Just resolved an issue I was having with my hotspot. Tried to enable my hotspot but it wouldn't turn on. Just paid my bill less than a week ago so I know it's not already used up. Tried diagnosing the problem with the internet and everywhere I looked, the only solution was preforming a factory reset. Didn't like that idea so I just started trying literally anything until I figured it out. How I was able to get it to turn on was first, I rebooted my phone, making sure nothing was running besides the OS then I connected to my DSL gateway. After that, I pressed the hotspot button and my phone displayed a message reading "in order to activate your hotspot, you must be disconnected from your wifi, do you wish to continue?" I pressed continue and my wifi turned off and the hotspot turned on. Maybe I was lucky but hopefully this helps anyone with the same problem.

Hey all,
First time posting here, sorry if I get some formatting wrong. I wanted to ask for advice on saving and purchasing a home. Here is the background:
My wife and I (28m and 27f) live in Colorado. We make a little over 120k combined. We currently only have 2k in our joint savings. Our current rent is $1,320 per month. At the end of each month my wife has roughly $200 dollars after all her expenses each month (car payment, medical bills, student loans etc.). I currently have $300 dollars after similar expenses each month.
From my calculations if we tightened our belts those end of month figures could stretch to $400 for my wife and $600 for me.
We reached out to a mortgage lender and got an expected monthly cost of $2,900, with $11,000 in closing cost and down payment using FHA and CHFA loans for a $375,000 house.
As it stands we cannot afford that mortgage without a renter.
Here are my actual questions:
Is there a better way to save for the closing costs than simply dumping it in a general savings account? At our current rate it’ll take 18 months to save the 11k. Or 9 months if we tightened our belts.
Is it worth buying a smaller house, such as a townhouse and waiting to use the equity to move into a larger home? If so, does anyone know generally how long that takes?
My wife and I are expecting large jumps in our incomes in the next two years. To the effect of a new joint income of $250k, is it worth waiting to buy a house until then?
Finally, is the before mentioned renter a viable option if we wanted to get into a home in that price bracket sooner?
Any other advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

• We started with the two federal lawsuits filed last Thursday, seeking to block Iowa from enforcing Senate File 2340, the immigration law that creates a new state crime of “illegal reentry.” You can read the federal government’s lawsuit here and the case filed on behalf of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and two individuals here. I have a post in progress at Bleeding Heartland on why the state will struggle to show this law is constitutional;
• One key issue in both lawsuits: Iowa’s law makes no allowance for the reality that the federal government may grant permission for someone to be in this country, even if they were removed or deported in the past;
• Responding to the lawsuit, Governor Kim Reynolds cited her “responsibility to protect the citizens of Iowa. Since President Biden refuses to enforce our nation’s immigrationlaws – threatening the safety of our citizens – Iowa will step in.” Similarly, Attorney General Bird said, “Iowa stands ready to defend our immigration law that keeps Iowa communities safe”;
• I previewed one of the key legal arguments for the state, which Republican legislators put forward during the House and Senate debates. The concept is that the U.S. Constitution allows states to defend themselves against an “invasion,” and GOP politicians claim undocumented immigration amounts to an invasion of this country;
• Contrary to the idea that SF 2340 will keep Iowans safe, Marshalltown Police chief Michael Tupper submitted a declaration for one lawsuit explaining why “it undermines public safety” when the immigrant community believes local police will engage in immigration enforcement;
• Many of the arguments in these cases overlap, and U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher has consolidated a hearing on the motions for a preliminary injunction, which is set for June 10;
• Iowa became a plaintiff in yet another lawsuit against the Biden administration last week. This case, involving six GOP-led states that are part of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, challenges the U.S. Department of Education’s latest rule related to Title IX protections for LGBTQ students. Republicans dispute that Title IX’s prohibition of sex discrimination should encompass discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;
• Bird was spotted on Monday morning outside the criminal court where Donald Trump’s trial continues in Manhattan. The Attorney General’s office hasn’t answered any of my questions about the trip, but a spokesperson told the Des Moines Register’s Brianne Pfannenstiel “no taxpayer money had been used to fund her travel.” Bird spoke briefly to reporters outside the courthouse to call the case a “travesty” designed to keep Trump off the campaign trail;
• George wondered if state political leaders traveling across the country was going to be the “new normal.” I won’t be surprised to see Bird appearing with Trump in other venues this year. She’s been the former president’s top Iowa surrogate since Governor Reynolds endorsed and actively campaigned for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis;
• Moving to legislative news, the governor continues to sign more laws the legislature approved last month. Last week, she signed Senate File 2251, one of the bills she proposed, extending postpartum Medicaid coverage for thousands of Iowa women while excluding thousands of women from pregnancy or postpartum coverage;
• I’ve been wanting to talk about House File 626 for a while, but I don’t think Dennis and I ever got to it during the legislative session. Starting next year, this law will prohibit insurance companies from forcing a change to someone’s prescription medications in the middle of a coverage year, if the patient is stable on the drug and a health care provider continues to prescribe it. I enjoy stories like this, which have a major lobbying component. You might think this bill is not controversial, because it passed both chambers nearly unanimously. But advocates had to work for at least seven years to get it to the Iowa Senate floor, due to strong opposition from the insurance lobby;
• Here’s an update on a bill that particularly affects mothers. Natalie Krebs reported for Iowa Public Radio last week on contracts signed with four groups that will provide services under the “More Options for Maternal Support” (MOMS) program, which funnels taxpayer dollars to crisis pregnancy centers. Senate File 2252, which the governor signed in April, allows the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to administer this program directly;
• Reynolds signed the remaining appropriations bills last week, which set spending levels for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. On this program I wanted to highlight a couple of big picture points: Reynolds did not use her item veto power at all, which illustrates how Republicans closely coordinate budgeting with the governor’s office these days. They don’t put anything important in appropriations bills without her approval;
• Second, the $8.9 billion state budget for fiscal year 2025 will spend only about 80 percent of projected state revenues. By law, legislators are allowed to allocate up to 99 percent of projected revenue, but Republicans are building huge surpluses into the budget in order to cover future tax cuts;
• The June 4 primary fast approaches, and I wanted to flag the early voting deadlines for listeners. You can vote early in person starting May 15, and county auditors will start mailing out absentee ballots on the same day. Whether you vote early or on the primary election day, remember to bring some form of voter ID with you. If you need to change your address or register for the first time, bring proof of address as well as a valid ID;
• Moving back to state government news, Bird held a press conference on Friday to announce she was creating a new task force on antisemitism. Oddly, her office still hasn’t released a full list of task force members. I was able to confirm over the weekend that none of the three current state legislators who are Jewish were invited to participate;
• On the environmental front, there was good news and bad news connected to the heavy rain Iowa has seen in recent weeks. Jared Strong reported for Iowa Capital Dispatch that “For the first time in nearly two years, no part of Iowa has extreme drought”;
• Now for the bad news: the rain has flushed a lot of nitrate off fields and into Iowa waterways. Strong reported on this problem for Iowa Capital Dispatch as well;
• Excessive levels of nitrate in water has been associated with blue baby syndrome and certain cancers; I recently republished some in-depth reporting by Keith Schneider on the possible link between farm chemicals and high cancer rates in Palo Alto County;
• A quick bit of Congressional news: all four Iowans in the U.S. House helped save House Speaker Mike Johnson’s job last week;
• We didn’t have time to dig in to the details, but researchers from Princeton University have demonstrated that Iowa’s “Education Savings Accounts” (school voucher) program led to tuition increases at many private schools. Stay tuned, because I will have more to say about these findings on the May 20 program.

This isn't a book request per se, I'm more thinking out loud about how much I relate to MFCs who are open to romance and do want to get together with the MMC.
In HR, in alien romances, in paranormal stories, I'm all into the MFC who is ready to go for her arranged husband/fated mate/monster boyfriend.
This is just me but I don't enjoy "MMC woos/convinces/works to win the MFC "storylines (save for rejection/betrayal stories)*.
No need to convince me, pal, I'm already hot to trott. In fact, maybe I need to convince YOU so that you match my enthusiasm for this forced marriage/fated mating/monster match.
Some of my favourite stories have an open and emotionally forward MFC who shows interest without shame or fear and is excited by the prospect of a partner.
*Sidenote: I get quite anxious about (non-dark romance) storylines where the MFC repeatedly says "No" to the MMC's attentions and he continues with his "wooing". It reminds me of IRL pestering by people who were unwilling to understand a simple No or Not Interested and kept asking me out or trying to romance me. Nope.
I especially love an eager MFC in a sci-fi/paranormal storyline and I will probably DNF if the MFC keeps rejecting the MMC until the end. I get bored and exhausted by those storylines.
Some of my favourite unabashedly romantic sap MFCs!
{Her Bridegroom Bought and Paid For by Alice Coldbreath} - Aimee is chill with buying her husband with her father's money because she thinks he's honourable and righteous. Is disappointed when her initial assessment is proven wrong.
{Craving In His Blood by Zoey Draven} - Millie is funny-looking and interesting, too bad the winged alien vampire lord will reject her in favour of his political marriage. Or will he?
{Nickel's Story by Cate C Wells} - Story wants Nickel, despite his idiot hangups but showing him her boobs doesn't seem to be working. It just makes him angry, then sad, then angry again.
{Luxuria by Collete Rhodes} - This monster hunter cannot possibly want an arranged wedding to the Shade King. Don't look in her sketchbook though. It's NSFW. (This book is not a favourite but it fits the bill)
{War Priest by Anne Aguirre} - Cat shifter wants big Bear Shifter warrior monk (Who doesn't!). Surely he won't leave his religious order so he can lick her mouth?!?
{Seized by Heather Fox} - Human woman who is ecstatic about being on a planet with big jungle-dwelling aliens and cannot WAIT for her fated mate to come along. He's taking his sweet time believing she's real.
This whole series is excellent and I cannot recommend it enough.
Other MFCs who are DTF (Down To Fall In Love)
{Heat for Hire by VK Ludwig}
{The Temptation of a Highlander by Elisa Braden}
{The Alien's Challenge by Ella Maven}
{In Safe Hands by Katie Ruggle} but also {Gone Too Deep by Katie Ruggle}
Last Note: I wanted to use the term Eager Beaver in this post but I thought it was too on the nose. Or beaver.

Over the past few weeks, my boyfriend and I have been making plans to move. Our plan to move is based on the fact that he would support me until I was stable ( working full time and have a consistent schedule). He will get to transfer and keep his job, and I would have to look for a new job. We agreed this would be fine as long as I worked two jobs now to save up and help with the bills when I’m jobless. This is just for context not the issue.
Recently (like 2-3 weeks ago) I was able to find a second job, and now I am working about 70-75 hours a week, and I still make sure to do our home chores (wash, cook(when it’s my turn), and clean). However it has been hard for me since I’m working more now. A lot of my days are 12 hours days (6a-6p or 5a-5pm(I’m a dispatcher)), and his days are also 12hr days but he always gets the weekend off(pest control).
This is where the issue starts; Last week I asked him to do the dishes and to dust the AC unit, and I would handle everything else in the house. He said it was fine he would do it, but we are now in a new week and I have mold growing in the kitchen sink because the dishes are not done, and I’m having really bad allergies because the ac unit is still caked in dust. He says he will do it on his own time and that he hasn’t done it yet because he’s been tired.
This morning I decided to throw all the dishes in the sink away because at this point everything was covered in mold, and the sink was super stinky and nasty. I decided to call him and let him know what I had done, and I also express how I feel about him not doing as I asked. His response to me was that it’s been a busy week for him and that he has to work out in the sun so when he gets home he’s tired. I did criticize him as a response, because I do feel like he had more than enough time last week to get it done. There were days he didn’t work 12hrs, also when he gets home he sits in his truck for an hour watching TikTok’s or scrolling facebook(I’ve caught him doing this multiple times).
Out of frustration; I said “maybe I should stop asking you to things, or can you at least just tell me you don’t want to do something that way I will do it myself”
His response “yes, you should stop asking me to do things for you. You can do them if you want them to get done.”
At that point I was in shock because I wasn’t expecting that response since we have been operating like a team since we got together. So to double check what he said. I asked him again is that what he wanted for me to stop asking him for help and relying on him for support. He said yes and then we got off the phone. I was upset at his response but I got over it because he is entitled to his opinion and if he doesn’t want to help/support me that’s his choice. So seeing as I wouldn’t get anymore help I decided that it was best we didn’t move in with each other.
It’s been a few hours since we had this convo and he reached out to me asking about some tires he wanted to buy. I told him that was fine and I would help him get the tires, and I also told him wasn’t moving in with him. I said due to our earlier conversation I wouldn’t feel safe moving in with him. I would move on my own and handling things by myself and he should handle everything by himself. HE SWEARS up and down he never agreed to stop helping/supporting me. When I reminded him of what he said, his response was “oh, I wasn’t even focused on our conversation earlier. I didn’t realize I said that but I didn’t mean it.”
So my question now is what should I do? I’ve been emotional disrupted by my partner and he says he doesn’t remember. He has taken accountability for his actions, but tbh it’s not enough for me. I’m honestly at the point where the relationship isn’t worth the headache.

Setting Up Date-Triggered Notifications in Google Sheets

In the era of digital organization, automating workflow processes has become a cornerstone for enhancing productivity and efficiency. Among the various tools available, Google Sheets stands out for its versatility and integration capabilities, especially when it comes to managing schedules and deadlines. The ability to set up email notifications based on specific dates in a Google Sheet can transform how individuals and teams stay informed about critical deadlines, tasks, or events. This functionality not only streamlines communication but also ensures that important milestones are never missed. By leveraging Google Sheets for email alerts, users can create a dynamic system that keeps all stakeholders updated in real-time.
Implementing email notifications based on date triggers in Google Sheets requires a blend of basic scripting and spreadsheet management. This process involves utilizing Google Apps Script, a powerful tool that extends the functionality of Google Sheets through customization and automation. By writing a simple script, users can set conditions that, when met, automatically generate and send emails to specified recipients. This feature is particularly useful for project management, event planning, or any scenario where timely notifications are critical. Through the following guidelines, we will explore how to set up these automated alerts, ensuring that you can make the most out of your Google Sheets for any project or planning need.

Command/Function	Description
new Date()	Creates a new Date object representing the current date and time
getValues()	Retrieves values from a range of cells in a Google Sheet
forEach()	Executes a provided function once for each array element
MailApp.sendEmail()	Sends an email on behalf of the user running the script

Harnessing Google Sheets for Automated Email Notifications

The concept of integrating Google Sheets with email notifications to automate reminders based on specific dates is a powerful tool for personal productivity and organizational management. This integration leverages the Google Apps Script, a cloud-based scripting language for light-weight application development in the Google Workspace. The script acts as a bridge between Google Sheets and Gmail, allowing for the automated sending of emails when certain conditions, such as matching dates, are met. This functionality is particularly beneficial for managing project deadlines, event reminders, or even personal tasks such as bill payments. The ability to customize the script according to specific needs makes this a versatile solution for various scenarios where timely notifications are crucial.
Implementing this solution involves writing a script that scans through a designated Google Sheet for dates that match the current day and triggers an email to the intended recipients with customizable content. The beauty of this approach lies in its simplicity and the immense value it provides in terms of time management and efficiency. For teams working on projects with multiple deadlines, this can serve as an automated project manager that keeps everyone on track without the need for manual reminders. Moreover, for personal use, it can help individuals stay organized with their daily chores, appointments, and commitments. The scalability of this solution from individual tasks to complex project management highlights its potential impact on improving productivity and ensuring that important dates are always acknowledged.

Automating Email Notifications Based on Dates

Google Apps Script

function checkDatesAndSendEmails() { const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet(); const range = sheet.getDataRange(); const values = range.getValues(); const today = new Date(); today.setHours(0, 0, 0, 0); values.forEach(function(row, index) { const dateCell = new Date(row[0]); dateCell.setHours(0, 0, 0, 0); if (dateCell.getTime() === today.getTime()) { const email = row[1]; // Assuming the email address is in the second column const subject = "Reminder for Today's Task"; const message = "This is a reminder that you have a task due today: " + row[2]; // Assuming the task description is in the third column MailApp.sendEmail(email, subject, message); } }); } 

Maximizing Productivity with Google Sheets Email Notifications

Automating email notifications from Google Sheets based on specific dates encapsulates a modern approach to task management and organizational communication. This method harnesses the power of Google Apps Script, enabling users to create custom scripts that trigger email alerts for important deadlines, events, or milestones directly from their spreadsheet data. The practical applications of this functionality extend across various domains, from managing project timelines in a professional setting to keeping track of personal commitments and appointments. It simplifies the process of monitoring critical dates, ensuring that no important task falls through the cracks. Furthermore, this automation fosters a proactive workflow environment, reducing the need for manual checks and follow-ups.
The integration of email notifications within Google Sheets not only enhances productivity but also promotes a collaborative work culture by keeping all team members aligned and informed. By automating reminders and notifications, teams can minimize the risk of overlooking essential tasks and deadlines, leading to more efficient project management. Additionally, this feature is customizable, allowing for personalized email content that can provide recipients with detailed information about the task at hand. Whether it's for individual use or within a team, setting up automated email alerts through Google Sheets is a straightforward process that can lead to significant improvements in managing schedules and deadlines effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions About Google Sheets Email Notifications

1. Question: Can Google Sheets send email notifications automatically?
2. Answer: Yes, Google Sheets can send email notifications automatically by using Google Apps Script to write custom functions that trigger emails based on specific conditions, such as dates matching today.
3. Question: Do I need to know how to code to set up these notifications?
4. Answer: Basic knowledge of JavaScript is helpful since Google Apps Script is based on JavaScript. However, there are many tutorials and templates available that can guide users through the setup process without extensive programming knowledge.
5. Question: Can these email notifications be customized?
6. Answer: Yes, the emails sent via Google Apps Script can be fully customized in terms of content, recipients, and even the timing of the email, allowing for a wide range of personalized notifications.
7. Question: Is it possible to send notifications to multiple recipients?
8. Answer: Absolutely, the script can be designed to send emails to multiple recipients, either by specifying each email address in the script or by pulling a list of addresses from the Google Sheet itself.
9. Question: How do I ensure that the script only sends emails for today's date?
10. Answer: The script can be written to compare each date in the specified range with the current date. If the dates match, the script triggers the email notification for that row's corresponding task or event.
11. Question: Will I be charged for using Google Apps Script to send emails?
12. Answer: Google Apps Script is free to use for creating and executing scripts. However, there are daily quotas for sending emails, which should be sufficient for most personal and small business uses.
13. Question: Can the email notifications include attachments?
14. Answer: Yes, the MailApp or GmailApp services within Google Apps Script support sending emails with attachments. You can attach files from Google Drive or other sources.
15. Question: How do I schedule the script to run automatically?
16. Answer: You can use the built-in Google Apps Script triggers to schedule your script to run at specific intervals, such as daily, to check for dates and send emails accordingly.
17. Question: What happens if my Google Sheet has incorrect email addresses?
18. Answer: The script will attempt to send an email to the address provided. If the email address is incorrect, the sending will fail, and you may receive a notification about the failure. It's important to ensure that the email addresses in your Google Sheet are accurate.

Empowering Efficiency with Automated Alerts

Embracing automation through Google Sheets for sending email notifications based on specific dates represents a significant leap towards enhancing personal and organizational productivity. This method not only simplifies task management but also ensures that critical deadlines and events are never overlooked. By leveraging the capabilities of Google Apps Script, users can customize their notification system to fit their unique requirements, making it an invaluable tool for both individuals and teams. The process, which involves scripting and spreadsheet manipulation, is accessible to those with even a basic understanding of programming, thanks to numerous resources and templates available online. Furthermore, this approach promotes a proactive work culture by minimizing the need for manual follow-ups, thus allowing users to focus on more strategic tasks. As we move towards a more connected and automated future, the integration of Google Sheets with email alerts stands out as a testament to the power of leveraging technology to streamline workflows, enhance communication, and ultimately drive success.
https://www.tempmail.us.com/en/google-sheet/automating-email-alerts-from-google-sheets-based-on-specific-dates

I’m not from here and I need some help or advice!
Okay, quick question. A parent that is NOT the custodial parent, has no legal right's to the child, no state legal DNA test or not on the birth certificate can they try to get the other parent for child support?
Back story : I told my son father to sign up for food stamps right! He has 5 kids including my son. Mind you this was beginning of last year. He got approved cause he had no income at the time. I only agreed to help him sign up if he’d just give me a couple dollars in food stamps each month (which he only did one time cause I cussed him out) cause apprecntly according to Colorado I make too much and don’t qualify for assistance. My child mediciad since we been here but it was just recently dropped cause of my job, again I make too much. Over income I suppose. So, I told my child dad like hey I need to you enroll him in Medicaid cause I want him to continue to have dual covergae. I know once a part applies it automatically opens a child support case which is weird. But the Colorado Child Support people ask me was he the custodial parent, I told her no, I am. So im confused on why he put that. What can I do? What am I suppose to do. I’m not from here so idk how Colorado system works.

I’m not from here and I need some help or advice!
Okay, quick question. A parent that is NOT the custodial parent, has no legal right's to the child, no state legal DNA test or not on the birth certificate can they try to get the other parent for child support?
Back story : I told my son father to sign up for food stamps right! He has 5 kids including my son. Mind you this was beginning of last year. He got approved cause he had no income at the time. I only agreed to help him sign up if he’d just give me a couple dollars in food stamps each month (which he only did one time cause I cussed him out) cause apprecntly according to Colorado I make too much and don’t qualify for assistance. My child mediciad since we been here but it was just recently dropped cause of my job, again I make too much. Over income I suppose. So, I told my child dad like hey I need to you enroll him in Medicaid cause I want him to continue to have dual covergae. I know once a part applies it automatically opens a child support case which is weird. But the Colorado Child Support people ask me was he the custodial parent, I told her no, I am. So im confused on why he put that. What can I do? What am I suppose to do. I’m not from here so idk how Colorado system works.

As Google IO is wrapping up today, something I wanted to talk about is how glaringly obvious the different approaches in product announcement that OpenAI and Google take, and how that reflects the quality of their products.
Now to first caveat, Google(Alphabet) as a corporation has many more responsibilities than OpenAI. They have to maintain and provide for all of their billions of users, and that shows in how much time is spent showing minor AI applications in their existing products. There's a lot more pressure on them to succeed, since they're the "800 pound gorilla".
Let's start at the OpenAI event; it's less than 30 minutes long and speaks for itself. They had some gaffs with GPT-4o cutting out, but it didn't matter, because everyone was blown away by the product itself. They had enough confidence to just show off their new product, accompanied by a few videos of employees experimenting with it in different ways.
Now if we head over to the Google IO, they're trying to streamline and plan out everything meticulously, even to the point of having their employee say "look here I was able to cut you off Astra, see that everyone?! We can do what OpenAI can do."
We even have Google's Dollar store Sora, which is generating very little buzz because it's seemingly not as good as Sora (which OpenAI had sitting around for months and just pulled out of nowhere), and also lost any excitement factor because OpenAI yet again, beat Google to the punch.
I think this really just continues to reflect the quote by Satya, that they're making Google dance. Whether or not Google pulls through in the end and comes on top as clearly the leader in the AI space, it's very much clear that OpenAI powered by Microsoft's compute is making them sweat like hell in the current moment.
Edit: There was a lot more I wanted to discuss in this post, but I also forgot to say that I don't have any bias for one company over the other, and they both have made their own respective huge flashes in the AI space. I think Google's announcement of Gemini 1.5 Pro was indeed overshadowed by Sora, even if maybe the 1.5 Pro unlimited context length research was in my opinion a bit more significant as a whole.

Over the past 3 years, I've been touched and inspired by many of the hardship stories & comments people have shared on the GME subs. Often I've found myself in tears or close-to-tears, while I empathically bump my fist at my laptop screen and proclaim solidarity.
When my father passed a few years back, he had little more "wealth" than several thousand in dogshit-catshit mutual funds. They bounced up and down and all around, for a good 20 years. By the time we liquidated them, the paperwork alone, and transfer processes, made it barely worth it (and not really). He was not a financially smart man, but he tried; he tried as best he could with the limited financial knowledge he was able to glean from our "given choices". He also got blindsided by life numerous times, or maybe his choices could have been clearer. But he believed in his investments, because it was what was pushed on him by "smart" advisors/brokers with duplicitous smiles. (Picture the 2 mortgage broker guys in The Big Short) My disgust and contempt for these people -- even the lower levels dealing with the working class peasants -- deepens by the day. Now to the bigger fish...
These people that run the earth... this.... PARASITE CLASS... what a bunch of sick fucks. Out of touch, uncaring, entitled shits; when greed meets narcissism and psychopathy, and presents them with the gift of fiat-ponzi. Most are generational with their lackadaisical dismissal of the peasants: "To the manor born", as Agent Patrick Denham describes in thinly-veiled-disgust, in Wolf of Wall Street. Douchebags descended from douchebags, with no real desire to make the earth a better place, but only to satisfy their own distorted view of Maslow's Hierarchy, and what they may define as Self-Actualization or Transcendence. Hell, I'd be willing to bet most never make it that far, and are stuck somewhere in the "acceptance by others" part.

Dear Parasite Class,

...We're coming. We're coming for your comforts, your money, your homes, your stable & appreciable assets that you will have to publicly auction or surrender to foreclosure (Schitt's Creek, anyone?). We'll be shopping for your office towers on TenX (vertical-farming ape, right here), and car collections that may not see Pebble Beach Concourse in 2025.
Don't fuck with the internet, don't fuck with Reddit, and don't fuck with poor people, because we have nothing left to lose.
“Remember this. The people you're trying to step on, we're everyone you depend on. We're the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you're asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.
We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won't. And we're just learning this fact. So don't fuck with us.”
I want any super-wealthy people reading this (and our alphabet agencies too, cause fuck you for not doing anything for 3 years), to ponder the following sampling. And then I'm going to piss-off back to my own livelihood, and convert the fake fiat to more shares of The Precious....
How would your life be if you:

• Woke up every morning with a sense of DREAD, instead of a sense of JOY. What does it do to a human?
• Didn't know how you would pay your upcoming bills, and had to juggle.
• Had your car's AC die in a place like Houston, Texas, and no money to fix it.
• Prayed every day that your car doesn't generally break down at any given moment.
• Knew that if it does break down, it could cost you your job.
• Saw the car repair bill would strain everything else, including that AC bill.
• Dared to introspect that in the lives of working-class people, even "minor" setbacks cause ripples.
• Actually considered that the CPI and inflation numbers are lies, and lived in constant anxiety.
• Needed to contemplate the uncertainty of being 1 emergency medical issue away from catastrophe.
• Were constantly told that "poor people should invest better", and then getting rug-pulled when you do.
• Watched for years, as your parents "give up on life", and accept mediocrity.
• Had aging parents you knew someday you'd have to take care of, but weren't sure you financially could.
• Were to forecast your own retirement, and knew the math didn't work.

There's more, but now I've got myself all riled-up again.
I'm done ranting for the moment. I'm angry as shit. I would have sold my 1-share $300 buy of 2021 for $1,000 (thanks TDAmeritrade for graying the buy-button and not letting me do it). Now I'm selling until I see people going to prison, bankers jumping from buildings (I wanna see cabbage/Chrisanova the savage), and a complete worldwide exposé of the naked-shorting racket, ALONG WITH the multi-generational, debt-based, fiat ponzi scheme that has been structured for everyone.
Cause Fuck 'em, that's why.

SB 1497 would make oil companies pay into a fund for the trillions of dollars in harms they have caused to California.
It has a hearing on Thursday, May 16 where it can quietly die behind closed doors unless we all make a very big deal of how important it is.
There are two State Senators whose decision will make or break the bill at the hearing:
Senator Anna Caballero: (916) 651-4014
Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire: (916) 651-4002
Call them, and ask them to support SB 1497. If you've never made a call like this, you call the number and you'll either get a person or voicemail. Say:

My name is [] and I live in []. I am calling to urge the Senator to put their full support behind SB 1497. This bill deserves to go to the Senate floor for a vote. Make oil companies pay for the damage they have caused to our state.

It’s a little scattered doing it on my phone. I’ll get home and clean it up. But I want peoples input. I really think this would work and it’s totally realistic. I think CIG needs some guidance and the medical changes offer the perfect moment to add these features in the game.
I have been a developer for years and I can see CIG trying balance what’s realistic and what they promised. Every startup I was with came to a point where they realized their proposals were far too aggressive, and the higher ups would not even listen to ideas unless they were easy to implement.
So, I’ve been trying to come up with ideas that take minimal effort for maximum gains. These are fairly simple, but will add depth or will lay the groundwork for easy future development.
I think this is the perfect topic for my first idea. The medical system is tricky, but so important. Right now, the medical system is boring and doesn’t add much to the game and with a few tweaks it could add 25% more and be a major part imo while feeling more immersive and satisfying both parties. We need to look to other amazing games like Eve online and cyberpunk imo.
The hard-core fans want investment and death to cost. Now that I am older and have a family, I understand how hard it is to balance that in time to play Now that I am older and have a family, I understand how hard it is to balance that and time to play. It’s really hard to get your average gamer to want to invest 30 minutes to simply respawn.
So in my opinion, we need a system that…

1. Makes death inconvenient and costly but with several ways to pay the “bill”, not only costly at that moment so the player decides quitting is easier.
   
2. Makes the game far more immersive and makes the game deeper, not shallower. In real life in the future, in the future, medical would be a vast portion of warfare and finance and exploration and exploitation. Not just a glorified HP counter.
   
3. Makes all medical ships useful and relevant. Cannot have a shallow system where one ship is clearly the best.
   
4. Makes healthcare and biology affect all the other parts of the game…. It is our bodies and minds after all. In the future, the wealthy will modify their bodies, just like their ships.
   
5. Uses a lot of these modules that are currently window dressing, but have amazing application. Things like blood pressure and reflex times and damage reduction and bio scanners and the HUD and incorporates it to a tiered clone system.
   

TLDR is We need a Cyberpunk / Eve style futuristic bio medical system with weapons and implants that completely change a persons capabilities and a jump clone system that reflects this. T5-T1 clones 5 being a throwaway and 1 being a Spartan from Halo. T1 would have the exact HUD we have now with additional systems. T4 and less is like the game in photo mode with nothing. People take for granted how much information you get from the HUD and who would really have access to it?
The beauty of this is while it sounds like a lot and would add 25-50% more careers, economys, gameplay and strategy’s from a gameplay perspective. Its actually not much at all from a development point of view. It would reuse all of the current systems now, and add a few skills like scanning / hacking and weapons like EMP, Darts to humans. Generally, this is how it would work.
T5 clone is a meat bag with a 4 hour life used as a spare tire. It’s the base level. Operated similar to when you’re drunk because The damage from the cryo. You can do stuff, but you are very limited. They can be carried around in 1 SCU containers or special lockers in big ships for dangerous work like reactor repairs etc.
T4 clone is a meatbag the same we are inhabiting right now IRL. Basically this is exactly like you turning off the game hud in photo mode. These cannot be cold stored and reused. No HUD or endgame information input at all outside of your Moby glass watch.
T3 clone is the first of the implants. It can take one implant. Combat might allow thermal vision or the local map and radar and crosshair. Exploration might have the ability to bookmark or see things on your HUD that you scanned from your ship. Conversation might add elements to charisma and talking people into doing things, getting better prices on goods, or hearing rumors about opportunities, etc. Covert allow you to scan people and check their inventory and run checks on who they are, what crimes they have committed, etc.
Basically it’s a stripped down version of the hud that’s active all the time even without helmets. It has to work in tandem with your mobi. You have to select one element.
T2 clone has upgraded reflexes, can run longer, survive more dmg and has the complete HUD suite. It has the bandwidth and upgrades to support 1 implant and 1 physical modification. Everything CIG has been adding can be added to the HUD but you have to switch between exploration, combat, conversation, covert etc. 1 physiological mod or weapon. Like a brain hacking chip that can open ship doors, and emp that shut down all electronics in a 20 m radius for 15 seconds or a drone or fiber optics camera. Then there are all the illegal modifications like hidden blades, Multi launchers with everything from neurotoxin to EMP darts.
T1 clone is very costly and made for combat and for solo explorers who need complete autonomy. 20% more hp, and basically 20% better everything. It has the complete HUD with the ability to Connect to the data stream of two ships in your party. If your buddys ship detect an enemy ship coming in it would pop up in your actual vision as a big red square with information. You would have the ability to zoom without a helmet on and have limited scanning just like your ships function on everything.
It could 2 implants. 1 legal and 1 illegal implant. Emp, Hacker etc
It also has two physical modifications. Blades, darts etc
Also the tier 2 and 1 are the only clones that are not harmed using heavy or power armor. The others are slowly harmed by s by the rapid and jarring servos, etc. so they are all time limited.
Imagine how amazing this would make the universe in general. You would have ripper docs implanting stolen, or military implants. Corpses would now be valuable if they had upgraded organs for implants. People would become targets just for their implants.
If you killed an assassin coming after you, you could take his cool tools.
Sometimes corpses could be worth as much as a ship. You could actually ransom back bodies.
You could have a repo men coming to collect the implants. Organ traders and human traffickers.
But it would also make T1 and 2 ships completely necessary in combat because they were the only ones who could rec clone military units.
Best of all. All of this code is already there. All of the heads up display and all these cool features they’ve been adding Would be the implants themselves.
The game the Way it is it doesn’t make sense that a Moby glass can produce all of this data. It makes the game more immersive as well.
It doesn’t have to be over the top like cyberpunk. But we almost have brain implants now and everything is going wireless, you really think in the future they’re gonna be wearing a wristwatch? Everything will be brain implant and wetware.
With these easy changes, we solve our medical problems and add a ton of depth along with the ability to add as much depth as we want.
All you would need is to create the UI for this, but the game already has a lot of that with its biological scanners. All the balancing could happen by biologically if you’re using implants, etc.
Jump clones would cost a lot of money to make, and healthcare in real life is one of the most expensive things. But just like the hospital doesn’t make you pay your bill the moment you’re out of surgery, we need to spread the cost to a later time.
The time the player needs to respawn is usually after they have already planned and loaded up and executed, but didn’t succeed. This is time where casual players set aside their block of playable hours. (when the kids are asleep and wife is watching something etc) So by making it too costly at that moment, ( 30 minutes to an hour, getting geared up and in ship flying back) your odds are they will just quit, which is not engaging for other players and your odds of a major war or event go down drastically. What’s good for the game and what was so successful in Eve was the fights after the opening.
Instead the front loading all the time investment, Charge 5-25k for the biomaterial. spread the cost of the death to a later time and let them pay off their debt when they log back in.
We also want to make the smaller tier 3 ships necessary while not killing the t1 and 2 beds.

I've posted this last year and some things happened which made me quite proud and I'd like to share how things went. So recap and then update:
So... When I was little, I lived with my mom and stepdad, things were great and we were very happy. Then my mom passed when I was 7y, so I moved with my father and stepmom, things were complicated. Currently, I have no contact with him (he's not a good man nor a good dad), and I live with my aunt (since 2018) and her husband (he came along in 2019).
Me and my aunt had an amazing relationship, she was my favourite aunt and all that. However, things started to go wrong when I started living with her, I made the mistake of answering that yes, I wanted to be treated like her daughter along with her 2 sons (one my age and the other 3 years younger). I had a desperate "need" for a mothefather. She became a kind of "maunt" (mother+aunt), and her husband a "stepdad"... Oh how do I regret this
Well, she has a favourite son, the oldest. He's lazy, arrogant, disrespectful, a typical golden boy who got spoiled his whole life and now he doesn't give a damn about anything other than himself.
For being the other woman in the house, she constantly pushes house chores to me, instead of the boys (subconsciously, i believe), pretty much only asks me about things, where her sons are, if the dogs were fed, if the boys cleaned well whatever room they were supposed to, stuff like that, and she's also constantly very, very rude to me (at the point of her husband arguing with her about it). And I got this whole syndrome of everything being my responsibility and anxiety when it comes to her, which became extremely exhausting over the years.
I came out to her about my bissexuality about 4 years ago, i thought she would take it well. She didn't. She masks her disapproval, but she clearly doesn't like it. I was really let down, I genuinely thought she would be supportive and everything we expect, but she first got confused, then annoyed and has said some very hurtful thing over the years. Currently I have a gf (she's 22 years old), we've been dating for over a year. They don't like each other very much, my gf doesn't like her because of all the things she does to me. And my aunt doesn't care about my gf at all because... well, she a girl.
Ok, that's the context. Now here's what happened.
My aunt send some kind of agressive messages over something silly, and that caused my anxiety on fire for the gazillionth time, only that time I had enough. I called my other aunt (by consideration, she's married to my grandad) and asked for help (she knows everything that goes on), if i could move in with them, she said yes. I then replied my aunt with a text saying i had enough and would move in with my grandad. She got upset and said (among other things) that "i had her blessing to leave, even though i didn't ask for it". She called my grandma (we are very close), and my grandma sent me some awful audios of how disappointed she was, how I made my aunt sad, of what would people think, that i used to be such a sweet girl and now this, of how loving is a choice and i chose not to love my aunt, stuff like that. Aunt and her husband went to dinner with my grandad that night without my presence, and told them we had an amazing relationship, that she didn't knew what happened, that my problem was I couldn't take a "no" for an answer, etc.
Two days later, we sat down to talk, she told me to start, I said all I wanted. She then started saying how that kind of thing should not have been adressed through text (which I agree, but I had to text or I'd freak out), that she was harder on me than the boys because (in another words) the world was rough and she loved me the most.
And then her husband also spoke about how he understands both sides and blablabla, and said that i could go to my grandad, but that they felt like i should understand that i would only go because THEY allowed, if they didn't wanted, i would not go, no matter what my grandparents or aunt (grandad's wife) said. He basically wanted to state their power position.
(Since my mother's death, my whole family on her side feel responsible for me, so i see all of them in the same way. None of them are my mom and dad, they are in the same "level" to me and have the same "right"... Him saying that made me burn inside, like they're entitled to me, I don't belong to them or anyone. They're my aunt and "uncle", that's about it, they think they have something on me that they... Don't)
And then my aunt said that I could go, as long as I told my grandad about my sexuality and girlfriend. Now... He's kind of old fashioned and i'm scared he'll reject me... We have an amazing relationship, I have lunch with them every wednesday, and I'm the closest grandkid he has (the others aren't so invested). So I don't know if I tell him the truth and manage to leave (depending on his reaction) or if I don't risk it and stay in the toxic enviroment i'm in.
UPDATE - 14/05/2024
Hello! So, things got much worse before they got better. Let's give them names so the story telling will be easier, let's call my girlfriend Bea, my aunt Leah, her husband James and my "aunt" (my grandad's wife) Rachel.
I basically swallowed my anger because I couldn't bring mysef to speak to my grandad about my sexuality, my grandparents are the most important people in my life as they've always been there for me and I was terrified to be disliked by him. That was until december.
Early december I was leaving for work and before I left, I tried to "notify" my aunt that Bea would be spending Christmas and New Years with me and my siblings (note: my siblings had been looking forward to her being there, specially my brother and my SIL (Luke and Lyla), they made it a question that she'd go. I have 3 paternal siblings, so there's NO relation between them and my aunt Leah. We'd be staying in a city 3 hours away from mine at my brother and SIL's house, every year we do this). She immediately said "you know I don't like this", I said "yes", she then said "good morning" and I left for college.
The next morning, I was eating before going to work and Leah started talking about it and we started a conversation that developed into a fight. She said things like how dare I "notify" her, how that's not how things work and that it would not happen because THEY (she and James) don't feel confortable with this, how THEY think Luke wouldn't like this because "no one likes to have people over for a week" (he and Lyla were super pumped for Bea to go), how THEY don't know my girlfriend enough (come on, we had been dating for over a year already), how THEY wouldn't like me going with her to a stranger's house (in complete disregard to my point of view, it's my freaking brother, whom they met a couple times btw, not a stranger. But to them, the only meaninful point of view was theirs). She had even called my brother to basically "check my story", like?? She also said that we we're only teenagers (seriously, 22 and 20) , and I said "no, she isn't and neither am I!", she said she didn't say Bea was, I then said "and neither am I", she said I was, because I didn't act like and adult, then I got mad and talked about how I do literally everything around the house, always walk the dogs even when I get home tired at 10PM, even though they got there at 7PM, I help with groceries purchase, pay the water bill, clean the house, do the chores her boys lack to do, and when I'm not home, I'm either at work or college, but when she disagrees about something, she just puts me back in the "teenager box". And in the end, she said that my raising was not like this, this made me laugh in anger inside, she's been with me for 5 years, I'm 20 lol.
So that was it, I left for work and got a text from her, apologizing for being rough, saying that she loved me and wanted it to work, that they wanted to talk to me when I got home. I replied saying the same.
Later that day when we were all home, we gathered in the living room, I was literally against the wall and it intimidated me deeply. James started saying how much they loved me and wanted to see me happy, as they want that for all their children (aunt Leah has 2 boys, my cousins, and James has 3 girls). I then talked and expressed how I was feeling, then Leah started talking and basically said in a nicer tone the same things she said earlier, plus how they want me to be happy and want things to work for me, but they think it's too soon, they believe it's not the right time, they they, and therefore, despite being against what they want, I could take Bea, but only in ONE of the two holidays, which I could choose. I was in a bit of a shock (you see, me and Bea had bought the bus tickets a while earlier), had no support, against the wall, I was feeling purely defeated and tired, I only said "Christmas then...", she then said we would sleep in separate rooms and would not go on the 22th after work because "she had already allowed an extra night by allowing her to stay there until the 25th". I stayed in silence, they asked if there was anything I'd like to add, I said no. It wasn't a conversation, in no moment did they actually listened and considered me, they had their minds set way before we sat to talk. I went to my room and rolled all night in pure anxiety. This was thursday
Friday I was a wreck and went to Bea's house to check on her (she was sick that week) and to talk to her about what happened. She noticed something was off, I told her, she got mad and sad, we cried, etc. I went home feeling awful, my anxiety had been 100% all day long and I was in a really bad place and feeling deeply frustrated.
Saturday I woke up worse and decided that I had enough and was not having that anymore. I went outside and called grandad, talked about how I wasn't feeling well and asked what did he think about me leaving home, he said that their doors were always open and that I could just tell my aunt that "I was going to live with my grandad and that was it". I reframed the question asking what he though about me leaving to live alone, he then got worried and said that he didn't think that was necessary, that I had them and didn't need to do that. He then asked me to come over and talk to him and aunt Rachel. I accepted and told aunt Leah I'd sleep at grandad's.
I got there and ate a bit because I didn't want them extra worried, although I felt like throwing up at every bite. Everyone went to sleep and so did I. I woke up a bit later feeling worst, that's when I started to throw up, there was barely anything in my stomach and all I could do was throw up.
The next morning I was better and had already told aunt Rachel about what had happened, she found it absurd how things went (she had met Bea a while back and they clicked very well) and was upset about the things aunt Leah said. I decided to talk to grandad, I couldn't disappear with the subject again, specially now that he was worried sick about me.
So... I sat on the couch and told him what was happening, explained everything, told him that I'm like his stepson's MIL (she's married to a woman. It was the easiest way I found to introduce the topic), told him everything. He asked what I wanted him to do about it, I said that I just wanted him to still love me the same and remain normal with me, that I am still the same person and have always been this way, he just didn't knew about it, but that it changes nothing about me. Aunt Rachel then joined us and asked what he was thinking about it (she knows everything and is amazing to me), he said he wasn't pleased, but that it was my life and he had no say in it and that I should do what's right for me, said that if I wasn't gonna change, then neither would he. But basically, he got much more worried about my mental health than my sexuality, he said that the doors were still open and always would be for me, that he thought I needed a home and thinks they can offer me that. Aunt Rachel said that they wouldn't be obsessive after me, demanding to know every step I take and bossing everything like Leah did, that I have my graduation, I work, make my own money, am responsible, have my own life and am not a child, I'm a 20 year old adult and they would treat me as such.
So that was it. I went back "home" muchhh more confident and waited until nightfall because everyone was having a good time and I didn't want to spoil that. I realized aunt Leah and James were awake and went to talk to them, and that, my friends, is when hell went loose.
I started by saying I talked to my grandad about Bea and my sexuality, Leah asked how it went and I said it was great. Then I said they could talk to him (since they wanted to "decide" with him about my going), she said ok and asked when I wanted to go, I said that it could be in the same week since I was on vacation from college, she frowned, stood firmly and said "you know this won't change our decision about the holidays, right?" then it went boom, I said I didn't agree with them and that it wasn't right for them to dictate about such things. Told them their values and beliefs don't have to be mine, Leah asked "WHY NOT?", then I replied "because I have my own!".
Told them they were controlling and that made their kids lie to them, that since they liked to compare raisings (they criticized Bea's mom's raising because she gives her kids freedom to live their lives and fully trusts), then fine, I went on to say how Bea and her mom have an amazing relationship, full of love and trust, how Bea turned up great, works hard, just made it to psicology at university, helps immensely at home, and so has her sister. As for theirs? They raised their kids poorly, they are overbearing and that makes their kids not trusting them and lying a lot because of this necessity of them to control everything. I stated that the raising they gave their children was not my own, that I had multiple raisings and that no, they didn't "raise" me, I'm 20 and they've been with me for 5 years. Said that was clear, just look at the difference between me and her boys (I won't delve into this bit because it's not relevant, but the difference is nitid).
They said I couldn't take a no for an answer and that was my dad's fault, I said they didn't know what they were talking about, I know how it actually went whilst they made a story in their heads and believe it's the truth, since I knew how my dad used to tell my family one thing and do another.
They (again) said they wouldn't treat me like an adult because I did nothing to behave like one, I said that they didn't treat me as I deserved and they would always put me in the "teenager box" whenever I acted differently to what they thought was right (but I was adult enough to lend James almost 1k without Leah's knoledge lol).
She obviously tried to blame Bea, saying she was putting things in my head and that the last conversation was fine and now I was throwing a fit, I said that I said nothing else then because I felt cornered and realized it wasn't a conversation, it was them simulating one only to tell me what they were going to all along.
I told them they didn't know Bea because they didn't want to and I wasn't confortable bringing her as it was an enviroment unwelcoming to her, she then asked if i would go another year like this until I "felt confortable", I said yes, if that's what it took, that I didn't really need to introduce anyone if I didn't felt comfortable to it.
She once demanded to go meet Bea, after throwing a fit at my BIRTHDAY because Bea planned a day for me and my MIL wanted to make me lunch and they weren't invited, it was super uncomfortable. My aunt described this day as uncomfortable, in this argument I said "and about that day you guys met Bea and her mom? It was uncomfortable? OF COURSE it was, I TOLD you it would be! I told you that was barging in and no one wanted it!". Which Leah said that no, that wasn't the uncomfortable part, the uncomfortable was how Bea was "daring her, being all over me and kissing me in front of her, that she had to be respected!".... Lol, the being "all over me" was me shaking from the anxiety and Bea holding me to keep me in my feet, the "kissing" was ONE greeting kiss. And Bea did nothing "daring" towards Leah, believe me, if she had, aunt Leah would definitely know lol.
At the end, they asked if I was taking Bea, I said, yes, Leah said no, since she called my brother and told him how "things would go down" (amazes me everytime I remember this, she wanted to dictate how the holidays would go IN SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE). Lol, my brother was just texting me saying how Bea could go spend the whole holiday and we'd just say she left after Christmas. So it wasn't a very good argument on Leah's end. I said it was my business and I was sorry, but it was MY brother, MY family, MY relationship, MY life, and it wasn't up for them to dictate on it, they shouldn't feel comfortable or uncomfortable since it had NOTHING to do with them, and that my family who mattered in this were not only comfortable but very excited for Bea's presence.
I told them I knew I wasn't wrong since grandad and aunt Rachel agreed with me, so they could go ahead and talk to them if they wanted to. They ended up showing me their tumb and I left for my room.
Aunt Leah left to grandad's house in like, 5 minutes, cried to him and all. She got back, went in my room and in an ironic tone, said "sorry, I know I'm not your mother, stay with your raisings, I'm just glad and relieved my father wasn't as ok as you thought (her saying this seriously hurt me), he accepted for reasons ans beliefs he has, so go ahead and pack your bags this week, you're free to go. Sorry for the flaws, I was trying to get it right, be careful when you take that sticker off, don't ruin the painting." aaand she left.
The next day, grandad came and we took 90% of my stuff and I started officially living with him and aunt Rachel. Christmas was a bit awkward (my maternal family does this early Christmas so everyone's free on the 24th), but I was glooming feeling like the weight of the world had left my shoulders.
So... I went with Bea to spend the holidays with my family, my siblings, my SIL's parents and even my 1 year old nephew absolutely adored Bea, they now ask about her even before asking about me lol. My paternal grandmother loved her and was amazing, told my aunt (her daughter) that Bea was adorable and loving. It was amazing and I cannot imagine 2023 Christmas and New Year without Bea with us, she added sooo much.
Recently we've been to Luke's and Lyla's at Easter and made Easter eggs together, watched movies, went out, went to a family gathering where Bea, my uncles, cousins and grandmother (who was really happy to see her since Bea couldn't go to her birthday because she had to work) all got along really well.
We see each other frequently, living with grandad and aunt Rachel has been amazing, I'm finally gaining weight! MANY people have noticed it and it quite frankly scared me a bit, I had no idea it was so evident. But yeah, I'm doing great!
Grandad isn't ready to deal with this, so we don't talk about it. He doesn't like it and doesn't really understands, but he's doesn't meddle. Grandma (maternal) texted these days wanting to meet Bea (finally!), since she found out through aunt Rachel that me and Bea are still together and going strong for 1 year and a half already. I think she took it seriously now.
Anyway, it was hell, lol. But things turned out alright! Thank you for the people who commented in my first post, it was nice reading the comments and taking the options into consideration!

I (28F) always imagined that I would own a home. I grew up working in my mom's garden and raised dogs, goats, and chickens, and that was the life I envisioned for adult me too. Nothing crazy, but a modest home with 1-2 acres of land where I could raise a child of my own.
Cut to present, and I rely on public transit due to a visual impairment, make around 60k a year after grad school, and am getting by with three roommates in a mid-sized city. I'm transitioning into a studio in July because having roommates has been taxing, but even a studio under 500 square feet will eat up at least 1/3 of my income where I live.
It's hard for me not to imagine how much better my life would be if I had someone to split the load with - someone who could drive so I could live a little further out of this overpriced city, someone to help save up for a home or provide a bit of help when an unexpected medical bill came up. And while I've accepted that I'm going to parent on my own once I hit 30k in savings, the idea of having no one to parent with me makes me feel incredibly sad, especially the thought of handling a pregnancy and newborn alone.
I've given up on the dream that I could ever afford a home and started traveling instead. I love to travel, but sometimes it feels like a consolation prize. How do you find joy in going it alone, especially if you're someone without a ton of resources?

Hi Reddit,
I'm in need of some advice regarding my current marital situation and the potential sale of our home. To give you the full picture, I'll start from the beginning. Apologies for the length, but I feel all the details are necessary to understand the context.
I (29F) met my husband (40M) on Tinder four years ago. We dated for about eight months when my family had an opportunity to purchase a property. My then-boyfriend was also looking to be involved in a business deal of that sort, and he was interested in having his name on the property as well. My father supported this, seeing as how my boyfriend was a physician with a good income, and saw this as a way to bring him closer to our family. The opportunity came quickly, and we all signed the contract to purchase the house.
Trouble began shortly after this. My boyfriend requested that only he and I be on the title of the house, removing the rest of my family, as he saw a future with us and envisioned it as our potential family home. My father was very pleased to hear this and supported it, so we obliged. During this time, the property had increased in value, and I requested the other family members be paid off so we could buy out their shares. My boyfriend declined, feeling it was unfair.
To skim over some details, here are the highlights of the construction: My boyfriend paid more for the down payment than we initially realized would be required. Because of this, he paid no further construction costs. The construction proceeded with debt from my family until the construction loans came through. My family paid for the construction, and my father built the house for us without charging for his management services. My father was displeased with my boyfriend’s behavior and required him to pay more money for the construction due to inflation and the COVID shutdown. My boyfriend declined, and my mother and I secretly took out a line of credit to front the construction costs to my father, pretending it was from my boyfriend. Eventually, as we got the construction loans on a rolling basis after meeting construction milestones, my mother’s line of credit was paid off.
During this time, my family and I wondered why my boyfriend had not proposed. I decided that if he hadn't proposed by a certain time, I would leave him. Fortunately, he did propose on Valentine’s Day 2022. By spring of 2022, construction was coming to an end, and it was time for us to settle into the house. My fiancé felt uncomfortable with how much money he had put into the house and was worried I could leave him and make a profit. I promised him I wouldn’t leave him, but it wasn’t enough. He said he would believe me if I had a child with him, otherwise women would leave men if there were no ties. I told him I would have a child with him right when we got married. He suggested I come off birth control, as it takes months for a woman’s cycle to normalize after being on birth control for many years. I promised him I would come off birth control.
Coming off birth control was more stressful than I realized. I was very hormonal, breaking out, and felt unlike myself. This contributed to my fiancé and I fighting more than usual. In one particularly heated fight, I told him I would go back on birth control and even purchased the pills, but he told me he would break up with me if I did because he wanted to get to know the real me. I conceded, and then something switched in me and I became excited at the possibility of having a baby. I started tracking my cycle and figuring out my ovulation days. I shared this with my fiancé, and on one of those days, we got pregnant. I didn’t find out until the end of summer 2022. When I did find out, I told my fiancé and suggested we should probably get married.
My fiancé's first response was that we should wait to see if the baby sticks, and if it does, then we can plan a marriage but he wanted to wait until February 2023. I was very disappointed and angry and yelled at him. I felt alone and overwhelmed by the thought of having an illegitimate child. After discussing potentially getting an abortion, potentially breaking up, and potentially selling the house, I talked my fiancé into keeping the baby and getting married. He also wanted to keep the baby but was afraid of our situation. After many fights about when to have the wedding, we finally decided on December 2022. At that point, I was four months pregnant. During this time, my fiancé and I had major arguments that therapy couldn’t even remedy. We would yell at each other, slam doors, I would cry, and he would hold himself up in a room for hours. We had nice moments too, but they were heavily clouded over by the bad.
Finally, we got married, and things were good for a while. But then we faced some marital problems. My husband kept separate accounts and managed the finances himself. We had a joint credit card where I could pay for expenses without being questioned. He made all of the major investment decisions and major purchases. If I tried to disagree or speak up, he would get upset because this was not the submissive wife I had promised him I would be. I made significantly less money than him but lived a good lifestyle, buying almost anything I wanted within reason. Coming from a traditional family, I was upset that finances were kept separate. And so it continued that my husband would invest tens of thousands of dollars into our house so that his family from out of town would visit. We live in Vancouver, Canada, but his family is from Ottawa. In hopes of luring his youngest sister (of four) to Vancouver, my husband would make any modification to the house that his youngest sister showed the slightest interest in. This included a hot tub on the rooftop, a media system in the basement, a movie projector, and much more. After said sister got married, she made it clear that she would not move to Vancouver. Then a switch happened in my husband, and he suddenly wanted to sell the house.
Meanwhile, during all this time, I had my baby, and my husband and I were still fighting more than ever. I felt no support from him, and he felt drained by his work, our fights, and being away from his family. Recently, for the past three months, he has been consistently pushing for the sale of our house. This is where my dilemma lies. I am afraid to sell this house because my husband has kept finances separate, and the mortgage on this house has been serving as a way for me to feel secure. My husband contributes a monthly amount on a regular basis. He could have forced a sale in the past but didn’t, instead paying into the monthly mortgage on top of other bills. Now, he is considering forcing the sale of our house, but I am upset that he is citing financing as the issue when I have been begging him to save money instead of spending (his response is that $200,000 does not affect a $2M mortgage, and that he now feels burnt out and wants to retire sooner and live passively). If I agree to sell, I feel unstable about moving from our home given that my husband and I fight so frequently, and I am left alone to take care of the child. It is also worth noting that my parents live right across the street and come over frequently to help with the child, or I would go over to seek their help. My husband says that he feels abandoned and uncomfortable frequently because of our proximity to my parents, but I am because there have been times when I felt truly alone, and my parents were my only solace and support. My husband would ignore me for days, especially when I was postpartum and vulnerable. My parents now see my husband as someone who doesn’t put his wife and child first. My husband says that the massive mortgage we have is too stressful for him, and he can’t take that burden. I am sad that my husband will not consider keeping this house for another three years so that I can get comfortable with the idea of selling the house and that potentially I and my family can all move to Ottawa so that we can allow my husband to be closer to his family.
I don’t know what to do at this point, Reddit. I’m currently on extended maternity leave, but it ends in six months. My husband and I will have to come to an agreement about the house, otherwise, it is likely that he will force the sale of the house even if I’m not ready to move. I’ve consistently felt rushed and overlooked in this relationship. I am tired of being the small voice that does not impact decision-making. My husband is now being nice to me and trying to show me a good time, but I see it as him turning on his charming mode so that I can say yes to the sale of this house. I’m not sure what to do. Our fights and disagreements are so bad and the marriage feels like doom sometimes (never any physical violence). I sometimes questions even staying with him, but I worry for my daughter. He is a good father to her, when he is present and off his phone.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
TL;DR:
I need advice. I met my husband four years ago, and we bought a house together with my family's help. Financial disputes caused issues. Despite getting married and having a baby, we fight often. My husband handles our finances separately, spent a lot on the house, but now wants to sell it. I feel insecure about selling because the mortgage is like an investment to me, and also I rely on my parents, who live nearby, for help with our child. My husband feels stressed by the mortgage and feels homesick for his family 3000km away. I feel overlooked in decision-making and am unsure whether to agree to the sale, or to stand my ground and not sell. Sometimes I question staying in the marriage for my daughter’s sake, or is it better give up on this unhappy marriage.

Sorry for this huge rant posting, but I want to explain my situation in case someone out there can relate and feel comforted by this knowing they’re not alone. I live in Ontario, Canada. I am 20 years old, living with my mother at home and getting help from my father to buy groceries and necessities. (My mom never buys groceries or any kind of at home necessity for me). I had a job for 10 months last year that I got fired from unfairly in October. I felt incredibly lost and suicidal when I did lose it, relapsing into self-harm the second I got home because I knew I’d have to go through this entire process again. I am under so much stress trying to find a job. I used to be out everyday, handing out resumes, but I began to see that that was a useless approach, and some employers were even hostile towards me and insulting me on the way out. The words “We don’t take paper resumes, go apply online” are permanently fried in my brain now. I’ve applied to every possible place, position, posting I see online. I’m working with 2 employment placement advisors and barely even get sent one posting a week despite me emailing every day. I’ve had 2 interviews in the 7 months I’ve been searching. Still nothing. I’m on a 2 year contract with my phone bill that i’m a year into. I have it paid off until August, but if I have no income before then and don’t pay that bill, it will ruin my credit score and take a toll on my life. I also don’t want to live with my mom forever obviously, I have an amazing boyfriend I want to work towards living with one day, but I already feel so behind because I’m 20 and unemployed, struggling with my mental health with no kind of support. My mother semi-understands the job market today, yet still gets angry and resentful towards me living with her. She works 2 jobs and she is under alot of stress too. But she is always guilt tripping me for still living here. Every conversation we have, she somehow always manages to slip in “I’m supporting my grown ass child at home while I can barely afford all of my bills.” I feel fucking horrible everyday, I’m in this horrible loop that I can’t escape. No matter how much I try to help out around the house by doing every chore, using the couple hundred dollars I have left towards buying necessities like laundry soap and toilet paper for the house, it’s never recognized with my mother and she goes back to hating and resenting me for living here. My father is the only reason I’m not starving or having to steal food so I’m grateful for him, but he has that “Go in with your resume and make a good impression on the manager” approach when it comes to finding jobs. He forced me into different, random, busy restaurants to try to put my resume in, that just got me told the same thing with snarky attitude from the employees; “Go apply online.” I hope that someone else out there can relate to this because I’m going a little crazy trying not to slip back into my self destructive habits over this.

Hello! Hoping to get some other perspectives on what to do. I have an idea of what I want to do already, however thought I would save that and just see what other people think about my situation.
I still owe $1,695 on my car that has 224,000 miles on it. I imagine the trade in value would be maybe $400 at this point, it has a LOT wrong with it. I take good care of it, things just stopped working due to it being so old. It runs but needs thousands of dollars of work done.
So now i’m in a tough spot. I don’t have the kind of income where i can just pay off what i owe quickly in order to sell/trade in. I also can’t afford the two main repairs it needs which are about $1,500 each. Quite frankly, i don’t want to put several grand into this thing. It is totally uncertain how long this car will last. It runs fine, doesn’t overheat and i maintain it well otherwise, but there’s always that looming inevitable possibility of something major happening at this mileage with some repairs needed.
Specific repairs are unimportant details, my question is, you have a car that you owe $1,695 on, thousands of dollars in repairs needed, you can’t just pay off your loan and sell it or trade in because you don’t have the money (you have to keep making payments) you need a new car asap, what do you do?

[I shared this in girls and gays but wanted to share here as well for those of you not in that sub]
With Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rap feud raging over the last month, I got curious about what their natal charts say about each of them as rappers, and how the astrological synastry between the two has fueled this chart-topping fight. Luckily we have an accurate birth time for both Drake and Kendrick, so we can see exactly how their charts overlap.
Here’s Drake’s chart:
And here’s Kendrick’s chart:
Inconjunct Suns
Kendrick has a Gemini sun, like many of hip hop’s greatest rappers, including Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Lauryn Hill and Outkast’s Andre 3000. Geminis are well-suited to rap as the wordsmiths of the zodiac, one of the two signs ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication. Virgo, the other sign ruled by Mercury, expresses the analytical, practical, pragmatic side of the mind, the so-called “left brain” which sorts the wheat from the chaff (and, fittingly, Virgo season aligns with the harvest season of late summer).
Gemini expresses the more playful, self-expressive, hyper-curious “right brain” side of the mind - the monkey mind that swings from branch to branch, seeing connections as it goes. “Curious to a fault, Geminis have a finger in every pie. Solar Geminis are flexible and changeable people. Usually quite clever and witty, Geminis enjoy intellectual conversations and they are easily bored if they are not getting enough mental stimulation.”
Drake is a Scorpio sun, bringing a very different energy to the table. Scorpios seek power above all, and they live life intensely. If Gemini is the court jester, taking life lightly and poking fun at it all, Scorpio is the dark knight plotting and positioning himself for a coup. As one of the two signs ruled by Mars, the planet of war and competition, Scorpios don’t back down from competition, and as a fixed modality sign, they can struggle to let go–even of what hurts them. Scorpios are drawn to the darker sides of life - they know that secrets hold power, so they tend toward privacy, as shown in Drake’s last rap beef, when Pusha T revealed that he had secretly fathered a son with a porn star.
Gemini and Scorpio have a tricky inter-dynamic, with an aspect between them known as a quincunx, or an inconjunct. Quincunxes occur when planets are 150 degrees apart, and therefore share neither an element (water, fire, earth, or air) nor a modality (cardinal, fixed, or mutable). They are at odds in a very fundamental way, and though they can teach each other a lot, in order to get along they will have to make some serious adjustments.
“When these signs get together, they just can’t understand each other. They have almost nothing in common, so it’s hard to find common ground. When a quincunx shows up in a synastry or relationship reading, this can make for a tense or difficult relationship.” This natural repelling dynamic is expressed in Kendrick’s diss song Euphoria (“I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk/I hate the way that you dress/I hate the way you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it's gon' be direct”).
Drake’s ascendant is placed at 29 degrees Leo, exactly conjunct the royal fixed star Regulus. Regulus is one of the luckiest stars in the zodiac, and it is often seen in the charts of celebrities. “On the Ascendant, it will give a courageous and frank character. A splendid and illustrious life; glorious, mighty and commanding nature; fame, busy with many activities, bountiful resources, well known or feared in cities and regions.” But with Regulus on the ascendant, expanding the already narcissistic tendencies of Leo, there is a risk for an over-expansion of the ego and a lack of humility. Drake wants to be the best by all accounts - not just the biggest commercial superstar, which he is, but also the most critically acclaimed rapper, like Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick.
Mercury and Mars vs. Mercury and Venus
When it comes to analyzing writers of any sort, I like to look at their Mercuries, and here we see a fascinating contrast. Kendrick’s Mercury is located in intuitive, emotional Cancer (just like Lana del Rey, who I analyzed last week), and it is conjoined with Mars, the planet of war, which is what makes him such a formidable opponent in a rap battle. “Mercury conjunct Mars natal gives a quick mind, rapid reflexes, and a sharp tongue. These attributes are ideal for making quick decisions in the heat of the moment while others hesitate. Excellent debating skills allow you to stand up not only for yourself but for the rights of others. Your enthusiastic, direct and courageous way of expressing yourself can win admiration in politics, business, and the military.”
I think Mercury in combination with Mars is the ideal aspect for the competitive sport of rap, and interestingly enough, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., who famously feuded and are considered by many to be the all-time greatest rappers, both had these planets tightly combined (Tupac had Mercury trine Mars with a 1 degree orb, and Biggie had Mercury septile Mars with a 0 degree orb).
Drake, by contrast, has his Mercury conjoined with Mars’ planetary opposite, Venus. Mercury conjoined with creative Venus is a great aspect for a musician, but it lacks the teeth of competitive Mars. “Mercury conjunct Venus natal makes you a lovable, handsome, neat, refined, romantic, and courteous person. You may tend to be passive and submissive, but this is a means by which you achieve peace in your life. You can lovingly communicate things; a melodic, poetic, and relaxing voice often helps this. Mercury rules trade, and Venus rules money, so you could do well in business and enjoy buying and selling.”
Many of Drake’s biggest hits show this melodic Mercury-Venus aspect - like the no-rapping, all-singing “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” “Hotline Bling” and “One Dance,” or the purported feminist anthem “Nice for What.” Many think Drake is best as a pop star rather than a rapper, which Kendrick references in Euphoria (“I like Drake with the melodies, I don't like Drake when he act tough” “Keep makin' me dance, wavin' my hand and it won't be no threat”).
Mercury conjunct Venus should be a very positive aspect for Drake, and in many ways it is – as two of the planets that rule over money (Mercury the marketplace, and Venus the possessions), this aspect is part of why he’s had such incredible financial success. However, a few factors complicate it. For one thing, they are located together in Scorpio, ruled by Mars. His Mercury is expressed in a Venusian way, but it wants to be expressed in a Martian way. I think this is why Drake returns regularly to gangster rap despite his success in pop and R&B. He wants to be a Mercury-Mars rap powerhouse like Kendrick, Biggie, and Tupac, but he’s fundamentally different. From the beginning of his career he’s been taunted as soft, weak, feminine, privileged–all very Venusian adjectives.
Another complicating factor is that Drake’s Venus is doubly challenged - it is both in detriment in Scorpio, as well as retrograde. Venus is in detriment in Scorpio because it rules over Scorpio’s opposite, Taurus, and so the planet is not at ease in suspicious, jealous Scorpio. “Fears of being too vulnerable or of giving up their own power to others is strong. Scorpio is an “all or nothing” energy, and relationships tend to be somewhat of a rollercoaster ride as a result. Disdain for mediocrity and superficiality can compel them to create crises in order to feel alive and vital.”
Venus retrograde in the natal chart “suggests you have some difficulty in giving and receiving love and affection. You may experience sadness in love or have to endure hardship or delay. Natal Venus in retrograde can also show as excessive use of makeup and jewelry or even disfigurement from cosmetic surgery.” It’s interesting how some of the allegations against Drake in Kendrick’s songs have included a nose job and a Brazilian butt lift. After Drake told Metro Boomin to “shut up and make some drums” in his initial Kendrick diss Push Ups, the producer responded with “BBL Drizzy.”
Drake has never been married or had a public long-term relationship. His highest profile one with Rihanna was on-again, off-again, and at times seemed more like unrequited love than true commitment. When interviewed about the relationship, he said “As life takes shape and teaches you#Personal_life) your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time.” Two years ago Drake had jeweler Alex Moss create a necklace worth $12.5 million dollars built from dozens of engagement rings he had made but never used: ““New piece titled ‘Previous Engagements’ for all the times he thought about it but never did it,” Moss wrote over a video showcasing the stunning necklace, which is made up of “42 engagement rings” totaling “351.38 carats in diamonds.”” It’s quite the testament to a challenged natal Venus.
Lilith Synastry
Here is Drake and Kendrick’s synastry (Drake is on the outer circle):
The most interesting thing I found digging into Drake and Kendrick’s charts was the presence of Lilith in their synastry. Lilith is an asteroid associated with the “angry woman” figure as well as female liberation. In some Jewish folklore Lilith was the first wife of Adam, but she was banished from the Garden of Eden for not obeying him and replaced with Eve.
“In the intricacies of a birth chart, Black Moon Lilith symbolizes the raw essence of femininity, the primal urges, and the suppressed parts of our psyche that lie in the shadows. This point, not a planet but a mathematical point, reveals where one might feel estranged, challenged, or empowered to go against the grain of societal norms. It unveils deep-seated desires, innate instincts, and perhaps the areas where one feels the need to challenge established roles or expectations. It's a place of power, mystique, and, occasionally, friction – pinpointing where one's true nature might clash with the conventional, leading to feelings of marginalization or rebellion.”
The allegations Drake and Kendrick threw at each other both had to do with mistreatment of women - Drake said that Kendrick abused his fiancée, and Kendrick said Drake was a pedophile who shouldn’t be trusted around young women.
Both Drake and Kendrick’s Liliths make tight aspects with the other’s chart. “Whenever Lilith is around, you can expect to feel a wild, intense, deep, and sometimes obsessive energy. If you have Lilith aspects in synastry then this energy will show up in your relationship. Whenever your Lilith touches one of your partner’s planets or vice-versa, you can expect to see your deepest fears revealed. You might also see glimpses of things you desire but can’t have. Ultimately, Lilith aspects in synastry give both partners a chance to work on their shadow sides.”
Kendrick’s sun exactly conjoins Drake’s Lilith at 26 degrees Gemini. “Often, the sun person [Kendrick] represents all that the Lilith person [Drake] wants but can never quite “catch.” There is an illusive vibe to this relationship. The Lilith person may feel somewhat less-than or “bad.” Lilith conjunct sun in synastry is a test for the Lilith person because their most taboo qualities such as obsession and anger will be activated, but it’s also a test for the sun person. The lesson is for the sun individual to stand their ground and follow their inner voice. Lilith is neither good nor bad, and the sun person can share in some of the Lilith partner’s activities without merging.”
This resonates with the fact that despite Drake’s huge commercial success, he is deeply jealous of Kendrick’s critical success. In Family Matters Drake took a jab at Kendrick’s acclaim (“Kendrick just opened his mouth, someone go hand him a Grammy right now”), and the beef between them played out similarly, with many rap fans deciding that Kendrick won before even listening to Drake. I think it’s obvious that Kendrick is a stronger rapper, but it’s also clear that Drake wasn’t given a fair shake.
Drake’s Lilith makes a tight trine to Kendrick’s Mercury. “Both the Lilith person and the Mercury person help each other to bring unhealed deeper wounds and unconscious emotion to the surface and articulate deeper, wild instincts. Mercury person [Kendrick] helps Lilith person [Drake] make sense of their inner restlessness and insecurities, sexual passions and unresolved rage. Mercury person may find Lilith person to be highly emotional but is also intrigued by Lilith person’s edgy and unique perspective.” It’s remarkable that both of their Liliths are interlocked with each other’s inner planets, creating a push-pull, love-hate, shadow-enlightening dynamic between the two.
I think the obsession goes both ways, and that part of the reason Kendrick fought back so viciously was because Drake triggers something in him shown through the Lilith synastry. Drake shows Kendrick what he could be–a charismatic playboy enjoying his fame and money to the fullest. And in engaging with the feud he stooped to a lower level, making unsupported claims about Drake’s supposed secret daughter, and writing a rap song (Meet the Grahams) addressed to Drake’s 5 year old son opening with “Dear Adonis, I’m sorry that man is your father.” All is fair in rap battles–or is it? Questlove called it out, saying on Instagram: “Nobody won the war. This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary — women & children (& actual facts) be damned.”
Kendrick’s latest diss track Not Like Us has just debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 100, and it’s clear this battle has propelled him to another level of stardom. Drake’s Regulus ascendant arrogance and Scorpionic desire to fight to the death drove him to attack the strongest living rapper, and now he’s dealing with the fallout. Kendrick’s streams of his back catalog are up 50%, while Drake’s are down 5% and his reputation has taken a massive knock. But Kendrick has taken a hit as well. Having rap’s two biggest stars accusing each other of heinous crimes might drive up streams in the short run, but it’s a dangerous game. Astrology helps us understand why these two polar opposites are so intertwined, and why their mutual dislike has spurred on such a captivating firestorm.

[I shared this in girls and gays but wanted to share here as well for those of you not in that sub]
With Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rap feud raging over the last month, I got curious about what their natal charts say about each of them as rappers, and how the astrological synastry between the two has fueled this chart-topping fight. Luckily we have an accurate birth time for both Drake and Kendrick, so we can see exactly how their charts overlap.
Here’s Drake’s chart:
And here’s Kendrick’s chart:
Inconjunct Suns
Kendrick has a Gemini sun, like many of hip hop’s greatest rappers, including Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Lauryn Hill and Outkast’s Andre 3000. Geminis are well-suited to rap as the wordsmiths of the zodiac, one of the two signs ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication. Virgo, the other sign ruled by Mercury, expresses the analytical, practical, pragmatic side of the mind, the so-called “left brain” which sorts the wheat from the chaff (and, fittingly, Virgo season aligns with the harvest season of late summer).
Gemini expresses the more playful, self-expressive, hyper-curious “right brain” side of the mind - the monkey mind that swings from branch to branch, seeing connections as it goes. “Curious to a fault, Geminis have a finger in every pie. Solar Geminis are flexible and changeable people. Usually quite clever and witty, Geminis enjoy intellectual conversations and they are easily bored if they are not getting enough mental stimulation.”
Drake is a Scorpio sun, bringing a very different energy to the table. Scorpios seek power above all, and they live life intensely. If Gemini is the court jester, taking life lightly and poking fun at it all, Scorpio is the dark knight plotting and positioning himself for a coup. As one of the two signs ruled by Mars, the planet of war and competition, Scorpios don’t back down from competition, and as a fixed modality sign, they can struggle to let go–even of what hurts them. Scorpios are drawn to the darker sides of life - they know that secrets hold power, so they tend toward privacy, as shown in Drake’s last rap beef, when Pusha T revealed that he had secretly fathered a son with a porn star.
Gemini and Scorpio have a tricky inter-dynamic, with an aspect between them known as a quincunx, or an inconjunct. Quincunxes occur when planets are 150 degrees apart, and therefore share neither an element (water, fire, earth, or air) nor a modality (cardinal, fixed, or mutable). They are at odds in a very fundamental way, and though they can teach each other a lot, in order to get along they will have to make some serious adjustments.
“When these signs get together, they just can’t understand each other. They have almost nothing in common, so it’s hard to find common ground. When a quincunx shows up in a synastry or relationship reading, this can make for a tense or difficult relationship.” This natural repelling dynamic is expressed in Kendrick’s diss song Euphoria (“I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk/I hate the way that you dress/I hate the way you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it's gon' be direct”).
Drake’s ascendant is placed at 29 degrees Leo, exactly conjunct the royal fixed star Regulus. Regulus is one of the luckiest stars in the zodiac, and it is often seen in the charts of celebrities. “On the Ascendant, it will give a courageous and frank character. A splendid and illustrious life; glorious, mighty and commanding nature; fame, busy with many activities, bountiful resources, well known or feared in cities and regions.” But with Regulus on the ascendant, expanding the already narcissistic tendencies of Leo, there is a risk for an over-expansion of the ego and a lack of humility. Drake wants to be the best by all accounts - not just the biggest commercial superstar, which he is, but also the most critically acclaimed rapper, like Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick.
Mercury and Mars vs. Mercury and Venus
When it comes to analyzing writers of any sort, I like to look at their Mercuries, and here we see a fascinating contrast. Kendrick’s Mercury is located in intuitive, emotional Cancer (just like Lana del Rey, who I analyzed last week), and it is conjoined with Mars, the planet of war, which is what makes him such a formidable opponent in a rap battle. “Mercury conjunct Mars natal gives a quick mind, rapid reflexes, and a sharp tongue. These attributes are ideal for making quick decisions in the heat of the moment while others hesitate. Excellent debating skills allow you to stand up not only for yourself but for the rights of others. Your enthusiastic, direct and courageous way of expressing yourself can win admiration in politics, business, and the military.”
I think Mercury in combination with Mars is the ideal aspect for the competitive sport of rap, and interestingly enough, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., who famously feuded and are considered by many to be the all-time greatest rappers, both had these planets tightly combined (Tupac had Mercury trine Mars with a 1 degree orb, and Biggie had Mercury septile Mars with a 0 degree orb).
Drake, by contrast, has his Mercury conjoined with Mars’ planetary opposite, Venus. Mercury conjoined with creative Venus is a great aspect for a musician, but it lacks the teeth of competitive Mars. “Mercury conjunct Venus natal makes you a lovable, handsome, neat, refined, romantic, and courteous person. You may tend to be passive and submissive, but this is a means by which you achieve peace in your life. You can lovingly communicate things; a melodic, poetic, and relaxing voice often helps this. Mercury rules trade, and Venus rules money, so you could do well in business and enjoy buying and selling.”
Many of Drake’s biggest hits show this melodic Mercury-Venus aspect - like the no-rapping, all-singing “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” “Hotline Bling” and “One Dance,” or the purported feminist anthem “Nice for What.” Many think Drake is best as a pop star rather than a rapper, which Kendrick references in Euphoria (“I like Drake with the melodies, I don't like Drake when he act tough” “Keep makin' me dance, wavin' my hand and it won't be no threat”).
Mercury conjunct Venus should be a very positive aspect for Drake, and in many ways it is – as two of the planets that rule over money (Mercury the marketplace, and Venus the possessions), this aspect is part of why he’s had such incredible financial success. However, a few factors complicate it. For one thing, they are located together in Scorpio, ruled by Mars. His Mercury is expressed in a Venusian way, but it wants to be expressed in a Martian way. I think this is why Drake returns regularly to gangster rap despite his success in pop and R&B. He wants to be a Mercury-Mars rap powerhouse like Kendrick, Biggie, and Tupac, but he’s fundamentally different. From the beginning of his career he’s been taunted as soft, weak, feminine, privileged–all very Venusian adjectives.
Another complicating factor is that Drake’s Venus is doubly challenged - it is both in detriment in Scorpio, as well as retrograde. Venus is in detriment in Scorpio because it rules over Scorpio’s opposite, Taurus, and so the planet is not at ease in suspicious, jealous Scorpio. “Fears of being too vulnerable or of giving up their own power to others is strong. Scorpio is an “all or nothing” energy, and relationships tend to be somewhat of a rollercoaster ride as a result. Disdain for mediocrity and superficiality can compel them to create crises in order to feel alive and vital.”
Venus retrograde in the natal chart “suggests you have some difficulty in giving and receiving love and affection. You may experience sadness in love or have to endure hardship or delay. Natal Venus in retrograde can also show as excessive use of makeup and jewelry or even disfigurement from cosmetic surgery.” It’s interesting how some of the allegations against Drake in Kendrick’s songs have included a nose job and a Brazilian butt lift. After Drake told Metro Boomin to “shut up and make some drums” in his initial Kendrick diss Push Ups, the producer responded with “BBL Drizzy.”
Drake has never been married or had a public long-term relationship. His highest profile one with Rihanna was on-again, off-again, and at times seemed more like unrequited love than true commitment. When interviewed about the relationship, he said “As life takes shape and teaches you#Personal_life) your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time.” Two years ago Drake had jeweler Alex Moss create a necklace worth $12.5 million dollars built from dozens of engagement rings he had made but never used: ““New piece titled ‘Previous Engagements’ for all the times he thought about it but never did it,” Moss wrote over a video showcasing the stunning necklace, which is made up of “42 engagement rings” totaling “351.38 carats in diamonds.”” It’s quite the testament to a challenged natal Venus.
Lilith Synastry
Here is Drake and Kendrick’s synastry (Drake is on the outer circle):
The most interesting thing I found digging into Drake and Kendrick’s charts was the presence of Lilith in their synastry. Lilith is an asteroid associated with the “angry woman” figure as well as female liberation. In some Jewish folklore Lilith was the first wife of Adam, but she was banished from the Garden of Eden for not obeying him and replaced with Eve.
“In the intricacies of a birth chart, Black Moon Lilith symbolizes the raw essence of femininity, the primal urges, and the suppressed parts of our psyche that lie in the shadows. This point, not a planet but a mathematical point, reveals where one might feel estranged, challenged, or empowered to go against the grain of societal norms. It unveils deep-seated desires, innate instincts, and perhaps the areas where one feels the need to challenge established roles or expectations. It's a place of power, mystique, and, occasionally, friction – pinpointing where one's true nature might clash with the conventional, leading to feelings of marginalization or rebellion.”
The allegations Drake and Kendrick threw at each other both had to do with mistreatment of women - Drake said that Kendrick abused his fiancée, and Kendrick said Drake was a pedophile who shouldn’t be trusted around young women.
Both Drake and Kendrick’s Liliths make tight aspects with the other’s chart. “Whenever Lilith is around, you can expect to feel a wild, intense, deep, and sometimes obsessive energy. If you have Lilith aspects in synastry then this energy will show up in your relationship. Whenever your Lilith touches one of your partner’s planets or vice-versa, you can expect to see your deepest fears revealed. You might also see glimpses of things you desire but can’t have. Ultimately, Lilith aspects in synastry give both partners a chance to work on their shadow sides.”
Kendrick’s sun exactly conjoins Drake’s Lilith at 26 degrees Gemini. “Often, the sun person [Kendrick] represents all that the Lilith person [Drake] wants but can never quite “catch.” There is an illusive vibe to this relationship. The Lilith person may feel somewhat less-than or “bad.” Lilith conjunct sun in synastry is a test for the Lilith person because their most taboo qualities such as obsession and anger will be activated, but it’s also a test for the sun person. The lesson is for the sun individual to stand their ground and follow their inner voice. Lilith is neither good nor bad, and the sun person can share in some of the Lilith partner’s activities without merging.”
This resonates with the fact that despite Drake’s huge commercial success, he is deeply jealous of Kendrick’s critical success. In Family Matters Drake took a jab at Kendrick’s acclaim (“Kendrick just opened his mouth, someone go hand him a Grammy right now”), and the beef between them played out similarly, with many rap fans deciding that Kendrick won before even listening to Drake. I think it’s obvious that Kendrick is a stronger rapper, but it’s also clear that Drake wasn’t given a fair shake.
Drake’s Lilith makes a tight trine to Kendrick’s Mercury. “Both the Lilith person and the Mercury person help each other to bring unhealed deeper wounds and unconscious emotion to the surface and articulate deeper, wild instincts. Mercury person [Kendrick] helps Lilith person [Drake] make sense of their inner restlessness and insecurities, sexual passions and unresolved rage. Mercury person may find Lilith person to be highly emotional but is also intrigued by Lilith person’s edgy and unique perspective.” It’s remarkable that both of their Liliths are interlocked with each other’s inner planets, creating a push-pull, love-hate, shadow-enlightening dynamic between the two.
I think the obsession goes both ways, and that part of the reason Kendrick fought back so viciously was because Drake triggers something in him shown through the Lilith synastry. Drake shows Kendrick what he could be–a charismatic playboy enjoying his fame and money to the fullest. And in engaging with the feud he stooped to a lower level, making unsupported claims about Drake’s supposed secret daughter, and writing a rap song (Meet the Grahams) addressed to Drake’s 5 year old son opening with “Dear Adonis, I’m sorry that man is your father.” All is fair in rap battles–or is it? Questlove called it out, saying on Instagram: “Nobody won the war. This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary — women & children (& actual facts) be damned.”
Kendrick’s latest diss track Not Like Us has just debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 100, and it’s clear this battle has propelled him to another level of stardom. Drake’s Regulus ascendant arrogance and Scorpionic desire to fight to the death drove him to attack the strongest living rapper, and now he’s dealing with the fallout. Kendrick’s streams of his back catalog are up 50%, while Drake’s are down 5% and his reputation has taken a massive knock. But Kendrick has taken a hit as well. Having rap’s two biggest stars accusing each other of heinous crimes might drive up streams in the short run, but it’s a dangerous game. Astrology helps us understand why these two polar opposites are so intertwined, and why their mutual dislike has spurred on such a captivating firestorm.

This is going to be long, but seriously; what is the problem with apprenticeships in this country.
I’m 22 years old and trying to get an apprenticeship. I moved to Aus at the end of Christmas and quickly found out without papers, you won’t get far. So I decided to come back and get something for myself, I don’t regret going or coming back because it showed me what I needed to do.
I was working in an agricultural machine manufacturing factory for just over 3 years in the paint shop. I started out prepping, cleaning sanding etc for just over 1 year before the painter offered to teach me and over the course of a few months slowly learning I was full time spraying for about 2 years. I really enjoyed this much more than welding and it’s what I wanted to do as a job.
Unfortunately you cannot get a qualification in spraying/paint application in Ireland without doing something like panel beating despite most countries a panel beater and a painter are generally different, I didn’t mind this because I’d learn more skills.
I didn’t have experience painting cars or using water base paints because as I stated I was doing agricultural machinery, so my experience was with standard 2pac paints. But I really wanted to learn, so a vehicle body repair apprenticeship was naturally the way to go.
For the life of me, I could not find anywhere taking on apprentices for panel beating. It’s a completely dying trade. I spent ages and finally found a place and after doing a months trial I was let go because the garage only had one panel beater who was doing mostly mechanical work and there just wasn’t much panel beating happening and they didn’t want to hold me back, fair enough. I found another place after a long time but left because the boss treated me with absolutely no respect. Like I was his child. I’m a 22 year old man and he was shouting and roaring at me over the most ridiculous things. Like I couldn’t find a socket in the tool box because many lads use it and one must’ve misplaced it, he started roaring at me to “hurry the fuck up” and when I politely told him I don’t know where it is he says “ I didn’t fucking ask you if you could find it, I told you to go get it” when I finally found it somewhere it shouldn’t have been, I told him sorry one of the lads had thrown it somewhere and he told me “I didn’t have to mention that” and I just exclaimed the reason it took me so long and he told me “to stop giving back chat, learn to shut your mouth and fucking take it on the chin”. That infuriated me on top of other examples throughout my time there so I decided to leave, because I was not putting up with that bullshit for 4+ years.
After leaving, I was on the hunt again, not being able to find anywhere. Everywhere I went, it was the same shit, people asking me what experience I had etc, and I’m trying to come in as a phase one apprentice. I’ve had interviews in countless places and despite my industrial painting background, it was the same shit of them asking me how much experience I had as if they wanted a phase one apprentice to have years worth of experience. Everywhere I went it was the same thing of “okay send us your CV and we’ll get back to you” and then nothing.
Everywhere I went, they all wanted years of experience as a phase one apprentice trying to learn. And when you actually get somewhere they treat you like absolute shit. No wonder nobody wants to do it anymore these days. Everyone wants you to be a fully qualified phase one apprentice.
Not to mention the money. It’s about €240 a week as a phase one vehicle body repair. I don’t understand how companies should be allowed to pay you so little money. I understand a young teen just finished his JC or something but a 22 year old man who had bills/car to run etc they’re allowed to pay me well below minimum wage despite working 39 hours a week doing the exact same work as everyone else, I mean if you went into McDonald’s you’d make far more. They really should have something in place where if you reach a certain age you should at least be entitled to a liveable wage as a phase one.
After about 3 months of all the BS of a horrible manager and countless interviews I still cannot find anywhere, so I’ve officially given up trying to do what I wanted and have to try and find another apprenticeship. Probably in electrical because it’s what everyone seems to be doing, but even then I am still struggling to find anywhere. Because as per, everyone wants you to be a fully qualified phase one apprentice. It’s absolutely tiring, and I don’t know what to do, I feel like every step forward I try to take I’m knocked back too. Is there any point in even trying to get an apprenticeship at this rate, it makes me feel like I should’ve stayed in Australia.

Before you self harm in any way, you should probably know what you’re getting into. Before you make that cut, please keep in mind that you will find the pain release, and blood, strangely addictive. You may think to yourself that you’ll be able to control it, that you won’t let it get out of hand. You may think that you can just stick to a few small, shallow cuts here and there that won’t be deep and that will heal quickly and easily. But you’re wrong. You can’t control it, it’s impossible to control. It controls you. It’s an addiction. The cuts will get deeper, they’ll scar. They’ll take weeks to months to heal and years for the scars to actually begin to fade. You’ll find that soon, you depend on it. You can’t go more than a few days without cutting. You’ll go crazy as your skin itches and burns, your hands shake, your head pounds, your vision goes blurry as you try to keep your mind off of it, try to hold back from giving in. But you will. If you think you can limit the cuts to just one area of your body, you better think again. It’ll spread slowly but steadily, like a deadly virus. It’ll spread as you run out of skin, from your wrists to arms, past your elbows, up your shoulders down to your stomach, across your hips and waist and soon will cover your every inch of your legs right down to your ankles. I hope you’re prepared to withdraw from others and live in a constant state of shame and guilt. Even if you have been the most honest person to ever live, you will lie to your friends, family members, everyone around you who you care about. You’ll find yourself jerking back from the touch of someone, as if their fingers and hands have been bathed in a toxic, burning poison. You’ll be terrified that they will feel a scar or cut from beneath the fabric of your shirt or because it just plain hurts so much to simply be touched. Be prepared to become your own worst enemy. You’ll fear yourself, your head, the urges that taunt you every minute of every day. You’ll come to fear the next time you cut because you don’t know how bad it’ll be. Wait for the 10 cuts to turn into 20 then 50 then 100. You’ll be covered in scars and cuts. Your entire life will begin to revolve around your addiction. You’ll constantly be thinking about cutting, covering up your cuts, how you’ll hide your blades, scissors, bobby pins and the other objects you use to destroy your body. And then..the first time that you cut “too deep.” The bleeding won’t stop and you’re gasping, shaking, panicking, fear takes over you. You pray and hope that the bleeding will stop. Your purpose wasn’t to die, you won’t ever go that deep again. Right? Wrong. You’ll go there again, and deeper. But don’t worry. You’ll learn how to take care of your cuts so you don’t have to take a trip to the hospital every night. The better you get at treating your wounds, the worse they become. You’ll lie to yourself and try to justify it when you go to the pharmacy and drug store, finding yourself spending 20, 30, 40 dollars on dressings, gauze, alcohol wipes and sterile strips. You’ll tap your foot impatiently, hoping that no one stares and asks you why you’re buying all of these things. But at the same time..you hope someone asks, so you know they care. Be prepared to spend even more money on an entire new wardrobe. Long sleeved shirts, hoodies, long pants, boots, bracelets, wristbands. The list goes on forever. You’ll keep scanning other people’s bodies for signs of self harm, hoping that there is someone else out there who feels the same way you do. Hoping, praying that they will be like you. But that will never happen. You’ll see clean, uncut, unmarred arms and feel even more alone and ashamed than before. You’ll do a lot of things alone, be prepared to kiss your social life goodbye. You’ll always be doing your laundry, always in private so no one sees the blood stained towels and clothes. You’ll be spending hours scrubbing blood from the bathroom floor, and wiping dried blood off of your keyboard. You won’t be able to make it a day without cutting. You’ll carry an emergency kit in your wallet or purse. A key, safety pin, a needle, a paperclip, even a pencil. Everything around you will become a weapon. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it gives you that feeling that sends you reeling. Next thing you know, you’re in the bathroom stall at your school or work, picking open the scab of an old cut with a needle. Say goodbye to all of the things you took for granted. Shorts, sandals, tank tops, swimming in the summer, going to the beach. All of these things will be a far off memory. I hope you like itching and scratching non stop. You will itch and itch and itch. It’ll be so much that it’ll look like you have some sort of flesh eating disease. You will become an expert on your body as you carefully destroy it, taking it apart piece by piece. You will dream of cutting, dreaming of getting caught. It will haunt you day and night, in your dreams and when you are awake. Cutting will take over your life. It now has it’s hold over you, it controls you. You’ll hate yourself, hate yourself for making that first cut that threw you into this vicious, neverending cycle. You’ll wish you never made that first cut. You’ll wish you had read something like this, or that someone had told you what would happen. But as much as you hate your addiction and self harm, you love it and can’t live without it. You’d rather die than go just a few weeks without cutting.
Now, I’ll tell you what the title pertains to. How to self harm. Here is where I tell you how to successfully hurt yourself. So put down what you’re about to use Because you are so much better than this. And believe me, you don’t want to get involved with the monster of self harm, it’s not worth it.