evident in the higher baseline subpopulation where the placebo effect was less pronounced.
Even in the subpopulation treatment group with baseline SARA scores of 9 or higher, the change in SARA score until 52 weeks was similar to that of the high-base subpopulation.
A subgroup analysis was also performed in the high-base subgroup for the secondary endpoints of clinical global impression (CGI), patient global impression of improvement (PGI-I) and percentage improvement in SARA scores. The results of these scores indicated that Stemchymal appeared to inhibit disease progression.
The incidence of adverse events with a possibly causal relationship was 77.4% (24/31) in the treatment group and 35.7% (10/28) in the placebo group, but all adverse events in both groups were confirmed to have recovered. No serious adverse events were reported.
Taiwan trial shows consistent results
In the phase II trial in Taiwan, the results of the subgroup analysis of SARA score showed a significant improvement in the treatment group compared to the placebo group in the high-base subgroup, confirming the same trend as in the Japan trial. The Taiwan trial also showed no serious safety issues.
Based on these results, Stemchymal appears to show a certain level of efficacy for spinocerebellar degeneration in a high baseline subpopulation. Although the subpopulation analysis showed efficacy, more detailed studies are needed, the company said.
Administered intravenously, Stemchymal has been designated as a regenerative medicine product for rare diseases in Japan and is eligible for development cost subsidies up to 50%, preferential tax treatment and support measures such as priority review.
“We are pleased that the phase II clinical trial has shown that Stemchymal is expected to be effective in inhibiting disease progression and its safety has been confirmed, and that these clinical data in Japan are consistent with the data independently obtained in Taiwan,” said Reprocell CEO Chikafumi Yokoyama, adding that the company hopes to bring this new treatment to patients in Japan as soon as possible.
Reprocell in-licensed Stemchymal from Steminent Biotherapeutics, which is developing the stem cell therapy for the potential treatment of polyglutamine SCA, knee osteoarthritis and acute liver failure, and investigating it for the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, according to Cortellis.
Steminent completed a phase I/II trial with Stemchymal that showed 66% of patients showed improvement in both the SARA score and sensory orientation test scores in the first month following a single infusion of Stemchymal, Steminent reported.
https://www.bioworld.com/articles/697506-reprocell-reports-mixed-results-for-phase-ii-stemchymal-trial-in-spinocerebellar-ataxia
[Reprocell's market cap is $190 million - imz72]:
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/4978.T

I really do feel as though the anime at least as far as season 1, really brought importance to her, and this came off as a red herring when reviewing everything after the ending.
I’ve come to accept that’s just how things are, but I still feel like there’s more to tell for that character, I would love to see sequels to all of them to be honest, but definitely for her.
I don’t expect it unfortunately, and I’d be content with the VN’s if they ever for official English translations, but since that’s not on the table, I figured I’d throw it out into the ether.

[the revenge]
[Content warning: death and I guess gore]
“The loss of this wonderful place and the many people. It will take much time to recover” - UN peace keeper
Just last week was when the terrible massacre at The East Field Plaza happened. Many recall the horror of the incident when 5 fully geared Exterminators entered the plaza and unloaded onto unsuspecting humans and their exchange partners.
[Embedded: picture of the plaza filled with people moments before the massacre]
It happened in the afternoon of June 12th the celebration was being held for the exchange program and it’s success.
Everything was going well until 5 Exterminators in full gear entered the Plaza.
[Embedded: picture of the people in the plaza staring in confusion at the exterminators]
Before anyone could speak the Exterminators started their flamethrowers aiming them at the crowd. People started to flee and trample each other.
It was then the exterminators sprayed gasoline onto the crowd which lit. 23 total people were left injured suffering 3rd and 4th degree burns across 70% of their body.
[Embedded: two pictures one showing a human female with 4th degree burns in a hospital bed. The second shows a Venlil child and what resulted of the event]
Unfortunately however 14 people perished. At least 3 of the body’s could not be identified. Soon the UN peace keepers arrived and ended the massacre.
———
Memory transcript subject: Jonathan, UN Peace keeper Date: [standardized human time] June 12th, 2137
The armored van went across the road and parked near the plaza. I looked over at my friends they seemed ready for a fight. I put on the light blue UN helmet and checked my gear.
“You ready?” I looked over at Alex. He had been in a few scuffles on this planet already. He had risen the ranks of the Peace Corps quickly.
“Yes sir let’s go in there and deal with em” the van opened and our squad exited rushing towards the entrance our weapons at the ready. “BREACHING!” I kicked the door in and we rushed in.
“PUT THE WEAPON DOWN AND HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK NOW!” We aimed our weapons at the Kolshian in exterminator gear. He raised his flamethrower towards us but before he could fire I sent two rounds into him sending him limp to the floor.
The violet blood leaked out of the two bullet holes in the Kolshians suit. We went ahead past the charred injured people and the corpses. We then saw two other Exterminators.
“ON THE GROUND DIRTBAG!” The two exterminators dropped their weapons and put their hands behind their head in fear. I went up to the Fissan and cuffed the bastard. “Take this prick to a cell” I handed him over to two of my squad members who escorted him out. They took the Kratotl exterminator with them.
We went over to where we heard the sound of flames burning something. I could smell the leather burning. Stood there was two Harchen exterminators standing over the charred body of a Venlil. A child by the looks of it seemed alive.
“Your not taking us alive you predators!” One of the Harchens fired flames at us which we narrowly dodged. I peaked around the corner and saw them panicking to look for a way out.
I aimed my rifle and fired three shots at one of them sending the lizard crashing into a table breaking it. I then through a flash which blinded the last exterminator.
“ON THE FUCKING GROUND!” Alex knocked the flame thrower out of the lizards hands and threw him to the ground. He then placed the cuffs on him.
“Is that all?” I looked over at Pierre who was looking around at the plaza. I nodded and we led the last exterminator outside where a crowd had gathered. They were all screaming at the bastards they were even throwing rocks.
“GET BACK!” The others were keeping the angry crowd away from rushing and attacking the exterminators. I saw emergency vehicles and medics rushing in to collect the injured.
God I hope Justice can be brought.
———
Two days after the incident the local exterminators guild issued an apology to the people of East Field.
Many people enraged took to the streets to protest the brutality of the massacre. During one of these protests things got out of hand and a riot broke out.
12 people were injured and had to be escorted to the hospital for treatment. The riot overall cost businesses $12,000 in damages and theft.
A flower bed and makeshift statue was recently placed at the entrance of the plaza. Many people have left flowers at the site and just recently a candlelight ceremony was held in remembrance of those lost.
[Embedded: a picture of the flower bed and statue in front of the East Field Plaza]
In recent news Governor Tarva has released a statement to assure the public that she and her team will put in place actions to make sure something like this can never happen again.
More restrictions have recently been placed on the guild however it seems there is more to come in the future.

Disaster has struck. The Altador Cup Colosseum has collapsed on the teams. Who knows how long the rescue will be?
As days pass it becomes clear the only viable option is to eat the players. Team by team. But surely - logically - you begin with the more delicious teams. But what would that mean?
Never fear. I have done the considerations and lay them out below. Naturally these are primarily based upon my previous assessment as to which Neopets would taste best which listed four categories - Delicious, Edible, Unpleasant, Hazardous - there is some accounting for paint colours this time. So without further ado - let us eat YYB players.
Top Tier Tasty Teams:
Mystery Island & Roo Island.
All Mystery Island players fall into the categories of tasty and edible – and their Island colouring adds a delicious coconut elements. Definitely my first choice.
Roo Island are a close second. The presence of Jair Tollet (an Eyrie) is a let-down but their only player to not be an enjoyable meal. None of the team are painted any non-standard colours so no interesting flavour profiles here.
Round Two: Highs and Lows
Meridell, Altador, Kreludor and Maraqua.
Meridell might initially seem like an excellent choice with two Ixis and a Jubjub - however one of those is Ethel Boortz who seems to be Elderly colour and few foods, beyond wine and cheese, improve with age. Add a Techo and Eyrie and the team is one of extremes - 2 delicious meals and 3 barely palatable.
Altador might be a better bet in this rank. Poogles are an acquired taste - not everyone is a fan of their butterball goodness - but I ranked them as delicious so in my mind this is a good option and a way to take away the taste of the Elephante and Wocky.
Kreludor has some extremes. Grundos are not really suitable for consumption, except for Skeiths and Grarrls, and the Pirate colouring of Ealyn Hawkshanks adds an unsavory element. You do however have both a Pteri and a Gnorbu. A hit and miss option.
Seafood fans might think Maraquan would rank higher, but the only delicacy on the menu would be Tonie Plessix (Koi) and Oten Runeu is inedible. With a Kiko and Techo as well there's more unpleasant than good in this option.
Only Since We're Starving:
Kiko Lake, Shenkuu, Terror Mountain and Faerieland.
If you've had to make forcible donations in the past there may be a sense of karma and revenge to improve the flavour, but unsurprisingly this is a not very pleasantly fishy choice - though there is the advantage of Lili Lever to round it out and take away the taste. The pastel colouring adds a sugary, light flavour, although you might find hair in the meal.
Shenkuu are another team with great highs and lows. Zafaras and Grundos are not generally edible, and certainly unpleasant. Lutaris are also unpleasant, with an odd mix of fish and meat to the taste. Whilst Mirsha Grelinek would be delicious, and Timu tasty as well, for more than half of the team its a slog rather than a feast.
The same issue continues for Terror Mountain, with a Scorchio and a Buzz being vile tasting inclusions however in Minae Mitora there is the only Chia in the entire line up to be savored and enjoyed. Aishas are not generally pleasant to eat, but the Cloud colouring does add a candyfloss texture which some thinks improves on the taste.
Faerielands players are all painted to align with their land, but as a colour it lightens those Neopets that made a stodgier meal but isn’t enough to outweigh the species itself. The only enjoyable meal from this team is Valtonous Rea unfortunately.
Sinking into Desperation.
Lost Desert, Tyrannia, Virtupets, and Krawk Island.
These three teams rank higher than those to follow on the basis that they have at least one player who would be ok to eat.
With the Lost Desert we have Leera Heggle; Kaus are one of the most delicious Neopets species and the Lost Desert colouring adds a lovely spicy element – if there were some pomegranates and flatbread around it would be especially nice although of course, far more unethical. However of the four remaining players, two are inedible and two are vile tasting, so its all downhill after the Captain.
It might have seemed Tyrannia would rank higher with two Moehog players – but Mor Gollog is a Relic (literally) and so he is outright inedible being made of rock. That only leaves Taggert as being tasty, with the rest being nothing more than sustenance to be stomached – or worse in the case of Barmie who I’m pretty sure would be poisonous.
Virtupets by contrast have two quite tasty players in Keetra Deile and Sela Pretore – but nobody should eat Mutant pets and expect to end up unscathed, and Robots are only suitable as food for those who can digest metal.
Krawk Island may well be better bet in that while nobody is delicious – Pirate colouring adds an unpleasant salty, unwashed taste which is not enjoyable regardless of the species – they are at least edible and so the team would prolong survival.
Not Worth It
Brightvale, Moltara, Darigan Citadel and Haunted Woods.
These four we can safely assume will be the survivors.
Moltara do have one tasty player in Vere Polnicek but every other member of the team is going to cause physical harm – Magma and Fire are not spicy, they’re literally going to burn off tastebuds and ignite those who eat them.
Both Darigan and Halloween colours are unpalatable as well, so these teams don’t run the risk of being eaten.
And finally Brightvale. Unpleasant primarily due to species, as opposed to colour, bar Reb Weemelott – but as with Moltara wiping out the team for one player (and in this case, not even one who tastes good) is rather a waste. Technically you could eat Montecito but Skunk is up there with Darigan for unpleasantness.
As such, we can reasonably assume these four teams will be the ones to emerge when the rubble is lifted – ensuring the future of the sport thanks to the sacrifice of the delicious players of the Islands.

My boyfriend broke up with me and I’m confused
I’m honestly just so sick at the moment, a little over a week ago my boyfriend(21) broke up with me and I’m so heart broken and upset. Now granted for a few months I thought something was up because the last time I saw him was in December when he lost his full ride scholarship in the middle of my ballet recital of the nutcracker. So I didn’t force him to stay around and do any romantic stuff because he was so broken up and defeated about it. After that he would randomly get more distant I think but I would try my best to check on him when I could. Now I’m guilty of calling him out when I was sad about certain things in our relationship like not listening to any of my story ideas and at least being engaged to some capacity, but that makes me feel guilty because he may have been going through things and not telling me.
Now the reason this break up hurts so much is because we were best friends first for a few years. We knew each other at around 13 years old, but got much closer during lock down and visiting the camp we went to. He didn’t think he was gay or even want sex, but with me he found out he likes men and was okay having sex which was nice. But it hurts because I basically taught him everything about gay things and stuff like that. He also made a promise to me that we would stay friends if we didn’t work out, but now that might not even be on the table after how I reacted to him casually breaking up with me.
He broke up with me somewhat casually in the middle of my work day and wouldn’t answer my call about the situation when he said he couldn’t be in a relationship with me anymore. And I took it really hard because I couldn’t talk to him just over text about this. So this may have been a mistake and I can’t stop thinking about it. But I sent him a very long message a day or two after the end of it about how I was betrayed and upset and how I want us to be grind as but I’m not sure if that’s what he wants. And I feel like I was way to harsh because this is a very sweet man.
But he is now very cold to the whole situation and doesn’t want to be in contact right now for I don’t know how long and all I want to do is say I’m sorry and that I want to fix it but I don’t know if I can because I think I was too mean to him. So all of my friend a say to just move on and he obviously doesn’t care hich I feel like can’t be true because he’s never been that way expect when something is wrong and I feel terrible that I wouldn’t hear him out about anything because I was thinking through tears and heartbreak so now I think he won’t want me in anyway like he promised and I feel so much guilt and confusion about everything. And I apologize about all the typos but I’m worked up after all this time and needed an outlet I think

So my first few games of warhammer with my eldar army haven't exactly gone great
Game 1 - playing defense, tabled by knorne demons with ridiculous luck on their dice. On paper an even game, but in practice next to none of my wounds did damage and he rolled through me. I killed 1(one) unit of bloodletters
Game 2 - assassination game on defense vs space wolves, warlord got 0 kills and was killed essentially dooming the game
Game 3 - 3 way game, close match but a thousand sons player got more objective markers than me and an ork player
Game 4 - tabled by Tau vehicle spam, had zero answer in terms of models due to fielding mostly infantry. They were slaughtered wholesale
Game 5 - extremely close 2v1 game (my 100 power army vs 2 50 power armies of tau and wolves). Last unit died on turn 5, otherwise would've been a win
Game 6 - Orks sat on an objective I couldn't reach without a self-deleting charge. Army was healthy but objective score ended up being something like 120-0 due to my units being too spread out to punch through
I'm not saying that I'm not having fun, a bunch of those games were fun, but I feel like fate is just kicking my teeth in at every opportunity, mostly due to shit luck.
​
Here's to going 0-10, I'm on a roll lmao

This was my first time getting interrupted. TLDR, it was not very fun :)
Wife and kids were out of town so I had the house to myself. Using emesh.
​
First go, 10mg, eyes open with music on. Light, fun, enjoyable.
​
Second go, loaded up 17mg into the emesh and blasted off. I had my headphones on and was 2-3 minutes into the trip when all of a sudden the music stops and Siri says, “incoming call from {wife's name}, would you like to answer it?” Ha I obviously didn’t want to answer it but couldn't talk so I just sat there in silence hoping it didn’t automatically connect. I was lying down with eye shades on and couldn’t open my eyes or move so I just sat there silent and still.
It felt like the interruption half brought me back to consciousness and I was half still in another world. As I laid there the music never turned back on and the trip just started visually unfolding (CEV). Everything collapsed on itself down into blackness. It was uncomfortable but not terrible. I remember thinking 'oh this is what a bad experience can feel like' (the ~20 previous experiences have all been amazing). After another minute or two I was able to find my phone and restart the song and everything was good again as I rode out the tail end of it.
​
Third go, I waited about an hour and loaded up 24mg (highest dose yet by a little bit). This was the 3rd launch tonight plus smoking other things earlier (I don’t smoke much) so my lungs felt tired. I took a big rip or two and laid back with eye shades on. After some time I got this strange sensation that my body wasn’t breathing or something was wrong. My body forced itself to sit up and it took me a few seconds of confusion to understand that I was fine and that all I needed to do was cough.
I sat up coughing with half my mind in hyperspace and half my mind checking in on my body that I was breathing. I was telling myself that I’m fine and just needed to cough. I rode it out in this in-between state with eyes open in cartoon world. It was a weird one for sure, but interesting to see you can snap yourself out of it and have some sense of control (at least at this dose) if/when needed. I felt proud of my body's natural reflexes for doing that, even though it was just a need to cough.
After a minute or two I laid back down and felt great and danced a bit smiling at the funny/weird experience.
​
Has anyone else been interrupted mid trip? If so, what was your experience like?

This is definitely a fanfiction, something to write when I need to get my brain off of my book! Enjoy it! Or don't, I'm not your mom.
​
I think I heard somewhere once that the worst days of your life start off the most mundane. Or maybe I just made that up to stop myself from overthinking every little moment that lead up to this one.
The morning started like any other (as I alluded to), birds were singing, annoyingly loud, and the sun was shining in a way that most people would describe as beautiful, but I'd describe it as sharp. Every beam of UV ray that fell from the sky jabbed into my eyes and back into my pounding skull.
"Doing alright there, Winnie?" A sweet voice asked. I looked up into Doris's eyes, full of a mixture of sympathy and amusement. I let out some kind of whine/groan and dropped my head back into my hands, where it belonged, shielding me from the offensively cheery woman standing in front of the offensively cheery light.
A loud clunk sounded and I peaked with one eye to see an empty bottle of tequila had appeared on the table in front of me. "I see you had quite the fun night," she laughed.
"Doris," I started, then stopped, wincing at the sound of my gravelly voice. I cleared my throat and started again. "Doris, woman of great kindness and wisdom, lady who hath helped raise me in this cruel and twisted world, I beg of you, get that goddamn bottle away from me, because if I catch one wiff of that stuff I'm gonna hurl."
"I'd be surprised if you have anything left in you to do so, considering the noises coming from the bathroom at 3am." The bottle was gone, tossed in the trash. I officially changed my stance on where my head belonged, picturing myself nestled in the white plastic alongside the empty carton of milk and the source of my shame.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. Polly and I were just so caught up in celebrating her graduation, I didn't even realize how much we had been drinking until-"
"Until it all came back up," Polly finished, stumbling into the kitchen. "Yeah, same."
Doris just shook her head at us, but there was a small smile on her lips. I grabbed her hand and looked up at her pleadingly.
"Forgive me, mommy Doris?"
"There's nothing to forgive, you two were just having some fun. But you are far too old to be giving me puppy dog eyes when you think you've done something wrong, Winnie!"
"Am I also far too old for you to keep calling me Winnie? I feel like I should be sitting here in nothing but a red t-shirt, sipping honey out of a bottle." I grumbled.
"Actually, I think you did that exact thing last night," Polly teased. "Except replace honey with tequila."
Doris laughed as I glared at her. "How in gods name are you not more hungover? You drank more than I did."
"Because she's 21, and you're 25. Old, Winnie dear, too old." Doris said as she walked out of the kitchen. My jaw dropped in mock outrage as I watched her go, glancing at Polly, who was trying to cover her chortles with a cup of coffee. It didn't go well.
"Okay, well this OLD LADY is going to go shower and get ready for work," I huffed.
"Don't forget to oil your knees, grandma."
I stole the coffee out of Polly's hands for that comment alone, and her protests followed me up to the shower.
**************
Okay, so maybe it didn't start out JUST like every other day. I don't wake up hungover all that often. More often than I should, yes, but hardly every day. Keeping up with a 21 year old is incredibly difficult.
Work, on the other hand, was exactly the same. Lights on at nine, jukebox playing some country song that was too sad to be playing this early in the morning, Richard shuffling in to get his Irish coffee before church so he didn't get the shakes in the middle of his sermon. Small country town, small country life, small country bar.
Small country girl.
Maybe not for much longer, though. I swore to myself years ago that I wouldn't be stuck in this town like everyone else, but then Jim died. Polly was only 14, and Doris was an old fashion housewife, staying home to raise her daughter. I, on the other hand, was 18, and when they had brought me into their home, Jim took one look at my temper and said he knew what to do with me. Taught me all he knew about hunting, guns, and even archery. He said he liked how the bow felt in his arms, and I did too.
Polly wasn't interested in any of it. She loved animals too much. I mean, I love animals too, don't get me wrong. Show me a puppy and I'm babbling nonsense with the rest of you. But there was always something peaceful about being in the woods, surrounded by nature.
Anyway, to get back on track, I became the man of the house. I got a job at the bar to start bringing in money, I fixed things that were broken around the house, sold deer meat and bear hides for extra money. Whatever I could to help them stay on their feet.
Now, though, now Polly had graduated. She already had a job lined up at the veterinarian office in town, where her fiancé also worked. She'd be able to take care of herself, and Doris, without my help. I could leave.
The thought sent a wave of both excitement and extreme bitterness through my chest.
I sighed to myself as I dumped ice in the well. Bad thing about working a bar on a Sunday, no one is coming in until after church hours. Which means I get to be alone with my thoughts until then.
"That's gonna be future me's issue," I said to the air, and busied myself with cutting fruit.
**************
Now, the GOOD thing about working the bar on a Sunday, or really any day, is that you know everyone who is going to walk through that door, and you know exactly what they're going to order.
Small towns like this, everyone old enough to drink is a regular. (Sometimes even people who aren't old enough to drink, but the sheriff doesn't need to know that.)
Preacher Richard is at the high top by the jukebox, drinking his Irish coffee that he tells everyone is just normal coffee, but no one believes him. I mean, I have a special pot I use just for him so no one sees me putting the shots in, but they can all still see me grab a different pot when I refill his cup. Plus, whiskey smells.
His wife is next to him, sipping ice water with EXTRA lemon, the surly old bitch. Tony the tire guy is playing pool with some of the guys from his shop, drinking round after round of Budweiser and whiskey shots. (Whiskey is very popular amongst us country folk.)
You have Mariah, the token rich girl, who married the quarterback. Or left fielder? Goalie? I don't know, but I know he drinks miller by the case while she sips on a vodka soda, pretending she's not too good for all of us.
Point is, I know everyone. Makes for a predictable day. What did I tell you?
Thirteen hour shifts are long, though, so when they're also mundane, you kind of start to feel like you're going crazy.
Until two extremely tall, extremely fit, extremely...(how do I say this politely?) fucking hot, strangers walk through the door.
I swear on Preacher Richards bald head, I'm not being dramatic when I say the bar went silent. Mariah's mouth was actually hanging open. So was Preacher Richards wife's. I had to stifle a laugh at that one.
They strolled up to the bar, so casually that you could tell they were trying SUPER hard to be casual.
"Well, I haven't said this in so long, I hope it comes out okay," I say, breaking the silence. "But what can I get for you gentlemen?"
Tony the tire guy laughs, and takes a shot, and the spell is broken. Mostly. You really can't completely break it, these guys were like six foot something and so beautiful I could weep. Also, there was the fact that they were glancing around like they expect Preacher Richard to stand up and pop them one.
"So...? Beer? Whiskey? Nuts?" I offered, waving a bowl of peanuts in front of them.
The man with the shorter...well, everything, let out a soft chuckle at that.
"I'll take a whiskey, double, on the rocks."
"You're gonna want to be a bit more specific, darlin, because if not, you stand the chance of me pouring you the whiskey that Tony the tire guy drinks, and I'm pretty sure we buy it FROM him. Like, he makes it in his basement."
The guy physically recoils. "You got makers?"
"Sure do, sweet cheeks." I turned to busy myself looking for the dusty bottle so he couldn't see the look on my face as I mentally chastised myself. Sweet cheeks? SWEET CHEEKS? I'm not some old lady working the counter at a diner in the 50's. I'm also not IN my 50's.
"Uh, ma'am. There's a bottle on the shelf right there." The man said, gesturing when I turned back to him.
"Well if you knew that, why'd you ask?" I tried to tease, hoping to pass that mortifying moment unscathed. I dropped a few ice cubes into a rocks glass, dumped a whole lot more than a double of makers in with it, and handed it to him. He looked mildly alarmed at the amount, but didn't comment. Smart man.
"And for your friend?"
"Uh, just a beer for me, thanks."
I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Right, right, specifics. Uh, miller is fine."
Pop goes the bottle. "Tab?"
"What?" The long one questioned.
"Do you want to start a tab? Cause I'm gonna need to hold a card."
"You hold cards here?" The whiskey drinker asked in disbelief.
"Well, normally, no. But to be frank with you, I don't know you two, and by the reaction of the half of the town currently sitting in my bar, neither does anyone else. I'd rather not have to pay the tab of some beautiful strangers when I'm probably already gonna have to cover Phil's tab, because I haven't seen him in like an hour, and he bought a round for everyone straight outta church."
Great, first actual vomit, then word vomit.
Both men were staring at me as if I was deranged, which I was starting to believe I might be, but Whiskey Man pulled out a card and handed it to me.
"Thank you..." I glanced down at the card, "Leonard??"
"He goes by Lenny." Long boy said. Lenny glared at him but shot me a sheepish grin.
At least I wasn't the only weird one. I went to type in their order and placed the card in the register.
"Question for you," Lenny said.
"Yeah?"
"Do beautiful strangers get discounts?"
My mind flashed back to my unintentional compliment and I felt my face start to flush, but I just shot back "Not when they go by Lenny."
Long boy laughed and Lenny looked offended. "Lenny is a good name!"
I winced and looked at his friend. "How long have you been telling him that lie?"
"Long enough for him to believe it." He said, taking a swig from his beer.
Just then, a loud, slurring voice sang out (incredibly off key), "Wiiiiinnnnieeeee." And Phil magically appeared from the bathroom.
"Winnie? Really? And you're making fun of my name?"
I shot him a glare and turned my back. "Well, Phil, I'm glad to see you're still here, cause you owe me about $70. Plus tip."
"Oh, Winnie, don't be like that. Another round!"
"Nope, no more rounds, Phil. In fact, I think it's time for you to head home." I made eye contact with Tony, and he put his pool stick down to walk over. "Will you grab his wallet for me?"
Tony stuck his hand down Phil's pocket, which used to make me laugh, but this happened so often that I just found it tiring.
"Here, Win. Keep the change," Tony tossed me a hundred.
Phil worked for him part time, when he was sober enough to get his head out of the toilet, but he had sold his dads farm off to some rich overlords, so he was rolling in dough.
As Tony lead Phil out, I noticed that the two newcomers had set themselves up at a table. I also noticed the deputy, who was off duty with a beer in hand but still had his badge on full view (probably because it was bigger than his dick. Seriously. I would know.), walk up to them with a swagger that only a small town cop could have. I wanted to spy, but Phil being escorted out is always the catalyst that ends the night. Preacher Richards wife pays for the "coffee", and no tip, though the man himself slips me a $50 for keeping his not-so-secret secret, Mariah pays for her husbands miller pack with a smile, etc.
I glance at the clock and sure enough, it's 9:30. I will never understand how these people spend all day at a bar. Regardless of the fact that, I, too, have spent my whole day here. It's different, ok? Anyway, by the time it was over, the deputy had warned the boys or puffed out his skinny chest or whatever it is he does, handed me a ten with a wink (ew) and left. I began cleaning up the trash, keeping an eye on the two.
"Was it something we said?" Lenny asked, sipping his whiskey.
"Well, they heard your name was Lenny, and they knew that this was no longer the cool spot in town," I wiped off rings on the bar, a little too aggressively, trying to stay calm.
"Really, Winnie?"
"It's Winsley, actually. Look, guys. Not to ruin the small town charm, but I close in 30 minutes. The gas station down the street is open til 11, if you wanna grab some beer for your hotel."
"Oh, yeah, that's our bad. Let's head out, Lenny."
"Oh, sure thing, Barry!"
A grimace crossed over Long Boys (Barry's?) face as I let out a surprised laugh.
"Lenny and Barry, really?"
I swiped their card and handed them the receipt.
"Yeah, our uh, our parents were stoners." Barry said.
"Oh, brothers. Couldn't tell if it was that or gay lovers."
"Yeah, I really wish we didn't get that as much as we do." Lenny said, signing the paper. "Anyway. You have a good night, sweet cheeks."
Goddamn, I thought I had overserved my way past that moment. I watched them leave with a tingle of disappointment. Excitement quota for the year in Lander has been met and just waltzed out of my bar.
I glanced down at the receipt. $100 tip. Well, hot damn. (Seriously, why do I keep talking like this??)
Authors note:
I should say that this is set somewhere in season 2. I'm going to follow the main storyline as closely as possible, but the hunts and such may be a bit out of order.
LMK what you think!

So like the title says i got a Dell Precision 7720 with a Quadro P5000 and its been perfectly fine up till this morning when i went to play GTA V and the framerate was all over the place. For example at 4K i normally get around 76-80 FPS max settings but reflections set to normal, but it was starting off at 77 then dropping to 46 and then going back up to 64-70 then dropping again. I started noticing the graphics card power was all over the place, going from 63W to 102W but mostly hovering around 65-74W. Well below the 100W TDP.
GPU Clocks were also all over the place, bouncing around 820MHz to 1685Mhz (normally its around 1550MHz) Oddly enough the dead space remake was stable 1480-1540MHz but the power consumption was lower at about 78-85W. The framerate was a rock solid 37-40 though which is odd.
Temps were not an issue, GPU never broke 65C ever, CPU was hitting around 80C though but again below the 100C throttle mark and cpu clocks were a solid 3.4GHz. It was also not a CPU bottleneck as the GPU load was a solid 99%. I never seen anything like this before. I have done some troubleshooting such as reinstalling the graphics driver and reinstalling windows but that made no difference. I even tried downgrading the BIOS from the latest to one from 2020 and no change.
At my ends wit i yanked out the CMOS battery and held the power button then reconnected everything and now it seems to be normal. it runs solid 98-104W in GTA V 4K. Temps are naturally much higher now CPU was 89C and GPU was pushing 70C. But those are well within spec so im not worried.
Any idea what could have happened? Im going to replace the motherboard with one that has an upgraded CPU (I7-7920HQ) but it would be nice to not be stressed out.
System specs are
I7-6920HQ
Quadro P5000
32GB DDR4 2133
2x Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVME
1x Samsung 860 EVO SATA
OEM Dell 240W charger

Insecurities both in men and women are not problematic and people who are demonizing insecurities are toxic and perpetuating the problem. Insecurities are natural and exist as a mechanism to motivate people to grow.
Insecurities become harmful when people believe they cannot grow but desperately want to. This leads to a pessemistic and defeatist mindset. But this is not the problem even. The real problem is when people are unable to tolerate and accept the uncomfortable feelings from their insecurities and end up developing maladaptive behaviors to cope with these feelings.
These maladaptive behaviors develop from belief that insecurities make you weak or immoral so I must do anything to avoid them. This can lead to maladaptive behaviors such as controlling behavior.
I think insecurities must be normalized and people must be taught how to regulate emotions in a healthy manner. Women shouldn't demonize male insecurities but try to understand them as demonizing insecurities leads to toxic behaviors

Posted on Toast's Community Hub
Toast we need to have a conversation, over the years your software has increasingly become harder to use and evermore broken. I am writing this at 21:00 EST so please excuse my poor grammar and half completed thoughts. As I do need to get up early, I will come back tomorrow and update this post with more discussion points and fix any mistakes I may have made.
Lets begin with my current 6 month long problem that keeps getting "resolved" by Toast Customer Care. I have now had three cases "resolved" without anyone contacting me or verifying that the problem was actually fixed. If anyone would like to follow along, please try the following:

1. Create a new item
2. Set the Name of the menu item to Test Item
3. Set Pricing Strategy to Size Price
4. Create a Small & Large size and set price to $1.00 and $2.00 respectively.
5. Save and Publish new menu item.
6. Navigate to Discounts
7. Click Add a Discount
8. Name the discount Test Combo
9. Set the Discount Type to Combo and set the value to $3.00
10. Add the Test Item created in step 1
11. Click Save
12. Next, try to set the size for the Test Item and realize you cannot

The video below tries to show this in action. Notice, I am able to view/edit item sizes for combos that I created before Toast stopped working. It is only when adding new items to a new or existing combo that I can no longer select the size. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6PlREQ-lOQ
As a paying customer of your product, I feel I am being strung along by your support who humor me long enough to get me off the phone, only to have my case closed so they can have one less open support ticket. I have requested to speak with someone higher up and am happy to have either a face to face conversation or even a simple phone call. I have already begun removing toast integrations and will continue to do so until either my issue is resolved or we end up replace Toast in the coming months.

Toast Loyalty & Curbside

When a customer signs up for loyalty, they are only required to enter either their phone number or email address depending on the settings set in the backend. When a customer creates a loyalty account with their email they are sent a welcome message and are allowed to view their points in their web browser; or Toast TakeOut app. If they click the browser link they are then prompted to enter their full name, birthday, and phone number.
From an analytic perspective, why does Toast not ask for this information during signup? Most of the time customers will sign up without clicking the link in the welcome email and we will miss out on that data. Often customers will ask how they get their birthday rewards and we have to explain the lengthy process of adding their birthday:

1. Go to our website and click “Rewards”
2. Enter your email, check that you are not a robot, and click “Find Now”
3. Open your email app and look for the “Reward’s Balance” email from Toast.
4. Open the email and click “View Rewards Transactions”.
5. If you are prompted with “Complete your profile” simply fill out the form and click “Save”.
   1. If you are not prompted, scroll down to “Ways to earn” and click “Complete your profile”

Now you might ask, why can’t your staff just add the information through the register? Great question, they are busy making food, taking orders, and doing tasks that make the business money. Also, have you tried searching for a customer using the POS interface? It is not the best user experience and most of my staff actually hate trying to use the loyalty accounts at the register.
There is no simple way to login to a customer loyalty account to view the profile or update the information. If a customer wishes to check points, or update their phone numbeemail the only way to currently do that is to follow the same steps above. Why do I have to “Look up rewards account”, and get an email about my reward balance, just to be able to view/modify my loyalty profile?
If the customer gets to the profile page they might notice another oddity with the software. Under “Ways to redeem” it states I can use my points to order online. “Create an online ordering account with the email or phone number linked to your loyalty account and log in to order.” Why does the customer have to create yet another account while they are using the same platform at the same restaurant? I have had multiple customers get confused and call us asking why when they try to login to our online ordering platform their email address is not recognized and are prompted to enter a phone number. I have to explain that the loyalty email address is different then the online ordering but they will both be automagically linked once they create a curbside account. If the curbside software can see the loyalty account after the curbside account is created, why can it not just search the loyalty accounts and use that customer data to start a new order? The process would be much more seamless.
The contrasting UX/UI throughout toast are most harshly felt by the customer. The loyalty interface is completely different from the online ordering interface and the customer data does not appear to be shared across the two integrations. Toast needs to have one database full of customer data that plays nicely across all the integrations and follows similar UX/UI design and principles. Maybe provide a single customer profile portal that allows the customer to view and edit their data across all of toast; possibly for all Toast equipped restaurants.
Let us continue our trek down with curbside. I opened a cased on 2/14/2023 stating the the Toast Takeout App was not properly showing items with nested modifiers. It is now 6/8/2023 and the app is still broken. Here is how their support described the issue: “he says that Modifiers are not working on the Toast Takeout App... They are working for Online Ordering though. You can test this by clicking our February 2-For-1 [BOGO], it is supposed to show two modifier groups, one called First Dog and one called Second Dog. These groups do not show up at all and when he tries to add the item to cart it says the modifiers need to be selected. Inherited Modifiers appear to be working though. If the modifier is inherited from the previous menu group it shows up just fine. This issue is happening only on the Toast Takeout App. it is not showing the First Dog and Second Dog modifier group on my "Heid's Daily Special" and "February 2-For-1 [BOGO]”
As you can imagine they “Closed” the case and all is still going well at Toast. We tell customers to delete the Toast App as it does not work correctly and simply use the online ordering link on our website. Feel free to test it out for yourself. Our restaurant, if you can see it, is Heid’s of Liverpool.
Both Order & Pay and Online Ordering integrations have the same issue. Pricing is incorrectly displayed for items with pre-selected modifiers. Basically, if you have a menu item, a burger, that costs $1.00 and it has a modifier, cheese, that costs $0.50, Toast will display the item to the customer as $1.00 but then when the customer clicks the item it will show the add to cart price of $1.50. This is extremely misleading to customers and a very simple fix. This problem has persisted since 2019 when we first started using toast.

Toast Order & Pay

Let us first start off by saying, simply duplicating Toast Online Ordering and adding a table numbering and mobile pay feature does NOT mean you should charge me MORE then the Online Ordering integration. Online Ordering is $50 and Toast Order and Pay is $69 + 0.5% per transaction! From the backend, they appear to basically do that exact same thing except one has some options for adding a vehicle and the other has options for selecting a table number. Otherwise, it would appear they copied the code for the Online Ordering module and went straight for the upcharge.
“We was able to review the information in the system under toasttab.com/ edit menu / sweet treats / Sundaes / Hot Fudge Sundae / scroll down to Default Modifiers, the sauce has a modifier select by default just like, works modifier has all modifier selected by default and working properly but sauce is not working, we try to toggle the configuration, no update, customer refer their is many bug in the system and need to bring all the issue with the system to toast attention.”
This issue was brought to Toast July of 2021… I have since removed the Order & Pay integration so I cannot verify if the issue still persists or not.

UX/UI Nightmare

Toast has an identity problem. It currently does not know if it wants to Toast 1.0 or Toast 4.0. Toast 1.0 had everything laid out in a series of nested links that mostly made sense while 4.0 has a hip new design that appears to be more touchscreen friendly. Sometimes you can complete a taste using only the new UI but often you are jarringly thrusted back into the old UI and have to take a moment to get your bearings as to where everything might be. Here is an incomplete list of daily annoyances:

1. Breadcrumb links, why do they randomly break and not actually show the trail you took to get to that page? Try this:
   1. Go to an item that has Modifiers
   2. Click on a Modifier Group
   3. On the Modifier Group Page, Click on a Modifier
   4. On the Modifier Item Page, click Edit Item
   5. Notice that the breadcrumb navigation is now wrong. This is a common occurrence on Toast.
2. Why are there 20 ways to check reports? Why do all these reports only seem to give me some of the data I want? Why do some of the reports only allow me to view the last two months worth of data? Why is it so difficult to compare two dates (month/day/yeaetc)? I could honestly write an entire book on how broken Toast Reporting is, but I believe that anyone who uses it already knows; I will leave it at that.
3. Double left side menu, who thought this was a good idea? I very frequently end up clicking the wrong link because I will accidentally slide my mouse too far left on the screen and the main menu will slide open and I will click a link on the main menu instead of the intended link on the sub menu.
4. On the POS, when a new order is pushed or someone publishes a change on the backend, why does the POS screen flash and pull you out of what you are working on. For example, Let's say I am on the payment terminal screen with an order selected partway down the list and I am about to click “Update Order”. All of a sudden someone sends an order to the kitchen, my screen flashes and now the top left order is selected on my screen. I don't realize this and proceed to the pay screen charging someone for the wrong order. This happens a not insignificant number of times a month and has led to some full refunds and apologies from our staff.
5. Why does the "Help" button in the top right of the screen randomly just not do anything? Currently, I click on it, nothing happens. I refresh the page, still nothing. Can anyone explain what I am doing wrong? I try to scroll down to the bottom of the page and the "Support & Training" link (button) does not work either.
6. We have had many instances of having employees, modifiers, or menu items that we are not able to archive. We either get an error or the website just simply does nothing. To this day no one can explain to me why this happens and we have to contact Toast each time so someone can come on and fix the item.
7. Ever since the update to "Toast Home", our team has noticed that on occasion we will lose access to features on toast. This happened to me today and I was able to include a screenshot (Toast 01 Screenshot); As you can see, I am "locked" out of "Edit Menus" and "Employees" when I should have full system privileges. A simple page refresh sometimes fixes this issue and the sections I am "Locked" out of will change sporadically. This appears to not just be a simple "Quick Actions" or shortcut issue as I have noticed error messages when trying to make updates via the website. I could get around these error messages by refreshing the page, however, I would lose any work I was trying to save.
8. I have this very common problem of Toast just not working when trying to go to the Toast "Home" (Toast 02 Screenshot); The whole page goes blank and I either need to refresh the page or click through to another page if it will let me. Sometimes the whole site hangs while loading after I pressed a menu link and I am forced to refresh the page. This issue persists across multiple computers and devices.
9. Our kitchen video monitor (KVM) will frequently have issues displaying the tickets. We have seen visual text errors such as fonts being randomly bolded or italicized. Tickets will appear with most of the order cut off and can only be viewed by clicking into the ticket for the pop-up.

Other Toast Integrations

I will keep this section short. Basically, if Toast has a first party integration simply do not use it. Every integration I have tried, from Toast, appears to have been half baked and still in beta; even though I was paying full price for the software.

The Cloud

For the most part, having our POS in The Cloud is normally not an inconvenience. However, we have had many times where either Toast or our internet would go down. This causes immediate headache with our staff as we can no longer use our Kitchen Video Monitors (KVM/KDS). Our kitchen is setup with three KVMs and one receipt printer. The expeditor has the printer while our grill and fryer each get their own KVM. If we lose connection to Toast, none of the stations can see what they need to make and our expediter now has to call out every item to each station.
If toast can print tickets to a networked printer during an outage, why can we not also send tickets to the KVMs the same way? Our registers already have a static IP and the local network is still functioning correctly, why can we not just send the ticket data locally to each KVM?

Toast Hardware

Recently, I have noticed an increase in the number of calls from my staff requesting help because one of the registers has stopped sending orders to the kitchen; won’t let the customer use the customer facing display; won’t turn on the chip reader; won’t turn on the NFC for tap to pay; toast crashes each time we try to open it; the ethernet just fully disconnects and refuses to reestablish connection; I could go on… but I won't.
95% of the time, my simple response is “turn it off, turn it back on again”. Why do we constantly have to do this? The time it takes to call me, restart the register, and get back online is all time wasted and not making the restaurant money.
Let's talk about hardware support. When we first started with toast, we had three Toast Gen1 handhelds. Within 6 months, one of the card readers stopped working. We sent it back under warranty. A few months later another handheld’s card reader stopped working and a third started power cycling. Coming up on the original 1 year warranty I realized that at the rate this hardware was breaking, I would literally need to buy a new handheld each year. I called toast and asked them to remove the handhelds from my subscription and find out how much it would cost to just get a standard terminal. The ELO terminals we had seemed fairly robust and didn’t appear to have any physical hardware problems like the handhelds. The representative I was speaking to offered to send me three new Toast 2.0 handhelds for free. Reluctantly I agreed to try them out. To their credit, they have worked well enough, minus the toast software issues, for the last two years.
It still stands, that if something were to happen to these devices, I do not actually have an easy way to get them repaired or replaced. Toast should offer either a lease program or a monthly protection plan for their hardware. I would feel more secure using Toast hardware if I knew I could send it out for repair or a replacement. If I drop my phone, I simply call my provider and they overnight a replacement the next day.
We have a combination of Toast branded ELO hardware and the newer Toast Flex hardware. The Flex hardware is full of issues. Both of our flex units in our Heid's of Liverpool kitchen had to be swapped with our older units when being used as KVMs due to how often they lose internet. For some reason, the hardware would randomly disconnect from the network and refuse to reconnect. This issue persisted whether we were connected via WiFi or Ethernet. Our current policy is to simply restart the device if this issue happens but it is wildly inconvenient when I have to perform this action during a busy lunch or dinner hour.

Final Thoughts… For now

From their hardware to their software, every aspect of Toast feels rushed and still in beta. Toast should have created the new UI and fully implemented it before pushing it as a major update. I constantly feel like I am paying $600 a month, plus ~$5000 in processing fees, for a software that is still in beta. We are currently talking with our managers about the possibility of switching to a new POS. I have already removed Toast Marketing and will be removing Online Ordering shortly. If I can simply get a response on my “Resolved” support case, we may reconsider. We have invested a lot of time and effort into this system and honestly I would like to keep it… but it needs to just work. Currently, if you are in the market for a new POS, I would NOT recommend Toast.

i hope everyone is having a good end to their week and hope a good weekend is ahead!
facts about me:

• i’m Jay (a nickname), 21 years old, 5’7, on the thick side
• i was born and raised in Ohio. i live with my mom and i’m currently not in school or working but hope to find a part time job soon.
• i enjoy the outdoors and everything about nature so i make it a goal most days to get out a take a walk or hike at the park
• • i’ve struggled with mental health a lot regarding depression and anxiety as at times it has gotten severe and still can
• my biggest dream is to be pregnant and eventually be a mother as well as a wife
• i adore cat have grown to love them very much. i’m okay with dogs but i dont necessarily like being around them.
• i’m a HSP so finding the right job can be hard for me and i can be sensitive
• i’m a picky eater so i enjoy the basics, cheese, french fries, veggies like cucumbers and bell peppers, a light meat and a great sauce
• i’m a romantic but also with a sense of reality
• i can be pretty reserved and dont have any friends besides my mom being my best one.

so, if you made it to the end, read everything i have talked about and still feel that you want to talk, feel free to send me a message or chat if you’re looking to talk to someone! 😄
https://imgur.com/a/stYuNKU

I just got prescribed Wegovy last week, have had a hell of a time finding my first box. The drama is LENGTHY but I’ve learned a few things along the way.
Last Friday I got the script and my doctor sent it to CVS in my town. After my appointment I stopped by to just see if they could fill it. None in stock blah blah blah. The big thing was my insurance needed a prior approval. No biggie. I called my doctors office and left a message as well as my insurance company (they explained further the same thing). I saw Amazon had it! I called to verify they did have it so I made a first attempt at transferring my script over. I waited all weekend and Tuesday nothing had changed so I made some phone calls to everyone and it was the general thought that this still takes time. This morning I still haven’t seen anything about the transfer happening so I made another round of calls. Amazon rejected it cause they can’t transfer a new script unless it is in stock, also on the back end CVS never responded to the request from Amazon. So naturally I talked to CVS and they said they sent it to Walgreens and to get in touch with them? I hadn’t even talked to Walgreens! Much less request to transfer this to them. After talking to Walgreens they informed me they have absolutely nothing on file for me whatsoever. I got back to CVS, CVS blamed it on their fax machine and somehow it was never received (I didn’t buy the excuse, both Amazon, Walmart AND Walgreens said CVS is not great about this in particular). I had explained to the actual pharmacist where I was trying to send this to, and asked if my script was still there with them. She had informed me yes, and if I find the medication elsewhere I could get her to verbally transfer the script over the phone because that would be easier.
I popped in to Walmart, and out of curiosity spoke with the pharmacist there. He was so very helpful, and informed me he was pretty positive another Walmart nearby had the dose I needed, so I had given them a call. It’s there!!! 3 boxes! So I told them what I knew and started the process to transfer over there ASAP. I’m not sure who the pharmacy tech at Walmart talked to over at CVS, but lines got crossed again saying “it was sent to Walgreens”. It took a few phone calls from then on and finally I got everything to Walmart. Since this was finished about 15 minutes before closing they said they would fill it, and I’ll pick it up tomorrow.
The other half of the situation is my approval from insurance isn’t complete. My insurance company had reached out to the doctors office and haven’t gotten back a reply. I’ve also tried calling twice today with no answer. My insurance company does have a hotline available for the doctor to call, and within minutes this can be complete. So cheers to hoping tomorrow I can plead someone to move on this first thing in the morning!
Lessons learned: when transferring a prescription, both the giving and receiving pharmacists can verbally pass prescription info. It’s less than a 5 minute phone call. I’d recommend this rather than other means especially from CVS. Also if you’re still waiting on your approval, and happen to get lucky like I have then reach out to your insurance company and explain that you want to get this done as quickly as possible… maybe they have a hotline similar to mine. And Amazon… make sure you reach out to someone on the phone before initiating a transfer! They can’t go through with it unless they actually have yours in stock. The other lesson, next time you’re in Walmart or any grocery store that has a pharmacy, just stop by! Either they might have it or you could find someone as kind as I did that was willing to help!
Just be really polite and communicate. That’s all! If it works out tomorrow then fridays are actually a perfect day to take my dose 🤗 I could update later if anyone is curious.

The next day came and went in a blur, both Igor and Kartha throwing themselves into their final preparations. She needed to pack, decide what she wanted to keep with her and what she could afford to leave behind. Maybe write a short note that she would be leaving and not coming back. It was.... a big step into the unknown, but she just had to take that risk. Everything would be better than staying here and slowly dying inside..... right?
Igor was just as busy, although with other things: He was removing all digital traces of their presence at the academy. Submitted essays, report cards, all videos or photos in which they could be identified. He pulled a copy of a few last relevant datasets and then started the timer that would shut down the entire computer system for a few minutes. Dinner would end at 7:30, Kartha would appear around 8:00 perhaps - the others would be long gone by then, their movie was going to start at 7:00 - and then they would have another hour until it would be time to go.He didn't bother with packing, the only important things he had here were his little gravity engine project and the companion he had built.
Neither of them went to class that day either. Igor cited a desire to tinker with his current project instead of sitting in 'interplanetary politics' and that was enough to calm down his totally-not-girlfriends. Kartha simply stayed away; it wasn't that uncommon for her to do so, she had to admit.
Before long, the time had come. Humming quietly, Igor strolled back to his room one last time. In his mind, he went over everything one last time. The ship was prepared - as in, he had chosen which one to use and looked up how to fly it. Power and cameras were wired to turn themselves off on a generous schedule. His luggage stood ready next to the door. So now all he had to do was wait and think everything through again and again.
A while later than he had planned - but still well within the timeframe - Kartha showed up at his door with a large backpack. As he had promised, he was the only one in the room, apart from a small flying robot that was moving clothes from several open cupboards and drawers onto a pile in front of the bed. There, Igor was sorting, folding and packing whatever was brought to him.
"Hey Kartha," he called over without looking up, "we still have some time until everything's ready. Take a seat, maybe grab a drink or something. It's gonna get hectic soon, so you better get everything out of the way now."
"A-Alright then..." She closed the door, set down her backpack and sat down on the bed. Certainly not the welcome she had been expecting. "So.... who's the little one?"
"Hm? Oh, yes. That is Sasha. I made it to get things for me. Program into memory banks what is where, teach it basic concepts and tell it to get something. Observe:" He proceeded to say something in his native language, something he had tried to teach them the basics of, but failed. The only word she really recognised in the short sentence was 'Sasha', the name of the little construct.
After Igor was done giving Sasha its new order, it dropped off the small stack of clothing next to him and flew towards the kitchen. Shortly after, it returned with a bottle of water and set it down with the stack of clothing.
"See? Simple as that. Might have to refine the concept of where to put everything later, but for now it does its job well."
"No surprise you wanna leave, if you made that yourself..." Kartha mumbled.
The room descended into a mostly comfortable, if slightly tense silence. Igor was humming quietly, as he did so often as he finished his packing.
​
After a few minutes, three short beeps cut through the silence, startling Kartha out of her thoughts. Igor was already on his feet and reaching for his backpack.
"Come on, we need to move quickly. I'll explain everything that's happening once we're gone." The robot was ... sitting? on his shoulder and he was checking the time every few seconds. "Okay, on my mark, we go out and you follow me. Keep up. We're on a tight schedule if we want to do this properly. Okay?"
He didn't wait for any kind of acknowledgment or even look back to see if she was ready to go. Without any warning, the floor trembled briefly and the lights went out. Faint red emergency lights turned on shortly afterwards, only to fizzle out as well.
"Now!" Igor called out, pulled open the door and headed onto the hallway at a brisk speed. Sasha whistled on his shoulder, a brief melody that indicated everything was in order. Very good.
​
Where was he taking them? Kartha was pretty sure that this wasn't the direct way to anywhere, but it at least looked like Igor knew what he was doing. To his credit, they were pretty much alone for the entire journey and the few people they did come across barely noticed them over their own attempts to find out what was happening.
At last, they ended up at the hangars. They were a lot busier than the hallways they had taken so far, but again, nobody seemed to pay attention to the two students marching straight towards one of the shuttles. 'As long as it looks like you know what you're doing, you're basically invisible.' One of their instructors had claimed at one point. Apparently, that was right (the relative darkness helped as well). Igor simply connected his 'pad with the shuttle, pressed a few buttons and the hatch opened up.
"Come on, inside first, answers a bit later." He stepped in, threw his backpack to the side and headed straight for the cockpit. "And close the door once you're in!"
Suddenly the hangar got a lot more hectic. They must have noticed the flight preparations or something. Someone came running at her, telling her to stop whatever she was doing and get out of the shuttle. She couldn't really see who it was, but it didn't matter. With a bit more force than neccessary, she hit the control panel to seal the doors, turned away and headed for the cockpit too. Kartha set her bag down with a bit more care than Igor had shown his own.
If there was a way to describe what was going on in the cockpit, it was 'organized chaos'. As soon as she had closed to door, Igor had been shouting at his robot and now she could see why. He was a blur of motion; his head snapping to the various displays seemingly at random, he flicked switches, pushed buttons and pulled levers (partially without even looking) and throughout all that he was all but yelling at Sasha who zipped around to all the places Igor couldn't physically reach. "Sit down and strap in!" He snapped at her at some point during all of it - she wouldn't admit to losing track of time just watching him work.
​
As soon as his companion was even close to properly seated, Igor engaged the engines with a quiet "I hope this works" on his lips. Sure enough, their shuttle shot forwards, out towards freedom. Noone stopped them, and how would they? The blackout effectively cut all communication outwards, and they were moving too fast to be effectively stopped by any kind of handheld anti air weapons.
"Alright..... course is already set.... off we go." Were the first words Igor said since takeoff. Kartha had been quiet as well, but where he had been focused on flying them away from the planet, she had needed time to process everything that had happened including the fact that she had actually done it. She had left the academy. It wasn't until they actually made the jump that she regained her wits.
"So... where are we going?" She asked at last, once Igor had relaxed a bit. It was a good question, he had never said anything about that after all.
"Oh, right, answers... We're headed towards Earth, but after that we can go wherever we want." Wherever they wanted, huh...? "Oh, and about what exactly went down at the academy: I'm sure you know that we have a backup power generator in case anything happens, yes? It gets tested every month to make sure the system works without any problems. For that, the central computer turns on the generator and then switches the entire power grid over to it. Usually, that happens in the middle of the night so nobody even notices if something goes wrong. I managed to get into the computer and trigger that cycle manually. Usually, something like that wouldn't do anything since the generator obviously works, however....." He paused to catch his breath, it was a lengthy explanation after all. "However this time there was nobody to oversee the whole process so if someone were to take out the generator shortly after the power grid switches over to it.... everything would stop working. That was the explosion you heard. I set up a little device to detect when the central computer no longer draws outside power as the fuse. It was only a small explosive, enough to destroy the generator, but not much else. That's why the power went out. ....I also deleted our files, so we're truly free to go wherever we like."
"Okay.... I.... think I'll just go and lie down in the back...." It was a lot to take in at once .... also it was getting rather late, so Kartha unstrapped herself and turned to leave the cramped cockpit.
"Got it, I'll keep an eye on everything over here." Igor got up as well and quickly kissed her on the lips before she could leave. "Good night, Kartha."
"Good Night Igor." Kartha quickly left the room, a bright blush burning on her face. It would take a long time before she could finally fall asleep.
​
​
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So, here I am again. Sorry it took so long, but I tend to have the problem that while I know what I want to happen, I simply don't like the words I find for it. Anyway, I will be back soon^tm with Chapter 14: Answers.

Hello friends,
I am a 2nd year dental student quickly learning as much as I can about ways to keep my hands, wrist, neck and spine healthy throughout the early stages of my education. I want to develop healthy ergonomics and practicing habits. We are taught to sit in a neutral position, elbows and knees bend at 90 degrees and head positioned forward, eyes directed downward. Occasionally, I bend my neck during longer procedures and after an hour or two notice stiffness (neck/upper back). I’ve purchased an inversion table which I use for a few minutes at the end of each day and try my best to recognize these poor tendencies and correct them. I also intend to work with a chiropractor as I start my career (or physical therapist - still learning which is ideal for my situation).
Is there anything else that I should consider to help keep my hand/wrist/neck/spine healthy? I am looking for preventive strategies.

Note: TLDR and Tips at the end.
I found out that I passed the PE Civil Structural a few weeks ago and as much as I wanted to post my results in celebration I felt compelled to provide a much more detailed response to my fellow engineers (especially those in the structural depth)! When preparing and doing research I had so much anxiety about the test. If you are like me, I tried to gauge the difficulty of the test based off of feedback and forum posts... However, you will hear everything from "Test is easier than xyz" or "It is much harder than xyz". Hopefully I can shed some light on this subject, give others a better sense of direction, and help you prepare so you crush it! (No I will not share with you anything even remotely close to what problems I saw on the test, this would break the NDA. I worked too hard to get here and so will you!)
​

My Background

I graduated from University of Portland, Oregon in 2015 with a BSCE and a good GPA of ~3.75. My civil friend group definitely helped me achieve that GPA by doing homework together. After graduation I did some additional studying to take the FE. I took it a few weeks after graduation at a Pearson Vue Center (turns out I would be back to the same one to take my PE) and passed it on my first try. Then I began my job search.
I applied to so many structural firms but had a hard time landing a job because they all wanted master degrees. Almost 4 months after graduation I landed my first job (remote) at a structural engineering software company that also provided consulting services. I can't help but laugh because the specialty/focus was on post-tensioned concrete (definitely did not learn any PT in school). I spent a few months learning the company's software and the basics of post-tensioned concrete. In fact a couple of the months I was in the customer support department.
Eventually I transitioned into the consulting department. We were typically subcontracted out by the EOR to do post-tensioned slab designs. I would say over 90% of my work was gravity design of two-way flat plate podiums. Oh.. and did I say I was remote? This made the job and learning curve so much more difficult. I could not simply hop over to my bosses office to ask a question and rarely did I get feedback on the work I did. I had no/little idea if I was doing things correctly. I honestly felt more like a drafter than an engineer because I would do the model creation, set up preliminary tendon layout/quantities based on 125 psi pre-compression and that was about it. Later on I got more understanding of what to look for when designing these systems (top and bottom stress limits, tendon sweep, deflection, crack mitigation, etc.) but the focus was still primarily the slab design.
About 3.25 years in (including a few months where I switched over to our licensing department to pick up slack) I was DONE with consulting. I was hating the long hours, the mediocre pay, and the lack of appreciation. One day the owner informed me that the consulting department was closing down. He gave me 3 months to look for another job. Fed up with consulting I asked if there was a different role I could take, his answer: Sales. Yuck... I just pictured a used car salesman. Talking with my colleagues and weighing the costs/benefits I decided to take the leap into a sales role. Part of this very difficult decision involved giving up on my dream of becoming a PE... I simply did not have the 4 years experience required.
Things changed about 1.5 years later and my new boss at the company approached me last year and asked if I was ever planning on getting my PE. I told him how I was short on the experience side of things and from there he put me in a position where I was using engineering (worked in the support team for another 6ish months and began the technical presentation side of my career).
In October of 2022 I signed up for the School of PE and schedule my test. I took the PE exam (CBT) May 16, 2023; 8 years after graduation and being out of consulting for almost 5 years. May 23rd I found out I passed!
​

Schedule and Resources

I allotted exactly 12 weeks to study with 1 day off before the test (which I did not actually do). After all was done I averaged roughly 25 hours per week; 300 hours total. Below is what my schedule looked like:
Week 1 - Week 8

• 3.5 hours of class with School of PE (M, T, W, R)
• 3 hours of rereading class notes/writing notecards on topics I felt needed consistent review (F).
• 4 hours rereading class notes/writing notecards (Sa)
• 3 hours rereading class notes/writing notecards (Su)
• 1 hour (re)doing class problems only using reference manual (Su). When I got to the structural depth part of the course, I spent this hour going through the codes to familiarize myself and honestly did not do any problems. (Su)
• Any spare time was spent doing School of PE flash cards and my own flashcards.

Week 9

• In place of class hours, I did as much of the breadth problems as I could from School of PE: Quizes and the Workshop Problems. (not the "Build your own exam/quiz").
• I took the NCEES practice exam at the end of the week as if it was test day (started at 8am, timed myself, took the 50 min break, etc.). I expected to completely fail the Depth section since I had only really attended the class and did not work problems yet. However, I really wanted to gauge the difficulty of the test so I new what/how to study moving forward. I scored 56/80. 34/40 morning and 23/40 afternoon. I spent about 3 hours on the morning took and then spent 5 hours on the afternoon. I ran out of time and had to blind guess on about 5 problems, which I got all wrong by the way. (this is where googling feedback about the NCEES practice exam difficulty got bad for my confidence).
• Did flash cards while riding in the car, waiting for food at restaurants, etc.

Week 10

• Reviewed and reworked all problems I got wrong on the NCEES practice exam. Looking at my schedule I did not hit my typical hours for the week (I did 0 studying the day after taking the practice test).
• Did flash cards while riding in the car, waiting for food at restaurants, etc.

Week 11

• Solved Structural Depth problems (no timer) from: https://amzn.to/3qidEnV. I found this an ok book to use. It has some errors and mess ups. Also, the wording/clarity of the questions was not to NCEES standards. However, the concepts and procedures helped a ton with learning the subjects. I found these rather challenging and got over 20 of them wrong going through it the first time. I never touched the breadth problems from this book.
• Did flash cards while riding in the car, waiting for food at restaurants, etc.

Week 12

• Took PPI Structural Depth test 1 with a 4 hour timer: https://amzn.to/3Ne6ZnO. (25/40)
• Repeated problems that I got wrong from the David G book (over 3 days)
• Took PPI Structural Depth test 2 with a 4 hour timer. (31/40)
• Retook NCEES morning test. (40/40!!!)
• Did a School of PE make your own quiz, breadth topics only. (18/20)
• Reviewed NCEES PM questions. Took another school of PE Breadth quiz (16/20)
• "Day off before exam" I panicked and review topics that I struggled on or wanted to refresh (roughly 3 hours). You will actually notice I did not fill in my schedule that day because I was in such a panic. After studying I tried to take it easy as much as possible. I ate well, took the dog on a walk, got some good sunshine, etc.

Test Day

• My anxiety was so bad the night before that I slept only about 3 hours (and that is being generous). I found myself struggling with basic math due to the lack of sleep.
• My first 2 problems were rather scary. I definitely panicked thinking the whole test was going to be that difficult but it just so happened to be the first 2. I think I was uncertain/skipped about 10 morning problems. I finished the breadth section, including a brief 30ish minute review on flagged/skipped problems, in about 3.25 hours. Note: you might not get a perfect 40/40 split on the questions.
• Depth problems went super quick at first. I finished the first 20ish problems in about 1.5 hours. This left 3.25 hours for the last 20 problems, I thought I was golden on time, however, the last quarter of the test ate up a ton of time. I recall spending well over 15 minutes on a problem simply because I grabbed the wrong equation (thanks lack of sleep). I ran out of time and blind guessed on about 5. I had probably 25 flagged/skipped.
• I left the test knowing I did not get a 100% but also that I did not get 0%. Based on the number of flagged questions and potential mistakes my gut told me I probably got at least a 60%.

​

TLDR and Tips

If someone out of school for 8 years and not in a "traditional" engineering role for 5 years can pass this test, so can you! Not only that but I only Commit, work hard, and conquer! As test day approaches focus on all that you have done and all of your successes. This will help build confidence which is key. I would have loved to solve more problems and study more topics but the thought of what I didn't know overwhelmed me and definitely did not help with my anxiety.

• Set a schedule and stick to it as best you can. I honestly wish I had roughly 1 more week to do a final polish on topics I wanted to review.
• Save some PTO for those days you want to take practice exams/need a break. I took 3 days of PTO. I studied my normal amount on those days but then had the rest of the day to myself to exercise, play video games, do chores, etc.
• I honestly would not bother with the School of PE Depth problems too much. If you have extra time then go for it. They were simply way too focused and lengthy that they are not a good use of time IMO.
• ABSOLUTELY do these depth problems with a 4 hour timer: https://amzn.to/3Ne6ZnO
• Do the Depth problems from: https://amzn.to/3qidEnV
• Solve problems as if it were exam day; only use the resources available, remove the cover from your calculator, use one computer monitor. After doing this for a few days, I found myself making silly mistakes over and over again. I actually created a notecard for me to drill the process into my head (I even brought it with me on test day to read it before I got out of my car. Obviously I could not bring it in with me). The notecard read:

1. Read the problem CAREFULLY
2. Write down the variable AND units you are solving for
3. Solve (read table footnotes, watch conversions, verify correct table and variables)
4. Check math
5. Read problem AGAIN
6. Check units AGAIN
7. Answer

• While studying, review problems that you get wrong! I cannot stress this one enough. I even marked problems so I could come back and try them again a 3rd or 4th time if necessary.
• Ask for extra booklets and extra pens at the testing center if possible. The booklets are larger than I thought. This means you do not have to erase your work if you move on from a problem. I wish I would have known this going into the test. I also recommend turning it landscape rather than portrait.
• Try and bank some time for the afternoon.
• Do not get hung up on a problem. I really only took extra time on problems that I KNEW I would get right even though it took 10 minutes.
• Use the index for the codes on problems you do not know, even if you think the problem is a conceptual one. Search key words. You might find something that can help. If I would have done this, I probably would have gotten a few more problems correct.
• Pack the night before (lunch, calculator, snack, water, glasses cleaner, etc.).
• Sleep, exercise, and fit in fun. My reward each Saturday was going out to lunch with my wife and friends after studying. I would also play video games, go to a movie, or do something else on the weekends after I finished studying.

Some other resources that I was recommended but did not get the chance to use:

• Breadth Problems: https://amzn.to/43RP5N1
• https://civilengineeringacademy.com/breadth/

I am 22M and I still live with my parents, I believe my father is a narcissist and that would be the tamest term I would use. Also, big disclaimer that this will be a dump of some of the things that bother me the most about my life until now as it relates to my parents. I am afraid some of this stuff is gonna sound like massive 1st world problems but honestly, if it's not here and through a secondary account, when where else could I vent about it?
I also feel like I brought this upon myself because I'm still 22 and still living with them, and get reminded of how pathetic I am every single day for that fact. I returned from graduating uni a few months back, and unfortunately, I haven't managed to find a full time job despite my efforts. I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to afford to move out now, and the average emancipation age in my country is over 30 years old, it'd be a fucking miracle.
At 18, I got the chance to study my entire degree in a foreign country, and I didn't even blink. Just the idea of having 3 entire years, which seemed like an eternity at the time but then came and went in a flash, 3 entire years when I would be able to finally have any sort of privacy in my life, that I wouldn't have to put up with my father's unpredictable mood swings and obsession with making everyone else feel like shit, plus they would be super-willing to help me financially through it, it seemed like a dream.
And it was. All my life I have had to share rooms with my brother, who is just over a year younger. It's not because we couldn't afford two separate rooms, in fact, we shared one where we slept and changed clothes, and one where we'd study and entertain ourselves. I don't know, I guess my parents thought it would be an amazing idea to force two brothers of close age to share everything, and to keep them like that despite them being like oil and water. My brother would bully me from the moment he was able to do so. Every time I'd meet new kids at the park or when we went somewhere, we would then manage to turn them all against me just to make me miserable. He would break my stuff, he would embarrass me in front of others, and he would also physically attack me, as I am a pacifist. Nowadays, he likes to belittle me for being less fit, for having friends he deems "weird" because some of them happen to be autistic, and also belittles my career (finance) for not being a STEM field, despite him being stuck in 1st year of engineering for the 3rd year in a row. Also threatens to beat me up if I ever stand up to him, and he could.
So with that context, after spending 3 years not having to deal with that shit, I come back. Suddenly, I remember all the bullshit. I cannot close the door, my father has threatened with removing it twice now. My brother likes to sit behind me and peep into my laptop for hours at a time, and I am not allowed to set it up anywhere else. I still have to sleep in a bed one meter away from someone I have hated my whole life.
My father is a fucking asshole. All he has ever cared about is his fucking bicycle. If it rains and means he can't do his route this Saturday, then he unloads that frustration on us. Same with any frustrations he has but he really cares too much about that specific thing. Only thing he ever did to bond with us was teach us to ride a bike, since then he has been disappointed every time our preferences didn't align. Never cared about the things me or my brother liked, like video games, astronomy or music. In fact, he has literally stated that he'd rather me being taking drugs under a bridge than playing an online game with my irl friends. There are some things we actually have in common, like he loves skiing but since I'm not as good as him and my brother, and being around him normally already feels like walking on eggshells, then imagine that but skiing. And he and I are also big Metallica fans, and he took me to a concert recently, but I will never go to anything with him again. He blew his chances at being liked or even tolerated beyond necessity.
He is the worst person I know to be around. Every misstep you make, every minuscule inefficient movement you perform, everything you do that isn't up to his particular way of doing things, he will turn into a fucking lecture, remind you of every single instance, talk you down to and essentially make you feel like you're a useless piece of trash. What else, he fucking hates to see a door that is close. The door our room where I have my stuff set up goes out to the entrance of the apartment, for some fucking reason, and yet, I am not able to have it closed. Every time he sees it he has to open it, remark on how he doesn't like the temperature in a room HE NEVER USES, and leave it open. Lately also threatening to remove the door altogether. And he installed a magnet to keep the door fully open as well.
Another example, from just today. For some reason, he wants to mess around with the home telephones, which all connect to the same number and I have one on my desk. Well, he decides he wants to mess around with this shit without telling me beforehand, so of course he yells at me because I didn't clear the space, because god forbid there are things on my fucking table, because it is hotter in a room containing a human and a laptop than in the other empty rooms, which obviously is my fucking fault, and I also had an important online meeting scheduled for that precise time. Of course, it ends up with him storming out yelling about whatever the fuck annoys him, which is absolutely everything you can think of.
When I returned to our home town from uni I had to get surgery, which in short, left me with a pretty big wound in an awkward place, which needed healing. I followed all of what the doctor said, but my father disagreed. He fucking belittled the doctor because he hated seeing that I would spend time playing video games at some point when I was supposed to stay home and let it heal. He thinks he knows more than the freaking doctors man.
Another quirk of the man is he's a fucking Karen, and racist to boot although he wouldn't act racist in public. He often comes bragging about how he yelled or insulted a random person on the street or on the road because they "didn't follow the rules". Like a girl not wearing a mask in the metro for a minute (already in 2023 btw), or someone didn't use their blinkers properly or whatever. Like minor stuff you would be annoyed about, ignore and go on with your life. He likes to talk a lot about how we should be careful in the streets and avoid trouble, yet he is constantly buying tickets to get his ass handed to him with the way he treats others.
My mother suffers a lot, yet she won't try anything to solve the situation. She basically gets as much shit as I do, and instead of supporting each other because we love each other, she get angry at me because I did some otherwise normal or minor thing that got my father fired up, and she had to "defend me". Many of us in the family, including myself and her sister, have asked her to consider divorce, but it's like she never listens. Last year my father didn't talk to us for like 2 weeks after he ruined my brother's 20th birthday by being an asshole and making everyone uncomfortable at what should have been a nice lunch, and my mother supposedly "made things clear" to him after that, (btw he never apologised), yet now it's like that never happened at all. She will be miserable at how he treats her and us, in one moment, he will storm out of the place with a door slam, and then next day they seem to have forgotten that, its seriously fucking uncanny.
Lately, I have tried leaving the room whenever I couldn't be bother to up up with his shit, but he chases me around the apartment. I have even left meals without finishing because his beer-fueled ramblings start to push my buttons. One day, when my mother was out of town I left the food he prepared on the table and went to spend the entire afternoon to my grandparents (mother's parents), because he kept acting like an asshole towards me even after the 5th time of "stopping". He threatened to beat me (has never done so), but I didn't give a shit, left and spent such a chill evening with 2 people who actually care for each other and their family, until my brother told me we went to sleep. I ignored his messages through that day, and he sometimes still brings up that I still have to answer. I didn't tell him where I had gone, though I thought it was pretty obvious, it was also a rainy day. Apparently he was "worried", good fuck him.
Other times, I try to actually stand out for myself and match his tone, or just reply to his bullshit. It either ends in a competition to see who can yell loudest, him declaring how everything I own is "his", how he is going to kick me out, and would only end by him starting to yell how I'm an idiot, how I'm an ignorant, with absolutely no arguments, just denial of the truths I speak to him.
Honestly, I can't wait to move out ASAP. I have good friends but they got shit to deal with of their own, and I don't feel like I deserve the hospitality of other family members. My grandfather (father's) treated him similarly, and of course he did the mega infinite IQ strategy of repeating the cycle, because he's a fucking idiot. But now my grandfather will defend my father and always be on his side, so I can't even count on them.
I want to have kid(s) at some point, I hope I'm not stupid enough to engage on that cycle myself.
If you read all the way here, I'm honestly impressed. Thanks.

Ending a friendship then wanting to reconcile?
About two years ago this girl and I became fast best friends. At the time I was 24 (f) and she was 21 (f) We both worked at the same diner except she was new to the restaurant and new to town. We really hit it off as friends although I was hesitant to become her friend at first because I’m an extremely guarded person. We hung out at her apartment and I met her husband and her roommate who happened to be her husband’s best friend. From the very beginning of our friendship, I noticed that she made little comments regarding my appearance insinuating that I was her husband’s type and I sensed a little bit of jealousy. Regardless we are both quirky people and complemented one another well. Her husband was also a chill guy but I did notice some narcissistic tendencies and tension brewing within their relationship. Within a month of hanging out we were calling one another each other’s best friend. We went shopping, vegged out on food/drinks, had tons in common, and genuinely had fun every time we hung out. We really opened up to one another and I hadn’t had a female best friendship like this since childhood. But something was always a little bit off.
We had so much in common regarding values and interests (drawing, art, interior design, singing, same aesthetic) that a subtle competition between her and I brewed. She felt she had to compete with me as her husband continuously asked to have me come over and compared us constantly. She has a very petite physique and I’m taller and curvier. Her husband is an extremely tall guy and made her feel terrible for being short. I could tell she resented me for this but I didn’t know how to approach the problem. Terrible on my part but I enjoyed the attention
Although our friendship continued there was always tension due to the fact her and her husband’s marriage wasn’t doing well and I seemed to be a factor. At work, she was always trying to one up me but it didn’t matter to me because our connection was more important. She was constantly seeking attention from men at work, men whom I already had friendships with and she was always trying to undermine those relationships. She was very subtly manipulative but had a sweet innocent demeanor so her behavior was confusing. She seemed jealous when other men wanted a relationship with me, even though those same men adored her as well.
Fast forward two months and a new guy started working at the diner as a line cook. We were servers. For context her and I had spoken in depth about what our type was. She described her type as her husband to a T; tall, blue eyes, light hair. My type was tall dark and handsome minus the tall as height has never mattered much to me. Said new guy was exactly my type. Both her and I instantly had a thing thing for him but I figured she would back off since he wasn’t her type and she was also married. They seemed to hit it off even tho him and I initially felt a connection as well, and I became insanely jealous. They started hanging out after work and she even introduced her husband to him. Her husband shook his hand then went back to bed, while they made out on the couch at her apartment. The two of them eventually slept together and I didn’t find out until their affair was cut off. She said they couldn’t be intimate with one another anymore but that she still wanted him as her best friend. He blocked her and started pursuing me. He made it known that initially he was into me but she went out of her way to make herself the center of attention and seduce him even insinuating that she would leave her husband for him.
Flash forward a few weeks, the night of our restaurant’s little employee christmas party at an old bowling alley/bar. Her and her husband had supposedly worked out the affair she had with the new guy but we were all going to be in the same place at the same time. Her and I met at the bar and started drinking, the new guy was following me around trying to talk all while her and her husband were right next to me. She obviously still was in lust with this man and I was getting increasingly mad about it. Her lies weren’t catching up to her but I could tell she was miserable on the inside and i was a part of the equation. Emotions were high, both her and I were nervous as we both were in lust with the same man. Her husband didn’t say a word to him the entire night despite knowing what happened. Even though the new guy blocked her she was convinced he still wanted her. Eventually we went to a friends for an after party type thing and her husband made a comment saying I looked way better in her dress she let me borrow than she could ever look in it and put his hand on my inner thigh while she was sitting right next to us.
After this I began spending more time with the new guy and my friend and her husband continued to struggle in their marriage. I began dating the new guy and she tried her best to pretend she didn’t care. She began hanging out with another girl at work. Said girl worked at our diner and so did her boyfriend. All four of them attempted to Go on double dates but she didn’t seem enthused. We were still friends although we were starting to grow apart. I made it known that her husband was making me uncomfortable and our other coworkers also told her he was an asshole. But this whole time she was playing the victim despite cheating on her asshole of a husband. I was over it but still wanted her friendship as she made me feel seen and understood and her husband did as well.
One night in February, she invited me out to a bar. She didn’t tell me that her husband would be there but he was. We got drunk and had a great time but she insinuated that she wanted me to invite my boyfriend. The constant triangulation was pissing me off like no other. we headed back to their place but as we left the bar we both slipped on the ice and got immense bruises from it as we would find out later. it felt like karma for all the bs we were putting one another through rather than prioritizing a true friendship. When we got to their apartment, her husband made a jab at my appearance and I had the urge to cut off the friendship because I wasn’t going to start taking his emotional and verbal abuse as well.
After that I distanced myself from them even more. They came into the restaurant on Valentine’s Day and he stared at me from their booth the entire time while I served tables. She kept making comments towards my appearance and relationship while we worked shifts together so I made sure we had completely different schedules.
I cut her off completely and we didn’t talk anymore. The next month i got pregnant and she got pregnant as well and we never talked about it. We had our babies in the same month last year so both of our babies are seven months old now. I’ve tried to reconcile by messaging her and she completely ignores me. I know I’m with the man she had an affair with, so I understand but I don’t get why she won’t engage with me whatsoever. Our friendship wasn’t perfect but now being seven months post partum it would be amazing to be friends again since our sons are the exact same age. She is now best friends with our mutual coworker and I feel so rejected and lonely and really want more mom friends.

My (29F) boyfriend (34M) is separated from his wife (30F) and has been for a year and a half. When I mention filing for divorce or getting her things out of the home, he replies with, "I'm working on it." They had only been married for about four years and had been together for six years in total. They have a child (6) together. He kicked her out of the house because she cheated. Since then, he had a girlfriend (32F) for about seven months, but she left him for another man.
We had known each other for a couple of years and started dating seven months ago. Things got serious pretty fast, and I moved in. My roommates/friends were disbanding to go in separate directions in life, and I couldn't afford the place on my own, so I had to scramble to find a place, which is what led to me moving in. At the beginning of the relationship, I approached the divorce issue as "not much of my business" and didn't discuss it much with him. I didn't want to pry or be invasive about the topic.
But then it hit me like a load of bricks after talking to a friend who finalized his divorce process during the first week he was dating his current wife. I'M HIS GIRLFRIEND. His business becomes my business and vice versa, and we're supposed to support each other through whatever we go through.
I can't exactly move all the way in since the ex-wife's stuff is still here. He kept making excuses that he needed to get his truck fixed up so he could move her things to her. For God's sake, we both know people with trucks, there is a U-haul rental in town, and she can come to get her own stuff. His house is still furnished with her stuff even though she's been living with her boyfriend, whom she cheated on him with, since she got kicked out.
By this point, I've been here for a little over two months. I pitched a huge fit about wanting some closet space because I was living out of a cheap plastic set of three drawers and a suitcase by our bed. I got what I wanted, and he finally cleaned out the bedroom closet. We donated a lot of old stuff and boxed up her personal belongings in a different closet in the guest bedroom.
I'm not even on the lease, she's still on the lease, but she hasn't been here since he kicked her out. I refuse to pay rent until her stuff is out of here, and she's off the lease, and I'm officially on the lease. I pay for other necessities in the meantime but I could contribute so much more if I got what I wanted. I'm honestly offended that he won't get his butt into gear. He says he's serious about me, but I don't feel like it because he keeps dragging his feet. He has a big blank divorce packet sitting on his bedside table. His last girlfriend dragged him to the courthouse to get it, but he hasn't touched it.
Please keep insults about the boyfriend constructive and civil.
How do I approach this situation and what should my next steps be? What scenarios could be happening without my knowledge and how should I handle them?