Closest spectrum store

Hi experts,
I bought my closest friends the same earrings (bit smaller than a dime - good silver 'frame' with an expensive pearl in center).. kept a pair. But the stem came off.....
I've seen Nordstrom fix (for free) this type of problem years ago — so called.. they no longer offer this service (or converting clip to pierced and vice versa).
Went onto the regular online stores.. at the big online store, there are a zillion of choices for stems or posts or whatever called.. some of the products have glue included. Are these ok? Will the glue last? Should I try to find repiar items which involve sodering - and if so, how difficult is sodering?
The earrings were $80/each.. so not mega expensive, but I like them.. want to repair this 1 broken one.
Any suggestions? Thanks!

It was called disassociation, the change in my life had been so traumatic that I just... kind of existed, largely doing things on autopilot, only engaging in things when necessary.
I hadn't wanted to be a Kobold, part of me kept thinking, 'this isn't real, I'm going to wake up any moment now'. But I never woke up to anything but this reality. Rather than tackle this like a normal, sane person, I just withdrew and didn't engage.
"Hello, I'm Ruuk." I said. "I haven't exactly been here the past year and some."
The way everyone welcomed me to the warren, not like a stranger finally being accepted, but as a family member who was gone for far too long- It felt good to just... connect.
While I sequestered myself to my shack on the edge of town, the warren had been organizing, fixing things up, just generally working their asses off to make things as comfortable as possible for people. The result was kind of an anachronistic mess, but it worked. Roads had been turn up and repaved, taking a mess of a car-reliant town and streamlining it so people could actually walk from place to place.
The Artificers had taken cars apart and reused the tools to make a tramway that was convenient for everyone. Why bother with cars when half of us can't even reach the pedals? With the restructuring of the town building by building, done simply because it needed to be done, the surrounding houses could be utilized more efficiently.
The reason why my house was largely untouched was because it was still my house, there was no committee ruling that demanded I give it up. It was understood that I'd know what I wanted to do with it when I was finished being a hermit.
Well, more than a handful of people suggested I just have a full-on mage tower, I realistically didn't need that much space, and even then, the things I wanted to keep were so few that having an entire four-story house to myself with more rooms than I realistically needed.
"Besides, when you get to Level 15, you can create your own demiplane." Tudru, the Fighter, remarked.
The plans for such a hypothetical mage tower put it toward the center of the town, just north of the central tramway. It would be convenient to get to me, and it would be convenient for me to go anywhere.
"Plus, well, we've been wanting you to be the Sorcerer on the Council." Goss, the Sorcerer, remarked.
"The what on the what?" I asked.
The Council, as I understood, was comprised equally of Humans and Kobolds. Kobolds with a set Class were put into a position to discuss the needs of the town. No matter who it was, no matter the Class, there was a representative, even if they were the only one present.
There was no Sorcerer Councilor yet, in spite of us being fairly common.
"Why me?" I asked after being given a significantly less truncated explanation.
"Because you're the most competent one out of all of us, are unbound by preconceived notions of how things work." Goss replied. "I mean, I would have never thought of using Magic Missile on that boulder, or staggering the hits like that so nobody got hurt."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "I mean, anyone could have done it." I said.
"The fact of the matter, Ruuk, is that most of us have assumptions based on a bunch of books in a situation that we still don't really understand. I choose to believe that another world has made contact with ours, and we're the ones burdened with responsibility. That doesn't mean I am correct."
They further broke down expectations.
"I am in charge of infrastructure." Rekka, the Artificer, spoke. The goal was to transform the town into an entirely self-sufficient place. Since we were still technically under quarantine, we couldn't get supplies in or out, not without the government allowing it through. The dissemination of magic items and technology that was essential to our continued existence hinged on understanding where to put it and how to ensure it was used correctly.
Barbarians and Fighters- in spite of Kuvli and Tudru being the only ones- were in charge of town defense.
"We work in tandem to find the best solution to a threat." Tudru said. "While thus far purely theoretical, we have options for if and when monsters show up. Let's not forget the Dire Rat that came out of the mine."
"Dire Rat?" I asked.
"Big fuckers." Kuvli said. "Ever seen a nutria? That fucker you killed was even bigger."
It was understood that if monsters came about, we would need weapons. Artificers took care of that, we had a small cache of magically enhanced swords ready and available, as well as every gun in town somewhere where people could grab and react.
Bards, when we would eventually get one, would be in charge of communications and entertainment. With the quarantine in place and us having no actual income at the moment, short of going out and stealing shit, we were largely on our own with what we already had.
"I am in charge of ensuring the town's spiritual needs are taken care of, and the adjudication of our laws." Galax stated. "Given the high probability of Gods existing, and the likelihood of demons, ghosts, and other beings eventually showing up, This includes discerning which deities are existent, and which ones are not. So far, we've only had minor to moderate luck with divine magic. Prayer is necessary for it to work, as we have to explicitly petition our Gods for it every long rest."
"Aren't you biased toward Bahamut?" I asked.
"Of course." He said. "Any anyone who comes to the Temple is welcome to hear anything I have to say on the matter. The biggest problem is figuring out how it all relates."
Next was Merti. "We Druids are in charge of ensuring this town's sustainability and harmony with nature." She said. "That includes recycling materials, ethical and sustainable logging, hunting, farming... Essentially, as long as it pertains to nature, it's our duty to ensure we don't shoot ourselves in the foot."
"Well, while you're busy speaking for the trees, we're responsible for going out there and making sure nothing is coming to kill us. That and getting meat." Tatla spoke. "We're also in reserve in case of a combat situation, we defer to our Fighter and Barbarian for that."
"When we get a Rogue, they will focus on security. As the closest thing we've got to that, I've got plans set up for establishing a wall around the town, just outside the Anomaly, so that people can't just waltz right in, and to prevent any wild animals or hypothetical monsters from getting in." Nakk the Locksmith who might actually be a Rogue said. "And for the record, I've tried everything I can think of to awaken to a Class, and I'm reasonably certain Rogue isn't one." He paused. "That being said, I am offering lockpicking lessons to anyone who thinks it might help."
"Considering we just share and share alike, I don't think we need to worry about our Rogues." Someone I wasn't familiar with yet said.
The way Nakk reacted to his statement, avoiding his gaze, made me wonder why he reacted that way.
"Nakk, why do you look guilty?" I asked.
He looked at me with wide eyes, and for a tense moment, it seemed like he was about to run. I walked up to him and gently put my hand on his shoulder. "It's better to get it out now, rather than later."
He looked away. "I... I've been overcharging everyone since I moved in." He said. "On top of that, I've used my skills as a locksmith to steal from people."
He expected us to get angry, and a fair number of us did.
"Honor and Correction to the enemies of Justice and Good." Galax spoke, "Nakk, is the confession you have spoken true?"
"Y-yes." Nakk said softly.
"When you moved here, was it your intention to steal from us?"
"No." Nakk said. "I just- I had some bad debts, I was trying to escape, start a new life. But then they found me, told me if I didn't pay off the debt, they'd make me regret it. So I stole, but no matter how much I took, the debt never seemed to shrink. When we were all transformed, I was so happy because I could finally escape. They couldn't possibly hurt all of us, and with the quarantine..."
"Nakk." Galax spoke. "Is it your intention to atone for your crimes?"
Nakk nodded. "Yes."
"Then I shall ease your burden, that you no longer are swayed into such temptation." Galax took a pouch out of another pouch on his belt. "This is powdered silver." He said, several eyes widened, clearly understanding the significance of this. "Bahamut, Grandfather of Dragons, Grand Master of Flowers, Justicemaker. Before me stands a penitent soul seeking to atone for his sins against his fellow people. If he hides from you, you are the one who shall bring him into the light. If he hides his face, you are the one who shall reveal it. If his tongue betrays him against his people, you shall be the one who frees it from evil machinations."
He threw the powdered silver upon Nakk, and as he did so, he roared.
"NOMAG SVABOL UI WHEDAB RANNOX EKESS MITNE!"
The silver flashed with brilliant light that, somehow, didn't hurt to look upon, and then Nakk was engulfed in flames. Before anyone could panic, the flames swirled as if caught in a whirlwind and flew into Nakk's open mouth.
For a moment, Nakk was suspended in the air, and then he fell onto his feet, then onto his hands and knees. He gasped for breath, faint wisps of silvery fire escaping his open maw.
"What the fuck just happened?" Kuvli asked.
"That was the Atonement spell." A Player remarked. "You touch a willing creature whose alignment has changed, and if you're powerful enough, you bring them back to their original alignment. In this case, maybe neutral leaning toward evil back to good."
Galax nodded. "You have caused suffering to your people, Nakk. I have firmly put you back on the path to righteousness. You will no longer fear the reprisal of your warren, but will openly accept it. You will no longer hesitate, you will do what is necessary to make amends. Though I can do this as many times as I deem necessary, for you, this is but one chance. In the guidance of Bahmut, go forth and sin no more."
"I will. Thank you." Nakk said.
"I do not need thanks, I am simply the one who interceded on your behalf. Zhin mrith filkiati."
With that out of the way, the meeting resumed.
"Ruuk, as the Sorcerer Councilor, you would be responsible for the responsible use of magic. As every Sorcerer has unique spells, there is a level of versatility that the Warren can use. It would be your duty to advocate for your fellow Sorcerers, to ensure we do not end up taking advantage of them for our own selfish desires." Rekka said. "What do you say?"
I gave it some thought, then nodded. "I'll do it." I said.
What the Council does, as I learned, is convene every week to go over current events and how to deal with them, and occasionally plan ahead on hypothetical situations. We were each paired with a Human who was chosen by other Humans to serve as their representative on specific matters.
My partner is Dave. Dave is a Pagan, he practices magic as a form of spirituality. He is also, currently, the only Human with any level of magical skill, being able to use magic items fairly easily without it blowing up in his face.
"The only reason why I'm not a Kobold is because I want to be an Elf." He said. "I'm hoping that learning more about the Anomaly on the magical end of the spectrum of scholarly pursuit will allow us to do that." He paused. "I will also settle for Dragonborn. You and Galax are currently the best chance of either."
"Why would we want to do that?" I asked.
"Well, presently, only Kobolds are capable of magic, meaning that Humans in the Forgotten Realms are different from us."
"The what?"
"Common setting for D&D." He said. "Now, back when this was all make-believe, Earth was mentioned as being existent in the D&D multiverse, meaning that something decided to mess with us." He paused. "Look, from what I've been able to gather, Earth is in a part of the Prime Material plane that has very weak connections to other planes, we lack magic because of this. However, we are currently in a dome of sustained magic-"
"It's actually a relatively short column." I corrected.
"-which means something has connected us, and specifically us." He finished.
"Alright, so this raises several presumptions, like the notion that someone did this to us for a reason. Do you have any ideas as to what that reason would be?"
"Interplanar invasion, the astral plane bleeding into ours, maybe we're crashing into another plane, maybe a wizard got lucky. We don't have enough information."
I sighed. "Look, let's just get some work done."
We got started on requests, most of them were just questions on if a certain spell was viable for use, some were requests to run experiments with certain spells. With Dave and I debating back and forth, we got them done by the end of the day.
​
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Hello, this is the story of how my grup of 4 friends turned into a group of 3 thanks to Bridezilla. The group consisted of 4 girls, me (Dana), Gabby, Lilly and Lucy, it al started when Lilly got engaged and Gabby and I were so excited for her and kind of over the moon making jokes and never stop talking about the subject, we kind of felt like Lucy was jelaous but we let it go, a few weeks after guess who ends up engaged as well, yes, LUCY! We were happy for her as well. Lucy immediately asked us 3 girls to be her bridesmaids along with other 7-8 girls (girls she just met through her fiancé, her sister and SIl). Lillys wedding was going to be different and there were no bridesmaids at all, so the whole wedding planning and leading to her wedding was very different.
When Lilly told us her wedding date Lucy couldn´t handle it so went ahead and set her wedding one week before Lillys... we didn´t think much of it atm but I did felt like she was competeing or something. To give you a little context Gabby and I were on our early 20s still in Uni. Gabby was starting a beauty business and all her expenses were put into that business and school, where in my case I was paying my University tuiton with a Scholarship and by working for the school as well, my career was very expensive in tuiton and supplies as well, (needing gamer computers, art supplies, etc, every week) so all of my money was spent on school and transportation to and from School, Lillys situation was very similar, she was also in her early 20s, had just moved in with her fiancé, was paying a new car and on top of that had a whole wedding to pay for.
So I think you know where this is going. Lucy was one of my best friends so I did everything I could to support her and be there for her wedding and planning of it. Soon she started showing her bridezilla true colours. First she asked all of us bridesmaids to wear the exact same dress from a very expensive store, at the time I did not have the money so I asked her if I could make an exact copy of the dress with the help of a seamstress (it is cheaper in our country) and she said NO because she did not want to risk it being slightly different so I had to borrow money from my parents.
On the fitting day a couple of us bridesmaids were complaining about the prices and how a certain style doesn´t always fit bodies, one specifically said that she felt very uncomfrotable and she would never wear a dress like that also pay so much money for it. Bridezila wasn´t there but one of her bridesmaidezilla made sure to tell her the rumours. So that bridesmaid was UNIVITED. We were also supposed to wear the same shoes, and do our hair and makeup with the same MUA because otherwise "we could be late to the wedding" her MUA was very expensive as well. All of us had to buy the same shoes but since you guessed it they were very expensive I bought a cheaper replica of them (the dress was floor lenght so you wouldn´t even see them).
We 3 bridesmaids were invited to the bachelorette party a day before. And we were told to get there lets say 5pm, so we arrived and no one was there. The other group of bridesmaids told us to go ahead and start decorating the place, that we could help that way. We went out to buy some decorations and told the other group to text us when they were heading to the place with Bridezilla. They never texted us so when we got there bridezilla had already been surprised and we were seen as "the ones that got there late". The expected us to pay for that nights meal and again it was very expensive, more than what I would pay for in a restaurant, keep in mind I am vegan and I dont drink alcohol, there were of course no vegan options for me, so I paid more than I would´ve paid for in a fancy restaurant for salad and water.
We were kind of upset at the bridesmaids for not letting us know when they were getting there and we decided to talk to bridezilla about it, to what she responded "I am very busy to deal with that right now" and kept asking us for money to pay for her bouquet and extra money to pay for a bouquet that all of ous bridesmaids were expecting to carry. At that point I wanted to quit being a bridesmaid but I knew that ment I was going to be uninvited and I wanted to be there for my friend, I asked how much it was in total and it was bananas, overall I had spent in HER wedding more than what a month of school tuition was worth, plus I had to still pay for the hair and makeup and bouquets? I kindly asked if it was really necessary for us to do all that, and I explained my situation, she was very angry about it and said that I was not being supportive. (keep in mind I have another wedding coming up a weekend after that).
The invites came in and turnes out I only have a pass and I have to pay for my boyfriend to be there... In a wedding where there were more than 300 guests and I was one of the best friends of the bride. I again talked to Bridezila about it and she said that Lillys fiancé was invited because it was a serious relationship while mine was not. So I paid insane money for his invite.
The night before the wedding we texted bridezilla wishing her the best and also asking her what type should we be there since she stopped texting in the bridesmaids group chat since weeks ago and we were supposed to do a photoshoot while getting ready, and then with the groom etc. She replied saying that the photoshoot was canceled and we should be there on time for the ceremony only.
We got ready and showed up at the ceremony on time. The moment when I flipped was when one of the groomsmaids (idk how to say that in english, sorry) that I was very close with, as soon as he saw me asked why I hadn´t been at the photoshoot!!!!! I was like.. "I thought it was canceled" and he said no. During the wedding Bridezilla never even looked or talked to us 3 bridesmaids.
A few days after the wedding we found out through one councious bridesmaid that Bridezilla had made a new grouchat called "The cool bridesmaids" and chat there talking bad about us, saying how unsopportive we were and purposly did a photoshoot where WE her closest and best friends would not appear in. We were fuming and confronted Bridezilla about it, but againg she said she was busy planing or going to her honeymoon that she didn´t have time for us. She decided loosing her 10+ year friendship over her wedding. Later we found out that she copied exactly Gabbys business and that made Gabby lose her shit and we stopped talking to her. She moved to another state where she thought she would make friends but didnt because she doesnt work at all so she never left the house and made friends, The wedding was paid by the groom. She moved back to the city and realized that "the cool bridesmaids" are busy women and not very close to her so she lost all her friends and she reached out again to apologize saying "I am sorry even though I dont know what I did wrong" we said it was better to not be friends and now she really has no friends.
This brought us Gabby, Lilly and I closer and very happy, supportive friends (: The end

Friends and I drove to the Mississippi Sound today. One such friend was collecting shells and once they got home, heard a scratching noise and discovered there was a hermit crab inside one of them. I identified it to be a thin stripe hermit crab.
We thought he was dead at first but quickly tried to create an enclosure for him not realizing yet he was a salt water marine crab. He quickly perked up once he had some both fresh and improvised salt water, and also was eating a little bit of a pellet I got in the rush to quickly get together an enclosure (ie a super tiny plastic tank)
We live about an hour and a half away from where he was picked up. Closest body of water to me is a large brackish natural lake.
We know he can’t live like this and we’re not prepared to commit to creating a salt water ecosystem for this guy. We feel so bad and are trying our best to keep him comfortable until tomorrow when stuff opens up. He seems to be doing well now but I know he can’t live like this.
Could he live in brackish water where other marine life such as bull sharks and blue crabs can live? The other option would be calling different pet stores to see if they would take him which isn’t likely.
Thanks :(

I met my ex 2 years ago and we hit it off immediately. He was my best friend, was super supportive of me and my career, and has this far been the closest person I’ve ever been with.
We were together for 1 year, and in that 1 year, we fought non-stop, but we both thought it was normal and worth it to be with each other. It wasn’t all negative, we had some really fun, close times, but our fights were bad and often lingered for days. We didn’t talk about a future much, but we knew it was something we both wanted with each other.
Within 2 months of dating, he went on a guys trip and I found out he was following a bunch of girls he met on the trip suddenly on Instagram. He initially said he was just talking to them, some were bartenders and some he met in the club, but his story kept changing. The next time we spoke about it, he said he was trying to grow his Instagram and that he followed guys too but thought they were weird so he unfollowed. I asked who they were but he couldn’t give me answers. This is also after he told me he would call one night, then got too drunk and didn’t answer his phone for 4 hours after he fell asleep.
I had trust issues after this, but he swears to this day he didn’t cheat on me. He also had an extensive list of women he’s slept with and things he’s done that sound like they’re out of a movie, whereas I’m more reserved, so this already bothered me and made me feel very insecure and uncomfortable.
Fast forward a couple months, and we fought about every little thing. Our good moments were good, but were often ruined by him being on his phone, ignoring me or being uninterested in what we were doing. He said through this though, he loved me and just wanted his own time.
I still loved him, and he still loved me. However, he had issues with how we communicated in moments of frustration, and being the Aries I am, I would often get loud. I knew this was a flaw of mine, but I feel like if we were meant to be, he would’ve accepted this in me. He also felt like I didn’t care about his hobbies and interests, and he felt like he couldn’t trust me to have a family. He called me manipulative of his feelings and controlling.
He liked being alone a lot of the time, and oftentimes pushed me away when at home by ignoring me, being in a separate room, forgetting about our plans or not doing anything about them and I mentioned this all to him. He never did anything about it. Intimacy and affection are important to me, and it made me feel lonely, unloved and unimportant.
Ultimately, we got in another fight. We took off a week together for our 1 year anniversary and were supposed to spend some time down the shore, and a couple nights in the city. We ended up cancelling the shore because of how cold it was, but he swore we would spend the nights in the city regardless. We didn’t end up doing that, and actually ended up staying home because he wanted to “relax”. I ended up working 2 days because I was out sick for a while from work and blew through too much PTO, however I worked on a day he had a baby shower to go to. He took my car to drive to the baby shower, and he broke a promise and didn’t pick me up at work, so I had to Uber. I was upset, said some things I wish I didn’t, but was ready to move on as usual. He was upset because he felt like I prioritized work over going with him, even though he didn’t follow through with our own initial plans for the city and said he was okay with me working those days. He broke up with me the next day on our 1 year anniversary right before our dinner reservations.
I can think of countless reasons why I wasn’t happy; he refused to go to the store with me to get things when I was sick, he forgot about me a lot, he told me my happiness now doesn’t matter as long as we’re working towards long term. He lived with his brother and I told him I wasn’t comfortable living there with the both of them, and was told for months that we could get our own place, but every time I looked at apartments and house, he was disengaged and uninterested. Then he signed another 6 month lease with his brother behind my back. They are working towards buying an investment property together where they will both live in which is the reason he said him and I weren’t getting our own place, and that he was making the decision too so I also didn’t have to pay rent. He said he was making the sacrifices now to put us in a better spot long-term, but I couldn’t shake the fact that he knew I was unhappy and ignored it. I also made it known that I didn’t mind paying rent if it meant me being happy, but his response to this was that he didn’t think I could afford it, and didn’t trust that I would pay rent on time.
I know I wasn’t happy, but for some reason I still think he was the one, and still want to fix it. The idea of him being with someone else makes me sick, and I don’t know why I feel this way. I know I’ll be better off moving on, but why do I keep bargaining with myself that he was the one, and am keeping myself from moving on?
TL;DR: My relationship with my ex was toxic and we fought all the time, but I’m still in love with him, think he’s the one and want to fix it.

I have a 3yo, I'm pregnant, and none of my friends have kids. My circle is very professional (lawyers, doctors, etc.) and I'm in my late 20s, so I do think I was just early relatively speaking. None of my friends are married and I think they're at least 3 years out from having kids.
I've gotten tired of pushing back, but my friends often plan things that are inconvenient for me as a parent. For example, today, the idea was to have a picnic, from 4pm to 8pm, at a park in the middle of Chicago. I've mentioned my daughter's bed time and they insist that she seems "fine" when she's out past her bed time and generally are pretty dismissive of these types of things. Edit: I want to emphasize that this wasn't a kids park, it was one of those parks with only trees. When my daughter had to potty, we had to walk 20 minutes to the closest store to ask if she could use it to pee. Also, it was 40 minutes from my house.
In addition to the events being inconvenient, I feel like they can't relate to the things I'm going through. I'm mommy tracking myself right now and I'm incredibly frustrated about it and I've mentioned it before, but they don't know what to say. I mean, of course they don't. Similarly, I am constantly exhausted and my anxiety related to parenting is through the roof.
Maybe the thing that annoys me the most is that when they finally have kids in 3-4 years, I think I'll be all done dealing with small kids. And I suspect that all of a sudden, they'll want events to end at bed time and they'll want to talk about these issues that they weren't really able to support me through. And I feel a bit bitter about that prospect.
I'm feeling jaded and like maybe these friendships just aren't going to serve me, but I'm hoping I'm wrong. What are your experiences? Have you found these friendships beneficial in the long run? Does it get better?

Previous, First, Next
As I don't really know how to properly describe how tall or short people are from a pov shot besides "He towers over me like a tree" or "This little guy is practically a pillow" thus, so I don't struggle with finding the right way to describe size, I'm just gonna put it here for those who are curious;
Jessie (Average, normal Protectron) is 5 feet 6 inches Even is 6'3 Taxxik (who for the record suffers from Dwarfism) is 3'2
Also, as I have no knowledge of how the Translators work both in and out of the NoP universe, I'm having it as a implant in a place under the ear yet above the neck. In terms of it, words are translated to the best of its' abilities but noises and sounds are the same. "I'm gonna go hit the hay" Human saying. "I'm gonna go hit[Punch, Claw, attack?] the [Cut and Dried Grass stored for animal feed?]" what the translator thinks they have said. This is pretty much my explanation on why the Translator implanted in Even explained what a Arxur is to him. This is the translator that is in Even.
As for Taxxik and many other ailens, their translators have two parts. A secondary implant "Voice box" near the vocal cords to help speak a different language, in the event another person doesn't have a translator or if a new species was found. The machinery in the Translator implant would work hard to decrypt the words said by the new species so that the user would be able to both hear and speak via the Voice Box implant.
----------------------------------- Memory Transcript: Taxxik, Venlil search and rescue pilot.
Date: [standardized human time]: September 7, 2287
The logic of Predators having Exterminators of their own isn't lining up that well... but imagining it this way is managing to trick my emotions to not freak out around the towering meat eater... At least, not succumb to fear whenever I'm around him.
At the moment the predator went out, I still feel the shakes his growls sent to my core. The translator said he was out scavenging. I try not to imagine what that entails as I sat in thought. The automaton, Protectron... whatever... was keeping an eye on the Tilfish I rescued, after seeing the death machine of predatory engineering downstairs. I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of being scared of this machine.
It was a little annoying at times, stating the same phrase every now and again. Protect and Serve. If the predator was out, I figured it would bring the machine with it... I reach up to rub at my neck, mulling over the annoyance it is to have a busted 'Voice-box'.
This planet, Earth. Rotates faster than many planets I've visited... Gonna be difficult finding the proper times to sleep. Glancing around the room, I try to spot something. Anything to keep my mind occupied. When my eyes find nothing, I look back to the Protectron... I stared at the bags on its' back, tied to its frame... if my Voice Box wasn't busted I would order it to let me look through the bags.
As if it would even obey me, it probably wouldn't even label me as a hostage.
Taking my time to climb off my chair, I did my best to stay silent as I made my way to the automaton. Funny how I've always cursed my small size, if I was just a little bigger even these careful steps would be too loud.
I couldn't reach two of the packs on the automaton. But manage to stick a hand around in a lower hanging bag. The moment I felt my claw grab something, I pulled it out and did my best to hide whatever it is behind my back.
the Protectron, Jessie. Questions as it turns to face me. "Oh, just trying to find you're deactivation switch" I blurt out with as much innocence as I could muster in my body language. Knowing it couldn't understand me made things a little fun...
That said, that fun was swiftly gone the longer it stared at me in silence. that red glow behind it's glass unnerved me... I hesitantly gestured to the Tilfish with my tail, that seemed to get a message across the machine as it turns back to her.
I felt myself deflate as I silently expelled a deep breath I was holding onto. It thinks I was just worried about her... wait... This machine made by Predators 'hopes' that hearing she is stable eases my worries? I tilted my ears in bewilderment as I slowly went back to my chair near the stairs. After a quick glance to make sure it wasn't watching. I checked the object in my claws.
What... is this?
It seems... like a photograph... There is the Protectron, The Predator Even. And a couple other human Predators. Brahk, I should've looked for my holo-pad in the ship to try and translate these words... Okay... Going from what I see, Even is sitting atop a... I don't think I want to know what that is... looks insect in nature, it has a long tail and enormous claws. Given the eye placement and the claws, this must be a rival predator of some sort. I suppose this is proof that Exterminators and these Minutemen at least share the same concept.
Even was standing, his odd weapon resting on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around the head of a shorter human. He must be the exception to how tall they are with the other humans being around the same height as Jessie. This one had a darker colorization of skin, and had fur all over its' mouth, Its eyes are hidden behind eye-ware of some sort. From the tools on its belt, I believe this must be the maker of Jessie. Or at least, the closest these Predators have to a mechanic.
Looking to the two on the other side, I had to take a double take as one clearly wore something strikingly similar to the hazard uniforms I've seen some Exterminators wear. And in its' hands... okay, that MUST be a flamer. Only bit of its body I could make details out was the odd shape on its chest and its head. It had a color tone similar to Even but had red fur atop its head. Quite a bit of it, enough that I almost mistook it for a tail. With the gear it wears, I felt like a pup again. Staring at a Exterminator in the hopes of one day being one of them..
it is a exterminator. They HAVE exterminators.
And the last one. It's appearance sends shivers down my spine. It looked as if it was roasted over a fire... did it get roasted over a fire?... It must be the victim of a Predator attack. I nearly scold myself of that thought but stopped myself as I thought on things more... They are Predators but have exterminators, this is proof of it... And Even handed me a Mutfruit. A plant, why would he carry plants on him if he ate meat?... did... we make a mistake somewhere when we first found them?
​
The logical side of my brain tries to make sense of what have happened the past claw. I crash land on Earth, and while unconscious, get rescued by a preda-!... by a Minuteman. This photograph is proof that humans have predators on their planet and on top of that, they have their own Exterminators who deal with them... what if we are missing something?... Besides their planet being treated like the Arxur raided it, there are some things that are so similar it scares me... I glanced back to Jessie in thought. It has moved over to a window, seeming to have moved to keep watch.
Humans aren't the Arxur... they are... different. What in the universe are they?... Turning back to the photograph, I notice something that I wasn't sure what to think about. Even if I hated how it felt like they were all staring at me. Their eyes... those horrible, predatory eyes are so... different.
The mechanic, I'm dubbing to call it. Has its eyes hidden, but judging from the red-furred one and the last one, whom I fail to find the words to describe. Even isn't natural... at least, his eyes aren't... With a reference to other humans, I could better see the differences between his and theirs.
Why are they different?
--------- Memory Transcript: Even Winter, Minuteman(?). Alien rescuer
Date: [standardized human time]: September 7, 2287
"IT'S CALLED SHOOTING STRAIGHT RO-!"
Pew!
I lower my rifle as I watch the final Raider fall to the ground, I've half been thinking on what I learned earlier. Half focusing on my duty as I left my cover to search the trio for any gear that could be be used by the two back at the building.
We would've been extinct if the Great War didn't almost do it... all because we have a different diet than the aliens AND because of our facial features. 7 Caps, a handmade Pipe Rifle, single-fire. A handful of ammo for said pipe-gun. Too big for Taxxik, gonna require training but the Tilfish could maybe use it.
Was The Great War because of humanity? Or did the aliens do it. Taxxik said they were coming up with plans to glass the planet before the first bunch of detonations, then send a investigation fleet the second time... but what if that was a lie? I move to the next Raider corpse
Raider armor, a fire-axe. 10mm pistol. Two mags of 10mm rounds. And 5 caps. Taxxik may not be able to use the axe but armor is armor... and this pistol might be a little heavy but could be usable for him, unlike other weapons.
If the aliens caused the Great War, then they wouldn't have to use their own supplies to kill humanity off... it'd be a cost efficient plan... maybe Taxxik says they only sent a investigation fleet because he was worried I'd hurt him for what the Federation did to humanity... from how he looked at me, I could already see it... They thought humanity were like the Arxur... Looking at the final Raider body, I suppose they are right... but this is ages after the great war... surely we were better before the world gone to shit.
Metal armor, broken Laser pistol, 18 fusion cells, 18 caps. -Found the greedy one-. And a... Dress?
"Well, someone wanted to look pretty, eh?" I chuckled at the corpse as I looked the red dress over, it looked stainless, not even a tear even after our firefight... Probably will fetch for a lot of caps, next time I find a settlement. -
"How many times do ah hav' ta tell ya! he ain't a synth! he just needed his peepers replaced aft'a a close call with a deathclaw!" Lu shouted at the bartender, defending my rep as they didn't quite like how my new eyes looked
- ... I sighed, no matter where I go. People will hate me simply because of my eyes. Mentally I prepare myself for next time I run into a settlement and start heading back to base. My haul hanging from my back. I had managed to pick a few wild Mutfruit and good bunch of wild Carrots during my scavenger hunt.
I'll have to watch what I eat around the two... I could eat vegies and fruits like them but if I'm to keep my strength up, I should eat somewhere away from them. So they don't have to see a 'predator' eat...
Looking up at the night sky, I let out a low chuckle as I recalled something Tulip said during our time together. War never changes. "Heh, guess you were right Tulip. War really does never change" I snickered aloud as I continued my walk back.
If more aliens were to come here, they may tell others... and that, would lead to a real extinction of the human race. Or worst.
No matter the planet, or universe. War does not change.
The sad truth of reality... I need some tunes. Turning to the small radio in my pack, I turn the knobs and get searching for something to enjoy. When I find the right song I smile somberly as I turned my full attention back to my travel. Softly singing along to get the gloomy thoughts out of my head "Hardly spoke to folks around him~ Didn't have much to say~"
I gotta find me a "Big Iron" someday. ------ Half a hour travel later ------
I step past Aeon, and made my way upstairs. "It's me" I called out, more as a gentle warning than anything else as I walked slowly up the steps.
I hurried my steps when I heard a small thud. By the time I round the corner, I nearly had my rifle raised. On the ground was Taxxik. Who looked up at me with that same fear in his eyes. In the corner of the room was Jessie, staring at the Tilfish.
I released a sigh of relief as I went to help Taxxik stand back up. "Sorry if I spooked ya" "I-it's nothing" Taxxik responded as he took my hand, I could feel his hand shake in my grip as I helped him stand.
"So, you were 'search and rescue', right?" I asked as I went over to a nearby table, placing the weapons I 'found' on top of it. Taxxik hanged back a moment, For a moment I thought his hands were holding something but must've been my imagination. "Y-yes?" his higher pitch noises made me melt somewhat inside. But I stayed standing as I gesture for him to come over. "Did they teach you how to use a weapon?"
"N-no, not really... unless you include ship weaponry" "Heh, well then. That won't do. Here... we're gonna fix that." I declared as I hanged him the 10mm pistol. And for a split second I swore it looked like he was gonna fall the moment I let go of the pistol. With a huff, he raised it with both claws. "H-heavy"
"Yea, I figured. But until we find something lighter, it will have to do as far as range attacks go... and I don't think you'd want to bring a knife to a gun fight." I snickered softly as I hand him a magazine. "I got some bottles we'll use as target practice. But right now, I just want you to get used to the weight of the gun." He held it like it was a rifle, and for a moment. I was about to correct him when I thought more on the difference of size of it and him. I suppose it does count as a rifle. At least, a rifle to him. Reloading will be the biggest problem he'll face if he can handle shooting it. "I-I'm not sure but... n-no, you're right. In a place like this I n-need to know how to defend myself"
He followed me downstairs, and outside -steering clear of Aeon on our way out-. I set the bottles up, using a mostly destroyed fence to hold a couple of them. Then I went behind him and got ready to hold my hands over his ears. "Keep the front and rear sights leveled with each other, brace yourself for the recoil. Only fire on empty lungs, and squeeze the trigger, don't yank it." He seemed a little confused on that last bit but said nothing as I covered his ears. He changes his stance a little bit, took aim at the closest bottle. Changes his stance again to brace himself. Finally, he takes a deep breath, releases it. And -BANG!
--- Previous, First, Next
Might be a little shorter than my last two chapters, apologies for that. family things have been dampening my mood a little bit. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. If anyone spotted any errors I made, feel free to point them out

The two stores closest to me have Pumpkin Roll (which I’ve never tried, but I’m a fan of pumpkin) and Coconut White Chip (ehhh…). I was looking at the map and I see French toast available and I’m wondering if it’s worth an extra trip? I loved the waffle and buttermilk pancake.

Howdy folks! I just wanted to share some parts of my experience buying a car from Carmax.

• May 20th (Saturday): My car shit out on me the week before, so I started looking around online. Caravana wanted $5k+ down for every car (I have 700+ credit so I thought that was strange) so I looked at Carmax. Searched the car I wanted, saw a model that I fell in love with online and fit all of my qualifications, and sent in a request to have it transferred two hours away to the closest store near me.
• May 21st (Sunday): The store in which my car was being transferred from received my request.
• May 24th (Wednesday): The store I requested to ship my car to received my vehicle.
• May 26th (Friday): All inspections had been conducted on my car and it was made sellable to me.
• May 27th (Saturday): I go over all of the paperwork with an associate at the store and set up the emails for my e-Signature
• May 29th (Sunday): Go to my Carmax during my appointment time and walk out with my car thirty minutes later.

Overall, I had a really great experience with buying from Carmax. I'm 25 (F), and one of my main concerns was a quick and easy buying experience so I could get back on the road ASAP. I'm also a graduate student, so affordability and lower monthly payments were also my goal. Everyone has different needs when they're buying a car, so if you find yourself in the same boat as me, here are some things that may be helpful in your search:

• Your co-buyer needs to be present during your appointment. Despite having good credit, I wanted to make sure that I was able to get the best APR possible. While this might be a "duh!" to some people, if you're inexperienced with buying a vehicle, then this is important to note. Some stores may make exceptions for you, but I wanted to walk away with the car without worrying about the documents making it safely to my co-buyer and then back to the store.
• If you plan on doing express pick-up, you are required to upload documents online. I mention this because for younger folks looking to purchase a vehicle, gathering documents can be confusing and frustrating. Because I uploaded these documents, I only had to bring my license with me to my express pick up appointment, where I paid my down payment as well. I financed with Carmax, and here's what I was required to upload:
  • My driver's license (as did my co-buyer)
  • Pay stub
  • Address verification (for college students with multiple addresses due to off-campus housing, make sure the address you use on the financing application matches the address you plan on using for verification. I used a credit card statement for this, you can look on their website for what else they would accept)
  • A selfie (lol; as did my co-buyer)
  • Insurance binder: This is not your ID card, but your declarations page. You have to make sure the car is insured before you can drive it off of the lot.

Every single associate I talked to at Carmax was kind, helpful, and knowledgeable. Obviously my experience is not indicative of what everyone's will be, but I'm incredibly happy with my purchase and hope that I can help some other inexperienced folks out :-)

https://imgur.com/a/h5UrxNQ
I found this at a thrift store. It was very grimy when I got it but noticeably shiny, kinda looked at the time like brass and silver but was tarnished and dirty. When I searched it on Google lens a few Afghan pendants popped up of silver, brass, and gold but none were the same, they just had a similar construction with the foil back and dual loops so that's where I think it could be from.
After cleaning it up and removing some, tarnish it seems to have four metals. The bulk of the front looks like silver, it's a white metal and was tarnished. The back is a thin foil that looks like silver too but was very shiny and not at all tarnished. The trim/sides of both the front and the cabochon, while it looks like the same material as the rest of the front in the pics is actually a pale gold hue - it was still shiny in the store despite the grime and tarnish. Looks silver until you compare it to silver, then it looks more like a pale electrum (not saying it actually contains gold just that's the closest comparison). Then there's the leafy details on either side of the cabochon - those look more deep yellow like brass or gold compared to the pale golden part. There is silver in between some of the details on the gold/brass looking parts, doesn’t look like plating though, more like it was filled in then tarnished intentionally or something and I accidentally revealed it by cleaning it. The pendant smelled a bit like coppebrass when I got it, but lost the smell entirely when I cleaned it.
The front seems to be a solid metal piece with bits brazed(?) on, the back a foil, and in the centre there's some sort of filler. I feel bad about this but I didn't notice a hole in the foil and while cleaning it some of the filler leached out, it looks a bit like dirt but had a distinct smell that I recognise but can't place.
They fell off since I got it but there was a fleck of green and of red paint suggesting the front silver part was painted in green and red originally and that it's old enough to have lost that almost entirely by the time I got it. The stone looks like agate maybe but I really know nothing of stones. It's not coral.
I don't really want to acid test unless absolutely necessary it because it's already worn down and beat up, and I don't really imagine whatever the materials are are necessarily even going to give me a clear result. I assume there's a jeweler in town with an x ray thingie which would be preferable, even if it's not valuable it seems quite beautiful to me.
What I am mainly wondering is when and where it originates from and what the likely materials are. Value of course is good to know but not my main concern, I just find this stuff fascinating but know very little about it.
Thanks!

Fair warning, this post is a massive experience dump essay aimed at people considering the challenge. But I hope to see some current participants comment too!
TLDR: 75Hard tested and improved my sense of commitment to my personal goals and wellbeing, improved my confidence and helped me develop mental fortitude beyond what I thought possible, however I am NEVER doing this again. Do a cost benefit analysis FOR YOURSELF, determine your WHY, and then, if everything checks out, DO IT!
First off, stats: Day 69, down 24lbs from SW of 314, 26 yr old female
Now, I’m NOT posting this to spread negativity, but to let everyone who’s considering this know the reality of this challenge beyond the glitz and glamor and clout that comes with it. Make no mistake, there IS a kind of social approval that you encounter when you eventually tell people you’re doing 75Hard (and inevitably must explain what it is). People are impressed, and the closer you get to day 75, the better the optics. I’m not encouraging anyone to become a braggard, I’m just telling the truth about the sociology of it all. I advise you to use that as an additional accountability measure and turn the attention into a source of positive pressure. There were many test days where just the idea of having the people in my life that are ‘in the know’ see me fail pushed me to finish.
When Andy said 75Hard would start off hard, get easy, and then get hard again, he was truly telling the truth. That’s exactly what it’s like.
****Negativity incoming! If you’re not in the headspace for this, skip this section!***\*
In the beginning it was hard because it was all new and I had to restructure my life to fit in the tasks. I also was going from being a completely sedentary office manager (the most walking I ever did was to my car) to working out twice a day. It was, frankly, fresh hell the first 2 weeks or so. Then, I hit starting to ride the high of progress and achievement and it got easy and even a little bit fun competing with myself daily. Now, I’m almost done and the high has died, the sense of achievement has gotten old, and I feel like the days are dragging on and I’m just completing tasks to say I finished them. Around Day 50 I sort of stopped noticing any significant mental growth and I stopped feeling like the tasks were meaningful. This is important for anyone considering 75Hard to know because the second time it ‘gets hard again’ it may not be because of physical strain or even life circumstances. In the end, it might be because it feels like you’ve gained all you can and now you’ve plateaued, but you’re stuck just mindlessly completing tasks made up by someone you’ve never met and probably never will meet, with whom you have no actual connection. Past the elation of pushing your mental barriers and taking your physicality to the next level, there’s a kind of absurdity that sets in that you only escape by focusing on your pride and desire to reach Day 75 and say “I did it!” In some ways, the latter days’ drudgery may be a problem of the mind that you can ONLY escape via your mind. 75Hard is indeed an ironic challenge!
That’s not to say that there aren’t physical issues too, even in the later days. Drinking a gallon of water hasn’t really gotten easier, although it’s nice to have the assurance from my body that I DON’T need that much water daily (even on hot days where I do 2 cardio workouts outside). That much water also crowds out your ability to drink other fluids oftentimes, which is a pain if you’re sick or menstruating and need to lean heavily on teas. 2-a-days have been a nightmare (although that kind of is the point) not just in terms of laundry, but also on my body. You’re LITERALLY unable to take a rest day during this challenge. The closest you’ll get is 2 sessions of yoga a day, but yoga is still WORK, even when you keep it gentle. And in my case, I have somehow acquired a minor ankle injury in the last two weeks, and since we don’t get rest days, my only choices are to stop the challenge or keep going. (And WHY would I stop at day 60!) Then there’s the added hormonal fluctuations you’ll have to endure during the challenge if you’re a woman, some of which are standard, and some of which will be quite literally brought on by the increase in physical activity. Ladies, be warned.
BUT, it’s not all bad, would-be 75Harders!
****Positivity incoming!***\*
I’m blown away by how much insight I’ve gotten into myself and how my brain works as well as how my physical stamina has increased in such a short amount of time. It’s proved to me how little time is actually needed to make substantial progress toward a goal and it’s given me hope that I can reverse the damage I’ve done to my body. 75Hard has given me joy in the little things: jumping around my living room to a kpop song and pausing in amazement that I’m not wheezing and gasping for air, running on the treadmill or outside without feeling immediately winded, power walking up hills and no longer being intimidated by stairs, passing by junk food in stores and having ZERO cravings for it, recognizing the difference between a mockingbird’s call and a morning dove’s because I’ve been in nature more than ever, tackling an issue faster with an idea I got from reading. I feel so much more in tune with the rhythms of my body and have the courage to recognize mental blocks and temptations, call them out, and put in the work to move past them. All of that and more is because of 75Hard. And while I have still have a ways to go in unlearning maladaptive habits (can we get a 75Hard for finances please???), for the first time EVER, I feel certain that I’ll crush that goal, just like I’ve crushed 75Hard so far.
If you’re like me and struggle with an ED, you can also leverage 75Hard to tackle that. In my case, I was very strategic in setting my diet as something sustainable that required mindfulness but wasn’t overly restrictive. Because I have serious issues with food, I NEEDED to be careful about the diet I chose and other 75Hard participants with EDs will certainly say the same thing. In my case, I couldn’t eat anything ultra-processed, store-bought food must be as clean as possible (nearly or totally preservative free) and could contain no more than 5g of added sugar, no desserts unless I made them myself, and I could eat out but NEVER at a fast-food restaurant. I also restricted fried chicken specifically, because it’s a problem food for me! Choose whatever you want, but PLEASE make sure it’s sustainable, and if possible, craft your diet with the help of a therapist that already knows about your ED.
Lastly (props if you made it this far), I want to say to everyone considering this challenge that it’s something you should do for you and you alone. If someone were to ask you in the midst of the challenge ‘What’s your why?’ the crux of the answer should be YOU. YOU are your greatest reason to improve your life and strive for better for yourself. YOU are worth any and every investment in service of that cause. If 75Hard is the right course of action, then by all means start today. But give it serious thought and make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. That’s the only way you’ll avoid failure.

Hello! I have never posted on here before but need advice from others who have been in ldrs PLEASE. I’ll try my best to supply all details and feelings.
Essentially I am wondering if this relationship is something I want to continue to pursue or if the distance is getting to me.
So my current bf and I(f) are both 25, we have been doing long distance since Nov 1st. I’d known him for years but was caught up in another relationship that was really terrible for about 4.5 years off and on. That ended Christmas of last year and my current bf and I kept bumping into eachother during July and eventually went on a date at the end of July. The date went super well, immediately had feelings and started hanging out nearly everyday and dating three weeks later, he really showed me how you were supposed to be treated in a relationship.
The only thing is he had planned to move to NZ in November, which we both acknowledged and both decided to continue seeing eachother until he left. I always knew he was going and I did my best to support that decision, I never said anything about trying to change his mind or any that. He was an amazing bf while here, my parents loved him he was kind attentive supportive my family and friends loved him.
Anyways so he moves and had decided that we should breakup because the relationship won’t be as it was, the level of care or energy he can give me wouldn’t be the same and he felt that was unfair. Which is great and he was right because we kept talking but the time change and life changes, I was not really getting a lot of support. Following that he continued to call me his girl friend and asked me to be his girl friend again.
He’s very outdoorsy and stubborn and wouldn’t like to text and often would tell me he wouldn’t be on his phone in a polite way but discouraging none the less and we would call once a week but with the time change it would be on his work break and my bedtime.
It’s just hard and I felt like an afterthought. I didn’t realize I felt this way till I went there and saw him for a month in April and there was this disconnect between us. He wasn’t as kind or gentle, we eventually talked about it and chalked it up to him being there and needing to take care of himself not really having a space to have his guard down. Super hurtful btw will give more info on this if someone needs. Rest of the trip went great.
Then I came home and I’ve had a knot in my gut. He wants permanent residency there but doesn’t know if he will stay there forever. I KNOW and have said I don’t want to live there bc my family is in Canada.
So going into this his visa was two years now he’s looking to extend, and the next time I’ll see him I will have to go there again. He would like me to visit for 4 months(which is a short amount of time) but won’t be coming home at all and has no plans to. Where he’s staying in NZ is an hour away from the closest grocery store, he has roommates, and no wifi (I am in an online masters program which is why I need it).
I have recently brought up my feelings of anxiety over it all with him, but ultimately don’t know how I feel about this all. I’d like to be able to just go but I also don’t want to be isolated and completely reliant on him. Help if anyone has any advice or thoughts I’m eager to hear.

Sorry if this is a weird place to post, it doesn’t really belong in relationshipadvice so I figured this might be more appropriate. So I (22 F) just graduated university last December. I’ve had three romantic partners since my sophomore year of high school, all of which were long term lasting a minimum of two years. I broke up amiably with my latest partner in August of last year and have been single ever since. In that time, I’ve been approached by no less than four guys, all of whom were very similar to one another in terms of their mannerisms. At risk of sounding unpleasant or prejudiced, all of them very clearly suffered from extreme social awkwardness, couldn’t take on cues and in general were very inappropriate in how they interacted/flirted (?) with me. Put simply, all acted very “creepy”. Some of these guys tried to invite me to their off campus apartments for “movie night” (we had never even spoken outside of lab), get my contact info and, in one case, would closely follow my friend and I and tried to find out how to get into my dorm (you needed a key card to enter).
Just to clear the air — I’m aware a lot of these guys are likely ASD or have some kind of social anxiety. It’s cliche to say, but some of my closest friends and even a partner of mine have been on the spectrum, albeit high functioning. I myself also feel that I am fairly attuned to those with social anxiety as I myself struggle with similar issues. However, during the latter half of my time at college I had a negative experience with someone matching the description of these guys. I very naively gave them a chance at friendship, didn’t reciprocate their romantic feelings, and they then took every opportunity to manipulate my emotions through threats of self harm, and when I cut them off they tried to convince the rest of our friend group that I had somehow been in the wrong. Fortunately they had a reputation by that point, and I had evidence to the contrary so no one believed their story.
Ever since then, I’ve been hyper aware of these sorts of interactions, and the amount I seem to draw in is really starting to worry me. I’ve often been told I tend to give people too many chances, and being the stereotypical “nerdy one” playing D&D and video games, I’ve had encounters like this since I was younger, much to my chagrin. It’s because of this I’ve tried to distance myself from said activities over the years and get into new, more active hobbies.
The last straw for me was this past winter — I had been volunteering at my local animal shelter on the weekends, and there was one guy who matched the description of the others. He was polite enough, I just made my mind up to make it abundantly clear I was NOT interested, even in hanging out. After multiple rejected coffee dates, I thought things had died down. Then, on my last shift before leaving for a big cross country road trip, while he and I were alone together in one of the meeting rooms, he outright told me that he had a crush on me. I froze up, hastily told him, “thanks for the vote of confidence” and then, not knowing what else to do, gave him a hug. I haven’t been back there since and am now in another state.
I know this is a pattern. I’ve done everything I can think of to discourage this sort of thing besides being outright rude to throw people like this off my scent. I try to stay optimistic, but I keep feeling like there’s something wrong with me. I never seem to attract attention from the kinds of people I’d like to be around, except in select circumstances. To be clear, people who act like this TERRIFY me, so I would never dream of leading them on. Maybe I’m overreacting, but the amount of times it’s happened makes me think I might be saddled with this forever. Does anyone have any advice, or have ever felt similarly? Honestly anything helps, I really appreciate you guys <3

Hey everyone,
My name is Junel and I am a 27 year old non-binary person living on the Autism Spectrum. I've been living on my own for a total of about three years now, and in those three years, I've been noticing a trend where if I want to eat, I'll eat at a fast food establishment rather than cooking my own food. I know how to cook, but I never know what to cook it seems. I tried making myself meal plans that were balanced enough, but then the problem became that I couldn't motivate myself to cook anyways. On rare occasions when I do cook, I don't seem to make myself a balanced meal. I'll just make myself one thing out of my meal plan and then eat it until it runs out. When I'm not eating the occasional cooked meal or fast food, you can usually find me snacking on dry cereal or ice cream, neither of which are properly sustainable. If I continue to eat this way, I worry that I'll end up getting malnourished, if I'm not technically malnourished already.
It's hard to know what to do because, again, I already know how to cook and sometimes even what I should be cooking, but it's the part where I actually have to cook or have to store cooked food away that makes me feel like I'm overwhelmed. I'm in a roommate situation right now so fridge space can be limited. But anyways, I guess I'm just wondering if anyone would have any advice for me. How can I possibly motivate myself to get up and cook properly for myself?

The closest BaB to me is over an hour away, and my mom won’t take me. The lady working the counter said that they are getting the sharks sometime this week so that’s a no-go for in store purchasing. When (if ever) will they be online?

it’s my mystery cookie at the second closest store to me

I met someone February 2022 and we had an instant connection. We are both students very eager about what is next for our careers. We aren’t in a relationship nor do we go on dates (because of where we’re at in life), but we’re often hanging out at our apartments, enjoying each other’s company, talking for hours about endless things and our connection is deeper than I’ve had with anyone. We also aren’t seeing other people which is best for me because it’s kept me more disciplined these past few semesters and he’s expressed to me that being with me has taught him so many things that he’ll utilize for the rest of his life.
We’ve been through a lot together. Meeting his parents over the phone, spending holidays together, meeting his closest friend, then taking care of him when that same friend passed away (may he rest peacefully), spiritual awakenings.. we’ve also been through some hardships with communication that we were able to overcome and have become better individuals because of them. Overall, we fit so well together and I could truly see our lives aligning in the future once we have our careers and ourselves figured out.
A few weeks ago, he’s told me that he’s moving back to his hometown thousands of miles away and I’ve caught myself feeling confused on how to navigate my emotions and what our goodbyes would look like. He doesn’t leave until the end of June but I’m catching myself having a hard time letting go. I support everything he feels is best for him, however it’s very hard for me to ignore how it’s making me feel and I feel selfish for feeling this way. Part of me wants to cut contact with him as I feel this would be the only way to move on with my life to see what’s out there for me, but he says that he wants to keep in contact and continue to grow our friendship.
We have so much love for each other but I’m afraid of the uncertainty and what could be in store for the both of us if we’re not with each other. I apologize if the context isn’t clear as there are a lot of moving variables that can’t fit into text, but how would you go navigating his departure? Is a goodbye warranted in this situation? How would I go about making things work if I decide to keep in contact?

My school/library dream
This morning from maybe 6am to 9am I dreamt I was at a high school, as a student. Siddenly it's time to switch classes and I go to another building, The Back Building, which looks like a library or bank from the brown/red brick facade, pillars, wide strore-front windows and commercial-business front doors. The door is locked. But then somebody comes to open it, it is my friend Steveo, who has animorphed into AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys. We explore the building together. It's an abandoned library, full of aged and decrepit reference books that don't make any sense in their text or fonts or spellings. Aisles and aisles, but they're all short height 4'0 tall shelves. Within minutes of going in circles in this space I find an abandoned classroom corner, with old late 90s PCs and some old black-cased Macintosh computers, and countless educational cd-rom games for kids from that era. There are old turnstile magazine and book racks with the wire rims, there are plastic cube chairs designed for preschools. There are special-needs pediatric positioning chairs and wheelchairs and orthopedic equipment designed for children with cerebral palsy.
And then suddenly, a bunch of other people come in the door, everyone is on the autism spectrum, mostly within the middle of the spectrum, everyone struggles with different aspects of expressive and reciprocal communication, lots of stimming. For reference, I'm autistic/aspergers, diagnosed back in 2004.
We all have adventures and different discussions about the environment we are in. Then suddenly there's a countdown timer on the wall, and we have to find all the hidden back rooms, closets, bathrooms, and staircase to the upper level. We find the stairs, two sets of open-backed switchbacks and carpet with rubber foot grips on top of the carpeting. The headroom going up becomes more narrow, lower, and I'm speed-crawling up the stairs, almost hitting my head on the 3ft high sloped ceilings, cautious not to slip thru the open backs of the steps. I get to the tip landing after maybe 10 tiers of switchback stair cases, and suddenly I see the bathrooms and 1 bigger room. All those stairs for just bathrooms that weren't even ADA and a small craft/playroom, in what was supposed to be a shuttered special-ed library/school. I go into the craft room and it's filled to the brim in an organized manner with board games, multi-task toys, plastic play sets, puzzles, dolls, building sets, high quality wooden building blocks; it is an 80s/90s treasure trove of every Kid Thing ever found in Sears and ToysRUs catalogs. I pick put a fabric tote bag bc I didn't have backpack, and start filling it with toys and games and puzzles. Then the countdown clock starts ringing, the time is getting less and less. I race my way down the discombobulated stair cases, back down to the bottom reference library section. I sift thru a few books in hopes I could find something obscure in readable condition, but all the pages have mold and dust mites and book-damage to them from being neglected for so long. I get a strong hug from AJ McLean, and then myself and the 100 other autistic teens leave out the door. Suddenly, there's a whole barricade-line of other high school teens waiting to get into the old library. I turn around, and it's morphed into a typical school building. The building I came out of was no longer there. It was raining outside and the other teens waiting to go in all wore plastic rain bonnets on their heads, like old babushkas. There were maybe 100 of them, just waiting to go inside their newly built high school building. I didn't get to go in.
Then the dream shifted to me going to Costco or some warehouse store I've seen in other dreams, but it's been many years since I've last had the same store in any dreams. I still had the bag of games and toys and puzzles with me.
At some point, I woke up. But the dream was basically me exploring a special-ed school and teachers reference library with bad architecture that didn't make sense for its purpose. There was also my long time friend who shape shifted into AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys. Just an overall strange dream.

This morning from maybe 6am to 9am I dreamt I was at a high school, as a student. Siddenly it's time to switch classes and I go to another building, The Back Building, which looks like a library or bank from the brown/red brick facade, pillars, wide strore-front windows and commercial-business front doors. The door is locked. But then somebody comes to open it, it is my friend Steveo, who has animorphed into AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys. We explore the building together. It's an abandoned library, full of aged and decrepit reference books that don't make any sense in their text or fonts or spellings. Aisles and aisles, but they're all short height 4'0 tall shelves. Within minutes of going in circles in this space I find an abandoned classroom corner, with old late 90s PCs and some old black-cased Macintosh computers, and countless educational cd-rom games for kids from that era. There are old turnstile magazine and book racks with the wire rims, there are plastic cube chairs designed for preschools. There are special-needs pediatric positioning chairs and wheelchairs and orthopedic equipment designed for children with cerebral palsy.
And then suddenly, a bunch of other people come in the door, everyone is on the autism spectrum, mostly within the middle of the spectrum, everyone struggles with different aspects of expressive and reciprocal communication, lots of stimming. For reference, I'm autistic/aspergers, diagnosed back in 2004.
We all have adventures and different discussions about the environment we are in. Then suddenly there's a countdown timer on the wall, and we have to find all the hidden back rooms, closets, bathrooms, and staircase to the upper level. We find the stairs, two sets of open-backed switchbacks and carpet with rubber foot grips on top of the carpeting. The headroom going up becomes more narrow, lower, and I'm speed-crawling up the stairs, almost hitting my head on the 3ft high sloped ceilings, cautious not to slip thru the open backs of the steps. I get to the tip landing after maybe 10 tiers of switchback stair cases, and suddenly I see the bathrooms and 1 bigger room. All those stairs for just bathrooms that weren't even ADA and a small craft/playroom, in what was supposed to be a shuttered special-ed library/school. I go into the craft room and it's filled to the brim in an organized manner with board games, multi-task toys, plastic play sets, puzzles, dolls, building sets, high quality wooden building blocks; it is an 80s/90s treasure trove of every Kid Thing ever found in Sears and ToysRUs catalogs. I pick put a fabric tote bag bc I didn't have backpack, and start filling it with toys and games and puzzles. Then the countdown clock starts ringing, the time is getting less and less. I race my way down the discombobulated stair cases, back down to the bottom reference library section. I sift thru a few books in hopes I could find something obscure in readable condition, but all the pages have mold and dust mites and book-damage to them from being neglected for so long. I get a strong hug from AJ McLean, and then myself and the 100 other autistic teens leave out the door. Suddenly, there's a whole barricade-line of other high school teens waiting to get into the old library. I turn around, and it's morphed into a typical school building. The building I came out of was no longer there. It was raining outside and the other teens waiting to go in all wore plastic rain bonnets on their heads, like old babushkas. There were maybe 100 of them, just waiting to go inside their newly built high school building. I didn't get to go in.
Then the dream shifted to me going to Costco or some warehouse store I've seen in other dreams, but it's been many years since I've last had the same store in any dreams. I still had the bag of games and toys and puzzles with me.
At some point, I woke up. But the dream was basically me exploring a special-ed school and teachers reference library with bad architecture that didn't make sense for its purpose. There was also my long time friend who shape shifted into AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys. Just an overall strange dream.