I have given few rounds of interviews for an experienced hire role at PWC (CLM Practice), How long does it take then to get back ?

I replied to an individual the other day in regards to Cone distribution. I thought this might be helpful for others so I wanted to post in on the main page.
This week there was a post that mentioned "The top 250 holders collectively own 74.57%."
In response, one individual mentioned;
"Actually this is kinda bad. A few people can change the trajectory of the coin just by selling."
I responded with this long form reply, which I feel also warranted a posting on the main page.
This is why I love it when we dip, and you should too!
"While this is true, we are so early and at such a low MC that not only is it OK for Cone to have whales sell, but it's actually quite preferred. Even if that means a huge price reduction, as long as there are new cones entering, that's all that counts. We want to allow the distribution to occur when the MC is low. Anytime I see cone drop 10-15% in price, it's almost always because a whale sold, not because smaller holders are selling. Regardless of what the price does this is as very positive trend. Cone could add another zero if a handful of whales sold, but again, that is only a positive if the demand from new wallets or currently smaller cone wallets is high and they are buying those dips. What would be not great though is if when whales sell, other current whales gobble it up to a very very heavy degree. Of course them buying the dip is nice and helps the price, but there is a limit to how much a whale should try to accumulate, imo. An example would be if our top holders at 10+B would gobble the dip up and shoot to say 15B, that would not be great. The amount of unique holders of cone continually goes up, which is a very very good sign. When those whales sell it should be a celebration not a cause for concern for current whales and fish alike. If the price does drop significantly, I think current top 25ish whales could even take that opportunity to purchase cheap cones if ONLY for the purpose of distributing it through multiplietipping posts etc. Every whale should have a 'this is almost too much cone' amount that they don't want to go beyond. I see the top 5 holders possibly teetering at that level right now. Simply from observing those wallets, I do get the sense they have a 'this is almost too much cone' amount in mind. It is very very rare to see those top 5 wallets accumulate, and when they do it's at very reasonable amounts. When whales(in general crypto, not specifically within Cone)accumulate too heavily, they might be thinking "oh this is going to help make me more profit", but in reality it's only hindering the ability to make profit because you are pricing out new wallets. Again, for those top 5 holders, please don't take this the wrong way I'm just using it to help get the point across. I do not feel they have overdone it just yet. If you start seeing wallets at 13, 14, 15, 20B+ that's when the red flags come in. Right now the top wallet holds 1.9% the total supply. Anything beyond that, say 2.25%+ is IMO, being greedy and counterproductive not only to all Cone but to those specific whales. A nice thing about our community is that most if not all those whales are people that post here and seem like good people. Regardless of how they are as people though, as in strictly from a numbers standpoint, going beyond that 2.25ish% of the supply level is a red flag.
So in summary: I hope whales sell and the price drops, granted demand from smaller wallets is there and new holders are created as well. Which has been the pattern from the beginning."

I recently got a Wahoo KICKR V6--super excited to use it. Right out of the box, though, I tipped it over (didn't extend the feet for stability, which was stupid) and it fell on its side, flywheel side down, on the cement. It made one hell of an impact, given how heavy the KICKR is. Has anyone else had their KICKR take a hard impact? How rugged are these machines? They seem build very solidly, but I still worry. Other than chipped paint on the flywheel I haven't noticed anything yet.
On a related note, does anyone have any equipment care tips to ensure one's KICKR lasts as long as possible? Thanks in advance.

So in short, my players cleared Kolat Towers and the Sanctum with the help of the Harpers and Doom Raiders and instead of searching for the eye searched for Manshoon and ended up getting a TPK. Now the Warlock sacrificed himself and asked for his patron to teleport everyone back home (with a 26 religion roll) so technically 2 players are still alive (unconscious) and they will continue with 2 new and 2 existing characters.
I decided to do a time skip in game of at least a couple of weeks and since there was a lot going on in the campaign I will make some bullet notes on things I need resolved for the continuation and I hope for some tips and ideas.

1. Manshoon, Sanctum and the Zhentarim: Since Manshoon won the fight but lost almost all of his soldiers/liutenants what is the next step for him given that the Harpers were also involved in the raid as well as the Doom Raiders. He still has Skeemo and Mirklav so he could also revivify some people. His Sanctum was also breached and the players know the teleportation circle combination so they could just open a portal directly in now from what I understand. Since the Xanathar is defeated, he could also try to take over Skullport and the Xanathars by allying himself with Nihiloor.
2. The Tavern: Due to happenings in the campaign, after the death of the owner, the inn goes to the Lords Alliance and will be put up for auction. This creates another goal for acquiring money so that they can buy the inn back but what happens with the inn in the meantime. The players took good care to style the inn and remade it into a successful business with many NPCs working there. So technically the tavern should now be closed or owned by the city (or already bought by someone else).
3. Doom Raiders: Davil and his squad reluctantly helped the players against Manshoon and Ziraj died in the fight. They had good relations with the players troughout the campaign but it's all going downhill. Skeemo was also revealed to be a double agent so what is next for the remaining 3 members now ?
4. Xanathar Guild: The party allied with Jarlaxle during the heist and bombed most of the hideout, burying the Xanathar inside and trapping Nihiloor in his chambers after double crossing him. Nihiloor also has a possible baby "Neothelid" down there which could be used against the players or dangerous to everyone. Skullport is still left unscathed but every liutenant in the hideout is dead after Xanathar's fish got bombed. I wonder what happens with them now. Does Nihiloor take over, what happens with the Xanathar, does Manshoon swoop in ?
5. Black Viper: She got scammed by Skeemo so she went to the Cassalanters with the poison and got caught. I don't want to outright kill her off screen because the players like her so I wonder what the Cassalanters would do with her after her infiltration attempt. Do they dumb the body and kill her or do they hold her hostage etc. She is a noble after all.
6. The Drow: Jarlaxle has the stone and one eye (xanathar and gralhund pieces) and N'arl with him. He currently has the players working to get the other 2 pieces for him as he promised 100k gold for the players as well as his spy network and all the leftovers. He used the players connections to talk to Mirt about getting the gold to Lareal and told them exactly why he needs the gold. The players don't see Jarlaxle as an enemy but I wonder if he's playing all of them and what are his final motives. What are his next moves as the players failed the job. I guess he would continue using the players, but does he neccessarily want to screw anyone over ?
7. Cassalanters: The Cassalanters are idle watching all of this after the players promised to help them with the kids. The players know about the eyes and the Cassalanters have already helped them trough previous troubles as well as offered all the help the players ask for or need. Do they stay idle or do they start making moves ?
8. Harpers: Since 2 of the players allied themselves with the Harpers, Mirt and Remmalia gave them guidance and helped them when needed. The Harpers in my campaign want to keep the Dragonstaff inside the vault or want it brought back for safe keeping. Their main motive is what it always was lore wise but how does Mirt react to the happenings with Manshoon, Jarlaxle and the Doom Raiders and are there any moves that he might want to make now that the city is becoming more and more unstable.
9. Lords Alliance and Force Grey: The Alliance has lost it's faith in the players before and they still don't act or really know about the threats of the Vault hunt. Vajra is in good terms with the players but she can't act or do anything without Lareal's approval and Lareal is known to use them only as a last resort. Do I keep these 2 factions out still as they are way too powerfull if they intervene in the game now.

The players are left in a position where they hold no pieces but are allied with both the Cassalanters (one eye), Jarlaxle (stone and eye) separately and also the Harpers. I have no idea what their next plan may be since they just suffered defeat but getting to Manshoon is the biggest mistery that I have while trying to keep him smart and calculative.
I know it's a long post but thank you in advance!

Hey everyone! I back again with some more funny shenanigans with our good pals Lerson and Silversmith. Thank you all for the great feedback for the last chapter, it really made my day. I'm excited to hear what you all think about this next one. Hope you all enjoy!
And again a special thanks to SpacePaladin15 for the NoP universe! __________
[First] [Next] __________
Memory Transcription Subject: Lerson, Undercover Farsul Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
How did I get here? Just yesterday I was running for my life through the forest on this backwater planet and now I am sitting in the back of a vehicle with a predator, who thinks that I am some kind of hunting beast. Well… what do I do now?
The first part of my plan went off without a hitch. The simple minded predators had not realized I was not one of their slave beasts, so they released me from their holding pens. However, I am now trapped in a car right alongside my new predatory master.
Maybe I could try to take it down. It doesn’t seem particularly dexterous at least compared to the other predators I have seen. It is not looking at me now, so I would have the upper hand, but it is nearly twice my size. I will probably have to hold out for a little bit longer before I make my move.
I am suddenly pulled from my thoughts when the predator in the front seat begins to growl, “Car, can you bring me to the pet store, please?”
‘Pet Store,’ what is that? My translator says that it is a place for the sale of animals. Is it going to sell me already? Maybe I am just being sent to my new prison. My heart races as I watch the vehicle begin to slow down and come to a stop in front of the building. The elderly predator gets out of the vehicle and walks around to the door next to me. Oh no! This isn’t part of the plan. I thought I was finally out of that place, but now I am just about to get locked up again. The door opens.
“Okay bud, we’re gonna get you some things,” it said. Huh. I am not getting sold? The predator grabbed the end of the rope around my neck and beckoned me out of the vehicle. I chose to oblige and we slowly made our way towards the nearby building.
It was a small structure that looked like it was in disrepair. It makes sense that the predators would not upkeep their buildings all they care about is killing and eating. I was surprised to find that they even have buildings to begin with.
The old one pushed the door open, which produced a soft jingle as we walked in. First thing I noticed was the intense smell. It was almost overwhelming with how many different scents there were. Looking around the aisles of the shop were very narrow and the shelves were packed with different items. “Um, so the lady at the shelter suggested that I get food, bowls, a bed, and… I don’t really remember what else. That’s probably fine to begin with, we can always come back later.”
We walked down one of the narrow aisles, which had dozens of bags of ‘kibble.’ My translator says it is “ground meal shaped into pellets, especially for pet food.” That does not sound very appetizing. The predator stops and starts looking through the different options. I also start to look around. The bag nearest to me has an ingredients list. Luckily I opted for the built in visual translator. Scanning the ingredients it contains mostly different grains and other fillers, which is surprising from predator food, but it also lists ‘animal byproducts’ which sounds horrifying. I guess whatever the Terrans do not end up eating gets tossed to the lesser predators.
“Let’s get this one. It says it’s for ‘senior’ dogs. Ha! That’s something we’ve go in common”
Really?! Do I look that old to everyone? By the Tenants, maybe I need to dye my fur after I get out of this mess. We continued going around the store picking up items until we got to the counter near the front.
Speaking to the predator behind the counter my ‘master’ says, “Good afternoon Bobby. How’s everything going?”
The young predator behind the counter responds, “Not too great, Mr. Silversmith.”
“Oh. I spose that was a bad question to ask, sorry.”
“It's okay sir, there is just a lot going on. I’m glad that my parents and I are all fine, being out here in the country, but my brother works in the city and we still don’t know if he’s alright.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope for the best.”
“Thank you. Now what can I do for you?”
“Oh I’m just buying some supplies for old Buddy over here,” he gestures down to me.
The clerk looks over the counter towards me, “Uh… Mr. Silversmith…” The old predator cuts him off, “I know he aint the best lookin’, but can’t say much about myself either, so I don’t need to hear it.”
“Sure… Well… let me ring that all up for you then.”
Spekh! That one has to know, right? Perhaps these predators are not as dense as I thought and the one I got is just really stupid. Well at least that helps my plan, but I will still have to be careful around other Terrans.
The old one finishes paying and we head back down to the vehicle and it drives off. After about [~34 minutes] we reach what I think is the elderly predator's den.
It is at the end of a very long dirt roadway, tucked among the trees, that I see the structure. Just like the pet shop it is a small building made out of simple materials like wood and stone. I suppose the predators really are as primitive as I thought.
The vehicle comes to a halt next to the building and the old one steps out. After he opens my door, I step out of the vehicle as well. I follow him to the entrance of the den, which is a simple wooden door painted bright red. And if I remember correctly that is the color of blood on this planet. So savage!
Upon entering, the interior looks very similar to the outside with wood adorning the walls and floors. Though I was surprised how similar the layout was to the living quarters back at the guild. The room at the entrance looked to be some kind of lounging room with a small couch and rug in the center of the room facing a screen mounted on the opposite wall. To the left of the door was what I could only assume was a kitchen with storage cabinets covering the walls.
The elderly predator returned to the car to retrieve the items it purchased at the ‘pet shop,’ which makes this the best time to do some sleuthing. I made my way past the lounge room into the depths of the den. Past the entrance room was a hallway leading further back. It was adorned with photographs filled with predatory snarls. I did my best to ignore them and worked my way further down the hall.
Up ahead there was a door and upon opening it I found a room which, by the smell of it, must be a lavatory. That really reminded me that I had to go to the bathroom. My cell did not even have a waste pit. I made my way quickly into the room and relieved myself with haste. Once I finished I thought about flushing the ‘evidence,’ but that’s when I heard the front door open again, so I was forced to hurry out of the room.
“Hey Bud! Where did you go?” it growled from the other room. I made my way back to the entrance as quickly as I could manage on all fours. “There you are. So do you like the place?” the predator asked. I did not respond and just looked towards it. “Ha ha, great!” it growled. I did not say anything?
“So I got your food and water bowls over here. Let me go fill them up. You’ve gotta be hungry.”
It walked over to the kitchen with the bowls in hand and filled one with water from the sink. The other bowl, the predator filled with the ‘kibble’ from earlier. Then it placed them both on the floor. It looks like the food situation might not be any better than my previous arrangement at the holding pen.
“Well, I spose I should eat dinner as well.”
It opened the large metal cabinet and began looking through it. I snuck a little closer to get a better look. When I approached I could feel the chill coming off of it, so I could assume that it was some kind of refrigerators unit. Must not be that primitive I suppose. After a bit of scrounging around the refrigerator, the elderly one pulled out a clear plastic container. It was green on the inside. Is it really going to eat rotten flesh!? I guess that is expected of a predator.
As it opened the container I braced my nose for the putrid smell of rotten flesh, but it never came. I watched as the predator poured out leafy greens into a bowl. Huh, a predator is eating plants?
Wait, I do remember that during the Terran’s deceptive talk at Aafa, they had said they were [all-eaters]. I guess that must be true. Watching it eat the greens is making me even hungrier than I was before.
I watched as the elderly predator finished its salad. It brought the bowl and utensils to the sink to begin washing them. I waited in the corner of the kitchen for him to finish and leave. My stomach was killing me and I could only think of the amazing taste of a crisp salad. Finally the predator finished his task and turned away from the sink. It looked towards me and then at the bowls on the floor. “Aren’t you hungry boy? You haven’t touched your food at all… I hope you’re alright. Maybe I need to take you to the vet tomorrow?”
Vet? My translator says that that means ‘animal doctor.’ Even though the average human is pretty oblivious, a doctor will be sure to realize that I’m not really a ‘dog.’ I can not let this Terran take me there. I know what I have to do, but I do not like it. I steel myself as I walk over to the bowl and stare down at its contents. Am I really going to do this? You have to! So, I lower my head and bite down on a mouthful of ‘kibble.’
It… is not that bad? I honestly expected worse.
I suppress the thoughts of the ‘animal byproducts’ in it and swallow. Immediately I wash out my mouth with the water in the second bowl. Then I turn to look at the human who is now snarling at me. I freeze. Did I do something wrong? Did it figure me out?!
“There you go. Ha ha. I was worried for a second there.”
What? Is it happy that I ate? Then why is it snarling at me? Maybe maybe that means that it is happy? These predators are so weird. At least it seems like I have avoided detection once again. Nailed it!
The old predator, having been satisfied, let out a yawn revealing all its sharp teeth… well… most of them were surprisingly quite dull. “Okay bud it's getting late, so I think it's time for me to turn in, but let me get you your bed first,” it said. Reaching into the biggest bag from the pet shop the elderly predator pulled out a round fluffy bowl. It looks similar to beds I saw when working on the Iftali and Sulean homeworld, though this one is a lot smaller. It placed the bed down in the living room next to the couch.
It paused, “Oh wait. I should probably take you outside before turning in for the night. Don’t want a mess in the morning, come on.”
I follow the predator as instructed, wondering what it wants me to do now. It leads me out a side door into a grassy area. “Okay… do your business,” it said.
What? Does it want me to do something? I just look around seeing if there's anything to give me any clues.
“I guess that didn’t work. Go potty.”
What?! Is it commanding me to defecate?! Outside! I guess he does think I am an animal. But there is no way I am doing that especially with it watching me. Why is it watching? Is it some kind of pervert? Grr, Screw the plan!
“Okay… uh… I guess come back in when you’re done,” it says as it turns to walk back to the house.
Thank the Tenants! I wait [a few minutes] and then slip back into the predator’s den. On my return it spots me, “Oh good you’re back!”
It walked over to the side door and locked it. Then the predator shuffled to wall switches and turned off most of the lights. Thankfully it left a singular lamp turned on. It is already bad enough that I am stuck in a predator's den, but being in the dark with a predator would be too much even for me.
“Okay goodnight bud, see you in the morning,” said the old one. Then right as it entered the hall it stopped and looked down at a nearby table, “Good night Ella. Good night Ben. Good night Martha.” Then it walked out of sight.
Who was he talking to? Are there other predators here? I don’t smell anyone else and I think I would have heard them earlier. Spekh! Did I get a crazy one?
Okay craziness aside, I need to eat some real food. I finally stood upright. Ah my back! It was already getting bad enough when I was back home. Hopefully I can get used to this because walking on all fours is killing me right now.
I walk over to the refrigeration unit and slowly open the doors trying to stay quiet. Looking around the inside I am surprised to find so many vegetables. However, I did spot a slab of flesh towards the back, which I did my best to ignore.
Now, I can not just eat anything, it might notice if food is missing. Scrounging around for a [minute] my eyes eventually find a plant in one of the lower drawers. It looks like a big bundle of large leaves. I take it out and pry off one of the ones on the outside. It comes off relatively easily with a crunch. Hopefully this is edible. I bring the leaf to my mouth and bite down. It makes a very satisfying crunch as a do. There really is no distinct taste, but I am so hungry that I don’t even care if it is bland.
I scarfed down the rest of the leaf quickly and then grabbed another and then another. Before I knew it, the bundle was only a third of the original size. So much for being sneaky. Finally satisfied, I returned what remained of the bundle to its proper place and closed the refrigerator doors.
After finishing my raid on the refrigerators, I thought about what the old predator had said earlier. I walked over to the table near the entrance to the hallway. There must be something interesting here. However, there was nothing but a handful of photographs. Looking at them in the dim light I was able to make out the wide snarls that adorned the faces in the photo. I guess It makes more sense now since the snarl is a ‘happy’ expression. It is still very strange to me.
The photo closest to the front had the old predator standing next to a much younger predator, which appeared to be wearing Terran military pelts. Strangely, the young one has very bright orange hair on the top of its head.
Next to that one there was a similar photo, but the old predator looked slightly younger. The other Terran in the photo looked similar to the first. They did share the same bright orange hair, but the enlarged mammaries indicated that this one was a female.
I then spotted another picture including the same female, but this time she was next to a different predator and she was holding a Terran pup, which had the same orange hair. Perhaps the female was the mother of the other one. Most of the other photos appeared to be different combinations of the same four predators: the old one, his offspring, his offspring’s mate, and then their pup.
I moved over to the other side to see if I could find anything more useful. There was a photo that stood out to me. It pictured the old one, but he looked significantly younger even more than the other photos. Standing next to him was a female, which had the same orange hair as the others. Who was this? I had not seen it in any of the other pictures.
I searched around to see if I could find any more with this female in it. Towards the back I saw two pictures next to each other. The one on the left had the female again with the old predator. Laying in a bed she was cradling a newborn pup in her arms. However, the photo on the right was the old one with the pup in its arms. The pup appeared to be a year or two older in this one, but where was the mother? Looking at the older predator I saw the look in his eyes. I know that look. Cerci…
No! They are predators! They are not like us! You know they can not think like us! It's not the same!
Grr, you are tired… just… just go rest. I walk over to the bed. I curl up and try to let sleep take me. __________
[First] [Next] __________
So much for being comedic and lighthearted. I promise that the rest of it won't be so depressing, but I wanted to add a little more substance to some of the characters. Thanks again for reading! Feel free to leave any feedback or suggestions, I really appreciate it.

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE POST.

Tested on PS5 since release, very stable
New game on survival difficulty required
All 6 DLCs needed
No unbalanced cheat mods added
Very difficult but satisfying and immersive
Adding other mods might break stuff, ask in comments
Not tested on PS4 or PS4 Pro performance-wise

This modlist is for people enjoying difficult challenge, exploration, combat, managing settlements and a bit of building. No more bullet sponges, loot/enemy respawns and rambo playstyle!
In the beginning you are no one. You leave the vault weak, tired, with barely any gear. Avoid most encounters and quests at the start. Try to survive, build a safe spot and carefully explore. Be aware of your surroundings, use what you find.
Save often in beds and make 'autosave drug' at the earliest possibility for your convinience (nearest chemistry workbench is at Abernathy Farm). Save items are always on top of MISC category in Pip-Boy.
Discovering new places gives plenty of exp in the beginning, but quests are your main exp income.
Explore safer areas like Sanctuary, Concord and smaller settlements first (avoiding powerful enemies). There might be a lot of combat in the background. Don't engage much, especially avoid supermutants, robots, turrets, bears - they are deadly even for high level, well developed characters. Raiders also hit hard, depending on their weapon and rank.
Weapon caliber makes huge damage difference. 10mm is pretty weak, but if you find rare .50cal rounds or some good explosives, you should eliminate tougher targets much more easily.
Investing in stats right after level 15 is a good idea. STR for carry weight, PER for accuracy, END for health, CHA for better prices, INT for more exp, AGI for sneak and speed, LCK for dmg and loot. Be sure of your choices. Watch out for 'revealing all map markers' and 'slow time when aiming' perks. Be sure you want and like them, there is no going back.
Deathclaw in the early minuteman quest is tough - try to use explosives to break his legs and some high caliber weapons to finish him off by shooting his face. Or maybe you'll get lucky and raiders will kill him. Or just simply avoid him until you get proper gear.
Don't waste ammo on zombies, use melee. Bullets are valuable. However zombies can grab and instantly kill you if your HP is very low, so watch out on early levels!
Aim for the head for much higher damage. Concentrating damage on arms or legs to rip them off is a good strategy too. Raider without arms wont do much to you. Besides running around and alerting enemies nearby, that is.
Damage types are important. Ballistic damage is not efficient against turrets, melee against radroaches and so on. You need to figure out whats best for current situation.
Develop and protect your settlements, put walls to protect generators and other important structures. Gear up settlers. Scraping and cleaning settlements is a good source of components.
Try to fully explore the map, kill enemies and do all quests. Most loot and enemies wont ever respawn so this is your chance to find new secrets in Commonwealth.

Good luck!

CHANGES

Combat, Enemies

• Enemies will flank, charge, take cover, run in fear, use and pick up ammo & weapons, swap to backup gun and so on.
• Headshots or weakspot hits do much higher damage than torso shots.
• Gun caliber greatly affects damage, explosives are powerful and damage type matters.
• Foes have special moves like biting and holding leg, wrestling moves, kicks. Dependent on enemy type and briefly stuns you. ### Sound, Graphic
• Sounds are less flat because of added reverb and other tweaks.
• Very dark nights with wide, helpful flashlight.
• Atmospheric lightning: beautiful light from lantern and fire sources, dusk, dawn, moon, plus bullets illuminate environment when flying around.
• No dreadful, annoying, unimmersive: combat music, hearthbeat, sounds of generators, turrets, exp gain sound, most perk triggers and perk chart. ### Crafting, Modifying
• Making/disasembling ammo and also creating various shipments. Upgrading clothes, rings, glasses in different ways.
• Legendary swapping, crafting legendary effects using technical documents. Some effects have been adjusted.
• Added crafting of new, lower damage explosives, but they have unique effects for ease of use. ### Perks, SPECIAL
• STR affects carry weight, PER accuracy, END is health, max AP, CHA for better prices, INT for more exp, AGI for sneak, walk and reload speed, LCK for small dmg boost, loot, critical hits outside VATS and while using it.
• Leveling up does not give you health. You rely on stats, bonuses, gear.
• Perks tree mostly changed, level 15 needed to start increasing Special base stats, level of around 100 to increase stat to 10. To get all perks you would need 300 levels, so new modified 'idiot savant' will help a lot.
• Collecting magazines, bobbleheads, companion perks is now more helpful and recommended.
• Some skills are changed, reordered, much more interesting and useful.
• More perks are needed for crafting, especially science perk is required for most technology related stuff.
• Lockpicking everything is available instantly from level one, but perks and AGI make it reasonably easier. Bobby pins are more rare.
• Hacking is simplified to not do the repeating minigame. Now holotapes to reprogram and override terminals might be of use. ### Settlements, Building
• Expensive build costs of robot workbenches, turrets, big generators, so buying component shipments is justified.
• You can hire guards for caps or risk settlers lives on the usual guard posts.
• Can't harvest planted fruit and veg, you get your fair share in workbench instead.
• Collecting resources by settlers changed. Bigger variety of settlers and they are now mortal.
• More objects to build and decorate your bases. ### Locations, Loot
• Items like meds and ammo are harder to find and exist in appropriate containers.
• New map markers and few minuteman towers as a small addition to explore.
• Quick travel available, but only to settlements.
• Only rare enemies like bosses drop legendaries. And many more...

Before you download:

• Safe to remove/swap mods are listed below the modlist, just in case you don't like or want some of them. Rest needs to be kept for balance or glitch removal, but only in the CORRECT ORDER!
• Remove all mods you currently have before downloading this mod list.
• Read what to do after downloading mods.

MOD LIST WITH CORECT ORDER:

1. Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch [UFO4P] [PS4] - Thousands of small bug fixes for FO4.
2. Radium Rifle Suppressed Sound Fix - As the mod name suggests. Must be on top of mod list, its a master file.
3. [PS4] Pip-Boy Paint Jobs - Colors Of The Wasteland Pack (Club Freedom) - Adds simple Pip-Boy skins. Remember you can click touchpad while using pip-boy to zoom. Again a master file.
4. Kane's Items Sorting (PS4) - Junk is sorted and some other things too.
5. [PS] Useful Technical Documents - Legendaries - You can swap legendaries for free, create new ones using technical documents.
6. Named NPC Protection [PS4] - Protects named quest npc's, merchants, important characters from random encounters with enemies.
7. Tribals of Commonwealth - Adds tribal groups, often found in wilderness.
8. Ghouls Of Commonwealth - Adds over 1100 feral ghouls for zombie apocalypse and chaos.
9. DLC Creatures In The Commonwealth [PS4] - Adds 200 creature spawns to the commonwealth for constant war, danger and chaos.
10. Longhorns Of The Commonwealth - Adds longhorns to more empty areas on the map.
11. Gulpers Of The Commonwealth - Adds gulpers to more empty areas on the map.
12. Wolves Of The Commonwealth - Adds wolf spawn points to the map.
13. More Behemoths In Commonwealth - Adds 5 more behemots to the Commonwealth.
14. Behind Enemy Lines - Adds plenty of enemies to the glowing sea region.
15. Roving War Parties, Raiding Packs And Hordes Of MY - Adds wandering groups that attack some key locations.
16. More Radstags - Adds plenty of radstags, especially north and into forests.
17. Better Radstags - More agressive radstags.
18. Not a Princess - Humans can grab you/others and slam on the ground, make karate moves, dogs can hold your legs/arms, bloodbugs suck your blood.
19. Disable Minutemen's Annoying Quests [PS4] - Disables 7 types of repetitive and not important radiant quests.
20. [PS4] Grounded Updated By Sarinia - Adds tons of ground foundations, floors, walls, mounds of dirt to Structures-Concrete menu.
21. Miscellaneous Settlement Items Unlocked [PS4] By Callias - Adds 49 objects for building in settlements.
22. Cinder Block Walls And Sandbags Unlocked [PS4] By Callias - Adds 16 objects like cinder blocks and sandbags.
23. Constructible Faction Guards - Adds ability to hire guards for caps in build menu, but only after allying with a faction.
24. [PS4] OCDecorator - Adds inventory items as a decorational building objects.
25. [PS4] OCDecorator DLC - Support for addons for the above mod.
26. Tweaks - Survival Fast Travel Settlements All DLC - You can fast travel to settlements on survival difficulty.
27. 1st Person Animation Tweaks [PS4] - In first person mode you lower your gun automatically.
28. [PS4] Swinging Animated Meat Bags - Adds animations to supermutant meat bags.
29. Power Line Physics [PS4] - Swinging power lines in settlements.
30. No Sneak Indicators - Completely removes all sneak indicators.
31. [PS4] Dogs Not Brahmin - Provisioners and traders use dogs instead of brahmin.
32. Vertibirds Unghosted - Tweaks invincible vertibirds for danger and realism.
33. [PS4] Simple Settlers (Mortal Edition) - Provides bigger settlers pool (five times more) and names them.
34. Quieter Settlements PS4 - Vanilla - Generators, turrets and hammering are much quieter.
35. Fallout 76-Style Region Music - Changes music in regions for less boring/repetitive background tracks.
36. Reverb And Ambiance Overhaul - ALL DLC [PS4] - Tweaks sounds for better ambient and reverb and adds sliders to options.
37. Better Dialogue - Camera focuses on NPC, changes made to some irritating generic dialogues and tweaked dialogue interuption.
38. Esk QuietPerks [PS4] - Muted five annoying perks like idiot savant.
39. No Experience SFX - Silences sounds when gaining experience from various sources.
40. [PS4] Dead Beat - Removes heart beat sound at low HP.
41. Combat Music Remover - Mutes combat music, so there is silence and suspension when enemy detects you.
42. Commonwealth Visual Overhaul & DLC [PS4] - Changes colours, atmosphere and makes nights darker.
43. UCW - Unified Commonwealth Weather - Adjusted weather for regions and integrated DLC weather for Commonwealth.
44. [PS4] No More Fake Puddles - Removes ugly puddles that stay 24/7.
45. No More Twigs - Removes stupid twigs sticking out of the ground.
46. [PS4] Enhanced Flickering Firelight - Better light effects for fire sources including oil lamps.
47. [PS4] Dark Mode - Abandoned Settlements - Empty settlements don't have light sources.
48. Vanilla Moon (4x) - Much bigger moon. Anything bigger looks low quality.
49. Sunlight Alignment Tweak - Better Dawn And Dusk [PS4] - Changes sun and moon movement for better lighting and atmosphere during dusk, dawn and night.
50. Crafting Blur Removal (PS4) - Removes blur while looting containers, from crafting screen, power armor.
51. Ironsight Blur Removal (PS4) - Removes blur while aiming.
52. More Map Markers (PS4) - Adds some new markers on map.
53. CleanVATS - Green Tint Remover PS4 - Removes fullscreen green tint effect while aiming in VATS mode.
54. VATS Third Person Only - As the name says, just changes in cameras used in VATS.
55. [PS4] Payneful VATS - Better VATS cinematics, shows important hits and finishers a bit slower.
56. Component Tagging Helper - Allows to easily tag basic components on cooking bench and you can quickly view how many you have in total.
57. Grenade and Mine Pack - Adds some new weaker, but modified explosives.
58. Saving Survival Mode - Allows crafting misc items on chemistry workbench for anytime saving (3 standard autosave slots and 1 save shared/overwritten on all survival characters).
59. Animations Be Gone - Removes plenty annoying hammering spots in sanctuary.
60. Minuteman Watchtowers - Adds 8 minuteman watchtowers containing loot and/or guards.
61. Power Goggles (All DLC) - Power Armor Mods For Goggles, Visors, And Glasses - As the name says. Two mods for glasses for high level characters.
62. Clothes For Every Stats Wz - Most clothes can be worn under armor and you can upgrade them after unlocking ballistic weave.
63. Bear Trap and Caltrops Fix [PS4] - Small changes in how traps work and balance them.
64. See-Through-Scopes [PS4] - Adds new combat scopes in place of 2.5x and 4x magnification.
65. See-Through-Scopes - Nuka World [PS4] - As above but for 2 Nuka World guns.
66. See-Through-Scopes - Far Harbor [PS4] - As above but for 2 Far Harbor weapons.
67. Targeting Sensors On Recon Scopes(Colour Coded NPCs Version)[PS4] - Modified recon scopes that highlight enemies, friends and dead bodies in specific colours.
68. Immersive Gameplay Combat Mostly PS4 - Core of this modlist. Hundreds of changes.
69. Immersive Gameplay Seasonpass Patch (Playstation) - DLC compatibility for IG.
70. Immersive-Gameplay. Low Tech, No Powerarmor Justification Patch. (PS4) - Makes fusion cores worn. Balances the game around power armor.
71. Immersive Gameplay Rough Start (PS4) - Overwrites starting level to 1.
72. Medium Settlement Raids PS4 - Makes enemy raids less ridicolous and balanced.
73. Zombie Walkers (PS4) - Most feral ghouls act like slow rotten zombies.
74. Curse Of Darkness - Normal Edition - - Zombies are faster and more dangerous after midnight.
75. Esk No More Teleporting Creatures [PS4] - Molerats and radscorpions don't teleport.
76. Realistic Insects Health [PS4] - Makes insects easier to kill and balanced.
77. Full Load - Loot Logic And Reduction Complete - Restricted harvest, lower and/or different production output for settlements, empty bottles renamed, Scrounger perk less ammo, less meat, less loot.
78. Full Load - Rough Start Less Handouts - Removed some workbenches in starting locations. Different loot in Vault111.
79. Immersive Gameplay Dismemberment - A Patch Or Standalone Feature. - Higher damage to headshots, easier to dismember limbs.
80. Tackle! Immersive Gameplay Knockdown Version - Lets you stagger enemies by sprinting into them after aquiring a perk.
81. Wasteland Baubles Ring Overhaul! PS4 - You can find unique rings at traders, in suitcases, cabinets. Allows scraping and modifying rings for special legendary effects.
82. [PS4] STS - All-In-One - Allows scraping almost all settlement objects.
83. (PS4) Improved Lighting Ballistics - Improves lighting for projectiles such as bullets, lasers, gauss, plasma, missiles, flares and explosions.
84. Explorer Restored - Cut Perk Mod PS4 - Adds rank two of VANS perk - explorer. Uncovers map.
85. Idiot Savant & Better Criticals Redone (PS4) - Idiot savant is better the more INT you have, muted perk chart, better criticals perk for crits outside VATS.
86. Realistic Death Physics - No Animation - ALL DLC [PS4] - Decreases the amount of force of both melee and ranged attacks, so bodies wont fly away.
87. Increased Settler Limit - Awareness - Wire Length - Corpse Collisions [PS4] - More aware settlers with limit of 50 per settlement and longer wires. Mind the limit.
88. Settlement Attack Spawns Outside The Settlement PS4 - Moves attack spawns outside the settlements.
89. Power Conduits Radius Increase And No Build Limit - All DLC [PS4] - Infinite build limit and two times longer range electricity conduits.
90. [PS4] Creation Club Skins (Weapon & PipBoy) Generic Compatibility Patch - Makes weapon paints from Creation Club show up in crafting menu if you have any.
91. No Affinity Cooldown - Removes cooldown between companions liking/hating your actions.
92. [PS4]More XP Per Level (Base:600, Bump 120) - Increased experience required to level up.
93. Increased EXP - Increases the amount of EXP gained to make Immersive Gameplay and mod list balanced.
94. No Building Houses XP Gains PS4 - Building settlements don't provide experience.
95. Pip-Boy Flashlight - Pipboy light is now a flashlight.
96. PS4 - Longer Headlamp Light - Makes flashlight much bigger and changes headlamp and power armor light.
97. [PS4] Starting SPECIAL = 7 - Changes starting SPECIAL stats to 1 in each category so you start weak.
98. No Enemy Respawns - Game areas don't respawn loot and enemies, after time have passed.
99. Accelerated Fast Travel - Fast travel takes less in-game time, should be also relevant to survival needs.
100. Time Scale Changed From 20 To 10 [PS4] - Day and night lasts twice as long.

Additionally after downloading:

• After installing the mod list, restart your PS4/PS5.
• Dont add or remove mods mid playthrough.
• Change game difficulty to survival in options.
• Play on performance 60fps. Newly added mode visual 60fps is more laggy and has awfull VATS framerate.
• If you want even more immersive settings, go to Settings, Gameplay and turn off quest markers or crosshair.
• Go to Options, Sound and reduce ambience level by 5-8 clicks and reverb by 2-3.
• Dont forget to change camera sensitivity (I play on max), next go to Options, Display and change hud color to blue or any other that makes sense (not red), lower transparency by 30% or more, set pip-boy colour to your preference (I use red pip-boy and minty hud to have the best compatibility with highlighting perks and scopes).

You can add/swap some mods if you want:

101... Immortal Cats - PS4 - Invincible cats, so you don't lose happiness increase when they die. Add after mod #83 \ 102... [PS4] STS - Extras - Living & Dead - Season Pass Version - You can get extra resources from scraping dead bodies in settlements. Watch out not to scrap someone alive. Place after mod #82. \ 103... Josephine Preset - Nice looking preset number 13 for female character creation. Change hair and other details if you want. Delete after leaving vault111 and saving (if you need mod list space that is). Add after mod #55. \ 104... Faster Positive Affinity For Companions - Removes cooldown between companions liking/hating your actions and gain five times more positive affinity. Swap with mod #91 if you want more cheaty version. \ 105... Silent Main Menu - To mute main menu sound, find duplicate sound slider named 'Master sound' and move it all the way to the left. Add after mod #41. \ 106... Quieter Settlements PS4 - Contraptions DLC - Quieter production lines. I ran out of space on mod list so this and next one are optional. Add after mod #34. \ 107... Quieter Settlements PS4 - Wasteland Workshop - Quieter fusion generators. Add after mod #34. \ 108... [PS4] Simple Settlers (Immortal Edition) - Instead of #33, so generic settlers don't die during settlement attacks. \ 109... Reduced Rubble Etc. - Safely reduces density of unimportant objects by 50-75%. Add after #44 or swap with #45. \ 110... Vrexia's Magical Rings - Add after #57 only if you get poison/perception bug where your PER is shown as (-1). You can offset it by equiping multiple rings from this mod (created at chem bench). Didnt found a better way yet. \ 111... Pip-Boy Flashlight (Brighter) - For a smaller, brighter flashlight swap #96 with #95 and replace #95 with this.

Remove, if you want:

Stock, ugly Pip-Boy color - #3 \ No tinkering with legendary effects - #5 \ No powerful groups wandering and attacking places - #15 \ Radstags to be less agressive - #17 \ Dont care about building - #20 #21 #22 \ Dont care about decorating settlements - #24 #25 \ Annoying wandering brahmins instead of dogs - #31 \ Cash register sounds when gaining exp - #39 \ Old vanilla dusk and dawn lighting - #49 \ Don't use VATS much - #53 #54 #55 \ Prefer old combat scopes - #64 #65 #66 \ Don't want uncover map perk and will never unlock it - #84 \ Don't have any weapon skins from Creation Club - #90 \ Faster leveling - #92 \ To gain building EXP - #94 \ Start with 7 extra SPECIAL points to distribute - #97 \ Loot and enemies respawn after time - #98 \ Fast travel to take time - #99 \ Days be vanilla length - #100

Known issues, bugs, glitches, exploits:

Some of those are present in vanilla game. I just mention every problem encountered during testing and not fully fixed. - Ground textures in and around sanctuary flicker black. FIX: Fixes itself. Possibly after short time or reload. - Creature cages cost too much in building menu. NO FIX: Did not found a safe and balanced fix yet, so cages are most likely out of reach, because cost is absurd. - Green chest containing flare gun and 10k flares after exiting vault 111. FIX: Mod dev forgot to delete it. Ignore it or if it bothers you much, remove mod #83, which I don't recommend doing. - Hubby secret basement in Sanctuary. NO FIX: Its up to you if you want to use its content. Just easier difficulty option, but not game breaking. - Hacking rank 4 seems useless or has wrong description. NO FIX: Needs proper check. - Wall turrets sometimes glitches and play sound on repeat. FIX: Re-enter the area or reload save. - Contact frag mines seems to have too low damage. FIX: Just dont craft them. Rest of new explosives should work fine even that it shows low damage values in description. - Perception low, constant (-1) PER in stats because of poison damage/resistance bug. FIX: Add mod #110 and equip perception rings. Dont delete the mod. Cant find safer solution for now. Rings dont take equipment slots. - Action girl perk have only one rank on female character and two on male. NO FIX: Just 25% AP regen loss at high level. Not a big deal. - Bubblegum seems to unintentionally quench thirst a bit and kind vendors give it for free. NO FIX: Free candies. Its better to use them to slow down time. - Incorrect cost to build concrete foundations. FIX: Use mod #20 to add tons of foundations in newly added category Structures-Concrete. - OCDecorator replaces creation club menu. FIX: Items from CC are still available in other building categories. Ignore or delete mod #24 + #25 if you dont care about its function. - Few perk descriptions might be slightly incorrect or missing. NO FIX: Nothing important to worry about. - Three street lights, powered water pump, industrial purifier and subway light have incorrect build costs. NO FIX: These have wrong values, but items like clean sofa or tv are more expensive to build on purpose though. - Pip-boy light wont transfer from first to third person camera view. FIX: Turn flashlight off and on. - Water surface sometimes flash black when moving underwater. NO FIX: Its not very noticable and you don't dive much in FO4 anyway. - Flashlight in Vault111 has incorrect beam look/color. FIX: It will fix itself after mods load right after you leave Vault111, dont worry.

v1.0 - Initial version.

Have fun!

Not really sure how to put this,but I know someone in my apartment complex about 4 or 5 years ago and they had a 2 year old son.I didn’t really get close to them at first but over the past year and a half I have gotten to know them a bit more.There son had long long hair and he kind of acted and looked really young.I found out last year he was almost 7 and has never been to school! The dad has had a few jobs here and there and he lost his license due to unpaid fines I have heard. The mom doesn’t work because of anxiety and smokes pot all the time as does the dad.That doesn’t really bother me,but what bothers me is she keeps her son in all by himself and they have a baby monitor to keep an eye on him,and they keep him outside in the evenings with them…this child is autistic and has limited vocabulary and is still in diapers! They finally got him a hair cut .They don’t homeschool him or take him anywhere.They do go places in the summer with him but he has no idea how to play with other kids in the building. Doesn’t it say that every child has the right to an education?

Hi guys
Sorry if this is a long post. I’ve not really been able to speak to anyone in my life about my experience and I have just hit a wall. I’ve been with my husband (34M) for 12 years. We got married in June and have a gorgeous one year old girl. He had a large lump on his neck for 6 months that he was continually told was nothing. He pushed and it was eventually biopsied and he was diagnosed very unexpectedly with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in November 2023 which had spread to lymph nodes in his neck bilaterally. There were many tests and procedures to get the full diagnosis and I am fairly confident that the primary tumour is more extensive than he understands based on some comments made by doctors. He wasn’t a candidate for surgery given the tumours locations, so he had six rounds of chemo to try to shrink the tumours before starting two months of daily radiation and weekly chemo. We are on week 7 of 8. I have taken most of the responsibility for parenting our daughter since she was born. I had to take a career break as we couldn’t get childcare for her (childcare in Ireland is horrific, it’s impossible to get). My background is a speech and language therapist and SLTs work in head and neck cancer. Although it’s not my area, I studied in it and did hospital rotations so had a good understanding of the effects of treatment for his cancer. Anyway, since his diagnosis I am full time caregiver to both my husband and daughter. We have no childcare so essentially I spend 17 hours or so a day caring for one or other of them. I’ve not had so much as an hour to myself since this began. I have had moments of overwhelm but keep trying to pick myself back up. My husband would be by nature quite an impatient person and can be quite insensitive. I have tried to stay empathetic, I know he is suffering and struggling but I am so tired of being snapped at, being spoken of poorly and there being no recognition of how difficult it has been to go through this while also raising our child alone. Our little girl is so sweet, for months I’ve talked to her about daddy being sick, his medicine, going to the doctor, blowing kisses when she’s been sick so as not to make him sick etc. He sees her for honestly no more than a few minutes a day which is really hard on her. Today she went to hug him and he said can you take her away, time goes too slow when she’s around and i want to ge left alone. Two days ago he bit my head off for “encouraging her” to come up to him (yet he will look for hugs etc when it suits him). I was frankly disgusted and reminded him she is a little girl and he’s her Dad, that there is a balance. He told me there is no balance and he doesn’t care about anyone else right now. I suggested a nebuliser for him with his care team today, which I sourced, organised a prescription for the saline, picked up, paid for and sterilised and set up for him this evening. After finishig, he really flew off the handle at me for suggesting he try a particular mouthwash again. He swore at me, told me I’ve been horrible to him, that I’m not even trying, and much worse. I am so worn down from how he is acting towards me. I promise this is not a situation whereby I am giving a skewed view - I know what he’s saying is untrue, im doing absolutely everything for him and my daughter to my on detriment. I just don’t know where to put all these feelings. Im petrified for him and I’m also tired of being the target of his outbursts. I know he fully believes what he says to me and that hurts the most, I know that no apology will come because he thinks I’m at fault. Im worried for our relationship. How have others got through the rage and blame? Does anyone else have young kids? I don’t want to speak to others in real life as I don’t want them to judge him afterwards, plus it’s hard to speak badly of someone going through gruelling cancer treatment. Apologies again for the long post, it’s the first time I’ve said any of this out loud

Introduction to healthcare staffing business

Launching a healthcare staffing business in Wyoming can be a challenging endeavor, but with the right strategies and approach, it is possible to navigate the frontier state successfully. In this article, we will provide an introduction to the healthcare staffing business and explore the key steps involved in setting up and running such a business in Wyoming. One of the crucial aspects of any healthcare staffing business is the ability to attract new clients. In order to attract new clients, it is important to implement effective marketing strategies and establish strong relationships with healthcare facilities and professionals. By offering exceptional staffing services and highlighting the unique benefits of working with your business, you can position yourself as a trusted partner in meeting the staffing needs of healthcare organizations in Wyoming.

Importance of healthcare staffing in Wyoming

The importance of healthcare staffing in Wyoming cannot be overstated. With a growing population and an aging workforce, the demand for qualified healthcare professionals is higher than ever. Healthcare staffing agencies play a crucial role in meeting this demand by connecting healthcare facilities with talented and skilled professionals. These agencies ensure that healthcare facilities are adequately staffed, which is essential for providing quality care to patients. Additionally, healthcare staffing agencies help in reducing the burden on healthcare facilities by handling the recruitment and placement process, allowing them to focus on their core operations. Therefore, the presence of healthcare staffing agencies is vital for the efficient functioning of the healthcare industry in Wyoming.

Challenges and opportunities in the healthcare staffing industry

The healthcare staffing industry presents both challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to start a nursing agency in Georgia in 2023. As the demand for healthcare professionals continues to rise, there is a growing need for staffing solutions that can provide qualified and reliable nurses. However, entering the healthcare staffing industry can be challenging due to the competitive nature of the market and the need to navigate complex regulations and licensing requirements. Despite these challenges, there are significant opportunities for growth and success in this sector. By understanding the unique needs of the healthcare industry in Georgia and leveraging innovative strategies, entrepreneurs can establish a nursing agency that meets the demand for skilled nursing professionals and contributes to the improvement of healthcare services in the state.

Understanding the Healthcare Staffing Market in Wyoming

Demographics and healthcare demand in Wyoming

Wyoming, with its unique demographics and healthcare demand, presents both opportunities and challenges for launching a healthcare staffing business. As the least populous state in the country, Wyoming has a small but diverse population that requires specialized healthcare services. The state's rural nature and vast geographic area make it essential to have a comprehensive understanding of the healthcare needs of different regions. Additionally, Wyoming's healthcare system relies heavily on federal funding, making it crucial to navigate the complexities of government regulations and funding mechanisms. By leveraging the right banking solutions for taquerías, healthcare staffing businesses can effectively address the specific healthcare demands of Wyoming's population.

Existing healthcare staffing agencies in Wyoming

Wyoming is home to several existing healthcare staffing agencies that have established themselves in the state's healthcare industry. These agencies have successfully navigated the challenges of the frontier state and have built a strong presence in the market. When it comes to venture capital, these agencies have also attracted investments to fuel their growth and expansion. With the support of venture capital, they have been able to scale their operations, invest in cutting-edge technology, and attract top talent. As a result, these agencies have been able to provide high-quality staffing solutions to healthcare facilities across Wyoming. If you are considering launching a healthcare staffing business in Wyoming, it is important to study the strategies and success stories of these existing agencies to understand the market dynamics and identify opportunities for differentiation and growth.

Trends and growth projections in the healthcare staffing market

The healthcare staffing market is experiencing significant trends and growth projections. As the demand for healthcare professionals continues to rise, so does the need for staffing solutions. With the increasing complexity of the healthcare industry, healthcare facilities are turning to staffing agencies to find qualified and skilled professionals. This trend is expected to continue as the healthcare industry expands and evolves. Moreover, the advancement of technology has also played a crucial role in the growth of the healthcare staffing market. Online platforms and digital tools have made it easier for healthcare facilities to connect with staffing agencies and streamline the recruitment process. As a result, the healthcare staffing market is projected to experience substantial growth in the coming years.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

Licensing and certification requirements for healthcare staffing businesses

Licensing and certification requirements for healthcare staffing businesses in Wyoming are an important aspect to consider when launching a healthcare staffing business in the state. To operate legally and provide quality services, healthcare staffing businesses must adhere to the regulations set forth by the Wyoming Department of Health and other relevant regulatory bodies. These requirements ensure that healthcare staffing businesses meet the necessary standards and have the appropriate qualifications and credentials to provide staffing solutions in the healthcare industry. Obtaining the required licenses and certifications demonstrates a commitment to professionalism and ensures compliance with state regulations, ultimately building trust and credibility with clients and healthcare professionals alike.

Compliance with state and federal employment laws

Compliance with state and federal employment laws is crucial for any business, especially in the healthcare staffing industry. In Wyoming, navigating the frontier state adds an extra layer of complexity to ensure that your healthcare staffing business is in full compliance. Understanding and adhering to the latest marketing tips for small businesses is essential in promoting your services while staying within the legal boundaries. By staying up-to-date with the ever-changing landscape of employment laws and implementing effective marketing strategies, you can establish a solid foundation for your healthcare staffing business in Wyoming.

Insurance and liability considerations for healthcare staffing agencies

Insurance and liability considerations are crucial for healthcare staffing agencies operating in Wyoming. As the healthcare industry is highly regulated, it is essential for staffing agencies to have comprehensive insurance coverage to protect themselves and their clients. This includes professional liability insurance, general liability insurance, and workers' compensation insurance. Professional liability insurance safeguards against claims of negligence or errors in providing healthcare services, while general liability insurance covers accidents or injuries that may occur on the agency's premises. Workers' compensation insurance is necessary to provide coverage for employees who may suffer work-related injuries. By obtaining the appropriate insurance policies, healthcare staffing agencies can mitigate financial risks and ensure the safety and well-being of their staff and clients.

Developing a Business Plan

Identifying target market and niche

Identifying the target market and niche is a crucial step in launching a successful healthcare staffing business in Wyoming. One key aspect to consider is finding group homes, which can be a profitable niche in the healthcare staffing industry. Group homes provide specialized care and support to individuals with specific needs, such as the elderly or individuals with disabilities. By catering to this niche, healthcare staffing businesses can establish themselves as experts in providing staffing solutions for group homes. This can be achieved by recruiting and training healthcare professionals who have experience in working with these populations. Additionally, developing strong relationships with group home owners and administrators can help healthcare staffing businesses gain a competitive edge in the market. By understanding the unique staffing requirements of group homes and tailoring their services to meet these needs, healthcare staffing businesses can position themselves as valuable partners in the healthcare industry.

Creating a competitive pricing strategy

Creating a competitive pricing strategy is crucial for launching a successful healthcare staffing business in Wyoming. In order to navigate the frontier state, it is important to carefully consider the pricing of your services. By analyzing the market and understanding the needs of healthcare facilities in Wyoming, you can develop a pricing strategy that sets you apart from your competitors. This strategy should take into account factors such as the cost of recruiting and training healthcare professionals, as well as the average rates charged by other staffing agencies in the state. By offering competitive prices while maintaining high-quality services, you can attract clients and establish your business as a trusted provider in the healthcare staffing industry.

Establishing partnerships with healthcare facilities

Establishing partnerships with healthcare facilities is a crucial step in launching a successful healthcare staffing business in Wyoming. By forging strong relationships with hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers, you can ensure a steady stream of job opportunities for your staffing agency. It is important to approach potential partners with professionalism and a clear understanding of their needs. Demonstrating your expertise in healthcare staffing and highlighting the benefits of partnering with your agency will help build trust and credibility. Additionally, offering competitive rates, flexible staffing solutions, and excellent customer service can set your business apart from competitors. Building partnerships in the healthcare industry requires persistence, networking, and a commitment to delivering high-quality staffing services.

Recruiting and Retaining Healthcare Professionals

Effective recruitment strategies for healthcare professionals

When it comes to effective recruitment strategies for healthcare professionals, a creative platform can be a game-changer. A creative platform provides innovative solutions for attracting and retaining top talent in the healthcare industry. By utilizing a creative platform, healthcare staffing businesses can showcase their unique offerings and benefits to healthcare professionals, making them stand out from the competition. This platform allows for the creation of engaging and interactive content, such as videos, infographics, and testimonials, which can be shared on various online platforms and social media channels. These creative elements not only capture the attention of healthcare professionals but also provide them with valuable information about the healthcare staffing business. By leveraging a creative platform, healthcare staffing businesses in Wyoming can effectively reach and engage with healthcare professionals, ultimately leading to successful recruitment outcomes.

Building a strong employer brand

Building a strong employer brand is crucial for the success of any business, especially in the competitive healthcare staffing industry. It requires careful self-reflection for entrepreneurs to understand their unique value proposition and effectively communicate it to potential candidates. By investing time and effort into developing a strong employer brand, healthcare staffing businesses in Wyoming can attract top talent and differentiate themselves from their competitors. A strong employer brand not only helps in attracting skilled professionals but also fosters a positive work culture and improves employee retention. It is essential for entrepreneurs to prioritize building a strong employer brand as it directly impacts the long-term success and growth of their healthcare staffing business.

Implementing retention programs and incentives

Implementing retention programs and incentives is crucial for the success of a healthcare staffing business in Wyoming. With a shortage of healthcare professionals in the state, it is essential to create a work environment that encourages employee loyalty and reduces turnover. One effective strategy is to develop a comprehensive retention program that includes competitive salaries, benefits packages, and opportunities for professional growth. Additionally, offering incentives such as performance bonuses, flexible schedules, and recognition programs can further motivate and engage employees. By investing in retention programs and incentives, healthcare staffing businesses can attract and retain top talent, ensuring the delivery of high-quality healthcare services to the communities they serve.

Marketing and Promoting Your Healthcare Staffing Business

Creating a professional website and online presence

Creating a professional website and online presence is crucial for any healthcare staffing business looking to succeed in today's digital age. A well-designed and user-friendly website not only showcases the services and expertise of the business but also establishes credibility and trust with potential clients. Additionally, having a strong online presence through social media platforms and online directories allows the business to reach a wider audience and attract more qualified candidates. By investing in a professional website and maintaining an active online presence, healthcare staffing businesses in Wyoming can effectively navigate the frontier state and position themselves as industry leaders.

Utilizing social media and digital marketing

Utilizing social media and digital marketing is essential for the success of any business in today's digital age. In order to reach a wider audience and increase brand visibility, it is crucial for healthcare staffing businesses in Wyoming to embrace the power of social media platforms and digital marketing strategies. By leveraging platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, healthcare staffing businesses can connect with potential clients and candidates, share valuable industry insights, and promote their services effectively. Additionally, implementing targeted digital marketing campaigns can help healthcare staffing businesses stand out from the competition and attract the attention of corporate companies in Wyoming that may be losing money and in need of staffing solutions. By utilizing social media and digital marketing, healthcare staffing businesses can establish themselves as industry leaders and gain a competitive edge in the challenging frontier state of Wyoming.

Networking and building relationships with healthcare professionals and facilities

Networking and building relationships with healthcare professionals and facilities is crucial for the success of your healthcare staffing business in Wyoming. One effective strategy is to focus on email personalization. By customizing your emails to address the specific needs and interests of healthcare professionals and facilities, you can establish a deeper connection and increase the likelihood of building long-term partnerships. Email personalization allows you to tailor your communication to each recipient, highlighting the value your staffing services can provide. Additionally, it enables you to showcase your expertise and demonstrate your commitment to meeting the unique staffing challenges faced by healthcare professionals and facilities in Wyoming.

Conclusion

Summary of key points

Launching a healthcare staffing business in Wyoming can be a challenging endeavor due to the unique characteristics of the frontier state. However, by understanding the key points and following a strategic approach, entrepreneurs can navigate the complexities and establish a successful venture. This article aims to provide a summary of the essential factors to consider when starting a healthcare staffing business in Wyoming.

Future prospects of the healthcare staffing industry in Wyoming

The future prospects of the healthcare staffing industry in Wyoming are promising. With the increasing demand for healthcare services and the growing population in the state, there is a significant need for qualified healthcare professionals. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve and expand, the demand for skilled staff will only continue to rise. Additionally, Wyoming's unique geographical location and its status as a frontier state present opportunities for healthcare staffing businesses to cater to remote and underserved areas. By leveraging technology and innovative recruitment strategies, healthcare staffing companies can tap into this untapped market and provide essential healthcare services to communities across Wyoming. With the right approach and a commitment to quality, the healthcare staffing industry in Wyoming has a bright future ahead.

Final thoughts and recommendations

In conclusion, starting a healthcare staffing business in Wyoming can be a challenging yet rewarding endeavor. The unique landscape and demographics of the frontier state present both opportunities and obstacles for entrepreneurs in this industry. By carefully navigating the regulatory landscape, building strong relationships with healthcare facilities and professionals, and leveraging technology to streamline operations, aspiring healthcare staffing business owners can position themselves for success. It is crucial to prioritize compliance with state and federal regulations, as well as invest in continuous professional development for staff members to ensure high-quality service delivery. Additionally, staying informed about industry trends and best practices will enable businesses to stay competitive in the ever-evolving healthcare staffing market. With careful planning, dedication, and a commitment to excellence, launching a healthcare staffing business in Wyoming can be a fulfilling and lucrative venture.

These are my poppies. The large one was given to me by a friend, and it’s had its growth stunted by a couple weeks but is now healthy and growing! Not sure what kind it is.
The small poppies all around, I planted myself they are Afghan White. Now I know it’s a bit late in the season for them to be this small (planted late March) and I’m aware that they can’t take brutal heat. But the one growing beside the stone gets a decent amount of shade.
Does anyone have any tips heading into the summer? I’d like to get at least 15 pods, maybe more!! Also some advice on thinning and how to do it would be helpful. I hate to do it but I know long term it’s for the best.
Cheers and happy gardening!

I feel like this thing could go to the moon if only they took all the presale money and did three things with it:

1. Add lots of liquidity to uniswap
2. Marketing, specifically YouTube and X/Twitter influencer partnerships
3. Pay someone to handle social media

I'm holding. I'd rather hang on to the hope of a big payday down the road instead of giving up and selling now for pennies. What the hell is there to lose at this point? If it's a scam, it isn't going to get worse than it already did.
And if this thing does take off, we'll be kicking ourselves for not buying more right now.
Yes, I understand that with no liquidity locked there's still a huge risk right now. And this will only work out if the devs stop being idiots, but to me it's worth sitting back and waiting to find out. I think reward far outweighs risk at this point as long as we don't invest more than we're TRULY comfortable losing.
Let's build a real community here on reddit. Look at what the slothana subreddit looks and feels like right now compared to how it looked and felt a week ago. Budz is supposed to be about weed culture. Chill down. Let's sit down, smoke a joint and enjoy the ride.

Knuckles the Echidna

"I am the last guardian of Angel Island. I will protect the Master Emerald. And I will do it alone if I have to."

To make a very long, complicated, and confusing story short, Knuckles the Echidna is the Guardian of the mythical Master Emerald and protector of the floating Angel Island (interchangeably called the Floating Island). He comes from a long line of Guardians, each serving as Guardian before him. Before his birth, his father, Locke, saw a dream he thought of as prophetic, and prepared his unborn baby with the power to handle his future responsibility...by blasting his egg with Chaos radiation, granting Knuckles his spiked fists and an aptitude for Chaos Energy manipulation.
Knuckles would go through many hardships throughout his life: His father's death, discovering his home then watching its destruction, and his endless fight against Dr. Eggman and the forces of the Dark Legion. Knuckles would even die and be brought back to life. However hard the going gets, though, Knuckles always manages to recover and hit harder. He's not just rougher than the rest of them; he's the best of them.

Section Key: I. Strength II. Speed/Agility III. Durability IV. Chaos Power V. Other VI. Hyper Knuckles VII. Chaos Knuckles Source Key: Knuckles' Chaotix - Chaotix Knuckles the Echidna - KtE# Sonic and Knuckles - S&K Sonic's Friendly Nemesis, Knuckles Miniseries - Nem# Sonic Quest - Quest# Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) - StC# Sonic the Hedgehog Free Comic Book Day - FCD# Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble - Triple Sonic Super Special - Spe# Sonic Universe - SU# Sonic vs. Knuckles - SvK Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles - SSvHK 

Feats are posted in chronological order.

For additional context on some feats, see a map of Angel Island here.

To see his feats during his time as the Enerjak, see here (Respect Thread by theusjshjdhdne)

I. Strength

Striking

• Breaks a fake Chaos Emerald.
• Breaks down a brick wall in one punch.
• Knocks out Fang with one punch.
• Destroys Metal Sonic in one blow when they’re both at a giant size.
• Brawls with Enerjak.
• Punches a hole in a giant machine.
• Brawls with Sonic until they’re both exhausted.
• Rams through a large metal robot.
• Breaks through an indeterminate amount of stone.
• Punches Sonic so hard Sally worries that Knuckles could have knocked Sonic’s head off.
• Shatters a few Egg Grapes.
• Punches Finivetus hard enough for him to bounce.
• Punches a sturdy trap wall hard enough to climb up it.
• Clashes fists against Finitevus hard enough to cause a shockwave.
• Punches the ground enough to crack it and create smoke.

Lifting/Grabbing

• While Perfect Chaos is flooding a city and Knuckles is in this water, he lifts a heavy generator that powers the entire city.
• Restrains an out-of-control Bunnie alongside Mighty and Vector.
• Catches a giant drill and prevents its rotation.
• Holds up rubble alongside Amy to prevent a cave-in.
• Snaps off an arm of the Egg Beater with Vector’s help.
• Grabs Finivetus by his cape and slams him into a wall hard enough to crack it.

Throwing

• Throws a dingo from one room to another to hit another dingo.
• Tosses Sonic above cloud level.
• Throws Thrash through a stone wall.

Other

• Anchors himself with his spikes during a tornado.
• Easily cuts a tree with ease.
• Powers through Thrash’s screams.

II. Speed/Agility

Combat/Evasion

• Evades falling boulders.
• Dodges a lot of traps completely unscathed including machine guns.
• Spins in a cyclone fast enough to throw a biker gang into the distance.
• Dodges a laser.
• Dodges a robot’s mace.
• Keeps up with Sonic going all-out pretty handily, at one point holding him down.
• Dodges multiple close-proximity lasers.
• Dodges Espio’s kunai in very close range.

Movement

• Speeds from near the outside of Angel Island to a distant mountain.
• Swims from the deepest point of the ocean floor to the surface before he loses oxygen, only not succeeding due to outside interference.
• Outruns a blast that quickly engulfs the Floating Island, only being hit when he reaches the end of the island. Out of everyone on the island, Knuckles is the only one able to outrun the blast and even reacts fast enough to throw a Dark Legion member into the blast before he starts actually running.
• Hops over a fence.
• Hops from one floating vehicle to another.

Gliding

• Can glide above the trees even in turbulent winds.
• For some reason his gliding works by using his dreadlocks???
• Okay, that isn't gliding, that's just flying, Knuckles.
• Can glide (fly) high enough to be significantly above Angel Island.

Other

• Swapped emeralds without Sonic and Eggman noticing.
• Able to keep balance on an Extreme Gear while grappling with Storm.

III. Durability

Blunt

• Struck by Sonic going at full speed.
• Bonked by Sonic hitting him with an entire tree.
• Hurt but able to handle being surprise attacked by Espio, Vector, and Mighty in succession.
• Tanks blows from Enerjak whose raw strength is stated to dwarf Knuckles’.
• Shot down by a giant laser.
• Takes a few blows from an alternate (Irish) version of himself.
• Hit by Sonic hard enough to create a hole in Castle Acorn.
• Launched into a wall by Thrash’s scream.
• Blasted repeatedly by Thrash’s screams, visibly no worse for wear.

Energy/Fire/Electricity

• Blasted by Enerjak.
• Gets the inside of his mouth burnt by Archimedes.
• Zapped by Enerjak.
• Hurt but generally fine after being splashed by lava.
• Tanks the edge of a blast that engulfed a large chunk of the Floating Island, still has enough energy to drag himself out of the ocean onto a piece of debris though he falls unconscious for twelve hours.
• Takes some hits from dingo goons armed with electric weapons.

Other

• Harmed but unfazed by getting drained by the energy siphon used on the Master Emerald that allows the Floating Island to stay, well, afloat.
• Seemingly unaffected by the pressure caused from being inside the very bottom of an ocean aside, more so worried about having no oxygen.
• Only worried about the cold while 30,000 meters above the already cloud level floating island.
• Is the first to regain consciousness after a crash.
• Crushed by a mechanical lobster.
• Gets caught in an avalanche, recovers quickly.

IV. Chaos Power

For a period during his conflicts with the Dark Legion, his latent Chaos power increased with time until an explosion would turn his skin green and properly transform him into Chaos Knuckles, losing his powers when he later died and revived. He didn't rekindle his powers until a conflict with Dr. Finivetus reawakened his latent abilities.
Knuckles usually doesn't use these abilities, but can break them out again when necessary.

Offensive

• Dismantles a machine on his neck then blasts Hunter into unconsciousness.
• Clashes with Finivetus hard enough to create a huge sphere of energy on Angel Island.

Non-Offensive

• Passively regenerates from a splash of lava.
• Creates a portal from Mobius’ surface to Angel Island.
• Flies with his eyes closed and “sees” his surroundings with help from the Guiding Star Gem.
• Either doesn’t register on an infrared sensor or genuinely has no body heat.
• Throws a few Chaos Spears.

Energy Generation

• Called a living Chaos Emerald as he projects a message to a fellow Guardian in an entirely different Zone; later corroborated by an examination performed by the Dark Legion.
• Generates enough natural power to overload a power system that winds up blowing up a complex and is implied to radiate enough energy after 15 minutes to be akin to nuclear fallout.

V. Other

• Can tell where Espio is even when he’s invisible.
• Carries a laser gun that destroys a door he cannot with brawn.
• Has the worst family tree.
• Called in by Sally to fight Sonic all-out on his level while Sonic is mind-controlled, Knuckles appearing right after Sonic wipes the floor with both the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix.
• Holds the Guiding Star, an artifact that creates a magical transport back to Angel Island from any place.
• Holds a Warp Ring which allows him to teleport to any location he sets his mind to.
• Resists Finivetus’ hypnotization.

VI. Hyper Knuckles

Also referred to as Super Knuckles, this form occurs when Knuckles absorbs sufficient Chaos Energy from the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, or a similarly potent source. With the power, he has the ability to take on powerful foes like Super Sonic and Master Mogul.

Strength

• Described as “a thousand times stronger” than usual.
• Tears apart reality fighting Super Sonic, destroying the Zone they fight in.
• Alongside Super Sonic, punches Master Mogul through buildings.
• Breaks the top of a mountain then throws Hunter across Angel Island.

Speed

• Keeps up with Super Sonic.
• Described as moving at “incalculable speeds”.

Durability

• Takes hits from Super Sonic.
• Tanks the Zone-busting clash between himself and Super Sonic but reverts back to normal.
• Completely ignores Chaos energy that was hurting him at base form.

Chaos Power

• Unleashes a surge of power that ends the war between the echidnas and dingoes.

VII. Chaos Knuckles

Due to Knuckles' father microwaving the baby imbuing Knuckles' egg with Chaos radiation, Knuckles' own Chaos energy grew until achieving the god-like Chaos Knuckles form, becoming closer to a living Chaos Emerald than an echidna. During his time as Chaos Knuckles, he was one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse if not the strongest outright, or at least stronger than (Turbo Tails and Dimitri as the Enerjak). However, his grasp of his powers was questionable at best and uncontrollable at worst, which would eventually lead to his demise.

Strength

• Bops Tails on the head.
• Beats Turbo Tails unconscious in a short fight.

Speed

• Unleashes a blast of energy before Tails can react, though he wasn’t in control of his actions.
• Keeps up with Turbo Tails.

Durability

• Stands undamaged in an epicenter of an explosion that knocked out multiple people including a Roboticized Mobian.
• Endures being siphoned of his energy until Charmy and Saffron free him.
• Surprise attacked by Turbo Tails.
• Tanks blows from Turbo Tails.
• Makes the scenario of Angel Island crashing and/or blowing up from Chaos energy nonlethal by taking the brunt of it himself; also a Chaos Power feat.
• Undamaged from a shot to the head that would have killed base Knuckles.

Chaos Power

Offensive

• Paralyzes a Roboticized Mobian.
• A shout throws around everybody surrounding him and teleports them to various places across the world.
• Unleashes a “tidal wave” of energy.
• An energy blast goes straight through Angel Island with the debris knocking out Tails.
• An optic laser harms Turbo Tails.
• Shoots down a meteor that would have destroyed the city of Echidnaopolis.

Non-Offensive

• Warps through time and space on accident; later does so on purpose.
• Teleports through time and space to Dimitri’s ship which moves at Mach 5.
• Detects the death of two echidna who crashed into the ship he is on.
• Read someone’s mind, though at the time he wasn’t sure how to do so consciously.
• Sends a telepathic message and projection of himself to his father across the Floating Island.
• Stops his heart to play dead.
• Heals somebody from critical condition.

Reality Warping

• Unconsciously warps reality on a fundamental scale, changing reality to different versions of itself: First to one resembling the OVA, then a reality without the Dark Legion, then a reality resembling SatAM, then to a reality where Sally is dead, finally to reality as it once was. Notably, both Sonic and Sally had full awareness of the changes during the changes, and everyone else had full awareness only after the fact.
• [Limit] Can’t stop events that would be inevitable through multiple methods such as Echidnaopolis’ destruction or the failure of Dimitri’s plan in the past.
• Manipulates time on an island-wide level to restore Angel Island to its original state before its inhabitants were teleported to another Zone.
• Creates flowers.
• [Limit] Blows himself up and dies saving Dimitri and destroying Mogul’s Chaos Siphon, ascending to a higher plane of existence in the Chaos Force (temporarily).
• Ejects himself from the Chaos Force and revives himself, but loses access to his powers.
• In one version of the future, warps the entirety of Mobius to his whim.

Characters Used for Scaling (all pre-Super Genesis Wave):

• Dimitri the Echidna.
• Dr. Finitevus.
• Egg Beater, Respect Thread by Proletlariet.
• Enerjak (as Dimitri), Respect Thread by theusjshjdhdne.
• Espio the Chameleon.
• Metal Sonic.
• Mighty the Armadillo, Respect Thread by theusjshjdhdne.
• Sonic the Hedgehog, Respect Thread by 76SUP and Joshless.
• Thrash the Tasmanian Devil.
• Vector the Crocodile.
• Tails the Fox.

Hey everyone.
I am a 21 year old patient. I have stage 4 soft tissue sarcoma in my pelvic area/peritoneum.
I was diagnosed at age 20 in September 2023, so about 8 months ago. This was AFTER two biopsies because we struggled to figure out what I had, thankfully it got sorted out.
Since then, I have had 12 rounds of harsh chemo. 6 round inpatient even, which was absolutely the worst experiences of my life.
After 6 rounds, I was told i’m still inoperable. Sucks honestly, that’s the only real chance of cure for me as it is for many. 6 horrible rounds of the most toxic chemo didn’t do good enough and I was beyond upset and felt extremely defeated. I did have a good response, but unfortunately not enough. So, I started a new regimen, which so far has held it mostly stable with a slight reduction.
I go to MD Anderson every 6 weeks for scans, bloodwork, and meetings with my sarcoma specialist (I live in Missouri), so it’s a long drive. If i’m being honest, I’m starting to get tired of going there. All that happens is I get scanned and basically get told it’s inoperable still and they say “see you in 6 weeks!”. It is getting extremely exhausting doing this now. I’m going back tomorrow and I’m seriously not looking forward to it. Luckily, I am able to receive treatment in Missouri for now.
This past cycle, I felt the worst I ever have. I could barely walk, super weak, chest pain, nausea, and felt like I was legitimately dying. It was a surreal and indescribable feeling. I could even stand for more than two minutes.
After a few days, I kinda felt better. I decided to try and do some yard work. I have lost so much weight that I barely weigh enough to sit on the lawn mower and it dies due to safety reasons. Also, when I used the weed wacker, I was not even strong enough to get it running like I used to. By the time I finally got everything done, I was absolutely shot. Tired for the rest of the day. I slept like 15 hours after that.
I miss my old life, like every single person dealing with cancer does. I get slightly envious of my friends and kids my age having fun/not having the struggles I do. I feel I can no longer relate to anyone who isn’t a cancer patient anymore. I have even just distanced myself from everyone because of the way I look. I really just don’t want to scare anyone.
I seriously wish I could cancel my MD Anderson trip. I just need a break, something, but I know the cancer will spread, but honestly I really don’t care anymore. I have already pretty much been told i’ll be treating this chronically, which is NOT happening. I’m not doing that chemo for life b.s.
I’m getting weaker and I can feel it. People are wondering why I don’t visit or come around anymore. It’s simply because I don’t feel up to it and I really just want to be alone. I’m not going to pretend everything is fine when it’s not. Everyone keeps saying “keep fighting” and the dreaded “be positive”, but honestly I’m close to being done. This is NOT a life, for anyone. People really don’t get it at all. Why do I want to only have about one week where I feel descent?
I also had just graduated flight school and started a great job and was then diagnosed and all of it was ripped away.
I guess I’ll suck it up for this trip, but Idk how much more I can take. Some people may call me a selfish person for giving up, but sometimes the battle is over before it even starts.
Sorry for the rant, but i’m getting close to some type of breaking point. The treatment is starting to get to me physically and honestly, my heart is no longer in this like it was even a month ago.
I am probably going to have a frank talk with my oncologist about all of this.

As a veteran of HD1 and the first galactic war I am absolutely appalled at the state of the game’s current arsenal. There are some fun and unique weapons here and there but most of them just feel redundant or terrible. Nowhere is this more visible that the AR, SMG, and DMR lineup. Here is a rework I’m proposing to high command ti ensure we are given proper tools to ensure the safety and spread of managed democracy.
Gun Rebalance and additions ARs Class Role: Rifles are designed to put holes through targets, and they need to reflect this role better. All rifles with Light penetration have been upgraded to be Light armor defeating. This means that while weapons with Light AP will damage light armor, they won’t always fully damage it. While rifles with light armor defeating fully negate light armor and deal full damage to it.
Liberator, 65DMG, Excellent ergonomics, the best weapon for firing on the move, +1 mag Role: Extremely easy to control and ideal for new players or veterans looking for something reliable. Capable of 45/45/4.5/ delivering 45 rounds at 45 meters in 4.5 seconds on target with no effort. Lore: High command has started production on upgrade kits for our standard rifles to improve it’s handling. Liberators now come with a vertical foregrip and a new muzzle brake to better control the weapon.
AP Liberator, 70 DMG, +5 rounds, Slower reload, 23 recoil, bad ergonomics, Uses AR scope Role: This Frankenstein of a gun is not for new players, uncomfortable recoil, and unfriendly handling in exchange for uncompromising stopping power. Terrible when firing on the move, with significant muzzle climb. But it provides rapid armor-piercing fire to those who can control it. Lore: The Penetrator started its life as a converted liberator modified to better penetrate armor. However there was no standard for how this would be achieved, so the conversion differs from regiment to regiment. Typically it involved sawing off a diligence barrel and converting it into a squeeze bore to increase velocity at the cost of terminal ballistics without using new ammunition. High Command has now realized the potential usefulness of a standardized conversion for its service rifle. Fabricator schematics have been published for new components and manuals for a consistent conversion. As part of project Ironbreaker, an initiative to outfit soldiers with better AP weapons, Production has begun on a variety of new ammo for the weapon which is much more powerful. The new 5.77mm Talon round generates 3x more chamber pressure than the liberator. The weapon itself has a new chamber and a properly machined barrel, made from surplus diligence rifles. The new AP liberator is also outfitted with a standard rifle optic, Punisher pump grip for a vertical grip, 35 round magazine, and a grey and red color scheme to denote its new changes.
Adjudicator, 90-100 DMG, 720 RPM, 30 recoil, Burst fire, uses the DMR scope Role: Battle rifle, Ideal for long-range combat, Semi-auto for small targets or precise shooting, Burst fire for large targets or close combat. Sluggish ergonomics but surprisingly controllable. Lore: Designed to replace liberator rifles on specific fronts where armored enemies are more common, the adjudicator was met with mixed success. The weapon proved to be reliable, powerful, and accurate but failed to fully replace the liberator in an assault rifle capacity. However, the 17th Helldivers regiment came up with a brilliantly effective modification. The outfitted the weapon with a reciprocating barrel shroud and a burst fire mode to turn the rifle into a long-range killing machine. With a surplus of Adjucator parts piling up from the weapon’s failure, High command has made this modification the new factory standard for all Adjucator rifles. The added weight and complexity in exchange for what has been reported as a 50% increase in accuracy seemed to be a fair trade.
Tenderizer, 840RPM, 75-round drum, 12 recoil, 4 mags, Terrible reload, Okay moving accuracy Role: IAR, ideal for laying down sustained fire on targets, can mow down multiple targets quickly. Low magazine count and high RoF make this weapon prone to running out of ammo. Lore: A new development to supplant the more expensive and time-consuming liberator rifles for SEAF army troopers, the Tenderizer was an unwelcome addition. It was heavier, bulkier, and awkward to handle. However, the increased bulk made it easy to control during sustained fire and it was very reliable under this strain. Troops began jury rigging drum magazines to use it as light machine guns. With a sizeable surplus of the liberator’s 5.77mm ammo, High Command began testing a designated IAR (Infantry Automatic Rifle) variant for helldivers use. This variant was an instant success providing individual hell divers with team-level firepower in a rifle-sized package.
Blackout(New), 85DMG, 420RPM, 24 round mag, 8 mags, superb moving accuracy, Silenced Role: Ideal for stealthy missions, the blackout deals very high damage at close range, while enabling the user to remain undetected from nearby patrols. Not effective vs armor Lore: Developed for Blackguard operatives, the Blackout is an integrally suppressed rifle created in response to the rising automaton threat. Veterans of Maevelon Creek petitioned High command to develop a new rifle, able to quietly eliminate bots while still being effective against devestators.
Yari(New), 45DMG, 1400RPM burst, 900RPM salvo, 36 Round magazine, 10 mags, AP Role: Prototype rifle with lightweight Sabot ammunition, fires a 3-round hyperburst and a 6-round salvo. Exceptional ammo efficiency and power at range lacks close combat ability.
DMRs(Classwide rework) Role: DMRs are designed to put rounds where rounds need to go while also being able to be used alongside assault rifles in a firefight. In Helldivers DMRs take an unconventional role of being viable against light target while alos enabling the user to defeat larger enemies like devestators and bile spewers at long range. To start, DMRs have a new bonus, DMRs deal +75% extra weak point damage (Headshots) and deal 10% more damage per point of AP they have over the target region. So they do extra damage if they hit the soft unarmored bits as well as on headshots. They also receive 50% less recoil while prone to better provide accuracy at range. DMRs are for the methodical sharpshooter who prefers to pick off targets at a distance instead of charging in, rewarding careful positioning and shot placement with heaps of dead foes.
Diligence, 120-140 DMG, 22 Round mag, 30 recoil, 8 mags, Full auto mode, Silenced Role: Starter DMR that delivers high damage at long range while keeping the user concealed. Silencer isn’t as effective at close range, but great for staying hidden during firefights. Lore: High command has witnessed the substantial failures of their DMRs and has issued a complete recall of the weapon. A brand new receiver and chamber system has increased its muzzle velocity by 500 feet per second, greatly increasing lethality.
Diligence CS, 175-200DMG, 18-round mag, 6 mags, Staggers on full damage hit, Thermal optic Role: This more demanding variant of Diligence rewards more precise shooting with higher damage. It is better at stopping large targets but is less effective at picking off enemies. Lore: as part of the Ironbreaker initiative, many weapons are being issued new nitro ammunition. The diligence CS has undergone a more extensive upgrade. A new barrel and chamber designed to maximize lethality with the new ammo has greatly increased stopping power. The CS can stop devastators, bile spewers, berserkers, and similar targets with just a few hits. It has also been outfitted with a thermal sight to see through fog, sand, gas, and smoke.
Retribution(New), 275 DMG, 8 Round mag, Bolt action, Rounds reload, Silenced, AP Role: Longest range DMR, remarkably quiet and powerful, ideal for dropping large targets and protecting teammates from range.
Wyvern(New), 110DMG, 360 RPM, 26 Round magazine, 8 Mags, AP, Full Auto capable Role: Assault DMR, designed to be used aggressively at close range while permitting the user to provide long-range support.
SMGs (Classwide rework) Role: SMGs put holes in targets, not through them. SMGs have been largely replaced by Rifles in modern warfare, the same should apply to Helldivers. This shouldn’t make the useless, but instead good at different things. SMGs should be suited to personal defense and reliability under a wider variety of circumstances than rifles. SMGs have classwide damage nerf to reflect their lower caliber and have very noticeable damage falloff. However, they get a buff in every other area, with the most notable being that each SMG carries 12 mags instead of 8. SMGs are still capable of dropping larger targets with one mag, and with their lower recoil, they can reliably do so. But are now better suited to protecting the user from groups of weaker enemies.
Defender, 40 DMG, 720 RPM, 5 recoil, 12 Mags, Lightning fast reload Role: User-friendly and economical weapon, very easy to use. Less power than assault rifles but puts rounds where they need to be. Lore: The original Defender SMG was actually a failure, being prohibitively expensive to produce both the weapon and its ammo. Although it was a very popular weapon during peacetime, the demands of the war have made the defender a rare sight. To ensure that SEAF forces had a reliable weapon for CQC, the Defender A2 has been put into production. High command has changed its standard handgun cartridge from the .43 Hawk Tungsten core AP round to the cheaper 8mm FMJ round. The new defenders have an increased rate of fire and are more controllable but lacks the stopping power of the original.
Knight, 35 Damage, 900RPM Full auto, 1300rpm burst, 8 Recoil, 12 mags Role: PDW, Delivers a torrent of rounds quickly and accurately. Burst fire is ideal for mid-range enemies, full auto puts down groups of lightly armored enemies. Lore: The A4 knight variant features an electrically operated feed instead of a gas-operated one. This has enabled the weapon to fire at a more controllable rate in full auto while preserving medium-range accuracy with a 1300rpm hyperburst. It has also been outfitted with a less powerful round that is lighter and more economical, improving total ammo carried and recoil control at the cost of stopping power.
Shinobi(New) 50 DMG, 540RPM, 25 Round mag, Silenced Role: Spec-ops SMG for quietly dispatching groups of unarmored enemies. Less effective than other options in a firefight but perfect for sneaking around
Sweeper(New) 40 DMG, 800RPM, 80 Round drum, 8 mags, terrible ergonomics Role: Space Tommy gun, this weapon is designed to put as many rounds as possible down range as fast as possible, where said rounds land is irrelevant. Ammo hungry but very mobile.
I am aware these changes are extensive and won’t likely be implemented. I don’t believe that every weapon should be OP or god tier, but they should all have some niche where they really excel. Have a nice day and good luck Helldivers.

Before going into it, I want to mention how this post was inspired by three things. One was user u/HastyvonFuego2 and their post on going down the rabbit hole on the Kendrick sub last week. It was also inspired by Childish Gambino’s first album release in nearly 6 years where I have been sitting on this idea for a while but he inspired me to finally post this week like he did (never posted on Reddit at all before so be gentle if I am not doing it right)! I was also inspired by an interview Bino gave to GQ about breaking down his most iconic characters. In this interview he says how This is America started out as a Drake diss but then he realized the song was too hard for just Drake so he kept working on it. He also talks in this interview about how all culture is about compression. Which means that yes, This is America is about the gun violence and police issues in America, but compressed in this video is also more about where that culture comes from which he shows is from a small handful of rap moguls, namely Drake, Diddy and Jay-Z (bear with me on this long post, I think/hope it will be worth it). At the end I talk briefly about how Little Foot Big Foot might be in this same vein of cultural compression.
[Intro: Choir]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
The beginning of this song has no background music yet, which really gives it an ‘in the beginning’ feel. Then Gambino starts doing his dances with weird facial expressions. I will explain as we go through his video how those expressions and dance moves represent different famous rap moguls. One easy look to pick out right away is Jay-Z’s famous lip curl/growl look that Gambino gives with a head nod repeatedly. The colonial pants have been a hot topic, but since it’s only the pants that are colonial, Gambino is saying the bottom or basis for this violent culture in America is ultimately colonialism. The lyrics ‘Go Away’, are likely foreshadowing the rap moguls wanting other popular rap rivals to ‘go away’ or they will make them (aka murder them) for profit.
[Bridge: Childish Gambino & Young Thug]
We just wanna party
Party just for you
We just want the money
Money just for you (Yeah)
Usually you want money for yourself and to party for yourself, so this is a bit odd. But what Gambino is referring to is similar to these Diddy ‘freakoff parties’ we are hearing about where people who want to be famous are really partying for these rap moguls so they can get close to them. Where they suck up to them saying that they want to earn the mogul money from their songs.
I know you wanna party
Party just for free
Girl, you got me dancin' (Girl, you got me dancin')
Dance and shake the frame (Yeah)
Then this almost feels like the Diddy rebuttal where he’s like ya I know you want to party and you want to do it for free. Like Katt Williams says, “you gotta tell Diddy no”, it is never free to go to those parties. There are always consequences. When you are partying you are dancing, but shaking the frame could refer to how those boundaries/edges are being crossed, lines are blurred, etc.
Then in the video, the fellow who was playing the guitar gets shot and things turn dark from happy music. I believe that this guitar tune is meant to represent 2Pac and Nas’s song Thugz Mansion. It’s one of the original greats from ‘in the beginning’. Nas famously has always had major issues with Jay-Z too (More on why 2Pac and Nas later). It also represents how it was these moguls who murdered 2Pac like Jaguar Wright and Katt Williams keep saying. Where these murders only lead to more money and fame for the killers when the dead artists’ and their music are exploited more easily.
Also note that the gun gets taken away by a school kid after the shooting, more on this later as well.
[Verse 1: Childish Gambino, Young Thug, Blocboy JB & 21 Savage]
This is America (Skrrt, skrrt, woo)
Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy)
Look how I'm livin' now
Police be trippin' now (Woo)
Yeah, this is America (Woo, ayy)
Guns in my area (Word, my area)
There is a song called Guns in My Area by Lil Weiner and Baby Chapox that paints a vivid picture of the everyday struggles and conflicts faced by those living in communities affected by gun violence. More compression of other songs and the American gun culture.
I got the strap (Ayy, ayy)
I gotta carry 'em
I am almost certain this line is referring to 2Pac’s song Changes. Throughout This is America, Gambino takes lines from Pac’s song: “They get jealous when they see you with your mobile phone” (referred to later in this a Celly, that’s tool) “That's the sound of my tool, you say it ain't cool, My mama didn't raise no fool”
“And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped, And I never get to lay back” It seems like Gambino broke up these lyrics and scattered them throughout his song. This plays into the theme that everyone is using 2Pac and enriching themselves off of his image and music. I show below how this particular section of the video represents Diddy meaning that Diddy himself is exploiting his music (and alleging that Diddy killed Pac?). We could see this exploitation play out at length with how much Diddy milked the death of Biggie like in Every Breath You Take.
Yeah, yeah, I'ma go into this (Ugh)
Yeah, yeah, this is guerilla (Woo)
Yeah, yeah, I'ma go get the bag
The song Gorilla War by $uicideboy$ and Ramirez talks about getting a bag repeatedly in the course. Also in Otis with Kanye and Jay-Z their lyrics talk about going gorilla (I talk about this song more further down), so it could be referring to this as well. It seems like Gambino is trying to pull out lyrics from all across the rap culture and embed them in his song to highlight the ‘cultural compression’.
Yeah, yeah, I'm so cold like, yeah (Yeah)
I'm so dope like, yeah (Woo)
We gon' blow like, yeah (Straight up, uh)
I think that all of the school kids in the video represent all of the rappers that are signed with these big labels. Which is interesting because they are the ones facilitating the guns for the moguls in the video. You can see that the mogul is really focused on the kids and gets agitated and directs them to follow him whenever they stray off a bit like they are his pupils, or like he owns them. Then all of a sudden the camera comes into a scene where you can see more kids shooting a rap video and all shooting money from a Supreme gun. The camera zooms out almost to show you that this is the mogul’s whole rap empire they are looking over, all of their kids in one place (this empire already includes some chaos in the background). It’s subtle but hilarious, Gambino puts fricken chickens on the ground where the kids are filming the rap video. He is directly calling all of these rappers complete chickens for playing up this lifestyle and being the cause of so much chaos rather than coming out and telling somebody what’s really going on. Trying to get their money over everything else.
[Refrain: Choir & Childish Gambino]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
You go tell somebody
Grandma told me
Get your money, Black man (Get your— Black man)
This is where things start to get interesting. Gambino is literally saying, go tell somebody about this! We all know what’s happening, why don’t you go let people know how bad it is? But like Jaguar Wright said, who do you tell when these moguls have the cops and feds paid off? This video is literally Gambino putting it all out there in this extremely popular song for everyone to see but yet we still just see the dancing and the violent chaos of people and police in the streets and not the root cause that is hidden in plain sight.
The vast majority of those who reviewed this video until now think this scene represents the tragic church shooting in Charleston in 2015. I think it does, but we also have to look at this from an angle of compression.
The people in the choir are all of the people who are currently singing the rap mogul’s praises and who are focused on going and getting what’s owed to them, get their money (who are also profiting off of the dead fellows music since it goes back to the original tune). You can see that each choir member has a distinct look to them. Think about who you are hearing about now who is about to be implicated in these freak offs and evil deeds. Is that Will Smith in the back left corner!? The short bald fellow in the front left maybe Kevin Hart? Rick Ross or TD Jakes maybe the bigger guy towards the back right? When the camera zooms in on the choir right at first to show their faces, doesn’t the guy in the bottom middle look like an uncanny version of Jordan Peele? Or is that meant to be Cuba Gooding Jr? Then just like the guitar fellow at the beginning, bang. You may be singing Diddy’s praises now, but he will cut you down whenever he suddenly feels like it.
I think almost for sure this initial section of the music video is Gambino acting as Diddy, because right after he shoots the choir, he does the elbow pump/chicken dance. At 3:14 in Diddy’s video for P.E. 2000 he does the chicken dance (he is up first in the video and I think Gambino is trying to say here I first present to you the first public enemy of 3 in this song). That elbow dance signals that it was Diddy and this is the end of his section.
[Chorus: Childish Gambino, Young Thug, Slim Jxmmi & Quavo]
This is America (Woo, ayy)
Don't catch you slippin' now (Woo, woo, don't catch you slippin' now)
Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy, woah)
Look what I'm whippin' now (Slime!)
There have been many accounts of celebrities being given fancy cars after suffering abuse at the hands of these moguls. So these lyrics are saying that you better not slip up and tell people what’s really going on. And if you don’t look at this sweet carecord deal/movie contract I am going to give you. Beiber told this story about Diddy wanting to give him a luxury car.
Now suddenly, the dance switches from the chicken dance to a sudden bicep flex to signal us that we have now moved on from Gambino representing Diddy to our next mogul.
[Verse 2: Childish Gambino, Quavo, Young Thug, 21 Savage & BlocBoy JB]
This next chunk of the video is all about Jay-Z. I think this is the case because he throws his arms up in a bicep flex just like Jay does in the Otis music video at 2:38. And it makes sense Gambino would pick a dance move from a video with a huge American flag in the background to fit the ‘This is America’ theme. Gambino is mocking him saying, who are you really, the pretty guy or this hard gangster like Gambino shows in his dancing. Also right before they pan to the kids on the balcony, Bino also does Jay-Z’s signature lip curl look a couple times so we know it’s him and to signal the end of his section.
Look how I'm geekin' out (Hey)
I'm so fitted (I'm so fitted, woo)
Jay-Z is famous for making the fitted Yankees cap famous, it’s his signature look. More signs this verse is about Jay.
I'm on Gucci (I'm on Gucci)
Jay-Z has been seen in full wallpaper Gucci sweat suits but could also be referring to Gucci Mane who he hung out with at Beyonce’s tour around the time this song was released.
I'm so pretty (Yeah, yeah, woo)
I'm gon' get it (Ayy, I'm gon' get it)
Watch me move (Blaow)
These lines are probably referring to Jay-Z having a hidden preference for men, especially with the way Gambino flicks his wrist in the video when he says I’m so pretty.
This a celly (Ha)
That's a tool (Yeah)
On my Kodak (Woo) Black
I think that “this a celly, that’s a tool” harkens back to 2Pac’s lyrics in Changes where he sings, “They get jealous when they see ya with your mobile phone” then shortly after that he sings about the sound of his tool, referring to shooting a gun. But Childish flips these lyrics on their head. He is saying that it’s really the phone that’s a tool to be using, not a gun. And pans up and shows (the school kids specifically) on the balcony filming everything going on below. He’s telling the kids/other rappers, use your phone as a tool, you can record these bad deeds when you get blackmailed into being at the freak off. That’s how you can kill them and their career, not with a gun. Go tell somebody! There is also the reference to Kodak which plays into the picture taking theme, but also because Kodak Black has been accused of assaulting a teenage girl in a hotel room. So we have a good idea of what Gambino suggests all the kids start filming and collecting evidence of.
Ooh, know that (Yeah, know that, hold on)
Get it (Woo, get it, get it)
Ooh, work it (21)
Now we are onto Drake’s part. In the video Gambino starts doing the BlocBoy JB dance called Shoot. Drake is known for doing these little viral dance moves like in Hotline Bling. But not only that, this dance is also used in the song that both BlocBoy JB and Drake collaborate on for their video Look Alive. It starts at 2:07 in the Look Alive video. So this is Drake’s dance to signal his part is now starting.
Note this is where the pale horse rides by also potentially saying that Drake is one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. Interestingly, Drake’s collab with BlocBoy JB was pretty much the apocalypse for BlocBoy’s career, who hasn’t had a hit since.
Hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands (Hunnid bands)
Contraband, contraband, contraband (Contraband)
I got the plug in Oaxaca (Woah)
They gonna find you like "blocka" (Blaow)
Again, we know this is Drake’s section because his song 10 bands starts out by saying “10 bands, 50 bands, 100 bands” almost identical to Bino’s lyrics here. Also Blocka was famously used by Biggie in his song Gimme the Loot which could be referring to Biggie's demise like Pac’s and making money from his death. Everything in this industry originates from pushing drugs, which has been alleged through the trafficking that Diddy, Jay-Z and Drake do through their private jets likely connected to their bosses, the Clive Davises and Lucian Grainges of the world. This escalates rap beefs and the whole culture to the next level where murder is often a consequence for young rappers in their prime when international drug lord money is involved.
An interesting point is this is the only time where Childish was about to shoot someone in the video, but where he didn’t have a school kid either handing him the gun or taking it away carefully from him. (Maybe also a diss at Drake that even though he acts hard he doesn’t shoot, he gets his horseman of the apocalypse to do his dirty deeds for him instead perhaps?). This is the beginning of the end for the rap mogul as he no longer has his kids doing his bidding for him. A simple message to show how the violence can be stopped, that these shootings can end when the kids stop enabling them. So then as soon as he can’t react in that moment and shoot someone his anger is forced to chill out, as shown by smoking a J, and to go back to exploiting the dead man’s music instead. If you don’t put a gun in someone’s hand when they are heated, those feelings too shall pass - kinda feel.
[Refrain: Choir, Childish Gambino, & Young Thug]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
America, I just checked my following list, and
You mothafuckas owe me
Whose voice does that sound like!? It sounds a lot like Diddy to me, public enemy #1. This is basically saying that the moguls are the ones who we all owe it to for all of this glorified gun violence in America. That we owe them way more follows and likes for what a massive influence they have had on the violence and chaos we see in America today.
Grandma told me
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
(1, 2, 3—get down)
In Moneybagg Yo’s song 1, 2, 3, he also has a line that says “1, 2, 3, let’s go!” in a similar vein.
But something interesting I came across was Nas’s song Get Down where they use a sample from James Brown's “The Boss” that sounds extremely similar to the way Gambino screams “Get Down!” Which would fit well if the guitar singer from the beginning is meant to be Nas and Pac doing Thugz Mansion.
Also make sure you check out Nas’s song Get Down so that you can hear how much Jay-Z outright copied this song for The Story of OJ. From the musical structure with the piano and interwoven samples right down to the theme reiterated by the sample at the end of Nas’s song: “If that’s how our people are gonna get down, how are we ever gonna get up?”
SZA
Finally to wrap up the video, I have been stumped for a long time as to why SZA is randomly at the end of this video sitting on one of the cars. But I think I finally know why and it reconfirms that this last scene is all about Drake. If you watch Drake’s music video for Worst Behavior (not very Canadian of him to spell behaviour that way I might add) you will see Drake rapping and dancing with a few cars surrounding him and one of those cars has other rappers making cameos in it. In Gambino’s video SZA represents that car with a famous cameo. I think this is further confirmed when the black edges of the video start closing inwards at the end of This is America, the exact same way that Worst Behavior ends. So why SZA as the cameo then? Cause it reminds people that Drake is a p*do.
This is from an article in the Rolling Stone: In 2020, Drake revealed publicly that he and SZA had dated over a decade ago, well before she was an established artist (her earliest music goes back to around 2012; her critical breakthrough, Ctrl, came in 2017). On 21 Savage’s “Mr. Right Now,” Drake rapped about a newer fling who was a fan of SZA’s: “Yeah, said she wanna fuck to some SZA, wait / ‘Cause I used to date SZA back in ’08 / If you cool with it, baby, she can still play.” A few days later, SZA responded, corroborating Drake’s claim with a slight correction: they dated in 2009, when both would have been over 18. Since SZA would not have turned 18 until late 2008, she wanted to set the record straight. “in this case a year of poetic rap license mattered 🥴lol I think he jus innocently rhymed 08 w wait [sic],” she tweeted. “I just didn’t want anybody thinking anything underage or creepy was happening . Completely innocent . Lifetimes ago . [sic]”
If you have to specifically say something isn’t creepy and distance yourself from it being lifetimes ago, it usually is creepy. Drake would’ve been 22 when she was 17. Metro Boomin also happens to be on the Mr. Right Now track. He is currently in trouble for resurfaced old tweets showing how Metro used to tweet disgusting things about what he wanted to do to underage girls. Interestingly, Metro Boomin is also now beefing with Drake.
Drake doing his dance on the car of the original musician’s music seems to be accusing Drake directly of stealing 2Pac’s music. Orlando Brown recently said the cryptic statement that “Drake is Pac” which likely means he stole 2Pac’s approach/style/audience after his death. Gambino did some good foreshadowing here too with the recent AI release Drake put out of 2Pac.
This dance scene also signals that the Drake section is now over.
[Outro: Young Thug]
You just a black man in this world
You just a barcode, ayy
You just a black man in this world
Drivin' expensive foreigns, ayy
You just a big dawg, yeah
I kenneled him in the backyard
No, probably ain't life to a dog
For a big dog
The outro lyrics speak to how these gatekeepers keep black men down and control them with things like being forced to wear a dress to become famous or to submit to homosexual/p*do acts.. In the video, as I mentioned above, the black edges close in on Drake’s dancing scene in This is America. But they don’t completely close and end things like they do in the Worst Behavior video. Instead, in Gambino’s video, the camera pans to show the mogul running for his life with Young Thug’s lyrics almost like a quiet echo in the background. He isn’t running from the cops though, he’s running from the kids and from the public. When I mentioned earlier that the kids not handing over the last gun before Drake’s scene signalled the beginning of the end for the moguls, this is that conclusion. Where it is showing that if all the kids come together to stop enabling and rather expose the moguls, people will be chasing these bastards down once we realize what has been going on behind the curtain. Then the song that Young Thug is singing can just be a quiet echo of the way things were in the past.
If you don’t think Gambino would be this deep and that I went too far down the rabbit hole, do a Google search on the calculations that he came up with for why he sings about loving until 3005 in his song. He seems to go real deep with his lyrics. So a big question this leaves us with is, what did Childish Gambino witness in the rap industry? His whole rap career plays out like he is trying to avoid industry norms.
Even in Sweatpants, he has lyrics like:
No hands like soccer teams and y'all fuck boys like Socrates
You niggas ain't coppin' these, niggas ain't lookin' like me (Nah)
Nah, I ain't checkin' I.D. (Nah), but I bounce 'em with no problem
Seems like he is trying to make it really clear across his catalogue of music that he isn’t a p*do but that other rappers are. Where he is saying that he doesn’t need to ID his potential partners because he can tell they are obviously too young and that’s not hard to do.
Tell 'em, Problem (Problem!)
I'm winnin', yeah, yeah, I'm winnin' (What?)...
Rich kid, asshole, paint me as a villain
So who was trying to paint him as a villain, Drake? And that’s why the diss was originally meant for him?
Don't be mad 'cause I'm doing me better than you doing you…
Better than you doing you
Fuck it, what you gon' do? (What?!)
He’s taunting the other rappers cause he knows they can’t say shit if they are creeps. He has the same sentiment in Bonfire “It’s a bonfire, turn the lights out, I’m burning everything you mother fuckers talk about.”
Childish Gambino has always refrained from talking about the meaning of This is America whenever he is asked, and I can only assume that all of this is why.
Little Foot Big Foot
Now with his new release, Little Foot Big Foot and applying cultural compression to it, it has me wondering if he is referring to Megan Thee Stallion and the Nicki beef? People like Nicki (calling Megan Big Foot) have been claiming for some time she wasn’t even shot in the foot by Tory Lanez. There were many people laughing and making fun of Megan over getting shot. Which could be an interesting story for Childish to tell to represent how crazy this violent culture has gotten that people just laugh and blame the victim now when you get shot. Also a good metaphor for things like ‘shooting yourself in the foot’ for not having a lawyer look over potentially predatory industry contracts like in the beginning of his video. That you want to get in the cool kids club so bad you overlook it. Not as sure on this one though since the song just came out and I have only heard it a few times.
One last thing that is really interesting, there have been tons of artists on podcasts like Shay Shay talking about the strings these ultra rich moguls can pull. Like buying awards or gatekeeping people from being in the industry at all. There was even a story, I think maybe it was Gene Deal who told it, that when Killer Mike won at the grammys that Jay-Z was so angry he made sure to mess up his night by getting him locked up as soon as he left the awards stage. These moguls are extremely powerful and have an incredible amount of sway in the world/industry. If you check out Gambino’s profile on Youtube, his old music videos keep getting taken down, like Bonfire for example is just gone. Fans have been having to upload the videos themselves. There is a reply to a comment, on one of the fan uploaded vids, from Gambino’s account himself when someone asks why the videos are being taken down. His account just replies “Noone knows why :(“ Seems a bit odd all things considered and like maybe he has been at the mercy of these gatekeepers for going against the system.
I am so curious to know what the rest of you think about all of this!

Who is Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda? (part 2)
Birth and early childhood
Introduction to part 2
When we see a young child or animal playing joyfully, we sense the comforting presence of the nearby mother, even if she's out of our sight.
When we observe smoke from a distance, we can infer that a fire is active.
Every experience we've had or will have speaks of a deeper reality beyond what meets the eye. This is true for everything, whatever it might ever be. Even a seemingly simple plant that is growing in a certain place and ways, is speaking deeply about its whole neighbourhood.
Like Sherlock Holmes, who decoded hidden clues, we too can uncover open yet hidden truths in our surroundings. He trained that skill to such a degree that allowed him to piece together seemingly unrelated information to solve complex cases. This was not born from fantasy but from deepawareness and knowledge about nature's interconnected realities. With this in mind stay alert as true story is unfolding further.
Part 2. Post Birth - His first 12 hours on Earth and second message to all the world
It is still Tuesday night June 13th 1978 Rose Hill; local hospital, Mauritius Island. Mother and child are well after that illuminating birth event*, and thus ready to return back home. Home. Meaning, a somewhat common house within a typical Mauritian neighbourhood surrounded by some non-vegetated grounds that keeps them “easy to have”. Thus supporting the child’s father’s busy life as a grounds man by not adding any further duties to his occupied life.
On reaching home the house is saturated with the aura of love, serenity, gratitude, sparkling curiosity and joy that a new born is naturally gifting a family with. Time is standing still. However, life is flowing its never resting courses wherein everyone finds ones duties according to ones inherited roles. But not only the grown-ups! Also the new born child is preparing for the revelation of its second message, utilising the sight covering dark of this most auspicious first night as a “Chatur Mukha"** family.
It is early morning June 14th 1978, hardly 12 hours after the child’s luminous birth and first message to all the world, when the rising of the sun is revealing to the early rising father an autonomously, rapidly growing Tulsi garden on the house’s once so comfortably barren grounds!
Bushes of TULSI! OMG! Tulsi... of all things! How could this even be possible ever?!One of the most delicate and challenging plants to be cultivated. Tulsi, who requires much of direct sunlight and care to grow, including a well regulated and balanced watering care. Plentifully growing in a single winter's lightless night(!) on once barren ground! But not enough. The foremost of Tulsi's requests for successful healthy growths is an atmosphere of loving care and devotion!
Which must be one of the reasons why, since ancient times, Tulsi is considered as being a "Goddess" Herself.
Try to put yourself into the shoes of that innocently awakening father who must be struck by utter surprise and even serious confusion upon being confronted with this completely inconceivable reality ! What shall he do with that?! What on "God's Holy Earth" is going on here?! What does all that mean? Where does it even come from all of a sudden?! Of what relief would a Sherlok Holmes' mind have been in such a situation! Wouldn't you agree?
"Tulsi" or "Holy Basil" and the indicating significance of its presence
Unlike many places on Earth, on the island of Mauritius Hindus, Christians, Muslims and others are living in mutual acknowledgement together peacefully, which invites to weave in empress' Sainte Helene's interconnected story with our story line here. Sainte Helene had been endowed with the task of finding the Holy Cross of Christ +/- 320 years after the resurrection, which otherwise would have got lost in the course and dynamics of time. At the very site where the Holy Cross finally had been found, vital bushes of Holy Basil/Tulsi ("Ocimum tenuiflorum" or "Ocimum sanctum”) had been found growing above of it. Indicating the presence of a hidden yet vivid source of radiating, unconditional Love. Just as in 1978 on Mauritius island in the form of this new born child.
What a déjà-vu! Humbly introducing itself through Mother nature's preferred language of meaningful silence saturated with essential signs powerfully resonating within those hearts which are bearing the hidden flower of love and longing for the deepest of all love forms that this child is reminding us of once again. Despite nature seemingly neglecting all common conditions for Tulsi's growth that night, the child innocently reconnects us with the depth and eternal care of that all fulfilling, all satisfying divinity.
And thus Tulsi and the child are mutually bearing witness for one another’s purity, nature of divine character and the eternally trans-religious, trans-cultural and finally all transcending reality of pure love, which is the true and eternal home of all. That love that satisfies all needs on all levels, under all circumstances for all those who take refuge into it. Into Him, the eternal ONE. Into any of HIS innumerable forms. But remember, He is never forcing Himself on anyone in any way. He is "Just Love", patiently waiting for us to actively join with Him.
The profoundly enlightening impact of Paramahamsa Sri Vishwananda's teachings and presence continues to grow and heal the lives of ten thousands of grateful people who meet him. His tangible message of love, compassion, and unity has brought together people from most diverse backgrounds and faiths, transcending the boundaries of culture and tradition.
The child's birth and the miraculous growth of the Tulsi garden are living symbols of this unity, awakening us to how love and devotion in action can bridge even the widest of gaps. These events remind us that each of us shares an eternal, tangible, and deeply personal relationship with the Divine. The kindling and fostering of this connection, never-ending, is alive as "Bhakti Marga", the path of Love and Devotion, for all who are simply 'Lovers of God', from all walks of life.Think for a moment. HE is here on this planet right now. Together with you! He might be just around your "next corner", right now!
Take yourself a minute or a few. Call Him internally in the intimacy of your heart. Call His Name. Paramahamsa Vishwananda…. Paramahamsa Sri Vishwananda… and see, feel what is going to happen. Come and see Him. Meet Him online… Think of Him. Ask Him for any help. Anytime. Ask Him to inspire you, now within your heart. HE is listening! HE is responding! … Take it as a certainty.
Share it freely if you want and be very happy….
Footnotes:
\In case you missed part one, click here...*
https://www.reddit.com/stories/comments/1bv1480/
a_childs_impressive_message_right_at_the_moment/
\*Family of four*
…to be continued…. Stay connected for further insights into his miraculous and enlightening
childhood...

I wanted to give back a bit after receiving some great information from folks on this sub before a (very short notice and sparsely planned) solo trip to Panama in late April/early May of 2024. I'm subtitling this post "I did a lot in Panama so you don't (necessarily) have to". Truth be told, I started the trip with 4 nights and one in-country flight booked and built the rest of my itinerary on the fly. I definitely could have used an extra week or so before the trip to do some itinerary planning, deeper research on where I chose to stay, etc. but I really enjoyed most of the trip and would absolutely recommend Panama as a solo trip destination.
Rough pre-departure itinerary:

• Panama City: Arrive at about 2 PM on a Thursday, stay three nights at Selina Casco Viejo, depart at 8 AM on Sunday via plane to David (Copa Airlines)
• Boquete: Arrive at about noon Sunday (after transit to town from airport), stay two nights at the Bambuda Castle
• Bocas for unknown amount of time/other stuff in the west off the country
• Return to Panama City from David via plane (Copa) Sunday Morning
• Return to USA on a redeye flight Tuesday night

I arrived in Panama City on time and took an Uber straight to Selina (cost $28). The Selina there is in a decent location, kind of on the edge of Casco Viejo but walkable to everything. I checked in and was told there was a welcome happy hour with a free drink and a free walking tour every day at 10. The 6-person dorm had a dedicated bathroom, but wasn't much for the price ($30/night) and I'm just now realizing I booked a 4-person dorm then was put in the wrong lodging... There is a bar and allegedly a pool on the roof of the property, but the pool was not open when I was there. The welcome drink was an underwhelming event, though I did meet a few cool people I ended up doing more with later. There really isn't much in the way of common space at Selina Casco Viejo and I found it to be overpriced, underwhelming, and not a great place to meet people. I ended up booking the canal tour ($60ish) with them (which was via the personal vehicle of the guide, a small sedan cramming 4 of us in plus the driver), but I did a different free walking tour after hearing poor reviews of the one provided by Selina. While Selina felt like a huge waste (would not recommend this location), I really liked Casco Viejo. The food was surprisingly good, especially ceviche at Marea https://maps.app.goo.gl/MdWBJ1uw4mWLB7r2A and a nice stop for middle eastern at Estambul Casco https://maps.app.goo.gl/qFq8wAm5NEzJw84F8 . I also made a quick stop with some people from the hostel at La Fabrica https://maps.app.goo.gl/WdAG1KAhwmkj1TbS8 which had a decent tap list and cool vibe and the Pedro Mandinga Rum bar (highly recommend) for some beers and a rum flight https://maps.app.goo.gl/seXCnetthN18BbUB9 . I also, as a cigar smoker, made a stop at the official La Casa del Habano store https://maps.app.goo.gl/uhswvnFPe1Y1Uzbu9 where the staff was chill and the cigarum selection was good. I finished out my cigar and partook in a bit of happy hour across the street at Finca del Mar which had a decent outdoor area for a drink https://maps.app.goo.gl/kPSiTHdd2mJmtakGA but the food was not recommended so I didn't try it.
I was up early to get to David on Sunday morning, so I figured I'd just grab food and coffee at the airport lounge (mistake). It turns out the Copa flight to David departs from the "domestic" gate, which is a standalone area on the ground floor of the airport. There are no amenities, just a single vending machine, and you get bussed to the plane. Do not go early for a David flight, security was very easy and I ended up waiting in the small seating area for way too long. The flight was fine, but don't expect to access a lounge or coffee shop after security.
I got to David pretty early and hadn't done my research on transit, but knew there was public bus service to Boquete. I was trying to figure out how to get to the bus terminal when a taxi offered to drive me all the way to Boquete for $40 which seemed like a decent deal so I went for it. Boquete is pretty small, a little mountain town with a relaxed vibe. I spent quite a bit of time at the brewery which, if you know craft beer pretty well, wasn't the best on beer quality but had good live music and a fun atmosphere https://maps.app.goo.gl/EJFiRiwQsbJ89UPa9 . I worked from here a little bit too, definitely where I spent the most time. I got a delicious dinner at RetroGusto which was really reasonable https://maps.app.goo.gl/8gcU1GHqXrfbTCoX9 and a good lunch at Donde Giselle which was a little more expensive, but also delicious https://maps.app.goo.gl/uNsz1EqCDfnSpYfk8 . I did a coffee finca tour through Bambuda ($35) at Don Pepe. It was pretty cool, not a lot of walking but the guide was knowledgeable and we got to see the full operation in a small footprint. I bought one bag and was happy I did, they were 3 times the price in the airport on the way home. The Tres Cascadas (three waterfall) trail was a must, it does have a steep section that has ropes affixed to help but was otherwise a pretty straightforward trail. It did cost a few dollars to hike as it's on private property. I took a taxi there ($20) but took the bus back ($2.25). The bus comes by every 30-40 minutes and they generally wait a bit at the entrance to the trail from the road to see if people come down. We did end up picking up a whole bunch of kids leaving school, but it was pretty funny and we managed to fit everyone. I did do the Volcan Baru hike, which cost $18 for a taxi to the trailhead but was otherwise free. It is a grueling hike, it took a little over 5 hours for me to get to the top and I was not having fun. I was very lucky to encounter a couple who was dropped off at the same time at the trailhead and, while we did not hike together, we did take a few breaks together and it was nice to be within sight of their headlamps. It was COLD at the top and I was happy I had a light down jacket and a fleece. I did a good job of timing up my climb with the sunrise, only needing to wait at the top for maybe 30 minutes before the sun came up. You can go up in a jeep, and I was very lucky to beat the offroad vehicles up as they were very loud coming up the mountain. It did get pretty crowded at the top by the time all of the jeeps had emptied out and their clients climbed the last bit to the summit. The view was phenomenal, you can see both the Caribbean and the Pacific on a clear day and the sunrise was beautiful. It was a little annoying that the 6 of us who climbed it had to share with the 25 or so who rode up in cars, but worth it. One spot I wish I had visited, but it just didn't work out, was a wood fire pizza spot that came recommended by our coffee guide and by several travelers https://maps.app.goo.gl/T93KKqHxXoQ7AFhf6 . I got lucky at the Bambuda Castle as I booked a 3 bed room but had it to myself. It had a nice restaurant and common space within the castle itself that was a good working space and had a fantastic view. The food was pretty good, with a few vegetarian options and smoothies. It's a pretty decent walk from the center of town, and about $4-5 taxi ride from the Boquete center. If I went again, I would probably look to stay somewhere in the center of town but I don't regret giving the Castle a shot.
I traveled out of Boquete to Bocas del Toro the same day I did the Baru hike, leaving via shuttle at 1 PM ($37) which I arranged through Bambuda. I ended up using a discount QR code at Bambuda Castle to book their Bocas town Hostel for three nights. The shuttle was fine, but it's a quick trip through winding mountain roads so be prepared if you get carsick. A big bonus, that I would recommend you ask about, was that this shuttle did not go all the way to Almirante, but instead stopped at Chiriqui Grande and proceeded via small boat (lancha) from there. The longer boat trip was fantastic, much better than the long/boring road which runs the rest of the way. I got stopped right off the boat in by several people trying to sell tours and got one person's number for a potential $35 Cayo Zapatilla tour but didn't commit, choosing to get to Bambuda Bocas Town first and settle in before making decisions. While I wish I had spent some more time at either red frog beach or another island, with only 3 nights and having booked late my options were limited. For Bocas Town, Bambuda was great. The front desk folks were pretty helpful and the restaurant was good for breakfast (the vegetarian burrito option is better than the sandwich). The hostel deck goes right out to the lagoon, and it's always busy with people hanging out in the sun or jumping into the lagoon. It was a great spot to do some work over coffee and, frankly, I wish I had spent more time here or at the Bambuda Lodge. I ended up doing the Caya Zapatilla tour (highly recommend, if only for the stop at Caya Zapatilla) for $35 with the operator I met right off the boat. This included pick up and drop off from Bambuda, and they had a cooler that I threw a few Balboas of my own in for the trip. We did stop mid-way for lunch which was not included and was a little expensive. This was the only actual tour I did during my time there, I spent my other full day just kind of hanging out and went to Starfish Beach (not as nice as Caya Zapatilla, but worth an afternoon) with a group from the hostel. I also did salsa night at Selina (fun, but a bad instructor) and karaoke at Aqua Lounge (get there in time to get a round of the happy hour special, the screen is behind the stage so not ideal for karaoke but it's easy to get on the list). I did not do Filthy Friday, I ended up departing Bocas that day but I would have been on the fence about it anyway. I guess it's a "when in Bocas" thing, so I probably would have gone for it. I really wish I had spent another night in Bocas, I regretted not having another day out there as soon as I left. It turned out to be the best place on my trip to meet people, it's definitely a general party vibe, and actually the best place to get work done of the hostels I stayed at. I did dinner at Pier 19 which was pretty nice, if not a little expensive and probably not a good solo traveler vibe https://maps.app.goo.gl/6vJG1rdUPCqEf9W3A . I did brunch one day away from Bambuda at Casa Papaya, their typical Panamanian breakfast and it was a great deal/meal https://maps.app.goo.gl/9CPFCxu6woWwKuwM7 . I did hear from some people that the bird island was a fun tour, and worth the day/cost. I did some bonus late night, unofficial stuff like swimming after midnight at Selina and an impromptu midnight trip out to see the bioluminescence and the stars with a random lancha taxi from the Selina dock. Not sure how I'd direct someone to arrange that, but say yes if it's an option.
I took off from Bocas via shuttle for the Lost and Found Hostel on Friday around noon ($20) which I arranged at the main lancha dock. This shuttle did not include a boat all the way to Chiriqui Grande, it was the short boat with the long road segment. A few people did get car sick during the first leg of the trip, the road is in pretty rough shape so lots of speeding up, slowing down, and swerving potholes. Lost and Found really caught my eye because of how much I enjoyed Secret Garden Cotopaxi in Ecuador. In the end, it didn't live up to that lofty expectation and I should not have squeezed it in. The allure is that it's isolated in the jungle, you have to walk about 15 minutes up the trail from the road to reach the hostel property. There are several buildings, with one primary common area with a few tables and hammocks. A big downside is that everything is outdoors, under cover of roofs but open still, which wasn't ideal in the evening during the season I went where it rained in the afternoons. There is a community kitchen if you bring your own food along, or there is an option to get breakfast/lunch/dinner from the hostel. I had a few meals there: the smoothie bowl was good, the lentil curry was a little on the salty side. The hiking is pretty cool and I ended up going up over the mountain to the big tree, the lookout, and the river. I didn't bring water, but definitely should have brought a liter along. In the end, with only about half a dozen other people staying there and 2/3 of the staff being pretty insular and not really socializing with the guests, it just wasn't a great addition to my trip. It might be a better option for a group or during a different season, but it provided a logistical challenge to make my flight back from David to Panama City and it wasn't really worth the risk of making it work, so I hired a car ($30) to take me to David and just ate the price of my second night at Lost and Found. It was beautiful, but it just wasn't on the same level as Secret Garden Cotopaxi which inspired me to give this a shot. I think, all in, my stop at Lost and Found cost me about $76.
The combination of having scheduled a flight on election day (oops) and the lack of help from lost and found staff meant that my best bet was a night in David. I used Hilton points to book a night at the Hampton and had myself a recovery night. I got a hot and ready pizza from the Little Caesar's next door and two Sam Adam's Boston Lagers from the bar. Fantastic recovery night, vey nice Hampton, and a pretty nice little breakfast. It refreshed me at a point where I was not really enjoying the trip and pushed me to go for one more stop rather than laying low in Panama City.
After my flight back to Panama City, I took the metro all the way to the Avenida Terminal (less than $1 total, it is very easy to purchase a card and load it at the station) to grab the bus to Valle de Anton. It was fairly easy to find the window to buy the bus ticket ($4.25). It's important to buy for El Valle and not just Anton, a town which is not where you want to end up. There was a confusing bit of business related to a transit card (not the same transit card as the metro. I couldn't seem to find a machine to buy one from, and eventually the guy at the turnstile took pity and just used his own to let me in. I paid him back, but it was very confusing that you needed to buy the ticket then a card with which to pay an additional 10 cents to get to the bus at Gate 53. I can't really offer advice other than you should try to figure out how to get this card, or if you can just pay with a dime, right when you buy your ticket. I let the bus (not a very big bus, somewhere between a van and a bus) driver know where I was headed on the way and they dropped me right at Bohdi in Valle de Anton. The whole trip is about 3 hours, with lots of local stops the whole way. Bohdi was a pretty cool spot, with a great yoga space with a guided lesson on a TV every morning. It has a kitchen if you want to cook for yourself and free coffee plus breakfast every day from 7:30-10:00. Both breakfasts were pancakes, but it was free and they were pretty good. There are some cool lounge spots out back, a few cafe tables out front, and a loft space as well. It was a decent, but not perfect spot, to do work if that's what you're looking for. The dorm does have 3 levels of beds, and they aren't all that comfy, but I'd recommend Bohdi. The first night I was in town I went to the Golden Frog Inn on a recommendation and it turned out to be a great spot to watch the sunset and have some pretty good (although a small) vegetarian tacos https://maps.app.goo.gl/pzRuyYuwHZvMVnAo8 . One afternoon I chose to do the India Dormida hike, I left and walked all the way back to Bohdi, it was a few hours total. It's a quick climb up to the top and you can walk the whole ridge that forms the edge of the caldera. It was a beautiful view and you can really see the old crater rim formations from the top. It's clear up there, no trees and wide open, and the breeze was very refreshing. I ended up coming down about halfway across the ridge, starting from the north. I grabbed a vegetarian dinner at El Rincon Colombiano which I'd recommend https://maps.app.goo.gl/tRcAAnAm9fYni7Nv8 and some guacamole and a beer at La Ranita which was pretty good https://maps.app.goo.gl/BcdB8uCqaSRv1RyE8 . Overall, I really liked Valle de Anton and I'm happy I made it happen. It's a little drier and warmer than Boquete, with a lot less coffee influence, but I liked the vibe and wish I had done more hiking around the area.
For my last evening in Panama, I grabbed a room just to have a place to put bags and clean up before my flight at Hotel Caracas, a recommendation from someone I met in my first stop in Casco Viejo. I did not plan to work from here, nor did I spend a night, but for $35 it was a perfect spot to leave things as I went to knock out a few more items before my flight home. I popped into Tantalo for a quick bite to eat https://maps.app.goo.gl/9pA9Dmw8AE9doabT7 which I don't know if I'd recommend for food, but the view was good. I think I meant to go to CasaCasco, which was recommended for ceviche and sushi, but ended up in the wrong spot. I then went over to Element to get some cocktails https://maps.app.goo.gl/mwYt2D7X43ua4jGu6 . Element has an interesting vibe, kind of a steampunk theme to the décor. The two guys behind the bar, who I believe own it, were fantastic. They don't have a set menu but instead try to match a drink to what you're feeling at the time. I had a classic daquiri and an old fashioned, which both came with a little bit of a twist on the classic recipe. They also pulled down a few different spirits which we tasted together, overall I'd highly recommend a stop and it was especially fun as the only patron there. After two cocktails, I cleaned up and called an Uber and headed to the airport. Just a heads up, the Copa Club is pretty nice, has limited food, but tragically closes at 9 PM. I had a flight that left at nearly 11 PM, so this was a little disappointing.
Overall, I loved Panama. The people were friendly, even if the service in many places was pretty lackluster. It's more expensive than Colombia or Ecuador, but several people told me it's slightly cheaper than Costa Rica. It's a good stop if you're not sure about central or south America as it's extremely safe, if you use common sense, and it's not too hard to get around using shuttles/taxis/ubers if you don't want to brave public transit. It offers very good food options in Panama City, and it's easy to find a Hampton Inn/Hooters/McDonald's/Little Caesar's/Wendy's if you need a break from being adventurous. The Spanish isn't difficult, and most people speak at least some English. I would have dropped lost and found hostel from my itinerary if I planned it again, but did not regret any of the other stops. I do kind of wish I had focused on Bocas and Boquete, saving Valle de Anton and maybe San Blas together for a future trip, but I had already painted myself into a bit of a corner with my David-Panama flights by the time I realized this. I hope this helps someone as they plan their Panama trip, or helps them decide Panama is a worthwhile visit! Please do not make as many changes as I did, I absolutely did at least one to many stops and wish I had spent more time in Bocas and probably Valle de Anton. Anyway, feel free to ask questions in the comments and I'll try to address them as they come in!
Final Itinerary:

• 3 nights at Selina Casco Viejo (meh, not recommended)
• 2 nights at Bambuda Castle Boquete
• 3 nights at Bambuda Bocas Town (recommend)
• 1 night at Lost & Found Hostel (not my jam, would not do again)
• 1 night at Hampton Inn David (saved my trip, loved it, would recommend)
• 2 nights at Bohdi Valle de Anton (solid, would recommend)
• 1 kind of night at Hotel Caracas (did exactly what I needed)

Travel Diary: I make $195,000 and spent $2149.75 (+49k points) while on a trip to Amsterdam
Section One: Bio
Age: 40
Occupation: Lawyer
Hometown: DC
Number of PTO days and how you accrue them: I earn 6 hours of annual leave every two weeks (19 days total a year), and used 36 hours for this trip
Section Two: Assets + Debt
Not super comfortable with a very detailed financial picture, but my NW is ~$750k. No SO.
Section Three: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: After all deductions and contributions to savings, my monthly take home is ~$6200
Section Four: Travel Expenses/Diary
Trip planning - My (40F) best friend from college (39F) and I decide to go to Amsterdam on a birthday trip. We both turn 40 in 2024, and we decide to go in May because it's in between our birthdays and because it'll be tulip season in Amsterdam! Neither of us have been. We also haven't travelled together before, despite being friends for 20(!) years, so we are a little apprehensive, although we have spent a lot of time together over the past few years. We decide on a 6 day trip. For purposes of this diary I'm going to list my half of the expenses for things we split. Costs are in US dollars, despite paying using Euros. As a side note, I also am a little over one year post-Gastric Bypass, which has a limited effect on my diet (I try to eat low carb, but you'll see that I mostly fail at this on this trip!).
Pre-trip expenses: $1193.15 total
Flight: $255 + 49k points (from Capital One)
Lodging: $1425.91 (split) - $713
Rijksmuseum: $40.28
Anne Frank House: $24.95
Keukenhof Gardens plus bus ticket: $36.20
Red Light District Tour: $50.52
Day trip to windmills tour: $43.20
Snacks: $30ish
Day 1 (Total $21.17)
Our flight is at 5:30pm, so we planned to be at the airport by 3:30pm, which actually turned out to be 4pm. Uber ($21.17). After checking bags (included in flight price) and getting through security we made it to our gate right as boarding was about to start. No time for food or drinks.
On the plane I eat a snack of roasted chickpeas before dinner, which was chicken cacciatore with mashed potatoes, bread, cheesecake, cheese, and a salad. And two glasses of wine. I save the cheesecake and cheese for later.
My friend and I watch a movie (Poor Things) and then try to sleep. I am reading A Fault In Our Stars, because Amsterdam. I try unsuccessfully to sleep for awhile and then go back to reading. At some point i eat the cheese and cheesecake. Breakfast is a cheese roll, which i eat a couple bites of (OMG does all of Amsterdam have this much cheese?? - spoiler alert… yes it does!). I wish I had slept more.
Day 2 - Even though it feels like a continuation of day one. (Total $207.02)
7am - We land at 7 and then grab the bags and go through customs. Easy peasy. We are exhausted so we grab coffee at the airport before figuring out public transit ($5.10). I take out 60 euro for cash in case we need it ($65). We buy a train ticket to the central station ($6.33) and when we get there we buy a four day unlimited public transit pass ($28.44) so that we don’t have to worry about it later.
We get to the hotel at around 9am. They tell us it will cost $50 to check in early, which we opt not to do. Instead we go get breakfast and coffee at a cafe nearby ($21.20). The hotel tells us that our prepaid amount did not include city taxes, which is another $183 (my half $91.88).
11:30am - Back at the room we decide to rest for 90 minutes. Enough to catch up on sleep but not to waste the day and get more jet-lagged. After a rest we decide to walk around and get a feel for the neighborhood and do some shopping. We find a bookstore, and I buy a copy of my favorite book from high school, Tess of the D’Ubervilles with a beautiful cover and gold edges ($21.46). We also buy fries with truffle, mayo, and Parmesan at a fry shop ($3.32) (that’s all they have and they are delicious!). We also stop a grocery store and pick up a few things including yogurt, cheese, salami, apples, and an energy drink ($13.19). We have some early days planned and nothing seems to open early. It’s very cold and rainy and semi unpleasant.
6pm - We drop stuff off, bundle up, and head off to dinner and a tour of the red light district. We try to find a place that serves Snert, a Dutch pea soup, but strike out. We end up at an Asian place instead. I get chicken satay and a beer and my friend gets Indonesian soup and wine ($16.10). Our red light tour is great, but we are exhausted after and head straight home to bed. 22k steps total
Day 3 (Total $87.24)
7:30am - We have an early day planned, and have to be on a bus near the central station by 8am. I eat a yogurt and energy drink (from grocery store) for breakfast and we take public transit (covered on unlimited card) to the station. We find the right bus and head off!
First stop is the windmills, which are beautiful! I am happy we get there early because we basically have the place to ourselves. My friend gets a coffee and we both use the restroom ($1.08!). Then we head to Edam and do a walking tour there. Next stop is a clog/cheese place, which feels very touristy but they do feed us lots of cheese. I buy a cheese slicer as a souvenir ($10.81). Next stop is another small town where we have lunch at a cafe. We basically pick one at random. My friend gets fried fish and I get a ham and cheese panini and a beer ($17.30). Final stop is an artificial island town called Maarken. We do another walking tour.
2:30pm - we arrive back in Amsterdam and get let off north of the water. I grab a coffee ($3.76). We go up to the Adam lookout and take a ride on the swing off the side of the building ($25.95 for swing plus ticket to lookout). We also grab a drink and sit on a pillow watching the city from very high up, which is lovely ($6.63). On the way out I buy a reusable water bottle at the gift shop ($4.87).
After the lookout we take the tram over to a brewery at a windmill that was recommended to us by several people (including here on Reddit!). Cost was covered by the transit pass. We buy bitterballen and a small bottle of Genever (local whiskey) (paid by my friend) and a flight of beer ($16.84). We are a bit tipsy but enjoying the lovely weather.
6:30 - On the way back toward the hotel the weather turns and it starts raining so we dip into a pub for dinner. I have a burger ($16.12). We are there at 8pm, which is momentous because it’s a day of remembrance and the whole bar is silent for two minutes. It was very interesting to be there during this time.
We are exhausted by this point and go home to bed. 19k steps total for the day.
Day 4 (Total $104.33)
7am - Another early day as we have to be on a bus at 7:30 to go to Keukenhof for the tulips! (paid in advance). We wanted to take the first bus out there because we heard the crowds were bad. I eat a yogurt for breakfast and take a 5 hour energy (no cafes open this early!). We try to take public transit to the train station but didn’t realize that the trains do not run that early on a Sunday so we grab an Uber instead ($12.20). We tell the Uber driver we’re trying to catch a bus so he makes sure we find the right place and we pull up just as the bus is loading. Phew!
8:00am - we spend 5 hours in the gardens and take literally hundreds of pictures. We are glad that we get there early as the first few hours are lovely and empty. We get a coffee ($4.60) and lunch later ($25.36). By 1pm it’s getting very crowded so we start heading out. We grab the bus back to the train station.
2:30pm - We decide to go by the Rijksmuseum although not in it because we planning that later. Instead we stop off at the Van Gogh/Rijks gift shop that’s nearby. I get a couple souvenirs, including a foldable bag and a magnet ($20.44). I also get a coffee ($3.64) and my friend gets bubble tea. We sit on the hill on museumplein and people watch. After awhile it starts to get hot (we had dressed for the early morning) so we head back to the hotel to change.
5pm - we decide we are having an evening of drinking. We first grab a drink in the hotel bar because we get free vouchers for each day we choose not to have the room cleaned. Then we have dinner at an udon place, which is delicious. We have tempura, chicken katsu, and dumplings ($15.94). Then because it’s cinco de mayo we decide to have margaritas at the Mexican place near the hotel ($15.15)! Not Dutch but it’s fun. We head down the street to another bar and have a Genever cocktail called an Amsterdam mule ($9.91). I am happy with our choice of hotel because there are so many places in our neighborhood. On the way home we pass a fresh stroopwaffle place and must get in line for one ($5.92).
By then we are exhausted and head to bed. 21k steps total for the day.
Day 5 (Total $80.44)
8am - We have a slightly less early day but have tickets to the Anne Frank house at 9:15. (paid in advance). I eat some yogurt and cheese in the room before we leave. It’s walkable so we decide to head out early and grab coffee on the way. ($3.19). The house is sombering but I’m glad we did it.
11am - After the Anne Frank house we walk to the nearby cheese museum. We sample lots of cheese. I buy one cheese to take home ($15.18). We want to walk to a used bookstore, but decide to have lunch at a cafe on the way. We pick one at random. We split chicken tenders and a goat cheese and apple sandwich and I have a beer. ($15.14). The sandwich is one of the best things we have eaten. We spend about an hour in the bookstore and my friend buys one book.
3pm - We realize we are by the monkey bar (one of the oldest bars in Amsterdam that they told us about on our red light district tour). We stop in for a drink. Ok two drinks. ($12.50). We take the metro back towards the hotel and stop in at a tile store in our neighborhood so I can buy a magnet. I buy magnets from all my trips, but I like non-touristy handmade ones if I can find them, Van Gogh magnet from yesterday aside. I buy one with a windmill on it. ($14). We also stop at the grocery store for more yogurt ($3.05) and for Dutch apple pie at the cafe across the street from the hotel ($4). We get back to the hotel and have another free drink and then rest before dinner.
8pm - We go out to a Dutch restaurant for dinner. I am not super hungry from pie so I just get the snert (pea soup). My friend gets sauerkraut and potatoes. Sorry, but I thought it was pretty bland food in general. ($13.38).
We head home. It’s a lighter day, only 14k steps today.
Day 6 (Total $194.47)
8am - Today is our last full day in Amsterdam. We have planned to spend the day at the Rijksmuseum. We want to get there right when it opens for crowd reasons. We had bought “friend of the museum” passes ahead of time so that we can skip the line. I have a yogurt for breakfast and we walk to a cafe near the museum for coffee and breakfast for my friend ($3.78). The man at the cafe is very nice and we love sitting outside in the sunshine. It’s going to be a warm day!
We spend about 5 hours at the museum. We rush to see the Van goghs and the main gallery where the Rembrandts are, including The Night Watch, which is probably one of the most famous paintings in there. We had downloaded the app so we shared a pair of earbuds and listened to audio notes about many of the works (they have a number you can enter in). We take a break outside for coffee ($7.29 - i pay) and skip the line again. Totally worth it for the more expensive ticket. Around 2 we are hungry and have seen almost everything. We stop in the gift shop and I buy a ring and earring set. ($64.76). I forget to use my 10% discount for being a friend. :( I wanted a necklace too but didn’t like the ones they had there so I’ll try to find a matching piece at home.
2pm - My friend has been trying to get herring for the whole trip so we make it a point to do that. The first place is a bust so we find a little stand that sells it a 15 min walk away. We are determined, so we head there. I don’t eat fish so I get a shawarma on the way, which is terrible (cash). I throw half away. After lunch we get ice cream. I get coffee ice cream, and it makes up for the bad shawarma ($6). We also stop at the peanut butter store, which is allegedly the first in the world, and I pick up 3 small jars for my mom for Mother’s Day ($8.11). We also stop at a thrift store and i buy a dress ($21.59). At some point this day (I think), we also stop at another bookstore, and I buy a few things including a card, a couple gifts, and a book ($39.71).
6pm - After resting a bit, we get two more free drinks at the hotel and then head out to dinner. We pick another Asian place. I get an aperol spritz at dinner and we share appetizers (satay, spring rolls, and bitterballen). We also get coconut ice cream with mango sauce for dessert. All yum! ($33.03).
We get one final drink at a local bar near the hotel ($10.20) and I’m again grateful for our choice of neighborhood. Today has been all walking because our 4-day metro pass ran out yesterday. Total steps 13k.
Day 7 (Total $36.93)
8am - this our last day. The plane was supposed to leave at 1:30pm, but we get a message that it’s delayed an hour. We decide to have a leisurely breakfast. We pick a place that’s at a hotel near our hotel. I get an egg sandwich and my friend gets French toast. We both get coffee. ($15.27)
We decide to leave for the airport around 11. We walk to the central station about 20 min away, and I buy wooden tulips for my mom on the way (cash). We buy train tickets (cash) and get right on a train. We are proud of ourselves for our navigation on this trip.
12pm - we get to the airport and through security. We head to a lounge but there’s a line. We are 40th in line based on our QR code place. We decide not to wait and sit down for lunch at a random bar. I get a sausage and a beer ($20.66). We walk around some and get another message that our flight is delayed more, to 4pm. It’s finally our turn to get into the lounge at 2:30 (2 1/2 hour wait) so we go. I grab some water and a whiskey and coke but we just ate so we are not hungry. Around 3 we head to the gate. Unfortunately when we get there our flight is delayed more and will board at 4. They give us airport vouchers so we buy a book, beer, and some stroopwaffles ($1 after vouchers). We finally board and head off around 5.
On the flight we are served dinner. They have run out of chicken by the time they get to me, but eventually find one and bring it to me later. I have a wine too. I read, watch a movie, and try to sleep a little. We have a whole row of four to ourselves so we can spread out. Dinner is a French bread pizza.
8pm - We land around 7pm (love time zone math!), grab our bags, and get a taxi to my car ($27.09). I drop off my friend and get home at 8:30. I am exhausted but cuddle my cats for about an hour before going to bed. 15k steps today
After trip expenses - $225 cat sitting
Total expenses: $2149.75 (+49k points)
Flight: $255 + 49k points
Lodging: $804.88
Food/drinks: $531.38
Travel: $101.56
Activities: $221.10
Souvenirs/gifts: $ 231.93
Final parting thoughts - I think just over $2k for an almost-week long trip to Europe is a pretty comfortable number for me. I am glad I could use points for most of the flight. We definitely didn't try to cheap out on anything. We spent a lot of money drinking (neither of us drink this much usually). I hope this was helpful to anyone, and I look forward to reactions/comments!