Unblock anything now

A couple of weeks ago I had a second round interview at a company that went extremely well. The first round interview also went very well. The hiring manager and two CEOs that I met with all complimented me and it seemed to be an excellent match. They said that they would be in contact, and that they expect to let all candidates know a final decision by Monday.
Monday came and passed, so I thought, "okay, they're running behind." Friday came, and I thought, "well maybe I misheard, maybe they meant this upcoming Monday." It's now Tuesday and I've still not heard anything. I sent a follow up email yesterday to the hiring manager, and in it I included the fact that I have another job offer (because I do), and asked for a timeframe update on their decision making process. I thought that this would be the push to let me know SOMETHING. Anything at this point. Even just, "we're running behind."
This is my first choice job, and I would love to hear back from them, even if it's a no at this point, just so I can have closure. They really didn't seem like the kind of people to ghost you, so I really don't know what's going on. Is it acceptable to call at this point? Should I try emailing the CEOs? Any advice would be welcomed and appreciated.

I've had my aquarium about 6 years now, nothing fancy (Aqueon 20L) but I was wondering if I should start checking to make sure the seals aren't loosening up or anything??
When I got it, it turned out to have a small crack towards the bottom, so also wondering if that needs to be resealed.

I had a whole two page recounting of the entire thing typed up and ready to post, but when I was about to hit send I realize the details didn't matter. They didn't change anything. I lost a friend to suicide last week, something I've been fearing for over a year now, and nothing is going to turn back the clock.
I'm angry. Angry at myself for not doing the one magical thing that maybe could've helped. Angry at everyone else in his life for not doing it either. I'm angry at him for not accepting that everyone in his life telling him he was suffering from delusions and psychosis may have been a sign.
I'm sad. I'm sad because I did try, so did everyone else. So did he. Sad it wasn't enough and now it never will be. Sad that what he went through was real for him and truly terrifying and no one deserves to have their own mind turn against them like that.
It just fucking sucks.

I stumbled across this subreddit and although I'm strictly not over 40 myself, my relationship lends to being with someone older than me, so I'm looking for thoughts and opinions from people in that demographic. Hopefully that's okay....
For a little context, I was in my first and only relationship which lasted 18 months. It was an age gap relationship, she was 43/44 at the time, so 12 years older than me — I'm 33 now and she had a little daughter who was around 10 who I treated like my own. She was married for 14 years, divorced for 3 before I come along and was a breath of fresh air and “put the wind back in her sails” as she put it and the "love of her life" and "soulmate" and all that stuff…But ultimately, in August 2022 after our holiday as a trio to Mallorca, she told me she no longer found me attractive, or attractive anyway, she was never in it from day one when she met me, only saw me as a friend.
She told me she thinks she should be with someone more her age, established, has the executive job title (as she finds the self made type an “attractive” quality), fancy car, house, body. I think she saw a power imbalance because of the age gap and she was a high earner herself.
I think she has/had her own issues she never dealt with, because I was never toxic or abusive or shouted or argued and did everything to try meet her needs. I would've moved mountains and walked over broken glass for her. There were these emotional wobbles every few months, where she would burst into tears upset telling me she wasn’t sure what she wants, she doesn’t want a relationship and can go through life focusing on her career, daughter and doesn’t need or want a guy. But being nieve would ignore that, calm her down, reassure her I’m there for her, sleep on it and go again and then the cycle would repeat after a few months - another wobble and another. I guess ultimately I'll never really know the true reason as I guess people say things in the heat of the moment.
She turned incredibly cold and heartless after I tried to save things, be reasonable and text, and then all of a sudden we were in no contact at all. After a year of being blocked everywhere except for WhatsApp, she unblocked me on Instagram just before the most recent Christmas, but never reached out. Could be something, could be nothing. I guess 6 months later, it's nothing.
I guess I'm a little lost still, all this time later, and would welcome thoughts and an open conversation for comfort..

Hello! Im James, 18+ so im expecting my partner to be 18 as well.
Im looking for a female (actual female please, not a guy playing a female character) to be my longterm writing partner. I've been on the hunt lately for someone looking to do a slice of life roleplay. Because in a sea full of fantasy, sci-fi and supernatural elements stories.
I think there are people out here like me who were never into writing these, and just looking to do an everyday romance type of story.
I've been roleplaying for over 4-5 years, were introduced to it over omegle but as it shut down, reddit helped me find more detailed partners and helped me be more literate and descriptive. As for my writing style, i write in first person present tense as it's the only way making sense to me. Let's be real, we're all tired of working seriously all days of the week and this is where we relax and live what we wanna live. I prefer if my partner writes the same but if not then that's fine.
As for my writing length, i basically pass discord's limit over twice for my starter, as it contains a backstory and everything. But for the regular replies, i can write 4-12 lines based on my availability and the context. Im not that serious about the length, as long as you give me something to work with. Im not expecting a mutli million dollar movie script nor a one line. English isn't my first language, but i thankfully have little to no mistakes, but forgive me if i have any.
I believe communication is the most important aspect in anything in life, so im looking for my partner to be communicative, about her preferences, availability, about anything before and mid the roleplay.
I have been through lot of bad experiences so if you're someone who just wanna strictly roleplay and someone who ghosts, please don't bother messaging me.
I know we're all adults and have a life, and i appreciate that some of you would be using their free time in talking with me, but im active these days and im NOT looking for someone that's gonna reply once every few days. To sum it up, im looking to make a friend out of my partner, have a lot of OOC chats and not just strictl roleplaying like robots. And also someone available these days.
The tropes im interested in are:
-childhood bestfriends. -enemies to lovers. -bestfriend's siblings. -fake dating.
And alot more!
I love how organized discord is, so im looking to roleplay over there.
I think i got it all now? Feel free to ask me anything, and reply to me with your favourite chocolate to make sure you read everything.
Im interested to hear from each and everyone of you.
Peace!

I have recently been diagnosed with autism and I’m struggling with feeling of hopelessness as I get that now I won’t ever get “better”.
I know that’s really awful to say, and I don’t actually mean we should cure autism or anything. But it is just a thought I keep having. Like I wish I didn’t have it or it would go away. Like my life would be easier without it.
I’m struggling particular with anxiety, especially at work at the moment and I feel hopeless like I can’t ever get it to go away. I’ve had anxiety all my life. I know realistically it’s not true and that I can treat it (I am a doctor) but also because none of the treatment for anxiety/depression pre-ADHD and autism diagnosis helped it feels like it wouldn’t work now. I’ve done so much therapy too and I just can’t do more. Also doesn’t help that my psychiatrists response to asking about treating anxiety was “oh most people with autism have anxiety”.
I’m also struggling with this feeling that I don’t know who I am, exacerbated by the fact that I am noticing more of my autism and sensory needs and it feels like my autism is worse post-diagnosis (I don’t think this is actually the case, I think I’m just realising why I’m distressed and not feeling distressed for no reason.. and also I am trying to be more accommodating to my sensory needs and not mask as much).
How do you deal with these negative feelings post diagnosis? Any help would be much appreciated!

Please be gentle. I am 33- f, single, living at home with parents. I spent 10 years in a toxic relationship and just starting to get out of the cobwebs and realize I do have a future, if I want one. I was depressed and felt like I had no future for so long.
Now that therapy has helped a ton, I am beginning to envision a future and see my worth. However, I get paralyzed when I think about my finances. I recently got a raise making now 70k around and $966/wk. I have around 120k worth of deb- most is student, 20 is car, ( i pay a friend at a 1.% interest ) and then around 5k in CC debt. I have 20k in my 401k, but I just found out bc of my ex advice I was not contributing anything all this time for my 40k so this is just employer (tragicccc).
I want to start contributing, but what percent? Do I also start a RothIRA? Or do I wait to invest before out of debt- my student loans feel insurmountable and feel like with the 20yr plan and my payments only going to interest I just am ignoring them and paying my monthly payment.
I feel scared and lost about future, and retirement and living comfortably. I want to move out. Rent/Buy?! Have my own life but idk where to focus first.
I feel if I wait until debt free, I'll be living at home with my parents until 40 and feel like I am waiting so long for "life" to begin after wasting so much time in an abuse situation.
I also just started my own business, slow rolling, which supplemental money is coming in and soon more (another part time opportunity) but also there are business expenses on my plate too.
Does anyone have any advice? Where to start/focus? I feel doomed. Sometimes when I think about my finances I go back into that despair cycle and wonder what is the point.
Looking for a beacon here.
TIA.

Hi! My girlfriend had bedbugs at her place sometime ago. When she noticed, exterminators came and she moved temporarily with me. We took extreme precautions with all of her stuff (everything in the dryer at intense heat and steam for the things that would not go into the dryer). But there is a short period of time while she was traveling back and forth to my place with her clothes before she noticed the bedbugs. It's been three months and 2 weeks now and I can't shake the paranoia. I've woken up last night with a big itch on my scalp like something bit me but I didn't find anything. I checked the mattress and the bedframe and saw nothing. No poop or blood stains. (Actually there was a bloodstain on my gf pillow but she had her ear pierced not long ago and it tends to infect so I didn't really read into it)
Sometimes I have itches on my legs but it's hard to differentiate between paranoia and actual bites. I feel like by now I should've seen something ! I put multiple traps a while back and never saw anything.
So, is it possible for an infestation to start 3 month and a half after the possible contamination or am I waaay overthinking this ?
Thanks for you help

Hello! Im James, 18+ so im expecting my partner to be 18 as well.
Im looking for a female (actual female please, not a guy playing a female character) to be my longterm writing partner. I've been on the hunt lately for someone looking to do a slice of life roleplay. Because in a sea full of fantasy, sci-fi and supernatural elements stories.
I think there are people out here like me who were never into writing these, and just looking to do an everyday romance type of story.
I've been roleplaying for over 4-5 years, were introduced to it over omegle but as it shut down, reddit helped me find more detailed partners and helped me be more literate and descriptive. As for my writing style, i write in first person present tense as it's the only way making sense to me. Let's be real, we're all tired of working seriously all days of the week and this is where we relax and live what we wanna live. I prefer if my partner writes the same but if not then that's fine.
As for my writing length, i basically pass discord's limit over twice for my starter, as it contains a backstory and everything. But for the regular replies, i can write 4-12 lines based on my availability and the context. Im not that serious about the length, as long as you give me something to work with. Im not expecting a mutli million dollar movie script nor a one line. English isn't my first language, but i thankfully have little to no mistakes, but forgive me if i have any.
I believe communication is the most important aspect in anything in life, so im looking for my partner to be communicative, about her preferences, availability, about anything before and mid the roleplay.
I have been through lot of bad experiences so if you're someone who just wanna strictly roleplay and someone who ghosts, please don't bother messaging me.
I know we're all adults and have a life, and i appreciate that some of you would be using their free time in talking with me, but im active these days and im NOT looking for someone that's gonna reply once every few days. To sum it up, im looking to make a friend out of my partner, have a lot of OOC chats and not just strictl roleplaying like robots. And also someone available these days.
The tropes im interested in are:
-childhood bestfriends. -enemies to lovers. -bestfriend's siblings. -fake dating.
And alot more!
I love how organized discord is, so im looking to roleplay over there.
I think i got it all now? Feel free to ask me anything, and reply to me with your favourite chocolate to make sure you read everything.
Im interested to hear from each and everyone of you.
Peace!

As someone who is diagnosed with Bipolar type 1, I can tell you now all she is suffering with is too much drink and too many drugs.
I'd give anything not to have it, not to have spent months in a psychiatric unit, it's a living hell and the fact she pulls this new "diag-nonsense" out her ass is a fucking joke.
Manic episode? You mean.. Having a little cry and triggering people online with a sharp object? Wasting the time of ambulances and NHS staff you call for yourself?
It's not how she thinks it is and I don't usually post but I genuinely feel so personally hurt by this new claim.
Try being so elevated you feel like you're invincible, but not in a tiktok "I'm invincible and the queen of the app no one can remove me" way
It's like you suddenly have a god complex, absolutely nothing can affect you and that actually the law isn't something you have to abide by because you're pretty damn special.
Money is no object, everything you earn is disposable but also don't forget.. you're going to make it big because you watched a single video on something random like being a fashion designer.
So you quit your job straight after watching the video and order some supplies and spend hours focusing on it, making yourself a business that's never going to take off..
You could lose your job, your house, your family. You start taking mega risks that can ruin your whole life.
You wash your car at 3am because you suddenly remember you need to do it, you mow the lawn at 4am waking up your neighbours causing an ongoing conflict, there is 0 sense of time, sometimes you genuinely think you're completely invincible.. like you could walk in front of traffic and nothing could hurt you or you could take a shortcut to the garden by just jumping from a second story window because rules, consequences and things just don't apply or exist to you.
You sleep with people just for the thrill, the excitement of being so bad, you get married after knowing someone for 3 days, You do reckless things like driving your car down the motorway at 180mph just for the sheer thrill and adrenaline of it, you do things to feel alive.
You are so out of it that you don't even REALISE how far gone you are. You don't REALISE you need to get help. You don't REALISE you need to reach out or get therapy or whatever. You don't REALISE until the damage is done or the comedown from the mania into the depression.
You also do everything you needed to do when you were so depressed you didn't want to exist, you didn't leave your actual bed for 4 weeks, you didn't shower, you didn't brush your hair, you didn't brush your teeth, you didn't go out, you stayed in the same clothes, you don't eat, you don't open your curtains, you couldn't even reply to a text message from friends simply asking if you are ok let alone going live and going out.
Going on a drug/alcohol bender, lying about everything and causing shit online and crying wolf 24/7 isn't bipolar.

I came out before going into highschool. Now I'm old enough to remember when Ellen first came out and lost her show, just to get another. Things felt more inclusive then.
Today I was message by a fem that I could tell was only into femmes. She really wanted a relationship and told me she didn't need to date femmes exclusively. I knew better, type always sinks my battle ship. I sent a picture anyway and ghosted.
This happens a lot and if I could've known way back when, I wouldn't have come out and just dated guys. Everyone wants femmes, anything else is unattractive and unacceptable. I'm sorry but women are so incredibly harsh.

There was this one show, I am almost sure it aired on Cartoon Network in 2010s' but I could be wrong. I have no idea when it got taken off the TV screens, but last time I watched it was no later than 2015. I remember it was some kind of reality show for fans of the channel, mostly for young teens. it could've been a survival game but I'm pretty sure it was a treasure hunt in the wild,like a forest or a field. I remember there were either just one team of three kids trying to win or two teams, also with three participants in each, compiting against each other. the only adult was the main male host. I'm pretty sure the participants had to find keys or collectables to unlock a tresure chest and win the game.
I remember one scene of an episode clearly. there were the three kids on the screen in black costumes with blue details and they had helmets on. they were sitting around the closed chest and being excited that they have found the key-thing. I remember a scene like that so vividly yet I can not find anything similiar on the internet.
My memory about this show is very blury and it wasnt really popular in my country, none of my friends remember anything like that. from my own research, it was not the 'Survive This' show. to my knowlage it aired only in the USA ans Canada and I live in Europe.
I am looking for this show for 2 years now and I am starting to think my memory is just getting foggy since its been so long I last watched it, but I hope you guys can help me out on this one if the show indeed existed.

Long story short, finally got to play the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series now that it is out on console, and just finished the first game while unknowingly playing master difficulty.
Some parts were tedious, like the insides of buildings or when shit just spawns in you, but overall it was ok with some difficulties here and there. Went to go and up the difficulty but it was already on master! I tried the lower settings- and everything just felt off, so I went back.
Will definitely be playing max difficulty on all stalkers from here on out, so happy me and everyone without a pc can enjoy these amazing games. What difficulty does everyone else play on?
Now if only I could play CoC... but sadly I don't think anything messing with the engine will be on console.

Sorry long one. I just need some perspective.
Hi. I am a sahm of 2 pregnant with 3rd baby. Living with husbands family who speak Spanish( I'm not fluent, and better at speaking than understanding Spanish), who love using Spanish as a way to exclude me from the conversation. Have a household of 10, sometimes 11 people. My husband and his mom were paying the bills, while his middle brother went to school(with the deal being if he goes into school from high school husband will support him until he graduated). His dad is retired. Even though younger brother wasn't going to school( which was said to mean he has to start paying bills), his younger brother( older than 20 yo) was allowed to bring in his girlfriend and not pay anything. Once the middle brother graduated school he started paying bills, while the younger brother and his now fiance got pregnant and he decided to quit his job without another job ready. The fiance and YB constantly complained about how much they were paying for groceries to the house, where everyone in the house was paying the same towards groceries every month. In secret his fiance has said they are thinking of moving in with a friend so they can have more space. I have had many conversations with her and she wants things, but is not willing to assist in getting those things( e.g she wants us to get new washer and drier, she expects us to move to a new house so they can have more space), but currently the YB can barely pay for mortgage and she doesn't want to work. So, most likely my husband will once again be stiluck with the brunt of paying for things while they skate through life getting to do everything without working for it. Come to find out the YB is also expecting help while bashing the people who are helping him.
Most of these side conversations are happening while my husband is at work, and so I feel this need to defend him. Once again these conversations are happening in Spanish, so I can understand maybe half of what they are saying and try responding in what Spanish I know.
Currently, we are dealing with a younger sibling who is constantly changing his job and also has a fiance and a baby. His mom enables him constantly, and he constantly exaggerates or lies as to what people say to make things seem like he is was never told something or he is always not at fault.
So when he once again changed what he wants to do with his life, my husband said he will still pay his portion of the mortgage. The younger brother uses everyone's car to go to school and work, sometimes making people late to work. My husband has offered to teach him his manual car until he gets a car. MIL expects everyone to help him out, saying " the manual is too hard of a car to drive". When he has been using everyone's cars for years and my husband's car has been available for practice all that time.
On the side he complains that my husband never has any time to teach him, but my husband works and said" if he wants to learn HE needs to be the one to pursue learning". It's convenient,IMO, that YB is using this excuse now that my husband is no longer enabling him. I also have a car that is automatic, that I need available for use for me and my kids, I don't feel I should make this car available for use when I bought the car from a job I had and responsibly finished school with the goal of having a car for being a sahm and not need to rely on other people. Currently the car situation is the YB uses the middle brothers car for school and work. And the MB uses his mom's car during the day and then he mom goes to work after he come home for her shift is in the evening.
This morning the conversation was talking with MIL about how the MB got a new job where he can no longer come home in time for his mom to get to work on time. So, instead of saying to the YB he can no longer use MB car, the MB asked if he could use my car. I'm ok with an emergency use of my car, but not as a permanent solution to someone elses irresponsibility. My husband told MB " you have a car, you can borrow it until next week. After that YB needs to find a solution. He has been offered using the manual, he's had plenty of time to learn the manual".As I was having this conversation with MIL, YB walked down the stairs to again complain about my husband not having time to teach him. Which lead to MIL it's too hard to learn. Which I responded for how long has he had to practice. And she said when some one needs help you give them help, going towards him using my car. I responded with, for their whole life? And she responded, no just until he is finished with school. Which I responded while MB was in school, he also had a job, and he bought his car. I said how is it fair for MB to buy a car for MIL to tell him to let YB use his car. I think the responsibility is the YB get the car, and for everyone else to stop enabling him. During this conversation I am getting upset with my heartrate and my face turning red. I didn't expect the MIL to take the stance of just enabling YB to get whatever he want and my husband should just be okay with always be willing to pay for YB if he needs it. I don't want to have it that my husband is being bashed, so I try to defend him. Part of me just wants to never talk to them, If I stay out of it and just leave it to my husband then I can be oblivious to their enabling. My heart just hurts for my husband to never be able to rest and enjoy things because he has been forced to take care of his relatives. He is heading towards a heart attack or stroke at this point and I think that's the only way he will ever get rest and for YB to take responsibility.
it's not my fault he waits until the last minute to say he has no time to practice. I am also angry my husband has been paying bills for the house since he was in highschool, yet MIL expects everyone to allow YB to do things that cause other people to pay for his responsibilities( constantly quiting jobs, adding mouths to the house hold, using his MB car without any compensation).
Whenever I try to talk to my family, they say we just need to move out. Which doesn't help, when my husband doesn't want to leave his family drowning in payments. when YB doesn't help enough to make him confident his parents won't lose the house, he said he will still help pay mortgage.
What should I do?

Hi all was hoping someone has some insight on this. We recently applied for a fiance visa. I am the sponsor and have a 1 bedroom flat which I am renting which is sufficient for myself and spouse. Our initial plan was to leave all 3 of our kids in South Africa for now until we can secure bigger accommodation but now we have to take our youngest daughter with us who is 2 due to care issues. Will this have a negative effect when we need to extend the visa? We said we weren't bringing any children. All 3 children are British with British passports but living IN South Africa. Does anyone know anything about this? Should we contact the ukvi to let them know circumstances have changed slightly?
Thanks in advance

Can someone explain to me specifically why this was removed, and how I’d be able to edit it without defeating the purpose of the entire story?
It was removed for breach of the “CORROBORATION/PROOF” rule, though after reviewing those terms, I don’t believe that I’ve broken them.
“A dream, a nightmare, a hallucination, a vision, a bout of sleep paralysis, is drunk and/or high, was in a coma or otherwise an altered state”— none of these are the reason behind my main character’s paranormal experience, and I’ve given no indication whatsoever in the story to suggest that they are.
In fact, I’ve outright denied the idea that my main character imagined her experience about as much as I possibly could for a story with a first person perspective.
The main character says “it definitely happened. It’s not the kind of thing you can just imagine, and I’m sure now that it wasn’t a dream,” in the second paragraph— a sentiment which she consistently attests to throughout the story, and a sentiment which is never walked back on or brought into question by the narrator.
My narrator was in a sound state of mind at the moment of her encounter, and is practical and methodical in her investigation of what happened. Any implication that she has become mentally unwell occurs long after the inciting incident which the story is built around.
I would like to respectfully request that this story be reevaluated. In the short time that it was active on nosleep, it clearly connected with people. If it cannot stand as is, then I need someone to help me make it fit the guidelines without defeating the entire purpose of the story and betraying its themes.
The nosleep subreddit is filled to the brim with stories in which the narrator’s words are taken at face value. When a narrator in a different story says “I walked to the store,” it’s not like the author HAS to give tactile, irrefutable evidence that the narrator actually walked to the store. The audience simply accepts that the narrator walked to the store. This concept of innate credibility is the bedrock upon which my entire story is built.
I do not believe my work would benefit from being altered to fit these guidelines as rigidly as possible, nor do I think that is a fair standard to hold it to. In fact, if I were to change the contents of my story in such a way, the themes which set it apart from others like it would be lost.
In short, I do not understand why my story was deleted, I do not know how to alter it to fit the guidelines beyond any shadow of a doubt without destroying its central purpose, and I refuse to believe that nosleep is not the right place for this work. I implore you to reconsider my submission, or to at least work with me to find a solution which keeps the story’s themes intact.
Here is my story:
I got grabbed
Last night, when I was home alone, a hand reached out from under the couch and grabbed me.
Nobody was there to see it, and nobody that I’ve told believes me, but it definitely happened. It’s not the kind of thing you can just imagine, and I’m sure now that it wasn’t a dream.
I was watching TV when it happened. The remote fell under the couch and I started fishing around for it without really looking, not wanting to get up from my seat. I brushed it with the tips of my fingers and it slid further underneath.
I was super annoyed— I had to get down on my knees to reach it. I finally found the remote, and that’s when it grabbed me.
As I pulled the remote out into the light, a hand shot up from under the couch and wrapped its fingers around my wrist.
I was able to yank myself away quickly. It didn’t hold on tight— just enough that I felt a little resistance. I jumped to my feet, obviously terrified.
I didn’t scream or anything. I was honestly too scared to even make a sound. My heart was beating so fast that my ears started to ring. The TV was still going, commercials droning on while I tried to process what had just happened.
The hand had only come out about a foot from under the couch. It had an arm attached to it, though I wasn’t able to see past its elbow, and it slinked back below the couch as soon as I pulled myself free from its grasp.
It didn’t hurt, and it didn’t leave any sort of bruise or mark or anything on my wrist, but I definitely felt it, and I definitely saw it.
All I could do was stare at the spot where the hand had appeared. I stood there for what felt like an eternity, until I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps right outside my front door.
I live in a second-story apartment. It’s a pretty cramped place and a pretty old building, so whenever someone comes over I can usually hear footsteps from the moment they enter the building downstairs.
I guess I was so freaked out by the hand that I didn’t even notice someone was outside until they were already opening the door.
My roommate walked in on quite a scene. She immediately registered how off the vibe was. I could see it on her face.
She found me standing upright in the middle of our living room, TV remote in hand, facing away from the screen while Full House’s laugh track filled the air. I’m sure I’d think it was odd too.
“Hey…” she said, shifting a paper bag full of groceries in her arm while she pocketed her keys, “You good?”
I felt like I was caught with my pants down, but just seeing a familiar face brought some of the blood back to my fingers.
“N—yeah,” I stuttered. I came back online, and flicked the TV off.
I felt her eyes on me as she walked over to the kitchen. There’s no wall or anything dividing the two rooms. Like I said, the place is pretty cramped.
She started putting her groceries away as if everything was normal, but I could tell she wanted to ask what was up.
I kept looking back and forth between her and the couch. I can’t explain it, but I already knew that if I looked under there, I wouldn’t find any trace of whoever (or whatever) grabbed me.
As she started loading up the fridge, I dropped to my hands and knees once again. Without taking even a second to ready myself, I brought my head down to the ground and looked under the couch.
Nothing.
Pretty much what I expected. There was barely enough room for me to squeeze my arm under there for the remote. No way a whole person could fit beneath that thing, and even if they could, there’s no way I wouldn’t have seen them or heard them or something before they grabbed me.
“Seriously, what’s up?”
I looked up to see my roommate standing right behind me, arms crossed, clearly concerned.
I knew I was acting strange, and I knew that nothing I would come up with in the next five seconds could possibly excuse my behavior. I made a judgement call, honestly not really caring about how it would be received.
“I uh… something grabbed me earlier.”
“What?”
“Under the couch. I dropped the remote, and when I picked it up, a hand reached out from under the couch and grabbed me.”
Took her a second to respond.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“That’s it. A hand reached out and grabbed me by the wrist. It happened like a minute before you got here.”
That part might have been a lie. I actually have no idea how long I had been standing in the middle of the room before she showed up.
“Wait so like someone broke in?”
“No. It’s just like I said. A hand reached out, grabbed me, and then it was gone.”
She just kinda looked at me for a while. I don’t blame her, but it’s not like there was any way for me to sugarcoat it.
“Are you sure?”
“What do you mean ‘am I sure?’ Yes, yes I’m fucking sure!”
My voice broke a little when I said that. I was still down on my knees, like I was praying for her to believe me.
“Okay well obviously that didn’t happen Sam.”I let out a desperate laugh and threw my hands up in the air. I slapped them down on my thighs dramatically and shook my head in exasperation.
“Yeah obviously it sounds fucking crazy but you asked what happened and that’s what happened. I don’t know how else to describe it. I’m just being honest.”
I pulled myself up to my feet and walked around to the armrest of the couch. She kept studying me, probably thinking this was all a prank or something.
“What are you doing?” She asked, arms still glued across her chest.
“I’m checking under the couch.”
I pushed one end of the couch away from the wall. It was pretty heavy, and the coffee table stopped me from moving it too far. I dragged the coffee table towards the TV to free up some space.
My roommate started staring at the spot I was clearing as if she expected to see something there too.
I went back over to the armrest.
“Can you help me?”
She snapped out of her trance and silently went to grab the other side. We pulled the couch away from the wall, revealing a thick rectangle of dust that had not seen the light of day since we moved in a year ago.
I dropped to my knees once more and began wiping away the grime with my bare hands. There was nothing but the floorboards beneath it. No surprise.
I sat there for a second, eyes darting around the floor. No fingerprints in the dust, no scratches or marks or anything. I felt the tension in the room dissipate as my roommate found her voice again.
“I think you must have imagined it.”
I didn’t. There’s no way.
“Dude, no. I felt it and I saw it. Clear as day. It was a hand, and it grabbed me. That’s not the sort of thing you can just imagine.”
She scoffed, any fear left in her giving way to frustration.
“Whatever. This is fucking stupid. I’m going to bed.”
She stomped off towards her room.
“Wait.”
She spun on her heels as I stood up, probably expecting me to tell her I was joking about the whole thing.
“Can you help me flip the couch over?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Sure. But I’m not helping you put it back.”
She helped me lift the couch off of its legs and tilt it onto its front cushions, exposing the fabric underneath. She disappeared into her room and I went to work studying the underside of the sofa.
There was a zipper lining the bottom, but I found nothing inside when I opened it up. Just a hollow wooden frame and a bunch of crumbs.
I sat back against the wall, more tired than scared at that point.
I can’t believe she thinks I’m making this up. Why would I even do that? What purpose would it serve?
As I solemnly went about rebuilding our living room, I decided that the next day (today) I was gonna take off work, wait for her to leave, and really get to the bottom of this.
I didn’t sleep at all last night. Every nook and cranny of my room felt like a door left wide open, with something sinister waiting on the other side.
What if the hand comes back? What if it wants to hurt me next time? How can I even protect myself?
After like ten restless minutes in bed, I decided to move to the floor. I couldn’t help it. I kept imagining the hand reaching up from under the bed and grabbing me again.
I made a makeshift sleeping bag out of my comforter and some pillows, and I laid on my side so I could keep an eye on the underside of my bedframe while I slept. Maybe “slept” isn’t the right word. Even down there, I couldn’t bring myself to close my eyes for longer than a minute.
Eventually sunlight began to peek through the blinds, and I heard some movement within the apartment. My roommate was finally up. I heard the front door close, and it was time to get to work.
I nearly threw my back out yanking the couch away from the wall to reveal the floorboards underneath. They aren’t real floorboards, just the kind of cheap-o fake shit they put in crappy houses to make them look more modern. Our whole apartment is like that— a thin coat of paint slapped over an old building from the 40s or whatever.
My dad actually owns this building. He lets me and my roommate stay here as long as we pay him $500 a month, which is way cheaper than most places in my area.
It’s not really an apartment building to be honest. You can tell it used to be a family home before some realtor swooped in and broke it up into apartments. There are a lot of those around here.
Anyway, the fake wood came up easy. It was only about a quarter inch thick. I was able to pull up the first plank by hammering a kitchen knife into a slit between the boards, and then I peeled a few more away by hand.
After prying away about a dozen of these fake floorboards, I started to realize that I wasn’t going to find anything without making a significantly larger dent. Right beneath the thin layer of fake wood was a layer of very real, very thick wooden beams that seemed to span well beyond the hole I had managed to claw open.
My back crackled and popped as I sat back on my heels to admire my handiwork and contemplate where to go from there. I knew I would need a power saw or some kind of heavy duty tool to get any deeper, but I was afraid of two things:

1. That these beams were supporting the entire second floor of the building, and cutting through them would make the whole thing collapse
2. That going any deeper would lead me into the ceiling of the apartment below us, and whoever lives there would call my dad before I could see what I needed to see.

Regardless of the risks, I knew I had to keep going. I was certain that something was down there. Whatever grabbed me had to have left some sort of evidence.
I can’t stop thinking about that fucking hand.
I’m not supposed to have it, but my dad gave me a master key for the whole building in case of emergencies. He could really get in trouble if anyone found out, but if this isn’t an emergency then idk what is.
There’s a service shed around the back of the building, which has seen none of the love that the main building saw when it was renovated. Decades worth of rusty antiques and rotting furniture line the walls. A shiny, modern tool bench sits unnaturally in the middle of the chaos.
I rifled through all of that shit as fast as I could. I’m not really close with my dad all things considered, and I’m sure he’d be super pissed if he found me out there. He’s so secretive about random shit all the time, and he’s constantly dropping by the building unannounced.
I found the jigsaw under a pile of old newspapers and ran back upstairs.
I probably should have checked the driveway to see if anyone was home first, because the saw made so much noise. The cord barely reached from the outlet to the spot where the couch used to be, but as awkward as the angle was, I was still able to get it in there.
I went as small as possible with my first few cuts. I started with a single beam, cutting out a section about 6x6 inches wide. I slid the chunk of wood out, and, to my relief, didn’t immediately see the plaster that would be my downstairs neighbor’s ceiling.
A tuft of insulation stuck out where I made the hole. I didn’t know that stuff is made from fiberglass or whatever, and I got a really bad splinter when I went to yank it out.
I fished some leather gloves out of my roommate’s closet and got to work on the insulation. I pulled and pulled but couldn’t get a good enough grip to remove anything more than a few bits about the size of a tennis ball.
I went back in with the jigsaw, cutting bigger and bigger chunks until I had cleared a hole about two feet in diameter.
No sign that I was gonna bring the building down, that’s good.
I hacked away for hours. More wood came up, more insulation came up, and when I finally hit a fragile-looking layer of drywall, I knew the jig was up. That’s definitely my neighbor’s ceiling. Fuck.
My roommate and I got in a screaming match when she got home. I made a pretty big mess but I don’t really give a fuck honestly.
I don’t give a fuck if she believes me. I fucking hate that bitch. I told her if she tells my dad what I’m doing, I’ll bash her brains in with the hammer. That shut her up. She left with a bag full of her clothes like an hour later.
Tomorrow I’m going to wait for our downstairs neighbor to leave and start investigating from the bottom-up. If there wasn’t any evidence on the floor up here, there HAS to be something on the ceiling down there.
If I do find something, I’ll post again. I doubt anyone will even believe me, but at this point I just want everything written down somewhere accessible in case something bad happens.
There has to be something down there. Something grabbed me. And I’m going to find out what it is.

So I (M31) have had my inguinal hernia for about 4 years now. There's no intense pain, just a lump that feels a bit uncomfortable sometimes more than others. I workout quite a bit and don't want to risk anything with my lifts (I focus on form, so putting undue pressure down there shouldn't be a problem). At what point did you finally decide to schedule a surgery for your inguinal hernia? Did it affect your gym routine aftehave any unforeseen side-effects? I don't wanna fix one problem and create another worse problem...

I know there is a lot about Backdoor ROTH's on here--I have searched and can't find my specific situation. In 2022 I did a backdoor ROTH without zeroing out a Rollover IRA (bad advice from an advisor). Thus, I had to pay taxes on 86% of the rollover, which ended up being $5,107.
In 2023 I had some self employed income so I opened a solo 401k and transferred the pre tax portion that remained in the Rollover IRA into that to get the "cream out of the coffee". This meant that the money in the solo 401k was now all pre tax and the remaining portion in the Rollover IRA was already taxed and could be converted to the Roth, which i did. That was $6,881 (the original $5107 + appreciation).
However, I realized that I think I also needed to pay taxes on the amount that had appreciated on the post tax $5,107 in the traditional IRA since i deposited the post tax dollars into it. Is that correct? So $1,774 of the 2023 conversion would be taxable and $5,107 would not.
My question is--how do i report this on Turbotax? I didnt contribute anything new in 2023, it is pure conversion, so it isn't quite the same as the instructions i've found for doing a backdoor Roth.
Also, my understanding is that once I have filed this year everything in the 401k will be pre tax and everything in the ROTH will be post tax and I should not have to track the basis going forward.

As the title says, I am just a beginner in these spiritual practices. I have been doing the panchakshari mantra jaap for almost daily, been 7 months now. Meanwhile, I hear a lot about tantric practices both good and negative stereotypes about it.
Over the recent times I have had a growing interest in tantra. However I don't want to do anything uninformed as I understand that these are very powerful forces and not just childs play; messing with them can have repercussion.
Can you people who have already been in this path guide me as to how I should go about this path? Any texts or sadhana?

Got 3 crashes in one game, all very sudden, no hang + "windows is trying to resolve the issue" or anything, no warning like stutter, etc.
I tried restarting my PC, no crashes after that but that was only 20m, got one over a couple games today.
Verified the files just now, it doesn't say if any failed and were fixed so I assume they were all ok?
If I still crash it's time to reinstall dota and if that fails then what? How am I supposed to know without a troubleshooting guide?
My PC was built from scratch by myself in early 2018, since then no replacements so that lines up with what I read about motherboard failures, and my mouse/keyboard sometimes won't connect at all after coming out of sleep (but will wake the PC, which is extra weird haha)
here are the specs if anyone things it's related: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qHyybj
My dota is on the solid state drive.
Anyone else having crashes recently? Other than these 4 crashes in the last day I don't think I got any, maybe one more a few days before but can't remember.

TL:DR - 3 Conversations to update a hold location at 3 different times... package still being routed to a location I never selected or even mentioned. No idea how it got going there and where my package is going to end up. I have no idea. Help....
I purchased a wristband for a music festival that was supposed to arrive on the 14th. The shipper didn't sent it out until the 13th and the new arrival date was the 15th which was cutting it close so I get on the delivery manager and select a hold location near the festival grounds (Columbus, OH) which is to me seems kind of convenient being as the package, at the time, is sitting In Cleveland. My address is in Iowa. So much closer I feel okay about this....
I then get an email stating my package has been redirected to Carlisle, IA. WTF... that's not what I chose. Now we're in between business hours and I can update anything on the app because it's telling my address is not a business and not residential (I tried the numbers on line 1, rest of address on line 2 thing). So I call customer to get a rep first thing in the morning and they set my package to arrive at the Columbus location I originally wanted. Cool. Everything gonna be okay. About an hour later I get a call from the Des Moines, IA location (original fed ex location) telling me that they received a reroute request but needed to know where to rerouted it to... I call customer service AGAIN, no record of my reroute to Columbus. So, we enter it again. Currently, still no record of anything routed to columbus and package is scheduled to be delivered to Carlisle, IA and it currently in Memphis. I'm assuming at the airport.... how can a company be this bad?? Any advice?