I am a programmer and looking to upgrade my backpack. I just started doing research and came across the wolfpak lineup and liked the aesthetic of it. I was curious if anyone has used them for carrying a computer, tablet, notepads, chargers, extra cords etc..
Thanks!

My husband (27M) and I (38M) are doing a trip across Europe at the moment. He’s American and I’m British and we reside mostly in the UK. We’ve had experiences with boomers (too many experiences) but our travels across Europe have been something else.
95% of these boomers were, it seemed, American.
Ok some examples. Brace yourself. Here we go:

1. Venice. A city of tiny islets connected by bridges and where water taxis, gondolas and walking over bridges is commonplace. On approaching a very narrow bridge, I noticed a clump of people. As we got closer I saw a woman shouting, and then I heard her. She’s American, standing with her arms outstretched as to block access and she was SCREAMING: “Don’t walk on this bridge!! WE ARE TAKING PHOTOS ON OUR CELLPHONES!” Behind her, her friends were all posing while simultaneously struggling to operate their phones. Obviously people were just ignoring her, so she’s becoming irate. By the time we got to her I can’t help myself (I never have been able to) so I said: “Get fucked lady.” I think my backpack might have hit her as I pushed past her. Ooops.
2. At a water taxi station, a group of 8 or so boomers didn’t have the correct tickets to scan to get on the water taxi so they just PUSHED the ticket barriers until they gave way so they could board. This was noticed by the taxi boat staff, however, and the departure of the boat was delayed while they had to summon the police.
3. On a taxi gondola (one that goes directly across a canal, not one that takes you on a romantic tour) a boomer boarded after us. The ‘driver’ tells him in clear English to sit down. He doesn’t comply, instead choosing to parade up and down causing the gondola to destabilise and even for water to come aboard, even before we’ve left the port. He has the absolute temerity to tell the driver to “KEEP THIS THING STEADY! I'M TRYING TO TAKE PHOTOS YOU IDIOT!” The driver tells him to either sit down or leave (obviously not an option in the middle of the canal). He reluctantly obeys but as he sits down he mutters something like “… won the second world war!”
4. We went to an ultra high end restaurant on our final night in Venice and at the table next to us are a couple of American boomers. The man had a very unusual complexion, looking like he’s spent far too long in the sun. When their bill came, he threw a FIT because they won’t accept AmEx. “This is FUCKING OUTRAGEOUS!” He screams at the waiter who is about 18 and doesn’t really understand what is being said to him. “WE USE THIS CARD ALLL THE TIME AT HOME!” I leaned over and said: “Errrrrr, so in Europe AmEx isn’t often accepted because of the very high transaction fees. Perhaps you could-“ to which he snapped at me: “Mind your own fucking business! Nobody asked you or your boyfriend.”
5. In Zürich, we had to contend with a boomer who kept getting in the way of us taking photos. It was like he was deliberately standing in our way. At one point he seemed to almost accidentally touch my husband. Eventually I said: “hey bro, we’re trying to take a picture of us together. Can you give us some room?” To which he snapped: “You don’t own this hill you know!!”
6. We had a 7 hour train journey from one country to another. We had a first class reservation. Once we boarded, we found two boomer couples sitting around a table, which our two seats were part of. I explained we had a reservation. One of them said: “Well you can’t have, we have this table.” I produced the reservation and said: “You can clearly see it says we are in this coach, in first class, in these seats. Can I see YOUR reservation?” They refused, with the man from the other couple saying: “You don’t even look like you can afford first class tickets, son. Why don’t you run along before I get security?” I turned to my husband and said: “Go and get someone.” He did so, and they spent the next 15 minutes berating me, saying I’d be “very embarrassed” when I am told to leave the train. One of them even said: “Yeah they’ll show you up like the poor you are.” Husband returned with ticket inspector who looked at our tickets and then asks them to produce theirs. They argue briefly, and upon being threatened with removal from the train, produce tickets four second class with no reservations. The inspector tells them to leave the first class section “immediately or this will be a matter for the police” (which she said in French so I had the great pleasure of translating). They reluctantly got up to go and made a HUGE huff and puff about it. One of them pulled his bag off a luggage rack and managed to hit a child sitting near the rack with it, and then verbally abused the child’s parents when they dared to complain. At the next stop the train stopped for about 30 minutes and announcements were made that there was an “unexpected delay”. The ticket lady from before came to tell us that the four of them had been asked to leave because of their behaviour in second class, refused to do so, and therefore the police were brought in.
7. In Prague, went to a very old family owned restaurant. One of the family is a university student who happened to get talking to a boomer couple. He’s studying computing science and artificial intelligence. They tell him he is “contributing to the end of humanity”. The male boomer adds: “I was teaching people how to use Microsoft 20 years ago, I know what computers can do! And this is very dangerous….!” Needless to say, this 19 year old who understands only basic English was very confused.
8. In Milan, a boomer couple walked past me in a shop and I heard the woman say: “Fucking useless, this Italy. Everyone here speaks in foreign.”
9. In an airport to travel from Germany to Zürich, a boomer couple decided to start regulating the line to board the jet. They stood in the way of the gate desk, letting only older people past and holding younger people back. I snapped at once: “What are you doing? Get out of the way, man” and as I walked past him I heard “… elders first! Elders first!” When I was on the jet and seated, the wife came up to me ONCE WE WERE IN THE AIR and said I had been “very disrespectful” to her husband and “you are now required to apologise.” My husband, seeing I was on the verge of committing a murder, said: “Look, you got your moment of glory earlier in controlling the queue. Take your pound of flesh and fuck off.” She then snaps: “OR WHAT?” to which my husband calmly replies: “Or we make a complaint right now about your disruptive behaviour onboard an aircraft. Don’t tend to like that, the Swiss.” And then he sits down and instantly puts his AirPods in and turning away from her. I had to look out of the window so she didn’t see me smiling.
10. In Milan we visited a museum showcasing technologies through the ages. It was enormous, and very comprehensive. In one display case they have an original Macintosh from 1984. As I stand looking at it, I became aware of some raised - distinctly American - voices. “What the hell!! Are they saying they MADE the computer?!!? WE MADE THE COMPUTER.” I can’t resist (again) and turn to him and say to this group of 6 boomers: “Actually, ladies and gents, the modern inventor of the computer is Alan Turing, an English guy who broke the German’s Enigma code during World War 2. This Macintosh is here just because of its historical significance-“ I didn’t get any further cos he cut me off with “UGH. So it’s the ENGLISH stealing our tech now!”

I am writing this because we were both have been genuinely taken aback by what we have experienced. I have travelled extensively in Europe and never quite come up against this before, so I don’t know if it means that the Boomer problem is getting worse or what.

I’ll go first today it’s my 28th,
In the last week we’ve had to buy a new washing machine and our oven has broke My car started pissing fluid, I called breakdown and as they turn up my toddler throws up,
Then I get an email saying I owe nursery fees which I didn’t, it was a computer error
Fast forward 2 days to my birthday I didn’t book my birthday off work, as it’s only the evening, my mum took me out and by time we got back I had to get ready for work didn’t get time to even fart
my car is currently unroadworthy and had to wait a week for the mechanic so my colleague took me,
I’m at work and the hoover wheel kept falling off and then so did the top of it, honestly I wanted to launch it
So I’m at work my first day back after missing 2 days due to my child & car, my partner calls me and tells me our child has a really high temperature and they need to go to hospital after calling 111, so I call my dad to take them and call my manager so I can leave (I’ve never met her she started last week so imagine she’s like wtf)
My phones about to die I realise I took my broken charger to work - I’m like fucking really at this point
My dad takes them then comes picks me up
But there’s another problem my work is gated and after a certain time you need a code, I forgot the code and my manager didn’t have the code neither so then we’re thinking of ways I can escape if my dad were to be much later than my colleague, Bins were suggested for the sensor to get out but I said they’re huge and it’s about 200ft to drag that, I’ll climb it (she said no girl cmon)
luckily through timing my dad arrives the same time my colleague is leaving, we drive up the road and it’s so dark because a country lane and the evening, she slows down to see if it’s my dad, I can’t see as I haven’t got my driving glasses on and my dads lights are like the fucking sun - I realised it is my dad just as he’s swearing at my colleague about stopping for no reason thinking she’s a random person
My toddler is okay now, but this has to be the worst birthday ever

Hey everyone,
I could really use the advice of the sysadmin community on the next steps for hiring someone to help clean up an IT environment that is the result of multiple decades of organic growth and management by the same solo IT person, a person whose IT knowledge and curiosity peaked a long time ago.
Anyway, my situation is as follows. I was originally going to write an even longer history of our IT situation, and would be happy too if people are interested, but here is the gist of my situation. I'm sorry if anything is a bit disjointed, but I'm trying to refrain from writing a case study.
I have worked for the last 15 years at my family's business, and Harry has been managing our IT for the last 40 years. Harry was one of my father's first employees, had gone to school for music-related majors, took a non-IT job at a new manufacturing and retail company, then became our IT person as we developed IT needs.
Fast forward after a few decades of organic IT growth with Harry reporting to our prior CFO for the last 20 years (a CFO who was territorial, unpleasant to work with, and terrible with technology), and the state of our current IT environment is bad. I believe that is mainly due to a horrible combination of Harry not doing a great job at anything IT-related, and being our sole IT person, and having a tech-illiterate CFO managing Harry. Our CFO would also occasionally find small-time/hacky consultants to work with, but never wanted to listen to my input. After a few years of being at the company, I suggested we needed a ticketing system, but our CFO wanted to keep managing projects using a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet...
After our CFO retired, we brought in a new CFO, and she came with a referral to an MSP her husband had used at the company he was at. That company had sold to a larger holding company since the CFO's husband started using the MSP, one that seemed to mess around in the crypto space, and I thought the lead was bad (based on a variety of things I saw). Over the last 15 years, a large part of my job has been doing due diligence on vendors, software solutions, web developers, and various agencies. Regardless, we spent a few months doing due diligence and a paid audit with that MSP. By the end of the audit, we decided not to move forward with that MSP.
In addition, our company decided Harry should start reporting to me rather than our new CFO. I have 15 years of experience at the company overseeing all of our internet properties, digital marketing, and was kind of a third wheel of the IT department when I first started at the company. I went to undergrad for Management Information Systems, have a graduate business degree, and basically consider myself an IT person who isn't pursuing an IT career. I know our internal companies well, what our users do and don't need, and understand the costs and opportunity costs to bringing (or not bringing) in new systems and technology.
I have also been tinkering with computers and technology for almost three decades. I build my own computers, built my own NAS running Unraid, run updates on our VMware-based servers, can read and modify code, wired my own home with CAT 6, had a brief stint as a Sharepoint developer, moved 100+ employees from our original POP3 email system to Google Workspace (when I started at the company), set up a UniFi-based dedicated WiFi and surveillance network, specced out and racked our new Dell servers, and have helped replace and migrate dozens of our users off of old Windows 7 machines. I also have personally undertaken onboarding our endpoints in NinjaOne, installing Defender for Endpoint, and bringing our various Fortigate firewalls up to date. My point here is that while I am not a Sysadmin myself (and definitely am not suggesting I'm an expert at ANY of those things), and definitely don't have depth when it comes to Active Directory, Azure, etc., I am a bit of a jack of all trades IT person, and am very well-suited to work with a real Sysadmin. For almost everything I do, I either find what the best practice is, know that I or we aren't meeting best practices, or will happily let our team/company know when I can't expertly speak to something.
With that backstory out of the way, here are a few extra points:

1. Harry basically works half the week, has health issues, wants to retire in a year or two, and I can't count on him to come up with any new or current solutions. Harry has been loyal to the company, and I consider him a friend, and there is still work and value he can add until he is ready to retire. That said, he is our "IT Director", but whoever we hire will not be reporting to Harry. I will figure out the structural and human/social aspects of not having our new hire feel bad having to comment on things Harry has or hasn't done, as well as figuring out work Harry can do a good job on that won't create extra work. I expect I would probably have Harry do work on the legacy ERP system he has helped support, which is something I don't expect our new hire to have much to do with.
2. There will probably be some people out there who feel there has been mismanagement, that Harry sounds incompetent, that we were understaffed, or that the ex-CFO did a bad job, etc. Most of that is probably true, but that is the past. As someone who generally knows a fair amount about IT, I HAVE known that our IT situation isn't great, but as I said, the situation is complicated.
3. Our current IT environment is a bit of a mess. We are just now finishing up replacing remaining Windows 7 machines, have a brand new ESXi cluster (set up pre-Broadcom acquisition) but have to set up a few new virtual machines to replace Server 2012 R2 (or worse) virtual machines, have to remove local admin privileges from almost all of our users (this is decades in the making), and have loads of best practices and management systems I'd like to see us have in place. There are way more projects than just this, but this is just a sampling. Outside of lots of overdue overhaul, I don't think we have a tremendous amount of break/fix at the company.
4. I am so understaffed right now with my original responsibilities at the company, basically being our main new IT person, and trying to plan for our next major ERP systems. I don't have enough hours in the day and am killing myself emotionally. I need to hire someone full-time, but I need advice on if that job title should be a Sysadmin, and how I should go about presenting this opportunity. I am NOT expecting whoever we hire to be an expert in everything, which is a common complaint I've seen in sysadmin. I would like to strategically hire partners (or continue to work with a person or two we already work with) when it comes to things like firewall expertise. Our new hire would work directly with me to start overhauling our IT systems as needed. I have no expectations someone can come in and clean everything up in weeks or months, but I'd like to find someone talented who will seek out right-sized, best-practice-based solutions and systems, and work with me to transform an IT environment that was basically built under one person's watch. When hiring for the position, I'd like to be upfront that there is initially going to be a lot of project work required.
5. I have been looking through sysadmin for probably the last two years, and I often seem complaints about management not getting IT, managers being too frugal, etc. While our IT situation is messier than I would like to bring someone into, I feel confident I can give whoever we hire a collegial, bureaucracy-free environment. I am practical, am great at knowing what I do and don't know, understand project management (I'm used to working on year-long projects), and am very familiar with the common joke about "anything that plugs into the wall being IT". While the job I'm looking to hire for won't be turn-key, my goal and plan is to hire someone who won't be expected to know everything or work all the time, and that as we continue to improve our systems, that it won't need to be a rigorous IT job. I am planning to work closely with whoever we hire, will help cover any non-business-hours issues, etc. I love the idea of someone smart coming in, helping whip things into shape, and developing the job into a cushy one. I am willing to pay for someone talented, and one of my highest priorities will be to provide a great work environment.
6. In my original post, I mentioned that our IT situation has been complicated. By that I mean Harry transitioning into an IT role decades ago, bad management–especially by our prior CFO, a lack of awareness on how bad the IT situation was–from Harry himself, as well as management. There are lots of reasons our IT situation is what it is, but intentional understaffing to save money wasn't one of them.

Finally, after all the points above, I would appreciate any constructive advice on who/what job title to hire for, what I should be looking for, etc. Do I look for five or seven plus years of experience? I want someone who has enough experience that he/she at least knows about deploying software using AD and Group Policy, making sure our fleet of machines is up-to-date using Microsoft-provided or paid tools available, etc.
Whenever I read through posts and replies on this subreddit, I see people who provide good answers (or who are smart enough to come to this subreddit to seek advice), and I think to myself how I'd like to work with someone like that. I don't know if that seems weird or like a low bar, but right now I'm used to working with Harry, and he definitely doesn't know about this Subreddit, struggles to use Google Meet, isn't big into 2FA.
Thanks to anyone who read all of this, and to anyone who posts any tips or advice!

I've had my Sela Green trial master for ~6 weeks now. I've done some light offroading, made a few mods, and I have ~800 miles on it. I'll be doing a break-in oil change soon. Overall I'm really impressed with the mechanical quality of the car. drivetrain, suspension, etc is great. I did upgrade to 285/70r17 tires and I'm running them at 38psi. This helps.
The only mechanical issue I've encountered is that it needs more caster. I maxed out the caster adjustment and that works pretty well. A set of longer lower links from a 3rd party will doubtless be released in the next year. it is mandatory to make that adjustment, and IMO, if you are here as an owner and haven't done it, you owe it to yourself to try it. it is transformative for highway driving. (I did it after 60 miles on the Odometer).
Software
The software is a whole different story. its shit. There is no way around it that their software engineers have missed the mark. To me, it is shocking that as good as the rest of the car is, the software can be so poor. Here's the breakdown.

1. the unit itself seems slow, though, I suspect the processor is actually fine given that touch inputs are good. but, the underlying OS is broken in some critical way.
2. for some reason, Ineos has chosen to keep the head unit in "sensor confirmation" only mode. I have no schematics or access to the code, but, it seems that the system does not register anything as having happened until an external sensor validates that it has happened. the classic example is that the lockers are active until the wheel sensors confirm the wheels are unlocked. BUT, I think the air conditioning does this too - it feels like the reason climate control is all over the place is that it acts as if it is relying on cabin temp sensors to confirm the commanded actions, rather than just commanding them directly. I suspect some kind of CANBUS hell going on here, but obviously I can't confirm.
3. the main loops of the software seem to have a lot of sloppy interrupts - if your wipers are on and the engine shuts down for there auto start stop, when the engine turns on again, the wipers pause. Why? because the ignition event reboots the electrical system for a wiper control module? or...because an interrupt pauses signal? who knows.
4. when you start the car, you can basically see the sensors report in and the computer processes those inputs real time. State isn't saved and updated, it all comes online from scratch every time. if it were me, I'd expect things like headlight/daylight mode to be stored, as well as ADAS prefs, off-road mode, etc. BUT, they're not. Fuel level doesn't appear to be stored, either. Except some of this stuff seems to be stored for some amount of time sometimes. ADAS settings will persist randomly as will some others. It's a mess.
5. It doesn't appear to have a "real time" kernel or any other kind of real time I/O system. I don't think the head unit actually interfaces with the critical stuff (thank god), so, I think they made some of the choices above for some other reasons, but, it has the effect of making the UI very aggravating.
6. some settings appear to be "hidden, but load on startup" - e.g. fuel economy units. The default is l/km, which shows even in the US when the vehicle is off - open your door and you'll see. Once you start the car, it quickly changes.

___
If I had to guess at the underlying issues, it appears that they don't reliably store/write/read state for preferences - the fact that there is objectively supposed to be four basic classes of settings:

• Permanent - e.g. internal controls with a system variable set
• user-settable permanent - e.g. warning sound volume, region, units, etc.
• user settable, ephemeral - e.g. ADAS disable
• controlled by sensors/physical interface buttons. This is the daylight sensor setting display brightness, the speed sensor for radio volume, and the inputs from wheel speed for lockers, and the climate control knobs.

It appears as if at boot, there is some kind of file that initializes all these settings (e.g. l/km to mpg, headlights on, etc) and sometimes ephemeral settings are not cleared. power cycling the car doesn't reliably do anything. The head unit reset (hold mute button) does seem to reset some stuff but....I think something more fundamental is wrong.
___
That said, the majority of this could be fixed with software updates, and if we as a community could confirm it - e.g. mess with sensor inputs and see what the response is, maybe we could learn something about the software.
I'm hoping that sooner or later someone manages to dump the entire software stack, too. given the digital approach to using the programming, ideally we'd be able to find out what's in that initial settings file and maybe play with the ADAS defaults...or, if we could locate the sound effect file for the clicker noises maybe someone could replace them with blank audio files.
___
All that said, I love the car and I'm keeping it. BUT, I'm not the kind of person to leave well enough alone. Anyone else have any deductions?

Link to original nosleep post:
https://www.reddit.com/nosleep/comments/1akrt76/my_friends_and_i_went_on_a_hike_to_watch_a_total/
It was August 21st, 2017, and the future was...
...Dark. Literally dark.
That day, the first total solar eclipse visible from anywhere in the mainland United States since February, 1979, which some media outlets were calling “The Great American Eclipse,” was due to cast its shadow over America.
And it just so happened, that my city, and the surrounding area, would be in the path of totality that afternoon, putting us in its umbra - its darkest shadow, and allowing us to witness the moon completely block the sun and reveal its corona.
"You packed light." My best friend Josh pointed out to me that morning, gesturing to my obviously lightly packed backpack, as we walked from the parking lot to the trail.
"Don't these things only last a few minutes?" I replied, having only barely researched the lunar event.
But why should I have? After all, it had been Josh's brilliant idea, to propose to his girlfriend, Allison, during the total eclipse, and bring me along for the ride to take photographs, aka third wheel.
As a city guy, I never had any desire to go hiking in the wilderness, and had been dreading the trip ever since he told me about it. But Josh had been my best friend since elementary school, and had done more than enough favors for me over the years. So, I just swallowed my pride and went along with it.
"They're saying about two and half minutes from where we are, specifically." Allison corrected.
She's always been the best kind of nerd. I thought to myself, enviously.
But I tried not to make eye contact with her. There was too much history there, too many emotions. And on top of all that, she and Josh were about to get engaged.
"Got it." I replied, staring down at my feet, as I trudged along the rocky path, my boots crunching into the ground with every step.
What were you thinking? Agreeing to this? I internally kicked myself, immediately regretting the decision.
"You okay?" Josh asked. "You were pretty quiet in the car."
"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks."
I was not okay. But what was I supposed to say? "I'm still in love with your future wife?"
Let's take these photos and get the fuck out of here. I thought to myself, before sneaking a few shots of Josh and Allison holding hands, as they walked ahead of me, careful to not make Allison suspicious, and while also throwing up in my mouth a little bit.
—
But when we finally made it to the summit of the hill, where Josh had chosen to host the two-pronged occasion, I was pleasantly surprised to discover, that I was not third wheeling after all.
There, sitting side by side in beach chairs, each with a beer in hand, were Bob and Cara, a married couple that Josh and I had befriended at a bar one night a couple months prior, and, in a very short amount of time, had completely infiltrated our friend group.
"There they are!" Bob called out.
"Eclipse party!" Cara yelled out even louder.
"At least I have other people to talk to." I mumbled to myself, before turning to Josh and asking, "You didn't tell me Bob and Cara were joining?"
"Thought I'd surprise you." He said, with a cheeky smile.
"Theme of the day." I replied sarcastically, before immediately heading for the cooler, opening it, and reaching into its deepest depths, for the coldest beer I could possibly find.
But after I removed a bottle, and opened it with my keychain, I looked down, and happened to notice, that my finger was bleeding.
I didn't think much of it, so I just held up my bloody finger to the group. "Hey, anybody got a bandage?"
"Already?" Josh teased, shaking his head, "We can't take you anywhere."
"Take him anywhere?" Allison chimed in, "I blame Bob and Cara. What kind of weapons are you keeping down there, at the bottom of your cooler?"
The married couple simply sat there in silence for a moment, before turning to each other, then back at us, and bursting out laughing.
"Got us!" Cara said.
"Busted!" Bob added, before Josh tossed me the first aid kit and pivoted the conversation.
"Speaking of Bob and Cara. I just want to shout them out, for coming up with the eclipse party idea in the first place."
Everyone raised their beers, and cheered, as I wrapped a bandage around my finger.
Fucking Bob and Cara. I thought to myself, as I faked a smile and raised my bottle.
—
A few hours, and a lot of beers later, we were all sitting at the top of the hill, doing as friends do, and bantering about absolutely nothing of actual significance, when Bob looked down at his watch, and made an announcement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we've all been waiting for has finally arrived!" He declared, slurring his words a bit.
"Everyone, get your sunglasses!" Cara added, as she stumbled over to her backpack, and removed five pairs of cardboard sunglasses, specifically made for looking at eclipses, or so they claimed in the ads.
We all put them on...
...And looked up at the sky...
...But nothing happened.
Then, Josh lowered his sunglasses and started winking profusely at me.
"Oh, right!" I said, before reaching for my camera and pointing it at Josh, just in time to catch him getting down on one knee, removing a ring from his pocket, and holding it out to Allison.
At first, she was completely confused, and looked around at everyone, as if to ask, "What's going on?"
But then Josh uttered the words, "Allison, you're the love of my life... The apple of my eye... The moon to my sun."
Allison, Bob, and Cara all chuckled at the timeliness of the joke a bit, but I couldn't bring myself to laugh at it. I just stood there, hiding behind my camera, snapping photos, hoping it would end quickly.
Just get it over with already.
"Will you marry me?" Josh asked, to a dramatic pause, before Allison finally replied.
"Oh my! Yes! Of course I will!"
And like that, Josh placed the ring on her finger, hopped up, and the two kissed, still wearing their sunglasses, just as the moon began to eclipse the sun.
I snapped one last photo, which I'll admit, was pretty beautiful, before I couldn't bear to take it anymore, and had to put my camera down.
And that's when, things got...
...Weird.
As the moon continued to pass in front of the sun, the sky grew darker and darker, and, in combination with the eclipse sunglasses that I was still wearing, caused me to lose visibility.
Suddenly, I felt what I assumed was a raindrop...
...Before realizing that rain would have been impossible, given the clear visibility of the eclipse that day.
I removed my sunglasses, and whipped around, to see what the droplet could possibly have been, only to witness a gruesome sight...
...Bob, dimly lit, being hacked away at, by a shadowy figure holding a strange object...
...Blood spraying everywhere.
That's not rain.
It must have happened so fast, that Bob never even had a chance to scream.
But Cara, on the other hand, had a chance.
She immediately began wailing and crying at the top of her lungs, so loud that Josh and Allison were jarred out of their loving embrace, and began calling out to her.
"Cara?" Josh yelled out.
"What's wrong?" Allison added.
But then...
...Cara went silent.
I tried to will myself to warn Josh and Allison, to shout out, "Run!" but I was so paralyzed with fear, that I couldn't bring myself to utter the word.
So, I just followed my own advice, and darted away as fast as I could, knowing that whoever had just killed Bob, and seemingly now Cara, was close by.
But before I could get far, I heard what sounded like Josh grappling with the shadowy figure, and immediately stopped in my tracks.
I turned around, and tried to make out what was happening, against the sky, but it was still pretty dark, and the only thing I could see, was the glowing corona of the sun encircling the moon, the total eclipse now at its peak.
"Get away from her!" Josh cried out, before I saw what looked like him charge at the man.
But something must have gone terribly wrong, as the next, and last word, I ever heard out of Josh's mouth, was "No!"
As the moon began to move out of the total eclipse, and pass by the sun, enough light began to pour in, that I was able to see my best friend's body tumble to the ground.
And then...
...Silence...
...Until I heard Allison begin to scream.
"Help! Help!"
Now able to see her, dimly lit, and cowering in fear on the ground a few feet away from me, I jumped in front of her.
For a brief moment, we locked eyes, in what felt like four parts horror, one part longing, before we both looked back and saw, now fully illuminated....
...The slayer that had just wreaked havoc on our party, his face and body, covered in blood, his hands gripping what I now saw... was a scythe.
A fucking scythe!?
He slowly began to approach us, weapon in hand...
...Until he got a few feet away...
...And suddenly stopped, to look up at the moon...
...But it was gone.
In the moment that followed, he appeared to process what that meant, and what to do next, before...
...He simply turned around and walked away.
Allison and I sat there on the ground, shaking violently, as we clung to each other, paralyzed with fear, and watched him drift away into the distance...
...Until he was gone.
When we eventually conjured enough energy to stand up, we hobbled back to the parking lot, and drove Josh's car, to the closest police station we could find, remaining silent almost the entire time.
And after finally arrived at the precinct, it took us a good while to bring ourselves to speak, and describe to the authorities, the atrocities that had occurred in the shadow of the eclipse that day.
The cops immediately raced to the trail, and recovered the bodies of Bob, Cara, and Josh, but the man with the scythe...
...The eclipse killer, as the detectives joked...
...Was never found, left to roam the world and live amongst us, likely waiting to strike when the next eclipse arrives.
And as for Allison and I... while the events of that day could just as well have bonded us, or been taken as a sign that we were meant to be together, we never talked about it again, and slowly drifted away...
...Just as the moon had drifted away from the sun on the afternoon of August 21st, 2017.
Still to this day, whenever I hear that an eclipse of any sort is coming, I think back to that hike, and worry for those who dare to venture out of their homes to observe it.
While, I, however... stay the fuck inside.

I was sitting in my home office, procrastinating getting back to work, by playing word games on my computer, when I first saw it.
I heard my phone buzz, and looked down at it, to find a text that read:
"Tomorrow, we will pilot a new app called the Census Game for select residents. To opt in, reply YES to this text, and we'll send you a link to download the app."
That's a bit random, I thought to myself, before completely forgetting about it, for the rest of the day.
That is, until my wife, Lindsay, came home from work.
"I got a random text today." She told me, tossing her jacket on the coat rack, and taking a seat at the kitchen table.
"Text?" I replied, my brain still thawing out from a long day of crunching numbers.
"Yeah. Something about a game?"
"Oh, that? Shit, I completely forgot about it. Yeah I got it too. What's the deal with it?"
"Honestly, I’m not sure. I tried to search for it online, but nothing came up."
"Maybe it's a cover up." I joked.
"Funny. But seriously, don't they have better things to focus on, like crime, or infrastructure?"
"Fair point..." I replied, before giving my wife a cheeky smile, "...Should we play it?"
"What? No! I'm not wasting my time on that."
"Well, I am."
"Wait. Why?"
"Why not?
"I'm all set."
"Come on, let's do it together. It could be funny."
My wife looked away...
...Before finally dropping her shoulders, looking back at me, and giving in. "Alright, fine. But if it's for kids, or creepy, or both, I'm deleting it immediately."
And like that, we both replied YES to the text.
To which it replied:
"Thanks for opting into the Census Game. Download the app using this link and verify your identity to complete your enrollment."
And so, we did just that, each of us clicking the link in the text on our respective phones, downloading the app, and opening it.
To which it welcomed us:
"Welcome to the Census Game! Please verify your identity."
We then each filled out a number of personal questions, including our names and addresses, before finally hitting the "Submit" button.
To which it replied:
"Congratulations! You have successfully enrolled in the Census Game. Every night at midnight, the players for that day will be chosen at random, and notified via a push notification on their phones. Should you get selected, simply follow the directions in the notification. Please note: The game will last exactly one month from today. If you aren't picked to play during that time, you're automatically safe from the game."
“Safe? That’s a weird typo. Maybe they’re trying to be funny.” I said, before tossing my phone on the kitchen table, and hopping up to make dinner.
"But what do you think happens when you get selected?" She asked, still dwelling on it.
"I don't know, you play the game? Trivia maybe? What's the population of the greater metro area? Something like that?"
"Hmm." It was clear that she was skeptical, and rightfully so.
But within an hour, we were catching up on our work days over dinner, and had already forgotten about it.
That is, until later that night, when the clock struck midnight.
Lindsay was already passed out in bed beside me, when I heard my phone buzz again.
Sure enough, I got a push notification:
"Better luck next time! Unfortunately, you weren't selected to play the Census Game today. Look out for tomorrow's notification at midnight, for another chance to play."
I looked over at my wife, fast asleep, her phone still clenched in her hand, and saw that she had received the same message:
"Better luck next time! Unfortunately, you weren't selected to play the Census Game today. Look out for tomorrow's notification at midnight, for another chance to play."
Bummer. I thought to myself, before turning off the lights. Was really hoping we'd both get to see where they're going with this.
And that's when...
...It happened for the first time.
Suddenly, outside our apartment window, I heard a loud commotion, as a few people started coming out of their homes, calling out to each other.
"Did it choose you?" One person called out.
"Yeah, you?" Another replied.
"Yeah."
I sat up in my bed, listening curiously, confused by what was going on.
"Please take me with you!" One of them pleaded with another. "I don't have a car."
"Sorry buddy, I don't know you. I gotta look out for myself." Another replied.
"Please!"
And then… I heard the sound of a car speeding off.
I walked over to the window and looked down at the street, to see a few people scurrying off in different directions.
Where are they all off to so late in the night? I wondered.
"Honey. What was that noise?" Lindsay asked, awoken from her slumbers.
"Um... I'm not exactly sure. Don't worry about it, dear." I assured her, as she went back to bed.
I tried to follow suit, but there was just something about what I'd heard, that wasn't sitting right with me.
I tossed and turned that night, eventually falling asleep.
The next morning, after I told Lindsay what happened, without saying anything, we both grabbed our phones and began to search social media, for any clues as to what was going on.
At first, I actually found a screenshot of the app, posted online from someone who had been selected:
"Congratulations. You've been selected to play the Census Game. Beginning now, you have thirty minutes to leave the city. Should you fail to evacuate in the allotted time, or are caught in the process, you will be promptly eliminated from the game. Please note: In an effort to make the game fair, we have stationed guards at all roads, bridges, airports, and train tracks leading in and out of the metropolitan area. We wish you the best of luck, and thank you for playing."
But when I tried to show the screenshot to my wife, it had already been removed.
Lindsay immediately called out sick from work, and we spent the better part of the day, scouring the internet for information and debating what was going on, while at the same time, dreading the next push notification that would come that night.
But when the clock finally struck midnight, we both received the same message as the night before:
"Better luck next time. Unfortunately you weren't selected to play the Census Game today. Check back here tomorrow at midnight for another chance to play."
And, just like the day before, not long after receiving the notification, I heard a commotion on the street below, followed by the sounds of footsteps and cars driving away.
But this time, another noise followed, about twenty minutes later.
It was the sound of vehicles racing down the street, as if in pursuit of... something, before screeching to a halt.
But before I could get to the window to see what was going on, I heard the sound of screams, followed by doors slamming, and vehicles driving off.
The next morning, I told Lindsay what I'd seen. We were once again safe, for at least another twenty-four hours.
Until, that night, when, at the stroke of midnight, my wife received a new notification, worded exactly as we had seen it online:
"Congratulations. You've been selected to play the Census Game. Beginning now, you have thirty minutes to leave the city. Should you fail to evacuate in the allotted time, or are caught in the process, you will be promptly eliminated from the game. Please note: In an effort to make the game fair, we have stationed guards at all roads, bridges, airports, and train tracks leading in and out of the metropolitan area. We wish you the best of luck, and thank you for playing."
As Lindsay read it, I saw her once hopeful eyes become fearful, and her once dry cheeks become covered in tears, before she looked over at me, as though asking me if I, too, had been selected to play the game.
But when I looked down at my phone, I saw the same message that I'd been receiving since the beginning:
"Better luck next time. Unfortunately you weren't selected to play the Census Game today. Check back here tomorrow at midnight for another chance to play."
And that's when I realized... that only my wife had been selected to play the game.
Nevertheless, just like any loyal husband would do, I chose to go with her, grabbing the backpacks that we had preemptively packed away for this very occasion, and opening the window that led to the fire escape.

So I am accustomed to weekend road trips, camping etc. Generally plenty comfortable with a solid duffel and a backpack. These days I find myself in airports more often and for longer trips. I see my wife’s hard shell roller case and am noticing the benefits of those more and more. Expanding, casters, more structure for getting tossed around, that kinda thing.
Anyone have any personal favorites in this area? Ideally would like to keep it under $300, but am flexible. Priorities for me would be good wheels, a “hard” shell style and overbuilt zippers in a carry-on size.
Thank you folks in advance!

Just updating my resume after completion of the latest semester from university, thought I would upload and see if y'all had any insights. Feel free to offer tips or ideas, open to anything.
https://preview.redd.it/m1e58qdhx70d1.png?width=965&format=png&auto=webp&s=da730a8b7406e3aaf061fecfd05fe2216029e0ab

Hey everyone,
I am planning a trip to Iceland for the 2026 Eclipse and want to try to visit at least once prior to that. I’ve always been fascinated by linguistics and have recently started studying Icelandic. I understand it is one of the more challenging languages to learn and also know that English is pretty universal in Iceland, but I also feel it’s important to be at least conversational to experience a culture in an authentic way while visiting a country. I also like the idea of getting to know a few locals and maybe forming some friendships. Travel is so much more exciting when you can look forward to meeting people for the first time!
The best way to learn a language is to have a “language parent” that can simply sit with you and converse about things you are interested in on a frequent basis. Since English is the only language I could teach proficiently and most Icelanders already speak English, I wanted to see if there would be interest in trading for programming, computer science, data science, machine learning or cybersecurity since that is my profession and I have extensive knowledge on those topics and frequently train colleagues on those topics. I also have curated an extensive repository of learning materials over the years that I would be happy to share.
Overall my interests are photography, hiking/backpacking, travel, scuba diving, leatherwork, surfing, and I also play a few instruments. I love to visit museums, cool spots in nature, and cultural landmarks. I figure if I start now, by the time I visit, I can pick up enough Icelandic to be fairly conversational in my own interests and hopefully some broader interests that locals have, as well as the basic navigation needed to explore a culture. I can commit a couple hours a week to exchanging languages and I am on the Eastern Time Zone in the US (about 4 hours behind Iceland).

Something I've been wondering. Let me start by saying I have no idea how computers or programming or anything like that works, nor have I ever played The Sims 3.
So James posted a members video if him playing The Sims 3 World Adventures and it's seems like, so far beyond the depth and complexity of The Sims 4. Sure, 4 has better graphics and it seems like maybe the sims themselves are smarter, so to speak. But the amount and variety of gameplay from that one expansion pack kinda blew my mind. And other simmers talk about the color wheel, the open world, and cars being things they miss from TS3. The Sims 4 seems so watered down by comparison.
My question is why can't that be replicated in TS4? Again I know nothing about game design etc so there might be an obvious answer, but if someone could explain it to me I would be grateful!

It's mother's Day back in Canada and I'm thinking about mom today. I'm so sick though that I'll do a call tomorrow when I'm doing better. I tend to do poorly on phone calls when I'm not well. I woke up very ill this morning and my body did not want to cooperate at all. Who knew that biking a lot on a body trying to kick an illness might prolong said illness.
The rain indeed came and did not stop. It was pouring cats and dogs in the morning and the prospect of going outside in the rain while sick made me feel miserable. With my poor condition and the possibility of a thunderstorm during the day, we were in no condition to be going very far. We tried to extend our stay but the hotel was fully booked, our next best bet was to head up the road into the mountains and find a place there.
On my booking app, one hotel was listed at half it's usual price for some reason. We've stayed at a lot of livemax hotels and found them to at least be okay, so we figured it was safe to take the cheap option this time, which was $49. It was one of their onsen properties as well, and it looked like there was a train nearby if we wanted to get food and a bath in the next town over, which looked to be nicer. It was either that or pay another $100 for what would amount to a shelter from the rain, and in my addled state where sickness feels like a waste of time, a cheap hotel is a good way to convince me to stay put and rest. It was 20km away and the rain wasn't going to get any lighter, so we packed up, donned our rain gear, and set out for some breakfast.
A grocery store was near our hotel (which again was just a series of trailers in the parking lot of a casino), and we figured we could get something for breakfast there as nothing else was open on the way. Inside we found a store that was a bit of a time capsule. The music, the ambiance, even the too-cold air conditioning felt decades old. The aisles felt too large and there were large empty areas signalling that the store did not have enough business for it's size. The place was meticulously kept though, even if it was only one lonely cashier in the cavernous building. We found some hot coffee and had a few pastries while we talked about the economy of Japan and how the feeling here could relate to back home. Can anything be done with the general feeling of decline everywhere? Why were things so much better in Japan decades ago? Questions for economists, but not ones they necessarily have good answers for. I feel like many questions for economists are better suited for fortune tellers.
There were a couple of games in the grocery store which caught our eye, including a trio of games for kids (given the console was two feet off the ground), that were essentially slots. You pumped in coins to adjust your bet, then pressed a button to play a chance game, and if you won you got more coins. I have no idea how anyone thinks this kind of game is appropriate or ethical to have around children. No wonder this country has such a gambling problem.
The ride from Nikko to our hotel was calm and wet. The hill upwards was gentle enough that I didn't feel too exhausted, but I did feel like I was going to fall asleep on my bike if the coughing fits didn't take me down first. I really felt wretched today, the week and a half of being sick because I never took the downtime to get better is really catching up with me today. Make time for your body or your body will take it's time, I guess. The road followed a river in a steep gorge, the mountains rising up on either side. Everything was blanketed in thick trees, the slopes now too steep for most developments.
Nonetheless, little onsen towns were nestled into the cracks of the mountains here and there, but the decline of the area was impossible not to notice. While the odd resort was still shiny, it's clear the volume of travelers to the area has dwindled from lofty amounts many many years ago. This area felt harder hit than most we've been to, with half the buildings we saw being either abandoned or in a sorry state. Whole hotels empty, apartment blocks with the windows smashed in, shuttered storefronts. It's sad for the people who have called this area home for generations.
We got to our hotel without much of a plan, as I was too addled to think that far. We agreed that food was going to need to happen, and the onsen I wanted to see was in the town downhill from us. We decided the train was our best bet for parking our bikes while we waited to check in. The train station was nice, but looking at the departures board, the train only ran a handful of times per day, and we wouldn't get back till late in the evening. It also would cost us $30 each just to ride two stops there and back. Not going to work. Instead we went to one of the two places open during lunch.
The restaurant was cute with half a dozen tables and a dated but spotless interior. The ladies we saw clearly were a multigenerational family running the place, with a woman old enough that she couldn't stand up straight anymore still zooming around with tea and orders. Soaked, cold, and with nowhere to go, we brought our books and settled in to stay for awhile. The restaurant never got more than half full and we ordered several meals worth of food, drinks, and desserts, so we figured they wouldn't mind if we sat and quietly read our books. I got a yakiniku set meal and bryce got the karaage set, both were great but Bryce's karaage was especially good. We also got a cola float to share which was delightfully old fashioned but very tasty.
When it was finally time to check in at our hotel, my body was starting to act up. I think the cold and wet and tiredness was getting to me as some of my neurological issues flared up. Not a big deal, but had me a bit twitchy and in desperate need of a hot bath and rest. The hotel lobby was quite nice, but the rest of the place was as we expected; enormous, and falling apart, but working. Various walls and ceilings had water damage that was never going to be fixed, many many doors said "private" or "staff only" that looked to be old banquet halls. A lounge laid dark, never to have a singer again. We found a roof access, the roof patched many times by hand. An arcade with games that were at least 20 or 30 years old were still in working order, maintained as well as any other thing here. The private onsen was damaged beyond use, but the main public ones were functioning.
My onsen was in the basement, and the entrance area again had a huge lounge area that would never be used, and a bunch of other darkened areas that were curious but creeped me out. The bath was in a large room with tall windows and a big stone bath, a large rock wall being the main attraction. I spent some time soaking here till I watched some ladies walk out a different door. Monkeys were bumping on the windows, so I followed them where that went. It lead to three outdoor baths, one just a tub. The big bath overlooked the river and was quite lovely, clearly what was keeping this place afloat, so to speak. Again, really good value for $50 for the two of us.
After my bath, I got up and nearly passed out from the lack of blood pressure and immediately started feeling ill. I went back to the room, grabbed some water and got horizontal. The room is a rather spacious Japanese style room with tatami mats, but with soft beds. The AC works and we have a view of the river from the 6th floor. This place is great. Bryce had a great time soaking in his onsen, which also had outdoor baths and a sauna too. After he returned to the room we went down to the arcade to amuse ourselves before dinner.
As I mentioned the arcade contained some real antiques, pinball-ish games with carved wood channels, racing games with hand drawn art, slots that had real spinning wheels instead of just screens. Everything was also brutally difficult, also in keeping with the time period. Bryce got the high score on the alligator whack a mole game and also beat me 3 out of 3 on the drum game. Can't win em all.
We walked to the only other place in town for dinner, going into a creepy tunnel that went under the hotel. We eventually decided that the tunnel went straight to the kitchens and probably was used for deliveries at some point but now was full of junk and discarded kitchen equipment that was probably too difficult to get rid of. Every old or abandoned building we've seen is full to the brim with empty paint cans, old computers and dilapidated equipment. This stuff must cost a fortune to get rid of.
The restaurant we went to was another cute Japanese restaurant, this one with an older woman serving and a young man in the kitchen cooking. I got the house special udon and Bryce got karaage again. Maybe Bryce needs to branch out a bit. The udon meal was heavenly and wonderful on my sick body, lots of seafood, a hearty broth and chewy noodles. Easily the best udon I've ever had. We ordered extra karaage and a few drinks while we talked strategy for the next week of riding. Also, like the last place, we felt we could stay because they didn't have much business and we wanted to order more because of it. We stayed quite a while but nobody else came.
We decided to cut out a section of the north tour and head directly through the mountains to our port. We're feeling stressed about the end of the trip and want more leeway in case things go wrong and also more time in Hokkaido as we've heard good things. We'll miss out on Fukushima and Sendai and Morioka, but get to experience the internal mountain valleys of northern Japan. This feels like a decent move, as we've seen a lot of the coastal lowlands already and some highland adventures sounds good. Plus it gains us half a week in hokkaido which will allow us three or four days to prepare for our departure, which means lots of time to find gifts and other cool things to bring home.
Back in the hotel room, we're looking for a nice rest and an early start tomorrow. We have two options, a blistering 5 day tour with four 100km days, or a 7 day tour with 6 75km days. We're shooting for the latter. We'll attempt the big ride just after Sapporo. For now, I want to get healthy and enjoy the ride. Sleep tonight and tomorrow is a new day, hopefully I'll be healthy by then.

hey so, my mouse wheel wont register me scrolling, but registers when i click down on it ? its not dust, ive already cleaned it. ive had it for less than a year so it cant be age either. ive uninstalled and reinstalled logitech ghub, ive restarted my computer, put my sable into a different port, all with and without the wire plugged in. i feel at a complete lost, any help would be appreciated, :<<

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Just came back a few days ago from a 3 week trip to Japan. Here was my experience:
To preface:

• I'm Canadian, Vietnamese, gay man, solo traveller
• I like new experiences and eating food, but I am not one to seek out the best or hottest place to go or obsessively look for tips on social media
• I like shopping and fashion and love discovering brands I am unable to get in North America
• I've been to Vietnam and I understand the very complex socioeconomical discrimination between Asians and Southeast Asians, colorism and what is considered a "rich" Asian country and a "poor" or "jungle" Asian country. I will have a hot take on this later in my breakdown.

General overview:
Day 1-3: Tokyo - I landed right on Pride weekend! It was fantastic. I knew only 1 person in Tokyo and I had some friends randomly also in Tokyo the same time I was. We went out for a drag brunch, one of the first of its kind in Japan as it's still a very new concept for the country. Performers were great though. Went to the Shinjuku gay district and had a blast discovering all these cool bars all with different vibes. It's also a great place to meet locals, tourists and immigrants (not just immigrants from Western countries, but from other Asian countries like China, Vietnam, Korea etc. who now live in Japan). There was also a festival for Pride in Yoyogi park and it was crowded and fun. Great to see Tokyo really embracing Pride.
Day 4-10: Based myself in Osaka but went exploring with my Setouchi JR West Pass throughout the week I was in Osaka. Went to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, Nagoya so I can make my way to Ghibli Park (not a part of JR West so I paid out of pocket for that), and went to Kyoto twice. Overall, I really liked Osaka. I love big cities that are lively and noisy. I don't mind the crowds when I am also shopping in the Dotonbori area. The best part was cutting my day short in Kyoto because I was feeling sick, and then discovering that there was an exclusive Sailor Moon Museum happening in Namba and deciding to get tickets for that. Best unplanned experience that was actually better than Ghibli Park. Also, shopped on Orange Street, one of the best places for fashion lovers. Osaka castle was great but the line up to get in the castle was way too long and the day was super hot. Got to a see a high school Kendo tournament going on though so that was a neat experience!
Day 11-12: Flew to Sapporo from Osaka. It was cold. Windy on the first day. Rainy on the second day. Overall, just cold. Not Canadian Winter cold, but I wish I had a warmer jacket cold. It was the few places that had cherry blossoms left. The Sapporo Beer Museum was really neat and I liked learning about the history of such an iconic brand.
Day 13-21: Back to Tokyo. I am a remote worker and my job doesn't care where I work so I took the opportunity to save some vacation days for a future trip, and just work remotely while exploring Tokyo and surrounding areas. Went to Mt. Fuji for a day and back, did not get to see the mountain as it was really rainy and foggy that day. Wento the lucky cat shrine and it was cute but also busy for such a small shrine thanks to TikTok. Went out to the gay bars two more times and had a blast and met some new people (locals and tourists) who I still keep in contact with on social media. Got a tattoo at one point - LOVE IT. The artist was amazing and so gentle, I hardly felt anything. Did some more shopping in Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku and my favourite place - Harajuku! Overall, I really enjoyed Tokyo and my Japan trip as this was my first time.
Time and weather:

• rainy for half of it, warm for the other half. Chilly in Sapporo.
• was in Sapporo and Tokyo for Golden Week. Not as crazy as everyone says it would be. It was much crazier leading up to Golden Week. Was still able to get reserved seats tickets at the station itself easily and no need to book in advanced online. Honestly, didn't even bother booking online as the website isn't very clear especially when you have a JR West pass already.

Getting around:

• Digital Suica card on my iPhone. Worked for everything. So easy to use and got me around everywhere including the Kansai region and Sapporo.
• Right when I got off the plane, I got on a Airport Limo bus which was so much easier. No need to know which station to get off from and they had space for all my luggage. Took me to a hotel stop that was 2 blocks away from my hotel. Honestly, after a 9 hour flight, a limo bus is worth the $25 instead of the train and subway.
• Subways became easy to use and once you get to used to them, Osaka and Sapporo was easy to navigate as it was similar to Tokyo's subway.
• If you have a JR pass, pay attention to if you can use it on the local JR lines. Typically, you can. I forgot, and I tapped my Suica to enter a JR local line in Hiroshima, then I realized I could use my JR pass, so I stuck my pass in the machine and it let me through. But because I never tapped my Suica to leave the JR line in Hiroshima, my Suica card stopped working for train stations because it thinks I'm still on a trip in Hiroshima. Had to go to a subway guard (the ones in the booth next to the station gates where you tap your Suica), told them what happend using Google Translate and showed them my JR pass and they understood right away. They took my phone and put it on this scanner and it reset my Suica card. Very easy as if they've done this a million times before (they have).
• Used the convenience store and hotels to send my big luggage to my next hotel so I wouldn't have to deal with it on the train or train stations or flying with it when I flew from Osaka to Sapporo. Such a great service. Just bring your luggage to your hotel reception and tell them your next stop and when you want the luggage by. They will try to get it there the day you requested or the day after. Just be prepared to live out of your carry on for 1 or 2 days. If your hotel doesn't offer it, any 7-11, Family Mart or Lawson offers it. Lawson uses Japan Postal, 7-11 and Family Mart uses Yamato. I also sent my luggage to the airport before I had to leave Japan and it was a breeze. But be warned, for any transfer to an airport, it has to be 2 days before your departure flight or it won't make it on time.

Eating:
As much as I loved having a list of some places to eat at, I abandoned it and didn't really care anymore. From high-end restaurants, cafes, local places and even fast-food, everything was delicious. I stopped caring about where I ate, and just took a walk down any street and when I saw a menu I liked, I just went in. Honestly, even Denny's in Japan was amazing (it's a different menu and not like Denny's in Canada).
Shopping experience:
Loved shopping in Japan. I brought one large suitcase that was empty, put a smaller suitcase inside of it and then had my backpack and carry on suitcase. The yen was weaker than CAD, plus if you spend over 5,500 yen, and show them your passport, you'll get the tax off and some stores offer additional discounts for foreign passport holders.
Brands I bought:

• Onitsuka Tiger - best shoes ever. So stylish, comfy and very popular in Asia.
• Beams - they carry a variety of brands and their own brands.
• FR2 - great streetwear brand. They have different stores in different cities and exclusive pieces for that city.
• In Osaka, look for The Goodland Market on Orange Street. They carry brands that emphasize sustainability. Very laid-back and casual.
• Master-piece - great brand for bags.
• Saturdays NYC - this is an American brand but has a store in Tokyo. Loved the vibes. Very laid back.
• Rage Blue - easy styles with nice colours and cuts. Often had sales going on. Has a variety of brands.
• United Arrows - great styles here too. You'll be coming back to your country so fashionable.

A personal view:
I really like Japan and I would go again, but now that I've experienced it, I now know what I like and don't like. As much as everyone raves about Kyoto, I honestly didn't care for it. Inari shrine was great, the climb to the top was great exercise and most people give up not even halfway up so it gets less and less busy. I also like Nishiki market as I love street food in Vietnam so that type of vibe of just trying everything was a great experience. But honestly, Kyoto was a tourist trap (as with most places). Gion district was cute but you definitely won't find locals hanging there unless they work there. The street will be quiet for 10 minutes, then the next set of tour buses will come, 8 taxis will come and the whole experience walking through the street is kind of ruined. Also, it just felt a bit like...Disneyland. Everything was catered to tourists. I'm not someone who even seeks out places where locals are so you can meet locals as I don't really care that much if I meet a tourist or a local, if it happens it happens, but I'm not obsessed with it. But I somehow just got this feeling that Gion has been warped into a thing for tourists who are sold an "authentic, cultural experience". It reminds me of tourist traps in Vietnam, and maybe I only have this view because I've experienced Vietnam too. Perhaps a non-Asian tourist won't see this and to each their own of course. It didn't really help that there were signs saying don't take photos on private streets, and tourists would stand in front of those signs and start taking photos...
Another take is that the Japan that's shown to you on TV shows, dramas and the news is not the Japan you'll experience (unless you're always a part of a tour group). The media portrays Japan as a nation that is ONLY Japanese people, and that you will only meet Japanese people serving you and that despite a low birth rate, immigration is just not a thing in Japan. This is false. I can't count the number of times where I'll order food, have the cashier speak to me in English and Japanese (because I don't know Japanese), sit down and then hear the cashier and other staff speak Vietnamese. It dawned on me that pretty much all the food service staff were Vietnamese in Osaka and Tokyo. Probably more in other areas if I paid attention more. I started speaking Vietnamese back to them and they were surprised that I knew they were Viet. We made some pleasant conversation and for the most part they liked that someone acknowledged that they were Vietnamese. However, one time, one girl told me not to speak Viet to her or she'll get in trouble. The staff are allowed to speak Vietnamese to each other but not to the customer because the boss didn't want people to know that they weren't being served by Japanese people. Some places were more obvious such as people from Nepal, India or Pakistan working there but spoke perfect Japanese. Some places clearly only hired Vietnamese people because they can pass as Japanese. This was more shocking to me than any culture shock I could have experienced as a Canadian.
I think there's a sense of Japan being a rich nation, aligned with the US, that it's better than places like Vietnam. But after spending some time in both countries, I saw that even buildings were built in a similar way. Narrow staircases, no baseboards, sometimes low ceilings, and businesses stacked on top of each. I loved Japan and like I said, I would go again. But I think I would stick to just to Tokyo and Osaka next time. Both are also very touristy but not in a way that it's disguised as anything else. Osaka Dotonbori is a place to shop. People know that. It's extremely crowded, but you're there to shop, not for a cultural experience. If I were to go elsewhere, I would try Okinawa and maybe a rural experience too. But other than that, I'm someone who goes for the shopping and eating experience and the nightlife. I know some people might not agree with my take, as most subs about traveling to Japan always seem to be finding an authentic Japanese experience. But being able to realize that some people serving you aren't Japanese and that most experiences are waterdown and overpriced tourist experiences, you quickly realize that authentic Japanese experiences (as with any country popular with tourists) are hard to come by.
Edit: I replaced the term expat with immigrant for sensitivity.
Edit 2:
Just to provide more details on my experience that contrasts a lot of what you may find on Reddit.
Cleanliness:
Yes, parts of Tokyo and Japan itself is clean. But I have seen some parts of Toyko with garbage on the ground. Osaka is more obviously dirty if you want to put it that way. More garbage on the street, especially at night. My local friend told me that Japanese people are just good at hiding their litter and when they think no one is watching, they do litter.
Homelessness:
I saw homelessness. In Asakusa where my hotel was, there was one homeless lady on the main street near Don Quitos. I also some when you are walking to Shibuya Scramble Square. It's a big city, I'm sure homelessness is an issue there. I saw a TikTok while I was there about homeless runway children in the Shibuya and Shinjuku area.
Shyness/Attitude:
I was always told that many Japanese wouldn't really want to make small talk with you. But honestly it really depends. I had pink hair and had my nails done with a cute fun design on them. So many cashiers, retail people etc. wanted to compliment my nails and tell me how cute they were. Even leaving Japan, as I was going through security, the security lady complimented my nails as I was placing my liquids and computers in a bin. I also carried around a Sailor Moon tote bag I got from the museum and strangers on the street were stopping me to compliment it. I'm a man and I have my nails done, pink hair and a Sailor Moon tote bag. If you give them a reason to talk to you, they will.
Weak yen:
The best part about clubbing is going to the 7-11 near the gay district alleys, buying cheap alcohol, drinking it with your newly made friends, and then going back into the club to dance some more before doing it again 20 minutes later. Alcohol is so cheap there! 450 yen for a can of Jack Daniels and Coke...that's like $2-3 Canadian. We Canadians usually pay $6 or $8 for a can!
More on fashion:
I tried my best to avoid buying brands I could get in North America but sometimes the exchange rate and no tax was too good. Commes Des Garcon Play sneakers in Canada are $200 before tax. Found a design that isn't available in Canada, no tax and the conversion made them $160. Had to get them. Bought a Dior cardholder that's $480 before tax in Canada. No tax and converted price in Japan turned out to be $390. I say definitely look for the Japanese brands you can't get back home because you'll come back with more unique pieces (even if it's a popular, mass product in Japan) but also if you have your eye on designer pieces, chances are the piece is cheaper in Japan. The only thing I found that Hermes and Chanel were the same price or more expensive in Japan. But other brands like Gucci, Dior, Prada, Burberry and Louis Vuitton were cheaper.
Even Uniqlo is cheaper. The viral bag that people like is $25 in Canada. In Japan it's $13. There was a Golden Week sale that made the bags $8 each.
I did avoid some brands like A.P.C or Diesel (which is everywhere in Japan) because despite it being cheaper, I know when there's a sale on SSENSE it's even cheaper than what you could get in Japan.

Getting performance upgrades for a car typically refers to modifications or enhancements made to improve the vehicle's speed, power, handling, and overall performance. These upgrades can include changes to the engine, exhaust system, suspension, brakes, tires, and aerodynamics, among other performance parts.

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Popular performance upgrades for vehicles
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