So far sales had been steady but not spectacular. Jenna hoped they would pick up after the school let out. She chatted and sampled with customers, pitching her spiel about supporting their troop's efforts to earn badges. It was fun work even if tiring on her feet.
Gazing up at the cloudless sky, Jenna wondered idly if it might rain later. The forecast hadn't mentioned anything, but you never knew. A tiny speck in the distance caught her eye. She squinted, trying to make it out. It grew rapidly in size—and shape. Whatever it was, it wasn't a bird.
"Hey Jamie, do you see that?" Jenna nudged her friend, pointing. Now the other girls had turned to look as well. What had been a speck was now clearly some large, cylindrical object descending from the heavens. It shone silvery-grey in the sunlight.
"Is that...a rocket ship?" breathed Tammy.
As it neared the treetops, its design became evident. Definitely not any spacecraft Jenna had seen on the news or in movies. It was smoothly rounded on all ends, with no visible engines or fins. Eerily silent, it drifted toward an open field and settled softly on four tapering legs.
The girls stared open-mouthed, cookies momentarily forgotten. A hatch appeared in the side of the ship. Light spilled out, glowing an ethereal blue. Then towering figures emerged, moving with an inhuman grace.
Jenna caught her breath. Peering closer, she could just make out bipedal forms wrapped in loose, silvery garments. Their limbs seemed overly long and jointed in odd places. As they turned in her direction, two dark eyes set wide in hairless faces met hers. No nose or mouth was visible beneath.
"Aliens," Jamie whispered. "Actual aliens. I don't believe it."
Tammy squeaked and clung to Jenna's arm. But Jenna's mind was racing. This was an incredible opportunity, too good to pass up. She flashed the others a mischievous smile. "Come on, girls. Let's go make some sales!"
The troop fell into step behind her as she marched into the field. The creatures had paused, gazing around at their surroundings with a palpable air of curiosity and caution. As Jenna neared, they angled their expressive eyes down at the little band approaching. Up close, their skin shimmered in shades of aqua and moss green, veined with silvery networks.
The tallest one shifted its gaze between the girls, as if taking their measure. It spoke, but the sound was like rushing wind and dripping water blended into an eerie melody. Its friends chattered in response, their voices blending into a dissonant choir.
Undeterred, Jenna beamed and proudly presented her box of Thin Mints. "Cookies!" she enunciated clearly. "Would you like to buy some cookies?" To her astonishment, a glowing rectangle like a computer screen lit up on the tall one's torso. Words scrolled across it in crisp English letters.
WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WHAT ARE COOKIES? IT SEEMS YOU ARE SELLING SOMETHING, BUT WE HAVE NO CURRENCY OF YOUR WORLD.
Jamie leaned in to whisper, eyes shining, "They can understand us! This is so cool."
Jenna gathered her thoughts, focusing on her sales pitch despite everything unusual about the situation. "Cookies are a sweet treat made of chocolate and biscuits. They're very popular here on Earth. And all the money we earn from selling them goes towards fun trips and learning new skills as Girl Scouts. Please, won't you buy a box to help support our troop? I'm sure you'll love them!"
The aliens conferred amongst themselves, still in untranslatablespeech. Finally, the glowing display lit up again. I APOLOGIZE, BUT WE HAVE NO MEANS OF TRANSACTION. WE ARE EXPLORERS HERE IN PEACE TO STUDY YOUR WORLD. PERHAPS ANOTHER TIME WE CAN BARTER. FOR NOW, WE ONLY WISH TO LEARN.
Jenna tried to hide her disappointment. This wasn't how she'd envisioned the interaction going at all. But she had come this far, so she wasn't giving up yet. An idea bloomed in her mind. "Well, since you want to learn about us, how about a trade? We'll give you a box of cookies to try in exchange for letting our whole troop come aboard your ship for a little while. What do you say?"
The girls held their breath. This was assuredly against every safety rule. But an opportunity for an out of this world experience was too enticing to pass up. The aliens conversed quietly before responding.
VERY WELL, HUMAN CHILDREN. FOR THE SAKE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE, WE AGREE TO YOUR TRADE. COME, WE SHALL GIVE YOU A TOUR OF OUR VESSEL.
Screeches of delight arose from the Scout troop. Jenna tried to shush them, not wanting the aliens to change their minds. But she couldn't contain her own grin of excitement and triumph. This was going to be one very memorable cookie sale!
Jenna stepped forward nervously, holding out the box of Thin Mints for the aliens to see. She did her best salesperson smile while gesturing to the colorful packaging. "Cookies!" she said again loudly and clearly.
The tallest alien leaned down, its large dark eyes fixing on the box in Jenna's hands. A long, nimble finger reached out to poke gently at the box, then drew back just as swiftly. Its companions murmured again in their strange tongue.
Frustrated not being able to communicate properly, Jenna popped open the lid so the sweet scent could waft up. She took one mint and mimed taking a bite, sighing happily and rubbing her belly. The aliens copied the sign for stomach, looking quizzical.
An idea sparked in Jenna's mind. Rummaging in her bag, she pulled out her phone and found the notepad app. Typing awkwardly with her thumbs, she showed them the words "Will you trade for this?" Arrows pointed to the cookies and to their ship.
A spark of understanding lit in the aliens' eyes as they studied the makeshift message. Their glowing display lit up in response. I APOLOGIZE, SMALL HUMAN, BUT WE HAVE NOTHING OF VALUE FROM OUR WORLD TO OFFER IN RETURN. OUR MISSION HERE IS ONE OF DISCOVERY ONLY.
"Please?" Jenna typed, giving her best pleading look. The girls clustered behind her, joining in the silent begging. But the aliens only seemed perplexed by this behavior.
Suddenly Tammy piped up, "What if we clean your ship for you? We'll dust and sweep and take out the garbage." The others stared at her, surprised by this inventive offer.
The display considered this. THAT IS A GENEROUS OFFER. HOWEVER, OUR CRAFT UTILIZES TECHNOLOGY FAR BEYOND YOUR WORLD'S CURRENT STAGE. I DOUBT YOU COULD PERFORM MAINTENANCE TO OUR STANDARDS.
At this rejection, the girls deflated with twin sounds of disappointment. But Jenna wasn't giving up yet. She furiously texted another message. "How about you give us a little tour then? We promise to be very careful and not touch anything."
The aliens conferred quietly amongst themselves for several moments. The girls held their breath, hoping their persistence was finally paying off. Then the glowing display lit up once more.
VERY WELL, SMALL HUMANS. FOR THE SAKE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE, WE WILL ALLOW YOU A BRIEF LOOK INSIDE OUR VESSEL. BUT YOU MUST FOLLOW OUR INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. OUR TECHNOLOGY COULD PROVE DANGEROUS IF MISUSED.
The Girl Scouts whooped and cheered, doing a little victory dance. Jenna grinned, popping another Thin Mint in her mouth triumphantly. "Deal! Thank you so much for this."
The tallest alien gestured gracefully with one long arm. "THIS WAY, YOUNG ONES. WE SHALL BEGIN OUR TOUR."
Clutching their cookie boxes eagerly, the girls fell into line behind the extraterrestrials. They followed them up a floating gangway into the belly of the ship.
Inside, the walls glowed with an otherworldly luminescence. Strange symbols and interfaces winked all around, totally indecipherable. The floors felt bouncy underfoot, as if made of gelatin.
"Wow," breathed Jamie. "It's so beautiful in here."
The aliens guided them through sleek corridors and compartments full of glowing tech. They pointed out living quarters, a laboratory, hydroponic gardens, and an observation deck showing the curve of the Earth.
In the cockpit, countless viewscreens displayed alien constellations and scans of their small town below. Control panels rippled like liquid mercury beneath touch.
"This is where we navigated our journey to your solar system," explained their guides. "Truly a marvel, the distances stars can be bridged.
Tammy peered out the main viewing portal. "Your ship is so fast! How did you get here from wherever you came from?"
As the explorers launched into an explanation involving hyperdrives and folded spacetime, Jenna began to lose the thread. Space travel clearly worked very differently where these beings hailed from.
Their tour lasted nearly an hour, the aliens answering every barrage of questions patiently. All too soon, it was over, and they found themselves back outside in the late afternoon sun
"Thank you so much for the amazing tour!" Jenna gushed, hugging her now-empty cookie box. "Learning about aliens is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The tallest being dipped its head graciously. "IT WAS OUR PLEASURE, SMALL HUMANS. YOU HAVE PROVIDED US AN INSIGHT INTO YOUR YOUNG ONES AS WELL."
Its fellows chattered in their musical language, some holding half-eaten cookies and gesturing appreciatively. Jenna beamed, glad they seemed to have enjoyed the treats.
"Will you come back to see us again?" asked Jamie hopefully.
"PERHAPS, IF OUR EXPLORATIONS BRING US BACK THIS WAY," was the reply. "BUT FOR NOW, WE MUST RESUME OUR JOURNEY AMONG THE STARS. FAREWELL, AND THANK YOU ONCE MORE FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY.
The aliens turned as one and glided back up the gangway. The rockets flared, rising gracefully into the sky until they vanished into the dusk.
The girls stood watching long after, buzzing with excited chatter about this unforgettable day. In the end, it had been the best cookie sale ever. Maybe even worth breaking a few rules...

So far sales had been steady but not spectacular. Jenna hoped they would pick up after the school let out. She chatted and sampled with customers, pitching her spiel about supporting their troop's efforts to earn badges. It was fun work even if tiring on her feet.
Gazing up at the cloudless sky, Jenna wondered idly if it might rain later. The forecast hadn't mentioned anything, but you never knew. A tiny speck in the distance caught her eye. She squinted, trying to make it out. It grew rapidly in size—and shape. Whatever it was, it wasn't a bird.
"Hey Jamie, do you see that?" Jenna nudged her friend, pointing. Now the other girls had turned to look as well. What had been a speck was now clearly some large, cylindrical object descending from the heavens. It shone silvery-grey in the sunlight.
"Is that...a rocket ship?" breathed Tammy.
As it neared the treetops, its design became evident. Definitely not any spacecraft Jenna had seen on the news or in movies. It was smoothly rounded on all ends, with no visible engines or fins. Eerily silent, it drifted toward an open field and settled softly on four tapering legs.
The girls stared open-mouthed, cookies momentarily forgotten. A hatch appeared in the side of the ship. Light spilled out, glowing an ethereal blue. Then towering figures emerged, moving with an inhuman grace.
Jenna caught her breath. Peering closer, she could just make out bipedal forms wrapped in loose, silvery garments. Their limbs seemed overly long and jointed in odd places. As they turned in her direction, two dark eyes set wide in hairless faces met hers. No nose or mouth was visible beneath.
"Aliens," Jamie whispered. "Actual aliens. I don't believe it."
Tammy squeaked and clung to Jenna's arm. But Jenna's mind was racing. This was an incredible opportunity, too good to pass up. She flashed the others a mischievous smile. "Come on, girls. Let's go make some sales!"
The troop fell into step behind her as she marched into the field. The creatures had paused, gazing around at their surroundings with a palpable air of curiosity and caution. As Jenna neared, they angled their expressive eyes down at the little band approaching. Up close, their skin shimmered in shades of aqua and moss green, veined with silvery networks.
The tallest one shifted its gaze between the girls, as if taking their measure. It spoke, but the sound was like rushing wind and dripping water blended into an eerie melody. Its friends chattered in response, their voices blending into a dissonant choir.
Undeterred, Jenna beamed and proudly presented her box of Thin Mints. "Cookies!" she enunciated clearly. "Would you like to buy some cookies?" To her astonishment, a glowing rectangle like a computer screen lit up on the tall one's torso. Words scrolled across it in crisp English letters.
WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WHAT ARE COOKIES? IT SEEMS YOU ARE SELLING SOMETHING, BUT WE HAVE NO CURRENCY OF YOUR WORLD.
Jamie leaned in to whisper, eyes shining, "They can understand us! This is so cool."
Jenna gathered her thoughts, focusing on her sales pitch despite everything unusual about the situation. "Cookies are a sweet treat made of chocolate and biscuits. They're very popular here on Earth. And all the money we earn from selling them goes towards fun trips and learning new skills as Girl Scouts. Please, won't you buy a box to help support our troop? I'm sure you'll love them!"
The aliens conferred amongst themselves, still in untranslatablespeech. Finally, the glowing display lit up again. I APOLOGIZE, BUT WE HAVE NO MEANS OF TRANSACTION. WE ARE EXPLORERS HERE IN PEACE TO STUDY YOUR WORLD. PERHAPS ANOTHER TIME WE CAN BARTER. FOR NOW, WE ONLY WISH TO LEARN.
Jenna tried to hide her disappointment. This wasn't how she'd envisioned the interaction going at all. But she had come this far, so she wasn't giving up yet. An idea bloomed in her mind. "Well, since you want to learn about us, how about a trade? We'll give you a box of cookies to try in exchange for letting our whole troop come aboard your ship for a little while. What do you say?"
The girls held their breath. This was assuredly against every safety rule. But an opportunity for an out of this world experience was too enticing to pass up. The aliens conversed quietly before responding.
VERY WELL, HUMAN CHILDREN. FOR THE SAKE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE, WE AGREE TO YOUR TRADE. COME, WE SHALL GIVE YOU A TOUR OF OUR VESSEL.
Screeches of delight arose from the Scout troop. Jenna tried to shush them, not wanting the aliens to change their minds. But she couldn't contain her own grin of excitement and triumph. This was going to be one very memorable cookie sale!
Jenna stepped forward nervously, holding out the box of Thin Mints for the aliens to see. She did her best salesperson smile while gesturing to the colorful packaging. "Cookies!" she said again loudly and clearly.
The tallest alien leaned down, its large dark eyes fixing on the box in Jenna's hands. A long, nimble finger reached out to poke gently at the box, then drew back just as swiftly. Its companions murmured again in their strange tongue.
Frustrated not being able to communicate properly, Jenna popped open the lid so the sweet scent could waft up. She took one mint and mimed taking a bite, sighing happily and rubbing her belly. The aliens copied the sign for stomach, looking quizzical.
An idea sparked in Jenna's mind. Rummaging in her bag, she pulled out her phone and found the notepad app. Typing awkwardly with her thumbs, she showed them the words "Will you trade for this?" Arrows pointed to the cookies and to their ship.
A spark of understanding lit in the aliens' eyes as they studied the makeshift message. Their glowing display lit up in response. I APOLOGIZE, SMALL HUMAN, BUT WE HAVE NOTHING OF VALUE FROM OUR WORLD TO OFFER IN RETURN. OUR MISSION HERE IS ONE OF DISCOVERY ONLY.
"Please?" Jenna typed, giving her best pleading look. The girls clustered behind her, joining in the silent begging. But the aliens only seemed perplexed by this behavior.
Suddenly Tammy piped up, "What if we clean your ship for you? We'll dust and sweep and take out the garbage." The others stared at her, surprised by this inventive offer.
The display considered this. THAT IS A GENEROUS OFFER. HOWEVER, OUR CRAFT UTILIZES TECHNOLOGY FAR BEYOND YOUR WORLD'S CURRENT STAGE. I DOUBT YOU COULD PERFORM MAINTENANCE TO OUR STANDARDS.
At this rejection, the girls deflated with twin sounds of disappointment. But Jenna wasn't giving up yet. She furiously texted another message. "How about you give us a little tour then? We promise to be very careful and not touch anything."
The aliens conferred quietly amongst themselves for several moments. The girls held their breath, hoping their persistence was finally paying off. Then the glowing display lit up once more.
VERY WELL, SMALL HUMANS. FOR THE SAKE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE, WE WILL ALLOW YOU A BRIEF LOOK INSIDE OUR VESSEL. BUT YOU MUST FOLLOW OUR INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. OUR TECHNOLOGY COULD PROVE DANGEROUS IF MISUSED.
The Girl Scouts whooped and cheered, doing a little victory dance. Jenna grinned, popping another Thin Mint in her mouth triumphantly. "Deal! Thank you so much for this."
The tallest alien gestured gracefully with one long arm. "THIS WAY, YOUNG ONES. WE SHALL BEGIN OUR TOUR."
Clutching their cookie boxes eagerly, the girls fell into line behind the extraterrestrials. They followed them up a floating gangway into the belly of the ship.
Inside, the walls glowed with an otherworldly luminescence. Strange symbols and interfaces winked all around, totally indecipherable. The floors felt bouncy underfoot, as if made of gelatin.
"Wow," breathed Jamie. "It's so beautiful in here."
The aliens guided them through sleek corridors and compartments full of glowing tech. They pointed out living quarters, a laboratory, hydroponic gardens, and an observation deck showing the curve of the Earth.
In the cockpit, countless viewscreens displayed alien constellations and scans of their small town below. Control panels rippled like liquid mercury beneath touch.
"This is where we navigated our journey to your solar system," explained their guides. "Truly a marvel, the distances stars can be bridged.
Tammy peered out the main viewing portal. "Your ship is so fast! How did you get here from wherever you came from?"
As the explorers launched into an explanation involving hyperdrives and folded spacetime, Jenna began to lose the thread. Space travel clearly worked very differently where these beings hailed from.
Their tour lasted nearly an hour, the aliens answering every barrage of questions patiently. All too soon, it was over, and they found themselves back outside in the late afternoon sun
"Thank you so much for the amazing tour!" Jenna gushed, hugging her now-empty cookie box. "Learning about aliens is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The tallest being dipped its head graciously. "IT WAS OUR PLEASURE, SMALL HUMANS. YOU HAVE PROVIDED US AN INSIGHT INTO YOUR YOUNG ONES AS WELL."
Its fellows chattered in their musical language, some holding half-eaten cookies and gesturing appreciatively. Jenna beamed, glad they seemed to have enjoyed the treats.
"Will you come back to see us again?" asked Jamie hopefully.
"PERHAPS, IF OUR EXPLORATIONS BRING US BACK THIS WAY," was the reply. "BUT FOR NOW, WE MUST RESUME OUR JOURNEY AMONG THE STARS. FAREWELL, AND THANK YOU ONCE MORE FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY.
The aliens turned as one and glided back up the gangway. The rockets flared, rising gracefully into the sky until they vanished into the dusk.
The girls stood watching long after, buzzing with excited chatter about this unforgettable day. In the end, it had been the best cookie sale ever. Maybe even worth breaking a few rules...

It seems to me based on my experience that none of the Mediators, court, and attorneys care about the mother's behavior when it comes to custody.
My ex wife, son's mother have since separation been harassing me, cursing me, withhold the child from me (pre MSA agreement), Make mediation agreements and immediately break them, Post MSA agreement (marital settlement agreement) she immediately had her parents attempt to extort money out of me, making fake social media accounts accounts to harass people I am dating with false allegations, declare her intent to not follow the MSA, stated that she did not intend to move to get conditions regarding moving removed from MSA agreement but then immediately subsequently declared her intent to move.
Right now it has been 6 years of ongoing legal battles with her constantly attempting to alter the custody and making accusations and allegations against me.
Through it all, all the mediators (except for one man that my current attorney selected) position was both give her more custody and child support. We currently have equal over nights 50% split (which was a battle in of itself). Court mandated mediator questioned why I want the equal custody and asked me if it was for the money. She also asked me if I thought it was appropriate to separate a young child from his mother (he was 2-3 years old at this time). The second mediator scoffed at equal joint custody and proudly declared that she was on the panel that rejected equal custody in new jersey. The third mediator brought up tender age doctrine and offered to increase child support if costs is a reason why she was moving (she's actually moving into her boyfriend's house).
I bring up her behavior and they don't even address it and just ignore what I just stated. None have addressed it.
Below is a small sample of text screenshots. No identifiable information.
https://imgur.com/a/vkEu4dF
Going to court now because she is demanding to reduce my custody because of her move. All kinds of accusations of me not working with her and complaints how I did not introduce her to my significant others despite it being agreed to in the MSA. Right I didn't because immediately after she made fake social media accounts to harass and make false allegations about me to people I had only met a couple times.
So far $35K in legal fees on my side and we never even went to court yet. We are going to court now. I even gave her an equity payout when there shouldn't have been any equity just to expedite the MSA, not expecting that she would immediately resume court battles post MSA.
I truly believe having experienced this that divorce court and custody is stacked against men.
A little bit about myself. I am Grad school graduate, good income, own a house. At the time I was spending my free time evenings and weekends volunteering at a charity helping sick children and their families. Everyone just seemed to default at her position that I am an inept father and should not have equal shared physical custody.

Hi everyone, i plan on applying to clinical PhD programs in the cycle of 2025 to be admitted in 2026. I wanted to get people’s input on whether it is necessary that I go get some clinical experience given that I virtually have none. Just a bit about my CV: I volunteered as an undergrad research assistant for 2.5 years in a lab studying BD (did an honors thesis using data from a healthy sample). I had zero interaction with the BD participants and data collection was put to a halt due to the pandemic. I’ve been working post bacc for the past year in a lab that, while they promote themselves as a clinical lab interested in psychiatric disorders, it is actually an affective and developmental lab working with a community sample. I do administer SCID as part of my job and have been trained with how to deal with situations like suicidal endorsement. But outside of that, I don’t have any “clinical” experience as far as that is possible at this stage in my career. I surely will have extensive research experience and skills by the time I apply, including operating an MRI scanner (don’t know if this will be relevant in my applications yet), administering SCID, proficient with coding, running statistical analyses, both in R and fMRI data processing and analysis, with maybe a couple of publications (not first author, impossible in my lab, most likely mid-authors) and some posters (maybe 2 first authors and a few mid-authors). I also will have two really strong letters of rec from two distinguished professors in my field. No idea who will be my third at the moment. So should I go volunteer at some suicide hotline or outpatient/inpatient hospital to get clinical experience? How much will not being exposed to clinical populations hurt my resume? What type of “clinical experience” do you think would be best?
EDIT: seems like there’s a general consensus among the comments. Thank you all for your response! 🙏🏼

Good day guys. Its just as the title says. I am a software engineer with 1 year of experience, I graduated in 2022 with a bachelor in software engineering. I lived in Africa all my life but i recently moved to the US a month ago. Job searching has been terrible so i decided to join a bootcamp to increase my skills while working part-time at a store of some kind. Ive been applying for a week to Walmart, Target, Aldi...etc but i keep getting rejected. My mum told me yesterday to maybe remove my degree and only add my high school education, and also remove my software engineering experience since this is my first retail job.
How do i go about this? I left high school in 2017, does it still make sense to still leave it there? wouldn't they question the gap? should i leave out my education altogether? When applying on most of their websites, they require you to add education and experience so i am really not sure how to go about this. Should i just go to the stores in person? Does anyone have a sample retail job resume for someone without retail experience. Getting rejected from software engineering jobs were bad enough but I'm not sure how much more rejections i can take from jobs paying 15$/hr. Any help would be appreciated.

So let me first state that I have very little faith I'll ever hear back from this recruiter, if thats what they really are. I'
I applied to a position friday morning and got one of those oh so popular cold calls at noon. On the phone was an indain recruiter with a very thick accent. I figured I had nothing better to do so I went along with it.
So she asks me questions regarding my resume and (this is not a personal attack but more so a question of why are you doing this if you don't have the requisite skills to actually handle recruiting?) I notice that she can barely speak or understand english.
The position I applied for was a simple sample processing job at quest diagnostics. Despite all the clear experiences on my resume, she could not comprehend why I was a good candidate because my resume never specifically mentioned the word "sample." (Goes back to the barely can understand english let alone explain the position to me as she just kept saying the word 'sample' no matter how many times I explained that I have literally been doing everything on the job description for the past 6 years.) So we went in circles for 5 minutes.
The point that makes me wonder if this is real or not is that she wanted me to edit my resume to explain all the "sample work" I did at my positions. Now at this point i had gathered that she meant things such as preparing reagents and media for cell cultures and growth, something that shouldn't even be a question to someone who understands english and basic laboratory procedures. She didn't want me to lie, but to instead add a little excerpt after each position to say the specific medias and cultures Ihad done. I did it in 3 minutes and sent it to her.
She then called me back a few minutes later to make me edit it again because apparently I hadn't done so to her specifications.
A point against this being a real recruiter is that I got a call not 10 minutes later from another indian woman for the same position and I just told her I already talked to a recruiter and hung up.
What are the odds, if any, that this is a position and they are real recruiters? If they are, is it just a company outsourcing recruiting to the lowest possible bidder at the expense of having recruiters who even speak the language?
If a scam/not real why put so much effort into it? Why call me back 3-4 times to get me to edit my resume specifically for the position? Usually the fake ones just say some bullshit about the job in a 3 minute call that eauates to "do you want yhe job?" and then ghost.
What the fuck is happening?

A fanfiction of The Nature of Predators by SpacePaladin15 https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/u19xpa/the_nature_of_predators/
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I’d like to give a HUGE thanks to u/aMANTEIGAdo for drawing this absolutely amazing fanart!!! Tibi and Toripa just look so cute!
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Previous First Next
Memory Transcription Subject: Seloq, Aspiring Farsul Botanist
Date [Standardized Human Time]: November 5, 2136
The Yotul closes the doors behind him as he leaves, his partially concealed tail giving a friendly sway one last time. For a moment, I stand silently, my gaze still firmly locked onto the doors that he had just disappeared through. Tibi… I commit his name to memory. After a while, I realise that my tail had also been slightly swaying. I can scarcely believe it.
A Yotul had been nice to me.
A Yotul had been nice to me.
Repeating the words in my head does little to help them make sense, so I turn to my greatest confidante; My holopad. I sit down on the floor, and pull the device into my lap before opening up my list of audio logs. I take a breath to calm myself, and press record.
“Hello future me… I need to talk. I need to put this into words, so that I can understand it. It is currently about, uh… three quarters? Yes, three quarters of the way through my first day at the new job and uh… something happened. I had another breakdown. The second time since the Harchen’s broadcast. Even worse, it was in front of someone this time, and even worse, it was in front of a Yotul. Though… this Yotul was… strange. He said his name was Tibi, and he was… nice to me… even after…
Not too long ago, I was walking through the hallways of the facility trying to find my way to room 7-1. I-I was kinda lost and w-wasn’t paying attention, like an idiot. I bumped into him. I knocked s-something out of his paws, I don't know what. I knew what was coming a-and so I ran. I simply hoped that I d-didn’t see him again, o-or if I ever did, only after enough time had passed that he’d forget about me, b-but of course that’s not what happened.
N-not even [Half and hour] later I finally f-find room 7-1 and guess what? He’s there. I-I was freaking out. I knew that he’d b-be furious. After I r-ran into h-him, after the b-broadcast. The Yotul are all already m-mad enough ab-bout the uplift and everyone is h-horified by the whole 'Cure' thing, and I-I gave him another r-reason to h-hate me. I-I knew that h-he’d w-want to y-yell, to s-scream, m-maybe even h-hurt meandIcouldn’tdoanythingsoIjustsatandwai-”
I force myself to stop. I forced myself to focus on breathing. Just like… just like he had said. There was no anger. There was no hatred. There was no malice.
“…I broke down in front of him and he helped me. He talked to me. He tried to calm me down. I… I’ve never met a Yotul like that before. He didn’t even mention that I was a Farsul. He didn’t even hint at mentioning the broadcast, or the uplift. He- he apologized for starling me!"
I pull my gaze back up to the doors he had disappeared through.
“He had something draped over his back too. A big piece of fabric that covered everything from his shoulders to just past the base of his tail. Maybe he got the idea from the Humans? If he did… then that only makes it worse. After what happened to the Humans, with how close the Yotul are to them… Why didn’t he hate me?
I don’t know what to think, future me.”
I tap the button on my holopad, ending the recording. I type up the name of the new log; ‘Tibi the Yotul’. The file joins the long list of audio logs I have saved. I let out a long sigh, the last words of the recording ringing true. I’ve been hard-pressed my whole life to find a Yotul that doesn’t obviously, at the very least, dislike Farsul. After all this time, why now? Why, just a few days after the broadcast?
I decide that I need to stop for a moment. Since it’s my first day… and maybe because she doesn’t fully trust me yet, the manager of the facility didn’t give me much work to do. I’ve done pretty much all of it. I just need to upload all the notes I've taken from today's inspections, and I have plenty of time to do so. I can afford to just… let my thoughts stew for a bit. Both my present thoughts, and my past. I scroll on my holopad to the logs recorded a couple days ago, and press play of one titled ‘Delayed work’.
“Hello future me. The past few days have been… horrible, to put it bluntly. I haven’t gone outside the house much since the broadcast, but when I have it’s been… less than pleasant. I’m sure you can find evidence for that in a couple of my most recent recordings…”
My voice comes out sounding heavy. The melancholy isn’t difficult to recall.
“Today is the day I'm supposed to start my new job at the facility, but that hasn’t exactly gone to plan. I’m not really surprised. Vata sent me a message last night, basically saying that because of the broadcast it’d be best if I waited a few more days until starting. It was impossible to tell her tone from the text, but I’m not kidding myself here. Every Yotul hates me now. The rare few have been amicable before, like Vata, but after the broadcast? Forget it. I’d be lucky if I can walk down the street tomorrow without being harassed. Dad’s not right often, but in this case I think he is. It’s dangerous for a Farsul to-”
I pause the log as the beginnings of frustration leak into my voice. I don’t need to hear the rest. I scroll a little further, wanting to find something a little happier. I’ve already replayed this one a couple times since recording it, and for good reason. I open the log titled ‘Best day of my life!!!’
“HELLLOOOOO FUTURE ME! It happened! It actually happened! Okay okay, sorry if this recording is a little incomprehensible, I’m just too excited right now to really care. I GOT THE JOB! ‘Everbloom Botanical Research Facility’, just saying the name is making me giddy! You can probably hear my tail right now, given that it’s wagging at borderline FTL speeds.”
Just hearing the sheer joy in my voice was enough to lighten the atmosphere ever so slightly.
“Anyway, so it’s felt like it’s been forever since I actually finished my degree and started looking for a job. I’m not going to lie, it’s been kind of stressful looking for a place willing to hire me, but all of that was worth it. I managed to get in contact with this older Yotul named Vata, who runs the facility, and oh my stars she actually gave me a chance!
I swear I was about a hair’s width away from passing out during the interview, but I pulled through. Waiting the past couple days for the results has been mortifying, but that’s all over now! I’ve actually done it. I have a job. I get to study all sorts of plants from across the galaxy! Isn’t that awesome?!
I’m a little nervous, given that I’ll be working near Yotul all day. Though, Vata did mention that they have a couple other non-Yotul working there, so maybe I’ll be able to make some friends anyway. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see for when Vata gives me my first shift. I can’t wait!
My life is finally mine, future me!”
As the audio log ends, I turn off my holopad and sigh. That helped, a little. It still feels a bit bittersweet, given the past week, but nonetheless it’s almost comforting. I stand back up and dust myself off, walking over to the Aloe Vera plant I was checking in on before. I can’t let my first day at the facility end on a sour note, and so after double checking the Aloe Vera’s growing conditions one last time, I tick it off the mini list I had on my holopad, and set my focus on my last task for today, which would be to transfer my notes over to the facility’s database.
For some reason, we can’t just upload them from wherever we want, we have to actually use a wired connection in the staffroom to do so. Supposedly it’s for security reasons, which I guess sort of makes sense… though dad probably wouldn’t hesitate to use it as more evidence that the Yotul are… that word.
Shaking that thought loose from my mind, I take a deep breath in preparation, before pushing open the room’s doors and heading out into the hallway… after checking that I won’t bump into someone again. On my way to the staffroom, I pass a Yotul leaving one of the storage rooms, holding a bushy green sample in a transport pot. I tense slightly as we pass one another, but she doesn’t say anything. In fact, she seemed to purposefully ignore my existence, not even acknowledging me. All in all, a good interaction.
After taking a few wrong turns, I eventually find my way to the staffroom with a sigh of relief. I open the door to find that there are already a couple people inside. A Yotul and a Venlil stand by the fridge, focusing on their conversation too much to pay attention to me. Good, that means I can upload the notes in peace. I find the interface I’m looking for set up on the wall in the corner of the room, and waste no time in plugging in my holopad and beginning the upload. It shouldn't take all that long, although I do need to awkwardly hold up my holopad next to the machine due to the cord being rather short. While waiting for the process to complete, I catch a bit of the conversation happening on the other side of the room, with the Venlil seemingly quite agitated.
“Look, all I’m saying is that the footage could’ve easily been faked. You can’t just take something like that at face value, especially something as insane and nonsensical as this.”
The Yotul retorts with a huff.
“Please, nothing is too ‘nonsensical’ for the Feds. Isn’t that the whole reason you guys ditched them as soon as the Humans showed themselves?”
“Hey, what the Governor decides has nothing to do with me. Let’s just say that if I was back on Venlil Prime, I wouldn’t vote for her when the next election comes around.”
The Yotul lets out a tired sounding chuckle.
“Are you saying that breaking away from the Feds was a bad thing? You know, the ones that genetically tampered with countless species?”
The Venlil gives an exasperated groan.
“Again, that broadcast was probably faked. Like, why in the stars would Chief Nikonus just blather about the Federation’s darkest secrets to some nobody journalist? You know what, you’re just not going to believe me anyway.”
The upload is finishing up, and the screen flashes briefly to say that it’s safe to disconnect. Glad to be able to leave the staffroom behind me, I unplug the cord from my holopad and turn around to-
“Hey, Farsul!”
The Venlil’s raised voice makes me jump slightly, and I turn an eye to face her. Oh no…
“You think the clip’s real or not?”
For a moment, I simply stand frozen in place, under the scrutinizing gazes of both strangers.
“Uh- I-I uh-”
The Yotul huffs again in frustration, his eyes narrowing as he fixes me with an oh so familiar glare.
“Of course she’s going to say no, you moron. It’s her species that did it.”
My grip of my holopad tightens slightly as the Venlil round back on her companion.
“Exactly, she’d probably know better than anyone.”
I gulp nervously before finally finding my voice.
“Um, actually I d-don’t. I was just as surprised b-by the news as you.”
The Venlil gives a dismissive wave of her paw as if disappointed by my answer and no longer interested in me. The Yotul though, his glare just hardens, bordering on predatory.
“Oh, I wasn’t surprised by the news all that much. Just a whole ‘nother shit storm courtesy of the Feds. You guys torched half the forests on Leirn, genetic tampering doesn’t seem that far outside your resume.”
The use of ‘you’ was not lost on me. No matter how many times I’ve responded to such claims to no avail, I couldn’t help myself.
“I-I didn’t do any of that… I’ve lived on Leirn for almost my whole li-”
“Uh huh, sure yah did. Probably can’t wait to hightail it back to Talsk, right? Go right ahead, do us all a favour.”
As he spoke, I felt the small sparks of confidence I have left fade away, my posture sagging a little under the weight of his words. I should be used to it by now, I really should… but I don’t think I’ll ever be. I do notice however, that the Venlil seems to grow slightly uncomfortable as the Yotul continues, and soon reaches out to rest a paw on his shoulder.
“Hey, don’t you think that’s a little uncalled for?”
He shrugs her paw off and begins walking over to the staffroom door.
“So was everything that’s happened to me since you all showed up, so I really couldn’t care less.”
He slams the door shut behind him, leaving just myself and the Venlil in the room. After a moment, she simply scoffs and follows his lead.
“Asshole.”
Left completely alone, I focus on my breathing. I shudder a couple times trying to ground myself, and even blink rapidly to fight back the beginning of tears. Just another day, like any other. At least this time there wasn’t any yelling. He didn’t even threaten me. That’s a positive. I open up my holopad once more, ready to clock out for the day, only for it to open onto my list of audio logs. I pause as I see the most recent one’s title; ‘Tibi the Yotul’.
I... hope I see him again.
Previous First Next

Resume Section Order

In general,

• Once you've graduated from school and have started a full-time job:
  • Work Experience > Skills > Education, or
  • Skills > Work Experience > Education
• If you're a student/new grad without much work experience:
  • Education > Work Experience > Skills, or
  • Education > Work Experience > Projects (if you don't have sufficient work experience) > Skills
• If you don't have any technical work experience:
  • Education > Projects > Work Experience > Skills
• If you don't have any work experience at all:
  • Education > Projects > Volunteer Experience/Extracurriculars > Skills
• Do not include a summary/profile unless you're a seniostaff engineer or above, making a career change, or addressing an unemployment gap/returning to the workforce
• Do not include a references section

Things to remember while writing resume

Use a modern, easy-to-read font like Calibri, Charter, Arial, Lato, or Helvetica.

• Don't use grey-colored fonts since they're hard to read. Stick to black. Make sure to use a color that is printable in grey-scale. Be careful about using fonts that are too thin. Verify there is sufficient contrast with a white background.
• Don't justify text since it causes inconsistent spacing between words. https://imgur.com/6eKsENw
• Don't italicize text since it can decrease the readability of your resume.
• Don't bold keywords within your bullet points, it's distracting.
• Italicization and bolding are only to be used if used sparingly. Excessive italicization and bolding decrease readability and ultimately contradict their purpose: emphasis.
• Italicization, ALL-CAPS, and bolding, if used, should be used independently of each other.
• Don't indent sections and bullet points. There's already indentation since the bullets themselves create an indent.
• Separate your sections clearly for optimal readability and visual clarity
  • Ensure there is sufficient and consistent white space between sections/subsections
  • Ensure there is sufficient and consistent white space between each job/project
  • Ensure there are sufficient vertical and horizontal margins (minimum 0.5 inches) https://imgur.com/LC6AS8r

Free Tools to add cherry on top

• Free Resume templates (it also has latex resume builder if you know how to use latex)
• Free resume builder (simple resume builder if don't know latex)
• Resume-judge (Checking ATS resume review and score)
• Linkedin.com/ twitter.com - to get refferals for job
• Resume Selection Predictor (check how good your resume is for the job you are applying)
• Resume Points rewriter (shorten bullet points and make them sound impactful)

Hello!
So here's the deal: I have a phlebotomy license I got ~2 years ago. With this license, I was able to get a good-paying job, but it never let me actually use my phlebotomy skills. I recently renewed it in December because it looks good on my resume, but I really do not have much experience to the point where I am confident with my skills.
I am a college student who just got on her summer break and am wondering if anyone knows of any opportunities to gain experience drawing blood.
Thanks!!!

Rate: $15-17/hr, or $ 110 for every 3000-word
With deep expertise in medical terminology, I am well-versed in the medical field as I have fluent background in it. If you are interested and want to know more about my background and expertise, feel free to dm me here or at hailiexzx@gmail.com. I will send you my resume and a few of my writing samples. I will also send you different transcripts as proof of my background.
I am really looking to assist in different medical blogs and articles where I can contribute and add to the medical body of knowledge. If you or you know someone, don't hesitate to contact me.

PC player here, 180+ hours played, purchased the game a week or two after launch.
Ryzen 2700x Overclocked 3070 FTW3 Overclocked
Performance has continually degraded since launch, at points during a lvl 7 bug mission I chug down to sub 30 fps, it was not always like this
And as of yesterday, I can't even complete a single mission without disconnecting and getting booted back to my ship. Three missions in a row yesterday, my game froze for about 3 seconds then resumed. However, I was unable to interact with any ammo boxes/samples to which I then ultimately disconnected.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of this game and want to continue to play and support the devs, but it seems as if every patch makes the game worse and it's to the point now where I just can't see how these issues will be resolved in any timely manner given the laundry list of known issues that still haven't been addressed. Some of which have been issues from Day 1.
Surely I'm not alone here??

Any ideas why the sample video below is failing to direct play on an NVIDIA Shield Plex client? Playback sits at 0:00. Pausing and resuming doesn't help. Oddly, all 3 releases on this Arrow disc (International, Theatrical, and Extended) result in the same playback problem. I'm totally stumped. I've never seen the problem with any of my other remuxes.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mljdvemozrj1xomwyy3e9/Conan.the.Barbarian.Sample.mkv?rlkey=keb7kvfx51zyggv7lli6i2ptg&st=czx11zwl&dl=0

Hello
I am a 26 year old with a masters in public administration (government track, certificate in health administration) who has a second (and possibly last) round interview with a local council member (NYC area) for a part-time legislative aide and needs advice on how to put my.
I have solid references and gave in my writing samples, but I've been in this place before with other elected officials in my city (both city and federal) for full-time positions. I've gotten past the 1st round only to be ghosted most times so this is new territory for me. Especially since this time the Chief of Staff and the Council member themselves are going to be interviewing me.
What can I expect? Whats the best way to prepare for it? Any answers or thing I can say that'll work in my favor.
I have a gap in my resume (from January 2023-Today) due to employment issues I've had in the past year that have only lasted no more than three months and my experience is mostly policy internships with local leaders and nonprofits. But I have the knowledge in the issues that the council-member is focused on (Health, Environment, Constituent Issues, Housing) but I am confident I can get this role if I only know how to advocate for myself

Specs: I'm running the student version of Solidworks 2022 on Windows 10 using VMWare Fusion v13.5.1 on my 13in 2019 Macbook Pro, with an Intel graphics card and 16gb of memory.
Been lying about Solidworks on my resume for a long time, have recently been finally teaching myself with a sample project. Despite the horrific installation process and all of the headachey hoops I've had to jump through (see specs lmfao) I actually got the program functioning rather well. I even grabbed a decent render or two, but now I want to mess with lighting and tweak render settings, and I'm running into one big main issue. Photoview360 is working for the most part, except for the function "Scene Illumination Proof Sheet." It would be a wonderfully useful function (especially coming from someone who also taught themselves Blender and has had to set up every single light direction size and type manually for a scene), except when I try to run it I just get stuck on an eternal loading symbol. Doing my research I can only find one other instance of someone else experiencing this problem, in a post 4 years ago where the only comment is someone else saying they experienced it too. Considering how surprisingly fast final renders run, I don't think it's a matter of waiting it out, but waiting it out ended up being the answer to my installation problems, so if that is the case here please let me know. Otherwise, helpful tips for workarounds for tweaking lighting settings would be appreciated! I was also wondering if folks who use Solidworks regularly also normally use the built in render tools, or if it's fastemore efficient to export the model to a different program for rendering? This has been a significant roadblock in my project, so any help is appreciated! Thank you so much!

I want to make a small web application for my resume (already graduated from college last year) that can demonstrate I know how to use these technologies, but I don't know what kinds or to what scale they would need to be to necessitate that.
I tried using Firebase and Google Cloud before to make a to-do list webapp that included user account/login features, but I hit a brick wall when the page had a bunch of errors when trying to actually make a sample account (input data wouldn't be received by Firebase's database). I got far, but couldn't figure out if my problem had more to do with any JavaScript code or if it was some larger issue with how I was using Firebase or Google Cloud that prevented me from continuing. I was thinking maybe redoing it from scratch, but I'm not sure.

Previous / Next
I’m back, still alive!
So, I saw another animal, but first, let me talk about my discussions with Andrew. He seemed relieved that I wanted to stay on after meeting Miss Giant Spider. There were several occasions that she was the reason a new night security person had quit, mostly because she was often the first to come say hello once we were able to see her. She was social, or at least the version of social that things like her could be.
At that, Andrew told me he’d decide to resume tours. Apparently I’ve been doing so well, and I’d handled meeting Yui with such grace (I didn’t tell him I almost pissed my pants) that he figured I’d be sticking around. He was right, of course. And it was encouraging enough to hear it from him that I got a little boost of self-confidence. I know y’all are probably older than me, but this is my first real full-time job, so that was really cool to hear from him.
I know continuing to work here does make me the world’s biggest hypocrite considering my pet peeve of people who lack common sense, but it seems the universe found my weakness. I can’t help it. I’m a wildlife biologist at heart and these animals are devastatingly fascinating, and if I quit I wouldn’t be able to learn all about them. I’m hoping Andrew will eventually let me ask Suzanne for books about them, from wherever they’re from. Plus, the scariest thing I’d ever seen in my life didn’t kill me, so maybe I can put this in the ‘common sense win’ column, hm? The spider wanted to eat me, she didn’t eat me, therefore the wards are solid and she can’t eat me. Right? I’m going with that.
Apparently Roger, the last guy who ran the night shift, ran a tight ship. He interacted with the animals on a purely basic level, never falling for their tricks, never getting killed or even hurt. Some of his job, and therefore what was becoming my job, was ensuring that the animals were doing well. This meant he needed to be able to see all of them, and so once they realized he’d reached his limit at eight, Suzanne did some wand-waving (no, I don’t know if she has a wand, I’m being facetious), and he could see the rest. According to Andrew, that had something to do with letting our minds stretch and reach its natural limits before stretching it further.
Most nights I arrive early, just before Andrew leaves, and I ask him questions I have. After seeing Yui’s human form, I did ask Andrew about her intelligence, but he just smiled and shook his head. He explained that there were dogs smarter than any the animals at the zoo, at least when you were comparing them to levels of human intelligence. Her appearance was just a disguise and her polite words to me were intelligence of an impressive border collie the filtered through the skill of a parrot. I wouldn’t be able to converse with her on any real level.
However, saying all of that lacks accuracy, because comparing animals to humans always leaves out quite a bit. For example, humans realized ants can figure out where they are and where to go from the position of the sun, while humans would need trigonometry for that. It doesn’t mean ants are capable of learning trig.
Something notable that I brought up with Andrew was enrichment. The layout of the zoo isn’t exactly typical, because for most of the animals, it backs up quite a ways into the forest that surrounds the zoo before ending at a tall fence. That means there’s more of a natural existence for them, and with a lot more space than even the most generous zoo, it likely feels to them like they’re still out in the wild, and they don’t get bored too easily.
That was the reason Andrew gave for having so few enrichment ideas, that they already had space to roam and engaged with plenty of animals including some that burrowed, various birds (and snatching eggs from nests), and climbers like racoons, opossums, and squirrels. The big thing my boss considered enrichment was putting specific live prey like goats or turkeys into the enclosures for some variety, which made sense. But I couldn’t help thinking that it was still important to make like any other zoo and give them some bonus fun occasionally.
When it came to Yui, I asked Andrew if he knew whether she’d prefer something to play with in her human form or her tarantula form. That’s when I learned the human form was a disguise, to get prey to come closer, which was exactly the honey trap of death that my subconscious had imagined it to be. (Yay.) So, she remains a tarantula most of the time.
On that note, did you know many pet tarantulas like ping-pong balls? Check it out on YouTube if you’ve got some time to kill. On that note, I thought it’d be worth a shot to see if Yui liked it.
My first image was of that meme of George R.R. Martin in a giant hamster ball, the person who’d shared it giving the photo a caption that scolded him from goofing off when they wanted him to be writing the next Game of Thrones book. The thing is, that was approximately the right size, but most of those are inflatable. Yui has little claws at the end of her feet, so I needed something plastic. That meant making some calls around to manufacturers (by email, since I was doing this in the middle of the night) for something custom made.
I do have to say, looking to have a giant plastic ball for a huge tarantula to play with had not been on my list of likely things to happen at my new job, but it was highly entertaining. I wish I could have told the people I was emailing, but at least I can tell all of you.
I wrote a list of other enrichment possibilities in my phone, and one morning when I arrived early, I spoke with Andrew about them. It wasn’t much of a list yet, but I’d gotten started from what I knew about Yui and figured I’d throw some other things at the wall to see what stuck.
Andrew did seem iffy about introducing new things, saying, “If it ain’t broke, I don’t like trying to fix it.” But part of my job was allegedly enrichment, according to the job posting. It just seemed like over the decades of the zoo’s existence so far, they counted on prey to be that enrichment. Not that I’m saying they were neglecting the animals, of course; honestly I still have a lot (or rather, everything) to learn about them. But I figured doing the kind of enrichment I’d been taught in my college classes could be great.
“By the way, this might sound stupid, but does Leila need any enrichment?” I asked with a grimace. “I don’t know a lot about ghosts, but I would assume it’s a boring existence. I can only go on stories, and a bored ghost gets into trouble, according to the popular culture.”
Andrew smirked and nodded. “Yeah, they do in films, but this isn’t that kind of situation. With Leila…her soul isn’t actually here. The ghost is more of an echo of her, left behind, imprinted when she was attacked,” he explained.
“Her soul isn’t here,” I repeated. “That’s…interesting.”
“I’m not in charge of the afterlife,” he said with a shrug. “Gratefully, Ripley, I only have to manage this one business. Whatever goes on with that side of things must be more stress than I can imagine and I’d turn down the job if offered, no matter the pay.”
Once I received an email confirming a company’s ability to create a lightweight but solid plastic ball, much like a super-sized ping-pong ball, Andrew approved the purchase of the toy. I was eager to get started on stuff for the other animals, but until I got a good look at them, I felt I didn’t have enough info to go on. And Andrew still didn’t want to educate me on things I hadn’t seen yet, calling it learning on a ‘need-to-know basis,’ since I’m human, so he’ll be waiting before spilling all the weird, freaky beans. I’ll have to be patient.
What he had done was given me a summaries that Roger had written down, but actually they weren’t much help. This was because Roger had a background as a security guard rather than being educated in wildlife, as I did. Andrew said the man had been extremely capable at his job, but looking for someone with a degree this time was a choice he was happy with.
Roger was concise, I’ll give him that. On this list of his, taking Yui as an example, it said ‘spider woman - enclosure 7 - Yui’, along with the animals she liked to hunt. It hadn’t taken him that long to figure out what our animals most enjoyed hunting, mostly from wildlife cameras that were installed in the forestry. They were all omnivores (or rather, you could say they had degrees in being omnivores with a specialization in being a carnivore, because Andrew said they could eat almost anything someone might toss into their enclosure), but some of them had special preferences on top of that.
Another description for animal I hadn’t seen yet was, ‘centaur - enclosure 10 - Arnold’. For any animal that didn’t have a given name (Yui was able to introduce herself, since she’d been named before, I was told), Roger made one up, and Andrew told me that Arnold was named after Arnold Schwarzenegger because he had incredible muscles. Also notable was that he was not a centaur, that was just the closest approximation that Roger’s mind was able to label him, because his most notable feature was that he had no skin. The part of my brain that was a biology major crawled all over that fact, but couldn’t make sense of how it could be beneficial to survival. Then again, since they came from another world, I had no environment on which to base my evolutionary ideas.
Yui has looked out at me from the forest on two more occasions so far, both times in her spider form, though she didn’t attempt communication again. I was extremely grateful, because even as I reminded myself that she hadn’t so much as attempted to hurt me, and that there really was an invisible wall there, I still wanted some more time to get used to her appearance. There was a near certain chance she would love to have me as a meal, just as any predator might, so my hindbrain trembled whenever I saw her. But each time, I reminded myself that this was why I’d been hired, because I showed a healthy amount of fear for the animals. Then I took a deep breath and moved on.
However, I did see another animal on the cameras, and then on a walk, a few days ago. This one wasn’t as terrifying as Yui (though that’s a high bar), but it was freaky. I saw it when I passed the area that led to the small lake, where I’d been told several animals had access from their enclosures bordering it. I zoomed in to get a better look, the cameras doing the impressive job of making the animal many times bigger and perfectly crisp on the screen.
At first glance it seemed like some sort of dog-possum hybrid, the size of a Doberman. Most notable was the hand at the end of its tail, like that of a racoon but larger and with claws. I recall thinking that the animals in our world with prehensile tails have nothing on that. It had small ears and black and grey fur covered its body, but the animal had shaken itself after coming out of the water, and when it had done so, its hair stood up on end like it was infused with static electricity. The thing was, having done that, it looked like the hair down its back had become a mohawk of spines. Wondering if it had the skills of a porcupine, I mentally took in as much information as I could about its appearance.
Later that shift, on another walk through the zoo, I thought I heard an animal crying. I say animal, but if I hadn’t been a major in wildlife biology, I would’ve said I heard a human baby crying. There are a surprising amount of animals that sound like humans shrieking or crying, which can make for a disturbing experience if you live in rural areas with lots of forestry. If someone grew up there, they got used to it. If they were unfamiliar with that weirdness, however, they might get worried some psycho had left a baby in the woods and went looking for the source, but those folks were probably candidates for a Darwin award.
This was definitely an imitation of a human baby crying, and it was spot on. It was coming from Spike’s enclosure, but I just stopped a couple yards from the fence for a long, thoughtful moment before moving on to walk the rest of the zoo, ignoring the sound. Two hours (and therefore two laps) later, it gave up trying to draw me in.
Anyway, the first time I’d seen the animal, I’d returned to the security room, double-checked, and confirmed that this animal was named ‘Spike’ (no points for originality, Roger). Apparently its food of choice was fish, but musing on that didn’t give me many hints as to what it might enjoy as enrichment. Clearly the sound imitation was a form of drawing in prey, so that didn’t help much either. What did give me hints was the fact that, according to Roger’s notes, it was known to not just kill the fish and eat the meat, but also the scales.
In addition, it didn’t just eat fish, but also turtles, lizards, and snakes, and if it killed a human, it had been known to specifically go for our nails and hair before making like a carnivore on the rest of us. That meant keratin was an important element of his diet. So, any fish or reptile made nutritious prey, which was convenient since the lake was stocked regularly and the reptiles were plentiful throughout the forest.
Determined to find something for it to enjoy, though, I considered what its instincts might prompt it to appreciate. That’s the way to go with all enrichment, even for humans. Just think of all the games we play as kids. Hide and seek. Tag. Red light, green light. All things that tested our ability to avoid predators and catch prey. We play these games since we enjoy them, and we enjoy them for a very good reason: our brain gives us happy-hormone feedback because it’s good training for our ongoing survival.
With that in mind, I considered possibly giving it foods that were difficult to eat, to mimic the difficulty of pulling nails and hair out of corpses. I know, it’s a gruesome train of thought, considering I was one of those animals that he’d probably be delighted to snack on, but that’s what happens when you’re in charge of animals like these. I considered things like pomegranates, artichokes, avocados, or pineapple, but definitely nuts like pistachios, pecans, peanuts, and hazelnuts. Its claws were made for attacking prey, but they could also be useful when opening nuts. And I didn’t get a good look at its teeth, but I figured it was similar to a squirrel in that way.
Those items were easy to fetch from a big grocery store, and there was a Walmart on my commute home, so I stopped in to buy some. The cashier was probably confused as to why I was sampling a bunch of things, but I was using the zoo’s business card for this, and didn’t want to overdo it.
I’d asked Andrew if he wanted to get them himself or reimburse me, actually, and he’d just handed me the card. “I doubt you’re the type to head to Vegas,” he’d said with a smile. “Keep it in your wallet for the future and I’ll get another. Just bring me the receipts from your purchases and I’ll file them in the system.”
The diet of the zoo’s animals didn’t wholly consist of animals they hunted. Some was delivered, and near the dumpster was a pile of boxes that had been broken down, so I grabbed one of those and taped it back together to bring the food out to Spike. I put the fruits in, and then a handful of each of the nuts. Then I folded the flaps closed, walked through the zoo over to enclosure four and, from two yards away, lifted the box to my shoulder and chucked it as hard as I could.
The box landed with a thud, and I waited around for a minute but Spike didn’t show, so I headed back to the security room. He’d emerged from the trees shortly after I’d left, wandering over to the box. I pulled up the view of the camera and enlarged it on the screen, zooming in, watching hopefully as he prodded at it. It didn’t take him long to open it, though he used his claws rather than following the strategy of simply unfolding the flaps like a human would have done.
Spike was definitely curious of the variety of new, potentially edible things splayed across the ground. He took a minute to look through them before settling on the pineapple. The spikes seemed to intrigue him, and he used his claws to open up the fruit, carving out a slice. Eating it, I couldn’t really decipher his reaction through facial expressions, but he dropped it and backed up at step before swiping at it with a hand, flinging it yards away, as if it had insulted his mother. So, it seemed he was not fond of it.
The same thing went for the pomegranate and avocado, unfortunately, and I slumped in disappointment, but I was happy to see that the artichoke was one in the win column. He looked like he was enjoying peeling of each leaf individually, and then ate the heart last. By that point I felt like I’d gotten a small sense of reading his body language, and I think he enjoyed the heart.
The smaller foods came next, and I leaned in closer, folding my arms on the desk. The pistachios are what Spike went for first, presumably because the gap between the shells let him get into it pretty quickly. Those were a no-go too, unfortunately, which wasn’t that surprising to me considering their distinctive taste. But when he tried the pecans next? Holy crap, he bounced from foot to foot in an undeniable happy dance, finding the others and gathering them all in a pile.
Cracking each shell open with his claws, he went through every single pecan, one by one, often opening several and eating them together. I leaned back in my chair with a satisfied smile as I watched him go through all of them. After he’d finished them, he moved onto the peanuts, which weren’t appealing, but the hazelnuts were.
My eyes widened when put the nut in between his teeth and chomped down enough to crack the shell. I swore under my breath. Those shells are tough, so that was terrifyingly impressive. And again, the hazelnut was more appealing to him, whatever quality of taste it had prompting him to go through each of them just as he had the pecans.
“So, that was a job well done,” I spoke to myself out loud.
Taking my notepad from my pocket, I added in Enrichment: artichokes, pecans, hazelnuts, on the page that I’d titled Spike and mentally patted myself on the back.
I know it’s unlikely that I can find enrichment items for every animal at the zoo, and Andrew was right that they don’t have typical enclosures, since they have their own little forests. But it was fulfilling to finally use my degree for something, to add something to the life of an animal that didn’t get to hang out with others in its species, as was typical for animals. Or at least was typical for animals on Earth. I figured these things at least had a drive to mate. These things might be terrifying, dangerous cryptids, but they are starting to feel like my terrifying, dangerous cryptids.
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Where?: Chapin Forest Reservation in Kirtland, OH
When?: May 4-5, 2024
Goal: Uhh…
Stretch Goal: Find anything remotely appetizing.
Strategy: Pray?
This is the game plan at mile 50. 11.5 hours in. Are my seams really starting to split before the actual race begins? My cheer team from the daylight hours has dwindled. Off to their warm, luxurious beds and their warm, luxurious homes. But I’m out here doing exactly what I love to do, paying the price for it, and curious as to what I’ll find in this vast, approaching darkness.
——
This race was my litmus test. I’d done a few self-supported solo 50ks in the past, but I had yet to find my limit. I eagerly scrambled onto Ultrasignup the morning that I saw registration finally opened. Relying on a totally juvenile, unstructured 8-month training block averaging 50-60 mpw, I was ready to fuck around and find out.
Around 5am, my sister (who’d be my long-haul crew) and I arrived at the inky-blue park grounds; the overnighters still slumbering in their unlit camps, a few runners quietly organizing gear in truck beds and backseats as the balmy darkness lifted. We claimed our spot near the final bend of the 1-mile loop and began setting up as the sleepy atmosphere started to stir.
We took a stroll around the loop, admired “the hill” which comprised most, if not all of the 64-ish feet of vertical gain of the lap. All of us would grow a deep, intimate bond with this hill over the next day. Whether we wanted to or not. Because in the end, even more beautifully menacing foes would make themselves known.
It’s truly a wonderful course, however. It felt evenly broken up into distinct sections with their own unique landmarks and quirks: parking lot, trailhead, the “crescent” between two trail crossings, the hill, the bridge, rolling bunny hills before a smooth downhill, a few flat curves before heading down the straightaway along the field, final turn down another small pine-lined straightaway towards the hairpin back to the start. Monotony, to my surprise, would not be an issue.
Time to toe the line for the send-off. Balmy, cool, and overcast— not too shabby. An odd sense of tranquility washed over me in the corral. Maybe it was the peace of finally surrendering to the thing I hadn’t been able to wrap my head around this entire time: 24 hours. It was a huge relief to know that for the next entire day, I wouldn’t have to worry about much else other than finding a way to put one foot in front of the other. Nowhere to be, nowhere to go. And then, away we went.
——
Mile 0-20 [00:00:00-03:48:27]
I probably went out too fast. But damn, most everyone else seemed to, too! Maybe it was our collective exaltation of finally breaking free from our antsy tapers… or maybe it was just me. At any rate, it simply felt beautiful just to be moving.
A handful of miles in, I already got to chatting with a fella, as big as a minute and full of zest & zeal. A nomadic ultra veteran who looked like he’d been out in the scorching sun longer than I’ve been alive. But he ignited my spirits and made a few laps whiz by like nothing. I think he ended up carrying many other runners through more crucial hours. That guy definitely got me into the encouraging spirit of the endurance game, and I found a strong desire to pass that energy along.
Shortly after hour 2, my lady showed up with her sweet little face and bearing bunch of goodies that would prove to be lifesavers later on. I took a short break to tape up some hot spots and re-supply, but otherwise I was getting into the groove. Feeling fine. Surprised (and simultaneously concerned) that I was maintaining a consistent 10-11 minute pace.
Mile 20-40 [03:48:27-08:31:53]
I’d known long before the race that my Plan A had a 100% chance of falling apart. So would Plan B, C, and so forth. Plan A was to take a substantial break around every 2 hours— fully pull-off into camp, reevaluate gear, eat, re-up on food to-go, first-aid, etc.
I’d been dropping off my soft flasks for refills whenever I needed and picking them up on the next lap, but at about 4 hours in, I was getting a little worried. I‘ve been blessed with a pea-sized bladder, so not hitting the little boys room for over about two hours was a bit concerning. I didn’t want to dig the hydration grave this early, so I began diligently pounding water and tailwind like they owe me money, passing off flasks every loop or two.
Approaching mile 30, I ended up hiking the hill alongside a guy who’d been constantly passing me, looking consistently strong and relaxed. We both commiserated on starting to feel the burn. “I think I’m gonna stop at 50k”, he said. “Nonsense!” I blurted, “there’s a whole lot of race left, man!” I mean, the dude looked like he was fresh off the starting line, and I told him that. Plus he was only a few miles away from his goal. I caught him a little later on his victory lap. Had to give him props for the extra loop. I hope he got a few more in after that.
Midway through hour 6, more friendly faces of family and loved ones showed up to witness the absurdity. I’d just passed mile 33, and while my pace began to dwindle and dip into 12:00 and 13:00, I was still trucking and my soul still relatively intact. Relatively.
Alas, wrapping up mile 35, my cheer team was as numerous and jubilant as ever, and the sobering truth hit me across the head like a sock full of quarters: I’m only a fraction of the way through this thing. I wearily gazed in bags and rifled through coolers for fuel… and absolutely nothing sounded appetizing. I did not want to eat. I understood I had to, but I couldn’t decide on something to shove down that didn’t look utterly repulsive.
I’m pretty sure at one point I just thought aloud to everyone, “I’m really sad right now…” I’m not even sure if I really meant it. In fact, I’m not even sure what I meant to say, or even sure of what I was feeling. And that’s when I spotted the container of watermelon. God bless my sweet lady. She saved my sorry boo-hoo ass with those watermelon chunks. It was nectar. Pure. Lifebreathing. A borderline religious experience.
My sister geared up to keep me company for a few loops. I changed socks and switched to a fresh pair of shoes. So, with a newfound hope just dim enough to shine, I threw some boiled peewee potatoes into my vest and ventured on.
Mile 40-50 [08:31:53-11:22:10]
Among my bubbly cheer team was my lady’s father, a guy who’s been doing ultras long before I was even a thought. He wanted to get a few loops in with me, and I secretly hoped he would drop some life-altering ultra wisdom on me that would somehow alleviate all the bodily bullshit that was just starting to surface after the 40 mile mark.
We went easy, and I needed it. His pace was comfortable and sustainable, but the pounding was continuing to take its toll. The outer ligament behind my right knee began to smart with each step, and the top of my right foot was getting more tender as we went on. None of it was getting less painful. Instead of some earth-shattering, all-curing wisdom, he gave me something actually valuable: the truth. “I think you’re gonna be forced to walk pretty soon.”
Damn straight. In hindsight, what the fuck else did I expect to happen? I barely allowed myself any significant stretches of walking in the entire race up until this point. I surely wasn’t expecting to keep running the way I was in the first 20-30 miles— but whatever sleeper-cell of hubris that arose within me today was likely going to be served a fat slice of humble pie.
Truthfully, I just wanted nothing more than to give this thing my all. 24 hours was still too unwieldy to fit in my mind. So was 12 hours. So was the next hour. I was approaching the event horizon of the almighty present moment. Plans, expectations, goals… all began to dissolve under any amount of scrutiny. Because those things were becoming so besides the point. Something much greater and truer was revealing itself. A sense of appreciation grew that had little to do with running or suffering. There was so much race left, and even in my shitty state, I felt a great relief.
As I wrapped up mile 50, my cheer team fizzled out along with the light of day, and shit was finally getting real. His prediction was absolutely correct. The time was nigh that I would no longer be able to run with the pain. But I sure as hell could walk. On our last loop together, he left me with another piece of wisdom: “You’d be surprised at what happens in the middle of the night.”
Mile 50-64 [11:22:10-16:46:29]
“Oi sir, what are you doing?”
“Uh... trudging. You know, trudging? …To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply… soldier on.” — A Knight’s Tale
—
I’d quickly come to grips with the idea of walking the remaining 12 hours. I texted my folks that the wheels had fallen off and I would endure an indefinite trudge. I was 11 miles away from 100k, which for me was plenty to be proud of. My sister tagged along with me for at least 6 or 7 of those initial “full-time” walking loops. Just chatting, belly-laughing, growing a little delirious, bumping various volumes of Jock Jams during breaks as my appetite started to come alive again.
Cup of ramen in hand on the trail, motes of pollen whizzing by in the light of my headlamp, the tranquil cacophany of crickets and frogs from deep within the perfect blackness… It was simply good enough to just be out there. This bizarre alternate reality was becoming my new home.
After a rest at mile 55, I figured it would finally be a proper time to bust out the big guns: caffeine and tunes. Boy, oh boy am I so glad I held off on my luxuries. Sipping on a can of Guru, jams in the headphones, my trudge became more of a solo top-rocking battle. The course had thinned out dramatically after dark, so the exaggerated bobbing and cartoonish, gesticulative path of my headlamp probably looked amusing from a distance. And completely unhinged up close. I was visibly, shamelessly enjoying myself at this point.
Music felt like the headiest drug, and caffeine… well, it is a drug. I was getting locked in to a pretty decently paced hike (or so it felt), soaking it all in, unbridled from any expectations, and seemingly from reality altogether. I enthusiastically pounded ‘round to mile 60, and by then walking started to feel… actually pretty damn good! Once I passed 100k, I dared a few yards of a trot. Oh shit, okay! That didn’t feel too bad! As I rounded the final bend past camp to wrap up mile 63, I picked up my feet into a careful, steady shuffle. I turned to catch my sister’s attention, punching the air in pathetic, delirious triumph, and her face lit up from above her book.
I was fucking doing it. Nothing hurt and everything was beautiful again. It wasn’t fast, but it sure as hell wasn’t slow. I stripped off my walking hoodie and theatrically threw it back at camp. I wouldn’t need it anymore. The warmth of the proverbial second wind would carry me.
Mile 64-75 [16:46:29-19:53:07]
I’d found a shuffling stride that was gentle and sufficient enough, and best of all, didn’t absolutely obliterate my right knee or foot. At this point, my toes felt like they were going to explode. All of them. But somehow it mattered so little. My quads were getting ripped a fresh pair of assholes on the downhills. Guess I’ll just twinkle-toe gingerly down those. It mattered so little. The amount of general soreness my entire body was experiencing was colossally esclipsed by the simple novelty that, by means unknown to me, I was running again.
I passed a trio of hikers who must’ve recognized me from the previous walking loops featuring my manic B-boy episode, because suddenly a woman from the group erupts, “YES!! LOOK AT YOU GO!!! LOOK AT YOU!! YOU’RE DOING IT!!” And boy did that have my heart soaring and bursting with fresh colors. I shout back with a corny, “I don’t know what the hell is going on! But I’m taking it!” Or something else also completely stupid and to that effect.
Many of the other overnighters had to have known exactly what I was experiencing. Because so many kind and encouraging words found me on those next 9 loops. And I did my best to give the handful of other night owls their rightful props, too.
My appetite held strong in these hours. Powdered mini-donuts were unexpectedly bangin’. Cold pizza, Pringle’s, overnight oats, cheese quesadillas I’d been picking at all race. Things were good. But as I got up from camp to wrap up mile 72, I could feel my triumphant flight coming to a descent. Top of my foot, behind my knee, my achilles, all of the little snags were surfacing again. I managed to eke out a couple wimpy laps in this state, and mile 75 would be the last hurrah of my second wind. The pains would resume business as usual, and Mr. Trudge would be holding court yet again.
Mile 75-81 [19:53:07-22:20:44]
The long walk. Rain began to patter through the shadowy new leaves above. I was certain I would not have the gumption to attempt a trot for the remainder of the race. Doing my best means a lot to me, but not getting injured means more.
My sister joined me every other lap. I started to grow a little delirious in earnest. Roots frequently mistaken for oversized newts. Shadows and pollen motes playing tricks in the light of my headlamp. I’d turn my headlamp off occasionally and let the impossible darkness swell into life; the brush would softly billow from obscurity into vague form, and finally the trail would reveal itself as my eyes adjusted, like a gentle beacon cutting through the shapeless black under a canopy-cracked steel-pink sky.
I remained pretty quiet. Even when my sister came along. Still had my music going quietly, and a cold brew coffee that made me have to piss literally every ten minutes. Sometimes I’d just piss myself if I found myself bookended by headlamps. I’d already been soaked by some flash downpours— okay who am I kidding. I probably would’ve pissed myself regardless. The race is almost over, and I didn’t give a fuck. I didn’t give a fuck who gave a fuck. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t sleepy. I was walking. Only walking. I wasn’t really thinking about anything. No words. No images. No ideas. No cares.
At this point, dear reader, we were getting close to heart of the onion. The existential onion. I’d been shedding layers all day and night, whether I knew it or not, and now some sample-sized essence of singularity was being unceremoniously revealed. No thinking. Just doing. It didn’t feel great. It didn’t feel bad. It didn’t matter what it was. The most serene emptiness. That serene emptiness pulled me around to close in on mile 80. The sun was coming up again.
At that moment I passed camp for what I planned to be the bittersweet end, my sister pops out of the gazebo and gestures down the path, wordlessly saying “One more?”
The thought of doing the loop even once more made me feel ill. Not physically. But in some intangible way. The thought of trying to get up the hill before my groin muscles and achilles detonate was bleak. Downhills? I’d rather be… fucking buried alive, I don’t know. But I can’t let big sis down. She doesn’t know I’m so spent. Plus, I didn’t want to do my last lap alone.
We brought it in for 81 miles at 22 hours and 20 minutes. I turned in my bib, snagged my medal, chopped it up with a couple ballers at the aid station who were still grinding out loops, then sat down in a lawn chair back at camp and stared purposelessly out into the ether. The same tranquility from the starting corral washed over me again in spades.
——
Nothing but pure gratitude. Gratitude became not only imperative, but a natural headspace in this race. Nothing but affinity and respect for everyone who showed up. I felt immersed in the most wholesome, human, ridiculous, faith-restoring, hubris-obliterating, gentle, zen, and idyllic alternate universe for 24 hours. The real world pales in comparison to this.
I now truly understand why people do these things. It makes perfect sense, and the explaination needs zero words. I got my shit rocked real good, in the most soul-enriching fashion, and that’s precisely why I’m doing it again next year.
——

From last night... I fell asleep before finishing and posting it.
Early morning: One more text from Doreen. "Don't forget to shave your legs and pits."
I met Doreen at the salon at 8:30. I was early. So was she. We walked in. One step inside and I knew NOT to ask if they do black hair. Shut up and sit. Hair. Eyebrows. Nails. Goodbye advice from hair stylist to me: "You better watch your posture!" Done. One down.
Doreen to me: "This is not girls out shopping. We have very little time and have to be back here by 1:30 for your makeup. I make the decisions, you try on, you pay, your opinion doesn't count. That's that." Rules set. Two down. Off to High-End-Store.
"The most important thing to buy are the shoes. You have to be comfortable--and you can't slip. We are going to try on polished black loafers with a chunk heel." I'm measured and the salesperson brings several styles. "The soles have to be soft. Which one is the most comfortable?" I pick one and we also buy black pantyhose. Three down.
"We are now going to select a business-casual black suit paired with with a white button-down." We selected several to try on. "You are obviously very athletic. I like the one with the short skirt the best on you because it shows your athleticism." We picked out a nice bag as well. Ciao, High-end-Store. Four down.
Cheap Accessories Storefront. "Here is where we are going to highlight that you are a girl. Cheap costume jewelry. A necklace and earrings. Let's get a new bad taste band for your iWatch. Five down.
Contrasting to all the glamor, we only had time for a fast food truck hot dog. It's Manhattan. No one notices, no one cares. Then back to the salon for makeup. I changed there and I will pick up my clothes after school. Off to the 3:00 p.m. meeting.
Doreen dropped me off to school. "You did good today. I look forward to working with you during the internship. Good luck--and remember your posture."
When I walked into the office I did see a couple of heads turn. I can imagine Heidi asking with them, "What had happened to Floppy Lita?"
Luisa soon arrived and looked at me as if this was my accepted and usual appearance. How does she look so coquette in business casual? I snuck her the copies of my resume, modeling portfolio, writing sample, and personal statement and she put them in the packet. The meeting was quite simple and quick. Luisa walked my advisor through the packet. There were pages describing each week's internship and associated learning goals and deliverables.
Once or twice she shot me a "POSTURE!" look. My academic advisor seemed satisfied but lost in thought. "Lita is a responsible and creative student. May and June are what we call 'the dog days' of the school year. Students are tired and just waiting for the summer. Teachers, too, tend to check out and just count the days. We have simply gone through our back of tricks. I think that your plan for the internship is well-planned and highly educational. I wish we could build in similar experiences for all of our high school students at the end of the school year."
Approved, start date changed to Monday. Luisa: "Thank you!" Advisor: "No, thank you!"
As we get up to leave Luisa shoots me her "POSTURE!" look.
I know Heidi is having her lesson with Arturo. I am just going to pick up my clothes from the salon, head home, and knock off homework.
My question to anyone who reads this: Do you think I wore my new clothes on the way home or do you think I changed back and wore my floppy regulars?
[EDIT]: I found this article in the May 10th World Tribune. It's about how a Men's Division member, a musician, from Georgia, who is helping his YMD build a Brass Band. He talks about a quote from an article called “Precepts for Brass Band” in which Ikeda Sensei says:

“I would like to say that your spirit should transcend vanity as well as musical techniques and ability. The sound of the Brass Band should be the rhythm of faith. It must roar with the sound of passion, as if to crush the angry waves of the ocean.”

I am going to take the spirit here and apply it to my internship. I will "transcend vanity as well as technique and ability," my work will express "the rhythm of faith," my attitude and "POSTURE!" will "roar with the sound of passion, as if to crush the angry waves of the ocean.”