Reading log sheet
Space Launch System
2013.08.27 19:01 ShwinMan Space Launch System
Discussion on the NASA Space Launch System and Orion MPCV program.
2019.08.16 03:04 brunommpreto 100DaysOfReading
Commit, log and post your #100DaysOfReading
2014.05.02 21:22 ErraticVole Epicurean Philosophy
Place for discussion of the philosophy of Epicurus.
2024.06.07 21:53 Fresh-goals Pathfinding towards fresher breath
TLDR: New user, trying to improve bad breath. Gonna try some new stuff and log how it goes. Fingers crossed.
Preface: This is a new account just to address some issues that I don’t want linked to my regular reddit account. I’ve lurked and read but decided I wanted to actually participate…
Reason for this post: I have BB. It sucks. I feel lots of shame around it and have been retreating from life and social interactions bit by bit. My hope is to change my breath for the better. I’ve recently had some shifts in mindset around this area and am hoping to pair those shifts with new approaches. This post is just to put myself out there and to clarify & chronicle my thoughts and attempts. Open to tips and suggestions.
Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional. I am not trying to prescribe anything to anyone nor am I trying to sell anything. I am only describing where I’m at on my journey with this issue and where I’m trying to head. Dassit!
BB: I don’t smell it but do get reactions from people sometimes. Sometimes the lick/spoon/ water in a glass tests don’t smell, sometimes it smells a little dank/musty, sometimes like vinegar, sometimes like bread yeast, never smelt fecal. Once I was told it smelled like onions or sulphur.
Through this community, I’ve learned that I may need to make a multi-pronged effort and expand beyond my oral cavity. Someone posted a link to the animated teeth website and that was very educational for me. From it, I understand more about the different chemicals in toothpastes & mouthwashes. I also learned that I’ve been underestimating how impactful tongue cleanliness is. Also, that website introduced me to the Winkel Tongue Coating Index (WTCI). It’s been helpful to have a quantitative way to assess how coated my tongue is at any given time. Before I just would see that my tongue was coated, see gunk come off and call it a day…
What I’m changing:
submitted by Fresh-goals to badbreath [link] [comments]
Preface: This is a new account just to address some issues that I don’t want linked to my regular reddit account. I’ve lurked and read but decided I wanted to actually participate…
Reason for this post: I have BB. It sucks. I feel lots of shame around it and have been retreating from life and social interactions bit by bit. My hope is to change my breath for the better. I’ve recently had some shifts in mindset around this area and am hoping to pair those shifts with new approaches. This post is just to put myself out there and to clarify & chronicle my thoughts and attempts. Open to tips and suggestions.
Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional. I am not trying to prescribe anything to anyone nor am I trying to sell anything. I am only describing where I’m at on my journey with this issue and where I’m trying to head. Dassit!
BB: I don’t smell it but do get reactions from people sometimes. Sometimes the lick/spoon/ water in a glass tests don’t smell, sometimes it smells a little dank/musty, sometimes like vinegar, sometimes like bread yeast, never smelt fecal. Once I was told it smelled like onions or sulphur.
Through this community, I’ve learned that I may need to make a multi-pronged effort and expand beyond my oral cavity. Someone posted a link to the animated teeth website and that was very educational for me. From it, I understand more about the different chemicals in toothpastes & mouthwashes. I also learned that I’ve been underestimating how impactful tongue cleanliness is. Also, that website introduced me to the Winkel Tongue Coating Index (WTCI). It’s been helpful to have a quantitative way to assess how coated my tongue is at any given time. Before I just would see that my tongue was coated, see gunk come off and call it a day…
What I’m changing:
- Mindset: Before, I’d been having “All or Nothing” thinking and if I tried something that ended up not working, I’d give up and feel so defeated.
- Now, I telling myself, “Progress not Perfection.” If my breath is less stinky, that is an improvement. If my mouth stays fresher a little longer, that is a step in the right direction. If my breath still stinks but my tongue coating is gone, that is still a healthier tongue. Obvs, I want fresh breath but I want to be better at recognizing interim wins.
- Also, I‘ve realized and accepted that it may take several weeks before something starts working. I have an autoimmune disease and any new medication isn’t assessed for effectiveness until at least 3 months. This is similar. It maybe be a marathon, definitely not a sprint.
- Tongue: much more emphasis and time spent on cleaning it. I‘ve had a metal tongue scraper, the kind that takes two hands, for a couple years. I would scrape a few times and stop when it seemed like there was less gunk.
- I got a new metal tongue scraper that only takes one hand, has a smaller head and a different shape. It’s just some generic one from the local drugstore. Surprisingly, it’s a lot easier for me to maneuver and goes further back without triggering my gag reflex. Since getting it, I’ve spent much longer scraping my tongue than ever before (like a full 15-20 minutes the first couple times) I’ve spent longer because 1) I am putting more emphasis on cleaning my tongue, 2) I have a method to assess how coated my tongue is, and 3) it’s just a more pleasurable experience now.
- I was going to get rid of my old scraper but I like using it in conjunction with the new scraper. It reminds me of nail & foot files, how you have a coarse one and a fine one.
- I didn’t know my tongue could get so pink and be so not-coated!!! WTCI results: Before I was about a 7 on average, 5-6 at best, 8-9 after waking. Now, I’m 1-2 on average for hours, 0 at best, 4-5 after waking. This is just from adding a smaller, more ergonomic tongue scraper and taking more time. Nothing else changed. I don’t think taking more time with my other scraper would yield the same results nor would less time with the new one.
- Next step- try some type of tongue brush to get into the nooks & crannies. Still keeping the scrapers though.
- Testing: lick test, spoon test, breathing into a snifter with water. All had intermittent results.
- Next step- going to get an oral microbiome test to get some specific data & guidance
- Oral hygiene: I can do better here although I don’t think I’m doing nothing. I’ve realized I can do a lot better with my tongue cleaning. So I am going to be open to the thought that maybe I can be more efficacious in other areas.
- Have started consistently doing a nasal rinse (Water, Xylitol, Sodium Chloride, Grapefruit Seed Extract) daily, every AM & PM before oral care. So far - decreasing PND, nasal pages seem to be clearer in general now vs before, less mucus after rinsing, less spitting
- Also, I have an otoscope that I use to monitor my ear canals. I used it to look around in my mouth and it was nice to see things more up close and magnified.
- Next step- get a plaque disclosing product to identify any areas for improvement. I think the kind that shows old, new, and acid-producing bacteria will be the most informative.
- Next step- start mouth-taping to help reduce dryness overnight.
- Chemicals: I’ve used Sodium Fluoride toothpastes for years because of concerns about staining. Recently I read that Stannous Fluoride has more anti-bacterial properties than Sodium Fluoride and that the stains occur from reactions with sulfur in the mouth. Also, there are new formulations that are less prone to staining. But it seems like the less bad bacteri, the less chances of staining. Have also read about Zinc Lactate being helpful. I’ve tried mouthwashes (CloSYS, TheraBreath) with Chlorine Dioxide. My mouth felt fresher longer but not for much longer nor with much, if any, breath improvements. Am going to try mouthwashes with different chemicals. Also have seen some improvement with Castile soap & baking soda. Want to try other cleansing agents to see if they might work better for me. Am curious is something designed for cleaning hair or textiles might be better at cleaning the tongue.
- Next step- try toothpaste with Stannous Fluoride and Zinc Lactate
- Next step- try mouthwash with Cetylpyridinium Chloride & Zinc Lactate, may also try mouthwash with essential oils as an adjunct. Also, want to try a mouthwash with Iodine.
- Next step- try Orvus on tongue. Maybe a clarifying or dandruff shampoo?
- Other: I think I might have silent reflux. Would never have occurred to me without this community. I never have heartburn (I don’t have any antacids or pepto or anything like that. Can’t remember the last time I’ve bought any. Probably over a decade seriously). But sometimes I like to sleep with my head elevated. Sometimes I get food burps if I lay down too soon after eating.
- Next step- Try an acid reflux product
- Next step- eat a lighter meal for last meal of day (I prefer 2 meals a day but have to take medication at night). I will figure something that is stomach-friendly and sufficient for taking my meds.
- Next step- Eat last “meal” earlier. It was 2 hours before sleeping but I will try to make it 4 hours before.
- Next step- get referred to a Gastro Dr for consult
2024.06.07 21:51 batstin Career Delima, need some advice
Hey there, I've been roughly working in IT for around 2 in half to 3 years, I just got my A+ this year and I scheduled my Security + out. I recently accepted a job in IT Healthcare and this is my first experience to working in a primary Healthcare industry, my background before was 2 corporate internal IT positions, and an MSP company for a little while. I was in between job offers and I took the Healthcare position because it seemed promising and offered a higher pay range of $50,000 yearly.
Red flags for me started day 1 when I was sent to a different site to complete 20 trainings in 1 day and then sign an additional 20 documents, I didn't get to meet my team or people I'd be working with at all.
Once I actually got to my team more and more flags started happening and their has been this heightened animosity and tension between 2 IT teams in the company. They have 3 active directory domains, OU's are all over the place, Users are misconfigured and spelled wrong, we don't have licenses available. IT is keeping a sheet of all the Doctors passwords in an excel file, and signing in as Doctors to setup their profiles, including Synapse, PACS, etc where patient information and images are being stored. This seems like a major HIPPA violation and lack of security and access controls. We have no SLA timers, change logs, policies or even real procedures put into place.
Every user including patients has access to our entire IT area because we also have no physical access controls like badge readers or doors blocking any access. Our door code has been the same 4 digit number for years and they don't change any codes once a user is terminated. This is the first IT job I've worked at where it's taken me 4 weeks just to be able to get a O365 license. Then we have a coworker who remotes into personal devices on our network to play games and build models, bypassing the web content filtering and now joining their personal phone to the main network.
It feels like a complete joke and like I've regressed back in IT 7 steps, I received another job offer from a company also in Healthcare but the starting pay is hourly at around 19.50, I have a few more potential offers coming but I honestly don't know what I should do in this situation.
I've attempted to speak with my manger about these concerns moving forward but I'm not really getting answers or how things will be moving forward progressively to prevent some of these problems.
submitted by batstin to ITCareerQuestions [link] [comments]
Red flags for me started day 1 when I was sent to a different site to complete 20 trainings in 1 day and then sign an additional 20 documents, I didn't get to meet my team or people I'd be working with at all.
Once I actually got to my team more and more flags started happening and their has been this heightened animosity and tension between 2 IT teams in the company. They have 3 active directory domains, OU's are all over the place, Users are misconfigured and spelled wrong, we don't have licenses available. IT is keeping a sheet of all the Doctors passwords in an excel file, and signing in as Doctors to setup their profiles, including Synapse, PACS, etc where patient information and images are being stored. This seems like a major HIPPA violation and lack of security and access controls. We have no SLA timers, change logs, policies or even real procedures put into place.
Every user including patients has access to our entire IT area because we also have no physical access controls like badge readers or doors blocking any access. Our door code has been the same 4 digit number for years and they don't change any codes once a user is terminated. This is the first IT job I've worked at where it's taken me 4 weeks just to be able to get a O365 license. Then we have a coworker who remotes into personal devices on our network to play games and build models, bypassing the web content filtering and now joining their personal phone to the main network.
It feels like a complete joke and like I've regressed back in IT 7 steps, I received another job offer from a company also in Healthcare but the starting pay is hourly at around 19.50, I have a few more potential offers coming but I honestly don't know what I should do in this situation.
I've attempted to speak with my manger about these concerns moving forward but I'm not really getting answers or how things will be moving forward progressively to prevent some of these problems.
2024.06.07 21:44 BadDecisionsMan Does anyone know what Font and Theme this is? Found it on the official NodeJS website
submitted by BadDecisionsMan to node [link] [comments]
2024.06.07 21:39 saydome Windows kernel power error 41 code 292
Hi!
One of my friend sometimes experiences temporary freezing (unable to do anything in their windows system for up to a minute, then it unfreezes and ecerything is smooth again), system halts with blue screen WHEA UNCORRECTABLE ERROR which is happens more and more often. Sometimes he cannot even reboot his computer for hours. After looking it up this is clearly a hardware fault which is confirmed by the Event Viewer (XML log below). An another weird thing he experienced (only once) is that after a reboot none of his USB devices worked (they didn't have any power) and one more reboot was required. This leads me to think that the PSU is faulty.
I read that almost any part of the computer can cause these errors so I'm not sure about how should we find out. We can't switch out the parts one by one to find out what the real cause is as we don't have any spare parts just laying around. Is there a way to find this out from some sort of software / microsoft log or should we just bring the PC to a local repair shop?
- - 41 8 1 63 0 0x8000400000000002 54103 System DESKTOP-K9FF0TP - 292 0x10 0xffff8d8e7f66c028 0xffff8d8e6e57709c 0xffff8d8e6e6501a0 0 0 0 0 false 0 0 false 0 0 false
submitted by saydome to techsupport [link] [comments]
One of my friend sometimes experiences temporary freezing (unable to do anything in their windows system for up to a minute, then it unfreezes and ecerything is smooth again), system halts with blue screen WHEA UNCORRECTABLE ERROR which is happens more and more often. Sometimes he cannot even reboot his computer for hours. After looking it up this is clearly a hardware fault which is confirmed by the Event Viewer (XML log below). An another weird thing he experienced (only once) is that after a reboot none of his USB devices worked (they didn't have any power) and one more reboot was required. This leads me to think that the PSU is faulty.
I read that almost any part of the computer can cause these errors so I'm not sure about how should we find out. We can't switch out the parts one by one to find out what the real cause is as we don't have any spare parts just laying around. Is there a way to find this out from some sort of software / microsoft log or should we just bring the PC to a local repair shop?
-
2024.06.07 21:32 nerdcrafteria Nerdcrafteria [Network] {Multiple Game Types} {Family Friendly} {Vlog Brothers} {DFTBA} {1.20.4}
Welcome to NERDCRAFTERIA!
Server IP: mc.Nerdcrafteria.com
Minecraft version: 1.20.4
Nerdcrafteria is the official Minecraft server by Nerdfighters, for Nerdfighters!
Players work together to create a fun environment for everyone. Our server has multiple worlds including a monster-free main world featuring an economy plugin and purchasable plots, a monthly-resetting resource world where you can gather things to sell to our Admin shop, as well as survival, skyblock and creative worlds for you to enjoy!
Nerdcrafteria is owned by Hank Green of the Vlogbrothers. The server was founded in September 2012. Our focus is on promoting a fun family gaming environment for all, while raising money for The Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck! A registered non-profit with the goal of making the world a better place!
Nerdcrafteria is a family friendly, PG oriented server. Anyone may log in, but you will be asked to accept our Code of Conduct upon joining. By accepting you agree to follow our rules and help us maintain the kind and welcoming atmosphere we've all grown accustomed to for over a decade! Our motto is: DFTBA!
While Nerdcrafteria is owned and paid for entirely by Hank Green, we do have a Donation store, Where you will find various perks and boons you can donate toward!
100% of proceeds go to The Foundation to Decrease World Suck. Make sure to check with your parents if you're under 18 before making any purchases, and read the Terms and Conditions before sending in any donations!
More Information can be found on our website at Nerdcrafteria.com, on our Discord and by watching our server tour video!
We hope to see you on the server!
submitted by nerdcrafteria to mcservers [link] [comments]
Server IP: mc.Nerdcrafteria.com
Minecraft version: 1.20.4
- Dont
- Forget
- To
- Be
- Awesome
100% of proceeds go to The Foundation to Decrease World Suck. Make sure to check with your parents if you're under 18 before making any purchases, and read the Terms and Conditions before sending in any donations!
We hope to see you on the server!
2024.06.07 21:30 Labratlover Advice/Help compiling sheets through pivot or PQ
I have logs of a door access system i’m looking to create a data model for, just lots of different doors with the same columns.
I’d like to be able to pick a door and then see different parameters, like time online, by month/day etc…
How would you do this? Consolidate all doors into one? (40 sheets)
Not looking for exact steps, just direction/advice and i can try figure it out.
Each sheet is maybe 3000 rows, 10 columns.
I’d like an interactive table/sliceetc or dashboard, something to present to higher ups.
Thanks for the advice
submitted by Labratlover to excel [link] [comments]
I’d like to be able to pick a door and then see different parameters, like time online, by month/day etc…
How would you do this? Consolidate all doors into one? (40 sheets)
Not looking for exact steps, just direction/advice and i can try figure it out.
Each sheet is maybe 3000 rows, 10 columns.
I’d like an interactive table/sliceetc or dashboard, something to present to higher ups.
Thanks for the advice
2024.06.07 21:21 Arbordaymoon I just got laid off after 6 months
I got laid off this week after only working at the company for 6 months. I got an invite to a teams meeting that was in 30 minutes and it was with the head of HR along with around 40 other people. As soon as the meeting began, he started literally reading off a script to let us know we were being laid off effective immediately and to just log off our systems right then. Within 10 minutes of the meeting ending the company had disconnected access to the system. I had been doing very good in the job so it was even harder to take the news. It had taken me a year of applying for jobs to finally land that one which paid very low but I was grateful to have. With the state of the economy and the job market I am trying to stay positive and not panic but it is difficult. I have been job hunting every day this week. If anyone has been recently laid off and found a new job how long did it take you? Any advice is appreciated.
submitted by Arbordaymoon to jobs [link] [comments]
2024.06.07 21:18 SuperSpecialEd SCCM - Software Update Point /WSUS issue
Hi all, I'm having a problem initiating syncs on my SUP. When I trigger a manual sync, the Wsyncmgr log shows the trigger, and pretends it's going to start and says there is a problem with the config and to check the WCM.log. But nothing ever shows up in the WCM log.
Does anyone have any ideas what might be the disconnect? The system was working not too long ago (not a new install for example). But I'm a bit confused as to why this is happening. I am hoping someone can show me where to look.
WSYNCMGR.LOG
submitted by SuperSpecialEd to SCCM [link] [comments]
Does anyone have any ideas what might be the disconnect? The system was working not too long ago (not a new install for example). But I'm a bit confused as to why this is happening. I am hoping someone can show me where to look.
WSYNCMGR.LOG
- Inbox source is local on CMPRIMARY.Company.com SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:05:01 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Wakeup by inbox drop SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:16:16 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Found local sync request file SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:16:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Starting Sync SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:16:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Performing sync on local request SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:16:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Read SUPs from SCF for CMPRIMARY.Company.com SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:16:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Found 1 SUPs SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:16:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Found active SUP SUPWSUS.Company.com from SCF File. SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:16:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- STATMSG: ID=6701 SEV=I LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER" SYS=CMPRIMARY.Company.com SITE=ABC PID=1768 TID=8448 GMTDATE=Fri Jun 07 17:16:21.097 2024 ISTR0="" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0 LE=0X0 SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:16:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Sync failed: WSUS server not configured. Please refer to WCM.log for configuration error details.. Source: CWSyncMgr::DoSync SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:21:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- STATMSG: ID=6703 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER" SYS=CMPRIMARY.Company.com SITE=ABC PID=1768 TID=8448 GMTDATE=Fri Jun 07 17:21:21.295 2024 ISTR0="CWSyncMgr::DoSync" ISTR1="WSUS server not configured. Please refer to WCM.log for configuration error details." ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0 LE=0X80004005 SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:21:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Sync failed. Will retry in 60 minutes SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:21:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Setting sync alert to active state on site ABC SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:21:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Sync time: 0d00h05m00s SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:21:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Skipping Delete Expired Update relations since this is not a scheduled sync. SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:21:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Inbox source is local on CMPRIMARY.Company.com SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:21:21 PM 8448 (0x2100)
- Checking for supported version of WSUS (min WSUS 4.0) SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:17:20 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Checking runtime v4.0.30319... SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:17:20 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Found supported assembly Microsoft.UpdateServices.Administration version 4.0.0.0, file version 6.3.9600.16384 SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:17:20 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Found supported assembly Microsoft.UpdateServices.BaseApi version 4.0.0.0, file version 6.3.9600.18838 SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:17:20 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Supported WSUS version found SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:17:20 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Attempting connection to WSUS server: SUPWSUS.Company.com port: 8531, useSSL: True SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:17:20 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Successfully connected to server: SUPWSUS.Company.com port: 8531, useSSL: True SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:17:45 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Verify Upstream Server settings on the Active WSUS Server SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:17:45 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- No changes - WSUS Server settings are correctly configured and Upstream Server is set to Microsoft Update SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:30 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Get site system FQDN and account information from DB for SUPWSUS.Company.com SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:41 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- for SUPWSUS.Company.com no connection account is available SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:41 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Enabling/disabling LEDBAT. SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:41 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- WSUS Server configuration has been updated. Updating Group Info. SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:42 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Updating Group Info for WSUS. SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:42 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Setting new configuration state to 4 (WSUS_CONFIG_SUBSCRIPTION_PENDING) SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:42 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Refreshing categories from WSUS server SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:42 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Attempting connection to WSUS server: SUPWSUS.Company.com port: 8531, useSSL: True SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:18:42 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
- Successfully connected to server: SUPWSUS.Company.com port: 8531, useSSL: True SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 6/7/2024 12:19:07 PM 7436 (0x1D0C)
2024.06.07 21:01 celobelo Backup from stolen phone and new number
Hi everyone,
I hope someone can help me with this!
My phone was stolen and since I currently live outside of my country of origin, I had to get a new phone number and sim from another phone company where I'm currently based.
Since I now have both a new phone and new phone number, I have no way to restore my chats. I read that you can restore them from your Google account as well if you backed it up on there, but when I input it it says I have no backup on it l, so maybe I had never put that option unfortunately.
In two months I will go back to my own country and hopefully be able to restore my old phone number on a new sim that I will start using. In that case, do I have any way to retrieve my chats?
Another option I have is that I'm still logged in my old phone number and account on whatsapp Web from my laptop. Can I back up from there?
Would really appreciate if anyone knows if I can do something about this, I would hate to lose all my chats.
Thanks in advance!
submitted by celobelo to whatsapp [link] [comments]
I hope someone can help me with this!
My phone was stolen and since I currently live outside of my country of origin, I had to get a new phone number and sim from another phone company where I'm currently based.
Since I now have both a new phone and new phone number, I have no way to restore my chats. I read that you can restore them from your Google account as well if you backed it up on there, but when I input it it says I have no backup on it l, so maybe I had never put that option unfortunately.
In two months I will go back to my own country and hopefully be able to restore my old phone number on a new sim that I will start using. In that case, do I have any way to retrieve my chats?
Another option I have is that I'm still logged in my old phone number and account on whatsapp Web from my laptop. Can I back up from there?
Would really appreciate if anyone knows if I can do something about this, I would hate to lose all my chats.
Thanks in advance!
2024.06.07 21:00 GentlemanlyAdvice The Completely True Story of How a Filthy Gweilo Married the Most Beautiful Girl in the World
I was a damaged person. But I was on the mend.
I had a pretty traumatic break up with my childhood best friend, turned girlfriend. I had known her since we were 8 years old. We had been boyfriend and girlfriend since we were 13 and had been so for 9 years until my junior year of college when she cheated on me in a very cruel way. It came to light that she had cheated on me many times before as well.
I loved her so god damn much! I thought we were one of those stories where two souls were knitted together from eternity to eternity, or some hallmark card bullshit like that.
I was emotionally shattered and it took me a while until one day about 2 years later, I woke up and thought about her, but then realized that I hadn't thought about her at all the previous day. It was glorious and I knew then that I was on the mend. After that, my healing process sort of exponentially snowballed and I was back in the saddle as far as relationships went. I started going on dates and meeting up with women.
I was a software engineer working for a large corporation. Because I was good at my job, and because I didn't have a family, I was given the opportunity to move to Singapore and lead a project there for what would be a couple of years but turned out to be 7 years.
The great thing about Singapore is that they speak the "King's English" when they're not speaking "Singlish" (a patois of mostly English with funky grammar, but with Malay, Chinese, and Hindi thrown in). So I didn't have to learn a whole new language to fit in. I just had to learn how to translate Singlish to English, which wasn't too hard after a couple of months of trying. I even learned the lingo and it would amuse my coworkers a whole lot when I spoke Singlish. They thought it was hilarious.
I was a good looking guy (still am!!) but I really let myself go in my depression. I was a tall, muscular 210 pounds when I broke up with my ex, but I had ballooned up to over 300 pounds. I started a workout regimen and lost it all but the workout regimen became sort of an obsession. It was the one thing that grounded me. After I went to Singapore, one of my business perks was a gym membership at "Fitness First", a local gym franchise. I was down to my previous weight, but I had to practically camp out at the gym because the best thing about Singapore is the FOOD. The food is incredible! However, you WILL pack on the weight if you don't get your ass to the gym.
The meet cute
I was working out one day much later than normal due to some overtime on my project and I saw a girl on a treadmill. The treadmill was the one I usually use because it was in the back and kind of out of the way. The girl was stunning! The thing that stuck out to me was that she was had her hair in a pony tail through a ball cap, which is a look I find very attractive. I was a little nervous because, even though I was fairly confident about the way I look, I was definitely batting out of my league with this girl.
I went to her and chatted her up after she got off of the treadmill. She didn't look me in the eye and didn't really engage. I figured that I had acted like what is now known as a "gym creep" and I figured it was a "swing and a miss!" I apologized and said I wouldn't bother her anymore. I stuck out my hand and said "I'm OP, by the way. What's your name?"
She hesitated and looked at me for a bit and said "Lilly" (not her real name).
I remember this exactly because she later said that it was what intrigued her about me. At the time, she was an actress/model who had done some print/public billboard type ads, product demo booths at expos, and even a bit part in a local tv (Mediacorp) series. She had started to attract public attention because of these (mainly the TV show and the ads that were hanging all around town at that time) not just from men but from women too and it was super uncomfortable for her.
The fact that I had no idea who she was relaxed her and made her think that I was attracted to her for her and not because her face was everywhere at the time. After she told me about it, I did notice her face everywhere. But photoshop was a thing even back then, so I didn't recognize her from her ads and I really don't look at ads, tuning them out. I also didn't watch her TV show because it was in Mandarin Chinese and I don't speak or understand any Chinese, and I wasn't in a position where I was required to attend or arrange trade shows.
In the years prior to meeting me, Lilly had undergone a lot of plastic surgery (breast, eyelid, facial contouring, nose job, lipo, etc). She said it got to where she didn't recognize herself in the mirror and it disturbed and depressed her. She hadn't particularly wanted the surgery but she got the procedures done at the behest of her family who wanted her to bring in more money and the people in charge of her career development (don't know the term). It was all very expensive and she felt like she owed her family and the talent people who managed her.
Later, I found out that she hated the public recognition. Not just from men, but mostly from women who were really catty about her plastic surgery. The people in charge of her were pushing her to start singing but she didn't have a good voice and would need a bunch of training for that. She was depressed due to not recognizing herself in the mirror any more and didn't want to follow the career track that she had been on. They were pushing her to do more figure/body modeling which was why she was in the gym. She was SUPER uncomfortable with that and constantly hungry and pissed off.
She was afraid that she would do some more modeling and then get married off by her parents to some rich mainland Chinese man that she would be ambivalent about (she preferred Caucasian men) and she'd be forced to be a traditional pampered Chinese wife living in Beijing.(Doesn't sound that bad to me. Some of those Chinese businessmen live crazy luxurious lifestyles.
Since I was working a lot of overtime, I kept going to the gym later at night and we saw each other and I would wave and smile and she would smile and wave back. OK I was kinda hoping to meet her regularly. I spotted her on a couple of exercises and we began to chat with each other a bit. A couple of times I had to steady her because she was fainting from being hungry and working out at the same time. I used that as an excuse to take her out to a hawker center, which like a mall food court but with delicious local food (not chain restaurants). We chatted and got along really well. It became a regular thing until I confessed I had a crush on her. We started dating after that until it got to a point where she practically moved into my place.
She, of course, had her share of guys interested in her. She was on livejournal at the time (remember livejournal??) and she was doing that and posting pictures of herself for her career mostly, but I'm sure she did enjoy the attention. She had one guy from Belgium who was really after her. He actually bought her 800 thread count sheets, which is an oddly practical but vaguely inappropriate gift. He actually visited Singapore on business (he was a tech sales guy) and wanted to meet up with her in a public place, a hawker center. I still had trust issues from my previous "love of my life" betraying me. To this day, I cringe at my behavior at the time, but I laid down a clear boundary. She could absolutely go see and hang out with this guy if she wanted to, but if she did, she'd be doing it as a single available girl and we would be through. She said she saw my face "turn to stone" and it was clear that she would lose me if she went to meet up with that guy. That honestly gave her pause about our relationship and she really considered ending it at the time. I didn't know that until much later, though. Certainly, I'm glad that she didn't. She didn't go meet up with the guy. To this day, we call the incident "The Belgian Waffle". OK so I call it that, she thinks it's stupid.
Meeting her family
Eventually, Lilly asked if I could have dinner with her parents, saying that they wanted to meet me. I bought some gifts, basically Japanese cookies in really nice packaging, and then we met. I did the traditional thing and formally introduced myself and asked them about their family and history.
At the time, Lilly got some criticism from her extended family because I am a white guy. There was a certain stigma attached to local girls who liked white guys. They called those girls "SPGs" which stands for "Sarong Party Girls", a derogatory name for the prostitutes who would entertain British expats at after hours parties "back in the day".
Over the next few months, I won over her family mainly by eating their food and being accepting of their culture. I grew up in Texas, so pickled jalapenos were common in my house...like salt and pepper, we put them on everything. Later on, I was the kind of guy who put tabasco or sriracha on everything. So eating their spicy food was no problem for me. I remember us both going shopping at an open air market and seeing an older woman cutting up cili padi. I asked if I could try some. She looked at my pale face and then at Lilly and she said I could. I bit into one and chewed it up as the woman looked at me with an amused look on her face. She was waiting for me to jump up and down with fire shooting out of my mouth, I guess. I disappointed her, but she and Lilly were impressed. She later told her mother and she was impressed too. She wanted me to eat one for her as well. Oh well, trained monkey time I guess.
The real test came when I tried Durian for the first time. This is the same food that "defeated" Andrew Zimmern, the "Bizarre Foods" guy. I actually liked it. I had a D24 durian, which admittedly is like the "beginner version" of durians. There are like 16 different types. When you get past the smell and actually taste it, it doesn't smell that bad any more. It's very sweet and creamy. It's like the taste overwrites your disgust of the smell. I think that's what really impressed them to an extreme degree. They started calling me an "egg", because I was "white on the outside but yellow on the inside."
I would visit her grandmother with her. In true Chinese fashion, Lilly and her brother Johnny were raised by their paternal grandparents while their parents worked full time jobs, so her grandmother was like her mom. She was in an elder care facility at this point, though. She didn't like living there, but it was all they could afford. We would visit her every week and she'd be very happy. She didn't speak any English at all so she and Lilly would just chat speaking Hokkien Chinese while her grandmother would pet my hairy forearms like I was a dog. She was absolutely smitten with my hairy forearms.
Meeting my family
After a little over a year, I took her back to Texas to meet my family. It was quite the culture shock. Lilly was amazed by red barns and hay bales, black and white Holstein cows, things she saw in movies about the USA. She particularly was impressed by the cluster mailboxes lined up on country roads ("So cute, leh!") We actually had to stop the car and take pictures of her standing next to them, smiling goofily for the photo. I made sure to take her to the Texas hill country during spring, when the hills are covered with soft green grass and festooned with bluebonnets, sunflowers, indian paintbrushes, black eyed susans, daisies, etc. I had to practically hold her down to keep her from picking them. It's not illegal or anything, it's just frowned upon and tradition to leave them alone. OK, I let her pick some. Give me a break, I was in love with the girl.
Driving was also something that kind of boggled her mind. Texas is huge, and traveling from my parents' place to visit my brothers and their families was a seemingly endless trek. Driving from Houston to Austin, to Corpus Christi was crazy long, even with the stops to visit my relatives.
Lilly was practically agoraphobic at the big sky in Texas. She was used to being in a forest of tall concrete and steel buildings, with only strips of blue sky available at the top. In Texas that sky went from horizon to horizon. She was also amazed at the uncountable numbers of stars at night away from the city lights. She later told me it was like visiting Narnia or something.
In Texas, she got her share of looks from guys, especially in the bigger cities. I wasn't jealous. I've never been a jealous guy, although my experience with my ex "love of my life" really put my radar up, I still was proud that other guys were attracted to her. My attitude was "go ahead and eat your hearts out, she's with me!"
When she met my oldest brother, it was like a cultural thing with her, so she was very deferential and respectful. I knew that my oldest brother was attracted to her because he was stumbling and stuttering when he was speaking to her, looking at her but kind of avoiding looking at her. I wasn't too concerned because he was a married guy with 2 sons and not a scumbag, but it was still pretty amusing to see "Mr. Smooth-don't-let-em-know-you-want-em-kid" at a loss for words.
My parents met Lilly finally (she was super nervous but she did really well) and later my mom brought me aside and asked me if she should re-set her mother's diamond engagement ring. I thought about it a bit, and then told her "yes". My mom's eyes started sparkling with images of unborn grandchildren and she smiled bigger than I had ever seen her smile (kind of unsettling actually). My dad later brought me aside and basically told me I couldn't do any better and I would be a "god damn fool" if I let her get away from me. I agreed. My dad then told me something that remains with me to this day: "She will make your life sparkle, son." (she has).
Before our time in the US was up my mom gave me the ring and I asked Lilly to be my wife in a field of wildflowers, which had become her favorite place to be in Texas. She said yes. Looking back, that was one of the happiest days of my life. It was up there with losing my virginity to "the love of my life" (who turned out to be a duplicitous crazy person but at the time it was really special), my wedding day to Lilly, and the births of our children.
The Engagement
When we got back to Singapore we had to pretend we weren't engaged because I had to ask her parents for their daughter's hand in marriage. I spoke with them and explained how my prospects in my career were good. I told them that I loved their daughter and that my family also loved their daughter. We had to schedule a phone call between my parents and her parents.
I had clued my parents in as far as the traditions go. In Chinese culture, the groom pays for the wedding rather than the bride. The groom also has to give the bride's parents certain auspicious gifts. My parents luckily had done a tour of China a few years before and knew all of this beforehand, having befriended their local tour guide who was saving up money for his own wedding at the time. On the call, they agreed upon a pinjin, which is basically "betrothal money". We started to plan the Guo Da Li ceremony which would take place in 3 months time, and 3 months before the wedding.
Unfortunately life threw us a curve ball and Lilly's grandmother died. It was bittersweet because, while Lilly missed her, her grandmother had become very old and infirm to the point where her quality of life was pretty low. All wedding stuff was put on hiatus until the funeral was over plus 100 days for mourning.
After that, we were able to do the Guo Da Li ceremony. I gave my future in laws a red packet of money plus special cakes and 12 mandarin oranges and gold jewelry. It all went very well.
Wedding planning started in earnest. I got some money from my dad (who insisted) but the lion's share was out of my pocket. During this process I was able to meet some incredible people. The stand outs were Richard and Jimmy. Rich and Jimmy were tailors and dressmakers. They were a couple and they gave my fiancée a really good deal on a wedding dress and cocktail dress if she agreed to do some print modeling for their business. They also made me a tuxedo and a suit. I offered to model for them as well and we all had a good laugh at that prospect (OK they were doing most of the laughing - ego still hurts from that one, guys).
The venue we were using was Chijmes. It's the same one used in the move "Crazy Rich Asians". It was back when they had first started offering it up as a venue so it wasn't crazy expensive at the time. Plus, it was a smaller venue for weddings. Usually weddings are held in large hotel ballrooms and are huge affairs (this is what I was told). The families both invite everyone they've ever met to come: Neighbors, business contacts, everyone. They all bring red packets filled with cash. We opted for the "small" wedding.
The Bachelor Party
We had planned bachelobachelorette parties on the same night (separate venues). Lilly's MOH threw hers while Rich and Jimmy threw mine. My best man was my dad (because he's the best man that I know) and so cigars and brandy would have been disappointing to my work friends and my future brother in law and cousins. I don't think anyone was prepared for what happened.
We had the party at the sushi restaurant of a friend of Rich and Jimmy's. It was after hours. We had some incredible sashimi and rolls. I even tried fish sperm. Didn't like it. I asked Jimmy are you sure it's FISH, sperm?? He said of course he'd never do that to me. To be fair, it did taste and smell very fishy. I don't know how human sperm tastes like (or maybe I do now, I don't know).
After the sushi was done, it was time for the entertainment, and oh boy. Rich and Jimmy hired a trans entertainer who sang show tunes. The thing is, she had an incredible voice. She was obviously biologically male, but she really carried herself with a lot more femininity than I've seen from biological women. She sang and told jokes and roasted me pretty thoroughly. My dad was there and he thought it was funny as hell. My friends from work, especially the Aussies and Brits, thought it was great, my future BIL and most of my future cousins did too. Other cousins politely excused themselves and left. I think the free flowing booze and beer kept most people there, though.
After her thoroughly entertaining performance, it was time for the dancers. This is kind of where it went off the rails. Rich and Jimmy hired exotic dancers...but they were all male or trans. Now, to be fair, it wasn't like they didn't tell me about it beforehand. They did. Personally, I thought it would be hilarious to announce that the strippers were here and then have male dancers come out. I have a twisted sense of humor, I suppose. I certainly wasn't going to cheat on the most beautiful woman in the world mere weeks before our wedding, so prostitutes and female dancers were completely out of the question for me. They jokingly suggested male dancers it and we laughed. I thought about it a bit and I guess I'm "take-the-joke-too-far" guy so I encouraged it. Lilly knew about it and thought it was funny as well and wanted me to video tape it while it happened. ("Yeah right you just want to ogle the dancers" "Of course, lah!")
What I wasn't prepared for was the PLATOON of banana hammocks that marched out into the restaurant. Smooth greased up Asian chests everywhere! My dad was of course shocked at first and then looked at me and we started laughing and the ridiculousness of it. My dad stood up and clapped his hand on my shoulder and put a mock serious look on his face. The people immediately around me witnessed my dad telling me that he loved me and accepted my life style choice and that nothing I could say or do would ever change the fact that he and mom loved me and accepted me. Thanks, dad. I was laughing during the whole thing and my future BIL and work buddies who were around me were laughing as well. My dad excused himself and said he had to go find my mom and tell her the "bad news about her future grandchildren" and left ("Can adopt, lah! Can surrogate, meh!" Thanks for the support, guys). My future BIL laughed and said that since all of the available male dancers were at my party, there were none available to attend his sister's party, so she was "safe".
Among the highlights of the evening is that I discovered that a few of my co-workers and future cousins were in fact gay. I was told to stay out of the ladies' room no matter what. I wasn't planning on going in but thanks for the warning. I was proud that we all only vomited in the trash cans and not on the floor (what a waste of some damn good sushi....and fish sperm). Rich and Jimmy stayed next to each other all night. I even saw them holding hands and looking at each other lovingly. To my shame, I was under the common misconception that all gay men were very promiscuous and I kind of expected them to pair off with the dancers. What I saw that night was a very loving monogamous relationship.
The Wedding Day
The day of the wedding came a few days later and I had the good fortune of being the first one in my family to experience the fun and interesting experience of a groom going through a Chinese-style wedding. I say "Chinese-style" because while we did do a lot of the traditions from a Chinese wedding, we did say vows to God before a Christian minister. This was something she insisted on as her family had converted from Taoism to Christianity (but still kept the Taoist traditions and festivals).
First up was the gatecrash. I went over to the her family's apartment and the MOH and bridesmaids stood at the door refusing to let me in unless I gave them $9999.00. Nine is a significant symbol to them. It means "longevity" I think. So the whole idea is for me to haggle the price down by doing challenges and games. I had to do a handstand and walk with my hands. I had to answer trivia questions ("What is her nickname for you?" "Cranky old man" "What is your nickname for her?" "Baby"). BIL and I had to do "the worm". I haggled them down to $99 which I paid to them in a red packet. My BIL and wife chided me for not going lower but my dad was there and was in his 70s and couldn't do any feats of strength.
After I "secured" my bride, we did the traditional tea ceremony with her parents and my parents. Lilly was dressed in a traditional red silk qipao, tailor made by Rich and Jimmy. I gotta tell you people, the qipao really does it for me! Not gonna lie, it was like cupid gut punched me when I saw her dressed in it . My parents were pretty stoic throughout but my mom sympathy cried with Lilly's parents when she tearfully did the tea ceremony with her mother and father. We received red packets from each set of parents. I was told the red packet her parents gave us had most of the bride price we paid in it. Her mom gave her her grandmother's jeweled antique watch and my mom gave her a sapphire ring (sapphire is my birth stone). As we left her home to go to Chijmes, I told her "we're keeping that dress, understand me??" She laughed.
We got to Chijmes, did the photos and she walked down the aisle in a beautiful white dress with a small train behind it with sequins on it. My dad gave me the ring. He was my best man. He was my best man because he's the best man I know. After the wedding, she changed into a champagne colored strapless cocktail dress another Rich and Jimmy original. THREE wardrobe changes, people! THREE! All with different hair and make up and she did it super quick. I don't know what wizardry was invoked but we may be indebted to the hoary netherworld.
We honeymooned at the Fullerton Hotel. The old British colonial Post Office was converted to a luxury hotel in 2001. We stayed there for 3 days ordering overpriced room service ("Go to hawker center, lah! Much cheaper better food, meh!).
Emigration and Immigration
So a little bit before this time, a little event happened in New York. You might have heard about it. Anyway because some sexually repressed incels decided to murder thousands of people, USA's immigration was all jacked up. The INS went bye-bye. Then we had the BCIS for a brief moment, followed by the USCIS. I saw that my project was ending and my company helped me with her immigration. It was a pain, though. It seems like we had new forms to fill out every week while the old ones became obsolete. That's how I remember it, anyway. It was a pretty frustrating time and I almost had to leave her behind (it wouldn't have been permanent but it would be a long time). Luckily we were able to make it time.
For explanation purposes, we didn't get LEGALLY married in Singapore. We had the religious ceremony but no "government contracts" were involved. This is because, at that time at least, it was easier to bring over a fiancée than a wife, for some reason. So Lilly was a "90 Day Fiancée"!! We got married at the county courthouse when we finally were able to go to my new project. We didn't wait 90 days. We did in three (jet lag).
Unfortunately for her, we moved from Singapore, a 24 hour international class city, to a sleepy seaside town in the USA near a military base. Lots of fun was had with that. A total fish out of water story for another time (What is this "coin laundry"? Do you Americans have a place to wash your coins?).
My BIL got married to a beautiful girl and moved to Australia and opened a Bait and Tackle store in Surfer's Paradise on the east coast of Australia. He has 2 daughters. In 2012 he was caught cheating on his wife and lost everything. She moved back to Singapore with his kids, and he kind of struggled for a while. He got another bait and tackle store eventually and tries to see his daughters whenever he can. They don't have a good relationship.
Rich and Jimmy celebrated the decriminalization of homosexuality in Singapore in 2022, but they still can't get married. We still talk from time to time. Writing this, I find myself missing them. I had some really fun times because of them. I've never had better conversations in Singapore than with them while at Lilly's dress fittings (and my suit fittings).
We have been married for 21 years. She has never given up being a Singaporean citizen. She keeps her passport current. She's a "permanent resident" here in the USA. We have three kids, two boys and a girl. We are still married. She still wears her hair in a pony tail with a ball cap when she works out. She still wears that qipao on special occasions, which I try to achieve as often as possible. She's still my Baby and I'm still her Cranky Old Man.
Thanks for reading.
submitted by GentlemanlyAdvice to stories [link] [comments]
I had a pretty traumatic break up with my childhood best friend, turned girlfriend. I had known her since we were 8 years old. We had been boyfriend and girlfriend since we were 13 and had been so for 9 years until my junior year of college when she cheated on me in a very cruel way. It came to light that she had cheated on me many times before as well.
I loved her so god damn much! I thought we were one of those stories where two souls were knitted together from eternity to eternity, or some hallmark card bullshit like that.
I was emotionally shattered and it took me a while until one day about 2 years later, I woke up and thought about her, but then realized that I hadn't thought about her at all the previous day. It was glorious and I knew then that I was on the mend. After that, my healing process sort of exponentially snowballed and I was back in the saddle as far as relationships went. I started going on dates and meeting up with women.
I was a software engineer working for a large corporation. Because I was good at my job, and because I didn't have a family, I was given the opportunity to move to Singapore and lead a project there for what would be a couple of years but turned out to be 7 years.
The great thing about Singapore is that they speak the "King's English" when they're not speaking "Singlish" (a patois of mostly English with funky grammar, but with Malay, Chinese, and Hindi thrown in). So I didn't have to learn a whole new language to fit in. I just had to learn how to translate Singlish to English, which wasn't too hard after a couple of months of trying. I even learned the lingo and it would amuse my coworkers a whole lot when I spoke Singlish. They thought it was hilarious.
I was a good looking guy (still am!!) but I really let myself go in my depression. I was a tall, muscular 210 pounds when I broke up with my ex, but I had ballooned up to over 300 pounds. I started a workout regimen and lost it all but the workout regimen became sort of an obsession. It was the one thing that grounded me. After I went to Singapore, one of my business perks was a gym membership at "Fitness First", a local gym franchise. I was down to my previous weight, but I had to practically camp out at the gym because the best thing about Singapore is the FOOD. The food is incredible! However, you WILL pack on the weight if you don't get your ass to the gym.
The meet cute
I was working out one day much later than normal due to some overtime on my project and I saw a girl on a treadmill. The treadmill was the one I usually use because it was in the back and kind of out of the way. The girl was stunning! The thing that stuck out to me was that she was had her hair in a pony tail through a ball cap, which is a look I find very attractive. I was a little nervous because, even though I was fairly confident about the way I look, I was definitely batting out of my league with this girl.
I went to her and chatted her up after she got off of the treadmill. She didn't look me in the eye and didn't really engage. I figured that I had acted like what is now known as a "gym creep" and I figured it was a "swing and a miss!" I apologized and said I wouldn't bother her anymore. I stuck out my hand and said "I'm OP, by the way. What's your name?"
She hesitated and looked at me for a bit and said "Lilly" (not her real name).
I remember this exactly because she later said that it was what intrigued her about me. At the time, she was an actress/model who had done some print/public billboard type ads, product demo booths at expos, and even a bit part in a local tv (Mediacorp) series. She had started to attract public attention because of these (mainly the TV show and the ads that were hanging all around town at that time) not just from men but from women too and it was super uncomfortable for her.
The fact that I had no idea who she was relaxed her and made her think that I was attracted to her for her and not because her face was everywhere at the time. After she told me about it, I did notice her face everywhere. But photoshop was a thing even back then, so I didn't recognize her from her ads and I really don't look at ads, tuning them out. I also didn't watch her TV show because it was in Mandarin Chinese and I don't speak or understand any Chinese, and I wasn't in a position where I was required to attend or arrange trade shows.
In the years prior to meeting me, Lilly had undergone a lot of plastic surgery (breast, eyelid, facial contouring, nose job, lipo, etc). She said it got to where she didn't recognize herself in the mirror and it disturbed and depressed her. She hadn't particularly wanted the surgery but she got the procedures done at the behest of her family who wanted her to bring in more money and the people in charge of her career development (don't know the term). It was all very expensive and she felt like she owed her family and the talent people who managed her.
Later, I found out that she hated the public recognition. Not just from men, but mostly from women who were really catty about her plastic surgery. The people in charge of her were pushing her to start singing but she didn't have a good voice and would need a bunch of training for that. She was depressed due to not recognizing herself in the mirror any more and didn't want to follow the career track that she had been on. They were pushing her to do more figure/body modeling which was why she was in the gym. She was SUPER uncomfortable with that and constantly hungry and pissed off.
She was afraid that she would do some more modeling and then get married off by her parents to some rich mainland Chinese man that she would be ambivalent about (she preferred Caucasian men) and she'd be forced to be a traditional pampered Chinese wife living in Beijing.(Doesn't sound that bad to me. Some of those Chinese businessmen live crazy luxurious lifestyles.
Since I was working a lot of overtime, I kept going to the gym later at night and we saw each other and I would wave and smile and she would smile and wave back. OK I was kinda hoping to meet her regularly. I spotted her on a couple of exercises and we began to chat with each other a bit. A couple of times I had to steady her because she was fainting from being hungry and working out at the same time. I used that as an excuse to take her out to a hawker center, which like a mall food court but with delicious local food (not chain restaurants). We chatted and got along really well. It became a regular thing until I confessed I had a crush on her. We started dating after that until it got to a point where she practically moved into my place.
She, of course, had her share of guys interested in her. She was on livejournal at the time (remember livejournal??) and she was doing that and posting pictures of herself for her career mostly, but I'm sure she did enjoy the attention. She had one guy from Belgium who was really after her. He actually bought her 800 thread count sheets, which is an oddly practical but vaguely inappropriate gift. He actually visited Singapore on business (he was a tech sales guy) and wanted to meet up with her in a public place, a hawker center. I still had trust issues from my previous "love of my life" betraying me. To this day, I cringe at my behavior at the time, but I laid down a clear boundary. She could absolutely go see and hang out with this guy if she wanted to, but if she did, she'd be doing it as a single available girl and we would be through. She said she saw my face "turn to stone" and it was clear that she would lose me if she went to meet up with that guy. That honestly gave her pause about our relationship and she really considered ending it at the time. I didn't know that until much later, though. Certainly, I'm glad that she didn't. She didn't go meet up with the guy. To this day, we call the incident "The Belgian Waffle". OK so I call it that, she thinks it's stupid.
Meeting her family
Eventually, Lilly asked if I could have dinner with her parents, saying that they wanted to meet me. I bought some gifts, basically Japanese cookies in really nice packaging, and then we met. I did the traditional thing and formally introduced myself and asked them about their family and history.
At the time, Lilly got some criticism from her extended family because I am a white guy. There was a certain stigma attached to local girls who liked white guys. They called those girls "SPGs" which stands for "Sarong Party Girls", a derogatory name for the prostitutes who would entertain British expats at after hours parties "back in the day".
Over the next few months, I won over her family mainly by eating their food and being accepting of their culture. I grew up in Texas, so pickled jalapenos were common in my house...like salt and pepper, we put them on everything. Later on, I was the kind of guy who put tabasco or sriracha on everything. So eating their spicy food was no problem for me. I remember us both going shopping at an open air market and seeing an older woman cutting up cili padi. I asked if I could try some. She looked at my pale face and then at Lilly and she said I could. I bit into one and chewed it up as the woman looked at me with an amused look on her face. She was waiting for me to jump up and down with fire shooting out of my mouth, I guess. I disappointed her, but she and Lilly were impressed. She later told her mother and she was impressed too. She wanted me to eat one for her as well. Oh well, trained monkey time I guess.
The real test came when I tried Durian for the first time. This is the same food that "defeated" Andrew Zimmern, the "Bizarre Foods" guy. I actually liked it. I had a D24 durian, which admittedly is like the "beginner version" of durians. There are like 16 different types. When you get past the smell and actually taste it, it doesn't smell that bad any more. It's very sweet and creamy. It's like the taste overwrites your disgust of the smell. I think that's what really impressed them to an extreme degree. They started calling me an "egg", because I was "white on the outside but yellow on the inside."
I would visit her grandmother with her. In true Chinese fashion, Lilly and her brother Johnny were raised by their paternal grandparents while their parents worked full time jobs, so her grandmother was like her mom. She was in an elder care facility at this point, though. She didn't like living there, but it was all they could afford. We would visit her every week and she'd be very happy. She didn't speak any English at all so she and Lilly would just chat speaking Hokkien Chinese while her grandmother would pet my hairy forearms like I was a dog. She was absolutely smitten with my hairy forearms.
Meeting my family
After a little over a year, I took her back to Texas to meet my family. It was quite the culture shock. Lilly was amazed by red barns and hay bales, black and white Holstein cows, things she saw in movies about the USA. She particularly was impressed by the cluster mailboxes lined up on country roads ("So cute, leh!") We actually had to stop the car and take pictures of her standing next to them, smiling goofily for the photo. I made sure to take her to the Texas hill country during spring, when the hills are covered with soft green grass and festooned with bluebonnets, sunflowers, indian paintbrushes, black eyed susans, daisies, etc. I had to practically hold her down to keep her from picking them. It's not illegal or anything, it's just frowned upon and tradition to leave them alone. OK, I let her pick some. Give me a break, I was in love with the girl.
Driving was also something that kind of boggled her mind. Texas is huge, and traveling from my parents' place to visit my brothers and their families was a seemingly endless trek. Driving from Houston to Austin, to Corpus Christi was crazy long, even with the stops to visit my relatives.
Lilly was practically agoraphobic at the big sky in Texas. She was used to being in a forest of tall concrete and steel buildings, with only strips of blue sky available at the top. In Texas that sky went from horizon to horizon. She was also amazed at the uncountable numbers of stars at night away from the city lights. She later told me it was like visiting Narnia or something.
In Texas, she got her share of looks from guys, especially in the bigger cities. I wasn't jealous. I've never been a jealous guy, although my experience with my ex "love of my life" really put my radar up, I still was proud that other guys were attracted to her. My attitude was "go ahead and eat your hearts out, she's with me!"
When she met my oldest brother, it was like a cultural thing with her, so she was very deferential and respectful. I knew that my oldest brother was attracted to her because he was stumbling and stuttering when he was speaking to her, looking at her but kind of avoiding looking at her. I wasn't too concerned because he was a married guy with 2 sons and not a scumbag, but it was still pretty amusing to see "Mr. Smooth-don't-let-em-know-you-want-em-kid" at a loss for words.
My parents met Lilly finally (she was super nervous but she did really well) and later my mom brought me aside and asked me if she should re-set her mother's diamond engagement ring. I thought about it a bit, and then told her "yes". My mom's eyes started sparkling with images of unborn grandchildren and she smiled bigger than I had ever seen her smile (kind of unsettling actually). My dad later brought me aside and basically told me I couldn't do any better and I would be a "god damn fool" if I let her get away from me. I agreed. My dad then told me something that remains with me to this day: "She will make your life sparkle, son." (she has).
Before our time in the US was up my mom gave me the ring and I asked Lilly to be my wife in a field of wildflowers, which had become her favorite place to be in Texas. She said yes. Looking back, that was one of the happiest days of my life. It was up there with losing my virginity to "the love of my life" (who turned out to be a duplicitous crazy person but at the time it was really special), my wedding day to Lilly, and the births of our children.
The Engagement
When we got back to Singapore we had to pretend we weren't engaged because I had to ask her parents for their daughter's hand in marriage. I spoke with them and explained how my prospects in my career were good. I told them that I loved their daughter and that my family also loved their daughter. We had to schedule a phone call between my parents and her parents.
I had clued my parents in as far as the traditions go. In Chinese culture, the groom pays for the wedding rather than the bride. The groom also has to give the bride's parents certain auspicious gifts. My parents luckily had done a tour of China a few years before and knew all of this beforehand, having befriended their local tour guide who was saving up money for his own wedding at the time. On the call, they agreed upon a pinjin, which is basically "betrothal money". We started to plan the Guo Da Li ceremony which would take place in 3 months time, and 3 months before the wedding.
Unfortunately life threw us a curve ball and Lilly's grandmother died. It was bittersweet because, while Lilly missed her, her grandmother had become very old and infirm to the point where her quality of life was pretty low. All wedding stuff was put on hiatus until the funeral was over plus 100 days for mourning.
After that, we were able to do the Guo Da Li ceremony. I gave my future in laws a red packet of money plus special cakes and 12 mandarin oranges and gold jewelry. It all went very well.
Wedding planning started in earnest. I got some money from my dad (who insisted) but the lion's share was out of my pocket. During this process I was able to meet some incredible people. The stand outs were Richard and Jimmy. Rich and Jimmy were tailors and dressmakers. They were a couple and they gave my fiancée a really good deal on a wedding dress and cocktail dress if she agreed to do some print modeling for their business. They also made me a tuxedo and a suit. I offered to model for them as well and we all had a good laugh at that prospect (OK they were doing most of the laughing - ego still hurts from that one, guys).
The venue we were using was Chijmes. It's the same one used in the move "Crazy Rich Asians". It was back when they had first started offering it up as a venue so it wasn't crazy expensive at the time. Plus, it was a smaller venue for weddings. Usually weddings are held in large hotel ballrooms and are huge affairs (this is what I was told). The families both invite everyone they've ever met to come: Neighbors, business contacts, everyone. They all bring red packets filled with cash. We opted for the "small" wedding.
The Bachelor Party
We had planned bachelobachelorette parties on the same night (separate venues). Lilly's MOH threw hers while Rich and Jimmy threw mine. My best man was my dad (because he's the best man that I know) and so cigars and brandy would have been disappointing to my work friends and my future brother in law and cousins. I don't think anyone was prepared for what happened.
We had the party at the sushi restaurant of a friend of Rich and Jimmy's. It was after hours. We had some incredible sashimi and rolls. I even tried fish sperm. Didn't like it. I asked Jimmy are you sure it's FISH, sperm?? He said of course he'd never do that to me. To be fair, it did taste and smell very fishy. I don't know how human sperm tastes like (or maybe I do now, I don't know).
After the sushi was done, it was time for the entertainment, and oh boy. Rich and Jimmy hired a trans entertainer who sang show tunes. The thing is, she had an incredible voice. She was obviously biologically male, but she really carried herself with a lot more femininity than I've seen from biological women. She sang and told jokes and roasted me pretty thoroughly. My dad was there and he thought it was funny as hell. My friends from work, especially the Aussies and Brits, thought it was great, my future BIL and most of my future cousins did too. Other cousins politely excused themselves and left. I think the free flowing booze and beer kept most people there, though.
After her thoroughly entertaining performance, it was time for the dancers. This is kind of where it went off the rails. Rich and Jimmy hired exotic dancers...but they were all male or trans. Now, to be fair, it wasn't like they didn't tell me about it beforehand. They did. Personally, I thought it would be hilarious to announce that the strippers were here and then have male dancers come out. I have a twisted sense of humor, I suppose. I certainly wasn't going to cheat on the most beautiful woman in the world mere weeks before our wedding, so prostitutes and female dancers were completely out of the question for me. They jokingly suggested male dancers it and we laughed. I thought about it a bit and I guess I'm "take-the-joke-too-far" guy so I encouraged it. Lilly knew about it and thought it was funny as well and wanted me to video tape it while it happened. ("Yeah right you just want to ogle the dancers" "Of course, lah!")
What I wasn't prepared for was the PLATOON of banana hammocks that marched out into the restaurant. Smooth greased up Asian chests everywhere! My dad was of course shocked at first and then looked at me and we started laughing and the ridiculousness of it. My dad stood up and clapped his hand on my shoulder and put a mock serious look on his face. The people immediately around me witnessed my dad telling me that he loved me and accepted my life style choice and that nothing I could say or do would ever change the fact that he and mom loved me and accepted me. Thanks, dad. I was laughing during the whole thing and my future BIL and work buddies who were around me were laughing as well. My dad excused himself and said he had to go find my mom and tell her the "bad news about her future grandchildren" and left ("Can adopt, lah! Can surrogate, meh!" Thanks for the support, guys). My future BIL laughed and said that since all of the available male dancers were at my party, there were none available to attend his sister's party, so she was "safe".
Among the highlights of the evening is that I discovered that a few of my co-workers and future cousins were in fact gay. I was told to stay out of the ladies' room no matter what. I wasn't planning on going in but thanks for the warning. I was proud that we all only vomited in the trash cans and not on the floor (what a waste of some damn good sushi....and fish sperm). Rich and Jimmy stayed next to each other all night. I even saw them holding hands and looking at each other lovingly. To my shame, I was under the common misconception that all gay men were very promiscuous and I kind of expected them to pair off with the dancers. What I saw that night was a very loving monogamous relationship.
The Wedding Day
The day of the wedding came a few days later and I had the good fortune of being the first one in my family to experience the fun and interesting experience of a groom going through a Chinese-style wedding. I say "Chinese-style" because while we did do a lot of the traditions from a Chinese wedding, we did say vows to God before a Christian minister. This was something she insisted on as her family had converted from Taoism to Christianity (but still kept the Taoist traditions and festivals).
First up was the gatecrash. I went over to the her family's apartment and the MOH and bridesmaids stood at the door refusing to let me in unless I gave them $9999.00. Nine is a significant symbol to them. It means "longevity" I think. So the whole idea is for me to haggle the price down by doing challenges and games. I had to do a handstand and walk with my hands. I had to answer trivia questions ("What is her nickname for you?" "Cranky old man" "What is your nickname for her?" "Baby"). BIL and I had to do "the worm". I haggled them down to $99 which I paid to them in a red packet. My BIL and wife chided me for not going lower but my dad was there and was in his 70s and couldn't do any feats of strength.
After I "secured" my bride, we did the traditional tea ceremony with her parents and my parents. Lilly was dressed in a traditional red silk qipao, tailor made by Rich and Jimmy. I gotta tell you people, the qipao really does it for me! Not gonna lie, it was like cupid gut punched me when I saw her dressed in it . My parents were pretty stoic throughout but my mom sympathy cried with Lilly's parents when she tearfully did the tea ceremony with her mother and father. We received red packets from each set of parents. I was told the red packet her parents gave us had most of the bride price we paid in it. Her mom gave her her grandmother's jeweled antique watch and my mom gave her a sapphire ring (sapphire is my birth stone). As we left her home to go to Chijmes, I told her "we're keeping that dress, understand me??" She laughed.
We got to Chijmes, did the photos and she walked down the aisle in a beautiful white dress with a small train behind it with sequins on it. My dad gave me the ring. He was my best man. He was my best man because he's the best man I know. After the wedding, she changed into a champagne colored strapless cocktail dress another Rich and Jimmy original. THREE wardrobe changes, people! THREE! All with different hair and make up and she did it super quick. I don't know what wizardry was invoked but we may be indebted to the hoary netherworld.
We honeymooned at the Fullerton Hotel. The old British colonial Post Office was converted to a luxury hotel in 2001. We stayed there for 3 days ordering overpriced room service ("Go to hawker center, lah! Much cheaper better food, meh!).
Emigration and Immigration
So a little bit before this time, a little event happened in New York. You might have heard about it. Anyway because some sexually repressed incels decided to murder thousands of people, USA's immigration was all jacked up. The INS went bye-bye. Then we had the BCIS for a brief moment, followed by the USCIS. I saw that my project was ending and my company helped me with her immigration. It was a pain, though. It seems like we had new forms to fill out every week while the old ones became obsolete. That's how I remember it, anyway. It was a pretty frustrating time and I almost had to leave her behind (it wouldn't have been permanent but it would be a long time). Luckily we were able to make it time.
For explanation purposes, we didn't get LEGALLY married in Singapore. We had the religious ceremony but no "government contracts" were involved. This is because, at that time at least, it was easier to bring over a fiancée than a wife, for some reason. So Lilly was a "90 Day Fiancée"!! We got married at the county courthouse when we finally were able to go to my new project. We didn't wait 90 days. We did in three (jet lag).
Unfortunately for her, we moved from Singapore, a 24 hour international class city, to a sleepy seaside town in the USA near a military base. Lots of fun was had with that. A total fish out of water story for another time (What is this "coin laundry"? Do you Americans have a place to wash your coins?).
My BIL got married to a beautiful girl and moved to Australia and opened a Bait and Tackle store in Surfer's Paradise on the east coast of Australia. He has 2 daughters. In 2012 he was caught cheating on his wife and lost everything. She moved back to Singapore with his kids, and he kind of struggled for a while. He got another bait and tackle store eventually and tries to see his daughters whenever he can. They don't have a good relationship.
Rich and Jimmy celebrated the decriminalization of homosexuality in Singapore in 2022, but they still can't get married. We still talk from time to time. Writing this, I find myself missing them. I had some really fun times because of them. I've never had better conversations in Singapore than with them while at Lilly's dress fittings (and my suit fittings).
We have been married for 21 years. She has never given up being a Singaporean citizen. She keeps her passport current. She's a "permanent resident" here in the USA. We have three kids, two boys and a girl. We are still married. She still wears her hair in a pony tail with a ball cap when she works out. She still wears that qipao on special occasions, which I try to achieve as often as possible. She's still my Baby and I'm still her Cranky Old Man.
Thanks for reading.
2024.06.07 20:54 Glittering_Surround [US to US][Sell][Perfume] Full Sizes from BPAL, D&F, Pulp; Samples from Black Hearted Tart, Crow & Pebble, Fantôme, Olympic Orchids, Possets and more
Shipping is $5 to US
Perfumes are tested once or twice on clean skin and always stored in a cool, dark location.
For wand-cap samples/Ajevie slinks, tags are wrapped around vials for storage.
Cat-friendly & smoke-free home (but my kitty is very uninterested in perfumes!)
Full list & details on my sheet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Highlights:
Full Sizes
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab
Niche Samples from Marissa Zappas, Universal Flowering
Full list & details on my sheet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reading!
submitted by Glittering_Surround to IndieExchange [link] [comments]
Perfumes are tested once or twice on clean skin and always stored in a cool, dark location.
For wand-cap samples/Ajevie slinks, tags are wrapped around vials for storage.
Cat-friendly & smoke-free home (but my kitty is very uninterested in perfumes!)
Full list & details on my sheet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Highlights:
Full Sizes
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab
- A Tudor House in Moonlight (A slurry of ambergris accord, pale sage and white mint, mugwort, mahogany, coffee bean, and wet dead leaves.) 5ml, $15
- Breathing Destruction From Their Lips Like Flame (Dried red fruits, pink peppercorn, black fig, nagarmotha, and vetiver.) 4ml in 5ml bottle,$10
I Was Born a Bitch, I Was Born a Painter(Sweet basil and violets, blended with Spanish moss, yarrow oil, and blue musk.)5ml rollerball, $6
- Boreal (A dark, green forest scent featuring artemesia, juniper, Douglas fir needles, black spruce, and woodland musk.) 4.5ml rollerball, $15
- Pi Day 2024 (Lemon custard, rosewater meringue, buttery pie crust, & radiant solar musk.) 4.5ml screw-top bottle, $15
Niche Samples from Marissa Zappas, Universal Flowering
Full list & details on my sheet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reading!
2024.06.07 20:46 Stang70Fastback Feedback for a N00b
 | Hello everyone. I'll try to keep this short(ish). Had hail. Getting a new roof. This is our first home, and I want to make sure I ask the correct questions since I'm new to all of this. Above is the initial estimate we were provided. The cost is under what insurance quoted, so that isn't really my concern, and I left the costs off of my screenshot for the time being. I just have some other questions as a N00b that I'm hoping I could get some feedback on. I'll preface this by saying he comes highly recommended by many folks in the area, so this isn't me trying to second-guess everything, but just wanting to make sure I know more than nothing when we talk later today. submitted by Stang70Fastback to Roofing [link] [comments] With that said, here are my questions: 1.) We have a 2-12 roof. I know shingles aren't ideal, but that's what we had, and we can't afford a fancy metal roof (and don't want tar). I've seen comments in here talking about waterproofing the ENTIRE roof if you do shingles on such a low slope. We don't really have "extra money" beyond what insurance is paying, and our roof is enormous (giant ranch, 8000+ SF). As far as I can tell trying to read the 2021 International Residential Code, waterproofing the ENTIRE roof isn't a requirement, so I assume that isn't something we can get insurance to agree to cover. Is it really necessary? Is what we were quoted sufficient? We have had ice dam issues in the past thanks to our massive overhangs, but from what I can tell it looks like they are doing 9 feet up, which isn't nothing, and I assume is enough? 2.) I saw a comment about asking your roofers to use stainless steel nails for better longevity. Is that really worth doing? Sounds expensive, especially on such a big roof! 3.) Is anything obvious missing from this quote? I'll note we ARE indeed removing gutters and NOT reinstalling them. The house is a midcentury design built in '57 which didn't have gutters until we bought it 3 years ago (installed a very suspicious "gift" by the previous owner.) They aren't pitched properly, there aren't enough downspouts, and honestly for our home if we were to do them again in the future they would need to be much nicer, much more expensive things than the cookie-cutter garbage that is currently on there. 4.) Is there anything else I should ask? Our big fear is how much decking might need to be replaced. We know there are some leaks, and we are terrified of suddenly owing an additional $10k in replacement 4x8 sheets (something else I understand insurance won't cover... maybe?), but I don't know what else we need to be afraid of suddenly needing to pay out-of-pocket for. Again, I do trust this contractor given the recommendations, but I always prefer to be wary, and I don't like to be completely clueless about anything we have done, so just any general guidance is appreciated! Thanks in advance! |
2024.06.07 20:37 MyStanAcct1984 [qcrit] GETTING READY, Women's Fiction, Fifth QL rev
Hello, thanks for all the helpful fb so far.
1.I have reverted to my prev title, given the (very funny) commentary on UNICORNS (even worse wrt ya'll having threeway action/bisxuality evoked is... my MC is bi! No threeway action in this one, but hey, maybe that's the idea I needed to crank out a sequel... )
***** Dear Agent,
I like you because [customization TK]-.
From struggling to write a single song to long hours in the studio to The Tonight Show, The Hotel Bel Air, red carpets, Cape Cod hideaways and ceramic dildos (yes really), GETTING READY (85k, Upmarket/Women’s Fiction) is a funny, gossipy novel about self-discovery and creative renewal set deep within the pop music industry. Readers who enjoyed Curits Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy, Robinne Lee’s The Idea of You, or HBO’s Starstruck will love GETTING READY.
Songwriteproduceformer one-hit-wonder Cary Mitchell once dreamed of critical acclaim and #1 hits–but the higher you soar, the harder you fall. These days, she’s happily settled for having mid-list Top 40 success down to a science, instead. Besides, phoning it in leaves her with more time for letting it all hang out: her friends, partying, vacation…
Something unexpected happens when she’s brought in to write a song for her former protege, rising pop star Adam King. The first song’s very mid; the second’s too generic… but the third is a definite hit, the kind of song people spend years waiting to write. Suddenly song after song is flowing out of her, like she’s inspired or something. Soon enough, Cary’s executive-producing Adam’s make-or-break third album.
Just as Cary’s building up the courage to explore her new-found creativity, her bonus-track duet with Adam goes social media supernova. Now instead of logging long hours in the studio, she’s juggling gossip columnists digging into her teenage indiscretions, blogspherists questioning her authenticity, frenemies trumping her chart moves, rabidly entitled stans stalkerazzi’ing her every breath. Complicating everything? The situationship she’s fallen into with Adam.
Adam, who’s just always relentlessly, perfectly on. Thirst trap posting first thing in the morning, green juice permanently in hand, panty-dropping smile beaming 24/7. Adam, who spends endless hours making music with her, pushing her to dream bigger, bolder. Adam, who never takes his eyes off the super-stardom prize. That Adam.
OLD: https://www.reddit.com/PubTips/comments/1cz1txc/qcrit_unicorns_85k_womens_fiction_adult_fourth_ql/
submitted by MyStanAcct1984 to PubTips [link] [comments]
1.I have reverted to my prev title, given the (very funny) commentary on UNICORNS (even worse wrt ya'll having threeway action/bisxuality evoked is... my MC is bi! No threeway action in this one, but hey, maybe that's the idea I needed to crank out a sequel... )
- As per prev fb, I've got more in here wrt to Adam. I'm trying to get at him being a being 1. super driven 2. cary being a bit uncertain about him because of image vs. reality 3. that she's totally into him no matter what she says-- and that he IS diffo in private-- that there is a there, there. (is that working?)
- BUT I'm worried this is reading a little too much like a Romance ATP-- there is a strong love story element but it ends with Cary and her work-- not with their reunion. The book is about her creative re-discovery, albeit prompted by her affair w Adam. Maybe I take out "the Idea of you" comp?
***** Dear Agent,
I like you because [customization TK]-.
From struggling to write a single song to long hours in the studio to The Tonight Show, The Hotel Bel Air, red carpets, Cape Cod hideaways and ceramic dildos (yes really), GETTING READY (85k, Upmarket/Women’s Fiction) is a funny, gossipy novel about self-discovery and creative renewal set deep within the pop music industry. Readers who enjoyed Curits Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy, Robinne Lee’s The Idea of You, or HBO’s Starstruck will love GETTING READY.
Songwriteproduceformer one-hit-wonder Cary Mitchell once dreamed of critical acclaim and #1 hits–but the higher you soar, the harder you fall. These days, she’s happily settled for having mid-list Top 40 success down to a science, instead. Besides, phoning it in leaves her with more time for letting it all hang out: her friends, partying, vacation…
Something unexpected happens when she’s brought in to write a song for her former protege, rising pop star Adam King. The first song’s very mid; the second’s too generic… but the third is a definite hit, the kind of song people spend years waiting to write. Suddenly song after song is flowing out of her, like she’s inspired or something. Soon enough, Cary’s executive-producing Adam’s make-or-break third album.
Just as Cary’s building up the courage to explore her new-found creativity, her bonus-track duet with Adam goes social media supernova. Now instead of logging long hours in the studio, she’s juggling gossip columnists digging into her teenage indiscretions, blogspherists questioning her authenticity, frenemies trumping her chart moves, rabidly entitled stans stalkerazzi’ing her every breath. Complicating everything? The situationship she’s fallen into with Adam.
Adam, who’s just always relentlessly, perfectly on. Thirst trap posting first thing in the morning, green juice permanently in hand, panty-dropping smile beaming 24/7. Adam, who spends endless hours making music with her, pushing her to dream bigger, bolder. Adam, who never takes his eyes off the super-stardom prize. That Adam.
OLD: https://www.reddit.com/PubTips/comments/1cz1txc/qcrit_unicorns_85k_womens_fiction_adult_fourth_ql/
2024.06.07 20:35 BadDecisionsMan Does anyone know what Font and Theme this is? Found it on the official NodeJS website
 | submitted by BadDecisionsMan to vscode [link] [comments] |
2024.06.07 20:33 Droste_E Can't log in to Optimum on Firefox - works on Edge, Chrome
Hi all,
Been using Firefox for the last year, completely switched over from Chrome, very happy with it until last night.
I was trying to watch the Yankees vs. Twins game on YES by logging in to my Optimum account as I have always done. Instead, I got the following error message:
Now, this also coincides with my purchase of a new laptop - the Asus Zephyrus G14 (2024, Windows 11). I tried logging in with Firefox on my desktop (Windows 10), and it worked. At the same time, I can log in using Edge or Chrome on my new laptop. So, I see this as some kind of issue caused by some interaction my laptop or Windows 10 is having with Firefox.
Does anyone have any idea if any ASUS proprietary software, or Windows 11, interferes with Firefox in any way? Has anyone had issues with logging in to cable providers via Firefox?
I know I've written a lot, but the issue is very confusing to me. I really appreciate anyone who read this far, and I would further appreciate any input on this issue.
submitted by Droste_E to firefox [link] [comments]
Been using Firefox for the last year, completely switched over from Chrome, very happy with it until last night.
I was trying to watch the Yankees vs. Twins game on YES by logging in to my Optimum account as I have always done. Instead, I got the following error message:
Optimum Login Service - Stale RequestThis has persisted into this morning. I have cleared cookies multiple times, disabled all plugins, started Firefox in troubleshoot mode, restarted my computer, updated Windows, restarted my computer again - nothing.
Your session has expired. Please try again.
Now, this also coincides with my purchase of a new laptop - the Asus Zephyrus G14 (2024, Windows 11). I tried logging in with Firefox on my desktop (Windows 10), and it worked. At the same time, I can log in using Edge or Chrome on my new laptop. So, I see this as some kind of issue caused by some interaction my laptop or Windows 10 is having with Firefox.
Does anyone have any idea if any ASUS proprietary software, or Windows 11, interferes with Firefox in any way? Has anyone had issues with logging in to cable providers via Firefox?
I know I've written a lot, but the issue is very confusing to me. I really appreciate anyone who read this far, and I would further appreciate any input on this issue.
2024.06.07 20:26 import-antigravity (Kubuntu 24.04) Where are logs about sleep/wake up? I need to fix my computer not suspending correctly
I've had this issue for years and I've tried many many solutions but I feel like I need to go read exactly what's preventing my computer from sleeping.
Where are those logs?
submitted by import-antigravity to linux4noobs [link] [comments]
Where are those logs?
2024.06.07 20:21 Cool_Anxiety_112 I don't like the "you die immediately if you reach below 0 HP" rule, so i changed it a bit.
Forgive me if i didn't read the rule right, but just... idk, it doens't seen that fair. I know it's a system meant to be unfair but i still wanted to change it. I was thinking of using the major wound rule (half the HP thing) and placing a certain negative number and if the character receives a damage that is equal or bigger than the negative number, they die. But if it's smaller, they just do the normal CON check and begins dying (in case they reached 0 HP). Let's call the number the Deadly Damage Resistance or DDR for short.
If a character has 12 HP, their DDR is -6 (half of HP), and if they receive an attack that drops their HP to -6 or more, they immediately die (because... well... they are not going to survive multiple rounds of a rifle). It's just an imaginable number, because the character aren't gonna keep a negative HP in their character sheet (obviously), just drop to 0.
I mean, for a system that you can die by anything, i think this is not a game breaking mechanic.
I hope i explained it well 💀 What's your opinion about this?
edit: it turns out i did not read the rules right lol thanks for everyone that corrected my mistake ✌️
submitted by Cool_Anxiety_112 to callofcthulhu [link] [comments]
If a character has 12 HP, their DDR is -6 (half of HP), and if they receive an attack that drops their HP to -6 or more, they immediately die (because... well... they are not going to survive multiple rounds of a rifle). It's just an imaginable number, because the character aren't gonna keep a negative HP in their character sheet (obviously), just drop to 0.
I mean, for a system that you can die by anything, i think this is not a game breaking mechanic.
I hope i explained it well 💀 What's your opinion about this?
edit: it turns out i did not read the rules right lol thanks for everyone that corrected my mistake ✌️
2024.06.07 20:20 lazlored Registration on China Eastern
 | Hello Everyone! submitted by lazlored to Flights [link] [comments] Me and my wife plan to travel to Thailand from Hungary. We found some decent flights by China Eastern. We tried to register on the website (to be able to buy the tickets) but stuck on the first page. We entered everything correctly and waiting for the verification code to arrive (we clicked on the "Get" button at the end of the phone number) but it never arrives. We tried both of our phone numbers but nothing... (blank screenshot is just for reference) https://preview.redd.it/8fy155xb075d1.png?width=1314&format=png&auto=webp&s=70aeb970c53787e7e59c6bdf7fad8f0fd003e1fd Has anyone faced similar issue? What was your solution? |
2024.06.07 20:20 Educational-Pea-7673 Currently Big 4 —> exit opportunities
I’ve been barely a year in B4 audit (staff) and I actually dread every day that goes by. I’m almost done with my CPA exams so I’m hoping that I get those over with before I leave. I just can’t stand the culture. Some people are nice but most are backhanded, toxic, and act like working extra hours will get them any recognition or more pay. I want to be able to take a lunch or to log off from my computer at a normal time and go to the gym or study without trembling about the work I have left to do or feel like my whole personality is my job. My anxiety is seriously at an unhealthy level and my relationships with my friends, family, and SO have been impacted because I’ve been putting work before them. And I find myself getting into phases where I actually think that’s normal but it totally should not be. I also don’t like the nature of audit work nor do I enjoy being in a client facing role. After I quickly realized that this isn’t for me, I also found myself really unmotivated which has just made it worse and harder to even enjoy the good days. I know people say to stick it out but I really don’t see how it gets better.
I do worry about leaving becuase 1. I live in an expensive area and don’t know if I would get the same salary but need to keep up with cost of living; 2. I don’t know if I’ll be happy elsewhere/ if accounting is even for me; and 3. I’m worried leaving early will hurt my career (and ego) in the long run.
If anyone has any experience they would like to share, please do. I just feel lost with my life and so unhappy. I’ve read so many threads and feel like industry or government would be better for me but I don’t even know what types of roles to start looking at.
submitted by Educational-Pea-7673 to Accounting [link] [comments]
I do worry about leaving becuase 1. I live in an expensive area and don’t know if I would get the same salary but need to keep up with cost of living; 2. I don’t know if I’ll be happy elsewhere/ if accounting is even for me; and 3. I’m worried leaving early will hurt my career (and ego) in the long run.
If anyone has any experience they would like to share, please do. I just feel lost with my life and so unhappy. I’ve read so many threads and feel like industry or government would be better for me but I don’t even know what types of roles to start looking at.
2024.06.07 20:17 zidangus Social media website/app dedicated to UK politics
There is a new social media app/website dedicated to UK politics. It allows users with accounts to compare their political views with other users and politicians voting records, via a percentage match. The higher the percentage the more two users agree with each other on a range of issues.
The website is
https://www.rtribes.co.uk/
there are no ads, no fees and no information is shared with 3rd parties and the only personnel information required is your age, because users need to be over 13 years old to create an account. This website was created in my spare time to help people be informed about how our politicians act not how they talk.
if you want to compare with other users you need to create an account (takes about 2-3 minutes). If you want to only compare with politicians and political parties just log in as guest. I hope the site/app can create a new avenue for like minded people to connect, and also for people to be informed just how much their views align with a politicians/parties voting record. Remember actions speak louder than words so you can now easily compare current political parties/politicians actions with your own views.
If you need more information please read the websites FAQ.
https://www.rtribes.co.uk/about
Lastly I am currently testing the android app version of the website, I would be grateful if people could install the test version and comment on it, the play store link is below.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rtribes.uk.co.app
Thanks !
submitted by zidangus to ukpolitics [link] [comments]
The website is
https://www.rtribes.co.uk/
there are no ads, no fees and no information is shared with 3rd parties and the only personnel information required is your age, because users need to be over 13 years old to create an account. This website was created in my spare time to help people be informed about how our politicians act not how they talk.
if you want to compare with other users you need to create an account (takes about 2-3 minutes). If you want to only compare with politicians and political parties just log in as guest. I hope the site/app can create a new avenue for like minded people to connect, and also for people to be informed just how much their views align with a politicians/parties voting record. Remember actions speak louder than words so you can now easily compare current political parties/politicians actions with your own views.
If you need more information please read the websites FAQ.
https://www.rtribes.co.uk/about
Lastly I am currently testing the android app version of the website, I would be grateful if people could install the test version and comment on it, the play store link is below.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rtribes.uk.co.app
Thanks !
2024.06.07 20:07 FitCream618 Used Dota for my first sober week from meth and crack in March. Went a bit too hard but it worked.
My friend who had quit dota would log in momentarily that week and then off shortly after. Wasn't sure why he was doing it until he sent me this simple breakdown of how much i was playing. I was using it to escape my withdrawals from heavy use of methamphetamine, coke and crack.
Although infinitely better than what I would be doing, still got a bit out of hand. First few nights were sleepless because of ruthless fights with my inner dialog telling me to its fine go pick up a bag. We'll just smoke a gram of crack and stop . Any addict knows it never stops at 1bag its the addiction trying to isolate you.
But that 30 or 60 minutes however long my games were, I'd be hyper focused strictly on the game and I temporarily shut down that voice. I used Dota to get through that first 10 days. He only has my first 6 days played and the other 4 were even played.
It calibrated me to low herald i felt i was better but reading forums maybe thats my ego. I'd dominate every game and still lose. I'd be 20-1, 30-0 , 40-0, and still lose.
So between the laser focus I'd zone into when the game started and the desire to figure out what inwas doing wrong it worked. It fucking worked. I got through 10 days of withdrawals of would have been absolutely hell sitting on a couch fighting them alone in my head and as a side bonus shortly after was close to crusader 5. Rethought my approach and listened to people who were more experienced.
Although I'm not playing atm im picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild my life. I thihk all this post is about is a thank you to the people who helped me tinkering with my gameplay to get better, the devs and community as a whole. Nothing more.
Still sober and trying to kick ass after 20 years of addiction. Never thought I'd see the day. Even more never though I'd be thanking a game or gamers for the assistance that ultimately brought me to being sober and making this post.
Fuck yeah. Love yall ✌️
submitted by FitCream618 to DotA2 [link] [comments]
Although infinitely better than what I would be doing, still got a bit out of hand. First few nights were sleepless because of ruthless fights with my inner dialog telling me to its fine go pick up a bag. We'll just smoke a gram of crack and stop . Any addict knows it never stops at 1bag its the addiction trying to isolate you.
But that 30 or 60 minutes however long my games were, I'd be hyper focused strictly on the game and I temporarily shut down that voice. I used Dota to get through that first 10 days. He only has my first 6 days played and the other 4 were even played.
It calibrated me to low herald i felt i was better but reading forums maybe thats my ego. I'd dominate every game and still lose. I'd be 20-1, 30-0 , 40-0, and still lose.
So between the laser focus I'd zone into when the game started and the desire to figure out what inwas doing wrong it worked. It fucking worked. I got through 10 days of withdrawals of would have been absolutely hell sitting on a couch fighting them alone in my head and as a side bonus shortly after was close to crusader 5. Rethought my approach and listened to people who were more experienced.
Although I'm not playing atm im picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild my life. I thihk all this post is about is a thank you to the people who helped me tinkering with my gameplay to get better, the devs and community as a whole. Nothing more.
Still sober and trying to kick ass after 20 years of addiction. Never thought I'd see the day. Even more never though I'd be thanking a game or gamers for the assistance that ultimately brought me to being sober and making this post.
Fuck yeah. Love yall ✌️
2024.06.07 20:04 Neither_Pin_1299 You ever just have a day where you can't get ANY actual payroll work done?
I've had literally 100+ people today calling and emailing me demanding my immediate attention, 90% of it being bullshit that either doesn't involve me or completely fixable stuff that they should damn well know how to do themselves.
-"Here is an incomplete form, gimme $2500 even though I didn't even read the form that clearly shows I don't qualify for this."
-"I can't log into ADP. No I won't tell you what the specific issue is or use the Forgot My User ID/Password options, you need to fix it for me right now."
-"I need my W-2. No I'm not going to look for it right in ADP, I'm going to demand you print it for me and make my wife get it even though it can only be picked up by me."
-"Why are all these new employees not yet in ADP? No it's not my fault that I didn't tell you all week that they started already."
-"Can you drop what you're doing and change all of these public reports to private? That needs.to be done right away right now."
-"Here's 10 employment verifications, and we're going to pretend they're extremely urgent even though we're outsiders not even paying you to do our shit for us."
-"I'm quitting without notice, my PTO payout is wrong, gimme a whole ass breakdown showing I'm right and you're wrong."
It never fucking ends...
submitted by Neither_Pin_1299 to Payroll [link] [comments]
-"Here is an incomplete form, gimme $2500 even though I didn't even read the form that clearly shows I don't qualify for this."
-"I can't log into ADP. No I won't tell you what the specific issue is or use the Forgot My User ID/Password options, you need to fix it for me right now."
-"I need my W-2. No I'm not going to look for it right in ADP, I'm going to demand you print it for me and make my wife get it even though it can only be picked up by me."
-"Why are all these new employees not yet in ADP? No it's not my fault that I didn't tell you all week that they started already."
-"Can you drop what you're doing and change all of these public reports to private? That needs.to be done right away right now."
-"Here's 10 employment verifications, and we're going to pretend they're extremely urgent even though we're outsiders not even paying you to do our shit for us."
-"I'm quitting without notice, my PTO payout is wrong, gimme a whole ass breakdown showing I'm right and you're wrong."
It never fucking ends...