Air force recommendation letter sample
Blackgaze
2013.06.13 03:09 occupyskyrim Blackgaze
A haven for sharing, discussing, and listening to blackgaze; a niche music subgenre which mixes the elements of frigid post-black metal and warm shoegaze tones.
2024.05.15 00:36 idk_ranting Asian Family
I'm sick and tired of my family with their advices and input. I'm a FTM and youngest in the family. Soooooo they treating me like idk how to raise a baby. I have a sister who have 2 kid and she kinda followed the old way of raising the kids. I don't have much memory of how she raised her kids but I did help take care both of them in bathing, changing, feeding and playing.
Their remark on me keeping my baby on a schedule for nap and bedtime is me not wanting to watch the baby becuz when they had babies their bedtime was like 10pm. As for my baby, bedtime is no later than 7:45pm. Then keep saying I'm forcing the baby to nap 3 time a day is too much and that wake window is not real. This really put me off saying I don't want to watch my baby cuz I let them sleep early or nap too much. What the different if she wake up early anyway for me to care for.
Then my baby is on the smaller size and their treating me like I'm not feeding the baby. She 6.5month now and have started on solid. I try to feed baby around 2 meals a day and their expecting 3-4 meals. I also do 25-30oz of formula for baby. Stating I'm not seasoning baby food, when salt is not recommended for baby. I see wat I give and do is an appropriate amount with what is recommended.
Nagging me on how I dress baby. It texas heat! Why would I put baby in 3 layer? With hat, sock, and mittens. Why expecting to give baby a pacifier if she don't want it and sleep without needing help from us or it.
I'm a person who take advice from doctors and I believe in science about baby. So whenever I explain them why I do something for baby becuz they ask. They think I'm being a snob and trying to say I think I raise baby better than their. I have never state that but I'm starting to feel it.
Why is it so wrong to them the way I raise my kid just becuz I believe in science and research on recommendations for baby.
submitted by idk_ranting to beyondthebump [link] [comments]
Their remark on me keeping my baby on a schedule for nap and bedtime is me not wanting to watch the baby becuz when they had babies their bedtime was like 10pm. As for my baby, bedtime is no later than 7:45pm. Then keep saying I'm forcing the baby to nap 3 time a day is too much and that wake window is not real. This really put me off saying I don't want to watch my baby cuz I let them sleep early or nap too much. What the different if she wake up early anyway for me to care for.
Then my baby is on the smaller size and their treating me like I'm not feeding the baby. She 6.5month now and have started on solid. I try to feed baby around 2 meals a day and their expecting 3-4 meals. I also do 25-30oz of formula for baby. Stating I'm not seasoning baby food, when salt is not recommended for baby. I see wat I give and do is an appropriate amount with what is recommended.
Nagging me on how I dress baby. It texas heat! Why would I put baby in 3 layer? With hat, sock, and mittens. Why expecting to give baby a pacifier if she don't want it and sleep without needing help from us or it.
I'm a person who take advice from doctors and I believe in science about baby. So whenever I explain them why I do something for baby becuz they ask. They think I'm being a snob and trying to say I think I raise baby better than their. I have never state that but I'm starting to feel it.
Why is it so wrong to them the way I raise my kid just becuz I believe in science and research on recommendations for baby.
2024.05.15 00:35 smbutler20 [Discussion] A unison raid by these two would be OP
![[Discussion] A unison raid by these two would be OP](https://preview.redd.it/m39xx5npyg0d1.jpeg?width=216&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=0edaf2d462281381278fcd8612601b87b28266f7 "[Discussion] A unison raid by these two would be OP") | Air can exponentially amplify the destructive force of fire. That would have been a neat thing to see. submitted by smbutler20 to fairytail [link] [comments] |
2024.05.15 00:35 bjc1960 Best way to delete registry values from every user profile
There are many good posts here on removing Zoom. Still, I have failed. What is happening is we have old user profiles from before we enrolled some companies into our tenant. The old profiles have old Zoom in the registry. The users may still need data from the old profile so we don't want to completely remove it and don't want to chase that down, user by user. The users can't get to M365 from their old profile, it is just for archiving for now, just in case until enough time goes by.
We have run cleanzoom.exe but there is a reg key Defender is picking up still in the old user profiles. I want to force delete it.
This worked on our test lab but not in real life.
``` try { # Create a new PSDrive for HKEY_USERS if it doesn't already exist if (-not (Get-PSDrive HKU -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) { New-PSDrive -Name HKU -PSProvider Registry -Root HKEY_USERS }
Any ideas or recommendations? edit, formatting was good, having issues here
submitted by bjc1960 to Intune [link] [comments]
We have run cleanzoom.exe but there is a reg key Defender is picking up still in the old user profiles. I want to force delete it.
This worked on our test lab but not in real life.
``` try { # Create a new PSDrive for HKEY_USERS if it doesn't already exist if (-not (Get-PSDrive HKU -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) { New-PSDrive -Name HKU -PSProvider Registry -Root HKEY_USERS }
$users = (Get-ChildItem -path c:\users).nameforeach ($user in $users) { # Skip the Default and Public user profiles if ($user.Name -ne "Default" -and $user.Name -ne "Public") { # Load the user hive $userHive = "hku\$($user.Name)" reg load $userHive "C:\Users\$($user.Name)\NTUSER.DAT"
# Path to the registry key to be removed $regPath = "$userHive\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ZoomUMX" if (Test-Path -Path $regPath) { Remove-Item -Path $regPath -Recurse Write-Host "Removed registry key for user $($user.Name)" } else { Write-Host "Registry key not found for user $($user.Name)" } # Unload the user hive reg unload $userHive } } } catch { Write-Output("Something bad happened in the registry removal for zoom for $user") } ```Any ideas or recommendations? edit, formatting was good, having issues here
2024.05.15 00:32 CNIS-Azerbaijan-Baku Steve Goodrich Head of Research and Investigations, Transparency International UK: “Azerbaijan is an increasingly repressive state with a widely-recognised corruption problem. This is one of a series of investigations by journalists exposing vast amounts of UK assets held by the Azerbaijani elite…”
 | “Azerbaijan is an increasingly repressive state with a widely-recognised corruption problem…” submitted by CNIS-Azerbaijan-Baku to CNIS_Baku [link] [comments] (Lack of) Human Rights and Freedoms The Khatai District Court has ruled to extend the detention of three journalists involved in the “AbzasMedia case.” Bail has been denied for Ulvi Hasanli, the director of “AbzasMedia,” Sevinj Vagifgizi, the chief editor, and Imran Aliyev, the head of the meclis.info platform, regarding their release. Ulvi Hasanli has also filed a request to see his infant child. Amidst the recent wave of arrests targeting journalists and civil society activists in Azerbaijan, restrictions have been imposed on the departure of public figures and media representatives from the country. Narmin Hasanova, the sister of Ulvi Hasanli, the director of the independent online publication “Abzas Media,” is among those affected by this travel ban. “All of this casts doubt on my future. All my plans have been disrupted. Even if they lift the ban today and allow me to return home, I won’t be able to reclaim the stability I’ve built over the years. I’ve already lost certain things. I will have to start everything from scratch,” expressed Hasanova. There are numerous instances in Azerbaijan where individuals identified by human rights defenders as “political prisoners” have not been provided with proper medical treatment despite suffering from serious illnesses while in detention. It is reported that the health of Alasgar Mammadli, the founder of the independent internet television station “Toplum TV,” has deteriorated. His wife, Gunay Mammadli, has provided information on this matter. She expressed concern about her husband’s declining health, evident in his voice: “I spoke with Alasgar today, and there’s a noticeable change in his tone. It’s likely due to swelling in the neck area, resembling goiter. There have been increases in measurements, impacting his vocal cords as well. For three weeks now, there has been no response from the tests conducted,” said Gunay Mammadli. On April 26, Alasgar Mammadli underwent examination at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Hospital and blood tests were taken. He was then returned to the detention center. Neither Mammadli nor his lawyer has been provided with information regarding the results of the examinations. Jailed activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev reflected on the unlawful treatment he faced. “Officials forcibly seized my documents and forcefully transported me to court. This isn’t the first time—it’s become a pattern: whenever my detention is prolonged or when my bail release documents are under review, they confiscate my papers as I’m escorted to court. It appears these unlawful actions are orchestrated by the Penitentiary Service leadership or at the direction of the new Minister of Justice,” said Hajiyev. As a joint demonstration of international solidarity, 240 organizations, scholars, and human rights defenders have published an open letter demanding the complete withdrawal of accusations against Gubad Ibadoghlu, the chairman of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Prosperity Party, who was released on bail recently. The letter states that Dr. Ibadoghlu is a renowned economist, a resident of the United Kingdom, and an academic collaborating with the London School of Economics (LSE). “The Azerbaijani government detained him on July 23, 2023, on baseless accusations of embezzlement and terrorism, and he remained in investigative detention for nine months until his release on bail on April 22, 2024. His trial may begin on May 20,” the document notes. ” “The UNCAC Coalition and 239 additional signatories emphatically demand the immediate and unconditional release of our friend and colleague, Gubad Ibadoghlu”, said Mathias Huter, Managing Director of the UNCAC Coalition. On May 10, the case of Famil Khalilov, a critic of the government and a first-degree disabled individual, regarding his detention was reviewed. As reported by “Abzas Media,” the Baku Court of Appeal did not uphold the complaint. The initial court’s decision stands, and Khalilov remains in custody. “Prison personnel struggled to bring Khalilov to court due to his limited mobility. His condition worsened during the proceedings. We will seek bail for him to be placed under house arrest. He cannot manage without external assistance,” stated lawyer Bahruz Bayramov to “Turan.” Famil Khalilov, who sought political asylum in Sweden last year, was repatriated this year and detained on May 2. He is charged under Article 234.4.3 of the Criminal Code (illegal trafficking of a large quantity of narcotics), and a pretrial detention measure has been imposed. According to his relatives, Famil Khalilov was detained for criticizing the Azerbaijani government on social media. If convicted, Khalilov faces a sentence ranging from 5 to 12 years of imprisonment. Baku City Executive Authority yet again rejected the request of the National Council of Democratic Forces to hold a rally in Baku. The refusal was justified on the grounds that the areas in front of the May 28 and Narimanov metro stations are located in parts of the city with intensive traffic, and holding meetings in these areas would cause traffic jams and violate citizens’ rights to free movement. The Chairperson of the National Council of Democratic Forces, Jamil Hasanli, commented on the decision, saying that the regime intends to create a closed country: “They want to create a closed country. They don’t want problems to be voiced, they want the people to express their protest against the policies being pursued.” For years, opposition parties have been denied permission to hold rallies in the center of Baku. Instead, the government traditionally offers remote locations far from the city center for the National Council of Democratic Forces, which also includes the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party. The National Council was planning to hold a rallies in the city center on May 5 and May 12, but both requests were denied. Lawyer Samad Rahimli says that using the argument of disrupting citizens’ rest rights to justify the refusal of rallies is absurd. Governance and Corruption A recent investigation, jointly conducted by the OCCRP, Mikroskop Media (Azerbaijan), iFact (Georgia), and analyzed by Transparency International UK, has unveiled £75.6 million worth of UK properties allegedly owned by Beylar Eyyubov, the Azerbaijani security chief, raising concerns about unexplained wealth. Eyyubov, who has served as the head of security for the President of Azerbaijan for three decades, spanning the tenures of both Ilham Aliyev and his father Heydar Aliyev, has no discernible sources of substantial family wealth. However, corporate and land registry records indicate that the Eyyubov family has amassed an expensive property portfolio in the UK. This includes three mansions in Hampstead situated on the same street, in close proximity to a residence previously reported by the OCCRP in 2015 as belonging to President Aliyev‘s family. These revelations stem from newly disclosed information available on the Register of Overseas Entities, which was enacted into law in 2022 following extensive advocacy efforts by Transparency International UK, alongside other NGOs and parliamentarians. The significant gap between the cost of these properties and the known income sources of the Eyyubov family raises serious questions about the origin of the funds used to acquire these assets. Three mansions secretly owned by Eyyubov’s wife, Zohre Sultanova, and daughter, Elvira Eyyubova, are located in prestigious parts of North London. Elvira also owns two penthouses close to the city center and a luxury apartment. Another property owned by her is in Canterbury, and another house is situated in a coastal town in Dorset. The family acquired these assets in England through offshore companies between 2007 and 2018. Eyyubov’s wife currently holds stakes in two active businesses: a renowned café in London and a high-end hotel in the resort city of Batumi, Georgia. In response to this investigation, Steve Goodrich Head of Research and Investigations, Transparency International UK said: “Azerbaijan is an increasingly repressive state with a widely-recognised corruption problem. This is one of a series of investigations by journalists exposing vast amounts of UK assets held by the Azerbaijani elite, which have been bought with wealth of questionable provenance. Given the vast discrepancy between the Eyyubov’s known sources of income and the apparent value of their property portfolio, there are strong grounds for law enforcement to investigate whether these houses were acquired with the proceeds of crime.” https://preview.redd.it/6l022jc2yg0d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f9ab343b4ae917d8422afeb97e71e9279fee05a |
2024.05.15 00:31 DragonKnov Kunlun Sect's Weakest Disciple: Chapter 17
[📖First ⏮️Previous Next⏭️]
One had recently become a 2nd realm martial artist, while the other was renowned solely for her exquisite beauty that turned heads wherever she went.
Ji Wuye's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Song Jia, who appeared outwardly calm despite the fury that had been etched across her delicate features moments earlier.
With a curl of his lip, he muttered inwardly, 'Come to think of it, what realm is she even in now? First? No... perhaps second...'
As Ji Wuye pondered, his Senior Sister raised a hand, ebony silken robes whispering around her wrists. "Begin!" she commanded, her voice cracking like a whip in the silent sect ground.
At her signal, Qin Bai burst into motion, his body wreathed in a shimmering azure aura of Qi. He closed the distance in the blink of an eye, crossing the three zhang between them in less than five breaths.
Qin Bai leapt, raising his wooden sword arm in a blur until the wooden blade was parallel to his body. A vicious grin split his features as he took in Song Jia's seeming lack of reaction.
"Hahaha, take this, you bitch!" he jeered, assuming her stillness meant she was frozen in fear or shock.
As the one who has basically stayed longer in the sect, even though Qin Bai rarely practiced, with the ease born from years of being in the sect, he still managed to draw the wooden sword down in a straight, powerful line.
In addition, confidence blazed bright within him now that he had finally overcome the barriers of the 1st realm. And from what he had gathered, this Song Jia was all beauty with no bite, just another fresh-faced newcomer with no real strength to speak of.
The wooden blade sang through the air, trailing streamers of azure Qi that stirred Qin Bai's hair into a wild dance as it arrowed down towards her unprotected head.
To his delight, she made no move to channel her own Qi in defense against his attack. His smile stretched wider, vicious satisfaction blazing in his eyes at being proven right.
The Kunlun Sword Style he practiced was famed for its elegance and swiftness. The opening stage of Meridian March focused on stimulating the flow of Qi through the body's meridians and was practiced by those below the 4th realm who had not yet formed their Three Main Dantians.
A straightforward vertical slash tracing the path of the Taiying Lung Meridian along one side to promote Qi flow from the hand into the lungs.
Though not a tremendously powerful technique, it packed more than enough force to easily floor an untrained civilian when fueled by a 2nd realm martial artist. Yet Qin Bai missed one crucial aspect in his arrogance...
His wooden blade met an impenetrable horizontal guard as Song Jia effortlessly parried his strike!
With a resounding clank that reverberated through the courtyard, she turned the wooden sword to absorb and disperse the weight of his weapon and the intense momentum of his descending body.
Qin Bai's victorious sneer froze, transmuting into sheer panic mid-air as he absorbed the impossible scene before him.
Not only had this slender beauty remained utterly unharmed and unmoved from her position, but she had negated and deflected the full force of his offense with apparently no effort at all!
Her calm expression didn't even flicker as the impact shuddered through her slim form in a manner that should have been impossible.
For a lower realm martial artist to withstand an attack from someone of a higher realm was nearly unheard of.
The only explanations were if she had undergone intense physical conditioning to augment her body's fortitude, but surely not at her delicate size.
'Or perhaps she had superior skill and experience in the same martial style as me... or even employed a different art entirely designed to counter the Kunlun sword techniques.
'But no... that couldn't be... could it?' Those were the inward thoughts ranging in Qin Bai's mind.
In that case, Song Jia could easily exploit any openings or weaknesses left by Qin Bai's overconfident assault and capitalize on her evident advantage.
And finally, the most logical yet unthinkable conclusion - her realm was higher than him...
"You..." Qin Bai snarled, poised to rotate his waist and deliver a retaliatory kick. But before he could, a look of acute satisfaction gleamed in Song Jia's eyes as her wooden sword continued halting the progress of his own blade.
The shock and disbelief writ large across his features made enduring his crude insults absolutely worth it.
"Stupid," Song Jia retorted, a mocking smile curving her lips as she reveled in his humiliation. For a brief moment she allowed the tension to ease from her slender shoulders, savoring the sight.
Then, with a subtle adjustment of her wrists, her wooden sword shifted trajectory. The pressure abruptly released from Qin Bai's suspended weapon, sending him stumbling forward towards her in his precarious, airborne position.
THUD!
In the next instant, a stunned gasp of surprise escaped Qin Bai's lips as Song Jia's wooden blade struck the unprotected right side of his abdomen with pinpoint accuracy.
"Gah!" His body flung violently to the side, legs buckling as he crumpled into an undignified heap on the ground. The surrounding disciples squinted against the billowing clouds of dust kicked up by his impact, watching in hushed disbelief as his form convulsed.
"That's it? He didn't even realize his mistake..."
"I thought Qin Bai was supposed to be strong...how pathetic am I in comparison..."
"What a disappointment, it ended in just one move..."
The whispers and mutterings among the observing disciples filled Qin Bai's stunned mind as he coughed and struggled to push himself up on trembling arms.
He looked towards Song Jia, who smirked and mockingly stuck out her tongue at his prone form.
Fear, rather than rage, consumed him in that moment.
"She's already...in the 3rd realm..." he rasped, grasping at the only explanation that could account for his utter defeat. His obsessive pursuit of climbing through the realms at the expense of true martial skill had clearly blinded him.
Qin Bai swallowed hard, casting venomous glances around at the other disciples gathered who were all weaker than him in terms of realm alone. The bitter shame and impotent fury churned in his gut as their mocking disdain washed over him.
Meanwhile, Lian Ruogang, the senior sister who had overseen the duel, observed the scene unfolding with a discerning eye.
Though her expression remained outwardly inscrutable, inwardly she felt a sense of satisfaction at Song Jia's elegant display of martial prowess against such an arrogant, overconfident opponent.
As Qin Bai continued struggling fruitlessly to rise from the ground after the devastating blow, Lian Ruogang directed her piercing gaze towards his prone, pathetic figure.
Instead of focusing on his opponent, he seemed lost and absent-minded, eyes roving wildly around as if uncomprehending of his surroundings. It was clear he either lacked the intention or ability to stand and face her.
With a tone that demanded respect and carried a sense of finality, Lian Ruogang addressed the defeated youth, each word dripping with censure:
"Qin Bai, it is evident that your so-called prowess has finally found its match on this day. Will you yield now, preserving what little honor you might have left? Or will you continue to invite further embarrassment and humiliation upon yourself with this disgraceful display?"
...
Meanwhile, amidst the crowd of onlookers, Ji Wuye's glowing crimson eyes gradually faded.
His gaze fell upon Song Jia, whose hands now trembled with the force of her exertions as jubilant female disciples swarmed her, hugging and playfully pressing her flushed cheeks in congratulation.
'It's not the 3rd realm, but her stance...' he pondered inwardly, brow furrowing slightly.
Having witnessed arrogance and underestimation of an opponent's skills countless times before in those like Qin Bai, Ji Wuye understood that most of the other disciples present were not as oblivious to the truth as the defeated youth.
Thanks to his passive skill Quick Adaptation constantly analyzing and adapting to situations, Ji Wuye was able to not only identify critical flaws in Qin Bai's movements, but also recognize the subtle preparations and feints behind Song Jia's deceptively simple actions.
'Firstly, Qin Bai made the mistake of levitating his body off the ground by jumping, sacrificing a solid footing,' Ji Wuye mused to himself.
The initial Single Whip strike of the Kunlun Sword Style's opening Meridian March sequence relied heavily on proper stancing and grounded footwork to unleash its full potential.
Yet the overconfident youth had forgone those fundamentals.
'On the other hand, Song Jia clearly had her stance and rooting mastered.'
In her brilliant counter-attack, she seemed to have utilized the follow-up Double Slash movement to simultaneously target both flanking sides of Qin Bai's exposed torso - his key vulnerable area left unguarded by his unbalanced posture.
'Furthermore, Qin Bai has only recently broken through to the 2nd realm after wasting years on frivolous pursuits fixated solely on realm advancement, neglecting the true essence of martial arts...'
Ji Wuye nodded in satisfaction, confirming the current timeline seemed to still align with the previous one despite the subtle alterations he had introduced.
Qin Bai's lack of true skill and one-dimensional focus were glaringly evident.
But there was more to Song Jia's effortless victory. As Ji Wuye's crimson eyes studied her movements, he realized she had not merely relied on superior stancing.
Even as she appeared to make no attempt at channeling her Qi, deftly concealing it, Song Jia had been circulating and consolidating her Qi beneath her feet the entire time.
The implications gave Ji Wuye pause.
For Song Jia to already be capable of such fine Qi control, there were only two possibilities - either she had secretly become 5th realm martial artist...or she possessed a hidden, powerful martial art imparted by her Master.
'Hmm…the 5th realm… then, why would she have bothered concealing such an achievement all this time?' Ji Wuye dismissed the former option as unlikely, leaving only the latter conclusion.
'Which means...her Master's sword art is the key,' he murmured, thoughts trailing off as he pieced together the full significance.
'So basically, all this time she used her Master sword art, heh,' This was a new revelation; in the previous timeline, Ji Wuye neither possessed the Quick Adaptation skill nor had knowledge about Song Jia's secret art.
Just as he was about to take his leave and ponder this further, a sudden prickle of unease ran down Ji Wuye's spine.
Almost unconsciously, his crimson eyes scanned the surrounding area, coming to rest squarely on the burning, venomous glare aimed directly at him from none other than the humiliated Qin Bai himself.
'Ah... I almost forgot about this one,' Ji Wuye exhaled softly, lips quirking in a curled-up smile as their gazes met and locked.
[📖First ⏮️Previous Next⏭️]
submitted by DragonKnov to HFY [link] [comments]
One had recently become a 2nd realm martial artist, while the other was renowned solely for her exquisite beauty that turned heads wherever she went.
Ji Wuye's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Song Jia, who appeared outwardly calm despite the fury that had been etched across her delicate features moments earlier.
With a curl of his lip, he muttered inwardly, 'Come to think of it, what realm is she even in now? First? No... perhaps second...'
As Ji Wuye pondered, his Senior Sister raised a hand, ebony silken robes whispering around her wrists. "Begin!" she commanded, her voice cracking like a whip in the silent sect ground.
At her signal, Qin Bai burst into motion, his body wreathed in a shimmering azure aura of Qi. He closed the distance in the blink of an eye, crossing the three zhang between them in less than five breaths.
Qin Bai leapt, raising his wooden sword arm in a blur until the wooden blade was parallel to his body. A vicious grin split his features as he took in Song Jia's seeming lack of reaction.
"Hahaha, take this, you bitch!" he jeered, assuming her stillness meant she was frozen in fear or shock.
As the one who has basically stayed longer in the sect, even though Qin Bai rarely practiced, with the ease born from years of being in the sect, he still managed to draw the wooden sword down in a straight, powerful line.
In addition, confidence blazed bright within him now that he had finally overcome the barriers of the 1st realm. And from what he had gathered, this Song Jia was all beauty with no bite, just another fresh-faced newcomer with no real strength to speak of.
The wooden blade sang through the air, trailing streamers of azure Qi that stirred Qin Bai's hair into a wild dance as it arrowed down towards her unprotected head.
To his delight, she made no move to channel her own Qi in defense against his attack. His smile stretched wider, vicious satisfaction blazing in his eyes at being proven right.
The Kunlun Sword Style he practiced was famed for its elegance and swiftness. The opening stage of Meridian March focused on stimulating the flow of Qi through the body's meridians and was practiced by those below the 4th realm who had not yet formed their Three Main Dantians.
Meridian March, First Move - SINGLE WHIP!
A straightforward vertical slash tracing the path of the Taiying Lung Meridian along one side to promote Qi flow from the hand into the lungs.
Though not a tremendously powerful technique, it packed more than enough force to easily floor an untrained civilian when fueled by a 2nd realm martial artist. Yet Qin Bai missed one crucial aspect in his arrogance...
His wooden blade met an impenetrable horizontal guard as Song Jia effortlessly parried his strike!
With a resounding clank that reverberated through the courtyard, she turned the wooden sword to absorb and disperse the weight of his weapon and the intense momentum of his descending body.
Qin Bai's victorious sneer froze, transmuting into sheer panic mid-air as he absorbed the impossible scene before him.
Not only had this slender beauty remained utterly unharmed and unmoved from her position, but she had negated and deflected the full force of his offense with apparently no effort at all!
Her calm expression didn't even flicker as the impact shuddered through her slim form in a manner that should have been impossible.
For a lower realm martial artist to withstand an attack from someone of a higher realm was nearly unheard of.
The only explanations were if she had undergone intense physical conditioning to augment her body's fortitude, but surely not at her delicate size.
'Or perhaps she had superior skill and experience in the same martial style as me... or even employed a different art entirely designed to counter the Kunlun sword techniques.
'But no... that couldn't be... could it?' Those were the inward thoughts ranging in Qin Bai's mind.
In that case, Song Jia could easily exploit any openings or weaknesses left by Qin Bai's overconfident assault and capitalize on her evident advantage.
And finally, the most logical yet unthinkable conclusion - her realm was higher than him...
"You..." Qin Bai snarled, poised to rotate his waist and deliver a retaliatory kick. But before he could, a look of acute satisfaction gleamed in Song Jia's eyes as her wooden sword continued halting the progress of his own blade.
The shock and disbelief writ large across his features made enduring his crude insults absolutely worth it.
"Stupid," Song Jia retorted, a mocking smile curving her lips as she reveled in his humiliation. For a brief moment she allowed the tension to ease from her slender shoulders, savoring the sight.
Then, with a subtle adjustment of her wrists, her wooden sword shifted trajectory. The pressure abruptly released from Qin Bai's suspended weapon, sending him stumbling forward towards her in his precarious, airborne position.
THUD!
In the next instant, a stunned gasp of surprise escaped Qin Bai's lips as Song Jia's wooden blade struck the unprotected right side of his abdomen with pinpoint accuracy.
"Gah!" His body flung violently to the side, legs buckling as he crumpled into an undignified heap on the ground. The surrounding disciples squinted against the billowing clouds of dust kicked up by his impact, watching in hushed disbelief as his form convulsed.
"That's it? He didn't even realize his mistake..."
"I thought Qin Bai was supposed to be strong...how pathetic am I in comparison..."
"What a disappointment, it ended in just one move..."
The whispers and mutterings among the observing disciples filled Qin Bai's stunned mind as he coughed and struggled to push himself up on trembling arms.
He looked towards Song Jia, who smirked and mockingly stuck out her tongue at his prone form.
Fear, rather than rage, consumed him in that moment.
"She's already...in the 3rd realm..." he rasped, grasping at the only explanation that could account for his utter defeat. His obsessive pursuit of climbing through the realms at the expense of true martial skill had clearly blinded him.
Qin Bai swallowed hard, casting venomous glances around at the other disciples gathered who were all weaker than him in terms of realm alone. The bitter shame and impotent fury churned in his gut as their mocking disdain washed over him.
Meanwhile, Lian Ruogang, the senior sister who had overseen the duel, observed the scene unfolding with a discerning eye.
Though her expression remained outwardly inscrutable, inwardly she felt a sense of satisfaction at Song Jia's elegant display of martial prowess against such an arrogant, overconfident opponent.
As Qin Bai continued struggling fruitlessly to rise from the ground after the devastating blow, Lian Ruogang directed her piercing gaze towards his prone, pathetic figure.
Instead of focusing on his opponent, he seemed lost and absent-minded, eyes roving wildly around as if uncomprehending of his surroundings. It was clear he either lacked the intention or ability to stand and face her.
With a tone that demanded respect and carried a sense of finality, Lian Ruogang addressed the defeated youth, each word dripping with censure:
"Qin Bai, it is evident that your so-called prowess has finally found its match on this day. Will you yield now, preserving what little honor you might have left? Or will you continue to invite further embarrassment and humiliation upon yourself with this disgraceful display?"
...
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<] The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<] The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<] The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<] The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
Meanwhile, amidst the crowd of onlookers, Ji Wuye's glowing crimson eyes gradually faded.
His gaze fell upon Song Jia, whose hands now trembled with the force of her exertions as jubilant female disciples swarmed her, hugging and playfully pressing her flushed cheeks in congratulation.
'It's not the 3rd realm, but her stance...' he pondered inwardly, brow furrowing slightly.
Having witnessed arrogance and underestimation of an opponent's skills countless times before in those like Qin Bai, Ji Wuye understood that most of the other disciples present were not as oblivious to the truth as the defeated youth.
Thanks to his passive skill Quick Adaptation constantly analyzing and adapting to situations, Ji Wuye was able to not only identify critical flaws in Qin Bai's movements, but also recognize the subtle preparations and feints behind Song Jia's deceptively simple actions.
'Firstly, Qin Bai made the mistake of levitating his body off the ground by jumping, sacrificing a solid footing,' Ji Wuye mused to himself.
The initial Single Whip strike of the Kunlun Sword Style's opening Meridian March sequence relied heavily on proper stancing and grounded footwork to unleash its full potential.
Yet the overconfident youth had forgone those fundamentals.
'On the other hand, Song Jia clearly had her stance and rooting mastered.'
In her brilliant counter-attack, she seemed to have utilized the follow-up Double Slash movement to simultaneously target both flanking sides of Qin Bai's exposed torso - his key vulnerable area left unguarded by his unbalanced posture.
'Furthermore, Qin Bai has only recently broken through to the 2nd realm after wasting years on frivolous pursuits fixated solely on realm advancement, neglecting the true essence of martial arts...'
Ji Wuye nodded in satisfaction, confirming the current timeline seemed to still align with the previous one despite the subtle alterations he had introduced.
Qin Bai's lack of true skill and one-dimensional focus were glaringly evident.
But there was more to Song Jia's effortless victory. As Ji Wuye's crimson eyes studied her movements, he realized she had not merely relied on superior stancing.
Even as she appeared to make no attempt at channeling her Qi, deftly concealing it, Song Jia had been circulating and consolidating her Qi beneath her feet the entire time.
The implications gave Ji Wuye pause.
For Song Jia to already be capable of such fine Qi control, there were only two possibilities - either she had secretly become 5th realm martial artist...or she possessed a hidden, powerful martial art imparted by her Master.
'Hmm…the 5th realm… then, why would she have bothered concealing such an achievement all this time?' Ji Wuye dismissed the former option as unlikely, leaving only the latter conclusion.
'Which means...her Master's sword art is the key,' he murmured, thoughts trailing off as he pieced together the full significance.
'So basically, all this time she used her Master sword art, heh,' This was a new revelation; in the previous timeline, Ji Wuye neither possessed the Quick Adaptation skill nor had knowledge about Song Jia's secret art.
Just as he was about to take his leave and ponder this further, a sudden prickle of unease ran down Ji Wuye's spine.
Almost unconsciously, his crimson eyes scanned the surrounding area, coming to rest squarely on the burning, venomous glare aimed directly at him from none other than the humiliated Qin Bai himself.
'Ah... I almost forgot about this one,' Ji Wuye exhaled softly, lips quirking in a curled-up smile as their gazes met and locked.
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2024.05.15 00:30 Temporary-Driver-772 Devil's Bargain Counter
Reflecting on 2021, truly marked the zenith of my young career. The pandemic was coming to an end, I was fresh from the hallowed halls of a prestigious but unheralded college, thrust into the corporate labyrinth where, as a mere sidekick to the big shots, I contributed to a deal of record-breaking magnitude. My modest corporate minion life was exaggerated into legend by my professors during an alumni reunion, leading to a rather embarrassing episode where I was paraded around as the poster child of their education career’s success. My parents, not ones to shy away from a bit of pomp, lauded my achievements to anyone within earshot.
But as 2022 unfurled its chaos with the epidemic, my professional life spiralled downwards as swiftly as it had risen. I was laid off, and replaced by a nepotistic hire—my boss's new mistress's nephew. During my dismal final days, my colleagues, once comrades became corporate sharks, whispers of them scheming to claim my last efforts as their own filled the empty office spaces.
Compelled by financial duress to abandon my central city dwelling, I relocated to the outskirts with two college mates, Jaz and Kath, who had similarly found themselves victims of the economic downturn. We settled into apartment 606, a unit with dubious charm, suspiciously affordable on the 13th floor of a dreary building, its corridor haunted by a flickering sensor light that was only designed to function on rare occasions. Yet, the apartment itself was surprisingly very well furnished, almost like something that jumped out from a design mag, out beating sample rooms in Ikea, boasting a spacious balcony, a living room ready for an impromptu soirée, a dining table that’s good enough to hold a banquet(became our co-working space) and a kitchen isle that became our sanctuary and curse.
When we first settled into our new abode, we discovered a trove of fine kitchen utensils, perfect for whipping up sophisticated cuisine and crafting cocktails worthy of a swanky soirée. Tucked away in the fridge, among the remnants of the previous tenants' life, was a quaint note: “The three of us really enjoyed our stay here, especially our meals and nights spent by the kitchen island. We hope you find as much joy in it as we did. Use it well.” With a casual flick of my wrist, I dismissed the note into the garbage can, oblivious to the depth of its seemingly innocuous message. Little did I know, that piece of paper was more a passing of the torch than a simple goodbye.
Our initial days in apartment 606 brimmed with camaraderie and impromptu celebrations: movie nights sprawled on the living room sofas, barbeque dinners under the stars on our balcony, and co-working sessions at the dining table, peppered with resume tweaks and contemplative conversations over cocktails. We even scored a second-hand karaoke machine, allowing me to channel my inner diva—a throwback to my musical theatre days in college and my stint as the voice of corporate presentations and negotiations at my previous job, where I was known for my resonant yet finely tuned voice.
Yet, as the months wore on and the job market remained unyielding, our early merriment slowly surrendered to a creeping anxiety. The kitchen island, once the heart of our home where laughter and shared meals flowed freely, gradually morphed into the epicenter of our collective unease, bearing silent witness to the quiet desperation settling over us.
One evening, in the suspiciously affordable yet stylish apartment, I sank into the sofa, my spirits dampened by my favorite team's disheartening loss. The mood was grim, mirroring my fears of my beloved player's potential retirement at season's end. Later, as we congregated around the kitchen island for dinner, I transformed into an impromptu sports commentator, passionately preaching about the game’s disappointing details that led to failure and my favorite player’s fine qualities. Meanwhile, Jaz updated us on a friend's melodramatic breakup, with guesses that something ugly must have happened behind the scenes. Kath, ever the culinary enthusiast, not only served up her delicious pasta but also dished out the latest celebrity gossip, each tidbit as spicy as her sauce.
The next day, during a late breakfast at the same kitchen island—our unwitting oracle—we were hit by a triple whammy of reality checks. The news of my favorite player's retirement broke, echoing my gloomy predictions from the night before. Jaz chimed in with an update that our friend had uncovered a cheating scandal worthy of its own reality TV special. And Kath, never one to be left out of the drama: her favorite celebrity was now the star of a scandal.
By the third morning, as we sipped our coffee, the newspaper slapped me with another bizarre twist. I was going through the devastating economics and politics sections, then I saw the sports section——featured an irate coach, hell-bent on convincing my favorite player to dismiss retirement plans and keep his jersey on a little longer. Meanwhile, Jaz had good news for a change: it turned out our friend's love story might have a second act after all, as misunderstandings were being cleared up. Amidst these revelations, Kath, who had been grumbling about the nearby supermarket’s inability to stock anything remotely gourmet, and hadn’t had a taste of her favorite Blue Mountain coffee since the beginning of that year, triumphantly found a can of Blue Mountain coffee, and it was on sale and therefore affordable—proof that miracles happen, and sometimes they even go on discount.
As I sat there, absorbing the serendipity of our discussions manifesting into real-world events, I couldn't help but marvel at the mysterious knack of our kitchen island. Was it merely a coincidence, or had this stylish piece of decor become the unlikely conductor of our lives symphony? One thing was certain: life in apartment 606 was never dull, and our kitchen island seemed to be more than just a place to eat—it was a place where, apparently, you could stir the pot of fate.
I decided to conduct a whimsical experiment with our now seemingly magical kitchen island. Clearing my throat theatrically, I declared, "I should be interviewed for a director position." To my sheer astonishment, the next day a headhunter rang me up, claiming I was the ideal candidate for a directorial role at a prestigious corporation in my field. Despite the other candidates possessing decades more experience which defeated me with no effort, and my own lingering self-doubt from months of unemployment, I sailed to the final interview round with the company's executives.
Upon returning to our apartment, I found Kath flaunting a chic dress from a designer brand brand she’d snagged on clearance—a little luxury courtesy of our wish-granting island. Inspired, I approached the island and cheekily requested, "Get us jobs. Something fun." Lo and behold, the following day was spent lounging and binge-watching Netflix, only to be interrupted by a call from a former bigwig at my old job. He was venturing into a more illustrious company and wanted me onboard. The informal chat that followed was a breeze, and just like that, I was back in the game with a fancier title and a fatter paycheck.
The subsequent week was a flurry of celebrations. Jaz secured a senior-level position, and Kath landed her dream job at an influencer management agency. Feeling triumphant, we decided to indulge in a night of fine dining—our first in months. That Friday evening when I went from office to restaurant, on a whim, stopped at a convenience store to grab snacks and cigarettes for our post-dinner revelry. Outside, I encountered a homeless person. After offering him a sandwich (which he traded for a cigarette instead), he took a drag, peered into my eyes, and ominously muttered, “Look, young lady, this isn’t my business, but be wary of what you wish for; everything comes with a price. Good luck and god bless you.”
His words barely registered until later that evening when a mishap occurred that seemed to underline his warning. As we enjoyed syphon coffee post-dinner, a barista accidentally tripped over Kath’s flowing dress. The resulting spill left her with first-degree burns, abruptly ending our night as we rushed to the emergency room. Though it was "just" a first-degree burn, the pain was significant enough to require several days off for Kath’s recovery. Amid the drama, I couldn't help but wonder about the cryptic caution from the man outside the store—had our fortunate streak come with a hidden cost?
We chalked up the coffee calamity to bad luck. The next month flowed smoothly: Kath's fingers healed, she returned to work, and I quickly found my groove at the new job. With all of us gainfully employed, our communal meals at the kitchen island became rare. My mornings were a whirlwind of grabbing breakfast and coffee on the go, followed by an hour's commute to a job that had me scarfing down instant noodles by nightfall, just in time for a quick shower.
As the busy season kicked in, my workload ballooned—not just from the seasonal uptick, but because I was hell-bent on proving my mettle. I quickly outshone most of my peers, and my employer, recognizing a budding overachiever, piled on major tasks, which I eagerly accepted. What started as the occasional hour of overtime soon devoured my weekends. Unpaid overtime, as the fine print in my contract gleefully noted, became my new norm. Driven by a mix of ambition and expectation, I had become the go-to young hotshot, the erstwhile record-breaker now expected to continually outdo myself.
Mentally, I was too swamped to entertain thoughts of anything beyond work, which, in a twisted way, felt like a break. Physically, however, the strain began to show. A bout of flu caught on a business trip escalated into a fever. Sick as I was, deadlines waited for no one, and I soldiered on medicated and miserable. By the time I made it home, my voice had abandoned me. Unable to utter a word the next morning, I resorted to emailing my manager about my sorry state.
That week, robbed of my voice, I mused that it was perhaps a well-deserved hiatus for my overworked vocal cords—a silent retreat if you will. But when my voice did return, it was as a raspy whisper, a shadow of its former crisp and melodious timbre. My doctor offered a grim prognosis: slight improvement might come, but the golden tones were gone for good—scarred by the relentless grind. Ah, the price of ambition—a scratchy throat as a permanent reminder of my corporate conquests.
It seemed I had unwittingly exchanged the clarity of my voice for the tumult of career success. In the midst of our domestic enchantment with the possibly mystical kitchen island, Kath unearthed the contact of a reputed psychic, hailed as the finest in the land. However, the consultation fee was nothing short of princely, and with Jaz vehemently dismissing anything that couldn't be explained by cold, hard science, she promptly opted out of splitting the bill. Kath and I, unwilling to drain our wallets on what could be mere phantasmagoria, reluctantly let the opportunity pass.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but notice a curious change in Jaz’s routine. She had ceased dining at the kitchen island, avoiding it as if it were cursed—or perhaps, in her view, simply out of style. The Saturday morning brought a particularly harsh twist: a murder of crows took to spiralling above our balcony, their cries as sharp as the plot of a Poe novel. We found ourselves drawn to the infamous kitchen island, lined up like the cast of a macabre play, silently praying for the birds to disperse. Kath, ever trying to restore some semblance of normalcy, offered up cups of Blue Mountain coffee. She absentmindedly inquired if I wanted cream or sugar in mine—a blunder that made me realize just how long it had been since our last coffee klatch at this very spot. My inner monologue couldn't resist a dark wish for the crows to scatter, perhaps too dark, for they began to dive bomb our balcony in a feathery kamikaze. The spectacle was enough to knock Jaz off her feet—literally—as her mug met its end on the floor. Kath, meanwhile, made a hasty retreat to worship the porcelain god, and I sat frozen, my brain offline, pondering the twisted power of our kitchen island's apparent wish-granting.
After the unnerving spectacle of crows turning our balcony into a scene straight out of a Hitchcock film, our first rational step—post-collective fainting, of course—was to summon cleaners to manage the feathery carnage. Then, still rattled but increasingly curious, we visited a psychic, who, contrary to the crystal-ball-gazer image, operated out of a posh boutique in a high-end mall and dressed more like she was headed to a fashion show than a séance. We laid bare our saga of the seemingly cursed kitchen island, complete with photographic evidence of where domestic bliss meets eerie phenomena.
The psychic introduced a term that chilled the air around us: “limbo,” the threshold between our world and the otherworldly, and she dubbed our kitchen island the "Devil’s Bargain Counter." According to her, our wishes came with a heavy and unpredictable price, because we have accidentally started trades with beings from the netherworld. Her advice was disarmingly simple: cease all trades on the island. To address the repercussions of past wishes, she advised us the first line of defence, which was an eclectic mix of offerings laid out on our cursed countertop: raw meat(rooster works the best), a cocktail of spices(coca and cinnamon preferably), liberal splashes of spirits(whiskey and rum ideally), and an eerie bouquet of black flowers(luckily I found some black roses at a flower shop of the mall). In a grander gesture of appeasement, Kath relinquished her shiny new diamond bracelet, Jaz her absurdly expensive headphones, and I parted with cash—— a hefty slice of my bonus in hopes of placating whatever capricious spirits we'd angered.
Our return to normalcy was brief but sweet, prompting us to plan a getaway, eager to forget about our nefarious kitchen island. Yet, the respite was merely a tease. Jaz, in a stroke of spectacular misfortune, narrowly dodged disaster twice in one day—first nearly becoming subway track fodder on her way back after work, and then almost getting knocked out by a rogue plant at our apartment building’s doorstep. Clearly, our previous offerings were mere appetizers to whatever forces we'd stirred. The psychic, summoned once again to our now-dubious sanctuary, decreed that the spirits had developed rather expensive tastes, unsatisfied by our initial gestures.
In a desperate bid for closure, we had the psychic over for a nighttime ritual, timed perfectly with Earth's closest approach to the netherworld, according to her. Our living room turned into a ritual chamber, with windows blacked out for days, to keep the otherworldly dealings strictly nocturnal. That night, we arranged ourselves around the island, now less a kitchen fixture and more an altar of last resort.
The psychic, amidst a chorus of Latin incantations, directed us through a chilling séance that included a mirror that reflected nothing but darkness and a burning black candle, the three of us sat in a row, joined hands, eyes closed. When the black candle was flickering at its last, the first eerie scratches heard prompted our eyes to open prematurely, we saw a command appear on the island, written by invisible hand and pen, in blood-red script, urging us to find the next "succeeder" before our lease on otherworldly disturbances could be terminated.
With bated breath, we agreed, and as if by magic, our signatures materialized on the countertop, then faded as the candle sputtered out. We tore off the black cardboard taped on the windows at dawn, the sunrise revealed a final message etched into the surface: "Debt cleared." As the daylight grew, the ominous inscription dissolved into nothingness, signalling the end of our spectral saga.
The ordeal, now officially behind us, left us enjoying a semblance of normalcy: life in 606 returned to its mundane rhythm, with dinners and movie nights back on our social calendar. Though not without its scars—literal and figurative.
It’s been two years since then, Jaz, in the throes of romantic bliss, is now gearing up for a new chapter waiting to be written alongside her soon-to-be spouse; Kath, her career finally taking a lucrative turn, was poised to upgrade her living situation, she secured a lease on a lavish serviced apartment in the city center—a place that matched her newfound financial swagger.
I’m not without my own leaps forward. With a modest boost from my parents, I took the plunge into homeownership, snagging a property within the city’s vibrant confines. The process was a whirlwind of paperwork and decorating decisions, culminating in a space I could truly call my own.
As we are packing up now, my last act is to type out our story, at the infamous island, and of course, I left a note in the fridge for the next tenants:
"Welcome to 606. We had a wonderful time here, especially at the kitchen island, filled with joy and unforgettable moments. We hope you find as much happiness as we did. Use the isle well. Warm wishes, the previous tenants."
submitted by Temporary-Driver-772 to creepypasta [link] [comments]
But as 2022 unfurled its chaos with the epidemic, my professional life spiralled downwards as swiftly as it had risen. I was laid off, and replaced by a nepotistic hire—my boss's new mistress's nephew. During my dismal final days, my colleagues, once comrades became corporate sharks, whispers of them scheming to claim my last efforts as their own filled the empty office spaces.
Compelled by financial duress to abandon my central city dwelling, I relocated to the outskirts with two college mates, Jaz and Kath, who had similarly found themselves victims of the economic downturn. We settled into apartment 606, a unit with dubious charm, suspiciously affordable on the 13th floor of a dreary building, its corridor haunted by a flickering sensor light that was only designed to function on rare occasions. Yet, the apartment itself was surprisingly very well furnished, almost like something that jumped out from a design mag, out beating sample rooms in Ikea, boasting a spacious balcony, a living room ready for an impromptu soirée, a dining table that’s good enough to hold a banquet(became our co-working space) and a kitchen isle that became our sanctuary and curse.
When we first settled into our new abode, we discovered a trove of fine kitchen utensils, perfect for whipping up sophisticated cuisine and crafting cocktails worthy of a swanky soirée. Tucked away in the fridge, among the remnants of the previous tenants' life, was a quaint note: “The three of us really enjoyed our stay here, especially our meals and nights spent by the kitchen island. We hope you find as much joy in it as we did. Use it well.” With a casual flick of my wrist, I dismissed the note into the garbage can, oblivious to the depth of its seemingly innocuous message. Little did I know, that piece of paper was more a passing of the torch than a simple goodbye.
Our initial days in apartment 606 brimmed with camaraderie and impromptu celebrations: movie nights sprawled on the living room sofas, barbeque dinners under the stars on our balcony, and co-working sessions at the dining table, peppered with resume tweaks and contemplative conversations over cocktails. We even scored a second-hand karaoke machine, allowing me to channel my inner diva—a throwback to my musical theatre days in college and my stint as the voice of corporate presentations and negotiations at my previous job, where I was known for my resonant yet finely tuned voice.
Yet, as the months wore on and the job market remained unyielding, our early merriment slowly surrendered to a creeping anxiety. The kitchen island, once the heart of our home where laughter and shared meals flowed freely, gradually morphed into the epicenter of our collective unease, bearing silent witness to the quiet desperation settling over us.
One evening, in the suspiciously affordable yet stylish apartment, I sank into the sofa, my spirits dampened by my favorite team's disheartening loss. The mood was grim, mirroring my fears of my beloved player's potential retirement at season's end. Later, as we congregated around the kitchen island for dinner, I transformed into an impromptu sports commentator, passionately preaching about the game’s disappointing details that led to failure and my favorite player’s fine qualities. Meanwhile, Jaz updated us on a friend's melodramatic breakup, with guesses that something ugly must have happened behind the scenes. Kath, ever the culinary enthusiast, not only served up her delicious pasta but also dished out the latest celebrity gossip, each tidbit as spicy as her sauce.
The next day, during a late breakfast at the same kitchen island—our unwitting oracle—we were hit by a triple whammy of reality checks. The news of my favorite player's retirement broke, echoing my gloomy predictions from the night before. Jaz chimed in with an update that our friend had uncovered a cheating scandal worthy of its own reality TV special. And Kath, never one to be left out of the drama: her favorite celebrity was now the star of a scandal.
By the third morning, as we sipped our coffee, the newspaper slapped me with another bizarre twist. I was going through the devastating economics and politics sections, then I saw the sports section——featured an irate coach, hell-bent on convincing my favorite player to dismiss retirement plans and keep his jersey on a little longer. Meanwhile, Jaz had good news for a change: it turned out our friend's love story might have a second act after all, as misunderstandings were being cleared up. Amidst these revelations, Kath, who had been grumbling about the nearby supermarket’s inability to stock anything remotely gourmet, and hadn’t had a taste of her favorite Blue Mountain coffee since the beginning of that year, triumphantly found a can of Blue Mountain coffee, and it was on sale and therefore affordable—proof that miracles happen, and sometimes they even go on discount.
As I sat there, absorbing the serendipity of our discussions manifesting into real-world events, I couldn't help but marvel at the mysterious knack of our kitchen island. Was it merely a coincidence, or had this stylish piece of decor become the unlikely conductor of our lives symphony? One thing was certain: life in apartment 606 was never dull, and our kitchen island seemed to be more than just a place to eat—it was a place where, apparently, you could stir the pot of fate.
I decided to conduct a whimsical experiment with our now seemingly magical kitchen island. Clearing my throat theatrically, I declared, "I should be interviewed for a director position." To my sheer astonishment, the next day a headhunter rang me up, claiming I was the ideal candidate for a directorial role at a prestigious corporation in my field. Despite the other candidates possessing decades more experience which defeated me with no effort, and my own lingering self-doubt from months of unemployment, I sailed to the final interview round with the company's executives.
Upon returning to our apartment, I found Kath flaunting a chic dress from a designer brand brand she’d snagged on clearance—a little luxury courtesy of our wish-granting island. Inspired, I approached the island and cheekily requested, "Get us jobs. Something fun." Lo and behold, the following day was spent lounging and binge-watching Netflix, only to be interrupted by a call from a former bigwig at my old job. He was venturing into a more illustrious company and wanted me onboard. The informal chat that followed was a breeze, and just like that, I was back in the game with a fancier title and a fatter paycheck.
The subsequent week was a flurry of celebrations. Jaz secured a senior-level position, and Kath landed her dream job at an influencer management agency. Feeling triumphant, we decided to indulge in a night of fine dining—our first in months. That Friday evening when I went from office to restaurant, on a whim, stopped at a convenience store to grab snacks and cigarettes for our post-dinner revelry. Outside, I encountered a homeless person. After offering him a sandwich (which he traded for a cigarette instead), he took a drag, peered into my eyes, and ominously muttered, “Look, young lady, this isn’t my business, but be wary of what you wish for; everything comes with a price. Good luck and god bless you.”
His words barely registered until later that evening when a mishap occurred that seemed to underline his warning. As we enjoyed syphon coffee post-dinner, a barista accidentally tripped over Kath’s flowing dress. The resulting spill left her with first-degree burns, abruptly ending our night as we rushed to the emergency room. Though it was "just" a first-degree burn, the pain was significant enough to require several days off for Kath’s recovery. Amid the drama, I couldn't help but wonder about the cryptic caution from the man outside the store—had our fortunate streak come with a hidden cost?
We chalked up the coffee calamity to bad luck. The next month flowed smoothly: Kath's fingers healed, she returned to work, and I quickly found my groove at the new job. With all of us gainfully employed, our communal meals at the kitchen island became rare. My mornings were a whirlwind of grabbing breakfast and coffee on the go, followed by an hour's commute to a job that had me scarfing down instant noodles by nightfall, just in time for a quick shower.
As the busy season kicked in, my workload ballooned—not just from the seasonal uptick, but because I was hell-bent on proving my mettle. I quickly outshone most of my peers, and my employer, recognizing a budding overachiever, piled on major tasks, which I eagerly accepted. What started as the occasional hour of overtime soon devoured my weekends. Unpaid overtime, as the fine print in my contract gleefully noted, became my new norm. Driven by a mix of ambition and expectation, I had become the go-to young hotshot, the erstwhile record-breaker now expected to continually outdo myself.
Mentally, I was too swamped to entertain thoughts of anything beyond work, which, in a twisted way, felt like a break. Physically, however, the strain began to show. A bout of flu caught on a business trip escalated into a fever. Sick as I was, deadlines waited for no one, and I soldiered on medicated and miserable. By the time I made it home, my voice had abandoned me. Unable to utter a word the next morning, I resorted to emailing my manager about my sorry state.
That week, robbed of my voice, I mused that it was perhaps a well-deserved hiatus for my overworked vocal cords—a silent retreat if you will. But when my voice did return, it was as a raspy whisper, a shadow of its former crisp and melodious timbre. My doctor offered a grim prognosis: slight improvement might come, but the golden tones were gone for good—scarred by the relentless grind. Ah, the price of ambition—a scratchy throat as a permanent reminder of my corporate conquests.
It seemed I had unwittingly exchanged the clarity of my voice for the tumult of career success. In the midst of our domestic enchantment with the possibly mystical kitchen island, Kath unearthed the contact of a reputed psychic, hailed as the finest in the land. However, the consultation fee was nothing short of princely, and with Jaz vehemently dismissing anything that couldn't be explained by cold, hard science, she promptly opted out of splitting the bill. Kath and I, unwilling to drain our wallets on what could be mere phantasmagoria, reluctantly let the opportunity pass.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but notice a curious change in Jaz’s routine. She had ceased dining at the kitchen island, avoiding it as if it were cursed—or perhaps, in her view, simply out of style. The Saturday morning brought a particularly harsh twist: a murder of crows took to spiralling above our balcony, their cries as sharp as the plot of a Poe novel. We found ourselves drawn to the infamous kitchen island, lined up like the cast of a macabre play, silently praying for the birds to disperse. Kath, ever trying to restore some semblance of normalcy, offered up cups of Blue Mountain coffee. She absentmindedly inquired if I wanted cream or sugar in mine—a blunder that made me realize just how long it had been since our last coffee klatch at this very spot. My inner monologue couldn't resist a dark wish for the crows to scatter, perhaps too dark, for they began to dive bomb our balcony in a feathery kamikaze. The spectacle was enough to knock Jaz off her feet—literally—as her mug met its end on the floor. Kath, meanwhile, made a hasty retreat to worship the porcelain god, and I sat frozen, my brain offline, pondering the twisted power of our kitchen island's apparent wish-granting.
After the unnerving spectacle of crows turning our balcony into a scene straight out of a Hitchcock film, our first rational step—post-collective fainting, of course—was to summon cleaners to manage the feathery carnage. Then, still rattled but increasingly curious, we visited a psychic, who, contrary to the crystal-ball-gazer image, operated out of a posh boutique in a high-end mall and dressed more like she was headed to a fashion show than a séance. We laid bare our saga of the seemingly cursed kitchen island, complete with photographic evidence of where domestic bliss meets eerie phenomena.
The psychic introduced a term that chilled the air around us: “limbo,” the threshold between our world and the otherworldly, and she dubbed our kitchen island the "Devil’s Bargain Counter." According to her, our wishes came with a heavy and unpredictable price, because we have accidentally started trades with beings from the netherworld. Her advice was disarmingly simple: cease all trades on the island. To address the repercussions of past wishes, she advised us the first line of defence, which was an eclectic mix of offerings laid out on our cursed countertop: raw meat(rooster works the best), a cocktail of spices(coca and cinnamon preferably), liberal splashes of spirits(whiskey and rum ideally), and an eerie bouquet of black flowers(luckily I found some black roses at a flower shop of the mall). In a grander gesture of appeasement, Kath relinquished her shiny new diamond bracelet, Jaz her absurdly expensive headphones, and I parted with cash—— a hefty slice of my bonus in hopes of placating whatever capricious spirits we'd angered.
Our return to normalcy was brief but sweet, prompting us to plan a getaway, eager to forget about our nefarious kitchen island. Yet, the respite was merely a tease. Jaz, in a stroke of spectacular misfortune, narrowly dodged disaster twice in one day—first nearly becoming subway track fodder on her way back after work, and then almost getting knocked out by a rogue plant at our apartment building’s doorstep. Clearly, our previous offerings were mere appetizers to whatever forces we'd stirred. The psychic, summoned once again to our now-dubious sanctuary, decreed that the spirits had developed rather expensive tastes, unsatisfied by our initial gestures.
In a desperate bid for closure, we had the psychic over for a nighttime ritual, timed perfectly with Earth's closest approach to the netherworld, according to her. Our living room turned into a ritual chamber, with windows blacked out for days, to keep the otherworldly dealings strictly nocturnal. That night, we arranged ourselves around the island, now less a kitchen fixture and more an altar of last resort.
The psychic, amidst a chorus of Latin incantations, directed us through a chilling séance that included a mirror that reflected nothing but darkness and a burning black candle, the three of us sat in a row, joined hands, eyes closed. When the black candle was flickering at its last, the first eerie scratches heard prompted our eyes to open prematurely, we saw a command appear on the island, written by invisible hand and pen, in blood-red script, urging us to find the next "succeeder" before our lease on otherworldly disturbances could be terminated.
With bated breath, we agreed, and as if by magic, our signatures materialized on the countertop, then faded as the candle sputtered out. We tore off the black cardboard taped on the windows at dawn, the sunrise revealed a final message etched into the surface: "Debt cleared." As the daylight grew, the ominous inscription dissolved into nothingness, signalling the end of our spectral saga.
The ordeal, now officially behind us, left us enjoying a semblance of normalcy: life in 606 returned to its mundane rhythm, with dinners and movie nights back on our social calendar. Though not without its scars—literal and figurative.
It’s been two years since then, Jaz, in the throes of romantic bliss, is now gearing up for a new chapter waiting to be written alongside her soon-to-be spouse; Kath, her career finally taking a lucrative turn, was poised to upgrade her living situation, she secured a lease on a lavish serviced apartment in the city center—a place that matched her newfound financial swagger.
I’m not without my own leaps forward. With a modest boost from my parents, I took the plunge into homeownership, snagging a property within the city’s vibrant confines. The process was a whirlwind of paperwork and decorating decisions, culminating in a space I could truly call my own.
As we are packing up now, my last act is to type out our story, at the infamous island, and of course, I left a note in the fridge for the next tenants:
"Welcome to 606. We had a wonderful time here, especially at the kitchen island, filled with joy and unforgettable moments. We hope you find as much happiness as we did. Use the isle well. Warm wishes, the previous tenants."
2024.05.15 00:29 Glacialfury [WP] a magical fantasy paladin is transported to a sci fi universe.
The shadow reared up and inhaled deeply, a loud rush of air into a giant bellows.
The light from Hadrian’s aura sparked off the creature’s jet-black scales and burned back the darkness so that a soft, nimbus glow revealed the dusty throne room of a long-dead mountain fortress.
He knew his Aura wasn’t enough to defeat the mighty dragon or even to harm it. But the sting of its touch would provide a distraction, sap a portion of the dragon's power to defend against the light.
He smiled behind his visor. Wherever there was darkness, he would bring the light. This was his oath.
The dragon’s head reached nearly to the ceiling atop a long sinuous neck, thick as a tree, and covered in armored scales the color of midnight and stronger than steel. The creature’s body curved behind it, vast and muscled, covered in the same black scales and leathery wings folded at its sides. Shiny black talons like curved longswords dug deep ruts into the stone floor. The dragon was a terrifying sight to behold, power-given flesh. Any other man would have trembled at the sight of it, lost his bowels to fear and his mind to madness. But Hadrian was no ordinary man. He was a Paladin of the White Rose, armored in his faith and blessed by his god. He traveled the land, hunting out the dark. That meant evil trembled before him.
The dragon probed the defenses shielding Hadrian’s mind from psionic attacks. He felt this as a slight pressure in his thoughts, the featherlight touch of falling gossamer. Then it was gone—repelled by the strength of his mental wards.
The dragon roared its fury.
Hadrian stood tall before Xegotargetol, the mightiest of the shadow dragons.
Slowly, he drew Dawnstar from its sheath and held it aloft, paying homage to his god. The sword gleamed like polished silver, double-edged and etched down both sides of the blade with intricate runes of power. In his other hand, he held Smite, a mighty tower shield the color of ivory and traced with shimmering runes. A gift from High Priest Adleson for the head of an ancient and terrible scourge.
“Fool!” Xegotargetol’s voice was a crash of thunder. Chunks of masonry fell from the ceiling. Dust drifted down. “You think to match your feeble power against mine?” Xegotargetol’s eyes glowed terribly in the dark, livid with crimson rage.
The air around Hadrian began to tingle, and the hairs on his arms under his armor stirred, like in the moments before a lightning strike.
Hadrian lifted his shield.
A bolt of crackling power thundered from the dragon’s maw, arcing and clawing toward him with murderous exaltation.
Hadrian muttered a word of power. Runes glowed to life on Smite.
He caught the lightning on his shield, and the metal heels of his burnished sabatons screeched sparks on the stone as he was pushed back. Ozone filled the air, and the roaring snap and crack of the lightning drowned out the dragon’s laughter. “You will not defeat me, foolish human!”
Hadrian clenched his teeth, muscles aflame, and with trembling effort, crossed his blade over the place where the lightning writhed on the face of his shield. There was a loud clap and a mighty roar, and Hadrian stumbled forward a step as the force pressing against him abruptly vanished.
Smoke rose from his shield. He peered over it, sword held at the ready.
Wisps rose from the dragon’s scales, dull and charred.
“Clever trick,” Xegotargetol growled out the words. “But it will not save you.”
Power gathered around the dragon until the air shimmered. “Behold, I am unleashed! Be gone, fool human!” The dragon reared back and snapped its maw forward like the tail on the end of a whip. A sphere of smoldering darkness streaked toward Hadrian.
He muttered a prayer to his god and braced his shield for the impact.
Darkness enveloped him.
Not the kind of utter blackness you’d find at the bottom of a grave, but a flickering, seething murk that carried him away on a flood of rapids. He clutched his shield close and his sword closer. On and on, he tumbled and spun, dashed among the inky waves until a bright speck appeared in the distance, growing in size with each heartbeat.
A moment later, Hadrian clattered out of the light onto hard ground, rolling and skidding to a stop. He lay there for a long moment, breathless and bruised, his mind reeling with all that had happened.
You were a fool ever to think you could defeat me. The words came as a fading whisper in his mind.
He rolled over and pushed himself up on hands and knees, and froze.
The ground was made of dark metal, and the air carried a blend of strange scents and dizzying sounds. Strangefolk in strange attire gathered around him, murmuring in words he could not understand. They held small devices that emitted a dot of light and wore art painted on their bare arms and shoulders. Evil spawn.
Hadrian rose to his feet, sword and shield at the ready. He turned slowly in place, studying the people as anxiety swelled in his heart. Massive buildings of exotic design surrounded him, soaring to disappear high into the sky. Lights in every color imaginable blinded him, blared strange music and jumping pictures. Strange beasts roared past in the air. But the strangest thing of all was the moon, or rather, that there were two of them, one half the size of the other; both glowing a pale, hazy blue.
What abyss is this?
Then, a familiar sight snagged his eye. He stopped, staring at a reflection.
It was him, standing in his armor, silver plate inlaid with ivory and bronze, fancy traceries running up and down his arms and over his chest. There could be no mistake. But it wasn’t a reflection, was it? This was something else, some kind of apparition. A magic projection contained within a wide rectangular simulacrum taller than his father’s inn.
He took in his surroundings, dread building to a boil.
This was not Aeterna or any place he’d ever heard of. This was some kind of hell, a decaying abyss full of madmen and fevered dreams. This was his nightmare made reality.
A metal dragon covered in flashing lights roared down out of the sky. It screamed words at him he did not understand.
I warned you, fool.
Hadrian firmed his jaw and hefted his sword. Time to cleanse this place.
submitted by Glacialfury to Glacialwrites [link] [comments]
The light from Hadrian’s aura sparked off the creature’s jet-black scales and burned back the darkness so that a soft, nimbus glow revealed the dusty throne room of a long-dead mountain fortress.
He knew his Aura wasn’t enough to defeat the mighty dragon or even to harm it. But the sting of its touch would provide a distraction, sap a portion of the dragon's power to defend against the light.
He smiled behind his visor. Wherever there was darkness, he would bring the light. This was his oath.
The dragon’s head reached nearly to the ceiling atop a long sinuous neck, thick as a tree, and covered in armored scales the color of midnight and stronger than steel. The creature’s body curved behind it, vast and muscled, covered in the same black scales and leathery wings folded at its sides. Shiny black talons like curved longswords dug deep ruts into the stone floor. The dragon was a terrifying sight to behold, power-given flesh. Any other man would have trembled at the sight of it, lost his bowels to fear and his mind to madness. But Hadrian was no ordinary man. He was a Paladin of the White Rose, armored in his faith and blessed by his god. He traveled the land, hunting out the dark. That meant evil trembled before him.
The dragon probed the defenses shielding Hadrian’s mind from psionic attacks. He felt this as a slight pressure in his thoughts, the featherlight touch of falling gossamer. Then it was gone—repelled by the strength of his mental wards.
The dragon roared its fury.
Hadrian stood tall before Xegotargetol, the mightiest of the shadow dragons.
Slowly, he drew Dawnstar from its sheath and held it aloft, paying homage to his god. The sword gleamed like polished silver, double-edged and etched down both sides of the blade with intricate runes of power. In his other hand, he held Smite, a mighty tower shield the color of ivory and traced with shimmering runes. A gift from High Priest Adleson for the head of an ancient and terrible scourge.
“Fool!” Xegotargetol’s voice was a crash of thunder. Chunks of masonry fell from the ceiling. Dust drifted down. “You think to match your feeble power against mine?” Xegotargetol’s eyes glowed terribly in the dark, livid with crimson rage.
The air around Hadrian began to tingle, and the hairs on his arms under his armor stirred, like in the moments before a lightning strike.
Hadrian lifted his shield.
A bolt of crackling power thundered from the dragon’s maw, arcing and clawing toward him with murderous exaltation.
Hadrian muttered a word of power. Runes glowed to life on Smite.
He caught the lightning on his shield, and the metal heels of his burnished sabatons screeched sparks on the stone as he was pushed back. Ozone filled the air, and the roaring snap and crack of the lightning drowned out the dragon’s laughter. “You will not defeat me, foolish human!”
Hadrian clenched his teeth, muscles aflame, and with trembling effort, crossed his blade over the place where the lightning writhed on the face of his shield. There was a loud clap and a mighty roar, and Hadrian stumbled forward a step as the force pressing against him abruptly vanished.
Smoke rose from his shield. He peered over it, sword held at the ready.
Wisps rose from the dragon’s scales, dull and charred.
“Clever trick,” Xegotargetol growled out the words. “But it will not save you.”
Power gathered around the dragon until the air shimmered. “Behold, I am unleashed! Be gone, fool human!” The dragon reared back and snapped its maw forward like the tail on the end of a whip. A sphere of smoldering darkness streaked toward Hadrian.
He muttered a prayer to his god and braced his shield for the impact.
Darkness enveloped him.
Not the kind of utter blackness you’d find at the bottom of a grave, but a flickering, seething murk that carried him away on a flood of rapids. He clutched his shield close and his sword closer. On and on, he tumbled and spun, dashed among the inky waves until a bright speck appeared in the distance, growing in size with each heartbeat.
A moment later, Hadrian clattered out of the light onto hard ground, rolling and skidding to a stop. He lay there for a long moment, breathless and bruised, his mind reeling with all that had happened.
You were a fool ever to think you could defeat me. The words came as a fading whisper in his mind.
He rolled over and pushed himself up on hands and knees, and froze.
The ground was made of dark metal, and the air carried a blend of strange scents and dizzying sounds. Strangefolk in strange attire gathered around him, murmuring in words he could not understand. They held small devices that emitted a dot of light and wore art painted on their bare arms and shoulders. Evil spawn.
Hadrian rose to his feet, sword and shield at the ready. He turned slowly in place, studying the people as anxiety swelled in his heart. Massive buildings of exotic design surrounded him, soaring to disappear high into the sky. Lights in every color imaginable blinded him, blared strange music and jumping pictures. Strange beasts roared past in the air. But the strangest thing of all was the moon, or rather, that there were two of them, one half the size of the other; both glowing a pale, hazy blue.
What abyss is this?
Then, a familiar sight snagged his eye. He stopped, staring at a reflection.
It was him, standing in his armor, silver plate inlaid with ivory and bronze, fancy traceries running up and down his arms and over his chest. There could be no mistake. But it wasn’t a reflection, was it? This was something else, some kind of apparition. A magic projection contained within a wide rectangular simulacrum taller than his father’s inn.
He took in his surroundings, dread building to a boil.
This was not Aeterna or any place he’d ever heard of. This was some kind of hell, a decaying abyss full of madmen and fevered dreams. This was his nightmare made reality.
A metal dragon covered in flashing lights roared down out of the sky. It screamed words at him he did not understand.
I warned you, fool.
Hadrian firmed his jaw and hefted his sword. Time to cleanse this place.
2024.05.15 00:28 bigfishbunny Should I go to small claims?
I will try to keep it short but it's still going to be long. I rented a townhouse in Nicholasville Kentucky. It is managed by a property management company. The same people that own the management company also own the property under a different business name. It had a musty smell. I deep cleaned the carpets five times before I moved in. Got an insane amount of animal fur out of it. After moving in my guinea pigs quickly developed a respiratory problem and died. My child developed pneumonia and we couldn't figure out why. When inspecting the central HVAC, I discovered the inside of it was completely covered in mold. I also found mold growing on the ceiling of my child's closet. You could see where it had previously been painted over and the mold had continued to grow through the paint. The inside of the fuse box also had mold growing in it. I documented everything with photos. My child and I left the unit to stay at my mother's home until the unit was safe. The management company sent someone out to clean the HVAC. That person rubbed the mold around some but did nothing to clean it. I asked someone from the management company to come and look. They sent their maintenance guy out. He assured me they would take care of it. He said he would put a realtor's key on the door so they could come in to fix it. I asked him not to do that and requested he just tell me when they were coming so I could be there. The next morning I arrived at the house at 8:00 a.m.. I had not received any notification of anyone coming to the house. The maintenance guy had put a realtor's key on the door against my wishes. There were people in my home when I arrived. They re-painted over the mold on the ceiling and cleaned the mold out of the fuse box. The HVAC unit will still filled with mold. They handed me a letter from the management claiming I caused the mold with improper use of the air conditioning unit. I paid out of pocket to have mold testing done, which found higher than normal amounts of mold in the air. I presented the results to the management company and requested mold remediation services be performed. I also requested they remove the realtor's key from the home and that they inform me anytime someone was going to be coming. Over the next couple of weeks they refused and continued to send people over with a key who would just come in my home without even knocking. I felt like this was some sort of intimidation tactic. I spoke to a free legal advisor who informed me the city of Nicholasville was somehow exempt from regular landlord laws. After enough fighting with the management company, we decided to end the lease. It was agreed that I would move out and be relieved of any future rent responsibilities. After I left I received an email with a bill for $2,800. They were charging me for mold remediation claiming I caused the mold from improper use of the air conditioner, whatever that means. I responded by telling her I disagree. She then emailed me saying "in that case I will charge you for the rest of the lease" and sent me an additional bill for more than $7,000. I simply ignored them. 6 months later I had a hit on my credit for a $7,000 collection. I contested it and it was lowered down to the $2,800 she originally attempted to charge me. The whole thing feels like extortion. I documented every interaction with them in great detail and have plenty of photos. I also have a paper signed by the management stating the lease has been voided. I'm afraid if I go to small claims, they will bring in lawyers that will be able to screw me over somehow with a counter suit. I just want their fraudulent claim removed from my credit. Any advice would be great.
submitted by bigfishbunny to legaladvice [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 00:28 itoyaginza Rainy day shopping
Currently staying in Garosugil and with the expected rain today, I would like to know there are any indoor malls within reasonable distance (taking a cab) to recommend? I have been to Coex, Hyundai dept, Gimpo, AirPort Express terminal and Shinsegae. Not shopping for anything in particular, just to get out and some workout.
submitted by itoyaginza to koreatravel [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 00:27 OMGWTHEFBBQ Planning a 2 week roadtrip in northeast USA and into Canada - Suggestions for things to do in the general vicinity of my route? It is very flexible.
I'm planning a road trip for May 25th - June 9th. The only things that I know I 100% will be doing is the Air Force Museum in Ohio, staying in Chicago for a few days. Everything else is just areas I am thinking of exploring.
I am traveling alone, and the main focus of things to do is great nature and great driving roads (I am a car enthusiast taking my fun but comfortable and roomy car (BMW M5).
Any suggestions for great roads to drive, nature to see, great restaurants, or things that are a must-see or do, please comment!
Couple questions/thoughts:
https://preview.redd.it/8c1mghqsvg0d1.png?width=2008&format=png&auto=webp&s=f570595c3a7139fc213cd47433f5d1ffa67ea9ac
submitted by OMGWTHEFBBQ to roadtrip [link] [comments]
I am traveling alone, and the main focus of things to do is great nature and great driving roads (I am a car enthusiast taking my fun but comfortable and roomy car (BMW M5).
Any suggestions for great roads to drive, nature to see, great restaurants, or things that are a must-see or do, please comment!
Couple questions/thoughts:
- I've never driven to Canada before. I have my passport. Am I able to just drive my car in and that's it? Anything special to do beforehand, or anything I should know?
- Is it possible to bring a firearm with me along this trip? I have my Pennsylvania License to Carry Firearms, and generally carry wherever I am legally able to. Traveling alone, it would bring piece of mind to have a form of protection, especially as I plan to camp in some remote areas.
- I really enjoy stargazing and have been to Cherry Springs State Park, and seen darker skies while in other countries. Any dark sky opportunities or observatories will be great!
- Please recommend any great driving roads near my route! Twisty roads through scenic areas that are good road quality (minimal potholes). Low population/traffic preferred.
- Sat 5/25 Home to Charleston, WV (planning to stop in Harper's Ferry)
- Sun 5/26 explore WV (mostly looking for good nature or driving roads)
- Mon 5/27 Charleston to Dayton, Ohio for AF Museum
- Mon 5/27 Dayton to Chicago
- Tues 5/28 - Thu 5/30 Chicago (visiting a friend, any good driving roads? everything is so flat)
- Fri 5/31 Chicago to Toronto
- Sat 6/1 Toronto to Montreal
- Sun 6/2 Montreal to Quebec City
- Mon 6/3 explore QC (seems like a cool place; history, architecture, food)
- Mon 6/3 QC to Baxter State Park, ME (for stargazing)
- Tues 6/4 ME to Mt Washington, NH (I love a good mountain)
- Tues 6/4 NH to Albany, NY
- Wed 6/5 Explore Albany
- Thu 6/6 Albany to Syracuse
- Thu 6/6 Explore Finger Lakes
- Thu 6/6 End at Watkins Glen
- Fri 6/7 Watkins Glen to Catskills
- Sat 6/8 Explore Catskills
- Sun 6/7 Drive Home
https://preview.redd.it/8c1mghqsvg0d1.png?width=2008&format=png&auto=webp&s=f570595c3a7139fc213cd47433f5d1ffa67ea9ac
2024.05.15 00:25 jujujasmin Is there a limit to how many letters of recommendation you can have uploaded to LSAC?
I can’t find the answer to this online. Pls let me know <3
submitted by jujujasmin to lawschooladmissions [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 00:22 Ya_Boi_Blue_ Thoughts and Recommendations on final parts list?
parts list https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/Pq4LTY
Hey everyone, I'm building a new PC that will mostly be used for gaming, watching TV and YouTube, and some minor graphic design and animation. I've spent the last few months going part by part and combination by combination to choose my parts to build the best PC for my needs within my budget, 2300 CAD, and came up with this list with my reasoning for choosing these parts. ANY thoughts or recommendations on the overall build, price point, parts or my writing skills are welcome and appreciated, Thank you!
CPU-Ryzen 7800x3d- I picked this CPU because it seems to be the best for gaming and some productivity, came highly rated and i kept reading that it was the best gaming CPU. I also read that even though the 7900x3d should be better mix for gaming and productivity it somehow is worse at both.
CPU cooler-Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler- I picked this cooler because it was recommended as the best bang for your buck CPU cooler while still delivering on performance, which let me spend more money on other parts of the build.
Motherboard-Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard- The motherboard was honestly the part that took me the longest to decide on since there were just WAY too many options and WAY too many seemingly being prone to being lemons of having had issues that have since been fixed. Why i finally decided on this one though is that the issues it had, frying 7000 series CPUs, had reportedly been fixed so long as I flash the bios before installing my CPU, as well as that it meets all my needs in attempting to future proof my motherboard without dropping 400 or more CAD on it.
Memory-G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory- Once I finally understood how Ram worked and how EXPO worked I basically went with what was cheapest in those parameters, not much else to say about it.
Storage-Western Digital Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive- Much like memory I don't have much to say about my choice of storage, Western digital seems like a good brand, I have a different one of their SSDs in my current PC, has about the same performance as similar performing SSDs while being cheaper in price.
GPU-4070 Super FE- I decided on the 4070 Super Fe for a few reasons, I heard Nvidia is better if I want to graphic design or animation as well as gaming, the 4070 super seems to be in the sweet spot for performance/price and I've read that the Fe retains it's value the best for when I want to upgrade.
Case-NZXT H6 Flow- I chose the H6 Flow because I liked the design, and I read that it was both easy to build in as well as being great for air cooling.
PSU-Corsair RM750- I'm stuck with this one because I already bought it when it was on a good sale, My reasoning for buying it though is that most importantly the wattage should be enough, and also because the RM series of Corsair power supplies seems to rank pretty high on most peoples tier lists of PSUs. Added bonus of being fully modular.
submitted by Ya_Boi_Blue_ to PcBuild [link] [comments]
Hey everyone, I'm building a new PC that will mostly be used for gaming, watching TV and YouTube, and some minor graphic design and animation. I've spent the last few months going part by part and combination by combination to choose my parts to build the best PC for my needs within my budget, 2300 CAD, and came up with this list with my reasoning for choosing these parts. ANY thoughts or recommendations on the overall build, price point, parts or my writing skills are welcome and appreciated, Thank you!
CPU-Ryzen 7800x3d- I picked this CPU because it seems to be the best for gaming and some productivity, came highly rated and i kept reading that it was the best gaming CPU. I also read that even though the 7900x3d should be better mix for gaming and productivity it somehow is worse at both.
CPU cooler-Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler- I picked this cooler because it was recommended as the best bang for your buck CPU cooler while still delivering on performance, which let me spend more money on other parts of the build.
Motherboard-Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard- The motherboard was honestly the part that took me the longest to decide on since there were just WAY too many options and WAY too many seemingly being prone to being lemons of having had issues that have since been fixed. Why i finally decided on this one though is that the issues it had, frying 7000 series CPUs, had reportedly been fixed so long as I flash the bios before installing my CPU, as well as that it meets all my needs in attempting to future proof my motherboard without dropping 400 or more CAD on it.
Memory-G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory- Once I finally understood how Ram worked and how EXPO worked I basically went with what was cheapest in those parameters, not much else to say about it.
Storage-Western Digital Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive- Much like memory I don't have much to say about my choice of storage, Western digital seems like a good brand, I have a different one of their SSDs in my current PC, has about the same performance as similar performing SSDs while being cheaper in price.
GPU-4070 Super FE- I decided on the 4070 Super Fe for a few reasons, I heard Nvidia is better if I want to graphic design or animation as well as gaming, the 4070 super seems to be in the sweet spot for performance/price and I've read that the Fe retains it's value the best for when I want to upgrade.
Case-NZXT H6 Flow- I chose the H6 Flow because I liked the design, and I read that it was both easy to build in as well as being great for air cooling.
PSU-Corsair RM750- I'm stuck with this one because I already bought it when it was on a good sale, My reasoning for buying it though is that most importantly the wattage should be enough, and also because the RM series of Corsair power supplies seems to rank pretty high on most peoples tier lists of PSUs. Added bonus of being fully modular.
2024.05.15 00:20 ulisescy Beginning my carnivore journey!
Hi there, Ulises here.
I'm starting my "official" carnivore journey today for a month. "Unofficially," I started 4 weeks ago with a "Ketovore" diet.
How I landed here:
I was almost fainting last month, almost like those movie scenes where one of the characters is about to pass out, and everything is shaking around him. You try to reach out your hands to break your fall, but you can't because your brain isn't sending the signals, or things get shaky around you, and you are about to pass out.
I have almost always tried to avoid any kind of fat because my stomach and my heart react to it and make me feel worse. However, I had no choice at this point, so I did a "do or die." I started adding different fats (nuts, avocado, salmon, anchovies, fatty meat) and also changed my diet. The symptoms improved and eventually went away.
But I still had all my other health issues. I had already heard of carnivore a couple of times before; it just seemed crazy, until I found this guy "Kerry (HomeSteadHow)." Some of the problems he had were quite similar to mine (throat closing, walking like a zombie—I know what he is talking about with this one—obesity; in my case, it's the exact opposite: underweight, very skinny, and almost no muscle no matter what I do). Only "fat ladies" will ask me what is "my secret." I've had at least three of them asking that this year so far.
Goals:
I have many health issues, but there are three I believe to be the main problems:
I'm following this diet as an elimination diet, so I will reintroduce food that is not causing problems as I go.
Next month, I will transition into Ketovore and then try to move to Keto. It's still to be seen.
We have to keep testing and tracking, and then make decisions. (Although some people recommend staying on this diet for at least 3 months, but we'll see.)
Reflections and Lessons so far:
Positive:
I will still eat some seaweed from time to time for my thyroid as well as ginger, which is also helping. As I mentioned, I'm doing it more as an elimination diet. If I add another food, I will update as well, I will be testing and tracking as I go.
I welcome any feedback, words of encouragement, comments, likes, dislikes, criticism, etc.
Thank you!
submitted by ulisescy to carnivorediet [link] [comments]
I'm starting my "official" carnivore journey today for a month. "Unofficially," I started 4 weeks ago with a "Ketovore" diet.
How I landed here:
I was almost fainting last month, almost like those movie scenes where one of the characters is about to pass out, and everything is shaking around him. You try to reach out your hands to break your fall, but you can't because your brain isn't sending the signals, or things get shaky around you, and you are about to pass out.
I have almost always tried to avoid any kind of fat because my stomach and my heart react to it and make me feel worse. However, I had no choice at this point, so I did a "do or die." I started adding different fats (nuts, avocado, salmon, anchovies, fatty meat) and also changed my diet. The symptoms improved and eventually went away.
But I still had all my other health issues. I had already heard of carnivore a couple of times before; it just seemed crazy, until I found this guy "Kerry (HomeSteadHow)." Some of the problems he had were quite similar to mine (throat closing, walking like a zombie—I know what he is talking about with this one—obesity; in my case, it's the exact opposite: underweight, very skinny, and almost no muscle no matter what I do). Only "fat ladies" will ask me what is "my secret." I've had at least three of them asking that this year so far.
Goals:
I have many health issues, but there are three I believe to be the main problems:
- Neuropathy (extremities, mainly in my legs)
- Globus (lump in my throat)
- Gastritis
I'm following this diet as an elimination diet, so I will reintroduce food that is not causing problems as I go.
Next month, I will transition into Ketovore and then try to move to Keto. It's still to be seen.
We have to keep testing and tracking, and then make decisions. (Although some people recommend staying on this diet for at least 3 months, but we'll see.)
Reflections and Lessons so far:
- Cheese has lactose in it, and usually, symptoms get worse when this happens. (Dairy is a tricky one on this diet.)
- The other problem with cheese is that it is quite delicious and easy to eat, and those two are a lethal combo for anyone, thus we overeat it.
- People put too many different foods in daily, and it is very hard to know which one(s) is causing your health problems. Ten different foods at breakfast, ten different foods up to lunch, and five different foods up to dinner. Then, after this masochism, people have the audacity to point out with their fingers and say that "fish" or that "avocado" is what caused the problems. It is very hard to pinpoint which food causes the problems if you consume 25 different foods in a day.
- The other problem with many different foods daily when you are sick, especially very ill, is that you are giving too much work to your body. Your body is in full motion trying to deal with all the food you are sending. Plus, some foods don't mix well or are harder to digest in combination (acidic + dairy) (carbs + fat) (sugar + "anything") or other combos that your body may struggle with.
Positive:
- Bloating (or beer belly) is gone, completely gone! I'm surprised at how fast it was. I wonder if it is because I keep eating meat or because I took the veggies out. Testing and tracking is the way to find out.
- Neuropathy, one of my priorities, has improved, especially on days when I eat red meat in high doses. It is still there, though, but some improvements were made.
- Satiety and not eating trash food (processed food). I have stopped eating cookies and similar foods for over a month now, which is one of the main things this diet has helped me with. (People blame "force of will" as the main cause almost all the time for this problem.)
- Sleep (around 6 hours). As I mentioned before, I have struggled whenever I added fat to my meals. For those three weeks, I was occasionally eating fruits and some veggies, and I believe some nuts. That is why this time I want to stay out of those as much as I can.
- Energy. I still have to wait for the energy benefits. It is kind of neutral so far. Since I have not been sleeping as much, I think that may be the reason for neutral or low energy.
- Heart issues. I have avoided fat for almost a decade, fat of any kind, but I have started adding butter and more fatty meat. I get some pressure on my chest, tiredness, and some difficulty when breathing, which is what has happened all the time when I added any kind of fat. But I never took carbs or sugar out. That was the difference, so that is what I want to do now: take them fully out for some time and see what happens.
I will still eat some seaweed from time to time for my thyroid as well as ginger, which is also helping. As I mentioned, I'm doing it more as an elimination diet. If I add another food, I will update as well, I will be testing and tracking as I go.
I welcome any feedback, words of encouragement, comments, likes, dislikes, criticism, etc.
Thank you!
2024.05.15 00:17 Medium-Pepper-9172 Can I get a letter of recommendation lol...
 | submitted by Medium-Pepper-9172 to CollegeMemes [link] [comments] |
2024.05.15 00:17 PyroIsSpai Are UFOs impacted by energies and gravitational anomalies generated by fault lines? A few new clues and questions from a claimed UFO Program leaker on a similar subreddit.
0. High level summary
I propose that fault lines may play a significant and under documented role in what is happening with UFOs and specifically the impact of fault lines on some number of UFO related crashes. I suspect energetic effects from fault lines and gravity effects from mass variances in fault lines (especially while active) impact UFO/NHI navigational systems. They may do things like routing around, or via, fault lines.1. A new leaker: Dijkstra's algorithm and Diablo Canyon.
On May 13th, 2024, a claimed leaker on UFO/NHI related programs posted on /Aliens with details on their history with the "Program".It's a huge volume of data but one very particular passage instantly stuck out to me:
"The craft use a system that originally befuddled generations of researchers, but it's essentially a 3D dijkstra algorithm. It finds points around the craft, and chooses the most efficient possible route through space time to get to that point. Some of the parameters it uses to gauge efficiency are totally unknown to us and are a serious point of contention. It's not autonomy, but rather obstacle avoidance not unlike what you would see in a self-driving car. But, the self driving car could go through air, space and water without worrying about what medium its in. Additionally, the algo accounts for the crafts place in time."And then this surprising sentence shortly after:
"Although the algo is extremely effective, Nuclear explosions and experiments somehow interfere with this navigation. Craft particularly avoid Diablo Canyon, even if we put something they really want there."So, this Dijkstra's algorithm and Diablo Canyon.
I can find not one single prior reference to this anywhere, ever, in all of Ufology prior to that Reddit post.
I think this is entirely new, or new to the Internet for UFO topics.
In a 3D version of Dijkstra's algorithm, the algorithm extends from two-dimensional plane navigation to three-dimensional environments, making it suitable for applications such as drone flight paths, underwater vehicle navigation, or spacecraft trajectory planning. The algorithm begins at a starting node, exploring all neighboring nodes and continuously updating the shortest known distances from the start to each node, considering all possible paths. By repeating this process until the destination node is reached, the algorithm ensures that the path with the minimal total distance or cost is selected, taking into account the complexities of moving through 3D space. So, we have the introduction of a known means of navigation, that does 4D (by inclusion of a temporal parameter) mapping in this model.
Then we have the inclusion of Diablo Canyon -- but there are six of these in North America. Three of these are very close to government sites.
- Diablo Canyon Power Plant, California (nuclear)
- Nearest government: Vandenburg AFB, 35 miles south.
- Diablo Canyon, New Mexico
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, 20 miles north.
- Diablo Canyon, Washington
- Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, 70 miles northwest.
- Diablo Canyon, British Columbia, Canada
- Diablo Canyon, Utah
- Canyon Diablo, Arizona
Why would a UFO avoid a canyon?
2. Energy fields, UFO navigation and "fault lines" in gravity.
There are numerous reports and stories of things like claimed lasers, directed energy weapons/fields, and even allegedly things like RADAR having some manner of detecable impact on navigational capabilities of UFOs/NHI craft. The lore is full of this topic over time, and it aligns substantially with the scientific backgrounds of people known to be involved, like Sean M. Kirkpatrick.This caught my eye as I've been doing a lot of reading on certain much lesser-known effects of fault lines, after I learned that the home and neighborhood I lived in as a child, where a group of us saw a "saucer", was literally sat atop a small land mass completely encircled like an island by fault lines. This is not unique--there are others. But this was a wild surprise to me, and especially when the flight path of the ship we saw... once I saw the fault lines path/heading...
It was the same route. The thing we saw, once I saw the fault line maps... it was like looking at a snippet of a Google Maps route that the UFO took, for the duration of our experience seeing it. I did not know this for decades.
For the curious, the bread crumb that led down this path was not this whistleblower, fault lines, or my own experience. It was studying Lagrange Points.
What's a Lagrange point?
Positions in space where the gravitational forces of two large bodies, like Earth and the Moon, balance out the centripetal force felt by a smaller object, allowing it to remain in a stable position relative to the two larger bodies. Think of it like the mid-way point between any two bodies with mass that impact gravity. Earth/Jupiter. JupiteSun. Earth moon/Neptune. You/your cat. It's not a 50/50 thing; if you are and your cat are 10 feet away, it's not 5-foot between you. It's also impacted by gravity from other bodies within range (and range is infinite because gravity is, no matter how infinitesimal at long distances).
There is even conceptually such a place, even if it's trivial in variation, between galaxies.
Keep in mind: there are specifically named 3D mapped always-moving (as Earth/moon for example) always-in-motion Lagrange points for the Earth and Moon. Five total--but those are just the optimal ones. There would be a relative band of space where overall the gravity between bodies is more balanced.
Almost like a fault line in gravity, huh?
That, the fault line discovery related to my experience, and my (then) unrelated fault line research which was pure curiosity unrelated to UFOs... at first.
3. Piezoelectrics, Electrokinetics, and Gravitational anomalies.
So we have a new claimed 4D mapping/navigational tool by NHI UFOs, and that they go out of their way to avoid some "Diablo canyon" no matter what we do. We know definitively there are places where gravity can have relative weak spots, due to the balancing of gravitational waves/forces/mass between bodies. All bodies with mass produce gravity... including tectonic plates.But that's not all they produce in terms of energy.
Fault lines can generate three different distinct effects beyond seismic (shaking/motion) impacts on the world.
They are:
Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects
Stress-induced piezoelectric effects refer to the generation of electrical charges in certain crystalline materials, such as quartz, when mechanical stress is applied. These effects are caused by tectonic stress and strain in the Earth's crust, which deforms the crystalline structures, generating electric fields. At the surface, these effects can disrupt local power grids, cause voltage fluctuations, and affect sensitive electronic equipment. In the atmosphere, piezoelectric effects can lead to changes in the ionosphere, affecting radio signal propagation and GPS accuracy up to altitudes of around 600 km. In space, the impacts are typically observed as changes in ionospheric electron density, detected by satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), such as those at altitudes up to 1,200 km.
Additional reading:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismoelectrical_method
Electrokinetic effects are electrical phenomena that occur when a fluid (such as groundwater) moves through a porous medium (like soil or rock) under the influence of a pressure gradient. These effects are caused by the movement of ionized fluids through the Earth's subsurface, which can be influenced by tectonic activity, fluid injection, or natural fluid migration. At the surface, electrokinetic effects can alter groundwater flow, impact water supply systems, and cause electrical disturbances in subsurface sensors. In the atmosphere, these effects are less direct but can influence humidity and ionization levels, which may affect weather radar and communication systems. In space, electrokinetic effects are typically not directly observed; however, related ionospheric disturbances from fluid movement in the Earth's crust can be detected by satellites at altitudes up to 1,200 km.
Additional reading:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetotellurics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrokinetic_phenomena
Gravity anomalies are variations in the Earth's gravitational field caused by differences in the distribution of mass within the Earth. These anomalies are caused by subsurface geological structures such as mountains, valleys, fault lines, and varying rock densities. On the surface, gravity anomalies can affect precise geodetic measurements, influence surveying accuracy, and impact construction projects that rely on gravitational data. In the atmosphere, gravity anomalies can slightly influence the flight paths of aircraft and atmospheric satellites, but these effects are generally minimal. In space, gravity anomalies are detected by satellites like the GRACE mission at altitudes of around 500 km, affecting satellite orbit calculations and providing data on Earth's subsurface structures and water distribution.
Additional reading:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_anomaly
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouguer_anomaly
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-air_gravity_anomaly
4. The impact of fault lines on UFOs.
Disturbances related to stress-induced piezoelectric effects, electrokinetic effects, and gravity anomalies have been observed and recorded at various altitudes. Here are some notable examples across different categories:A) Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects
- High-altitude Observations: Piezoelectric effects typically influence ground-based systems such as power grids and sensors. There is limited data on their direct impact at high altitudes. However, atmospheric electrical phenomena, such as changes in the ionosphere related to seismic activity, have been noted up to several hundred kilometers above the Earth's surface. These are often detected by satellites in low Earth orbit.
- High-altitude Observations: Electrokinetic effects primarily affect subsurface and near-surface fluid dynamics. There is no significant evidence of direct electrokinetic phenomena being observed at high altitudes. However, related atmospheric effects, such as changes in humidity or ionization, can indirectly influence atmospheric layers.
- High-altitude Observations: Gravity anomalies have been detected at high altitudes, including by aircraft and satellites. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, for example, operate at altitudes of approximately 500 km and have provided detailed maps of gravity anomalies across the Earth.
Specific High-altitude Observations
- Ionospheric Disturbances Related to Seismic Activity:
- Altitude: Up to 600 km.
- Impact: Changes in electron density in the ionosphere, detected by satellites.
- Gravity Anomalies Detected by GRACE Satellites:
- Altitude: Approximately 500 km.
- Impact: Detailed mapping of Earth's gravity field, revealing variations due to tectonic and other geological processes.
Summary
- Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects: Up to ionospheric altitudes (~600 km) via indirect atmospheric electrical phenomena.
- Electrokinetic Effects: Primarily near-surface, with no significant direct high-altitude observations.
- Gravity Anomalies: Up to satellite altitudes (~500 km), with significant observations by GRACE and similar missions.
5. Why would UFOs avoid "Diablo Canyon"?
We need to know which one it is. The most likely based on the intersection of fault lines; fault lines with impacts; and near proximity to notable UFO-related locations--Vandenburg and Los Alamos--leaves us with New Mexico and the nuclear power planet.Here are all nearby relevant fault lines for each.
This section took a substantial amount of digging/cross referencing over weeks. I had begun this for a fiction/story idea that didn't pan out, and did not save the litany of sources I read. This is a summary.
A) Diablo Canyon Power Plant, California
Hosgri Fault Zone
- Location: Offshore, running parallel to the coast near the power plant.
- Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects
- Specific Locations: Documented near Avila Beach and Montaña de Oro State Park.
- Relative Strength: Moderate compared to other equivalent faults in California, such as the San Andreas Fault. The presence of quartz in the fault gouge enhances the piezoelectric effect, making it comparable to effects observed in the Garlock Fault.
- Electrokinetic Effects
- Specific Locations: Recorded near Diablo Canyon Power Plant and Morro Bay.
- Relative Strength: Comparable to electrokinetic effects seen in the Hayward Fault in California due to similar fluid movement dynamics.
- Gravity Anomalies
- Specific Locations: Detected offshore near Point Buchon and Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
- Relative Strength: Significant compared to other coastal fault zones, with variations similar to those found in the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
San Andreas Fault
- Location: Approximately 10 miles inland from the power plant at its closest point.
- Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects
- Specific Locations: Parkfield, California and Hollister, California.
- Relative Strength: High, as the San Andreas Fault is one of the most studied and active fault lines globally. The piezoelectric effects are significant and comparable to those seen in other major fault systems worldwide.
- Electrokinetic Effects
- Specific Locations: San Juan Bautista, California and Carrizo Plain National Monument.
- Relative Strength: Significant, due to extensive fluid movement and high seismic activity. Comparable to effects observed in the Wasatch Fault Zone.
- Gravity Anomalies
- Specific Locations: Palmdale, California and San Bernardino, California.
- Relative Strength: Very high, with anomalies providing critical insights into fault mechanics. Similar to those in the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
Shoreline Fault
- Location: Discovered in 2008, runs very close to the plant, offshore and parallel to the coastline.
- Length: Approximately 25 miles.
- Within 5 miles: The Shoreline Fault comes within 5 miles of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
- Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects
- Specific Locations: Nearshore areas close to Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
- Relative Strength: Potential effects are moderate, with less documentation compared to major faults.
- Electrokinetic Effects
- Specific Locations: Offshore areas near the power plant.
- Relative Strength: Comparable to minor faults in coastal regions.
- Gravity Anomalies
- Specific Locations: Offshore near Diablo Cove.
- Relative Strength: Minor, indicating subtle density changes.
Los Osos Fault
- Location: Within 10 miles of the power plant.
- Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects
- Specific Locations: Los Osos Valley.
- Relative Strength: Minor compared to major faults but notable within the local context.
- Electrokinetic Effects
- Specific Locations: Areas with significant groundwater flow near Los Osos.
- Relative Strength: Comparable to small, groundwater-rich fault zones.
- Gravity Anomalies
- Specific Locations: Los Osos Valley.
- Relative Strength: Minor anomalies detected.
B) Diablo Canyon, New Mexico
Embudo Fault
- Location: Within 20 miles of Diablo Canyon.
- Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects
- Specific Locations: Near Dixon and Pilar, New Mexico.
- Relative Strength: Moderate compared to other faults in the Rio Grande Rift. Similar effects to those observed in the East African Rift.
- Electrokinetic Effects
- Specific Locations: Near Embudo, New Mexico.
- Relative Strength: Moderate, consistent with other active rift zones with significant groundwater interaction.
- Gravity Anomalies
- Specific Locations: Near the town of Española, New Mexico.
- Relative Strength: Significant, providing insight into the rift's complex tectonic structure. Comparable to anomalies in the Basin and Range Province.
Pajarito Fault
- Location: Within 20 miles of Diablo Canyon.
- Stress-induced Piezoelectric Effects
- Specific Locations: Near Los Alamos, New Mexico.
- Relative Strength: High, due to active seismicity and the presence of stress.
- Electrokinetic Effects
- Specific Locations: Near White Rock, New Mexico.
- Relative Strength: Significant, due to active groundwater flow in the region.
- Gravity Anomalies
- Specific Locations: Near Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- Relative Strength: Notable, with detailed mapping providing insights into fault mechanics.
6. Conclusion
Simply, some variables on the navigational systems of the UFO craft which rely on precise 4-dimensional mapping for their navigational system, with implied near real time adjustments across all parameters, are negatively impacted by unexpected or significant enough to not be able to compensate for impacts from native Earth effects generated by tectonic plate actions, in specific key locations.I'd often suspected if there was something like this related to the handful of known crashes, and them seeming to be concentrated in certain areas. With this leaker, we see another few possible pieces of a puzzle filling.
Are they legitimate? We obviously can't tell, today. But this new data sure does align with:
- Reports of the USA trying to "bait" UFOs.
- Reports of the USA utilizing nuclear facilities to this end.
- UFO engagement with nuclear sites.
- UFOs reportedly avoiding certain areas, not limited to prior crash locations.
- UFOs reportedly being seen over time in the same places or repeated routes/locations.
- The USA getting big into gravity research along these lines (gravity scanners for military).
- Elizondo references to LIGO.
- And more beyond, that I'm sure more of you can recite from memory than I could.
If anyone wants to run with this or research equivalent sites in other parts of the world and their intersection with UFOs/UAPs, this may be a worthwhile rabbit hole for pursuit.
2024.05.15 00:15 chrispaichips Apartment Issues-NC, USA
I need advice.
I am in a 14-month lease, 8 months to go. Before the 3 week mark, I walked into my unit one morning after returning from a morning appointment and it was raining INSIDE my apartment. Within the week, the rain was coming inside my unit from a different location. Issues, delays, lies, etc. the whole rigamarole have been provided by the property manager. The issue persisted through March, with additional water stains appearing, some directly above the kitchen light fixture. [Another concern of mine, the lights in the bathroom have always flickered (not burnt bulbs, just differing light intensity) since I moved in and have gotten worse in the last month.] In March, I got the city involved, so an "inspection" was done, but I had little faith that I was going to benefit from this process. It warmed up, they "fixed" the issue, completed cosmetic repairs, the city inspector returned and (I assume) gave my unit the OK. I haven't gotten another letter from the city containing additional repairs that are needed. More recently, the faucets, my water filter, and the sprayer for the kitchen sink have all been growing mold at, in my opinion, ridiculously fast rates. Today, it rained again. The rain is AGAIN coming into my unit (although much slower than the first time) through the initial location of the leak.
I have been ghosted by a highly recommended lawyer after signing the contract. I don't know what to do or what my rights are, but I am certain that this situation is highly illegal. I have no problem standing up for myself, but after being dismissed and avoided, I don't know what else to do. Advice, anecdotes, or any other helpful thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, all!
submitted by chrispaichips to legaladvice [link] [comments]
I am in a 14-month lease, 8 months to go. Before the 3 week mark, I walked into my unit one morning after returning from a morning appointment and it was raining INSIDE my apartment. Within the week, the rain was coming inside my unit from a different location. Issues, delays, lies, etc. the whole rigamarole have been provided by the property manager. The issue persisted through March, with additional water stains appearing, some directly above the kitchen light fixture. [Another concern of mine, the lights in the bathroom have always flickered (not burnt bulbs, just differing light intensity) since I moved in and have gotten worse in the last month.] In March, I got the city involved, so an "inspection" was done, but I had little faith that I was going to benefit from this process. It warmed up, they "fixed" the issue, completed cosmetic repairs, the city inspector returned and (I assume) gave my unit the OK. I haven't gotten another letter from the city containing additional repairs that are needed. More recently, the faucets, my water filter, and the sprayer for the kitchen sink have all been growing mold at, in my opinion, ridiculously fast rates. Today, it rained again. The rain is AGAIN coming into my unit (although much slower than the first time) through the initial location of the leak.
I have been ghosted by a highly recommended lawyer after signing the contract. I don't know what to do or what my rights are, but I am certain that this situation is highly illegal. I have no problem standing up for myself, but after being dismissed and avoided, I don't know what else to do. Advice, anecdotes, or any other helpful thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, all!
2024.05.15 00:14 Puzzleheaded_Bat9172 Self training/ Flying tips for PSD for OCD
Hi everyone! I have a legitimate ESA but I just got a dachshund puppy and really want to work to train her into a PSD. I understand that there’s no service dog registry but I was curious on how you all mitigate the issue of having people believe whether your dog is a service dog or not. I have pretty debilitating OCD and often don’t leave the house/function normally when it’s flaring up. I’ve learned that the only thing that differentiates a good day from a bad day (OCD wise) is constantly having a dog around. The only way I’m able to make it out to the store or go drop off mail is if I have her with me. I need her to be able to calm me in moments like those since no humans are able to, not even my therapists. Without her, I spend most of my days lost in intrusive thoughts or feeling like a zombie just living every day in and out without purpose. She just gets it. Anyways, I know many people lie about SDs and I know they’re allowed to ask what the task she’s trained for is. I’ve discussed with my therapists and they mentioned that my condition is more than enough reason to have a PSD and I noted that the ADA deems anyone with my condition as able to have a service dog. How has everyone gone about letting airlines/outside places know about their PSD and how would you recommend letting them know with the least complications/fuss? Would it be helpful to carry around a letter from my therapist noting the need for a PSD or would this further harm everyone who is turned down places because they think that you need a certificate or note of some sort? thank you so much in advance!!!
submitted by Puzzleheaded_Bat9172 to service_dogs [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 00:11 The_Lucinator A quick primer on stealth
 | Boo submitted by The_Lucinator to flyoutgame [link] [comments] I have seen a lot of people both here on reddit and on discord with questions on stealth or misconceptions on it. As a Docent and historian at the worlds largest private aerospace museum which has a lot of documentation on the subject and a few actual stealth aircraft, which helps in understanding this topic at a deeper level than most. This is meant to be a basic overview of how reduced Radar Cross Section, (RCS) is achieved. I’m not gonna go into detail about other features that matter in stealth such as Infrared signature reduction, or electromagnetic signature reduction both of which are just as critical to a proper stealth design. If anyone wants to do some light reading on the subject I recommend Stealth by Doug Richardson, or Stealth Aircraft by Bill Sweetman. Both can provide a basic overview of the technical aspects of RCS. If you have a Aviation Week subscription they did a couple of great primer articles on this a few years ago and are also worth reading. There are also numerous academic papers on this topic that can be found if you want something with a bit more meat on the bones. What will follow is even further simplified from those books but should at least be more accessible and easy to understand. The first thing I want to point out is how Radar actually works as this is something that a lot of people get wrong, and it can lead to many mistaken beliefs about how stealth works. People often think of a radar return as light reflecting off a object, and while in layman's terms this explanation suffices the actual quantum mechanisms are a bit more complicated and while the description is fine for basic knowledge knowing how it works at the smallest of scales is critical for getting your RCS to actually work. When Radar strikes a object it doesn't just bounce off, what actually happens is that the radar wave induces a current in the material it hits, this then creates waves of the same magnitude as the incoming waves. It is this re-emitted energy that is what the radar receiver actually pics up. The direction of emission is also related to the direction of the incoming energy. One important factor in this is that object with a length/diameter about one half the wavelength will create a much stronger return. This is why some objects are much more radar reflective than others. However this isn't the only thing the energy can do. Sometimes the energy is absorbed by the material struck, this is your standard Radar Absorbing Material (RAM). Another interesting feature of radar is scattering and wave travel. The energy does not have to be emitted right away, it can travel along the object it hits before being re-emitted. Sharp boundaries are more likely to emit this radiation than smooth rounded shapes. This is further compounded by scattering which is how the magnitude of the return varies by the relationship of the wavelength to the size of the object. When they are about the same size (note this means the area the wave can travel not the size of the whole plane) you get what is called resonance which greatly increases the return of the object. When the wavelength is smaller than the object then it starts to treat smaller and smaller sections independently of each other as the object. This is important and will be discussed later. The goal of RCS takes all of these considerations and more into the equation as some objects are also transparent to radar waves and others translucent. Furthermore the ability of a material to conduct electricity is important because this can help the waves propagate further before emitting. While on the surface this may seem bad and in some cases it is, it also allows for better control of where the emissions come from. Move over the angle of the surface being emitted dictates the strength of the signal and how it changes with direction, think this like a funhouse mirror, the cone/dome of radar can be emitted in a very different direction than it came from. This is not a easy thing to calculate and is a reason that early stealth aircraft were faceted as with the sharp lines were easier to predict where and in what direction the return waves would propagate. This has ironically led to many people thinking that faceted shapes are better for RCS, when in truth the opposite is true, however as stated earlier it is easier to model. This is why flat surfaces such as single vertical tail fins, and turbine blades are such big reflectors. The goal of any RCS is to reduce the amount of stuff making its way back to the emitting aircraft and being able to know exactly how the waves will travel is paramount to a successful RCS design. To complicate matters further as I mentioned earlier when a wavelength is smaller than the object you are trying to detect than it will treat different parts of the aircraft separately however this can be modified by increasing the distance the wave can travel in a object. This is where the most critical part of any proper RCS effort comes into play. This is one of tolerances. See gaps are the ultimate emitter of waves since they have sharp edges, and break the electrical current flowing through the material thus drastically increasing the chance of emission. This is by far the largest contributor to RCS. It has also proved the bane of countries trying to develop stealth since it is very hard to have manufacturers that can achieve such tight tolerances and it isn't something you can just steal like the shape or RAM materials. Since a plane needs to have at least some moving parts being able to make them close to one another is paramount, having seems be almost non existent on a moving part is very hard. Most stealth aircraft require special tape to bridge the gaps especially the ones between materials with different electrical properties like those around the cockpit. This tape had to be applied every mission perfectly and was (and to some degree still is) the part that added the most to the Maintenance of aircraft like the F-117 and B-2. You can see a good example of this on the photo below of the TACIT BLUE aircraft which was one of the first stealth aircraft. those dark area's around any hatches is the tape As you probably well know part what is important is how the aircraft is structured and shaped, What isn't talked about is that most shapes that direct radar waves in a specific direction aren't the most conducive to good aerodynamics, thankfully for early stealth pioneers there are many materials that are very transparent to radar (such as the dome over most maritime radars). These materials can be used to smooth out the airflow and create a shape conducive to good flying characteristics (or even the ability to fly at all). Below is a good example of a photo showing the intricate sub surfaces on a aircraft control surface. You will notice that the underlying sawtooth shape would probably not be very aerodynamic but with the radar transparent leading edge the surface smooths out into the familiar shape you can recognize. A great example of how the edges are smoothed over to create a clean wing Another part that needs to be considered is that there are a wide range of radar wavelengths that can be used. What is a good RCS shape to one wavelength might matter a lot less to another frequency. This is why most broadband stealth designs are created and coated with materials the work to harmonize as many different wavelengths of radar as possible into a more cohesive waveform. This is mostly seen in third and fourth generation designs like the F-22 and F-35. You will often note the metallic sheen their paint tends to have and this is indicative of attempts to do this. Stealthy paint Not stealthy paint There is one last effect that is worth noting and that is that if a wavelength is larger than the object then a effect know as Reyleigh Scattering happens and the radar treats the aircraft as one homogeneous aircraft and shape and angles no longer really mater to the return just the size and composition of the object. This is why many countries looking to develop counter stealth technologies often look at low frequency radar as it can get around the shaping of the aircraft as well as issues with things like gaps, though the effectiveness of RAM isn't changed. Ok so you are probably asking why people don't just use long wave radar, well there are two problems while long wave radar has great range due to the energy required for a given distance is proportional to the wavelength it also comes at the price of accuracy and also needing a large antenna to pick up any receiving signals since the reception of radar signals generally requires a receiver proportional to the wavelength. Also effected is resolution which means that knowing that something is out there is easier but knowing where it is, is much harder. The lower resolution can have other unhelpful effects such as combining many small objects (like a flock of birds) into one. Lastly as alluded to earlier there is a hierarchy to the importance of design features. In general it goes like this. By far the most important one is tolerance of the parts and elimination of gaps. Then in a distant second is RAM and other coatings. Lastly there is shape though unlike the other two this is still required by some degree to any stealthy aircraft whereas you can go without the other two but with a much more easily detectable object. It illustrate this and to show how all of this starts to fit together look below at the four aircraft's. Now rank them in order of smallest RCS to largest.......Scroll down past them for the answer. F-22A Raptor Su-57 Felon F/A-18E/F Block III Super Hornet KF-21 Boramae (fighting hawk) Ok good here are the results
Ok so now withe the brief overview out of the way you are probably wondering how Flyout's “RCS” system fits into all of this. The answer is not at all. There is almost no connection between the games determination and reality. This can be deduced by the lack of most properties that are needed to define RCS. Some of the notable ones needed are wavelength of the radar used and given radar itself isn't in game we know that's not yet on the table, the electrical conductive properties of a aircraft's paint and skin/structures are very important to any radar return modeling and so far materials used in game are purely cosmetic. There also is no RAM material and even how that works is highly variable in real life but even a massively simplistic implementation doesn't exist so we can cross that out. There also is no setting for tolerances of parts of the plane and given that is the most important contributor to reducing RCS the lack of all these features means that the game’s RCS has no real connection with how real RCS works. Lastly, I don’t expect there to be a accurate system implemented. This is due to the massive computing power needed to model the subtle interactions of radar waves with all of these factors. As mentioned before there is a reason faceting was used heavily in early stealth aircraft despite it being less than optimal. It would take several months of using 1970’s supercomputers specially programed to just do this calculation to get a RCS model for a given aircraft shape. Even then it had to have data from real world RCS testing added to achieve this. While computing power has exponentially increased since then the ability to actively simulate a planes RCS in real time, is still well beyond anything a desktop computer can do. Especially given you would need a completely custom engine just for that part. And none of what I have said touches on other parts that can contribute to RCS like degradation of RAM coatings, or the fact that the exhaust from planes in afterburner shows up on radar (this is due to the lower density of hot air coupled with changes in the airs natural radar absorbing properties due to being at a different temperature). So for everyone out there, don't worry about or look too far into the RCS of your stealth plane be as creative as you want. That being said it is possible that IR reduction could be better simulated in game and might be a possible thing to have added. Real RCS will likely be limited to at best massively approximated stand-in values. Though there is a way to achieve a real world stealth parameter which is visual stealth, ie cammo or other tech that reduces a aircrafts visual signature. Along with some tech (like the hole material that is fictional but renders the plane truly invisible) Implementing the \"hole\" surface material to a plane in real life On a side tangent I want to point out that the exhaust phenomenon is something that has effected all stealth aircraft and the main reason the A-12 and SR-71 had no real RCS reduction since the massive amount of air the moved through the planes engines meant they were usually spotted at the maximum range of whatever radar they flew near. And while on the A-12 they tried to eliminate this through a combination of using a cesium fuel additive(which did absolutely nothing), and plasma stealth to shield the air intake so the fan blades would not reflect (which apparently worked ok but used a enormous amount of power, led to airflow disruptions that made the engine both less efficient, even more prone to flameouts, and caused the formation of nitric acid and other corrosive compounds the hurt the engine.). For the reasons I just showed the cesium and plasma stealth systems were disabled on the A-12 by the time it entered its brief service and not used at all on the SR-71, which instead used it’s extreme speed, altitude and what can be argued was the most extensive ECM suit ever fitted to a aircraft at the time, to ensure that any missile that got close could be jammed. Hope this helps people. |
2024.05.15 00:11 Charcoalhorse23 Help! My senior dog is having a serious reaction to her medication.
 | My 16 year old boxer mix, Sadie Mae, recently switched her medication from carprofen to a new injection called Liberella. She was fine the first month she took it, with some minor incontinence she developed. We didn't think much of it, as she is very senior and thought it could be just a new sign of her age. We got her second shot recently, and she started to have incontinence almost every day (especially while sleeping), and she started to have violent grand mal seizures today. We suspected she may have also been seizing in her sleep after the new medicine, as we find her lying in pool of her own waste several mornings. Usually, her "accidents" involve her going on the floor next to the backdoor and she has always been able to actually get up to relieve herself. We thought we would lose her today, given how bad her seizure and other symptoms are, but luckily she pulled through. She has also lost over 10lbs, has poor appetite, and seems to have constant stomach problems and dissentary. She is barely eating and drinking water and nothing seems to help her symptoms at all. We started this new med after it was recommended by our vet who we really like and have worked with for years. However, when I go online, I read hundreds of horror stories of dogs ,just like mine, who were healthy senior dogs with some arthritis who ended up with fatal consequences after taking it. I'm freaked out, as I feel like my dog has been poisoned and is set to pass away from it in the near future. We were able to get her to the vet who just took some blood and urine samples, so we won't know anything for a few days.We are definitely discontinuing the meds moving forward. submitted by Charcoalhorse23 to seniordogs [link] [comments] I'm posting to see if anyone can relate or has insight about this medication first hand? Tia |
2024.05.15 00:11 Interesting-Cycle803 Need Advice
Hello po! I just want to ask for any advice if it's worth switching to Macbook Air M1 for 2024. I have been a long time user of Windows laptop and I feel like now is the time to switch to Macbook.
I work from from home so I typically use all Microsoft tools (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc). Hindi po ba siya mahirap gamitin sa Macbook?
What other tips and advice would you recommend? TIA
submitted by Interesting-Cycle803 to Tech_Philippines [link] [comments]
I work from from home so I typically use all Microsoft tools (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc). Hindi po ba siya mahirap gamitin sa Macbook?
What other tips and advice would you recommend? TIA
2024.05.15 00:11 logs_d I accidentally lied on my CV and I got accepted into grad school
Hello all,
This is something I literally cannot stop thinking about and I feel like a horrible person right now so any advice is helpful.
I got accepted into a PhD program in a STEM field and after a lot of contemplation, I accepted it a month ago. I have still been majorly struggling with the life changes and if I am up to it (pretty much imposter syndrome). But I sent in all my material at the end of last year.
However, I recently needed to send an updated resume/CV for my job due to a QA walkthrough (I work at a diagnostics lab currently) and I noticed under my description of this job, I described my work as “analytical testing of specimens”.
I do work with patient samples but it is just a diagnostic process. I’m not running specific tests on specific samples, in reality I’m pushing them through the lab using liquid handlers. So I feel that saying I am doing any sort of “analytical testing” is a gross lie. I really don’t know what I was thinking when writing that. If anything, it should be “diagnostic processing” and then I could really explain what I do. I have other bullets under this section to back up other things I do (reagent handling, instrument troubleshooting, training, etc.)
I feel so incredibly guilty because of this and what’s worse is that I did not even get a formal interview by the school or my PI. Like I wish I did so then this could have been found out and then I could explain the mistake but now it’s obviously too late. It makes my work experience sound so much more grandiose but in reality it’s very simple.
I mean I do have the other qualifications (bachelors, some research experience, letters of recommendation) but I feel that this job also means a lot in the decision and I feel incredibly sick to my stomach thinking that I have experience in any sort of analytical testing when I don’t. I have a theoretical grasp of some of the methods but no actual work experience (maybe some undergrad lab experience).
Should I email my PI and ask him about this? Or send in an updated CV? I know the running joke is “fake it till you make it” but I genuinely feel that I am a fake now and don’t want to live like that.
TLDR: Got into grad school but realized a pretty massive error on my CV regarding my job description and I am freaking out about it.
submitted by logs_d to GradSchool [link] [comments]
This is something I literally cannot stop thinking about and I feel like a horrible person right now so any advice is helpful.
I got accepted into a PhD program in a STEM field and after a lot of contemplation, I accepted it a month ago. I have still been majorly struggling with the life changes and if I am up to it (pretty much imposter syndrome). But I sent in all my material at the end of last year.
However, I recently needed to send an updated resume/CV for my job due to a QA walkthrough (I work at a diagnostics lab currently) and I noticed under my description of this job, I described my work as “analytical testing of specimens”.
I do work with patient samples but it is just a diagnostic process. I’m not running specific tests on specific samples, in reality I’m pushing them through the lab using liquid handlers. So I feel that saying I am doing any sort of “analytical testing” is a gross lie. I really don’t know what I was thinking when writing that. If anything, it should be “diagnostic processing” and then I could really explain what I do. I have other bullets under this section to back up other things I do (reagent handling, instrument troubleshooting, training, etc.)
I feel so incredibly guilty because of this and what’s worse is that I did not even get a formal interview by the school or my PI. Like I wish I did so then this could have been found out and then I could explain the mistake but now it’s obviously too late. It makes my work experience sound so much more grandiose but in reality it’s very simple.
I mean I do have the other qualifications (bachelors, some research experience, letters of recommendation) but I feel that this job also means a lot in the decision and I feel incredibly sick to my stomach thinking that I have experience in any sort of analytical testing when I don’t. I have a theoretical grasp of some of the methods but no actual work experience (maybe some undergrad lab experience).
Should I email my PI and ask him about this? Or send in an updated CV? I know the running joke is “fake it till you make it” but I genuinely feel that I am a fake now and don’t want to live like that.
TLDR: Got into grad school but realized a pretty massive error on my CV regarding my job description and I am freaking out about it.
2024.05.15 00:09 JojoDindebut What instructions have Zen Masters provided on the practice of meditation?
I borrowed this from user u/jahmonkey who posted it on zen forum. Copied it here in case it gets deleted, cause I have no time to read it now, but for later.
Here are some Chinese Zen masters who shared their advice on the practice of meditation in their own words:
Quote: "When you sit in meditation, sit as if you were mountain peaks, your mind vast and unshakable. Calmly and without effort, let thoughts and emotions arise and dissolve like clouds in the sky. Let your mind be clear and open, like a mirror reflecting everything yet holding on to nothing." Zen Master Hongzhi Zhengjue, from "Cultivating the Empty Field" (Wu-men Kuan)
Quote: "In the practice of meditation, do not strive to become anything. Just sit with a relaxed and upright posture, allowing your breath to come and go naturally. Observe the arising and passing away of thoughts, sensations, and emotions without grasping or rejecting them. Rest in the boundless awareness that is beyond all conceptualizations." Zen Master Huangbo Xiyun, from "The Zen Teaching of Huangbo" (Huangbo Xiyun Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "When you sit in meditation, do not expect anything. Do not seek enlightenment or try to attain some special state of mind. Just be present with whatever arises, whether it is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Allow your thoughts to come and go like waves in the ocean, without getting caught up in them. Be aware of the breath, the sensations in the body, and the spaciousness of awareness itself." Zen Master Mazu Daoyi, from "The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Mazu" (Mazu Daoyi Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "In the practice of meditation, do not cling to any particular method or technique. Let go of all striving and effort, and simply be present with your experience in each moment. Whether you are sitting, walking, eating, or working, bring mindfulness and awareness to whatever you are doing. This is the true practice of meditation." Zen Master Bankei Yōtaku, from "Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei" (Bankei Zen: Bankei's Record of Talks)
Quote: "The essence of meditation is not to seek anything outside of yourself. It is to realize your true nature, which is already complete and perfect. Sit quietly, breathe naturally, and allow your mind to settle. Let go of all thoughts and concepts, and rest in the pure awareness that is always present. This is the true meditation." Zen Master Foyan Qingyuan, from "The Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present" (Foyan Qingyuan Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "In meditation, do not try to control or manipulate your thoughts. Instead, just let them arise and pass away naturally, like clouds moving across the sky. Be aware of the present moment, without judgment or attachment. This is the essence of meditation." Zen Master Yunmen Wenyan, from "Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom" (Yunmen Wenyan Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "When you sit in meditation, do not grasp onto any particular object of focus. Simply be present with whatever arises in your experience, whether it is thoughts, sensations, or emotions. Cultivate a spacious and open awareness, like the vast sky that contains everything." Zen Master Xuedou Zhijian, from "The Blue Cliff Record" (Xuedou Zhijian Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "Meditation is not about attaining a special state of mind or achieving some goal. It is about being fully present in each moment, without judgment or expectation. Just sit, breathe, and let go. Allow everything to be as it is, and you will discover the boundless peace and clarity that are already within you." Zen Master Dahui Zonggao, from "Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Dahui" (Dahui Zonggao Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "In meditation, do not try to suppress or eliminate thoughts. Instead, let them come and go freely, like waves in the ocean. Observe them without getting entangled or carried away. Rest in the stillness and silence that underlies all mental activity." Zen Master Linji Yixuan, from "The Record of Linji" (Linji Yixuan Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "When you sit in meditation, do not cling to any particular state of mind. Do not try to make anything happen or force any experience. Simply be present with whatever arises, whether it is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Rest in the spaciousness of awareness, and let everything be as it is." Zen Master Guishan Lingyou, from "Zen Dawn: Early Zen Texts from Tun Huang" (Guishan Lingyou Chanshi Yulu)
There may be reasonable alternate translations of the word “meditation” but the question would be what would that word be? It is clear from the context that these Zen masters are referring to a practice that is properly called meditation. To assert otherwise is simply being obtuse.
submitted by JojoDindebut to subbredit [link] [comments]
Here are some Chinese Zen masters who shared their advice on the practice of meditation in their own words:
Quote: "When you sit in meditation, sit as if you were mountain peaks, your mind vast and unshakable. Calmly and without effort, let thoughts and emotions arise and dissolve like clouds in the sky. Let your mind be clear and open, like a mirror reflecting everything yet holding on to nothing." Zen Master Hongzhi Zhengjue, from "Cultivating the Empty Field" (Wu-men Kuan)
Quote: "In the practice of meditation, do not strive to become anything. Just sit with a relaxed and upright posture, allowing your breath to come and go naturally. Observe the arising and passing away of thoughts, sensations, and emotions without grasping or rejecting them. Rest in the boundless awareness that is beyond all conceptualizations." Zen Master Huangbo Xiyun, from "The Zen Teaching of Huangbo" (Huangbo Xiyun Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "When you sit in meditation, do not expect anything. Do not seek enlightenment or try to attain some special state of mind. Just be present with whatever arises, whether it is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Allow your thoughts to come and go like waves in the ocean, without getting caught up in them. Be aware of the breath, the sensations in the body, and the spaciousness of awareness itself." Zen Master Mazu Daoyi, from "The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Mazu" (Mazu Daoyi Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "In the practice of meditation, do not cling to any particular method or technique. Let go of all striving and effort, and simply be present with your experience in each moment. Whether you are sitting, walking, eating, or working, bring mindfulness and awareness to whatever you are doing. This is the true practice of meditation." Zen Master Bankei Yōtaku, from "Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei" (Bankei Zen: Bankei's Record of Talks)
Quote: "The essence of meditation is not to seek anything outside of yourself. It is to realize your true nature, which is already complete and perfect. Sit quietly, breathe naturally, and allow your mind to settle. Let go of all thoughts and concepts, and rest in the pure awareness that is always present. This is the true meditation." Zen Master Foyan Qingyuan, from "The Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present" (Foyan Qingyuan Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "In meditation, do not try to control or manipulate your thoughts. Instead, just let them arise and pass away naturally, like clouds moving across the sky. Be aware of the present moment, without judgment or attachment. This is the essence of meditation." Zen Master Yunmen Wenyan, from "Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom" (Yunmen Wenyan Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "When you sit in meditation, do not grasp onto any particular object of focus. Simply be present with whatever arises in your experience, whether it is thoughts, sensations, or emotions. Cultivate a spacious and open awareness, like the vast sky that contains everything." Zen Master Xuedou Zhijian, from "The Blue Cliff Record" (Xuedou Zhijian Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "Meditation is not about attaining a special state of mind or achieving some goal. It is about being fully present in each moment, without judgment or expectation. Just sit, breathe, and let go. Allow everything to be as it is, and you will discover the boundless peace and clarity that are already within you." Zen Master Dahui Zonggao, from "Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Dahui" (Dahui Zonggao Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "In meditation, do not try to suppress or eliminate thoughts. Instead, let them come and go freely, like waves in the ocean. Observe them without getting entangled or carried away. Rest in the stillness and silence that underlies all mental activity." Zen Master Linji Yixuan, from "The Record of Linji" (Linji Yixuan Chanshi Yulu)
Quote: "When you sit in meditation, do not cling to any particular state of mind. Do not try to make anything happen or force any experience. Simply be present with whatever arises, whether it is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Rest in the spaciousness of awareness, and let everything be as it is." Zen Master Guishan Lingyou, from "Zen Dawn: Early Zen Texts from Tun Huang" (Guishan Lingyou Chanshi Yulu)
There may be reasonable alternate translations of the word “meditation” but the question would be what would that word be? It is clear from the context that these Zen masters are referring to a practice that is properly called meditation. To assert otherwise is simply being obtuse.