Actually, I m planning to start collecting manga as a proper manga collector. I'll be migrating to United States and I don't even have a single clue how to and where to get manga as in my native country there aren't any options available. So as a starter pls provide me with some advice you guys want to give me or to yourself as if you were starting again. Nd m 19 so I'll be working part time for this so ... looking for some tips and tricks.
And another important thing I want to mention is I might not be having enough space for a couple of years so should I start early or a bit late ...? Pls guide me !
Looking forward for ur responses 🥲

Sorry in advance for any errors, English is not my native language.
As a background, I was diagnosed with chronic depression and has been prescribed with an anti-depressant although I frequently forget to take it. Even prior to pregnancy, I am an extremely anxious person. I am the kind of person who thinks that I cannot be too happy else something really bad might happen after.
So just the other day, I purchased a tour package for our family composed of me, husband, my parents and sister, husband's mom, and my toddler who will be 23 months by date of travel).
Now, I feel this crippling anxiety and I almost broke down to tears just thinking that something wrong might happen with the trip. The anxiety is almost suffocating me and robbing me of the feeling to be excited. I don't know if it is a gut feeling that I should follow or if this is plain terrible anxiety.
I also suddenly dread airplanes. I'm not new to riding the plane, and I even enjoy riding planes so this feeling of anxiety is new to me. I guess the only difference is this is the first time that I will be traveling with my child, and also the first time that I'll be traveling with immediate family members.
I keep thinking over and over again, what if our plane crashes? Did I just doom my family? Each time I scroll through my phone and see something related to plane crashes, I feel like it is some sort of sign or signal to cancel the trip.
I also feel that this might be a new fear or phobia that will stay with me for a while -- travelling on air with my child. However, I think that if I am travelling alone, I will not have this kind of fear or anxiety.
I do plan to relay this with my psychiatrist who I see every month for my psych therapy sessions. I guess I would just like to know if other parents have a similar experience. What did you do? How did you overcome terrible anxiety?
Thank you.

The road in front of my house is expanding, and the DOT is starting the right of way process to invoke eminent domain.
I'm in the process of securing legal counsel, but I'm wondering if y'all have any creative ideas that can help me.
Basically, the DOT is finalizing their plan, and I want to keep the road as far away as possible. They're doing environmental testing and gathering information now with a public meeting scheduled in the near future.
What kind of things can I flag (or add) on the property to deter them from encroaching?
Like, if I have native plants, old trees, maybe a memorial near the road... would they want to avoid that? I'm looking for your Saul Goodman recommendations on how to keep as much property as I can.
Thanks!!

I am a 23 yo guy who graduated in 2023 from a college in Mumbai(not a native though). I was a good student(9.48 pointer) and got an offer from DXC but couldn't take it since I had to support my family and our business. Long story short we couldn't save our business due to loans and stuff, and we lost everything we once had.
Faced with adversities I'm planning to move back to Mumbai since being the elder son I have responsibilities. Planning to do anything I can get abhi toh, a salesman, delivery agent, fast-food center, receptionist, content writer, or just anywhere. If you know of any places like stores or just any place where they would need an honest and hardworking guy, do let me know.
I never wanted to make this post honestly. But then I remembered that I possess nothing to lose anyway...Please help me if you can, it will mean a lot to me.

Okay, so I think y'all are gonna need some context first. I (15M, a few months away from turning 16) have a brother (18M), let's call him Greg (obviously NOT his real name). 2 years ago, I accidentally saw Greg's twitter profile and questioned the fact that his pronouns were She/her, which unsurprisingly puzzled me as I had no idea why. After a quick conversation on discord, as to not raise hell from my parents (now 52M and 53F), he confessed to feeling like he wanted to be a woman. Now bear in mind, I respected it and didn't give two craps, I was never too close with my family (nothing extreme though) and couldn't care less. I think it was a few weeks later, 1 or 2 i think, my mother found out. I do believe he told her himself, maybe knowing she wasn't gonna be the first to realize what was going on. And here's where crap hit the fan, you could say, as it started a living hell.
Something people might not know about my parents is, they are VERY stubborn on their ways (a.k.a. their old-as-heck mindset), and my mother didn't exactly like the idea that my brother was trans (oh yeah, he later admitted that same day that he liked both genders, but nobody cared about it as much, Greg included). My mother did ask for my opinion but I said "I dont care what Greg does with his life, it means nothing to me. As long as you stay out of my way, I'm fine with whatever happens. Though, I do kinda get where he's coming from, I wont intervene", and proceeded to leave to my room as it truly meant nothing.
Or so I thought, because a few months later, Greg was bold enough to come to me, clearly stating he wanted me to give him my old phone (an old Alcatel that could barely use WhatsApp and didn't even have a touchscreen, that was my first phone before my actual iPhone 6s I got from backmarket). He intended to sell his iPhone 7 for money to get himself private health care (in my country, public health care IS free but my parents were in control), obviously behind my parents' backs, and he also tried selling me his laptop (which did just recently get passed down to me but for free AND better reasons) with a BROKEN BATTERY for $200. Guys, the damn battery fix costs, and Greg told me that himself, ANOTHER 50 DOLLARS. All I could think was "Is this moron effing joking?", but no he was not and he insisted, but he went back empty-handed and I had a cool threat under my belt in case I needed it. I thought of it like that mainly because of how paranoid I am, and I always like to prepare for the worst case scenario.
Coincidentally, that came like a month later when I was summoned to an exceptionally rare (and awkward ngl) family meeting discussing Greg's feelings and, after a year of me finding out, revealed the truth to my father. As a backup plan, I picked up the Alcatel and stuff it into my pocket just in case (and that, everyone, is why you need to have pockets in your clothes at all times). Sure, I didn't use it, but I was ready to. My father was pretty much mortified at the revelation. And while my father is a great manipulator and always says thing with the intent to trick Greg and me, I did empathize with him a fair bit, honestly.
After this day, we entered what I will call the Horror Year, filled with constant arguing between parents and Greg, and them venting it all out on me. Now before you comment how "you could've done the same", no I could not, my one and only best friend deserves WAY better than getting even slightly involved in this BS. So I ended up holding everything to myself, seeing how my brother cried and my parents yelled at him or even hit him on one occasion (boy was that loud, I heard that with my headphones on but thankfully wasnt a strong swing) and hearing them all vent their crap on ME, my brother telling me how "my parents should un-alive", or "how they suck and wont help me recover my mental health and study what I want" (he wants to get into gamedev in Japan) or even how "they'd rather buy me a car before helping me achieve my dreams" (both cost around the same according to Greg and his internet research bs), and hearing my parents say how "you both can do whatever you want here in your country better than abroad" (most likely false especially in gamedev, by the way) or how "he's just throwing a tantrum" and that "he's just an inexperienced brat who has no idea about life and how hard real life is". They are also the kinda parents that never understood things like us appreciating our videogame save files and considering games something more than a "just for a little bit of time" kinda hobby. That is especially true for me. They even say that nothing in my house is mine, but rather that all of it is THEIRS and THEY are letting us BORROW our computers and stuff, coz THEY paid for it so THEY own it and THEY should be able to use our computers (especially mine apparently) anytime they want it with or without our consent or knowledge. of course they cant as my user has a huge password LOL. But yeah, you get the idea of just how everyone here acts.
To be frank with y'all, I'm starting to lose it. A few days ago, my brother went to an appointment with the doctor to get his treatment and was told there were health risks (very low according to Greg, decently important according to my parents) and to also attend a psychologist (he cried cuz of all that, like LEGIT crying). Actually that all happened yesterday as of writing. Now, I'm losing my patience and told my mother to "not be surprised if one day my mind shuts down and I hurt someone here, coz I just might if you a**holes dont effing stop this BS". I seriously might just blow up, and I think my wooden katana I have for martial arts classes wont like it too much when I do blow up. Not only am I scared that my family dividing might affect me, but I also resent them all for making me suffer in a broken home, all by myself with NOONE to trust. I have the power to try and manipulate the situation a little bit but I dont know how. Cn anyone help me?
P.S.: I told my parents I wanted them to let Greg do it before his appointment with the doctor, mainly coz I want him to learn the hard way if he ends up regretting his choice just the same way I learnt from my own mistakes. Still dont care about his or my parent's feelings though.
TL;DR: My trans brother is causing hell in my family and they all vent on ME, now I'm stuck in a very annoying situation. What do I do now?

I feel like I’m dying on the inside.
I’ve been working a corporate gig for about 2.5 years now. I am not a corporate person.
It’s a very VERY small company. I’m one of four people.
Of the remaining 3, the owner is late 60’s and is facing a terminal illness. Employee 2 is his sister who I adore, is in her 70’s, very part-time and is planning to retire. The last employee is in her mid-50’s, has known the family since she was little and got her position that way. She’s been here forever, and she’s also a passive-aggressive gossiping bully.
I’m a woman in my late 40’s. I’ve of mixed race and look Mexican or Native. I landed this job by sheer luck. My boyfriend did some tech work for them and introduced me. I have no ties to the family.
We are a company that caters to very wealthy, conservative, Caucasian men. The owner and co workers lean that way as well.
I have been struggling since I’ve started here. Not because of my actual workload. I excel at what I do, have been promoted in a short amount of time and have been financially compensated appropriately.
The thing is, I’m dying on the inside.
Nothing I do really matters. It’s empty work that doesn’t align with my sense of values. I feel like I’m not contributing anything to society.
I don’t connect with our clients. I’ve worked here for almost 3 years and no one knows who I am. I’m invisible and I can’t pretend race doesn’t play a factor in that. I’ve brought that up to the rest of the group, they downplay my observations and talk to me as if it’s my first day being a brown person. They can’t understand how I would be treated differently, and bless their hearts for that ignorance, but it leaves me feeling very alone and disconnected.
I can’t deal with the bullying behavior from the 3rd coworker. She’s power driven and manipulative. The owner and the sister know this and have seen it for themselves but will do nothing about it. I’ve already had conversations with the bully about her behavior. Sometimes she’ll admit to it and things will improve for a day or so, other times I’ll get the silent treatment.
There is no HR department to go to. I’ve put up with it or just let it roll off me, but I had a final straw last week that I can’t overlook anymore.
I’ve been apathetic for months now, and toggle between feeling nothing and rage. I’m waking up in the middle of the night stressed out over the idea of coming to work every day. I’ve put on a ton of weight and have somehow aged so much in such a small amount of time.
Here’s the curveball.
I will be starting a new life with my amazing partner. We just bought a house and will be relocating 150 miles away at the end of June. I told my job, everyone freaked out for a few days, but agreed to let me work remote but continuing traveling for events that we sponsor.
At first, I was on board with this plan, as it is so generous to offer it, but the more time that goes on I don’t feel I can do it. My chest burns at the thought of being involved here anymore.
I have this opportunity to start a whole new life. I’m sure I could find new employment where we’re going. It won’t pay as well, I guarantee that. However, I don’t want my partner to bear the brunt of any financial losses we will incur from my decision. Especially during this time of transition.
I really should be happy and grateful with my job. There are so many people who know this company who would kill to have my job. I’ve been told that to my face. I DO know how fortunate I am. but I hate my existence. I hate waking up the days I have to report to work. I’m good at my job, but this job isn’t good for me. Sometimes I wonder if I’m keeping someone else from their dream job by hanging on here, but I feel pressured into staying. It’s getting to the point where I’m isolating myself. I don’t go outside. I don’t take care of my space or myself really. I’m starting to contemplate hurting myself.
Am I being too thin-skinned? Right now, I want to tell them I’ll work remote until the end of October then be done. Six months would be more than enough time to find my replacement. I'm in a hybrid position of 3 different roles in the company. It would take that long to train someone appropriately.
Or do I just suck it up and see this as a paycheck and that’s it.
Please help.

I love the idea of Kosmik but the execution isnt quite there yet. I plan on trying it out further but theres a couple of things that get in the way. This is my first impressions review and what i intend as constructive feedback
Usability (testing on windows 10)
Smaller stuff easy to improve (but are creating attrition for me constantly)

• (BUG) For me right-click -> create if i dont navigate correctly to the desired option the sub-menu with the options disapear while the main right-click menu still shows. I need to close the menu and re-open it to try again
• Lack of basic keyboard functionality like shift+arrows for selecting text
• Wich is very weird- on one hand things like text editing are telling me 'this is mouse first', meanwhile i cant drag the canvas with the mouse, only by pressing space...?
• Im constantly confused by the delete key not working, instead only the backspace deletes cards
• Cards can only be resized on their corners
• I expected dragging urls would add then to the canvas and bookmarking being some sort of traditional bookmarks. Took me awhile to figure it out
• Theres a Tag button on the browser, but applying tags to the open browser and later closing the browser dont make that url appear anywhere searching for that tag
• 'Bookmarks'(urls on canvas) for me are failing to show any image or preview beyond the default space station illustration (except for kosmik own website)...
• ...and then the app prevents me from resizing the cards RATIO- i can make the card smaller but i cant make it more of a rectangle or very small, im forced to have a big square repeated ilustration for each, and with no alternative like folding then
• Absent settings for the overall app and smaller features or options- like ui size, custom keyboard shortcuts, dark mode

At least on windows feels a bit undercooked. I dont know wether some of those are design choices or features still missing but i feel the design a bit at odds- in some parts it conveys 'use mouse only/first' in others it demands keyboard, and in the mean time some of the common design patterns both for mouse and keyboard arent used or use some non-tradional choice- making it harder to learn, creating some confusion or wrong expectations.
For example the bookmark icon is a vey tradional and ubiqutuous skeumorphic symbol for a very common feature that saves urls or files in a list, tradionally urls. Some apps get away using then for favorite files, photos or other things given their context so the user can imagine the equivalent in a given context... but here it shows alongside the in-app browser, next to an url... Maybe a different icon, like a card with a Plus sign and a tip 'add to canvas'?
I dont understand why tags are in the browser if apparently they only work with cards added on the canvas. If the intent was treating the open browser as a canvas element then said browser should be like a card (for example being able to open multiple browser windows in different universes) as if they were cards. Right now the browser is like a temporary tool...
If the intention (im trying to deduce here) was to apply tags before bookmarking so the bookmark already apply said tags then both operations would work better together- 1 button, the add-site to canvas, and that button opening up a prompt to add tags before confirming if desired.
Overall- Service, app, marketing
I was a bit misled regarding expectations because of a video/moto 'best browser for research' - so i installed it expecting more of a Browser with a canvas then a canvas with a very limited in-app browser. So i came expecting multiple tabs or adding extensions...
I dont mean to say the app should be like a browser BUT it is a interesting area to improve and turn into its differential, given some of the competition and how most people would be using it alongside a browser anyway
In a general sense my impressions:
From the 'best browser for research' perspective:

• Some missing browser features creates attrition, like quickly switching between 2 sites (tabs or some alternative) or having common used urls quickly acessible (like favorites/bookmarks in a traditional sense)
• For example if i have a site i commonly use or search and wanted to quickly open the app requires we add then to a universe. If i make a universe of 'favorites' they will only open those sites on that particular universe... if i want those common shortcuts elsewhere id have to add then to each and every universe...?
• Given the research goal, existing features like tags and search i was expecting things like bookmarks could have descriptions. I can add a bookmark to a universe then create a text/note explaining it on 1 universe...
• ...but then i cant add that same bookmark and that text and its tags in another universe, unless i made a new repeated bookmark and written the same thing again
• Therefore 2 feature suggestions: (1)some bookmark list or browser, where the bookmarks can also have tags even if they exist globally (2)optional description for bookmarks, that would be acessible if/when theyre added from bookmarks to a canvas
• Some useful features from some browsers or famous extensions are great for research, like saving and reopening sessions...
• ...or searching through your history
• Theres complete obscurity how the app handles logins, cookies... or options for different profiles. We can make different universes, but i see no way of having different profiles/spaces (with different universes each) where one im logged in with my work mail and the other my personal one.

I wonder if the app allowed for pages inside cards (not previews, rendered pages) would be a good alternative for things like tabs
From a general canvas-notation perspective

• Universes even tough created/saved locally are always in sync with the cloud - im one of those people that dont like having sensitive data on clouds because leaks and data theft by hackers exist (and do hit even huge companies). I wouldnt create some of the universes/notes i naturally would take in Kosmik, only more general browsing links and quick notes- unless it had an option for optional local-only universes
• A lot isnt covered in the FAQ and i couldnt find the answers, such as:
• I see no options for exporting universes or its notes in any way
• I could have no sense if images copy-pasted/dragged from the browser are like urls the canvas render (so no file size) or copy-pasted files that hit the cloud space quota- im under the impression theyre all copy-pasted (and i feel like they shouldnt, the app should consider every url as that and render the url)
• I can see nowhere how much space been used, left, etc

I have used waaay too many notes and canvas apps in my search for the apps that filled that niche for me like id like, and heck for years a good app with canvas was my most wanted feature that almost no one was doing save for few clunky flowchart apps.
Im glad that now theres been a boom of options and ive been giving everyone a chance- but still not one have all the things id like (i could pinpoint a frankenstein of features from different apps id wish into one)... Kosmik is already ahead of half of the competition (imo) just by having both a native app and web view options, and by the apps having the files locally+sync instead of rendering from the cloud only all the time (much faster and snappiers wich is a big deal for me) - and the web/browsing+canvas angle is a very interesting proposition
But that is where i got disapointed- the web-browsing in app alongside canvas is still very limited to hit the potential of that proposition. As it is right now, for example, i feel more confortable having any browser in a smaller window and copy-pasting urls into Kosmik then relying fully on the internal browser, save for quick search queries
I focus so much on the browser aspect not only because it was how i first found about kosmik but also because without that angle it falls short on some alternatives. Not completely btw, drawing tools and pdf handling seem to be great and ahead of some alternatives (some are good at drawing but barely beyond that, others better as notes but with terrible or no drawing)...
But i still feel like the 'best app for research' (browser+canvas/notes+pdf), emphasis on the browsing is the best angle, best bet for Kosmik to grow above alternatives... but extra emphasis on potential- i dont feel like its hitting that note quite yet, at least not on windows.
I will try to stick with Kosmik for awhile despite the clunkiness and attriction i feel, but not as id like to use it and more like a buffer between traditional browsing/searching and taking my notes- im planing on inserting Kosmik in between as quick notes for links before later refering to then on notes elsewhere... but i confess im sort of forcing this workflow just to keep using kosmik and keep tabs on updates- im sticking around in the hopes of what may come and not for what it currently is.
I have high hopes for the app and in my case (i lean more towards power user then casual) even if i use other apps a good better version of Kosmik in this niche would fit for me even alongside other apps. Heck i currently use 2 similars in tandem (similar in notes/canvas) for their different strengths and niches- and neither have carved web browsing research as their niche
Anyway, those were my very long 2cents. I hope the feedback is taken positively

Race Information

• Name: Eugene Marathon
• Date: April 28, 2024
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Eugene, OR
• Website: https://www.eugenemarathon.com
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11285376078
• Time: 2:46:46

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	2:41-2:44	No
B	PR	Yes

Splits

Mile	Splits
1	6:08
2	6:23
3	6:24
4	6:15
5	6:15
6	5:55
7	6:19
8	6:04
9	6:23
10	6:39
11	6:23
12	6:13
13	6:12
14	6:12
15	6:14
16	6:19
17	6:19
18	6:04
19	6:37
20	6:44
21	6:10
22	6:31
23	6:40
24	6:34
25	6:45
26	6:34
0.2	1:27

Training

After racing the Tokyo Marathon in early March, I had 8 weeks before racing Eugene Marathon, which was my second spring marathon. During those 8 weeks, I ran the NYC Half, the Cherry Blossom 5K and Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, and was either recovering from those races or doing my usual runs and workouts to keep my fitness sharp. The workouts and my race results during this time (finished in 1:19 high at the NYC Half on tired legs two weeks after Tokyo, and finished the Cherry Blossom 5K in mid-17s plus turned it around in less than 24 hours after to finish in the low 59 minutes range at the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run) suggested that I was in shape to go for a sub-2:45 marathon.
Ultimately, I settled on aiming to finish Eugene somewhere between 2:41 and 2:44. Because this was my final marathon of the spring training cycle, this was my last opportunity to run a fast marathon. Based on my recent race results plus observations from my coach, I was in PR shape; Eugene has ideal weather, and the course was ideal to make such an attempt. Or so I hoped.

Pre-race

I flew over to Portland on Thursday night and spent a couple of nights at my friends’ place and got to hang out with them, plus walk around Portland and check out the sights with them as well. On Saturday, my friends and I drove over to Eugene and we went straight to packet pickup at a hotel around downtown Eugene. The packet pickup was quite smooth, and I was able to pick up my packet and spent some time browsing the vendors at the expo afterwards. The rest of the day was chill; my friends and I did a bit of exploring around downtown Eugene, and we had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory that evening. Before heading to bed that night, I laid out my race kit and prepped my gear bag so that I could get dressed and head out to the shuttle pickup area as soon as I woke up that morning.
I woke up on 5 AM on race day, had a quick breakfast, got dressed and headed out of my hotel towards the designated shuttle pick up point. Got on the shuttle bus and we arrived at Hayward Field around 6:20 AM. I quickly took care of business in the bathroom, then went over and dropped my gear bag at the bag check area. I ran into a friend at the gear check area and we went inside Hayward Field so that we could take a look at the famous venue. We then made our way to the start area, and we did a quick warm up jog nearby before entering the start corrals themselves and lining up close to the start area. I took half of a Maurten 160 gel before starting, and I had plans to consume the remainder after the first six miles.
After the usual pre-race remarks and the singing of the National Anthem, the race started at 7 AM and we were on our way!

Race

Start to 5 miles

The course was a bit crowded at the beginning, primarily because the marathoners and half marathoners started at the same time. There was quite a bit of rolling hills during the first 5 miles and so I focused on getting into a groove and going by effort and doing what I could to try to not go out too fast. My bladder was feeling a bit full at the start and I ended up taking a quick pee break after mile 2 and lost 20 seconds in the process.
Otherwise, this stretch was uneventful. We went through some really nice neighborhoods within Eugene during the first two miles, and saw some scenic stretches along the way while heading south towards the first turnaround point. I crossed the 5 mile mark in 31:17

5 miles to 10 miles

As we headed back north towards the center of Eugene, we overlapped a bit with the marathoners and half marathoners coming through in the opposite towards the mile 3 marker. I held my efforts relatively steady on this stretch, and I still felt quite good so far. I took my first gel sometime mile 7, and I was fueling every 30-40 minutes or so throughout the race. After going through the mile 9 marker and running past Hayward Field and the start area (which had been taken down at this point), my stomach started to feel a bit weird and I realized I need to find a porta potty at the next aid station to take care of this, and soon. Fortunately, I did not have to wait too long; there was a porta potty half a mile ahead, and I went straight to it and took care of business there, losing about 20 seconds in the process.
Besides the untimely bathroom stop around mile 9.5, nothing else happened to me on this stretch. I went through the mile 10 checkpoint in 31:23 (1:02:40 elapsed)

10 miles to 15 miles

After passing the mile 10 marker, we went onto the bike path along the Willamette River, before easing back onto Franklin Boulevard. I saw signs telling half marathoners and marathoners that the half/full marathon split at mile 10.75 was coming up; seeing that, I mentally prepared myself to run a good portion of the races with not many runners around me. At mile 10.75, the half and full marathoners split off, and I headed east, crossing the river into Springfield and looped through there for a mile before heading west to continue the rest of my race. Most of this stretch was quite flat, and I got comfortable easing into my goal pace and ticked off the miles. I took another gel sometime after mile 12 and was hitting up almost every water stop along this stretch. After mile 14, we went onto the wooded bike paths, where we would spend most of the second half. The crowd support started to diminish, and this was going to set the tone for the rest of the race.
I went through the 15 mile checkpoint in 31:16 (1:33:56). The organizers did not set up an official halfway checkpoint but based on watch data and the paces from the 5 mile splits, it was likely that I came through the halfway point a few seconds under 1:22.

15 miles to 20 miles

Besides briefly crossing paths with the half marathoners after the mile 15 mark, things started to gradually get tough for me. I was mostly running by myself on the wooden bike paths, with few runners ahead of me or behind me. And the crowd support was sparse too, which did not help; I only saw small crowds every few miles or so. Pace wise, I was holding on, but I was starting to increasingly feel the fatigue and I began to negotiate with myself. Which isn’t what I needed at this point. I wasn’t feeling too great somewhere between the mile 19 and mile 20 markers, and I ended up taking a quick 10-15 second breather at the aid station to catch my breath, take a caffeinated gel and grab some hydration, and put myself back together before continuing.
I went through the mile 20 split with a 32:05 split (2:06:01 elapsed). With a 10K to go, it was going to get harder for me the rest of the way.

20 miles to Finish

What I do remember about the last 6.2 miles, unfortunately, was how hard this was for me. Admittedly, this felt much harder than the last 6.2 miles at the Tokyo Marathon. It was giving me a lot of deja vu, which was not what I needed. My legs felt very heavy and there were times where it felt like I had leg weights tethered to my legs. My legs did not have any life left in them either. I wasn’t feeling too great either, even after taking a quick stop a moment ago. Realizing my predicament, I decided to break the remaining distance up and focused on getting to the next mile marker(s) as a way to keep me motivated the rest of the way. One mile at a time. Then two miles at a time. As I was gradually fading the rest of the way, I remember at least 8-10 runners passing by me during this stretch and clearly they were having a better day than I was having. It didn’t feel great seeing that happen to me but there was nothing I could do about it. Crowd support continued to be sparse up until less than a mile out from the finish at Hayward Field. I took my final gel around mile 23 so that I had enough left in the tank to take me the rest of the way.
It felt like forever, but I finally got to the mile 25 marker, and I remember telling myself “only 1.2 miles left to go”. Soon after I crossed the mile 25 marker, the marathon course merged with the half marathon course and half marathoners were running on the left hand side of the road making their way to the finish, while marathoners were running on the right hand side of the road. I navigated through an underpass, and after coming out of the underpass I saw solid crowd support for the first time since the first half of the race. Lots of spectators were lined up along the road leading to Hayward Field. Completely exhausted at this point and my legs feeling like lead at this point, I interacted with the crowds as best as I could while holding onto the pace the best that I could.
I crossed the mile 26 mark and saw Hayward Field in the distance. I made a right hand turn to enter the track at Hayward Field and took it all in: I am running on Hayward Field itself. What an incredible feeling to experience. With 150 meters to go on the Hayward Field Track, and with the finish line now visible, I picked up the pace and waved to the crowds at the stands as I covered the last 100 meters to the finish.
I crossed the finish line in 2:46:46, finishing 7 seconds faster than the time I ran at Tokyo two months prior. I knew it was going to be close, but talk about cutting it quite close! The 7 second marathon PR that I set at Eugene is now my smallest marathon PR, beating the 9 second marathon PR that I set at the 2021 Chicago Marathon. My result was good enough to place within the top 100 overall, which is quite nice I must say!

Post-race

After crossing the finish, I took a moment to catch my breath, and then took in the moment. I was standing in Hayward Field, where numerous high profile track meets were hosted. And I got to run on the small part of the track on my way to the finish. How cool is that?!
Walking through the chute, I collected my finishers medal and ran into running friends who were either spectating in the standards or crossed the finish line behind me and had quick chats with them. While getting post-race pictures at Hayward Field, I noticed a stain on my singlet and I realized that I experienced significant nipple chafing to the point that my nipple bled. So much for having nice finishing line and post-race photos! And it was the first time that it happened to me. I picked up my post-race food in the Hayward Field stadium tunnel, and gradually made my way out of the stadium towards the gear check area; I eventually reunited with my friends who came with me to Eugene to support me there. Eventually we ran into some of the same running friends at the gear check area and we sat around chatting about how our races went.
My friends and I drove back to Portland later that afternoon, and after I got myself cleaned up, we went over to a nearby bar to celebrate.

Final Thoughts and Updated Marathon Progress

While it was a bit disappointing that I faltered down the stretch and did not hit my goals, I am glad that I held on and squeeze out a small PR of 7 seconds at Eugene; it could have gone a whole lot worse. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but when I was comparing my pace data and elevation data, it appears I went a big aggressive with the paces and took a bit of a risk there. Much of the rolling hills were in the first 5 miles of the race, and chances are I might have overcooked myself on that stretch; if I had done this differently, I would have told myself to relax on the paces on the rolling hills and not overcook myself in the process.
Above all, I am very grateful to make it through this long (and sometimes weird!) training cycle mostly intact, did not experience significant injuries along the way (!), did not burn out along the way (very important!), and picked up numerous PRs along the way: 10K (en route, twice!), 10 mile, half marathon, and full marathon (twice!). And I think it is fair to say that many people would kill for the kind of success that I’ve had during this training cycle.
That said, I learned a few important lessons throughout this training cycle. First, it appears I got into peak shape during the training block leading up to the Tokyo Marathon, and I did not make any subsequent fitness gains afterwards. It probably did not help that I was recovering from Tokyo or recovering from the shorter distance races that I raced during that 8 week period between Tokyo and Eugene. I’m not getting any younger with every passing year, and I probably need to be more diligent with recovery from races moving forward. That said, I have no regrets about doing those races because I still got solid results out of them. And finally, I realized that I prefer shorter training cycles – specifically ones that are between 12 and 16 weeks in duration – and I peak out at anywhere between 10 and 13 weeks into a training cycle, and I’d like to take advantage of my peak fitness soon after and not any longer beyond that. I’m grateful that I was able to handle a 20-week training cycle so that I could stay in shape for both Tokyo and Eugene, but admittedly this was a bit too long for my tastes. Lessons from this longer-than-usual training cycle will have a significant impact how I plan out my training cycles and races moving forward.
The road ahead for me will only get harder, and I vowed at the beginning of the training cycle to trust the process and not let sub-par workouts or sub-par race results drag me down and cause me to lose sight of the bigger picture. And I am still committed to doing that for myself.
For now though, I’m taking some time off training, running for fun, and looking forward to having a social life and enjoying life in general for a bit before transitioning over to summer outdoor track season. And I look forward to what is next for me!
With that said, here’s the updated version of my marathon PR progress within the past few years.

• 2017 - 5:07:32 (Marine Corps; debut)
• 2018 - 4:03:43 (Chicago)
• 2019 - 3:53:20 (Los Angeles) / 3:31:00 (Berlin)
• 2020 - 3:09:54 (Rhode Island)
• 2021 - 3:09:45 (Chicago)
• 2022 - 3:03:20 (Hartford)
• 2023 - 2:58:06 (London) / 2:50:28 (Berlin) / 2:49:16 (Chicago)
• 2024 - 2:46:53 (Tokyo) / 2:46:46 (Eugene)

Hi folks - have my Starling home hub on the way this week to port my nest cameras + thermostats into HomeKit, and my question is surrounding subscription needs for storage of recordings.
With this setup - do I still need Nest Aware for clip storage beyond the free 3 hour window, or will HomeKit natively record clips to iCloud (so long as my Apple storage plans allow)
Thanks in advance!

This post, in its fullness, is about Ta Mando and the Shiftverse, a setting we'll talk about in a bit but before we get started I do wanna mention something kind of neat.
I've vaguely alluded to how I learned about jumpchains, mentioning that it was through a CYOA creator who also does jumps. Pre-pandemic I was a member of the Make Your Choice & NSFW CYOA communities, and I saw FancyFireDrake's Goddess of Mankind CYOA and I really liked it so I checked out some of their other stuff. At the time I was already paying attention to NSFW CYOAs because of TroyxPage, specifically Grand Adonis which to this day remains at least in my top three favorite CYOAs of all time, and when I saw that I really liked Goddess of Mankind I wanted to see what else FFD had done so I looked through their stuff and saw stuff on Jumpchains. This was happening around the same time I was joining the Shiftverse as a player.
Through the power of coincidence I was joining the Shiftverse, an original setting by a friend of mine named Philososhy, at about the same time I was learning about jumpchains and beginning to really discover the power of crossover fan fiction and stuff like that. Here's a little bit of canon Luciano Lore; as a child I began writing, which is part of what I do professionally and semi-professionally, by writing self insert crossover fan fiction though at the time I didn't know these things had terms. I was raised overseas, as I am an army brat, and I was homeschooled, and my family wanted me to get into reading and writing, and so they had me write stories. I don't think they anticipated the lifelong rollercoaster that that would send me on. Anyways, back to the central topic.

The Shiftverse

Before we get started I wanna say that I'm describing a LIVING setting I'm a PLAYER in not the MASTER of so this information will be necessarily limited and imperfect. That said I'm a VERY passionate player, and given the RL circumstances of this setting and my character's circumstances I know a healthy chunk of lore, though I am not even scratching the surface due to this being a special interest of mine and me being a big nerd, plus my character also has had the chance to learn a lot of neat stuff about the metaphysics at play here and has just been taught a lot of cool lore on the interior of things, SOME of which I'm communicating here in a very broad sense of strokes.
The very, very basic gist of the shiftverse from a player character perspective, is that player characters are... reality TV stars whose lives are shows airing on multiversal, cosmic televisions, and they are watched by monstrous, unknowable beings, while the player characters go from world to world, for various different amounts of time, and just LIVE among the inhabitants of the world, free to do as they please and to interact with locals however they wish. It is a pure coincidence that this VERY basic gist sounds so remarkably similar, conceptually at least, to Jumpchains, though as a very funny matter of fact in the SPECIFIC setting I have a character in, there are others with player characters and another one of us knew about jumpchains before I started sharing stuff about jumpchains in the Ta Mando (the SPECIFIC world my character lives in, which is just one of many settings which exist for the Shiftverse) server (which is public, I'll be posting a link to the world-anvil later).
All of the player character primes (the term used to apply to beings who get sent from world to world for the sake of the tv shows, which does not encompass ALL multiversal wanderers in this setting, and also NPC primes exist) I know of are humans from a mundane Earth, in fact many of us in Ta Mando (though almost certainly not all of us) are from the SAME Earth. Certainly all of the player character primes for Kanda, which is the central location, "location" being used real loosely, are from the same Earth and about the same time period.
Primes get superpowers of various sorts to help us survive and live exciting lives. We're also capable of using the powers native to the world's we visit, though learning and attaining such powers isn't always easy. My character is Jonathan Mondragon, who on Earth prior to them becoming a Prime, was a Puerto Rican doctor. I did insert SOME traits of myself in them, they are non-binary, they are bilingual, they are a charisma main, but my ORIGINAL idea for this character was for them to be a Caribbean Homelander (they have a few different powers, namely the powers of Superman (Smallville style, so the powers are steadily growing and new ones become accessible over time) & a set of social powers, which along with Omega Beams and some doctohealer stuff represent their STARTING kit, in the time since they've arrived they've become a champion of a deity of truth and honor, gained the very beginnings of a dragon's power set, and have attuned to the Ta Mando equivalent to The Force, so we love a chaotic ass power-grabber). That idea... did not last long. Jonathan has been in Ta Mando for a few months now, and is a solidly moral person due in large part to the fucking nightmare they had to endure in the beginning of their time here (they were deliberately summoned by the people of a colony of Kanda who were in a bad spot, and Jon has largely succeeded in solving SOME of the problems but it was ROUGH), and the growth they've endured as a result of both pain and the good things they've done since they arrived. Some other primes include characters with really strong magic stuff, someone who is a Saiyan, and a person who is the Avatar, as well as people more attuned to the Ta Mando version of the force and a Space Marine, so as you can see our power sets can VARY.
There are other vague similarities with Jumpchains, such as vague similarities between items in jumps and items in shifts, as a prime tends to get SOME basic items at the start of a chain (usually a facility which serves as a house, which can differ from prime to prime, and functions as a bit of a less protected/more accessible warehouse) but not ALL primes get that and SOME primes get WILDLY more advanced facilities than others. OTHER items can be included as well, as my character has stuff for medicine and farming, and I know of other primes who've got uranium mines, lightsabers, and even pets as part of their starting kit. There ARE difference, one of the biggest differences is that a shift's (the in-universe term for a stint in a world/setting) length is NOT a decade and can last however long the eldritch beings who run the show feel like, though from what I, Luciano, know it seems like most last about a human lifetime, though there are some that last WILDLY longer than that. Another significant difference, as has been explained and hinted at to my character, is that remembering the details of a shift once you leave is not guaranteed, nor is having and keeping the same powers you once had, and all of this is similar to the idea of drawbacks in a jumpchain but these changes, as far as I know, across shifts do not confer any advantages in exchange like a jumpchain drawback does.

Ta Mando

I'm not gonna say much here, I'll just post two links. One is to the World Anvil for Ta Mando, one SPECIFIC setting in the Shiftverse (there are many worlds someone could get shifted too, Ta Mando is just one of them). The other is to my character's World Anvil page, Jonathan Mondragon. This is not SUPER up to date, but it's the beginning of a good set of articles for people in Soterri, as well as a way to learn more about my adventures. Also, this is a text-based TTRPG campaign and we play using GURPS. It's... weird. I'm very much a D&D person, I've been playing D&D over half of my life (literally, I'm 29, the first time I played D&D I was 13, and I had the books BEFORE then), so it's been an adjustment. I like it though, my character DOES feel powerful and has had plenty of kicks moments, but just LEARNING what I can do and the mechanics of everything was a trip.
Anyways, Ta Mando is my favorite TTRPG setting I've ever been in, there's a lot to discover, there's a lot more for me to do there, and I sometimes think about doing a Shiftverse jumpdoc. I think it'd be very funny to blend the two systems like how I've blended the Troyverse & Jumpchains, and how I plan to blend Akumakami64's Love Azathoth CYOA (have a little surprise announcement, as a treat, for making it this far, but do note that I'm in the middle of my busiest time of the year so this won't be for a minute), but truthfully I just don't know enough to really do it justice. Maybe someday I'll make a jumpdoc for The Shiftverse. it could be fun honestly.

Hello!
Recently I’ve been pondering over the idea of potentially going overseas to teach English, and Korea has been at the top of my list. I’m aware of the requirements, including having a bachelors degree (which I’m planning to finish, in English on top of that).
Issue is, I’m from Switzerland and it seems to be an English teacher you must be from a native English country. I lived for a couple of years when I was younger in Australia, and I’ve continued to speak English all my life, but I’m not sure this counts. I’m an English conversation teacher at the moment in a private school.
Do I have any chance of getting a job as an English teacher in Korea while being Swiss? (With a bachelors in English, teaching experience and a TEFL.)

Trigger warning - religious differences
I always bragged about how awesome my extended family was. NO family is perfect, but I heard horror stories and always counted my blessings that I had strong ties with my Aunt and uncles since I was raised an only child. That was until a few months ago when my last living Aunt, whom I considered a second mom, shattered me.
Ok, some backstory here. My aunt is a Jehovah’s Witness. Now before you get all judgy, I have always loved her, my uncle and her son with all of my heart. I still do. I respect that they have found faith and live by this code on the daily. I have met many people from their congregation and loved them all (ok, a couple of exceptions). I also appreciate the community they have and love they all show each other. If it weren’t for the religion itself, I would have converted.
I, however, am pagan and have always been since I was about 5 (even the first book I signed out from the school’s library was about witchcraft). Not raised that way, but always found spiritual comfort in nature and the natural world. I have a very strong connection and dedication to my Powers That Be and work every day to help the world be a better place. My Aunt did not know my religion until about 7 years ago. That being said, she and I would have very philosophical conversations when we hung out together. Even at the age of 8, I would listen to her preach to me and ask questions to which she never had answers. I remember her telling me how only 144,000 people would be allowed in heaven and didn’t I think that would be wonderful knowing that our whole family could be together again after we died. We’d all be in heaven if we were all Jehova;s witnesses. I had gone with her many times to do field service (door to door) and asked her why they do that if there’s only a certain number of people allowed. Didn’t that lessen her chances of getting in because I’m sure there were many people more deserving than myself. How did she know for sure she’d be one of the ones to get in and was that fair to keep bringing people into the religion when all the spaces were probably already filled up?
At 8 years old, I had many questions and was just trying to figure these things out. Since she was an adult, I figured she had the answers. My questions were not with malice, just for a want of better understanding. When she didn’t have the answers, I'd ask my mother and grandmother. While they were extremely amused, they said they never understood either. They never said anything bad about her or her attempts to get them to convert, just allowed me to explore religion and spirituality as I wished so I could make my own decision of what was right for me.
Once I was an adult, I avoided talking to her about religion, but found that if I didn’t ask questions and just let her talk, it made her happy. I know she’s a good person at heart and that’s all that matters. After my Mom passed, my aunt and I talked almost every week. I loved talking to her and she became even more like a mom to me. She gave me encouragement and we supported each other through health and emotional crises. I’d make it a point to try and visit at least once a year for a few days so she could visit with my daughter and I. We’d always do lunch with her friends and I loved it. I fell in love with some of the people in her congregation and wished we could live closer to hang out more. I, however, never wavered on my spiritual beliefs, but I have never cared about the religion, race, or sexuality of anyone. If we got along, we were friends and that was that.
My aunt and I had come to an understanding that I would not convert and that we would love and respect each other regardless. Religious talk was off the table for the most part until both of my uncles (my aunt’s two brothers) passed and she had a very hard time dealing with it. She was the last surviving sibling and she was sinking into a depression. I’d talk to her at length and listen to her as she mourned the fact that she would never have contact with them (and my mom) in heaven because they never converted. When she asked me what I believed, I told her that I believed that the soul lived on after the body died and that I believed in reincarnation. I explained my beliefs were closer to hindu and buddhism than christianity (so she had context). We had very long talks and she expressed that she respected my views and actually found comfort in talking with me.
That was until my daughter and I opened our store about 3 years ago. It’s a metaphysical shop and we have crystals, teas, gifts, jewelry, candles and more (about 10% strict;y pagan). My aunt was happy for us until it dawned on her that we might sell pagan stuff. I told her what we sold and she asked me if I was a witch. I replied that I suppose that was one way to describe me, but, again, I considered myself spiritual and that I followed a path closer to buddhism, hinduism, native american. I sent a couple of pictures of the jewelry that we made and she said when we came down, we should bring the jewelry making.
We did, I brought down our best crystals to wrap and bracelet materials and my daughter and I made her a necklace with a very expensive stone (A $200 piece). She brought her friends over and they picked out crystals that they wanted, made bracelets and such. We had fun and I was happy to do it, though I wasn’t expecting people that I had never met before. Still, we had fun. My daughter and I also brought her a basket with local items from our hometown, (Raw honey, handmade stoneware mugs, cutting board, herbal tea and some other items made by us as well) She was thrilled. My aunt and uncle had taken a couple of bad falls a few months before and so my daughter and I made them hand carved cedar walking sticks as well because we knew they went for regular walks and thought it would help their balance. It felt amazing to lavish expensive and heartfelt gifts on them as I has struggled so long with money. I was finally in a place that I could do it. To say the gifts probably totalled in excess of 1K is on the low side, but I was still happy to do it.
Besides the fact that they tried converting my daughter when I wasn’t around, it was a lovely visit. The only problem I had was with a new person my aunt introduced us to. This woman, we’ll call her Dee, ignored me and only talked to my daughter. She was my age if not older, but conversed with my daughter, 17, like I wasn’t there. They traded contact info and Dee insisted that they keep in touch while my daughter was in college. Dee said she was going to keep an eye on her. I thought that was odd, but I did enjoy the feeling of having an extended family sort of since I actually had no family besides my Aunt.
Let’s jump forward to the following year and we were struggling financially. Not horrible, but unable to lavish the gifts that we did the year before. Instead, I created a beautiful aromatherapy candle, some delicious herbal teas and we found a couple of very rare antique tea cups that had amazing value to them (about $100 a piece). We made a basket for her and I decided we would cook for them. (gluten free, soy free, dairy free etc). Our visit went so well, it was great to see them. We just enjoyed hanging out with them and talking. They loved the meal we made for them and the dairy free organic chocolate I made. Everything was great until the day we were leaving. Dee showed up and again ignored me, talked to my daughter and chastised her for getting a pet snake as that was an animal associated with the devil. My daughter is one to push the envelope a bit and said how she wanted to get a tattoo as well, one of a snake. Both my aunt and Dee were shocked and said she should never get a tattoo.. Again related to the devil, I went to the bathroom as I was not involved in the conversation and knew my daughter could hold her own. Little do they know that my daughter is also trans. I told her not to say anything to them just yet. I came back to them talking about how college was going and I thought my aunt and Dee would faint when she said her college roommate was male. She quickly explained that it was fine because he was gay and how awesome he was (he is btw). She quickly realized what I meant when she saw their reaction to him being gay. It wasn’t that she was living with a boy, it was that he was gay and “why did he choose to be gay.” I tried redirecting the conversation a couple of times, but they ignored me.
They finally let it go, but just after Dee left, we were getting ready to depart as well. My aunt returned the basket I made for her (minus the expensive tea cups). She said she could not accept them as they were touched by the devil. Shocked, I asked what she meant. She said that because they came from my store, they carried Satan's influence and she could not have them in our home. Truthfully, I explained that I made those items for her and that the only things that came from the store were the teacups. She was confused why I had gotten upset. When I explained that I gave her a gift and if she didn’t want it, she could regift it or throw it away. That gift came from my heart with all the love I have for her and that I didn't need to know her opinions about the gifts because It insinuated I, myself, was evil and it was extremely hurtful. She basically continued on insisting that I was just not aware of how much Satan had a hold of me. All I could do was tell her how much I loved her and leave.
I didn’t take her calls and cried about this for over a month. I finally felt strong enough to talk to her and again she insisted that because those items touched my hands, they were influenced by satan and she wished I could understand how they just can’t have that influence in their home. Frustrated, I asked how she could shop at grocery stores or buy anything from department stores because she can’t guarantee that those items didn’t touch hands that were influenced by satan. Also , I asked her how they could have eaten the food I prepared for them and why did they even invite me into their home to begin with if that’s the way she felt about me. She suddenly needed to go.
We talked a few times since then but it always came back to religion. At one point I asked her again why she would even invite us to her home if she felt that way. Her response was to save my daughter. The pain and heartache she has inflicted is immense, but I cannot bring myself to argue the point because I’m afraid if I make my point to her, it will break her. She’s in her 80’s and I believe has the beginnings of dementia. Her religion brings her comfort and I don’t want to say anything that might make her doubt her religion at her advanced age.
I’ve decided it is probably best for both of our mental health to stop all contact with her( with the exception of sending cards telling them how much I love them) even though I’ve always seen her as a second mom. AITA for making this decision and not trying to work things out with her or allow her to believe that I still might convert?
*** Please understand this is not a bash on any religion. Everyone has the right to believe in whatever religion they wish. That includes me, so if you feel the need to bash them or me for our spiritual choices, you can move along ***
I have never felt like I needed to hide any part of me from my friends, family, and the public in general. Not until now. Buckle up, this is a bumpy ride.
I've always been kind hearted, almost to a flaw. I took care of my grandmother, my step-dad, my mom and helped with a family friend during long term and terminal illnesses. I had my daughter and, without her father's help, raised her on my own with very little to no support. I helped friends with their farm who left me homeless in the end because I want interested in an extramarital affair. I lost my home and all that I loved including my husband because he lied to me and never paid it mortgage while I was recovering from an illness. In short, I have had a tough life, but it has never made me turn my back on anyone who needed help or in difficult family when they were ignored by the others. That's just some background before I tell you this situation.
Three years ago, after a bout of covid, my daughter was suicidal. She had been in the top three of her HS class and yet at that point almost failed her junior year. Not knowing if she would have the emotional strength to face college and adulting in general, I set up a plan B for her. I started a store in her name and that way she'd have something at least to fall back on if she was unable to function in the m-f 9 to 5 world. We started slow by doing craft fairs, seeking crystals, candles, jewelry, and gifts. We were kicked out of one because the person running it assumed we were witches. She was not wrong exactly as we identified as pagan, but we lived our life closest to the Buddhist and Hindu traditions, not traditional wicca. These were people who knew us for years and were considered acquaintances if not friends.
Our business flourished and we ended up opening our brick and mortar that fall after remodeling our garage/ barn and turning it into a store front. Even though I run it for my daughter, it is hers and we work together to keep it going.
In the past few years I've lost my mom, and two uncles. I have no family besides my mother's sister and her husband which we were pretty close. My aunt knew that I was pagan and had tried recruiting me into her religion since I was 5. Even at that tender age her religion never made sense and I would ask her questions to which she never had answers. I accepted her and respected her and her religion even though I didn't agree. I loved the people she introduced me to that were in her church and I always got along with them. That is until we visited the year after we started our store. My aunt was thrilled about us bringing crystals down and making jewelry with her. We met a new friend of hers (middle aged woman) who ignored me completely and oozed affection on my daughter. She got my daughter's contact info and contacted her frequently. Trying to convert and ”save” her. My daughter wasn't having it as even though she was in a delicate state, she is very level headed and strong willed.
This year we visited and we brought herbal tea, candies, and rare vintage tea cups for my aunt. The day we were leaving, she handed back everything but the vintage tea cups and told me she couldn't accept them because they were touched by Satan (aka made by my hands). To say I was devastated is an understatement. This woman was always like a second mom to me and we had grown closer after my mom passed away. It was a 20 hour drive home and I cried most of the way. I cried for weeks after a well. Thinking of it now still brings me tears. As she was telling me that Satan had a hold on me and that she was trying to save me, all I did was remind her how much I loved her and my uncle. Every time since then that we have talked, she says the same thing, but now she told me I was a lost cause. I feel like trying to stay in touch is detrimental to her mental health ( and my own). I don't want to give up or abandon the last of my family, but I can't talk to her and endure the endless insinuations that I'm evil because I don't believe in her religion. She took a bad fall and broke her arm. The last time we spoke, she talked as if it was my fault for bringing the devil into her home.
While I could usually brush this off as delusional ranting, it hits hard because the same day she fell, my dad died. I know the Powers That Be only give as much as we can handle, I just wish they didn't have so much faith in me.
They are in their 80s. I know in all the pieces of my broken heart that they'll never be able to accept my daughter and I unless we change religions and it has crossed my mind just to say we have to put her at ease, but I can't lie like that to them and we cannot betray ourselves like that either. By

Question is pretty self explanatory. The TVs are not particularly easy to replace, with one being on a televator and the other on a non-swing non-tilt wall mount. Plus we are kinda strapped for cash after buying the RV and the truck to tow it, so I’d like to make these work.
I’ve read two conflicting opinions. One says all you need to do is not connect the tv itself to WiFi at all. We do not now or ever plan to use Alexa apps, the Alexa remote, Amazon Prime Video etc. We should be able to simply connect the ATV to HDMI and connect it to WiFi. However I’ve also read that the tv won’t work at all if it’s not connected itself to WiFi.
In our house, we have two Samsung TVs. One is too old to use the Apple app on it, so it’s connected to the Apple TV and the native connection is turned off with no problems. Our newer one has the Apple TV app which we do use occasionally but it also has its own ATV because that’s where our streaming apps are installed. For that tv I just need to change inputs. Not a problem at all. We don’t have any cable subscriptions - just Netflix, Hulu, Paramount and Peacock. Together they are about a third of what we used to pay directv.. I’d like to bring an already loaded ATV with us to the RV, and just change the name of the network. We have a cable based docsis gateway at home and use 5.0 to connect the tv and the Apple TV to internet. In the rv we will likely not have 5.0 in the foreseeable future. Our gateway is all cellular LTE. We cannot afford Starlink. And TMoble shut off our 5G cellular gateway. So we have TravlFi.

My current hardware has been serving me well. I have a 1U asrack server, with 4 hot swappable bays. It has an amd 3600x and 64 GB of ecc ram. I run my plex-16 users, HA, cameras, game servers and a variety of support apps around those. This is all hosted from trunas core. The only 2 problems I have with the unit is it can’t do hardware transcode for plex and it’s at 96% storage capacity. The only upgrade I have ready to deploy is a coral accelerator for my frigate cameras.
My current hardware plan is to spin up a new server inside a Supermicro CSE-829HE1C4-R1K02LPB or something similar. I’ll put a recent intel cpu with the UHD 770 available for plex transcode purposes.
This should give me plenty of storage space and the transcoding I’m lacking on my other server, question is what should I run on each? Current idea is:

1. New supermicro server - trunas core or scale
   a. Plex and it’s associated support apps
   b. network storage for my original 1u server
   
2. Old asrack server. - trunas scale or proxmox
   a. Home automation - I’d like to run the native app but still trying to figure out the best implementation. Currently building a new home so I’ll have a large mix of z-wave devices, though it’s a blank slate at this point.
   b. Frigate - I‘ll have 8 reolink cameras using a dual coral chip for detetection
   c. Variety of game servers
   d. pihhole
   e. Home router - going to try the pciexpress version of the mikrotik router
   

I’m really comfortable with with trunas but don’t mind learning something new.

Hi everyone,
I'm planning a 19-21 day road trip starting and ending in Denver, with a focus on hiking and camping in national parks and enjoying the landscapes of the West.
I'll be renting a GMC Acadia (or similar 7-seater) which I'll mostly sleep in, but I'll also have a tent for possible multi-day hikes or backcountry camping.
I had thought about heading north towards Glacier NP and looping back, but I think early June might be a little early in the season.
Here's my initial rough plan:

• Rocky Mountain NP for a couple of days
• Drive from Grand Lake to Durango over a few days and maybe hike a section of the Colorado Trail
• Drive from Durango to Zion NP with possible stops at:
  • Canyonlands
  • Oljato-Monument Valley
  • Antelope Canyon
  • The Grand Canyon
• Spend a few days in Zion NP and Capitol Reef NP
• Drive up to Yellowstone NP for a couple of days

I'd appreciate any advice on this itinerary, especially

• Route suggestions, places I should add or skip and how long to spend in each place
• Camping spots and hiking trails
• Recommendations for budget ranch stays and horseback riding experiences
• Suggestions for experiencing Native American culture

Also anything else I should know in terms of pre booking or permits etc
Thanks

Hello,
2 years ago we thoroughly renovated our house (1963) in the green edge around Brussels (Belgium) for the future. Now it is the turn of our driveway and terrace.
The property is a (compact) detached villa on a plot of land of 14 ares. The front garden is a piece of land of 100 m^2 (slightly sloping downwards towards the house). The current terrace measures 40 m^2.
We want to carry out the following works:

• Newly constructed gravel driveway. I would also like to enlarge the driveway a bit and install new coping stones.
  
• Enlarged terrace (80 m^2). Top layer consisting of concrete.
  

This must have a strong enough foundation so that it can function as a precursor for an additional building. Given the sloping garden, we would have to work with stairs towards the garden.
Questions about driveway:

1. The current driveway once consisted of pebbles, but not much remains. Furthermore, it is still quite straight, without holes.

Is it sufficient to dig out 15cm here and pour pebbles over it, or should I also lay pebble mats?

1. Which tools do I definitely need? Is a demolition hammer and some shopping sufficient, or should I also get a small excavator?

Questions about terrace:

1. I plan to make a wooden box around my future patio. I would then place crushed stone in this as a base.

Can I also use the top layer of my driveway for this?
And how many cm of crushed stone should I provide here?

1. How thick should my concrete layer be and what slope should I use?
   
2. What can I use as sides for my terrace? Concrete slabs?
   
3. Which things should I definitely not overlook here?
   

Thanks in advance for all the answers!

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“If the Browns were pioneers in their errand into a wilderness, they were also pioneers of forging friendly relations with people of different races. Owen’s childhood friendship with the likable African native Sam, along with his Christian Abolitionism, had rid him of racial prejudice. He forbade his family to discriminate against people of color.”(Reynolds 30)
“Unlike earlier Christian settlers from Columbus through Cortés to William Bradford, the Browns did not let feelings of so-called ethnic superiority poison their view of the natives. For them Indians were not savage “others” to be conquered but rather fellow humans to he respected.” (Reynolds 31)
“The Browns were unusual not only among previous explorers but even among their fellow whites in Hudson. Owen would later explain that his kindly attitude toward the natives was not generally shared: “When we came to Ohio the Indians were more numerous than the white People but were very friendly and I beleave were a benifet rather than injery there [were] some Persons that seamed disposed to quarel with the Indians, but I never had.” (Reynolds 31)
“Owen Brown was a rare instance of a white American completed to Christianity but at the same intent on not forcing his religion or customs on the Indians.” To the contrary, he had a mutually beneficial relationship with them. He exchanged meal and bread for the turkey, venison, and fish they brought him.” (Reynolds 31)
“Sensitivity to the experience of blacks was ever -present and instinctive with him. He not only taught his children to be kind to blacks; he urged them to be close friends with them and to be open to living with them." (Reynolds 56)
"In an 1834 letter to his brother Frederick he (John Brown), described two plans he had to help African Americans. One was to adopt "at least one negro boy or youth" and "bring him up as we do our own —viz., give him a good English education, learn him what we can about the history of the world, and above all try to teach him the fear of God." (Reynolds 56).
"On January 18, 1837, John Brown addressed a crow of Abolitionists and free blacks in Cleveland in support of a petition to the state legislature to repeal the black laws." (Reynolds 61)
"Brown took action not only against legal discrimination but also against discrimination on a more personal level. In the summer of 1836, just after the Brown family had moved to Hudson, the Western Reserve got what was perhaps its first exposure to a totally nonracist white person (even the abolitionists in the Reserve were known to accept the prevailing racial stereotypes of the era). (Reynolds 61).
Citations Reynolds, David S. John Brown Abolitionist: the Man Who Killed Slavery, And Seeded Civil Rights. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/nci/BA73848620