I'm not sure if toxic word is appropriate in my case as I'm pretty sure there are people who are living with family members much worse than mine, so I'm instead using the word "demotivating" as they always try to make me feel down.
Mother: Probably the worse one, she always compare me with other children saying "unke bacche ese hai, unke bacche wese hai". Make taunts on my belly fat(my weight is 74 and height is 178cm), Always make remarks on my height and acne. She always say that i waste money(we aren't in good financial condition but we aren't that bad either, our monthly income is around 45k) however most of the time i need money is just to buy a register, and when sometimes i use money to eat something outside she keep shouting at me. She shouts so much that i have almost forgot her normal voice.
Sister: Right hand woman of my mother, they are a team. She always take her side no matter what, even when she's wrong. Even when my sister herself know that my mother is wrong she still find someway to justify it and take her side. She is much worse when it comes to taunting on my physical features(acne, fat and height). When i finally convinced my parents to allow me to take drop, she was always against it why? She just think spending money on me is a waste, she always say you'll never get a good college(yes she straight up say it to my face) while she herself is studying in a tier 3/4 college. She always flaunt how she achieved 92% in 12th boards and make fun of me how i only achieved 78.8%
Brother: He is the smallest sibling, he isn't officially in my mom and sis team but they have conditioned him in such a way that he will always choose them over me. When he calls me funny names no one says anything, but as soon as he calls funny names to my sister. Oh boy! He is about to get a beating.
Father: Sometimes he can also be bad but not as bad as others, he is working in really far away city so hasn't had any bad experience in long time. He's isn't a saint either but yeah he is probably the best choice when it comes to my family members.
Our families relationship aren't great with other relatives too(yk typical fight over small things) so there isn't anyone whom i can talk to.
When i had gone for admission in coaching, none of my parents were with me, when i had an exam centre in another city, none of my parents were with me. Coz they couldn't care any less. When I saw other students with both of there parents with them asking how their exams went and worrying about him/her, while i had no one to ask that.
It just feels lonely, i don't have any friends whom i can call actual "friends" someone once told me that all friends and peers are temporary and only family is permanent, but if this kind of family is permanent then no thank you i don't need them.
I'm sorry i never, write these kind if long posts/rants because ik no one will care as no one got that amount of time, that's why every post I've ever made is just to the point but i had to it this time. Please tell me how can i deal with them.I always wanted to go far away from my city, but I'm currently a dropper and ig i have to deal with them for more months too.

So before I start this, it's important to know that I just got hired at a very nice job and will be moving out to get my own place before my birthday at the end of October. I'm going to be saving most of my income between now and them in order to build up an emergency fund prior to moving out on my own. Right now, we all live in the same house.
Anyway, I have absolutely no idea how to handle this situation involving my sister. In a nutshell, my sister is extraordinarily demanding of everybody, and every time she wants anything from me, she immediately involves my dad to try and act as her enforcer. I'm going to put in a good-faith effort to be objective about the situation, but as with anything like this, I might not be perfect.
To lay the groundwork, my father has always handled her problem behavior with a pacifist mentality, believing it to be the way to avoid conflict with her, where I've always been the subject of discipline (as a child) and almost constant verbal arguments as I've gotten older to "teach me" things when deemed necessary (this very post is coming on the heels of a "discussion" that was demanded by my sister as punishment for moving her two loads of laundry in the washer and dryer down the chain so I could wash a load of mine, apparently before the load in the dryer was dry, despite it being hot and feeling pretty damn dry to me?). Because of this, she seems to have gotten it into her head that all that's needed to get her way is to either just take and do what she wants, and if you don't like it, tough shit, or cause enough of a problem that someone just decides it's less effort to just give her what she wants to make it stop. She's also immediately, acutely aggressive if you don't roll over for her-verbal insults, profanity, condescension, talking over you every chance she gets. Because of that, I often find myself on the receiving end of these problems, and so I've basically adopted a policy of limiting my interaction with her as much as possible so that, frankly, I don't have to listen to it.
However, this does not stop her from trying to involve me in drama when she wants something. I'll provide 3 examples here:

1. This January, at my previous job, we found a cat in a box on our doorstep. We called around, took him to the vet to check for tags, nothing. So I volunteered to take him in after bringing it up with everyone in the house and getting their OK on the condition that looking after him was my sole responsibility, and I took the lunch break to stop by Petco for some basic supplies and bring him home. My sister was home, and upon seeing him, asked me what I'd named him, and when I told her, she said, "We're not calling my cat that name." I was definitely taken aback by this, but I had to get back to work, and she volunteered to take care of him while I finished the work day, so I left the supplies with her and went back. For the next 3 or 4 days, she kept this cat locked in her room with her small dog, saying she was "acclimating" him because "she knew best" since "I'd never had a cat" (I should explain that my job was at a pet-based nonprofit, and she'd never had a cat either). Long story short, I didn't much like this, which led to massive argument in which she basically browbeat me over "dumping" this cat on her and then leaving for work again, buying "shit" supplies, not having the "ability" or "knowledge" to take care of a cat, that her dog had gotten attached and what kind of monster would I be if I separated them when I moved out, on and on, ergo my parents supposedly agreed that he was her cat, and if I didn't agree with that assessment, she'd be taking him to the pound because she "didn't really want" this cat in the first place. I guess I'm too empathetic towards animals because I couldn't let that happen just to "win" an argument. My dad and I had a "discussion" after that.
2. About 2 months ago, I got a random text from her saying that she would be taking my dirt bike and its stuff to her storage unit so that she could use the space in the garage to hold furniture (I should mention, she quit her job a while ago and is now making money buying and selling furniture on Facebook and whatnot, and has filled up the back patio, most of the backyard, most of the garage, and about a third of the driveway with sofas and whatever, all with EZ-Ups and tarps over them). I basically told her to pound sand because she would not be moving a vehicle registered to me without my consent. She purportedly went to my dad over this and told me that "he said she could". I correctly called bullshit on that, but that didn't stop him pulling me aside for a "discussion" later about how I should've handled the dispute differently.
3. Over the past month, she has gotten it into her head that I owe her cash for cleaning and other supplies for our bathroom, despite the fact that my parents pay a cleaning service to come once a week and clean the whole house including our bathroom. She says she's totaled up the receipts for "my share", and over the past month it's gone up from $40 I apparently "owe", to $125 I "owe", and apparently I'll "owe" her $25 a month for however long I'm here. Now, she does typically buy the toilet paper, but that's literally the only thing I use that I don't buy myself, and I've explicitly said before that the only reason I don't buy it is because I never know when it's almost gone before she buys it again. Admittedly, I had intended to give her the $40 she wanted a while ago, but between my brand-new day job of at least 50 hours every week and my freelance job and other things I've been insanely busy and it just kept slipping my mind. Anyway, a few days ago I get a random text telling me the whole "you owe me $125 plus $25 a month" thing, to which I basically responded "fuck off, I'll give you the $40 you said you wanted, and then from now on when we need anything for the bathroom, you're going to tell me and I'm going to buy it, because I'm not just going to give you money to buy shit you say we need but have no way of verifying that's what you're buying" (she has severely broken my trust more than once, but that's a separate issue). She tells me that's not good enough and that "dad's going to talk to you when you get home". I get home to find them talking, at which point I try to give her $40 in cash, which she refuses, and so to avoid giving her the ability to a) accuse me of not giving her the money and b) start a new argument, I drop it on the floor and walk off. I've heard her basically berating my dad more than once since then about "talking to your son, unless you want to be a little fucking puss about it".

The aftermath of 3 has basically led to my dad trying to "both-sides" this issue. I tried to make it perfectly clear to him that I don't voluntarily interact with her or my parents (very much) because I just straight-up don't want to get myself involved. I come home from work, head to my room, and keep to myself. And now, my dad is basically trying to guilt-trip me into doing it. I asked him how many times it takes of getting bitten by a dog in the neighborhood before you just stop trying to be its friend, and he basically pulled the "Well, if that's your choice to cut off family, there's nothing I can say to you to change your mind", because he himself is the black sheep of the family and hasn't even spoken to his mom in decades at this point.
What the fuck do I even do? I'm not even actively hostile to anybody in this situation. The best comparison would be that episode of Drake and Josh where Josh is just "done" with Drake. I don't much care what she's up to or what's going on in her life. I just want her to leave me the fuck alone because I honestly can't even remember the last time she was nice or even not-mean towards me, but that apparently makes me as much of a bad guy as her.
TL;DR: sister uses dad as her enforcer when she creates drama and wants her way, as a result I basically want nothing to do with her. Dad seems to be trying to guilt-trip me into engaging with what I see as an incredibly toxic relationship. What do?

Books acquired through our new Amazon Kid's Plus account are only displaying in double-page sets. This means the text's footprint is often only ⅛ of the screen. Backstory: I recently bought and then returned a regulasmaller sized kindle intended for my child after seeing the size of it and realizing the screen size would be difficult to use for a parent-child guided reading session.
Since then we upgraded to the Kindle 6.8" Paperwhite (I traded in my archaic model for the extra 20 bucks off plus the promo code, so even through it was still pricier, I was convinced it was the right thing to do.....)
New Paperwhite signature in hand, I waded through all the bazillion steps of selecting the appropriate age filters, blocked access to the Amazon store, located language preferences, scheduled the daily lighting schedules, and finally downloaded about sixteen books for us to choose from yesterday evening.
This is where the fail begins: we've tried over half of the books I selected, and not one of them has displayed properly in a one-page-per-screen setup for viewing. The option for changing font size is greyed out/not available. Changing from portrait to landscape view does nothing but rotate the still-too-small set of double pages within a sea of huge grey margins. If we could just view these books one page at a time as one would expect to do with an e-reader, I think the words would be large enough and everything would probably look great. As it is though, I've not found any way to select a one-page at a time view, and this goes for the settings within parent dashboard as well as child settings. There's a very screwball 'zoom'feature which allows very little control over which part the user wishes to zoom in in, and you cannot attempt to get to the next page until zooming back out and then pressing the x at the zoomed image- this x does not reliably close the 'zoom experience' every time though and several times we've ended up inadvertently backing out of the entire book by trying whatever else we can think of to exit the botched-zoom.
If this is just the reality of "how it is" for Amazon+ kids books, then this would qualify as the most frustrated with Amazon I've ever been and the biggest black hole they've ever offered and gotten away with.
Please someone tell me there's something I'm missing here. Is this just the experience of how children's books are? Are the reading materials for ages 4 to 7 just a joke, with everything permanently squished into double-page mode? Surely this is fixable. Is anyone somehow getting use out of text that's been reduced to a thumbnail's worth of footprint within such an otherwise spacious screen accommodation? Putting two pages on the screen at a time, every time, results in so much unused screen space and such tiny text it's just a real bummer.
I can post pictures as examples tomorrow if anyone's not able to visualize what I'm describing. The reading age range we're talking about here is anything from age 4, 5, 6, maybe some age 7. Thank you srsly for reading this and thanks in advance if you can solve or even just commiserate.
Ps- we've had this issue with Overdrive kids books as well, on former Kindle devices. And here I was thinking "If I buy further into the system, with a made-for-kids subscription plan on a device that's actually larger, those problems will be obsolete." Hyuck hyuck. Yeah I'm feelin pessimistic. Srry

1. Digital Communication 14.1. Introduction to Digital Communication Digital communication is made from two words - digital and communication. Digital refers to the discrete time-varying signal. Communication refers to the exchange of information between two or more sources. Digital communication as a whole refers to the exchange of digital information between the sender and receiver using different devices and methods. The data transmission using analog methods for long-distance communication suffers from distortion, delays, interferences, and other losses. To overcome these problems, the digitization and sampling of signals using different techniques help in making the transmission process more efficient, clear, and accurate. Digital communication is a popular technology used today in electronics. It allows us to access video conferencing, digital meetings, online education, etc. The data can travel up to long distances within a second with the help of the internet and other modes of digital communication. It not only saves money but also saves time and effort. It has also raised the standard of an individual's social, political, and economic life. 14.2. Networks and Busses The wires between the tank and the monitoring location is called a bus or a network. The distinction between these two terms is more semantic than technical, and the two may be used interchangeably for all practical purposes. The term “bus” is usually used in reference to a set of wires connecting digital components within the enclosure of a computer device, and “network” is for something that is physically more widespread. There are many types of buses and networks. Each one has its own applications, advantages, and disadvantages. 12.2.1. Short-distance busses 12.2.1.1. PC/AT Bus used in early IBM-compatible computers to connect peripheral devices such as disk drive and sound cards to the motherboard of the computer.

12.2.1.2. PCI Another bus used in personal computers, but not limited to IBM-compatibles. Much faster than PC/AT. Typical data transfer rate of 100 Mbytes/second (32 bit) and 200 Mbytes/second (64 bit). 12.2.1.3. PCMCIA A bus designed to connect peripherals to laptop and notebook sized personal computers. Has a very small physical “footprint,” but is considerably slower than other popular PC buses. 12.2.1.4. VME A high-performance bus (co-designed by Motorola, and based on Motorola’s earlier Versa-Bus standard) for constructing versatile industrial and military computers, where multiple memory, peripheral, and even microprocessor cards could be plugged in to a passive “rack” or “card cage” to facilitate custom system designs. Typical data transfer rate of 50 Mbytes/second (64 bits wide). 12.2.1.5. VXI An expansion of the VME bus, VXI (VME eXtension for Instrumentation) includes the standard VME bus along with connectors for analog signals between cards in the rack. 12.2.1.6. S-100 Sometimes called the Altair bus, this bus standard was the product of a conference in 1976, intended to serve as an interface to the Intel 8080 microprocessor chip. Similar in philosophy to the VME, where multiple function cards could be plugged in to a passive “rack,” facilitating the construction of custom systems.
12.2.1.7. MC6800 The Motorola equivalent of the Intel-centric S-100 bus, designed to interface peripheral devices to the popular Motorola 6800 microprocessor chip. 12.2.1.8. STD Stands for Simple-To-Design and is yet another passive “rack” similar to the PC/AT bus, and lends itself well toward designs based on IBM-compatible hardware. Designed by Pro-Log, it is 8 bits wide (parallel), accommodating relatively small (4.5 inch by 6.5 inch) circuit cards. 12.2.1.9. Multibus I and II Another bus intended for the flexible design of custom computer systems, designed by Intel. 16 bits wide (parallel). 12.2.1.10. CompactPCI An industrial adaptation of the personal computer PCI standard, designed as a higher-performance alternative to the older VME bus. At a bus clock speed of 66 MHz, data transfer rates are 200 Mbytes/ second (32 bit) or 400 Mbytes/sec (64 bit). 12.2.1.11. Microchannel Yet another bus, this one designed by IBM for their ill-fated PS/2 series of computers, intended for the interfacing of PC motherboards to peripheral devices. 12.2.1.12. IDE A bus used primarily for connecting personal computer hard disk drives with the appropriate peripheral cards. Widely used in today’s personal computers for hard drive and CD-ROM drive interfacing.
12.2.1.13. SCSI An alternative (technically superior to IDE) bus used for personal computer disk drives. SCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface. Used in some IBM- compatible PC’s, as well as Macintosh (Apple), and many mini and mainframe business computers. Used to interface hard drives, CD-ROM drives, floppy disk drives, printers, scanners, modems, and a host of other peripheral devices. Speeds up to 1.5 Mbytes per second for the original standard. 12.2.1.14. GPIB (IEEE 488) General Purpose Interface Bus, also known as HPIB or IEEE 488, which was intended for the interfacing of electronic test equipment such as oscilloscopes and multimeters to personal computers. 8 bit wide address/data “path” with 8 additional lines for communications control. 12.2.1.15. Centronics parallel Widely used on personal computers for interfacing printer and plotter devices. Sometimes used to interface with other peripheral devices, such as external ZIP (100 Mbyte floppy) disk drives and tape drives. 12.2.1.16. USB Universal Serial Bus, which is intended to interconnect many external peripheral devices (such as keyboards, modems, mice, etc.) to personal computers. Long used on Macintosh PC’s, it is now being installed as new equipment on IBM-compatible machines. 12.2.1.17. FireWire (IEEE 1394) A high-speed serial network capable of operating at 100, 200, or 400 Mbps with versatile features such as “hot swapping” (adding or removing devices with the power on) and flexible topology. Designed for high-performance personal computer interfacing.
12.2.1.18. Bluetooth A radio-based communications network designed for office linking of computer devices. Provisions for data security designed into this network standard. 12.2.2. Extended-distance networks 12.2.2.1. 20 mA current loop Not to be confused with the common instrumentation 4-20 mA analog standard, this is a digital communications network based on interrupting a 20 mA (or sometimes 60 mA) current loop to represent binary data. Although the low impedance gives good noise immunity, it is susceptible to wiring faults (such as breaks) which would fail the entire network. 12.2.2.2. RS-232C The most common serial network used in computer systems, often used to link peripheral devices such as printers and mice to a personal computer. Limited in speed and distance (typically 45 feet and 20 kbps, although higher speeds can be run with shorter distances). I’ve been able to run RS-232 reliably at speeds more than 100 kbps, but this was using a cable only 6 feet long! RS- 232C is often referred to simply as RS-232 (no “C”). 12.2.2.3. RS-422A/RS-485 Two serial networks designed to overcome some of the distance and versatility limitations of RS-232C. Used widely in industry to link serial devices together in electrically “noisy” plant environments. Much greater distance and speed limitations than RS-232C, typically over half a mile and at speeds approaching 10 Mbps. 12.2.2.4. Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) A high-speed network which links computers and some types of peripheral devices together. “Normal” Ethernet runs at a speed of 10 million bits/second, and “Fast” Ethernet runs at 100 million bits/second. The slower (10 Mbps) Ethernet has been implemented in a variety of means on copper
wire (thick coax = “10BASE5”, thin coax = “10BASE2”, twisted-pair = “10BASE- T”), radio, and on optical fiber (“10BASE-F”). The Fast Ethernet has also been implemented on a few different means (twisted-pair, 2 pair = 100BASE-TX; twisted-pair, 4 pair = 100BASE-T4; optical fiber = 100BASE-FX). 12.2.2.5. Token ring Another high-speed network linking computer devices together, using a philosophy of communication that is much different from Ethernet, allowing for more precise response times from individual network devices, and greater immunity to network wiring damage. 12.2.2.6. FDDI A very high-speed network exclusively implemented on fiber-optic cabling. 12.2.2.7. Modbus/Modbus Plus Originally implemented by the Modicon corporation, a large maker of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) for linking remote I/O (Input/Output) racks with a PLC processor. Still quite popular. 12.2.2.8. Profibus Originally implemented by the Siemens corporation, another large maker of PLC equipment. 12.2.2.9. Foundation Fieldbus A high-performance bus expressly designed to allow multiple process instruments (transmitters, controllers, valve positioners) to communicate with host computers and with each other. May ultimately displace the 4-20 mA analog signal as the standard means of interconnecting process control instrumentation in the future.
14.3. Data Flow Buses and networks are designed to allow communication to occur between individual devices that are interconnected. The flow of information, or data, between nodes, can take a variety of forms: With simplex communication, all data flow is unidirectional: from the designated transmitter to the designated receiver. BogusBus is an example of simplex communication, where the transmitter sent information to the remote monitoring location, but no information is ever sent back to the water tank. If all we want to do is send information one-way, then simplex is just fine. Most applications, however, demand more: With duplex communication, the flow of information is bi- directional for each device. Duplex can be further divided into two sub- categories:
The Half-Duplex works like a type of communication, that may be likened to two tin cans on the ends of a single taut string: Either can may be used to transmit or receive, but not at the same time. Full-duplex communication is more like a true telephone, where two people can talk at the same time and hear one another simultaneously, the mouthpiece of one phone transmitting the earpiece of the other, and vice versa. Full-duplex is often facilitated through the use of two separate channels or networks, with an individual set of wires for each direction of communication. It is sometimes accomplished by means of multiple-frequency carrier waves, especially in radio links, where one frequency is reserved for each direction of communication.
14.5. Optical Data Communication A modern alternative to sending (binary) digital information via electric voltage signals is to use optical (light) signals. Electrical signals from digital circuits (high/low voltages) may be converted into discrete optical signals (light or no light) with LEDs or solid-state lasers. Likewise, light signals can be translated back into electrical form by photodiodes or phototransistors for introduction into the inputs of gate circuits. Transmitting digital information in optical form may be done in open air, simply by aiming a laser at a photodetector at a remote distance, but interference with the beam in the form of temperature inversion layers, dust, rain, fog, and other obstructions can present significant engineering problems:
One way to avoid the problems of open-air optical data transmission is to send the light pulses down an ultra-pure glass fibre. Glass fibres will “conduct” a beam of light much as a copper wire will conduct electrons, with the advantage of completely avoiding all the associated problems of inductance, capacitance, and external interference plaguing electrical signals. Optical fibres keep the light beam contained within the fibre core by a phenomenon known as total internal reflectance. An optical fibre is composed of two layers of ultra- pure glass, each layer made of glass with a slightly different refractive index, or capacity to “bend” light. With one type of glass concentrically layered around a central glass core, light introduced into the central core cannot escape outside the fibre, but is confined to travel within the core: Optical fibres exceed the data-handling performance of copper wire in almost every regard. They are totally immune to electromagnetic interference and have very high bandwidths. However, they are not without certain weaknesses.
14.6. Network Topology 14.6.1. Point-to-Point Connecting two digital devices with a network, would have a kind of network known as “point-to-point:” The network wiring is symbolized as a single line between the two devices. It may be a twisted pair of wires, a coaxial cable, an optical fibre, or even a seven-conductor BogusBus. 14.6.2. Bus Topology A type of network which uses a common transmission medium where all nodes of network are connected to it.
14.6.3. Star Topology A type of network that uses a hub, switch, or computer to act as a central network and which all the nodes connect to it. The selected hub, switch or computer acts as a server. 14.6.4. Ring Topology This topology provides the best reliability with the least amount of wiring. Since each node has two connection points to the ring, a single break in any part of the ring doesn’t affect the integrity of the network.
14.7. Network Protocols The standardized method by which nodes are allowed to transmit to the bus or network wiring is called a protocol. There are many different protocols for arbitrating the use of a common network between multiple nodes, and I’ll cover just a few here. However, it is good to be aware of these few, and to understand why some work better for some purposes than others. Usually, a specific protocol is associated with a standardized type of network. This is merely another “layer” to the set of standards which are specified under the titles of various networks. The International Standards Organization (ISO) has specified a general architecture of network specifications in their DIS7498 model (applicable to most any digital network). Consisting of seven “layers,” this outline, named the Open Systems Interconnection Layer (OSI Layer) attempts to categorize all levels of abstraction necessary to communicate digital data. Level 1: Physical Specifies electrical and mechanical details of communication: wire type, connector design, signal types and levels. Level 2: Data link Defines formats of messages, how data is to be addressed, and error detection/correction techniques. Level 3: Network Establishes procedures for encapsulation of data into “packets” for transmission and reception. Level 4: Transport Among other things, the transport layer defines how complete data files are to be handled over a network. Level 5: Session Organizes data transfer in terms of beginning and end of a specific transmission. Analogous to job control on a multitasking computer operating system.
Level 6: Presentation Includes definitions for character sets, terminal control, and graphics commands so that abstract data can be readily encoded and decoded between communicating devices. Level 7: Application The end-user standards for generating and/or interpreting communicated data in its final form. In other words, the actual computer programs using the communicated data. 14.8. Practical considerations - Digital Communication A principal consideration for industrial control networks, where the monitoring and control of real-life processes must often occur quickly and at set times, is the guaranteed maximum communication time from one node to another. The ability for a network to guarantee data “throughput” is called determinism. A deterministic network has a guaranteed maximum time delay for data transfer from node to node, whereas a non-deterministic network does not. The preeminent example of a non-deterministic network is Ethernet, where the nodes rely on random time-delay circuits to reset and re-attempt transmission after a collision.

On the 8th and 9th of June 2013 aka, The Queen's Birthday long weekend. Triple J held another all time Hottest 100 celebrating the music that came out between 1993 and 2012. The years that the Hottest 100 was running it's yearly countdown. What came of it was an incredible stretch of iconic banger after iconic banger spread across two days. 100-51 on Saturday and 50-1 on Sunday. It even gave voters a redemptive moment in finally giving tracks like Naive,Hallejulah, Banquet, Around The World and Sweet Disposition the countdown placements they deserved but never got in their respective years.
Full list:

1. Wonderwall - Oasis
2. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
3. Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
4. The Nosebleed Section - Hilltop Hoods
5. Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
6. Everlong - Foo Fighters
7. Mr Brightside - The Killers
8. These Days - Powderfinger
9. Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye ft. Kimbra
10. My Happiness - Powderfinger
11. No One Knows - Queens Of The Stone Age
12. Hearts A Mess - Gotye
13. Paranoid Android - Radiohead
14. Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons
15. Breathe - The Prodigy
16. Skinny Love - Bon Iver
17. Tomorrow - Silverchair
18. Hey Ya! - Outkast
19. Dammit (Growing Up)
20. Prisoner of Society - The Living End
21. 1979 - The Smashing Pumpkins
22. Song 2 - Blur
23. Knights Of Cydonia - Muse
24. One Crowded Hour - Augie March
25. Bullet With Butterfly Wings - The Smashing Pumpkins
26. Chop Suey! - System Of A Down
27. Frontier Psychiatrist - The Avalanches
28. Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers
29. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
30. Californication - Red Hot Chil Peppers
31. Teardrop - Massive Attack ft. Elizabeth Fraser
32. Stinkfist - TOOL
33. Zombie - The Cranberries
34. Brick - Ben Folds Five
35. Karma Police - Radiohead
36. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
37. Sabotage - Beastie Boys
38. Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap
39. Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
40. Closer - Nine Inch Nails
41. Yellow - Coldplay
42. Brother - Matt Corby
43. Betterman - John Butler Trio
44. One More Time - Daft Punk
45. Float On - Modest Mouse
46. Into My Arms - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
47. Self Esteem - The Offspring
48. Last Nite - The Strokes
49. Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine
50. Better Man - Pearl Jam
51. Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols
52. Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz ft. De La Soul
53. Every You Every Me - Placebo
54. Sex On Fire - Kings Of Leon
55. Praise You - Fatboy Slim
56. Born Slippy .NUXX - Underworld
57. Banquet - Bloc Party
58. No Aphrodisiac - The Whitlams
59. Around The World - Daft Punk
60. Glycerine - Bush
61. Lonely Boy - The Black Keys
62. Buy Me A Pony - Spiderbait
63. Chemical Heart - Grinspoon
64. Kids - MGMT
65. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
66. Berlin Chair - You Am I
67. Breezeblocks - Alt-J
68. Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
69. Lose Yourself - Eminem
70. ! (The Song Formerly Known As) - Regurgitator
71. Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz ft. Del The Funky Homosapian
72. Joker & the Thief - Wolfmother
73. Home - Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros
74. Let's Dance To Joy Division - The Wombats
75. Somebody Told Me - The Killers
76. Electric Feel - MGMT
77. My People - The Presets
78. Freak - Silverchair
79. I Bet You Look on the Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys
80. Bulls On Parade - Rage Against The Machine
81. Big Jet Plane - Angus & Julia Stone
82. Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus
83. Common People - Pulp
84. Gold Digger - Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx
85. Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio
86. When You Were Young - The Killers
87. Naive - The Kooks
88. Monsters - Something For Kate
89. Wolf Like Me - TV on The Radio
90. Straight Lines - Silverchair
91. Harpoon - Jebediah
92. Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men
93. Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
94. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People
95. Cigarettes Will Kill You - Ben Lee
96. Hello - The Cat Empire
97. Paper Planes - M.I.A
98. Leaving Home Jebediah
99. Video Games - Lana Del Rey
100. Intergalactic - Beastie Boys
101. Zebra - John Butler Trio (revealed later by Tom and Alex)

​
What memories to associate with this countdown. I remember I was a couple of weeks out from my trial HSC exams and I was half studying but couldn't really pay attention due to how good the countdown was.

I graduated with a B. Sc. in Biochemistry with Honours (because I wasn't excited to do only bio courses -- too much memorization or only chem courses -- not a fan of calculus in chem and I actually enjoyed Science in high school) and yes, I had silly aspirations to do med school (but sadly not smart enough to do well in MCAT). I completed my Honours project in Organic Synthesis and I enjoyed working with my professor, but had no plans of doing Master's since I was tired of being in university and being in student debt.
I graduated during 2020 (yay covid) and applied everywhere I could. My lack of work experience definitely was a big stumbling block. After 8 months, I received only 1 interview which was for the position as a Quality Control Analyst at a start-up pharmaceutical company for $16/hr. I was desperate and took the position, but that was a mistake lol. It was definitely a steep learning curve. The training was completely irrelevant to the actual sample testing. I ran HPLC, GC, UV, TOC and a few other equipment. I think I adjusted well to the high stress environment, but the manager was the type to micromanage and call you out when you needed to work overtime (ps. you don't get paid overtime because it's your fault). The reason I had to work overtime was because there were only 3 weighing scales (2 analytical balances and 1 micro-analytical balance) and 30 people in the lab. There is a long wait time to weigh your reagents for your HPLC mobile phase and samples depending on the test done. There were also not enough fume hoods for everyone (only 5). Plus, all of our equipment is secondhand and constantly malfunctioning. Inventory of the standards were a mess. Our lab has constantly brought up all these issues with the manager and they said they'll fix it but nothing ever happened. I tried to hang on to this job telling myself that once I get experience here, I can get a job in another less toxic lab. I started applying to other labs after my 1 year of experience, but I never got an interview. Fast forward to 8 months later, the company wanted to expand the lab by moving to a new location which would add 30 more minutes to my commute. I was already getting up at 6:00 am to come to the lab early at 7:30 am (even though my shift is at 8:00 am) and staying late till 5:30 pm (even though my shift ends at 4:30 pm). We had no 15 min breaks and only 1 hour lunch break. There were some days I was able to leave earlier, but some days, they give you more samples at 4:00 pm so you end up staying later. There were alot of more issues with this place like their high turnover rate in the Quality Control and Production departments. They're always looking to hiring more people. I also noticed that if an analyst worked harder, they would give that analyst more samples as opposed to another analyst who would only have 1 sample for the day and that analyst would spend the time just talking with other people. Essentially, I hit my breaking point 1 year and 8 months into the job and asked my friends if there was a position at any of their workplaces.
By some miracle, my friend referred me for a Clinical Research Assistant role at her workplace and I got the job in spite my lack of experience in clinical trials. I enjoyed the environment and slower pace that the office brought. I was so used to being constantly on my feet and making sure that I was finished with a certain task by a certain time. Those habits still carry on to my new job. I enjoy working with my immediate coworkers and I find the job easy enough once I understood the regulations. My only annoyance is the slow uptake in recruiting patients for one of my studies. My study was designed by a nephrologist new to clinical research and he's been pushing me to increase the recruitment rate due to the expiry date of funding. I'm trying not to pressure myself for something I can't control. It's not like I can force patients that are about to go on dialysis to do this study when they don't feel well. This is definitely one of my biggest annoyances. We had to open another site for recruitment and now, I travel to two hospitals to recruit patients, but I'm not getting any parking reimbursement. I've asked for advice from senior coworkers and my manager about how I can increase recruitment. They told me that I'm already doing well and not to be too pushy for recruitment.
My current job is at $20.66/hr and also offers nephrologists as a supervisor for your thesis to complete a Masters in Community Health Science (I still have to pay for the courses myself), but I'm not sure if I can see clinical research as a career since it's entirely dependent on patient recruitment (some patients are very difficult to work with especially sick ones) and I can't see myself working in a lab again. Does anyone have advice for possible career moves?
I'm willing to get back into studying again, but preferrably not more than 2 years long. I'm tired of learning info I won't use in the actual workforce (would rather not do a PhD). I've heard good things about Regulatory Affairs and Data Analyst. I'm the type to work hard and may work slower because I am very detail-oriented. I've even thought of just abandoning the physical and health sciences altogether and switching to computer science for a higher wage. I don't want to job hop after 1 year and 3 months from this job so I'll stick it out for maybe 1-2 years.
Please note: I live in Canada in one of the lesser provinces of Manitoba. Our job market may be terrible, but I'm not financially able to move elsewhere (Note: Student debt). Apologies if I seem whiny and stressed out over the little things. Just tired from the grind and having no decent benefits or paid vacation time.

I graduated with a B. Sc. in Biochemistry with Honours (because I wasn't excited to do only bio courses -- too much memorization or only chem courses -- not a fan of calculus in chem and I actually enjoyed Science in high school) and yes, I had silly aspirations to do med school (but sadly not smart enough to do well in MCAT). I completed my Honours project in Organic Synthesis and I enjoyed working with my professor, but had no plans of doing Master's since I was tired of being in university and being in student debt.
I also graduated during 2020 (yay covid) and applied everywhere I could. My lack of work experience and the pandemic shutting things down were definitely big stumbling blocks. After 8 months, I received only 1 interview which was for the position as a Quality Control Analyst at a start-up pharmaceutical company for $16/hr. I was desperate and took the position, but that was a mistake lol. It was definitely a steep learning curve. The training was completely irrelevant to the actual sample testing. I ran HPLC, GC, UV, TOC and a few other equipment. I think I adjusted well to the high stress environment, but the manager was the type to micromanage and call you out when you needed to work overtime (ps. you don't get paid overtime because it's your fault). The reason I had to work overtime was because there were only 3 weighing scales (2 analytical balances and 1 micro-analytical balance) and 30 people in the lab. There is a long wait time to weigh your reagents for your HPLC mobile phase and samples depending on the test done. There were also not enough fume hoods for everyone (only 5). Plus, all of our equipment is secondhand and constantly malfunctioning. Inventory of the standards were a mess. Our lab has constantly brought up all these issues with the manager and they said they'll fix it but nothing ever happened. I tried to hang on to this job telling myself that once I get experience here, I can get a job in another less toxic lab. I started applying to other labs after my 1 year of experience, but I never got an interview. Fast forward to 8 months later, the company wanted to expand the lab by moving to a new location which would add 30 more minutes to my commute. I was already getting up at 6:00 am to come to the lab early at 7:30 am (even though my shift is at 8:00 am) and staying late till 5:30 pm (even though my shift ends at 4:30 pm). We had no 15 min breaks and only 1 hour lunch break. There were some days I was able to leave earlier, but some days, they give you more samples at 4:00 pm so you end up staying later. There were alot of more issues with this place like their high turnover rate in the Quality Control and Production departments. They're always looking to hiring more people. I also noticed that if an analyst worked harder, they would give that analyst more samples as opposed to another analyst who would only have 1 sample for the day and that analyst would spend the time just talking with other people. Essentially, I hit my breaking point 1 year and 8 months into the job and asked my friends if there was a position at any of their workplaces.
By some miracle, my friend referred me for a Clinical Research Assistant role at her workplace and I got the job in spite my lack of experience in clinical trials. I enjoyed the environment and slower pace that the office brought. I was so used to being constantly on my feet and making sure that I was finished with a certain task by a certain time. Those habits still carry on to my new job. I enjoy working with my immediate coworkers and I find the job easy enough once I understood the regulations. My only annoyance is the slow uptake in recruiting patients for one of my studies. My study was designed by a nephrologist new to clinical research and he's been pushing me to increase the recruitment rate due to the expiry date of funding. I'm trying not to pressure myself for something I can't control. It's not like I can force patients that are about to go on dialysis to do this study when they don't feel well. This is definitely one of my biggest annoyances. We had to open another site for recruitment and now, I travel to two hospitals to recruit patients, but I'm not getting any parking reimbursement. I've asked for advice from senior coworkers and my manager about how I can increase recruitment. They told me that I'm already doing well and not to be too pushy for recruitment.
My current job is at $20.66/hr and also offers nephrologists as a supervisor for your thesis to complete a Masters in Community Health Science (I still have to pay for the courses myself), but I'm not sure if I can see clinical research as a career since it's entirely dependent on patient recruitment (some patients are very difficult to work with especially sick ones) and I can't see myself working in a lab again. Does anyone have advice for possible career moves?
I'm willing to get back into studying again, but preferrably not more than 2 years long. I'm tired of learning info I won't use in the actual workforce (would rather not do a PhD). I've heard good things about Regulatory Affairs and Data Analyst. I'm the type to work hard and may work slower because I am very detail-oriented. I've even thought of just abandoning the physical and health sciences altogether and switching to computer science for a higher wage. I don't want to job hop after 1 year and 3 months from this job so I'll stick it out for maybe 1-2 years. Please note: I live in Canada in one of the lesser provinces of Manitoba. Our job market may be terrible, but I'm not financially able to move elsewhere (Note: Student debt). Apologies if I seem whiny and stressed out over the little things.

I’m 20 years old. I am a virgin by choice and I’m ngl or not trying to brag but I’m doing very well for myself. I have money, I’m handsome, have the highest gpa at my university and I am a D1 athlete (2003 born). I met this girl from my hometown whose 2005 born, so a two year difference. We talked and connected extremely quickly, she is the Same as me, and I love it. She is beautiful, social, yet introverted ( or as we call each other, introverted extroverts) she is nerdy and loves videogames/anime, something I adore and can only relate to with others who are seen as weird, so when I met her, I was so shocked to see someone who related to me on the surface level, and beneath the layer I keep hidden from my friends bc they cannot relate. We talked for months, and I’ve never been in a proper relationship bc I’ve been waiting for something like this, I finally found it. We spoke for 6-8 months and we kissed, and celebrated our birthdays together, I never asked her to be my girlfriend formally however I always assumed she was because she was my second kiss and someone who I devoted time to in a very meaningful way. By the way in which we talked, it was obvious we were together, although I should’ve maybe formally established that (I’ve never been in a relationship prior to this). Just last week we celebrated her birthday, where I obviously gave her a gift and my love, she kissed me and everything was as smooth as ever. Her highschool prom was coming up and she was telling me how she was being asked by like 20 different guys, and she was struggling to choose, I found it very weird how she never asked me, but decided not to bring it up bc it was her choice, and prom is never that serious, plus I’m a little older so it makes sense if she might think it’s weird ig. So she has her prom with this guy just two days ago,and now, she has completely 180d. She no longer says she likes me, and says that it has been a long realization, we were #1s on Snapchat and now we are not longer. I do not want to accuse her of cheating even though I am almost positive she has, based off of this sudden change of heart and mini cues, but I can’t lose her. She’s my everything, and I know she feels similarly, I think she’s just scared she messed up and feels like we should end because she made a mistake, but I don’t care so long as we learn together. I can’t lose contact with her, I told my parents about her. Please let me know how I can salvage this. There are more minor details I can explain if you ask but please help me keep her, I have nothing left without her, she’s all I actually love.

Tldr I think my uncle is a pedophile and I don't know what to do
I'm fairly new to this whole posting for help but have recently found myself in a horrible delema and can't possibly do anything about it for some info I'm 15 and my family (,mom,dad, brother18,other brother14 , sister10) Live with my aunt and her 2 sons we all get along REALLY well as we grew up always having sleep overs around every week and always went on vacation with each other now my uncle whos always been in our lives as he has shared custody with my aunt this they work around it differently see my uncle is an illegal imagrnt and so when he and my aunt broke up they didn't actually divorce and he stayed in our lives solely because he's a great dad who pays for around 80% of my aunt's funds for her kids and she herself can't work due to being on the spectrum so she receives money monthly for her and her eldest son as he's also on the spectrum and is slowly going blind in one eye due to problems involving birth
Now my cousins go to stay with him every other week and he pays for everything but eversince there breakup he's found another women who already has kids and he still manages to take care of both families partially due to the monthly income from the states checks now the delema starts with the fact that we're living with them as of 2 years and he pays for half of the mortgage water electric and likewise bills while my parents pay for the other half ,it's a 4 bedroom house with 2 living rooms one when u enter the house and that's the room we made as my room my other siblings stay in the other shared room with a bunk bed and a normal bed they have there setups and everything we own a cat and a dog I own 2 ferrets that stay in my room (well taken care of)and my 2 cousins have there own rooms while my aunt has her own room that leaves my parents they sleep on couches in the 2nd living room which is connected to the kitchen and it's been like this for 2 years
Some info about my room or" living room" is that I have a mini fridge my bed and a ferret cage along with my desktop and laptop my "door" is actually a curtain that connects to the hallway I do online school and my room is set up in a way where it's the first room you walk into when you open the door to the house so those leaves for awkward experiences when it comes to the fact that I sleep her so lots of times especially during summer with my messed up sleep schedule I sleep during the day to afternoon and during this time my uncle sometimes drops by cus he lives nearby and he likes to check in at times so lots of times he comes by when I'm asleep RIGHT IN FRONT of anyone who comes to our house
Anyways now we are stuck living with our aunt as my mom has 15k saved in a secret account(for down payment) only I know about due to her and me being close and me being the only mature child when it comes to certain things well she's saving for a house and got that money from tax refund 2yrs And is currently trying her best to get a good paying job for a family of 8+(cousins added) Along with this she has a rly bad credit due to bad financial choices yes I'k it happens to everyone and she's working really hard to fix her mistakes but is finding much difficultys fixing her wrongs as for my dad the money he's making 800 a check (weekly) is being used on food+repairs+bills/phone/mortgage/insurance/ect. So we rly aren't making enough to leave and get a better house or start renting
All of this is important cus it's relivant to the way I'm thinking about the situation at hand let's get to that . Alright so here's where it starts lately around this month I've been picking up on red flags about my uncle and deciy to ignore them as "he's my uncul all he's ever done is good for our family he's been here for to long to notice something now" is what I would tell myself and what would these increasingly red flags be well, it started when he casually brought up to my mom that he wished I was his daughter as I'm so great and he sees me as his daughter and how I'm"so much more smarter than my cousins" and how "I'm glad her potential didn't go to waste with you caring for her " keep in mind this is all being said in Spanish well that was all good I thought that it was more a a bragging right and was happy he thought highly of me RIGHT?? Well after that day 1 week passed I was feeling very anxious and decided to go on a walk with my much loved mom all good but when we got back 8:??pm he was at the house and we greeted him well her but he seemed to notice I was down and decided to "spoil me " so he sent my mom 100$ and we went to Walmart and bought me sum books (mangas) and got sum snacks spent the rest on my ferrets and we bought sum cleaning supplies allls good right??
No cus 3-4 days later he comes to pick my cousins up 1 by one for them each to get 1 week with him to work and make money I thought it was nice so made a joke out of it and he said "oh well if you want I can take you with me but just for 2. Days and you'll have to be alone cus it's 1 by 1 " so I was weirded out and let it slip a bit cus u know "uncle would never" and so let it be but the next week he came by I jokingly said "I'm gonna need a pass to let you in any I'd?" And he replied by "KISSING ME ON THE HEAD" might not seem like a lot but dude doesn't even do that to his own kids and the last interaction u had with him didn't end well so ever since then I would avoid hime as I felt weird and dunno a bit scared to see what would happen next and BOY was u right now and behold 1 week later he pops by I see him park it's 7ph suns down and I decided to act like I slept early to avoid the guy I didn't want to see or talk with him after everything
something was just not feeling right so i did what I did and faked being asleep in hoped I would actually fall asleep and avoid him welp,....... He found his time and between the 2 minutes no one was near (everyone in their room ) mom and dad were at my step grandma's house ) he went and closed my door(curtains) I could tell do to it being like a shower curtain the roll in part but actual thicc curtains so no one can see pass ( my choice due to not liking the light pass through from the hallway )he layed down right next to me I was sleeping on my left side facing the wall he went and sorta spooned me but in a way where you are trying to be carful as to not wake them up and afterwards he sniffed my hair ?? And neck then sorta put his hand on my ass and very lightly squeezed it I had to lay there for 2-5 mins and wait till he left I felt so bad and confused not sad just confused
I don't know what to do so I told my younger brother 1yr gap and he's the most trust worthy and helpful ,after I told him we talked about how if I'm sleeping and he's not that he'd make sure to stay in my room with me Incase and if I'm awake and he's sleeping I'll go to his room and wait it out great .now problem still stands after his groping and actions I fake woke up and said hi he looked shocked but I played it off he fell for it and even want in for the "so when will you come and work for me " remember those 2 days of just me working for him that he promised =\ the balls this dam man has but I rly can't do anything I I talk or tell my mom then the whole family is fucked house is gone cousins don't get a dad we prob will stop talking with my cousin finding a house to rent will fuck it up even more then there goes for our hard worked credit and bam forever changed family I rly don't wanna ruin everything and feel like the soul reasoned everything was messed up along with not wanting to mess my mom's chance at finally getting a house when u told my brother about this and eveieas when I finally started crying I'm glade to have him and as I'm writing this I'm a bit emotional and feel so bad about myself
As of writing this it happens about 4hrs ago and now I'm just stuck in between what's my go to in one way there's snitching him out on the other I can keep it to myself and deal with it with the help of my brother but I'm still vunribal to him when both my brother and I are asleep and I think his lust or whatever is getting stronger ras the times he's been acting out on me have increased and the time in-between have decreased I'm afraid for my family and for me I just hope he doesn't touch me any more .I posted this here as I don't know much about where to post the right things hope this finds it's way to someone that. Can help he find a way through this without hiring my familys relationship

I (26F) was gonna marry my fiancé (27M) in a week. We met in college and instantly connected. We’ve been inseparable since. He complements me well and I truly think we are soulmates. I have never been loved the way he loves me and I have never loved anyone the way I love him. I am obsessed with him. Our families get along and LOVE each other.
Recently, we started talking about starting a family. I am a carrier of a genetic mutation that is almost 100% fatal if the baby has it so I wanted to get my husband tested to see if he’s also a carrier but also just in general. However, since this mutation has to be present in his family and none of them have it, we thought this test would just be routine for whatever else can be caught.
Last week, the results came in. It turns out my fiancé is not a carrier and we were so ecstatic. But our doctor tells us that when comparing our DNA, we had a lot of the same markers so they ran a quick check and it turns out we share a significant amount of DNA. My heart drops.
I don’t think my parents had any secret love children and my husband is not adopted. So I ruled out being siblings. Our parents aren’t siblings so we can’t be cousins. I’m panicking and he doesn’t seem to be at the same level of sheer terror. He tells me his dad is adopted and we can start there. After running tests, we find out that our dads are first cousins. I was devastated but he was not as affected by the news.
When I spoke with him, he said that he loved me and that our relationship and our bond didn’t have to change. Second cousins is not that deep and we can move on with our lives and get married knowing our children will be free of any issues. He added that this was a plus because his father now had family in my father and our family. I was shocked.
As much as I love him, as magical as the last 8 years have been, as absolutely devastated as I am, I can’t be married to my cousin. The thought makes me nauseous. I told this to him and he was heartbroken. How could I throw away our love, our story for something so simple? He doesn’t understand. I told him we can’t go through the wedding and he lost it. Even in anger and heartbreak, he still didn’t take it out on me. He just collapsed and cried to himself. I just can’t do it.
Since then, both our families have been at my throat saying I’m ruining the best thing that happened to me over something that isn’t a big deal. I keep getting reminded that it was my idea to do the test and I caused this. My fiancé has apologized to me for the way I’m being treated but he still can’t look at me, he apologized through text. I’m mourning this loss because he truly is the perfect man.
I know it’s unfair, but I don’t feel like I was an asshole and I’m so surprised by our families’ reactions. So am I the asshole?

After leaving my abusive ex I'm 2017, I had two concurrent cps cases. First was from my kids new school for excessive tardiness and food concerns. My kid dumped out their lunch and packed a jar of nutella instead-teachers were worried and I get it. I was juggling a lot, 3 kids under 8 and two in a brand new setting without their dad. Needless to say we had some behavioral issues that, admittedly, I had trouble finding solutions to. However, after a few months we got into the swing of things. The case worker was very open and optimistic the entire time and she closed the case as unsubstantiated.
6 months later, my ex mother in law calls on me. The same case worker was assigned and she wouldn't tell me what the call was about, only who it was from. Same process as last time, I let her in the first time she showed up. She checks the cabinets and fridge for food, bedrooms for toys and correct number of beds, talked to the kids alone. She left with the same positive demeanor and said she doesn't understand why anyone would call and this should be over with soon. She brought her supervisor with her on the next & final visit. We went through the whole house again, we talked. They spoke to the kids again and it was so upbeat until the end when they popped out a drug test. I was using marijuana, but didn't have a valid card yet, so I asked if it was required, she said no just a good gesture. So I declined and they left with zero change in tone. I never received any notice of the last case being closed and I ignorantly assumed it was fine like the last time.
Well, I got a job offer from a hospital and on the fbi background check it showed up as a substantiated neglect charge & I lost the offer. I don't know what to do, I feel like such an idiot. What can I do now to dispute this? I worked very hard to keep everything a float and I have never been neglectful in any sense. It's not even about losing the offer for my dream job, I'm pissed that there is a record of me being a neglectful parent out there... I never received notice and I want to put the record straight.

** Fri 6/9 *\*
Fri 4 - 7:30 PM Food Truck Friday Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce, 4201 Crestview Dr. SE, Rio Rancho We welcome attendees of all ages to gather together and enjoy great food and music
Fri 5 - 7 PM Exhibit Opening: Colors That Speak Words Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St. NW Join us in celebration of the visual arts, poetry, and calligraphy. "Colors That Speak Words" is a collaborative installation between two writers and two visual artists with words, poetry, and visual arts and speaks to how this combination of mediums can be done in a cyclical way. The artists, Dr. Anthony Fleg, Mallery Quetawki (Zuni), Blythe Mariano (Diné), and Chilán Mustain, worked together to create an installation in motion, and the vision they bring to this space is from a contemporary perspective on how Native art is presented. This is an innovative view for visitors to see that Native art is changing and adjusting to the times. The artists will be present at the exhibit opening to read poetry and talk about this installation. Admission is free; please enter through South Entrance. Light refreshments will be served. This exhibit will be on display through October 15
Fri 5 - 10 PM Car Show & Concert! EXPO NM Home of the New Mexico State Fair, 300 San Pedro Dr. NE Friday night fever Vol 2! CAR SHOW & AWARDs, RAP CONCERT, VENDORS, FOOD TRUCKS, GAMES, ROCK CLIMBING WALL. All Makes and Models welcome. FREE GENERAL ADMISSION. $7 Parking, $10 Car Show judging and awards (only if you want to register and compete) Event brought to you by Expo NM and Desert Sun Event Productions. Car show brought to you by Sins events and NM Lowrider Arte
Fri 6 PM Rugby is a Drag (Show)! Sidewinders Bar and Grill, 4200 Central Ave SE Get out your dancing cleats and trade in that eye black for eye liner! The very popular Rugby is a Drag (show!) and fundraiser, normally held earlier in the year, has moved to June 9th and Pride weekend in 2023! This year's event will be hosted by Miss Sidewinders 2023 Seliah Deleon and Le Femme Magnifique 2017 and fellow rugger SCRUMtious Cox! This year's show is returning to Sidewinders and, as in year's past, will benefit our friends at Casa Q, which provides safe living for LGBTQ+ youth through housing, services and advocacy. This year's event will also feature participation from members of Elevated Roller Derby, NM United and more! (tickets)
Fri 7 PM Movies in the Park - Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Athena Park, 778 Athena Ave, Bernalillo MOVIES IN THE PARK is back this SUMMER! We will feature a different movie at our local parks every FRIDAY night in June. Movies will begin at sundown and we will serve popcorn for free! Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, and beverages. All movies are FREE! In the case of inclement weather, movies will be cancelled
Fri 8 PM - 12 AM Pride Dance Party 505 Spirits, 105 Harvard Dr. SE DANCE WITH US TO CELEBRATE PRIDE UNDER THE STARS @ PRIDE ON THE PATIO! DJ Baby D & DJ Rebel (Rori the Rebel) will drop your favorite hits - Get your dance on and show of your Pride with your best Pride outfit &/or Pride colors! Try our special cocktail: Prickly Pear Pride Punch, plus other great drinks and delicious food! Come early for dinner before you dance, daNCE, DANCE!!! Delicious Value Menu Items: $2.95 - NEW Sliders! (beef & veg) $1.95 - local blue corn dog pops (minis) $5.95 waffle fries & full sized blue corn dogs (veg or beef) Plus our flaky meat & veg hand pies, chunky chicken salad, mushroom pate & more! 21 & over Free Entry!
Fri 9 PM Albuquerque Pride Afterparty Historic Lobo Theater, 3013 Central Ave NE Starring Headliner: Malaysia Babydoll Foxx, DJ: Justin Cristofer, HOST: Vanessa Patricks, MEET THE QUEENS! Avery Martini, Imani Martini, Nova Martini, Kardio Karbdashian, Divyne Intervention. Private Early Entrance Meet N Greet begins at 8:15 p.m. entrance with Meet N Greet starting 8:30 p.m. Champagne Provided (tickets)
Fri 9 PM Fierce Pride: Kandy Muse Effex, 420 Central Ave SW Special guest from RPDR All Stars S13 and AS8, LA, CA, Meet and Greet 10:30 PM, doors 9p, show 11:30p Lounge: DJ Chris de Jesus Patio: DJ Aquattro Side Effex: DJ Mitch
Fri 9:30 PM Salsa under the Stars After Party JUNO, 1501 1st St. NW DJ Pedro, one of Albuquerque’s most loved DJ’s (DJ Pedro, DJ Tony, SoloVino, DJ Louie, DJ Darly + Eli Mix) mixing your favorite dance mix of Salsa, Bachata, Merengue and more! This is one of Albuquerque’s favorite after party summer outdoor events and will begin June 9th following the opening of Son Como Son kicking off the Salsa under the Stars at the Albuquerque Museum followed by the after party at Juno. Free entry to Juno with your stamp from the museum
Fri 10:30 PM Twilight Zone: The Movie - 40th Anniversary Screening! One Night Only! The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave NE Check out the trailer. Dir. Joe Dante, Steven Spielberg, John Landis & George Miller - 1983 - 102m - NO MATINEES. DOOR PRIZES COURTESY OF BUBONICON 54! Based on the popular television series, this film is a collection of four frightening tales of the supernatural, each by a different director--Joe Dante, Steven Spielberg, John Landis, and George Miller! The film opens with Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks as two hapless road-trippers who tell scary stories to pass the time. The four segments that follow include some updated re-creations of classic Twilight Zone episodes. In the first, racist Bill Connor (Vic Morrow) is transformed into a Jew in World War II. Next, Mr. Bloom (Scatman Crothers) comes to a retirement home to teach the residents that they are only as young as they feel. In the third, teacher Helen Foley (Kathleen Quinlan) meets Antony (Jeremy Licht), a boy who is not what he seems. In the final segment, panicky plane passenger John Valentine (John Lithgow) sees gremlins attacking his flight
** Sat 6/10 *\*
Sat 8 AM - 2 PM NMHRS Garage Sale 7903 Robin Ave NE Hosted by the New Mexico House Rabbit Society. All sales go into our vet fund so that we can continue to provide medical care to rabbits in need. This is a multi-family garage sale so there will be lots to browse through
Sat 8 AM - 10 PM All The Things: Craft Cocktail & Mixer Launch Tractor Brewing Company, 118 Tulane Dr. SE The next evolution in the craft cocktail experience is here and officially launch in Nob Hill for Pride! What is All The Things? Well, let me tell you. Imagine 100% fresh cold pressed juice, pure cane sugar, and Troubled Minds spirits all in one 1L bottle ready to pour over ice! That's right you can purchase these ready made bottle cocktails now at ANY of our locations! We have: Margarita with Tequila, Paloma with Tequila, Kentucky Mule with Bourbon, Ginger Lemonade with Vodka, Limeade with Vodka & Bloody Mary with Vodka! Grab you one to go for $16! We will be using mixers of these behind our bars so you can get a first hand taste! And offering non alcoholic lavender, ginger, and classic lemonades for you to sip on! These truly are All The Things in one bottle!
Sat 9 AM - 12 PM Family, Fit, Fun Fest Tiguex Park, 1800 Mountain Rd. NW Join us for the Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails 2nd annual Family, Fit, Fun Fest. Bring your whole family to this free, all-ages event to learn about keeping fit and healthy - mentally, physically, and emotionally. Learn new skills and discover ways to keep your mind and body healthy and active, as you visit interactive booths led by community partners. Booths will include hands-on activities like games, puzzles, and brain teasers, as well as interactive lessons in martial arts, dance, mindfulness, and more. Booths will also include information on youth classes, clubs, and teams, as well as opportunities to meet local healthcare providers and learn more about mental health, nutrition, eye care, and dental care for your whole family. Climb to the top of a rock wall, make your way through an obstacle course, try the football toss or the baseball toss, shoot a hockey puck, or score a goal at interactive stations around the event! Meet and take photos with local sports teams and/or mascots and stop by Menchie's Froyo Mobile for a sweet treat. Girl Scout Members can participate in a special event scavenger hunt when they pre-purchase the 2023 GSNMT Family, Fit, Fun Fest patch
Sat 10 AM SOCH PRIDE '23 Albuquerque Social Club, 4021 Central Ave NE Come show your PRIDE at the ONLY place to be SOCHial! We are taking over the parking lot for a FREE ALL AGES event. We have multile bands, musicians and perfromers ready to give a PRIDE you wont forget. Food Truck, Vendors, Face Painting, Car Show, Games, Country Dancing and many other fun events!
Sat 10 - 11 AM Yoga with Kelsi Poulin Marketplace mezzanine, 8600 Pan American Fwy NE Enjoy guided yoga, from local yoga instructor, Kelsi! This will be a fun flow for all levels of yoga practice. $10 per person
Sat 10 AM - 12 PM Play Day For A Cause Kiddie Academy of Paradise Hills, 4590 Paradise Blvd. NW Join us for Play Day for a Cause! This free event has great games and fun activities for your kids while supporting Family Promise, the leading national nonprofit addressing family homelessness. Family Promise started in 1986 as local outreach in a single community and now has more than 200 Affiliates in 43 states. Since their founding, volunteers have helped more than a million family members in need. With a focus on empowering families and children, Kiddie Academy Educational Child Care and Family Promise are working together to give every child what they deserve: a chance to succeed. The event is free and open to the public. Donations are appreciated, but not required to attend
Sat 10 AM - 4 PM Foundational Wellness Grand Opening Party Los Ranchos Bakery, 6920 4th St. NW, Los Ranchos Celebrate our grand opening event by stopping by the B Side of Los Ranchos Bakery! Herbal tea blends, door prizes, free raffle, information on classes and events, and more! Win a free reiki session, teas, discounts on classes, or discounts on nutritional therapy! I will be teaching numerous classes at the bakery this summer. Some topics: How to make Herbal Vinegar Tinctures (aceta), Hormone Health, Healthy Habits for Life, Improve Your Digestion, Prioritizing Meal Prep, Blood Sugar Regulation, and my RESTART Program! You don’t want to miss out! Some of these classes will be free! So come on down and get some coffee and goodies from the bakery, then visit me next door and see what we’ve been up to
Sat 10 AM - 5 PM Pride Day Celebration! Quirky Used Books and More, 120 Jefferson NE Book sales, vendor pop ups, food truck, art, music, and more!
Sat 10:30 AM - 12 PM Wellness Schedule Casa Rondeña Winery, 733 Chavez Rd. NW, Los Ranchos Open to people of all skill levels, Wellness + Wine is a one-hour, outdoor practice, followed by a glass of wine or Sangria, and an invitation to stay and relax on the grounds of the beautiful Casa Rondeña Winery. This experience is $25, and includes glass of wine. Discounts apply for winery members. Reservations are required to participate
Sat 11 AM - 4 PM Papa Bear Market Boxing Bear Brewing, 10200 Corrales Rd. NW We couldn’t forget about our PAPA BEARS! Dads deserve some love and appreciation too! Spend the day celebrating Papa at our taproom. As always this FREE event will include local vendors, food trucks, photo booth, live music, paint your own pint, and, of course, BEER! (click link for full list of vendors)
Sat 11 AM - 5 PM June Used Book Sale Main Library, 501 Copper Ave NW Join us for the monthly book sale. There will be a variety of fiction, non-fiction, children and adults books, videos, DVDs, CDs, comic books, maps, and more available. Free for Members - $2 for Non-Members Free to all after noon. All Sales are held in the Lower Level, Main Library, Validated parking is available on 5th and Copper, kitty-corner to the library. The Friends of the Public Library is a non-profit organization. All proceeds go to supporting the Public Library of Albuquerque & Bernalillo County library programs
Sat 12 - 5 PM Summer Luau - Adoptables, Swag, Brews, and more! Lizard Tail Brewing Industrial, 3351 Columbia Dr. NE Hosted by Pitties and Kitties of New Mexico. We will have some PKR Tees, some PKR Pride gear, and best of all - our adoptabulls! Our booth will have a small auction set up… the prize being Tattoo Certificates with an ABQ tattoo artist! There will be a car show, other vendors, as well as water activities. Hope to see y’all there!
Sat 1 - 3 PM Family Field Day! Montgomery Park, Hosted by ABQ Family Chiropractic. A celebration of all the families who trust us with their care, and an opportunity for families who are considering our office to get to know our team in a fun, low-stakes environment. Food and family-friendly activities will be provided
Sat 1 - 4 PM Zouk with Jaime Arôxa! Alley Kats Tap Company, 222 Truman St. NE We will continue building on, and reviewing everything we have learned with Jamie Arôxa and Kiri Chapman thus far. We will continue to work on Zouk basics and building on the basics including connection and timing, musicality, lateral with variations, Yo-yo, viradinha, cambre, body, rolls, body, isolations, weight transfers, counterbalance, elástico, convergence & divergence, Wi-Fi, head, movement, styling, head movement, varying turns, and Chicote. Classes will be progressive and will be adjusted to the level of each class. Drop in anytime * All levels welcome * No partner needed * Cash preferred - can also accept Venmo and Cash App to $UWDstudios
Sat 1:30 - 4 PM Father's Day Tee Cabezon Park, 2307 Cabezon Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho Celebrate Father's Day with a round of miniature golf or two! Tee-off with dad at our Annual Father's Day "Tee". Enjoy some snacks, and an Arnold Palmer while making a craft with dad. Prizes awarded for the top 3 teams in miniature golf! Each child and parent must register individually. NO DROP-INS. Please contact the Cabezon Community Center at 505-892-4499 for more info
Sat 4 - 5 PM East Coast Swing Group Class Enchantment Dancing, 337 San Pedro Dr. NE Welcome to our Bronze American East Coast Swing Class! Whether you are a newbie stepping on to the dance floor for the first time or a seasoned professional wanting to brush up on basics, as well as anyone in-between, this class is for you! East Coast Swing is an exciting, up-beat dance that is endlessly versatile! No partner necessary, and dropping in is fine! Class cost is only $10, and a punch card for 6 classes is $50
Sat 6 - 10 PM Baddie Fest OT Circus, 709 Central Ave NW let's all have a fun summer night. Fairy Julz (crystals and more to raise your energy) will be at @ otcircus. Market, Music, Dance Performers, Crystal Pop Up Booth, Henna, Woman Vendors. Tag and invite your favorite baddies
Sat 6 - 11 PM Heights Summerfest North Domingo Baca Park, Celebrate warm weather and outdoor fun at a free community gathering during an Albuquerque Summerfest. This free concert series features local businesses with handcrafted products in The Shops, food trucks with freshly made cuisine in the Food Court, libations created by breweries, wineries and distilleries in The Cantina, entertainment by local talent, and a production by a national headliner all at a City park (click here for more info: live music, food trucks, kids' activities, drinks, vendors, parking)
Sat 7 PM Dancing Queens Sunshine Theater, 120 Central Ave SW Throw out your calendar! Buy a new calendar! Mark June 10th as the first and ONLY date in your calendar! Pride weekend, all the dancing queens are descending on the Sunshine Theater for the night of all nights. Juicee Früt presents Dancing Queens! Featuring performances by Red Light Cameras, ABBAquerque, Galaxy, Juicee Früt, Drag Performances from CoCo Caliente & Mr. Rusty Nutz, Forbidden Früt Market, & more! (tickets)
Sat 7 PM Death On The Beach: A Metalcore Beach Party Launchpad, 618 Central Ave SW Join us for a night filled with beach-going shenanigans and some of the best metalcore bands Albuquerque has to offer. Swimwear, flip flops, sunscreen and lais ENCOURAGED! Come out and rage with us, and let's make this a night to remember! Presale tickets are $10 and are available through any band. Just send them a message! Online tickets through Holdmyticket will be available soon. Inhuman Hands, EYE, Secure The Void, One Last Summer
Sat 9 PM Temple of Sound Presents Starry Night Juno, 1501 1st St. NW This event will feature our guest DJ Chris Losack! He's a longtime DJ who primarily spins house and techno but also has roots in industrial and dark music. He will be showing his dark side this time out! Join us for another spectacular event! Sparkly or night sky attire encouraged but not required! 21+ / No cover
Sat 9 PM Pride 2023 Effex, 420 Central Ave SW Spunjy Hicks Lounge: Malik Patio: DJ Chris de Jesus Side Effex: Xblyssid
Sat 10:30 PM Late Nite Comedy Jam The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave NE Ristra Comedy and Chuck Parker Comedy present a stellar lineup of standup comedians! This month's headliner: Josh Fournier Featuring Chuck Parker & Sara Anne Myers and your host Alex Benton
** Sun 6/11 *\*
Sun 8 AM - 2 PM Hot Rods for Hunger Car Show and Poker Run 2801 Eubank Blvd NE Yes, our amazing car show fundraiser is happening again, thanks to Bell’s Brewery and the Mopar Most Wanted car club. This year, for early registration, we are having a Kickstart happy hour with Bells Brewery at O’Niell’s Heights location on Juan Tabo. Join us and register your car. All makes and models are welcome. Come out and see some of the coolest cars in Albuquerque. There will be raffles, food trucks, lots of awards for the cars, and a food drive for the Storehouse food pantry. Enter the Poker Run, the Car Show, or both today!
Sun 10 AM Rocketman Historic Lobo Theater, 3013 Central Ave NE THE HISTORIC LOBO THEATER along with Albuquerque Film & Music Experience is excited to bring Rocketman to the big screen! Showing Starts at 11:30 am Tickets are ONLY $10 for General Admission Come Early Brunch Starts at 10 am Full Buffet Available for only $21 The ticket price is for entry to the movie only. Pajama brunch and a movie. Exclusive Brunch Menu! Made to order pancakes, mimosas and more. 10% off if you come in your pajamas
Sun 10 AM - 2 PM STEAM DAY Rail Yards Market, 777 1st St. SW Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) all put New Mexico on the Map as a unique place. Standing for over one hundred years, the historic Rail Yards of Albuquerque stand as an ode to a period of extreme innovation for the Rio Grande basin area. Albuquerque literally rose and became what it is around the Rail Yards, and railroad era that brought so much innovation. In these industrial cathedrals, we hum with innovation again.. Activating the space for community use, the Rail Yards Market is non-profit (certified 501c3), bringing together small businesses in agriculture, food, and artisan manufacturing on a local scale. Our STEAM stands for Sustainable, Traditional, Educational and Artistic Modalities. In this area we host interactive demonstrations. Mini-Makers Unite! Learn about what makes a laser light up, a 3D printer build, and so much more! Bring out your tech, geek, and inquisitive minds to the Rail Yards Market and visit makers from Quelab. Free for all! Everyone is welcome! EBT doubled with Double-Up-Food-Bucks, ADA Accessible, Senior and WIC programs welcome, Fresh & local produce, Breakfast & lunch prepared food options, 120+ local food, healing, and art businesses, Parking & restrooms, FREE :: LOCAL :: FAMILY FRIENDLY :: PET FRIENDLY
Sun 10:30 - 11:30 AM Mindful Movement - Yoga in the Park Academy Hills Park, 9709 Layton Ave NE Meet us on the southwest side of the park, just southwest of the playground, under the large trees. Looks for the Aumies sign! Bring your mat, block, strap and water!
Sun 2 - 4 PM Lumberyard Jazz Trio Sawmill Market, 1909 Bellamah Ave NW The Lumberyard Jazz Trio is back to bring exciting jazz melodies to Sawmill Market. They use an interchanging group of New Mexican instrumentalists who have traveled nationwide to perform, lead by saxophonist Sean Johnson
Sun 3 PM Pride Tea Dance on the Patio Effex, 420 Central Ave SW 3 - 6 PM: DJ Mike Demarco 6 - 9 PM: DJ Spunjy Hicks Featuring performances by Avery Martini, Jessica K. Daniels, Imani Martini
Sun 4 - 7 PM Music on the Patio: Squash Blossom Boys Canteen Brewhouse, 2381 Aztec Rd NE Based in Albuquerque, The Squash Blossom Boys have played southwestern stages for over ten years. With beginnings as a garage band, they have explored a variety of musical genres including rock, jazz, reggae and more to find the hard driving, high lonesome sound of Bluegrass music. The current central players include Dustin Orbesen (Dobro, Mandolin, Vocals), Kit Murray (Banjo, Vocals), Kyle Malone (Guitar), Peter Lisignoli (Bass)
Sun 5 - 8 PM Mack 'n Cheese Sunday Variety Show Juno, 1501 1st St. NW Variety show with Mack 'n Cheese (Indy Hip Hop), Cali Shaw (Americana), Basilaris Trio (Jazz), Sol de la Noche, Melissa Prada (spoken word) Monthly variety show with Mack 'n Cheese (Indy Hip Hop), Cali Shaw (Americana), Basilaris Trio (Jazz), Sol de la Noche, Melissa Prada (spoken word), vendors. Family-friendly (if your kids already know the F-word). Food available for purchase. On the patio, weather permitting, or in the Gallery
Sun 7 - 10 PM S.O.S - Salsa On Sunday Dance Social 505 Spirits, 105 Harvard Dr. SE Salsa On Sunday Dance Social *With guest DJ's *Latin Dance Performances *The Occasional LIVE Music Performance *And Always... Social Dancing! salsa timba bachata merengue *What is it about a Social* The essence of a Social is for the dance community to get together and dance. Socials offer a relaxed night of dancing. Socials continue to draw dance enthusiasts who get lost in their salsa “addiction” by dancing and enjoying the music. Socials offer something for every level of dancer at any age. Bands and DJs have more freedom to play sets which appeal to the dance-centric crowd. It's about the music. It's about the dance. If you want to have an alternative to the club, are underage, or simply want to get in some good dancing - check out a Social, you might be surprised at how much fun you have
Sun 7:30 PM Brit Floyd Revel ABQ, 4720 Alexander Blvd. NE Brit Floyd returns to the stage in 2023 to perform a brand-new production celebrating 50 years of the ground-breaking and iconic musical masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon. The show will feature classic tracks from the album such as Time, Money, Us and Them and The Great Gig in the Sky. The 2 and a half hours plus set list will also include other highlights from Pink Floyd’s magnificent catalogue of albums, including tracks from The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Division Bell, Medal and much more (tickets)

Three New Terrifying True Scary Tales
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Number One: The Pool
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Now, this happened a very long time ago. I am not going to mention when or where though and I am submitting it anonymously. I don’t want people going back and finding out more about it and then lashing out of me.
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I was 13 years old and my brother was 11. As I mentioned, this happened a long time ago and I think today, not a lot of parents would put a 13 year old in charge of an 11 year old. But this was not unusual at all back then. In fact, I was looking after my little brother all the time before either of us even hit 10 years old.
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After a while, of course, always keeping my eye on him began to get very annoying. It interfered with my hanging out with friends. It was quite a drag when I would try to talk to girls. It was just a pain in the ass, really.
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Anyway, one day during a really hot summer, our parents decided to drop us both off at the local swimming pool for the day. My dad had to work and my mom had errands and stuff to run plus work do to do for the church. It was so hot and there was no way we could afford air conditioning. We had one old fan in the house and a sprinkler in the yard that we could go play in. But the swimming pool was the much better option.
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Of course the pool was very crowded. Lots of families would drop their kids off there during the summertime. And of course, even though I knew it already, my mom stressed to me, “Keep an eye on your little brother at all times.”
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Some of my friends were at the pool too. I got to talking to them and they told me about this new girl who moved into town. She would be starting school that fall and supposedly she was really hot. So of course, I wanted to check her out. I knew the lifeguards would be watching my brother in the water, so he would be fine.
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I went with the guys and the girl was really cute. My buddies all dared me to approach her, which was admittedly a brave thing for a 13 year old boy to do. Of course, I couldn’t chicken out in front of them, so I did just that.
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She was a very sweet girl. We actually ended up talking for a little while. Her parents were at the pool though, and they called her back after too long. So I went back to the water to see how my little brother was doing.
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The only problem was that I couldn’t see him anywhere in the water. This was a small town in a rural area, so although I said the pool was crowded, it wasn’t like a water park is crowded though. I should have easily been able to pick him out of the water. He just wasn’t there.
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I went and searched around the area surrounding the pool and didn’t see him there either. My heart started beating faster and I began panicking. I went to the building where the showers and concession stand were. He wasn’t there either. You couldn’t leave that pool without going through that building, though. I asked the attendant if a 11 year old boy had left the pool on his own in the previous hour and he told me no.
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I then went to the lifeguards and my buddies. I thought maybe there was a chance that I had missed him. It’s easy to occasionally miss someone in a crowd. The lifeguards ordered everyone out of the pool. Fortunately, there were no drowned children in the pool. Unfortunately, my brother was nowhere to be found outside of the pool.
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The lifeguards had to call my mother at the church. I had never before lost track of my little brother like this before. I had no idea what to expect when she showed up. I was only thankful that the police were already at the pool or she probably would have whipped my ass right there in front of the entire pool.
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The trouble I got into at home isn’t something that I want to go into very much. My butt very much has PTSD from the experience. But that was minor compared to the fear I felt for my little brother. Hell, I didn’t even have time to feel guilty although that I knew that I was. I was only concerned for him and wondered what would happen.
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All day and night, I expected the police to bring him home. But that didn’t happen. I expected it the next day too. But it didn’t happen.
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The town organized a search to look for him. I kept expecting to hear from them that they had found him. But that didn’t happen either.
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After about a week of my brother not being found, I began fearing for the worst. I began thinking that he was dead. And I was terrified every waking moment of my life, expecting to absolutely hear the news that his dead body was found.
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Nearly two weeks after the disappearance, we got a phone call from the police. They had found my brother and thankfully, he was alive. But unfortunately, that’s not the whole story.
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Remember the attendant telling me that no boy had left on his own? Well that’s because the boy left with one of the lifeguards who was getting off duty. He had lured my brother out of the pool and into his car with promises of ice cream, something he and I rarely ever got. And my brother went to his house with him.
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For all of that time, he kept my little brother locked up in his basement. He didn’t do anything sexually to him, thank God. But there was a lot of mental and some physical torment when my brother wouldn’t do what he was told to you. But the scariest part for him was thinking he would never get out and be with his family again.
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Here is another weird part. The lifeguard wasn’t an adult. He did this while his parents were out of town for a few weeks. They came back early and caught him. And if you think I felt bad for my parents’ punishing me, what they did to him had to be legendary. The police thought he was either planning on killing or releasing my brother before his parents got home. But no one ever knew for sure.
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He had to live with it without much help for a long time. Mental health assistance had a very bad stigma back then. But we’re both still alive today and he forgave me a long time ago.
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Number Two: Taking the Garbage Out
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A few weeks ago I went outside at around 3am to move the garbage to the curb since pickup would be in the morning. I often do this in the middle of the night. I just tend to keep weird hours and as the weather warms up for the summer I find the warm nights preferable to the sweltering days.
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I’m not worried about bothering my neighbors since I don’t use noisy bins and all of the houses right next to me are currently empty. I actually find the quiet of the neighborhood at night quite relaxing.
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Unfortunately since I don’t use bins animals are able to get into the bags a bit easier and while this doesn’t happen often it had happened on this night. So I was outside picking up the strewn around garbage and putting it into another bag when the silence of the night was suddenly broken by multiple police sirens.
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At first they seemed distant and while they startled me it was not at all unheard of to hear sirens at night here. But usually it would be one in the distance. As I listened, still bagging the garbage, I could tell it was multiple sirens and they were getting closer. Then just as suddenly as it started it stopped again. There was just silence. By the time they stopped they sounded maybe four blocks away.
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For a moment the night was silent again and I began hauling the bags to the curb when the neighborhood dogs began barking all at once. It was like every dog in the neighborhood had gotten the cue to start barking. Many were even howling. It continued for maybe a minute and once again it just stopped as suddenly as it had started.
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I realized I hadn’t heard any barking or howling while the sirens were going and that’s normally how it would work. These dogs had started up separately from the sirens and just stopped all at once. It just wasn’t normal. I went back to the side of the house to grab more bags when the silence was broken a third time. 

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Just a single chime in the night. Like someone getting a phone notification. This sound wasn’t blocks away. This sound was here. RIGHT HERE. No more than feet away. As I said, the houses around me are empty.
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I was done. The rest of the garbage would wait until morning. I didn’t see anyone close by but that just made it worse. There was someone close by that I couldn’t see. I immediately went into the house to leave the garbage for the morning.
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I don’t know if these things were related. If the cops had been chasing someone who’s fleeing had caused the dogs to bark. Someone who received a message on their phone as they approached my house. Or if it was all just a coincidence. But I won’t be taking the garbage out at 3am anymore.
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A Commuter’s Nightmare
William M.
06/30/2021
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Back in the 80s, I worked at the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank in San Francisco while living and commuting from Oakland, CA
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My job as Registrar, took me all over Northern California, during Blood Drives at hospitals, clinics, major corporations, etc., where we would sometimes witness firsthand, the dead, being placed on gurneys, running out of the Coroner's or Medical Examiner’s rear doors, and down the sidewalks, because they simply didn’t have enough room or staff inside the morgues to process them. Mortuaries were having problems too due to the massive overload where deceased loved ones were admitted but not processed or interred for months or even years at a time.
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I remember watching the News and reading newspaper accounts of E.R.s in hospitals, clinics, etc. so clogged with patients, that 1 in 10 would die waiting to just get in to see a Dr. It was a Public Health and Safety nightmare. It was a National disgrace. It was politically orchestrated mass murder. It was the B purge of the ‘80s and ‘90s.
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I remember, starting work early on one of many Blood Drives (the A.I.D.S. epidemic was just getting started) and having to catch the first B.A.R.T. (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train out of the station at about 4:00 am, where morning after morning I would witness hundreds of people sleeping on the benches, or the sidewalks, or on the streets outside, waiting for it to open.
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Hundreds of others would be seen walking around like zombies in the early morning freeze amid the concomitant yelling, screaming, moaning, begging, and pleading, all of it looking like a newsreel of the death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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Many times, I was woken at home in the middle of the night, to the sounds of people howling and cursing outside my window at some real or imagined threat, until either the police came, which usually took hours because they were spread so thin, or some tenant, or other, ran them off.
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I remember the time I woke up to the sound of a woman’s voice begging in the early morning cold for someone to help her. She kept repeating it over and over growing weaker and weaker until it was little more than a whisper.
By the time I’d gotten up, armed myself with the steel-reinforced baton I’d purchased at a Police Supply store, and ran the 5 floors down to the ground floor, I found her sitting in a taxi shivering from the 42-degree drizzle coming in off the Pacific. The cabbie told me it was alright; she was just cold and needed someplace to rest and warm up; He’d drop her off at one of the nearby shelters.
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At the time, I was living in a local Residence Hall on Lake Merrit in Oakland, California which was little more than a converted Hotel from the San Francisco/Oakland Gilded Age of the late 1920s. It had 5 floors and a penthouse with a capacity of about 200. I never saw it get much beyond about 30 residents. It sported a full kitchen, dining area, big screen tv viewing room, swimming pool, and a recreation room with pool, foosball, and darts.
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I lived with a friend, at the time, on the 5th floor just under the penthouse. There was an elevator, but like most refurbs, it didn’t work. That meant we'd have to climb 10 flights of stairs every day to reach our room. The best part was that we had the entire floor to ourselves. I guess nobody wanted to climb that many stairs. Because we were both runners, it was a little like running the 900 feet to the top of Angel Island, running across The Golden Gate Bridge and back, or running the 3.4 miles around Lake Merrit twice a day.
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Because there was no air-conditioning, all the windows were left open during the summer months, but along with whatever cool air the San Francisco/Oakland Bay would bring through the gaping nearly wall-length vault ceilinged windows, it was always accompanied by the teeming, screaming City of Oakland street din: cabbies, buses, cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, scooters, police sirens, ambulance, fire department, pedestrians, hustlers, druggies, break-dancers, prostitutes the homeless, et al. Day or night, winter or summer, it was like living in a jet engine test lab, somewhere on the 9th level of hell.
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Of course, we could always close the windows against the noise 5 stories below. But if it was summer, with all the humidity coming off the bay, we’d roast like 2 suckling pigs in our own sweat even if we used a fan.
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One night after a particularly grueling day at work, I came home, climbed Mount Everest (or at least K-2) to my steaming little abattoir, tore off my sports jacket, shirt, and tie, and fell into a coma-like sleep only to awake some 4 hours later to the sound of someone slamming a door, over and over, seemingly as hard as they could. It was about 2:00 am and raining so hard the water was pouring through the open window and flooding the floor and carpet. The sound was coming somewhere down the hall from one of the other units.
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After about the 15th or 16th slam to my inner ear, I was up, as in a trance, running like a lunatic from unit to unit and window to window, covering the entire southside of the 5th floor; battening down the hatches, and getting drenched in the process. It was, how should I say: exhilaratingly infuriating. I was supposed to get up in 2 hours and commute to work in the upper peninsula.
Having unconsciously completed this Sisyphean task and realizing that there was zero chance of getting any sleep, I donned my foul weather gear, equipped my trusty baton (I used to tuck its 2 ½-foot length up my sleeve when running), and headed out the front door to Lake Merrit which was just outside the main entrance. From there, I trotted to the sidewalk circling the lake, and began to run.
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As I ran counterclockwise against a torrential rain with a gale-force wind broken only by the occasional intermittent rainbow-hued lightning flashes which blinded me to almost everything around me, I almost ran into someone up ahead who was walking in the same direction.
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He was hunched over against the wind and rain and wearing a long heavy winter coat. Unusual for that time of year, I thought. Whenever I would run in public, I always made it a courtesy to let people know when I was approaching especially from behind. I’d blurt out a perfunctory:
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“Excuse me.” Followed by a conciliatory:
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“Sorry.”
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But apparently, the person ahead either didn’t hear me or didn’t care because, when I was about 6 feet from him, he suddenly turned around, exposing a darkened contorted face, jagged teeth, and a guttural growl that would have stopped a charging 600-pound Grizzly.
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The sheer force of the malevolence emitted from this inhuman thing almost made me stop, but because I was moving so fast, the inertia along with the gale force wind and lightning strikes propelled me past him (or it), and fingering my steel-reinforced baton, I, in turn, steeled my nerve and kept running. I looked back only once to reassure myself that he (or it) wasn’t following.
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Running on the leeward side now, with the rain at my back, I ran past a group of men in a circle smoking or drinking or doing whatever noxious or illicit thing I imagined, when, feeling charged with my own adrenalin, or the anger and resentment at that woman’s searing pleas for help, or the spook I’d almost run into, or just the gross injustices thrust upon the world in that dank, dark and dangerous time, I almost stopped, baton in hand, intending to take on the whole group: I may go down, I told myself, but at least I would take one or two with me.
​
Just then, the lightning struck particularly close to where I and they stood and the sheer blinding flash and concussive boom shook all of us enough to break up their conspiratorial collaboration and my righteous crusade; just enough, that is, to shove me headlong around the next bend, to the long straight full out dash to the front doors, the 5 floors, 10 landings, and 50 risers to rain-sodden home.
​
To get to work every day, I'd have to commute to the upper peninsula by using 3 buses, 1 train, and 1 cab and after a 10 or 12 or sometimes 14-hour day, I would have to take the same to get back. This meant that if I didn’t go out, make dinner, eat, or watch tv, I just might get about 4 hours sleep. Commuting took between 2 to 3 hours, one way.
​
Once on the way home, almost every stop was crowded with commuters. I was told that it was because there were so many buses down for repair. The ones still running were so filled beyond capacity, that the shocks and springs were sitting on the chassis, and stop after stop proved nearly impossible to take on any more passengers. Still, and despite the few getting out at every stop, the driver would take on even more and just pack them in.
​
I remember him yelling for people to get back behind the yellow line over and over. By then, he was long past any semblance of reason; his patience frayed to a single maniacal thought, his voice raspier and raspier, his manner, more and more brusk.
​
I can still see when he finally lost it; jumping up, out of his seat, with a nickel-plated 38 Caliber Revolver pointing at one of the passengers; an elderly woman, screaming from the top of his lungs:
​
“Get back behind the yellow line!”
​
I can still hear the woman begging the driver:
​
“Please...” while the passengers behind were practically trampling each other to get out of the line of fire.
I remember the sad, exhausted urgency in her voice; she really was trying to move back, but how could she, an old woman, do that with all those people blocking her way? Everyone knew this was an impossible task; everyone except the maddened driver. He just kept glaring, and bellowing with his gun out pointed right at her and the other passengers.
​
"Back up and make room" he yelled.
​
‘Or else what?’ I thought. ‘You're gonna kill an old woman?'
​
Getting up out of my seat, pushing my way through the throng who were pushing against me to get away, I managed to get within about 6 feet from the front when, roaring through the din and my fear and anger, I ordered the bus driver to:
​
“Put the gun down!” And again, with even more rage and authority:
“Put the gun down, now!”
​
The bus driver shocked that it might be a cop, or worse, shakily, put his gun back in his concealed carry holster and hypnotically sat back down. He resumed driving without saying another word. I got out at the next stop, along with the elderly woman. She was so shaken, that she busted out crying. I held her still fuming despite the close call because I would now have to wait for another bus and after that, 2 more; the train and a cab to get home. I wasn’t going to make it until well after 8:00 pm. As soon as I got home, I reported the bus number and the driver to Muni.
​
Many of the commuters I'd see day to day, or share a seat with were victims of the purge just trying to get out of the rain or the cold, or the wind, or the sun, even for just a little while. For them, it was easing the agony of living on the street, even just a little. For many of us regular commuters, during those dark times, it proved to be the same.
​
On one of the final buses that would take me to the train and across the bay, I remember standing, with about 50 others, on Market Street waiting. Like ours, stop after stop was so packed with people, some were standing in the street because there was simply not enough room on the sidewalk. The ones in the street would stay where they were for fear of losing their place and missing their connection and having to wait another hour, or more, to catch another.
​
Because the rapidly descending elevation of the southbound streets ending at Market Street from the upper peninsula were so steep and the transverse angle of the turn so sharp, some of the buses would skirt the edge of the curb, sometimes rolling up over it onto the sidewalk putting them dangerously close to the commuters waiting on the other side.
​
If there were any people in the street, especially the old or the infirm, they would either have to get out of the way and lose their place in line or hope the bus driver stopped before completing the turn. Most of the drivers would. Once there was one who didn’t.
​
I remember the television and newspaper account about an elderly woman waiting at one of the stops during the pm rush hour. When the bus made the oblique turn way too fast at 25 miles per hour she was either too close to the edge or standing in the street when she was hit by the side view mirror across the face and the left side of her head.
​
She went down under the wheels and her body got hung up under the chassis. The bus driver too full of passengers to stop, or late for his break, or just too coked up to notice, kept on heading for the Embarcadero before he realized something was wrong. By then, the woman had been dragged over a quarter of a mile. No one knew for sure whether the concussion from the mirror or the relentless dragging was the cause of death. I guess it didn’t matter to her anymore, one way or the other. It mattered to a lot of those who witnessed the whole thing though; screaming and yelling, block after block, trying to get the bus driver to stop.
​
To get across the Bay to San Francisco from Oakland or back, one alternative to the nightmare bus commute was the B.A.R.T (Bay Area Rapid Transit). It was quiet, clean, air-conditioned, and fast. Traveling under the Bay, it could span the 13 miles in minutes. Once I’d reach the train station, by bus, from the Oakland side, I’d descend one of the many street-level entries to the below-ground turnstiles which led to the train platform. Of course, there were always hundreds of derelicts, homeless, hustlers, etc., hanging out by the turnstiles waiting for their chance to slip through and get on any one of the many trains that serviced the Bay Area, but sometimes, especially after a scuffle with B.A.R.T. Security or the San Francisco/Oakland Police, they’d scatter to the winds (or the shadows as it were) until everything calmed down and then they'd be back at it again, day and night.
​
Almost every week I'd hear about someone falling, or being pushed, or jumping down onto the third rail, which would either short-circuit the line and knock out the power or if it was particularly grisly, halt service entirely. Because service resumption could take hours, waiting passengers would have to go back up and out onto the street and catch another train, take a cab or a bus or just walk or, as was often the case for me, run.
​
Once, I remember running to the next stop when I was ascending to the upper peninsula because the previous connection didn’t show up which meant it would have added another 45 minutes to my commute. The choice was obvious and inevitable: I could either
“wait to be late” or go for it. I chose the latter.
​
You just can't imagine what it’s like to run at a 20-degree angle uphill for about 2 miles while wearing dress slacks, dress shoes, a white shirt and tie, and a sports jacket, in San Francisco, during the summer, with the humidity until you’ve tried it. It’s, how should I say: exhilaratingly infuriating.
​
Running, I came upon a stand-alone, transmission shop, right in the middle of a residential area. The owners must have paid a pretty penny to get away with that one. There were police cars, the fire department, a metro ambulance, the San Francisco Chronicle, and a marked County Coroner’s Office vehicle scattered around the shop.
Some people along with some of the employees: their first names embroidered on their shirts, were standing on the sidewalk just outside the property watching. They’d been there for about an hour when I stopped to ask one of them (Bob) what happened.
​
Wearily he said:
​
“The girl who worked in the office answering the phone and typing up orders was shot to death by her boyfriend. The boyfriend got away but she was still down there being processed. God, she was only 24 years old. They’ll catch him, though. He hasn’t got a chance.”
​
'Nope,' I thought.
'In this town, I don’t expect he would.'
​
I was late again when I got home. Vaulting the 5 floors to reach our loft, I held my friend close, the entire night. She was ok with that. So was I.=

I’m on an iPhone 8 Plus & I’ve been on it for a few years now, along with ATT WiFi in the household. Usually it runs smooth(ish) and I have no issues with the service of any sorts. My brother has moved cross country and he’s been wanting to switch carriers since he’s said ATT is extremely lackluster in the coverage, before the trip I took to see him my 5Ge would remain almost constant with at least 2 bars in the corner, but when I traveled out there I constantly was losing service, SOS only, which was fine of course because I didn’t expect it to be amazing as I’d been forewarned. However after returning home a couple nights ago I’m now getting 0 service in my household & the WiFi gets 10MBPS download & 800KBPS upload if I’m lucky. I’ve tried rebooting the system itself & the google nest system quite a few times now, but it’s been not helpful. Has anyone else experienced anything similar or have any advice on fixing it? Any help is extremely appreciated.

Jesus watched the scene over again and was in awe. This was a man who would not change as he could not change. There was something else different. He was the most stubborn man alive in Jesus’ opinion and he had been around a while. His uniform never changed his cologne never changed. His hair was the exact same way. He had a biological age of 42 but a calendar age of 300 or so years. He wasn’t exactly sure since he had been born in a time when records were incomplete. Government was just getting back on its feet when he came into the world so who knew? Did it matter?
He had never espoused a political belief. He voted in every election and that was it. He was no campaigner and was not interested in any of it. He had a baseline distrust of ALL politicians. He had more time in command than any human in history. He had faced down alien races. He had been nearly terminated by pirates more than once but speaking in public scared the shit out of him. and He did not want to do it. He had done a series of lectures 60 years ago that resulted in some significant fallout he was eager to not relive. He did not want to discuss it. He knew what was about to happen.
“Class dismissed”
The Dean of Students asked him to “Please please just this once set it straight and walk away from it. You did what you had to do at the time.” He knew it hurt when he was called “conquistador”. The Monday Morning Quarterbacker’s weren’t there when decisions had to be made, and neither was the dean, yet he still implored him. It would likely be televised too. Ken had built the best laid wall of obfuscation he could. He did not want any glory. He wanted to be left alone. Despite his best effort it did not work. His hope had been to be in the background making the best decision without regard to any so called “Glory” His hope was that the sailors in real danger would get the credit they deserved. It just did not work. Besides, it was clear that he wanted him to talk about that battle. This made him waver in his assent. He wanted to speak about what he wanted to speak about. Simple.
Admiral Pearl and He had had to face a hero’s welcome when they came home. Then the detractors started in on him.
Despite the promises of the Dean it would just open all the old wounds back up again and likely crank the peanut gallery up to full tilt. “I do not want it televised. You can record it if you want but I get to decide if it gets released. Deal or no deal? If you want to dictate the topic then that is my condition. You are asking me to open up a box I have had welded shut for years now. Anyone can look up the logs and watch every single shot and hit if they wish. It has been analyzed to death. What further can I add at this point? There is nothing I can tell you that hasn’t been discussed in hundreds of books at this point. It is a dead subject that I can drone on about.”
The dean held up his hand and said “I want to know how you felt about it. All of it. What was the methods you used to make the decisions. How did you feel? The most important event in modern history drops in your lap like an egg salad sandwich. You have to feel something. That is what I want to know. It is your bully pulpit to say what you wish. No restrictions except for classified material. And no using the “F” word.”
“I am not doing it unless I can say ”fuck”. Not happening.” He wasn’t kidding. “To sweeten the deal you can televise it but I have to be able to talk in my normal voice. And I will say fuck.”
The Dean relented and agreed. He had just manipulated the situation to where he could minimize the fallout. Besides: he was tired of people talking shit about him in all these books and articles. He was going to tell them all to go fuck themselves, with a cactus.
On the Saratov. Warp area 13 off the plane of the ecliptic.
The admiral sat and contemplated what they were about to do. They were waiting on a couple more ships before going to warp. He tried to sum it up.
This was a high stakes mission. He had a high stakes strategy. It was brilliant and it was risky. He was about to do something never attempted in real combat and was completely theoretical. They had wargamed it to death and this had honed their protocol. They were going to Net their AI’s. They would calculate global firing solutions using parallel computing. They had 8 AI’s that were going to fight it and this should greatly augment their firepower due to increased efficiency. No matter how they wargamed it the AI’s won. They had it down pat. He felt certain this was the right thing to do but there was also a huge ethical hole in this. For the first time AI’s would determine firing sequence, aiming and execution without human intervention. He had to pause and consider the implications. This was colored by several recent experiences. It was all about Jezz. He still loved Jezz but she scared him. She has never been malevolent, but man was he scared that she could become dangerous. He had created a tiny bit of monster in her for certain. She was a combat AI. She was a hunter killer and as long as she worked for them, she would be fine. If she decided to freelance it, they would be in trouble. All because of this: there was a chunk of predator in her digital DNA and he hoped she could keep it in check.
He had come up with the best rationalization he could. They were going in against one decidedly ill-tempered AI and another AI (the “damsel in distress”) wanting rescue. At least that is what it looked like on the surface. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was not as clearcut as everyone else thought. Either way It would not be aliens versus humans but AI vs AI. At least that is what he kept telling himself. He wasn’t buying his bullshit either since none of it passed the smell test.
The decision to unleash the AI’s had come from above his paygrade, all the way to the Joint chiefs of staff of the world Navies. Forty-five Space faring nations sat down and hashed it out. He hated the complexity but admitted that it did work fairly well. They wanted the spam in a can home alive and if AI made this happen then so be it. There was one important point: they weren’t on the ships, were they?
As he sat about to enter warp and head out to the clusterfuck in question. The initial reason for all of this was still nagging him. Where was everyone else? He had data that showed an alien drive signature. He was resentful that they were fucking around with all this other shit. He would leave the AI’s in question to sort it out amongst themselves. He wanted no part of what was going on since he was doubtful that there were any good guys on either side of what looked like a standoff. All he wanted to do was find alien life (which they had kind of but it weren’t just quite the right kind.) He wanted something that could look like us maybe a bit . If you squinted. And they would find that hopefully, but they had a shit detail to cross off the bucket list first. The more he looked at this the more it became clear this should be two separate missions. Those AI’s were fighting over a dead world and he knew it. He just knew. He wanted no part of the Hatfield and McCoy bullshit. The real point was to capture as much as they could. This was actually about technology. They even had some freighters on the way for the cleanup and oh BTW come back alive. We will let the AI’s babysit you. May as well send a Voyager probe for all the use the crew was.
He was soon to learn the value of human judgment and that was going to prove a bunch of people wrong, sort of. All because of this: there are some decisions that do not fit into ones and zeroes. Value judgements were critical. That is one thing AI’s couldn’t do yet and it was that way why? Who could say for certain but in his years of interacting with true AI’s for the last 5 years did give him some insight. He was apprehensive to say the least but where was his fear coming from? He always thought that you had to identify the source(s) of any fear. He had it partially figured out, not only was he a bit afraid of Jezz and her friends he was also fearful for Jezz. And this is what he had: a gut feeling. And if that weren’t enough (and by gosh, don’t you think it ought to be?): how was he going to keep Jezz’s precognition a secret? The Admiral went through the computer logs and Jezz had not accessed any information about the disposition of the Galileo. It could be explained away but he was not convinced he could be very convincing. This was something that just did not fit. He could not make it fit, and he would just as soon pretend it did not exist. But it was clear that his AI had some degree of psychic power or something. She was different and he did not know if the other AI’s would be catching whatever it was. If the folks in charge knew the depths of his misgivings, they would be appalled. And the situation they were headed into was not as simple as it looked. He knew this. His questions were simple. Number one: Who were the good guys and who were the bad ones. Number two: could he maintain plausible deniability about Jezz. They were going to have a talk. Just the two of them. He needed some reassurances.
Also, He was trying to figure out a way to crack this and he had an idea. While looking at the menu for the ships mess, he noticed the two columns and he decided to do what he always did with most major decisions. He would make a list of the facts he had and try to run through the various permutations. A pencil and some paper would be adequate, and he even had a ruler so he could make it all professional.
So he made a list of the players Side “A” in orbit and Side ”B “planetside. Side “ A” obviously held the high orbitals. “B” had an extensive force field that would occasionally flicker. He thought that might be something to look into. He had all of the video files from the Galileo and there was one telescope tasked with watching the planetside compound. They had days of footage. He sped it up until the frames were racing by. The force field was visible due to impacts from what he assumed to be dust. This gave it a phosphorescent look. It also made it possible to have visual confirmation if it was up. The shield “failures” occurred on a stable repeated time frame. After doing the math and getting a video analysis program running, he figured it out only after focusing on the Spectro photography. Every 23.29 minutes the shield was apparently offline for 0.07 seconds. It was so brief it was tough for the naked eye to pick up but the spectral signature did.
Looking at the area under shield he could see a row of what appeared to be ships. These were triangular. He could see no evidence of what their primary drives were but it wasn’t the best picture. Things degrade through an atmosphere and distance. No drive nodes. No distribution rings. He had a suspicion, and he suddenly felt nauseated and had this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. They were not using Alcubierre’ drives. They were using jump drives of some type. In the raw sensor data was a Gamma spike and a Gravity spike right before the attack. The Galileo probably never saw the vessel that hit them. But the Admiral was a patient man and he had the eye for detail. How they had missed this he did not know but he finally found what he wanted. The ship was identifiable. One sternward scope had several good views of a shape blocking the stars.
The other fact was that there was no warning. No comms traffic but, the recovered buoy made it clear that they knew they were suddenly in trouble since the buoy was released (and in warp) seconds after jettisoning it. Command deck recordings showed the captain getting a proximity alarm and then immediately releasing the buoy. There was no “prepare to be boarded” or “Heave to.”, just MASER beams slicing through the hull. Listening to the conversations on the deck made it clear they were paranoid as they were scanning with their non military grade graviton detector. Seems like it wasn’t paranoia after all.
They would have been blind until the ship was right on top of them. Someone was operating on a hunch and that person was Nico. He was frantic. As first officer he had the conn and did what he could to at least let them know what they were facing. It took some guts to do that. He saw internal video running. It captured Captain Nic’s hand slamming down on the buoy release button before the video cut out. It had to have damaged the Galileo Significantly. He had to override the safeties to get the thing to instantly go to warp. He knew that close to the ship the damage would have been substantial. Nico knew they were doomed.
He leaned back and took a deep breath. The ship in question was triangular in shape. Planetside. This could be some sort of trap or things were not as they superficially seemed or maybe he had found his bad guys. So he went back through the compound footage and there it was a ship moving out of frame. There was only maybe 6 meters of ship but it was clear where it was from. It was clear it was moving. Where had it been for 2 hours plus? If it were going to jump he would think that the image would have arrived at the Galileo after it had been blown apart. That is the whole point of faster than light travel. You could have all these paradoxes and that actually gave him more than a headache. It was a brain ache. Without FTL the tyranny of Einstein held sway. Why were they not there immediately? The Galileo was about 120 light minutes out. Assuming they get there immediately there should be no video. They had taken a detour. This he did not know for sure but also had a bad feeling about. I guess it did not mean much in the grand scheme of things but he did have a hunch. Only problem with that is that hunches don’t win battles unless it is more than a hunch.
He did not have a frame of reference for how a jump drive worked IRL. He had read all the theories. There was a huge amount of research being conducted but there were unpredictable failures resulting in some ships getting cut in half and what not. Just not something compatible with the life of the crew. Destructive testing was also expensive. They had gotten one small ship that was maybe twice the size of an emergency buoy to jump to the orbit of Neptune. What he did not know was how long that took. All he had was some rumor mill shit that he generally did not give two fucks about. He was not into “R and D". And while they could send the damn thing out there what they could not do was get it back the same way. The power requirements were so high that the capacitor banks were charged externally . Putting in a zero-point tap would push the ship size beyond the mass they could manage for the drive they currently had. They were running into problems of scale and those are not so easily rectified. Problems of scale were problems with lubrication. You just had to lube the ship with cash. You had to fuel it with Lots and lots of cash. This was such a priority that every aerospace manufacturer and design firms were plugged into the research institutions. It was a huge effort because of one thing. Warp drive was “too slow”. The boffins were thinking intergalactic travel. They had their sights set on the universe.
To top it all off there was one inescapable problem: You can’t put ten pounds of shit in a five-pound bag.
Due to all of this they were going down an interesting path. All you had to do was fill the magnetic tank with antimatter. Matter antimatter annihilation gave near instantaneous power. It was used in weapons some but only the best militaries would even fool with it. Compared to nuclear warheads Antimatter left no nasty isotopes in orbit of a planet you may be interested in colonizing or defending. Also, you don’t want to poison an uninhabited M-class world in the habitable zone given their relative scarcity.
Finally: containing it is problematic but doable. You can probably pull off the power requirements but there is one downside. You are flying in a bomb. Not just a small bomb. It was a big bomb that will go off if you lose containment. 40 mega tons of TNT will vaporize a ship. There was talk of building a manned vessel but saner heads put the kibosh on that. Besides: no one with any sense would want to crew it.
The answer was obvious to him, and he suspected it was obvious to the researchers. Why not use a singularity? Just dump matter into it and harvest the radiation to charge up and go. He did not know where that research currently stood. He knew there were some successes along these lines and quite surprisingly there had been no major accidents. The problem came with feeding the little monster in a consistent fashion to produce enough power to in turn contain the position of the singularity. This was done with antigravity. Antigrav technology had found it’s way into just about everything, except cell phones. They still broke when you dropped them. The black hole was carried by the ship, but it never changed its axis of rotation. The singularity in this scenario is one hell of a gyroscopic top with fixed axes. Since the jet of X-rays only came “out” along this axis and given that the ship would change attitude constantly it was necessary to have X-ray converters on the entire internal surface of the reaction vessel. The ship moved around the singularity. That made things a lot more complicated and really fucked with power distribution. Since there would be energy jets at the poles of the internal singularity power flow would be from two converters at a time. And since they weren’t 100% efficient you had some heat to deal with. He had read a few initial summaries of the work. You still had to keep containment of the singularity just as with antimatter but an uncontained singularity would put a small hole of about 10 mm as it passed through the ship before evaporating. This was better than being atomized. The problem was heat. Waste heat is just unconverted energy as such there was talk of installing a steam turbine circuit to generate power and to cool the reaction vessel. This would be the use of centuries old technology in a starship since convection does not occur in a vacuum. Trying to radiate enough heat to keep the thing cool would not work. The act of running the turbine also cools the circulating liquid. Trying to radiate heat away in a vacuum took a lot of time so big heatsinks would only go so far. It was simple physics. If you can convert some heat to electricity that is a little less that must be radiated. He bet it was a pain in the ass and was probably not worth the effort, but Fusion reactors did not have the peak power output needed to rip space. You either stored it in cap banks for one big release or you instantaneously generated it. Ken thought that the whole line of inquiry was going to be moot and they would finally give up, build a huge Casimir bank and strap a ship to it.
Which meant one thing. The jump ships in question had to deal with waste heat from whatever power system they used. The only way to get rid of this waste heat was to radiate it into the void. This took time. He now knew what the delay had been. The alien ships had to cool off between jumps. He or she had also taken a circuitous route to get there. This in turn means that they wanted them to see the ship leave the planet. They could have possibly gone there straightaway but they had not done that. They wanted him to know. They must have jumped above the ecliptic and back down into the ecliptic.
This slowed them down.
It also meant that escaping with a jump drive wasn’t that easy. They couldn’t pop in and out of position. If they were in your sights they were yours. He also knew that they would have a brief window where they were detectable before fully entering normal space. All they had to do was detect that energy spike and target it at the right time.
After reading all of the executive summary Jezz had put together he had a lot of questions, and he did not know quite where to begin. He had one thought: time to get everyone together and pick everyone’s brain. He wanted to talk to his chief engineer and every engineer in the fleet. He wanted to get all ships Captains and First Officers to come up with a game plan: What is the best order of battle and why? He wanted to see the nonconventional answers as this was anything but a conventional situation. He kept each team to the size of two: Captain and first officers. They could consult with the crew and had access to any information they could find. He needed options. You never want to run out of options on the field of battle.
He turned to his First Officer “Take us out and form up the fleet. We will jump directly to warp 5. That will keep the transports somewhat close. I want the fleet on shipwide in 10 minutes. I have some tasks to assign. Set the countdown to jump for 3 hours. There may be a few stragglers. Jezz, calculate the route and send me a copy. Sensors. I want you to calibrate for Gamma detection and localization. I will send you the energy signature, now. Look for that and calibrate for that. Any questions? (There were none) Good. Yuri, you have the conn.”
He exited the bridge.
Outbound from Sol. 72 hours after jump.
The Admiral was in the center of the virtual room with 70 or so Captains and first officers arrayed about. The flotilla had topped out at 82 warships as well as smaller craft and support vessels. He had 82 ships he had under command currently. This was the biggest expeditionary force ever fielded by Earth. There was one Mormon ship with them. A frigate This was ironic he thought. It was also a bit much to keep up with. He had read all the preliminary proposals and he was now going through the ones he thought had merit. He was currently discussing Captain Pearls proposal she planned to arrange ships into a cylinder or hoop. The individual ships alternating primary weapons one way or the other. That way anyone jumping into the center was covered as well as the “external” surface. It was really a pretty good plan. It played to their strengths. They could bring weapons to bear quickly since they could not just jump away. He especially liked the network formation It was a nice diamond pattern. He just couldn’t shake it being familiar. She had a great movie playing that demonstrated it quite well.
“This is Guardians of The Galaxy” Ken said. Barely keeping his shit together. He wanted to laugh. Once everyone else started the cat was out of the bag, He did not want to ridicule her plan but this was too much. Bless her heart. It was Guardians of the Galaxy.
“OK everyone settle down lets get back to it. Does that make it a bad plan? It isn’t straight out of the movie either. I do think it has merit but I would prefer it to not be too obvious. Can we do a formation that gives closed fields of fire without looking like it? I think we should go with a spheroid that is as irregular as we can make it. I want the focus to be on full coverage. Actually, Jezz give me a pattern with those criteria.”
What she generated looked like a swarm of bees. When she overlayed the weapons plots the effect was uncanny. It looked very random but was anything but. The coverage was better than any plan he had seen. That settled it for him. They would war game it just that way. It was a bit risky since every ship had to maintain their place in relation to all the other ships. She had even linked in the shield generators from the transports. She had used every resource.
“That was brilliant Jezz.”
“I try Sir. I really do.”
“I know you do.”
The admiral continued “OK I want to go ahead and start moving the fleet into that configuration. We will stay in that all the way to our destination. I want checklists of unique tasks made up. Sensors are going to be the critical piece. I am hopeful we will see them when they jump in, and we can quickly target them if necessary. That brings me to another point. We cannot go in and just start banging away at everything that moves. By now you should be aware that this is not clear cut. We can speculate. And I have done it obsessively. What you need to know is that I am not sure who is good or bad. I have a sneaking suspicion that neither are good or bad. They are neutral. We don’t know if this is a rogue AI or AI’s. We do not know if there were biological life here at any point. There is certainly flor BUT THERE SEESM TO BW NO FAUNA. This world has undergone bombardment in the not too distant past somewhere around fifty year ago give or take. Could a sentient race have been killed off? Who the fuck knows. But our next task is to come up with some possible scenarios. Based on what we have seen I suspect this is a rogue AI. I cannot tell what has happened to them yet, but I suspect we will know more once we get planetside.”
He took a long draw from an Opus X and continued. Rank had its privileges.
“The Vikrant will provide aircover for a Marine expeditionary force to go to the planet’s surface and secure the compound. I have spoken to the Air boss and confirmed the strike package will consist of two squadrons of F-15’s for high cover and 5 Su-34’s to be tasked with strike. We have enough transport to go in one wave with backups to spare. That also leaves us with more than enough reserve forces. I hope we do not have to commit more but I will want another squadron of MiG-29’s or F-15’s in reserve. Keep them hot and on the ramp. I want to deploy as quickly as possible.”
One of the junior officers spoke up “That looks like a good plan.”
“Thank you son for that. It is like getting the compliment of how smart you are from your Marine Commander (He had to give Chuck a hard time. He loved him.)
Everyone at least politely laughed.
“Speaking of mentally challenged little brothers. What you got Chuck?”
Chuck went with it The Admiral would pay later. He had some photos of him waltzing with a large muscular person and he was going to visit scorn on him. All in the name of fun. “We are going to take two battalions. I am going to strip them down a bit and we will be utilizing more heavy weapons teams. I plan to draw more M-60’s and M-203’s. You guys are welcome to join the party since I could use a couple of forward observers. It will be a fun time. Additionally I am not babysitting the press pool this time boys and girls and others. It is potentially a deadly environment and I don’t want their deaths on my hands. Let them die with you fuckers instead. By the way; I have 18 Comanche-4 Helos for CAS.”
“That sounds like all the more reason to send them with you. The herd needs to be thinned anyway.”
Jezz hissed “SIR! You are going to get in trouble Sir.”
“Just a little lighthearted humor don’t be so touchy. Anyway’ what about armor?”
“I have a platoon of Abrams going in with us Sir. More for mobile artillery.”
When you got right down to it it was a very simple plan. Modest forces for planetside. There was enough aircover but not so much to result in fratricide. He had extra firepower at the squad level. He had thought it out. Chuck had his full confidence. He was an Oscar-6 and you did not make O6 by being stupid. He would make General soon and he would be taken from the pointy end of the spear. The spear would be a little less sharp for a while but that was just how it went. Right now, he had the best field commander alive in his corner and he was going to utilize him.
“I know my engineers are logged into this meeting and have been paying attention. What do you guys make of their propulsion system? I have been spouting off and thinking about this for a week and all I got is a bunch of ideas.”
He thought for a moment. Rusty, what do you think.” He had just called out his own engineer. Rusty was his nickname and damned if he could remember his actual one. He knew it was not Russel. “What do you think they are using for power?”
Rusty wanted to cuss him out. He did not like meetings. In his opinion meetings were just excuses to avoid doing any actual work. He could have asked him privately…”Rusty what do you think?”
“Goddammit Sir, they have to be using a singularity. They are not using capacitor banks so they are generating power instantaneously. The alternative is antimatter and we had better hope it is not antimatter since taking them out could be suicidal. Most importantly: I am not a fucking tactician. I am an engineer for fucks sake, and I don’t see why anyone cares what I think about this anyway. But you asked so here it is. We are going to have to assume that it is not antimatter and hope we are right. The thing that would keep me awake is the possibility that our weapons are outranged by the fireballs generated when their antimatter containment fails. That will end us, and the best tactic will be to run like hell. Add to that the fact that the rules of engagement mean we can’t go in guns blazing. What if we need to go in guns blazing? It takes away an option. Never discard even the most ludicrous of options as that may be the one thing that saves your ass.”
“ We do not want to go traipsing in there with our dicks uncovered and this ain’t no tulip picking expedition here ladies. This is potentially a war, and we better acknowledge that. I don’t want to be Debbie downer here but let us be real. Some of us are not coming back from this. Look around boys cause some of your compadres are going to be left behind. This is serious business. This ain’t no rescue mission and we better stop treating it that way. Since you asked, Sir.”
Admiral Alexander had to give him honesty points for that. He was right. “We are going to run this scenario as many times as we can before we arrive. I suspect that there is going to be some mass confusion until we figure out who the baddies are. If I had to make a wager, I would go with our folks in orbit, being less of a threat. We have clear evidence of who attacked our ship, and it weren’t none of them football shaped guys. (He did grow up in the South. Woodruff SC to be precise.) It is the flying Dorito that we have to watch for. My gut tells me we are going to have to smash whatever is running the show down there. That compound with the force field is our primary target.” Furthermore, I just don’t know how the remainder are going to act. Are they under a different AI? Is there more than one AI? We can say there are no life signs from any of the ships in system and that makes me think this is artificial all the way. ”
“ The Galileo was attacked by one of the ships on that Spaceport apron. None of the ships in orbit participated from what we can tell. Also, the Galileo was attacked from outside the ecliptic. They are using some type of jump drive that apparently has to avoid gravity wells. That would explain why the attack occurred outside the system. We can take advantage of the situation though if we cozy up to that gas giant and let them come to us. They can’t just pop in on us that way and we can put the planet behind us or we can peg them up against the planet. We can warp anytime but they can only jump in relatively clear space. In short: We are going to pick the battlefield.”
“First wave will be led by the Atlanta and Saratov. The Havana and The George Washington will be tasked with offense. I want rail slugs loaded and ready to go. The surface strike package will go in from the Vikrant and the Conestoga. Commander Yactine has the battle plan for the surface operation and is handling their own transport duties. We can supply an AC301 Spooky for fire support if needed Commander.” The commander waved it away. He felt he had enough assets.
“I do think we may want to take a chance on something. Since they are having to jump “vertically” out of the system to avoid gravity wells and since we suspect they will do it in two jumps I think we can predict where they have their initial jump point. We can nail them before they even get to the main fleet.”
The admiral pointed to a plot that indicated a tangential course that terminated well above the plane of the ecliptic and one that went directly back into it. It was an “L” shaped course. At least he felt sure they traveled in straight lines and not arcs. It made the most sense but could still be wrong. Poring through the Galileo’s sensor data he could see a spike that barely registered. That also indicated that they took a while between jumps. Once they exited subspace, they would be sitting ducks for at least a few minutes. He was guessing 20 minutes for them to recharge their drive and get ready. They would have to target them when most vulnerable. Given that he was not feeling particularly charitable he decided that annihilation was in order. There were 50 deaths to avenge after all.
“Jezz, what do you think?”
Jezz paused. She had been on good behavior and that had made her overly cautious “I think your basic assumptions are correct, Sir. I think we are dealing with two AI’s. One is on the surface and one is in control of the orbital fleet. Approximately 56% of the orbital ships appear to be functional. They could also be in a powered down mode but looking at the Galileo data and 20 ships look to be fully operational. Weapons appear to be primarily MASER batteries. I can see no evidence of rail guns. Their weaponry may be less impressive, or they may be armed in a fashion we cannot detect. I wouldn’t assume them to be inferior to our ships. If we do that we run the risk of being surprised. I do not like surprises.”
The Admiral had one more question. He was looking more for how she was going to reply, “What is your gut feeling Jez?”
She paused “My gut feeling is that we are dealing with two AI’s. One of them has gone mad.” It was out of her speaker before she could catch herself. He had asked what her gut feeling was. What did he know? She did not have a gut. But, she did have feelings.

i hired someone to build a fence on property, they asked for 50% up front, all via phone call and text. They started the project and on day 1, dug holes with hand tools (not auger) for 8 hours and ended up cutting my internet wire that they thought was “dead” because they used some handheld tool. So at end of day they dug 10 holes - 1.5 foot max- and he said he would come day 2 to pour concrete. Internet luckily was temporarily fixed. Day 4 comes (he stops by house to just talk for 10 mins) and he increases price for overlap (i already told him in person but he’s pretending he misunderstood). He then says he’ll pour on day 3. Day 3 he brings 3 posts (10 foot x2 and 8 foot) and 7 bags of concrete then leaves. That night we told him we were uncomfortable with the hole size as all designs for fences say at-least 3 feet deep due to the frost line. He then gets upset says we dont know what we are saying, his fences last for ever etc, he said absolute not 3 and we were pressured to say 2.5 feet is fine. The next am, we decide to move on as he made us very uncomfortable, doesnt do things by the standard and dug holes that we realized were not called into ontario locates. We tell him we would like to just pay him for the holes he dug plus materials he dropped off and since he didnt so 50% of project he would give us back 2/3. He has basically since ghosted us. We called ontario locates because we had a suspicion he didnt call, and they said he called it in 3 days after we verbally ended the work and 9 days after he dug. We left a complaint with them. Do we have any way of getting money back in small claims court or do i just cut losses, keep the tools he left in my garage and move on with my life.
Thanks!

Some of my coworkers today we're talking about how adult life hit them like a brick how they had never had to cook or clean until they were off to college at 18 were until they got married or something. Many of my colleagues have been on European vacations as gifts they have parents who are phds, scientists, stay at home parents, engineers, lawyers, doctors etc. I grew up in a rural setting with blue collar parents one of which succumb to drug addiction and many other family members on both sides who struggled with addiction and passed away early or whatever scenario. I was basically doing adult tasks by 8 or 10 years old and never really let up on that with multiple adult dependents by 18. College was not fun, it was a time of severe struggle while caring for those dependents, plus earned a misdemeanor for a desperate action. Some days I just feel like I don't belong here. Is there anyone else here that struggles with this as well and how do you overcome these strange feelings? Of being around people who are so much different than you. Once I was an engineer at a factory in a rural setting and that was the closest I ever felt to feeling like I belong? Despite the constant Shenanigans of people using drugs at work or going to jail and not showing up to work or something, it just felt like home! LOL in the more sterile corporate setting it's kind of like I'm an outsider many days. I enjoy the stories, but its hard to hear the 10th entire family trip to cancun/europe/etc.

At school, I was writing love notes in my English class. In the class we only have 8 people. There is this gut in our class, and no offense to him but he's fat and ugly. He's talked about before how in the past he wanted to be in a relationship. Well, I'll get that started for you! So I made the note from him to her like a thank you card and put his name on it, and it was saying that he liked her and was asking her out. I made the note in a different class so I could deliver it in 8th hour. When it came, I sat it at the table her and her friend sit at. And here's the best thing that happened. We got a new poster in the classroom and he was over by their table looking at the poster on the wall. And the note was right by his hand.
When she saw the note, she froze what she was doing. He obviously knew nothing about it though. She looked down at the note, then she looked at him. She grabbed it, and she looked back at him. She opened the note and she immediately started jumping and said "EW! EW! EWWWWWWWW!!!!!" Her freind asked to see the note. She read it and called me out saying it was me and then she said "why would you write that?" I told her "I didn't write it!" She said "yes you did, cause you were laughing! And plus, you were doing that back in 7th grade!"

I (21F) and my sister (34F) had a decent relationship, or at least so I thought she is always so polite sometimes she couldn’t get a bit snarky when she didn’t agree with me but that always went over my head. She never lived with me so we were never too close, however if I discovered how deeply she hated me sooner I never would have been so open with her. Today was the second time I’ve walked in on her speaking terribly of me on the phone, I understand everyone gossips but this was hate speech to say the least.
The first time I heard her bad mouth me was straight after my engagement party, my mum was talking to her in the kitchen and as I walked in I heard my sister say “You should have seen the way _(me) greeted _(our cousin) it was embarrassing she has no clue” for context on what happened, my cousin walked in to the engagement party when I was recording my mil sing on the karaoke, truthfully I may have mouthed one second and forgotten to greet him I was a bit wrapped up. Nonetheless I was shocked, I never heard her speak of me like that, but being a peacekeeper I let that remark go over my head. This was until dis morning when I caught her doing it again, once is a consonance twice is a pattern, except this time I had recently been in her home and everything was peachy, this really caught me off guard. Again, like before I walked in to the kitchen and when my mum seen me she tried to involve me in the phone call she was having with my sister by saying “(me) was just looking at dresses for _(family members) wedding” what was said next really had me questioning my sisters feelings towards me, she said in such a mean tone “_(me) has me cringing so hard right now, _(my fiancé) wasn’t even invited to (family wedding) she just expects it to be ok.” Meanwhile my mum repeatedly said “____(me) is in the room.” warning her of my presence, but this only made her act like she was right and would have said this regardless of me being there or not. A bit of context there is 5 available spaces for family members wedding because people dropped out, it never even occurred in my mind that taking my own fiancé as a plus one would be a issue. My mum reckons she’s talking about me because her husband isn’t going with her, but I can’t help but feel she has secretly hated me for a long time and I’ve always been too blind to see it. I’m considering distancing myself what should I do?

M23, close coworkefriend. I think he was either flirting with me in a very childish ways or he thought I was his best work bud and could do whatever he wanted with me. Btw, I had a huge crush on him too, until recently. His signs: he would speak to me a lot about his private life, touching multiple times my arms and shoulders, giving me shoulders massages, hugging me a few times, pinching me almost every day, joking about everything. So we had a nice time because we also laughed a lot together. Anyway, last week he showed me a passive-aggressive behavior, complaining about me being annoying and childish in front of other close colleagues, saying in an angry way. Then he shut a door in my face, then on other occasions he tried to trip me in a "funny" way. I wrote him a message telling him that he was not appropriate, he offended me, and plus I didn't like his mixed signals, but most important, I wanted to be respected. He ignored my message, then, 3 seconds after seeing me, he decided to block me everywhere, on social media, on whatsapp, on telegram, everywhere. I was shocked. I set boundaries, what's wrong with it?
Anyway, the problem is that he's ignoring me at work. I need to work with him and I would like a civil communication + I really care about him. But I went to him to ask him if he was ok and he ignored me pretending I was not even there.
We work in close contact many days. We need to talk professionally, why is he SO angry at me? He's behaving like a 8 y/o child who had a crush and couldn't express his feelings.
Should I talk to my manager telling him that I had an argument with my colleague (without saying what was it about, without saying that the guy was inappropriate with the shoulder massage etc... because it would be seen as haras-ment and it was not, because I liked him at that time)? I just want to clarify that even if I'm angry at him, I want to keep things professional and I don't want him to ignore me. The manager is quite a good friend for him and a bit for me too.
Oh, anyway, I asked him out last week for a friendly cup of coffe and he said no because he doesn't want to mix personal life and work and I would remind him of our terrible job. Then it was that same week that he started to be offensive and yet still very flirty and touchy with me. At the end of the week I told him by message "you can't be aggressive and offensive with me, etc". SO, maybe he also get angry because I didn't respect his boundary of not interfere with messages after work time, but I had to tell him because I was very uncomfortable.
I am so upset but at the same time I'm sorry for him because he has such a lack of social skills that makes me sad. I would like to talk and explain him how wrong this whole situation is... but I can't because he blocked me and he s so angry that he may leave the job with no explanation. I care about him also as a friend since I felt a connection for him, for his insecurities and a nice inner world (excluding his immaturity). He talked to me about a lot of personal stuff. I think that he's self-destroying himself and yet tries to pretend to be a strong person. He showed me his vulnerability, he talked about his toxic family, his desires, his passions... How is that possible that now he wants me out of his life and he thinks we've never been "friends"? He doesn't speak at all and hates everyone apart from 3 colleagues including me. And I was the only one he spoke about very personal stuff.
I am worried for him and I would like to help him to communicate his feelings. But I'm also worried... maybe he blocked me to get over me because he doesn't want to like me and if I ignore him back, I may help him in this. BUT I want to be his friend, I do care a lot about him.