I don't think it's loud enough.
If you account and adjust for inflation by all means this should reach $1289.00
What's it called when you try to buy shares and it won't execute because of a delay? Do you call it, The Hood Trade?
The loudest thing I hear, like a deafening drum banging in my ear, is the notion that housing prices rose because there is a strangle on supply and on top of all that, interest rates went up to a crushing point. A wildly growing amount of people can't afford to repurchase the homes they live in. Not only, are people not leaving their homes because of old locked in interest rates; they aren't leaving because there is nothing available out there.
And the response to it is, we can't lower the interest rates because of the price of jeans/pants and higher rent.
The rent thing is puzzling because how can you lower rent if you just caused the person giving the rent a higher interest rate. It seems that it's actually a motivating factor to increase the rent when you now have to borrow money at a higher rate.
You see, the initial inflation came from the lack of supply because of the pandemic and the saving of cash from staying home. Surely, that situation is no longer in the market. I mean sure, I still can't get that GH200 from Jensen but other than that there are eggs and toilette paper in the grocery store last time I checked.
Inflation at this moment is from pure greed but the punishment isn't on those entities; it's on us.
The mechanism to calm inflation has no ability to target aspects that are causing it other than the crippling of the individual person and family.
The hawkish talk is enough. You're yelling at the wrong folk. Regular folk aren't causing inflation. It's out of control but all I see are mom and pop shops closing. Lol before we saw institutions and banks fall. Now, it's your local convenience store and barber shop going under.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/03/30/commercial-real-estate-2024-loans/
If you want to know - what was the cause this time. Well, it's going to be that. Seems like we're at the, almost all out of the pushovers & suckers phase.
At what point in history did someone ever say, hey you know what that inflation lowered and I think I can lower your rent now by ahhh $500. Ask a New Yorker when that ever occurred.
Now is not the time to regulate and tariff things. Now is the time to empower regular folk and allow them to compete with less regulation, easier access to loans and game the system that has worked against them to our benefit. I'll stop it on that note.

Hey y'all, first time user of this subreddit because I don't typically do fantasy basketball but this opportunity that approached me last year was too good not to take; and I'm in desperate need of advice. Long story short, a person that I trust very much in my life and is well integrated into my family and extended family offered me to play for him in his fantasy league, where the buy in was 5k and "if we win, you can have it all." This hasn't been the first time I've played for him either. I played in the same league a few years ago with the same group of guys.
Skipping past the whole league and its ups and downs; I win it. I had sole control of his account and made every single waiver wire move, trade request/accept/decline, and all of the research involved in a fantasy league. Hours upon hours looking at advanced stats and watching tape. The only thing I didn't do, was draft (but I was on call with him and giving real time advice for who to buy etc etc).
I have receipts of him confirming the buy in amount at the beginning of the league and promising me it would be all mine if I won. Here's a few of the wrenches in the gearbox though:

1. His brother is the commissioner of the league
   
2. They committed the cardinal sin of not collecting the buy in cash at the beginning
   
3. I have no one's contact information except for him and his brother
   
4. There was a redraft because Devin Booker got sold for $1 at auction on accident (more on this later)
   

Because Devin Booker got sold for so cheap, we restarted the draft a week later and, supposedly, the buy in amount changed to an uncertain amount that he didn't tell me about. Sounds like pretty important information to tell the guy thats playing the whole thing for you, right? I was playing the whole year under the guise that the buy in was such a large amount. I asked about confirming the total payout and the buy in amount and got left on delivered when I said:
"What was the buy in amount then lol ? If it got changed half way thru the season I should’ve known"
What is really funny is that he completely ignored it and sent me a happy birthday message a week later. The payout equates for much more than a years worth of wages. I dedicated a lot of time to it that I could have spent studying for university.I can definitely find a way of contacting his brother to find out what is really happening in the league and ask about the buy in amount. But there is the off chance that he also knows what is happening. If push comes to shove I can stalk their instagram accounts and find the other people in the league to ask about what is happening. Obviously I do not want this to go to civil court because most of the money is going to be thrown into lawyers and legal fees.
Please ask for any clarifying questions, I'm sure I missed some details.

(Sorry this will be long also sorry for the typos it’s really late while I’m typing this)
Long time lurker in this subreddit as I was hoping to get inspired by some of the users stories though the inspiration lasted only a few minutes. What I’m hoping to get out of this post is some guidance or a wake up call as I feel like I’ve hit rock bottom with no upward motion. I know I need to be better than this and I want to be better than this.
I’m a 26 year old African American male , still lives at home with his parents , no real job at the moment (currently applying) and I feel like all my life I have been persevering,inconsistent , and always playing catch up. But this officially feels like my last chance to lock in and stop messing around with my life. I’m currently on academic suspension from my 3rd year of a doctorate of pharmacy program and in the appeal process to get reinstated back into the program I also got my pharmacist intern license suspended until I get reinstated to school again which is kind of hindering me from getting a job in a pharmacy. I’m trying to take the steps to make myself ready to step back into school and get my act together though I DONT KNOW WHERE TO START!!! I have not told my friends or family about it because I feel like I’ve failed myself and them. I take full responsibility for this. however, the factors leading to this situation date back to 2020. My life felt like I was on the right trajectory I had a great physical and mental health relationship with myself, great connections with family and friends,I had investments, I was planning financially for the future ,I had my own business as a strength and conditioning specialist and worked at a physical therapy facility as an assistant I graduated college with a double major in public health and kinesiology with an emphasis in clinical movement i took the mcat didn’t do too well so I applied out of the country for med school was doing well for the first semester though I began having trouble with my significant other and felt as though we were drifting apart and the situation I felt we were all in at the time was a bit much and it took a toll on me academically and in the relationship trying to balance a fun romantic life with a medical program that I was supposed to dedicate 4-8 years of my life to ultimately lead to me getting dismissed from med school due to not passing to classes . Following this news my ex got a job out of state and moved while I was trying to find a new career shift or professional degree to obtain I immediately landed two pharmacy school interviews about a month after applying and got accepted to one of the schools this career choice was never in my cards as I’ve always wanted to have a doctorate degree and work on that level. Few weeks after that me and my ex had separated officially and it took a bigger toll on me than expected and manifested in the worst ways possible for me . Instead of seeking therapy I copped in other ways. It impacted me financially I bought a brand new Mercedes that took most of my money I was impatient with my investments and sold majority of my bitcoin thinking it wouldn’t go up again (L move) my credit score went from 750+ to low 500’s by placing myself into 15k credit card debt paying for alcohol & weed (exponentially more than what I had before), clothes , and random vacations and dates with women from hinge and tinder all on top of student loans for grad school. I developed a sex addiction and added over 100 bodies in a span of 2 years . Had a panic attack that put me in the ER . All while dragging my way through pharmacy school (I’m more than capable of understanding and implementing the material into practice my study habits and focus were always elsewhere). Not to mention I think I have a social media addiction and my procrastination and laziness has led me to feel more anxious and depressed. My physical fitness and diet has suffered thought not entirely that’s pretty much the only positive habit I have since 2020. I just feel like my life is leading to a path of no return and I’ll be homeless one day. I need to turn things around I can’t always think I’ll catch up I have to get ahead and stay ahead. I want to be person that makes myself proud and inspire other young African American men or anyone who’s had odds stacked against them. How do I turn this around?

Embarking on your solar journey is an exciting step towards energy independence and environmental responsibility. But the process can be daunting, especially when it comes to getting quotes and choosing the right solar installer.
To help you navigate this crucial phase, we've compiled essential tips, drawing insights from competitor analysis and the experiences of countless homeowners.

1. Do Your Research Before Requesting Quotes

Before diving into the quoting process, invest time in researching the solar landscape.
​

• Understand the Basics: Familiarize yourself with solar technology, the different types of panels and systems, and how solar can benefit your specific home. This knowledge will empower you to ask informed questions during consultations.
  
• Check Your Roof: Assess your roof's suitability for solar panels. Consider factors like orientation, shading, and size. If your roof isn't ideal, explore alternative options like ground-mounted solar or community solar programs.
  
• Financial Incentives: Research available local, state, and federal incentives, such as tax credits, rebates, and net metering policies. These can significantly impact your solar investment's financial viability.
  

2. Gather Multiple Quotes

Don't settle for the first quote you receive. Instead, aim for at least three to five quotes from different solar installers. This will give you a broader perspective on pricing, system options, and company approaches.

3. Compare Quotes Carefully

​

• System Size and Production: Pay close attention to the proposed system size and its estimated annual energy production. Ensure it aligns with your energy consumption needs.
  
• Cost Breakdown: Examine the cost breakdown carefully. What's included in the price? Are there any hidden fees or additional costs? Look for transparency in pricing.
  
• Warranties and Guarantees: Compare warranties on panels, inverters, workmanship, and performance guarantees. A good installer will offer comprehensive protection for your investment.
  
• Financing Options: If you're not paying cash, explore the financing options offered by each installer. Compare interest rates, loan terms, and monthly payments.
  

4. Vet the Installers

Beyond the numbers, it's crucial to assess the installers themselves:
​

• Experience and Reputation: Look for established companies with a proven track record in the solar industry. Check online reviews and ask for references to gauge their reputation.
  
• Certifications and Licenses: Verify that installers have the necessary licenses and certifications, such as NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) certification.
  
• Customer Service: How responsive and helpful is the company? A good solar installer will prioritize clear communication and exceptional customer service throughout the process.
  

5. Ask the Right Questions

Don't hesitate to ask questions during consultations. Here are some key inquiries:
​

• Can you explain the technical details of the proposed system?
• How do you handle permitting and inspections?
• What kind of ongoing maintenance and support do you offer?
• What is your estimated timeline for installation?
• Can you provide references from previous customers?

Read More: What Is The Power Output Of A Solar Panel

​

FAQs

• How long does it take to get solar quotes? Typically, you can expect to receive quotes within a few days to a week after your initial inquiry.
• Should I choose the cheapest quote? Not necessarily. The cheapest quote might not always offer the best value. Consider factors like warranty, equipment quality, and installer reputation.
• What happens after I accept a quote? The installer will handle the permitting process, schedule the installation, and guide you through system activation and net metering enrollment.
• Can I negotiate the price? Yes, it's often possible to negotiate with installers. Don't be afraid to ask for a better deal or compare offers from different companies.
• Do solar panels require a lot of maintenance? Solar panels are generally low-maintenance. Most require only occasional cleaning and an annual inspection.

By following these tips and asking the right questions, you'll be well-equipped to choose the best solar installer for your needs and secure the best possible deal for your solar investment.

I am (26f) going to marry a man (let's call him Kaive) (31m) in 2 months. Ever since I was 12 my parents left me to babysit my 4 siblings and take care of them, they had their college paid for and I had to take out many student loans. Basically they left me to grow up on my own (I had the worst childhood) and I still remember the days I used to cry after doing all the household chores, I couldn't do my homework and my teacher would punish me for that. I was just 15 then. My siblings had comparatively all the love and comfort my parents could give. I was struggling financially and I struggled throughout the college, my parents couldn't bother to check on me neither helped me out financially. They were pretty well off. 6 months ago I met Kaive on a dating app, I wasn't looking for any relationship and just a place to stay so I don't become homeless. Kaive wasn't the most handsome guy but pretty good looking, he was pretty rich (generational wealth), his parents wanted him to marry their business associate daughter and he didn't wanted to. They gave him ultimatum that either he marry her or marry someone otherwise he'll get kicked out of their inheritance. He told me due to his parents pressure he decided find a girl who could agree to the arrangement of being married for 2-3 years and the divorce without any alimony and with prenuptial agreement. After 2-3 dates, he spilled the beans and I also told him, I wasn't looking for any love but just a place to stay. Within few days we shared all of our issues, we both discussed and came to a conclusion that I want to be taken care of, I don't want to live in stress all the time to get kicked out and be homeless. We both had the deal, that he can sleep with anyone he likes and I won't interfere in his business and in return I will be the SAHW, all the bills paid and I'll do all the household chores. I agreed to his no alimony/prenuptial agreement demand and he'll be paying for my degree (since due to lack of money I had to choose a really shitty major which I wasn't interested in college). I was ready to sign prenuptial agreement and agreements where I agreed that I won't be asking for any alimony or any settlement. I told him, I'm fine with the fact that I'm a gold digger and I'm using him for money. He told me, it's fine and he don't care.
I was dumb that I disclosed this with my sister and she told our parents and everyone is blasting me on social media that I'm a gold digger and I should back out of this. I put up the post that I'm fine with being a gold digger and I'm not denying it. Then I proceeded to delete all my socials. I've been getting countless calls and messages to back out and Kaive told me to just block them and move on.
AITAH for being a gold digger? Am I doing right?

You know when I first came to the PH and started dating Filipinas I felt a sense of shame. Thoughts like 'loser back home' and 'oh why coulldn't you make it in your own country?' came to my head. But then the reality of my situation sunk in - I live like a king on what would be a pauper's salary in America.
Here's some other things I considered.

• 50% + of so-called 'normal' marriages fail. (My wife is my best friend)
• The average American has $6,501 in credit card debt (I don't even own a credit card)
• The average American has $38,787 in student loan debt (I paid off my student loans nearly twenty years ago
• The average American has $23,792 in car debt. (I paid cash for my car and motorcycle)
• The average American owes $244,498 on their house. (We paid cash for house and lot)
• The average American can't afford a $500 emergency without using a credit card (that's not the case for me)

Sometimes we may have thoughts that we were losers or some trolls will come in here to try to make us feel bad; but at the end of the day we don't have to set in traffic every morning on I-95 to get to work. Moving to the Philippines was the best decision I've ever made in my life and probably yours too.

Payback_paycheck2 deleted from /borrow

• Link to the deleted post
• Was a selfpost with score: 1
• Submitted 2020-02-01 00:13 (UTC)
• Was up for for approx 1564.24 days
• Probably deleted within the past 21.94 days
  • Was last seen up around 2024-04-22 07:30 (UTC)
  • Deletion detected at 2024-05-14 05:58 (UTC)

Active loans

• redditloans.com mobile search
• Could not fetch loan data from redditloans.com (error?)

Quick search

• Search for all deleted posts by this author

Title

REQ (Repay $130, in full by March) (Paypal)

Post contents

I had to quit my job due to college and some other stuff. If it interest any of you the other stuff was due to a deadline that my job set for a paper signing. I had to sign a paper to say I did not get benefits. The day and time they specified was during an ice storm so I had to call in and give my 2 weeks rather than getting fired. I'm from Missouri so these storms have been happening frequently as of recently.
I told both of my parents that I would have a job in 2 months at the most. I am getting my tax return back and should have enough for just about half of the $130, then my birthday is on the 7th and I can most likely pay it all back then. I am in engineering school with 14 credit hours so this has been stressing me out a lot. I missed one payment and now owe $91, I am a full $534 out $500 in debt due to the interest. I was not planning on my job doing this, I worked there for a year prior. The credit is through Paypal, which was a terrible decision on my part. I was planning on building my credit but for those of you familiar with Paypal credit it only reports to the credit companies when something negative happens. By paying $130 it should put me in a comfortable spot to pay the rest off when I get as job and reduce my stress for studies.

AM I TAH?
So for starters my best friend from kindergarten is mad at me. 19 years of friendship.
They recently started “ghosting me” (ignoring my messages/phone calls) this isn’t nothing out of the usual as she does have a mental disorder (BPD) we call it their “going rouge” episodes so I didn’t think much of it. They usually snap out of it within a month or so. Well it was well over 6 months and they’ve been active on fb, snap, and everything else. Ignoring my meme tags. That’s never been like them before. So I messaged and asked if they were seriously ok, and if I did something to make them mad… well I got a long message…
They said there was 2 main reasons why they weren’t talking to me anymore.
They said I was “acting better” than them bc I told them my car was 30,000 dollars more than theirs… just wait here me out.. they got a car that was a fraction of the cost of mine (nothing wrong with that at all) but they were crying to me on the phone when it had broke down and said they thought maybe it was a bad decision. I tried to reassure them that just because it may break down it’s cheaper to fix than buying a new one. As they claim they don’t want a huge car payment.
A brief explanation my car was 30,000 and it has had almost 9,000 dollars of warranty work done. (Thank god for extended warranties) My car has been in the shop more than I had it.
As they was crying to me overthinking their decision I tried to reassure them that hey, all cars break down. “My car was 30,000 and broke down so many times at least you will have way less than that put into your car after you get it fixed. (Their car needed a new head gasket). They claim I was trying to make it seem like mine was more expensive than theirs
I’m not saying this to be mean at all because I truly have tried to work with them with their diagnosis. But All our lives they’ve always made everything a competition. They’ve lived with a narcissist and their parent was diagnosed with it.
Their second reason to “ghost me” was recently they and their partner were looking at buying a house. The house next to me became up for sale. We both thought it would be a perfect idea. (Not knowing the price) They wanted me to ask the realtor how much they wanted for it. Come to find out it’s over quarter of a million dollar house. With 40+ acres. They advised me both of their credit aren’t the greatest and asked if I could put my name on the loan with them as my credit is almost near perfect and If I could help them with a down payment. (They know I have a good chunck saved up for when I buy a home)
I told them I was not comfortable doing it as I don’t even have my own home yet, and when I do go to buy my home it will show I already own a home. (Their home) I advised them that getting a mortgage is harder than just going to a bank and getting approved for an absurd amount as the average houses in our area go for 60-90k (we live in a very small run down town) they are both just starting out, no kids and this house is a 4 bedroom 3 bath house. I told them I don’t know if the bank would even qualify all 3 of us combined.
I make 40,000 a year. 14 an hour. I work OVERTIME. Almost 70 hours a week. 66 hours regularly. More if I get called in on call.. I am single and asexual (a little tmi but it matters here) I do not plan on having a partner in the future. So I will be a one income person. So I need to save up as much as I can now so I will be able to afford my mortgage with a good down payment when time comes. Their significant other makes 15+ and they make 14+ an hour. More than double what I make, they both live with their parents with hardly any bills… (some but not to the point they shouldn’t be able to save) I have bills, car payment, drive a lot for work I spend a lot in gas and pay rent. Neither of them have major bills.
They’re seriously mad at me for telling them I can’t risk not being able to afford to live comfortably. I can’t take that risk. We grew up and still live in the 5th poorest county in our state. We all got lucky to get good jobs as most around here are minimum wage jobs. I seriously do not want to grow up in poverty like we did growing up. It may sound silly but my goal in life is to own my own home and be somewhat financially stable and not have to live off the government to survive as all 3 of us had to do growing up. That is my ONLY goal in life.
In my closing statement I really love them to death. We literally grew up together. Our families are so bonded we are all a family. It hurts me they are not talking to me because “I made my self look better than them” and “I made it seem like they won’t go anywhere in life” I’ve NEVER thought that at all in my life. I AM their biggest supporter. We see our selves siblings. I’m hoping this is just something we can get over.
So am I the asshole for trying to comfort them letting them know even if they fix their car it’s still the best route as all cars can have major break downs like mine, and for telling them no for putting my name on a mortgage that wouldn’t even be my home?

The memories of us are fading into the obscurity of the sea that is a thousand memories or more of nothing but heartbreak, abandonment, the things I've done, the things I've failed to do, the things that I've allowed others to do to me. Just a smattering of experiences that have fractured me into the mess that lacked identity to such a degree, he could only take it from his job, from what little bit I felt was even worthy of providing to you (in the sense that nothing I ever did would be good enough, you always made it abundantly clear you had your foot out the door, just not always your words,) down to the things buried deep from childhood I tell no one. No one except you, and my mother, who you're so alike in so many ways despite being a different race, from a different state, with a different background, higher education; despite it all, you two are so alike. Other than you, she's easily caused me the most pain out of anyone in my life.
Just like her, you refuse to see what consequences your actions render until you think someone is on the verge of abandoning you. Even then, it's backhanded apologies, excessive self-flagellation, emotional extortion to where the other person is always the problem. I got in a fight with her today. Felt like I was fighting with you. Enough for me to say I regretted ever being born out loud on the phone to her; she blamed this "change" (me not allowing her to emotionally extort me) on you. It has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with her, yet, all I can see are those curls, those freckles, those brown eyes turned shark black, seeking vengeance and recompense for the crime of anyone ever daring to attempt to hold you accountable for your actions.
My life is objectively better without you in it, yet still, some flashes linger here and there. When I'm out of town, or when I go on vacation, it isn't so bad. When I'm in our city, it creeps its way back in like some kind of parasitic worm, eating at the recesses of my mind and my world until I can no longer resist and find myself saying what I'd say to you if you ever try to come back when I'm by myself. How I'd be so strong, tell you so easily to go away, how I'd rage, how I'd scream about how you've tried to slander me in our mutual community of clients and colleagues, how you bombarded my phone with calls, endless emails, texts, how you Cash Apped me a dollar to talk to you, how you threatened me with frivolous and baseless legal action, how you've falsely accused me of horrific things to the point I've had to consider lawyering up far more seriously than I ever have. You even tried to draw mom into it, but you failed to account for one thing: master manipulators recognize their own kind.
After this fight with Mom, I blocked her. She called me from her husband's number and started yet again another fight, deflecting any responsibility from anything she's done, expecting me and my brothers to simply act as though years of neglect and abandonment at her hands doesn't bother us at all. She's employed virtually all the same strategies minus the emails and slandelegal threats to bring me into her sphere again. She got me to relent and blame everything on myself, like I said earlier, to the point I expressed regretting ever being born. Calling myself a horrible son. Blaming myself for burdening her with my existence. Believing it, what's more. Had my friend not been there to talk to me afterwards, I likely would've ran with it. But after she brought you up and I reflected on how she acted, you've been pulled to the forefront yet again, but without the sting that's usually attached to that face concealing the all-consuming spirit of self-worship that encompasses your entire sense of self. I realized that if it hadn't been for the hellish life she had unleashed on all her children, with my father at least partially helping in that effort on my end, I never would've been prepared to endure someone like you and be able to see things as clearly as they are and for what they are when it comes to your involvement in my life. I'm hoping I retain the lessons I've learned from this with you and that the memories of you, and of us, fade into the eternal blackness of so many other undoubtedly suppressed memories. I pray one day I'll find someone that's nothing like either of you, but above all, I pray I'll be alright enough for if that day ever comes. For now, I'm going to figure out who I am. I'm building the foundations of my identity, and once that's done, I can work on everything else. Love of the romantic variety seems far too taxing, risky and dangerous to ever actively pursue again.

Little Author's Note up here since it was missed in the last chapter by some people: I don't approve of anyone "narrating" or using my story for their youtube channels or whatever as it makes me uncomfortable. I’ve been getting messages whenever I post a chapter asking the same thing and I keep saying no. If you see this story on youtube or elsewhere, I didn’t approve of it or give them my permission to do so.
Also I hope you enjoy this chapter, I had some difficulty writing it, so it’s probably not my best quality.
Cerelia, Altrin Female, Captain of The Opal Star
I smirk at my wrist data pad as I can see Triwt is basically hunting and chasing down the remaining pirates while expertly leading them to me for a trap.
“Triwt, you know me so well.” I say with a fully smug tone as I ready my rifle and prepare to open fire.
Not yet
The footsteps are getting louder.
Not yet…
The footsteps, given how good my hearing is, have now rounded the corner and there’s a shriek of terror.
“Boys! Turn back and save your damn Captain! The damn girl has me!”
I can’t help but smirk, it seems the ugly bastard did come aboard the ship. What’s better is that Triwt has grabbed him, leaving the remaining 4 pirates not looking this way.
Now.
Triwt, Female Valis-Trobat Hybrid, Security Commander
I’m slightly annoyed as I have to constantly dodge and weave going through the corridor. These dumbasses aren’t even aiming where they're shooting. I quickly duck low to the ground to dodge a barrage of plasma bolts, when I hear the one thing I was looking forward to. Click click click…
Silence follows the clicking of empty TOR’s besides the frantic running. It’s then replaced by one of the pirates, not the Captain, shrieking as she runs ahead of the others in a panic. In no sense am I a sadistic person, but however in this situation, I might have smiled a bit to her reaction as I pick up the pace and quickly enter melee range.
Hm, maybe we can afford one prisoner…
I see the corner coming up as I whip my body around and grab the Captain with my tail.
EWWWW He’s all slimy and mucusy! Goddess this is worse than Jordan Cores bleeding on my fur. EWWW!!!
“Boys! Turn back and save your damn Captain! The damn girl has me!”
Despite my own internal hatred of the sensation of having to get that gross slime like mucus on my tail of all things, I still pull the Captain back as they round the corner looking back at me as they abandon their captain. I give them a wave right before a hail of gunfire shreds through them, leaving only a fine mist.
I’m surprised Cerelia is allowed to even own such a modified weapon. I can’t even shoot it while holding it with all 4 of my arms due to the recoil! She says it’s registered as a ceremonial weapon. I suppose a sudden funeral is a ceremony in itself.
I smirk at the thought before returning my attention to this gross captain wrapped up in my tail.
Cerelia, Altrin Female, Captain of The Opal Star
I let out a relaxed sigh as I released the trigger from my grip. I don’t particularly enjoy battle, but there seems to be something within my own instincts that triggers dopamine at the end of a battle.
Probably something to do with Altrins being a hunter race before we were modern and spacefaring. Might have to ask a historian about that, if not at the very least a psychologist.
I lower my rifle as Triwt slithers down the hall, her fur undeniably red in a few spots where her fur was exposed, but mostly on her uniform. She keeps going with the Alcoranth Captain being dragged along by her tail, already bound up and gagged.
“I can deal with the blood of Jordan Cores, but take this bastard away from me before I slit his throat for getting mucus on my tail.”
Oh, she is pissed. She’s just doing a good job at mostly containing it.
I nod before speaking, “Just knock him out for now and we’ll put him in a cryopod or something. His slime-like excretions from his skin might make him an easy flight risk since we can assume he can slip out of handcuffs and other bindings fairly easily.”
Triwt nods at me and uses a Stun Baton to knock him out for now after hitting him with probably more volts than regulated.
I suppose it’s better than bashing his head against the wall until he passes out.
The remaining guards who were left with me take the now prisoner captain away from Triwt and begin transporting him to a cryopod room meant for emergencies like if the ship’s thrusters stop working and we’re years away from rescue.
We could just set up an SOS frequency broadcast and then put everyone in cryo until rescue arrives. But now, it’s a makeshift prison for a cowardly pirate.
Now… for the real battle in all of this. The battle on the inside.
Lys, Verkrawn Male, Fauna Research Specialist
Silence. Well, except my ears are ringing from the sound of gunfire that has now stopped.
I take in a shaky breath in what feels like the first time in forever. Everything is shaking now that the fighting seems to have stopped. It seems I’m not the only one who was holding their breath for so long as other crew members near me seemed to breathe in, while a few start to break down crying.
We’re not fighters like security, Triwt, or Cerelia. Most of us had never seen people die, to say the least how brutal it was to see how Jordan Cores attacked the Alcoranth. I feel my face with my clawed hands and feel the warm liquid of my tears running down my face.
When did I start crying?
The realization hit me like a powerloader as it’s my turn to break down crying, my own legs failing me as they shook before I found myself weeping on the floor as the thoughts and emotions flooded my head with what happened and how terrible this was. I keep crying as I feel the large paw of my older sister as she slowly sits me up and holds me in a warm embrace. It makes me think about when I was younger. The days when she and I were in the orphanage. She used to hold me just like this after she would chase away the older kids who would be mean to me. I still remember some of the things she’d say to them.
“I don’t care if a Verkawn’s scales can deflect most bullets, he still has feelings!” The first thing she ever said to the bullies as she chased them off. It was also the day I met her. She had lost her family due to a Slaver raid on the colony world she was living on at the time. She didn’t tell me much about it, and I doubt she would tell me even today, but she always called me her little brother, so I started calling her my older sister. It’s been like that since.
I keep crying until it’s more of a sniffle as I slowly return the embrace.
“They will never hurt you like they hurt me, Lys.” She whispers to me before slowly turning her attention to the crew members with a sad expression. “Nor any of you. Oh, none of this was ever supposed to happen.”
“Y-You can’t predict pirates, Cerelia”
“I know, but they got so close to hurting and enslaving you. I failed to keep you all safe.”
“Cerelia, we’re fine. No one got hurt physically. We should probably just go to the nearest planetary city, maybe see some therapists and psychologists while the ship gets repaired.”
Cerelia nods as she thinks about what I said.
“Yeah, but what about the furless beast? What are we supposed to do about it?” A member says as everyone was slowly coming to grips that they are alive and well. “Are we just going to keep it here? Who knows if it’ll attack us again like it did to Lys or that Alcoranth on the floor there!?”
“He was scared!” Cerelia counters, with a hint of personal anger in her tone. “He couldn’t understand us and was only trying to escape because he thought he was in danger!”
“He was in danger? He is the danger for all I’ve seen!” They countered as I felt like shrinking down and hiding away, before a bit more of an emotional burning sensation rose up in me.
“Shut up!” I suddenly snapped. Silence follows as they wait for me to say something. I have never raised my voice.
“Sure, they found us in here because Jordan Cores had a chip on him, but he didn’t know about it! Not only that, but he at least protected us from that psychopath, breaking his own body and getting shot before doing so! You haven’t even had time to interact with him. While my interactions with him were brief, I could at least tell that he was scared and that he was sorry!” I huff as I silently cry again as I look at both Cerelia and the crew member. I think their name is R’dorn. They’ve always been brash and rude, so I had a tendency to avoid them.
R’dorn looks at me annoyed, but as they are seemingly unable to come up with a good counter argument, they storm out of the safe room.
I look at Cerelia and Triwt before sighing and sitting down. “Sorry…”
“It’s alright, you kinda said what we were all thinking.” Someone says as they place a wing on me. “That, and R’dorn needs to shut up every now and then.” There’s sounds of agreement before it becomes a group embrace of comfort. Much different to huddling in fear.
“So wait, where is Jordan Cores now? Is he okay?”
“He’s in Med Bay 07’s only regeneration pod. He’s going to be fine, but it won’t be a while until he’s out due to his injuries.” Triwt responds as she slithers to the entrance of the room. “How about everyone gets cleaned up, or takes a hot shower to calm their nerves, and in about 2 hours time, we can see how Jordan Cores is holding up?”
That sounds like a good idea. To wash away the stress and some time to think, it sounds super nice.
I let out a sigh and nod. “Yeah, that sounds good to me… I’ll be there then. I guess if everyone else wants to show up, you can as well? Not like I can stop you or force you to, but the suggestion is there. Just trying to be considerate.”
With that, I stand up and I’m escorted back to my room to try and freshen up and clear my head.
And that is chapter 9! I was personally a little bit of mental and emotional wreck while writing because sometimes I don't know what I'm doing. At least that's how it feels. Gonna try and do some experimenting as I kinda want to explore some places now as we’ve been stuck on The Opal Star since the very beginning. So what are we feeling? A desert world, tropical world, or maybe a world that’s high in gravity, but Jordan seems to be just fine? Let me know your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions below, and thank you so much for reading!
First Prev Next

So long story short I have an old pension that was cashed out and mailed to me back in February while I was on the road for a couple months, found it in a stack of mail when I returned in April blah blah 60 days are up and we decided to just use it for debt relief. It was originally 61k, I received 49k and I put 6500 in a hysa. For the 10% penalty for being under 59.5 figured I'd let it sit there and maybe gain something out of it...
So approximately 42k to pay off debt, I have no credit cards those have been long gone, approximately 12k in collections $800 account has a judgment against me so that needs paid first I feel, the other 11k is 4k to a law firm representing portfolio, 4.4k to mcm and a couple others in $1200 and $600 range. I'm not sure how to go about this I imagine money order via certified mail would be the way to go here. Is it worth reaching out to pay less? Or pay full amount? It's all my debt and I want to pay it but we'll if can save a little why not try? My credit is tanked already due to making about 15k in 21, 12k in 22, and 8k in 23 long story but finally back on my feet and have a live in caretaker for my mother now so I'm able to work again. Anyway then I have about 7k in closed accounts I've been making minimums on for 3 years that need to be paid off. So $19k total for me my wife has 11.5k in CC debt I'll be paying off due to me being the reason that debt exists. And 9k left on an auto loan that's $290 a month that I'll probably leave alone for now so roughly 42k available 12k in collections 7k in closed accounts and 11k wifes CCs so approximately 30k total and some others that pop up every now and then like medical bills/debt floating around that I know is out there just don't know the numbers. So I guess what I'm asking is how do I attack this appropriately? I'm just a little overwhelmed and slightly excited about finally getting caught up. Thanks in advance.

I live in California. I paid cash for a 2021 Nissan Versa on December 8, 2022. My car was stolen on June 6, 2023. I was devastated. My insurance company tried to lowball me. I refused offers until they told me ,"This claim has gone on for too long, we are closing it out" This happened on July 8, 2023. I agreed to take $1948,000 on a vehicle I had paid $23,000 with only 12 thousand miles on it. They demanded my Certificate of Title and my Fob Keys, which I mailed, overnite. No money was ever received because within 3 hours after I mailed keys and Pink Slip (Certificate of Title), the police called me to tell me car recovered, looks fine, come pick it up. I was so happy. I did not want the money. I had put so much money into my car in 4 months, and I owned it outright, and had worked 2 jobs for years. So I called insurance company, so happy, let them know My car had been recovered. It took two weeks before they mailed the keys back, but car was in mint condition, had been driven only 9 miles (joyride?) parked in a huge, Walmart, parking lot. I asked for the title to please be mailed back as well. They kept ignoring me. I went to register my car this past December. Only to be denied due to DMV looking at me like a criminal and telling me I had already been paid $19000.00 and vehicle is now owned by my insurance company . I tried explaining , asked for help...they told me Esurance must fix this, you cannot do anything as they legally own the vehicle. I call my claims adjustor, hysterical, and asked him why is my vehicle registered to my insurance company and why does the DMV believe I have been paid $19000,00. He literally told me, "Oh now your just making this up." I tried to ask him to investigate please, he told me, "since you have raised your voice I am hanging up now.' Im downplaying just how rude he was. He basically called me a liar and hung up on me. I was crying but I was not mean, I was almost pleading. He refused to answer my calls and no one else at the office would speak to me, they just forwarded my calls to him. I was in perfect health up until this point. But as each day passed, I begaan to shake from stress, burst into tears, became incredibly depressed, became unable to sleep, spent all my non working hours trying to find a solution. I was unable to concentrate at work. This finally went from beginning to have panic attacks but ended with me waking up after being in a coma, on a ventilator, for 14 days/ I had no idea where I was, was unable to remember how I got to the hosptal or why. I had two Myocardial infarctions, the Doctor explained that I went into full cardiac arrest and a co-worker gave me CPR for 16 minutes until the ambulance arrived. i had a second Cardiac arrest The Doctor told me, shortly after they had settled my into ICU. That one, He told me, they almost were unable to bring me back from. Thank God for The Doctors refusal to stop working on me, my wonderful coworker and The inventor of the Defribulator! Before my release, The Cardiologist told me they could find absolutely no reason for my Heart attack, i have low blood pressure, have no heart or health problems, no family history. They were dumbfounded. i gave him a brief synopsis of my car insurance situation, He told me, ;Stress, it was the stress" "That stress will kill you, you must work on your stress". They referred me to a social worker and a psychologist. When I finally began to regain stress and began to try and demand that my insurance company fix this because they were literally killing me, I felt. I sent a letter, pointing out every single thing that happened, all correspondence, how rudely I was being treated and I sent over my final Diagnosis from the hospital. They never acknowledged my letter. It is now May 13, 2024. have seen attorneys I cannot afford. I was told by DMV Investigations that I definitely need an attorney. Ive been put on Temporary Disability and since I am unable to register my car, I cannot drive it. I am unable to survive on what disability pays. I am losing all hope. I will probably lose my apartment, and may have to live in my car, but my greatest fear now is that my kitty and myself will be on the street, because if they take my car (its illegal to even park an unregistered car on a public street ( is what I was told by the Van Nuys supervisor of the DMV. ) Yet I have asked the Dmv to tell me if there is anyway we can resolve this. I just want them to know i was paid nothing and was finally sent a letter admitting that I wasnt paid anything and it was not my insurance company who made the mistake, it was Copart, and I should take it up with Copart. Okay, this is so beyond absurd. Copart who? Why do I pay full coverage insurance/ when I should pay almost nothing, as this is totally "Do it yourself-Figure it out yourself" insurance. The Claims adjuster told me last week, that they were not going to help me due to my 'Refusal to Communicate with us in January". I got so angry and told him, "So now , You say that I refused to communicate with you?" He said, "Yes, we do." I said," I know for a fact, you never made a single attempt to contact me, while I was in the hospital , after having a heart attack, because phones and emails keep records, and you know, there is no record of anything coming from you or my insurance company . The records I am looking forward to hearing will be all the calls between you and myself. my insurance company claims that every phone call will be taped, and I look forward to the day your employers listen to just how unprofessional, rude and outright sadistic you have treated me. Because you forgot who you work for, sir, and if you did not have policyholders, you would not have a job. You seemed to really enjoy mocking my illness, calling me a liar, hanging up on me. in fact I think we will hear that you threatened to hang up, not look into my claim, and said you were done with my problems and would no longer take my calls.. I have never been treated so cruelly, so rudely, and all I wanted was for my vehicle, which your company never paid a cent to me for, would be transferred back into my name, because I did not make this mistake and I cannot fix this mistake. All I ever wanted from you to fix the mistake that was made by your company You lost nothing in this claim, I only ask that you right a wrong. I have a car that cannot be registered or driven. I oay for your company to ;make me whole' but i would have been better off if i had no insurance at all. My car was found, my car would still be in my name and I could have registered it. Obviously, your never going to help me or make things right' he said, 'i have done all I needed to do, i mailed you the Certificate of Title, so your claim is Closed.' So I have an unsigned Certificate of Title in the name of my insurance company . Which does nothing to help me. Any ideas? So far beyond hopeless, i have lost faith, have lost all joy, no longer leave my apartment. I will do anything, but i just have no clue and no hope. Thank you so much.

https://images2.imgbox.com/e5/da/k7wqjSU1_o.png
Thread URL. I wonder if this will get deleted?
Funnily enough the first reply is to not worry, because this is a mere cash shop sales scheme that will be reverted after the current sales. These sort of replies are 100% getting deleted once the EU mods start work. Seems like a bridge too far for the CIG PR goons.
Selection of replies:

Don't worry, they will likely change the medical system back to how it used to be a few months after the Nursa sale.
Promising/selling one thing, then changing it on a whim for more money, and going back on promises and sold feature sets that people paid for.
Every time a ship first comes out it's awesome and a dream to fly; but then once the sale is over they suddenly pull the 'balance' card and it gets nerfed into the ground...every...single...time.
There is a new agenda for sure
Nursa respawn wasn't a game design decision - it was a marketing decision.
Donations aren't taxed, and even in the latest ISC video they call Star Citizen a live service game.
You're really trying to find mallice in a game still in development where things change drastically and have major imbalances with every patch in order to get players to do things the developers want them to do.
Don't sweat the marketing tactic. They'll change it back to T1 respawning only when we get T1 med beds in ships.

I live in California. I paid cash for a 2021 Nissan Versa on December 8, 2022. My car was stolen on June 6, 2023. I was devastated. My insurance company tried to lowball me. I refused offers until they told me ,"This claim has gone on for too long, we are closing it out" This happened on July 8, 2023. I agreed to take $1948,000 on a vehicle I had paid $23,000 with only 12 thousand miles on it. They demanded my Certificate of Title and my Fob Keys, which I mailed, overnite. No money was ever received because within 3 hours after I mailed keys and Pink Slip (Certificate of Title), the police called me to tell me car recovered, looks fine, come pick it up. I was so happy. I did not want the money. I had put so much money into my car in 4 months, and I owned it outright, and had worked 2 jobs for years. So I called insurance company, so happy, let them know My car had been recovered. It took two weeks before they mailed the keys back, but car was in mint condition, had been driven only 9 miles (joyride?) parked in a huge, Walmart, parking lot. I asked for the title to please be mailed back as well. They kept ignoring me. I went to register my car this past December. Only to be denied due to DMV looking at me like a criminal and telling me I had already been paid $19000.00 and vehicle is now owned by my insurance company . I tried explaining , asked for help...they told me Esurance must fix this, you cannot do anything as they legally own the vehicle. I call my claims adjustor, hysterical, and asked him why is my vehicle registered to my insurance company and why does the DMV believe I have been paid $19000,00. He literally told me, "Oh now your just making this up." I tried to ask him to investigate please, he told me, "since you have raised your voice I am hanging up now.' Im downplaying just how rude he was. He basically called me a liar and hung up on me. I was crying but I was not mean, I was almost pleading. He refused to answer my calls and no one else at the office would speak to me, they just forwarded my calls to him. I was in perfect health up until this point. But as each day passed, I begaan to shake from stress, burst into tears, became incredibly depressed, became unable to sleep, spent all my non working hours trying to find a solution. I was unable to concentrate at work. This finally went from beginning to have panic attacks but ended with me waking up after being in a coma, on a ventilator, for 14 days/ I had no idea where I was, was unable to remember how I got to the hosptal or why. I had two Myocardial infarctions, the Doctor explained that I went into full cardiac arrest and a co-worker gave me CPR for 16 minutes until the ambulance arrived. i had a second Cardiac arrest The Doctor told me, shortly after they had settled my into ICU. That one, He told me, they almost were unable to bring me back from. Thank God for The Doctors refusal to stop working on me, my wonderful coworker and The inventor of the Defribulator! Before my release, The Cardiologist told me they could find absolutely no reason for my Heart attack, i have low blood pressure, have no heart or health problems, no family history. They were dumbfounded. i gave him a brief synopsis of my car insurance situation, He told me, ;Stress, it was the stress" "That stress will kill you, you must work on your stress". They referred me to a social worker and a psychologist. When I finally began to regain stress and began to try and demand that my insurance company fix this because they were literally killing me, I felt. I sent a letter, pointing out every single thing that happened, all correspondence, how rudely I was being treated and I sent over my final Diagnosis from the hospital. They never acknowledged my letter. It is now May 13, 2024. have seen attorneys I cannot afford. I was told by DMV Investigations that I definitely need an attorney. Ive been put on Temporary Disability and since I am unable to register my car, I cannot drive it. I am unable to survive on what disability pays. I am losing all hope. I will probably lose my apartment, and may have to live in my car, but my greatest fear now is that my kitty and myself will be on the street, because if they take my car (its illegal to even park an unregistered car on a public street ( is what I was told by the Van Nuys supervisor of the DMV. ) Yet I have asked the Dmv to tell me if there is anyway we can resolve this. I just want them to know i was paid nothing and was finally sent a letter admitting that I wasnt paid anything and it was not my insurance company who made the mistake, it was Copart, and I should take it up with Copart. Okay, this is so beyond absurd. Copart who? Why do I pay full coverage insurance/ when I should pay almost nothing, as this is totally "Do it yourself-Figure it out yourself" insurance. The Claims adjuster told me last week, that they were not going to help me due to my 'Refusal to Communicate with us in January". I got so angry and told him, "So now , You say that I refused to communicate with you?" He said, "Yes, we do." I said," I know for a fact, you never made a single attempt to contact me, while I was in the hospital , after having a heart attack, because phones and emails keep records, and you know, there is no record of anything coming from you or my insurance company . The records I am looking forward to hearing will be all the calls between you and myself. my insurance company claims that every phone call will be taped, and I look forward to the day your employers listen to just how unprofessional, rude and outright sadistic you have treated me. Because you forgot who you work for, sir, and if you did not have policyholders, you would not have a job. You seemed to really enjoy mocking my illness, calling me a liar, hanging up on me. in fact I think we will hear that you threatened to hang up, not look into my claim, and said you were done with my problems and would no longer take my calls.. I have never been treated so cruelly, so rudely, and all I wanted was for my vehicle, which your company never paid a cent to me for, would be transferred back into my name, because I did not make this mistake and I cannot fix this mistake. All I ever wanted from you to fix the mistake that was made by your company You lost nothing in this claim, I only ask that you right a wrong. I have a car that cannot be registered or driven. I oay for your company to ;make me whole' but i would have been better off if i had no insurance at all. My car was found, my car would still be in my name and I could have registered it. Obviously, your never going to help me or make things right' he said, 'i have done all I needed to do, i mailed you the Certificate of Title, so your claim is Closed.' So I have an unsigned Certificate of Title in the name of my insurance company . Which does nothing to help me. Any ideas? So far beyond hopeless, i have lost faith, have lost all joy, no longer leave my apartment. I will do anything, but i just have no clue and no hope. Thank you so much.

I’m hearing stuff like if you put $15k a month into a Roth (in mutual funds, what is that?), I will be a millionaire fast (Dave Ramsey). Is this true?
So here’s the changes I’ve made. I 33M make 108k + weekend shifts once in a while at my per diem job.

1. I returned a bunch of process clothes, products from a “lavish” phases, and to my surprised it amounted to $3k. I am planning on being more frugal with fashion, etc.
   
2. In my 401k plan, it sounds like my job GIVES 1.25%, not matches. I’ll have to verify. If it matches, I will match it and the rest of the 15k I have in the Roth account.
   
3. I had 26k in my account, but also have had a 24k student loan. I didn’t bat an eye at the loan until people said to pay it off. Well I realized I do not like interest because from 7 payments I’ve paid like $350 in interest already. (I’ve never had a loan before). So what I did was paid 12k worth of the loan today. I was afraid to send all my savings so I just did half. But maybe in a few days might do another 5k. I know I will pay the whole loan quickly. No other debt.
   

The new 15% for retirement will lessen my check, but I am a going to be more frugal, and also will soon not have a $250 student loan payment every month, so I anticipate my savings rising.
How to invest whatever I save I have no idea how and am afraid. But I do know my 401k is on vanguard and heard they have some investing platform I think you call it mutual fund, so maybe I will deposit $1000 here and there if that’s how it works.
What is my financial future likely going to look like? I don’t know a house but in Los Angeles they are like a million I’ve heard.

I’m hearing stuff like if you put $15k a month into a Roth (in mutual funds, what is that?), I will be a millionaire fast (Dave Ramsey). Is this true?
So here’s the changes I’ve made. I 33M make 108k + weekend shifts once in a while at my per diem job.

1. I returned a bunch of process clothes, products from a “lavish” phases, and to my surprised it amounted to $3k. I am planning on being more frugal with fashion, etc.
   
2. In my 401k plan, it sounds like my job GIVES 1.25%, not matches. I’ll have to verify. If it matches, I will match it and the rest of the 15k I have in the Roth account.
   
3. I had 26k in my account, but also have had a 24k student loan. I didn’t bat an eye at the loan until people said to pay it off. Well I realized I do not like interest because from 7 payments I’ve paid like $350 in interest already. (I’ve never had a loan before). So what I did was paid 12k worth of the loan today. I was afraid to send all my savings so I just did half. But maybe in a few days might do another 5k. I know I will pay the whole loan quickly. No other debt.
   

The new 15% for retirement will lessen my check, but I am a going to be more frugal, and also will soon not have a $250 student loan payment every month, so I anticipate my savings rising.
How to invest whatever I save I have no idea how and am afraid. But I do know my 401k is on vanguard and heard they have some investing platform I think you call it mutual fund, so maybe I will deposit $1000 here and there if that’s how it works.
What is my financial future likely going to look like? I don’t know a house but in Los Angeles they are like a million I’ve heard.

This is a really long story with lots of context so I'll do my best to organize it into current situation, then his backstory and hers. I'm also not using real names or specific locations for any of this to try and keep this private. This also has some contradicting stories and because of how their relationship is structured relies mostly on information I have gotten from my sister, so I'm telling you the story I got from her first and then adding in what I've found out. I'll try to tell this as unbiased as I can but it's been a huge issue in my family for a long time now and that's a little difficult for me to do.
My (20F) sister (Olivia, 24F) has been dating this guy (Trevor, 25M) since 2021. When they started dating, she talked about him fairly often, sent a few pictures of them, ect., but then after a month she stopped mentioning him/ was cagey when we (me and my mom mostly) asked how he was so we assumed it just hadn't worked out. Then two months later she insisted that my parents (54F and 56M) and I all come to visit her college to meet Trevor before he went into the Army (she lived several hours away from my parents and several hours from my college, so I had to get a bus ticket and my parents had to get a hotel room to do this. We only met him once for dinner). Now they've been dating long distance for three years after a three month in-person relationship. She is in nursing school and is planning on moving across the country (literally opposite corners of the map) to live with him and is not applying to any residency programs outside of the Army base area (limiting her choices a LOT from her original goals and narrowing employment opportunities).
Olivia met Trevor on several dating apps, matched with him, but didn't really want to go out with him. He was really persistent, so her friend convinced her to go out with him. She lied about the way they met to our parents and told them they met at the gym through a mutual friend (she lied to me about this at first too and told me the truth about 3 months after they started dating). At the time, Trevor was working as a used car salesman and living at home (~45 min. away from Olivia's school in a rural area) because his sports scholarship had been dropped before his Senior year due to covid at the college he had been attending out of state. The university was unaccredited (I later did some internet stalking and found out it was accredited), so his credits would not transfer and he would have to start over. He was saving up money to attend school in state at the large college Olivia attended so he could go back to school. **Our state has crazy low tuition costs in-state and a full-tuition scholarship program for good high school GPA and SAT scores. There was also a "feeder" community college that had half the cost per credit hour that a lot of people would go to before the larger university if they didn't get in straight out of high school.**
Olivia told me that Trevor had applied to her college and not gotten in (she later told me he HAD gotten in but been unable to afford tuition). Either way, he decided to join the Army because his father had been in the Army. The Army would take his credit hours and he would be able to finish his degree during his 5 year contract or use the GI bill once he got out. **She is comparing the situation to our father, who joined the Army directly out of high school and used the GI bill to go to college after his 2 year contract because his parents wouldn't pay for school. He was a medic in the military, worked as an EMT through college, and then went to nursing school.** The original plan was that Trevor would be a Green Beret (special forces), he completed basic training and and got several months through training and moved to the secondary base in NC before failing the running portion of a physical by about 10 seconds and being dropped from the selection process. He then decided that he wanted to be a Ranger (another elite position). He got sent back to GA, then to the Ranger school base in WA (it took a couple of months before he was sent to WA). Again, he got partway through the training before failing the running portion of a physical by a few seconds. He is now not sure if he will be continuing Ranger school (failing the physical means no, but commanders may pass him anyways if they think he should continue). For a while, Trevor told Olivia that he might not stay at the base in WA if he wasn't in Ranger school and there were a variety of different bases he could be sent to, including somewhere in Italy, so she wasn't sure where to look for jobs. In the past month, Trevor told Olivia that he would likely stay in WA regardless of the Ranger school results.
Through this all, Olivia has visited Trevor at the different military bases countless times, driving from as far as south FL to NC and putting over 30,000 miles on a brand new car over the course of the 1.5 years she's owned it. Before she had the car, she paid for plane tickets to see him and hotels whenever she visited. At the time, she told me that he was paying for all of these trips because he was unable to visit her, was making an income that wasn't being spent, and she was working to save for nursing school and later was living off of student loans and savings during nursing school. She later admitted to me that she had paid for almost all of the expenses except for food when they ate out together and part of a hotel room one weekend.
A few odd things (to me) between Olivia and Trevor over the course of their relationship:
About a month into their relationship, Trevor got Olivia an over $300 christmas gift. He has not gotten her anything nearly that expensive since, and hasn't sent flowers for things like her college graduation or a severe emergency surgery she had last year. I don't care about monetary value or sending flowers, but I do think it is odd that he spent so much before moving away when he ostensibly didn't have much money, but now that he has an income and military sign-on bonus, he has not spent that much again.
Trevor's father left Trevor, his siblings, and his mother, but Trevor has a hat that his father gave him that he wore often. The hat says "Red Man" across the top of a picture of a Native American man wearing a feathered headdress. He has worn this hat several times around Olivia's friends and they told him they didn't like it and that it was racist. They also asked him to not wear it when he was with them and he refused because it was special to him and his father gave it to him. Olivia then told him to stop wearing it and he eventually agreed (Olivia told me that he stopped wearing the hat after this). A few weeks after this, I facetimed Olivia and Trevor was with her. She turned the camera so I could say hello to him, and he was wearing the hat. I talked to Olivia about this later and she told me that that was the first time he'd worn the hat in a while and it wasn't a big deal. Olivia has always been liberal and never racist, and I am uncomfortable that she was okay with him not only wearing the hat, but being with him while he had it on.
They dated for a little over 3 months in person before he joined the military (recently, Olivia told me that they actually met several months before she told everyone about him and that they actually dated for 6 months before he left). For the next two months in basic training, he was only able to use the phone for 15 minutes total once a week to talk to family and her. Throughout the different training programs he has completed he had sporadic and limited access to phones to communicate, and only in the past 6 months he has had access to his phone to facetime, text, and call (but sometimes he goes for a week or two without phone access). Olivia told me that they wrote letters during the time he didn't have consistent phone access. **I don't think that this is odd, I understand the military limits phone usage, etc., but I don't think they have been able to have an "average" long-distance relationship**
Last year, Olivia drove to GA to visit Trevor the weekend before Valentine's day. He had plans for them to take a pottery class, go on a hike, and have dinner at a nice restaurant. The day she got there, Trevor's barracks had their off-base privileges revoked because one of the guys had contraband. She would still be able to visit him on base though. Somehow, Trevor was able to get off base for long periods of time to her hotel, but unable to do the other activities he had planned for them.
In the past year, Olivia told me that she and Trevor were going to immediately marry when she got to WA so that they could move in together because they had to be married to live together anywhere. I and our dad- who was in the military- told her several times that this was not true, but she insisted it was. Then, his barracks were given an allowance to live off base in apartments because the barracks were being renovated/ rebuilt, so she backed off on the idea of getting married immediately after several long conversations with me. She is still insistent on moving in with Trevor, who lives with a roommate, when she moves to WA.
Some background on Olivia:
Olivia has ADHD and anxiety, and struggled particularly badly with the anxiety/ some depression after being broken up with by the boyfriend she dated before Trevor (he broke it off very abruptly, told her he just didn't love her anymore with no previous indications). Olivia is very pretty (objectively, not just because she's my sister), but had bad acne that she ended up going on accutane for at the time she started dating Trevor and was very insecure about it. She had also decided to not go to medical school, and pursue nursing instead around the same time she met Trevor. This was a very upsetting decision for her because she had been taking very hard courses and was burnt out but had told everyone she was going to be a doctor and thought that she would be letting us down by switching paths. Also around the time she started seeing Trevor, Olivia began being very cruel towards our mother (our mother had been borderline emotionally abusive in the past, but Olivia and I were both in college by then and fixing our relationships with her. She has been much better recently and Olivia and I believe that she had some mental health struggles that went unchecked that contributed). Now, several years later, Olivia told our family that she had acted like that because she was rpd by a friend of her ex-boyfriend's after her ex broke up with her. This person also gave her an STD.
I always believe people who say they have been S A'd, and we believed Olivia when she first told us, but some things have come to light that make me and my family question that. Right after Olivia and her ex broke up, Olivia told our cousin that she had gone out with one of his friends and had revenge/ breakup sex with him because he had also been dumped recently. Once my cousin told me this, I remembered that Olivia had told me about a guy she had a one night stand with after she was dumped. She showed me a picture of him, talked about how cute he was, etc. (no distress whatsoever). I know sometimes people behave in ways you wouldn't expect when a traumatic event occurs to them, but I really don't understand how or why Olivia would brag about this guy if he really did S A her.
Three months ago, Olivia was arrested for stealing a set of sheets from Walmart (incidentally, right before Trevor came to visit her on leave). She used the self check-out and only bought a small $5 item and the sheets. She held both in one hand and scanned each side because she had a cut on the other hand and was holding her wallet with it. She saw a 5 in front of the total number and thought it looked right because the total should have been about $50, paid, didn't get a receipt, and walked out. An employee at the door asked to see a receipt, which Olivia didn't have, so she pulled up her transaction history on her phone to show she had paid. At this point, the employee called the police and took Olivia into an office, where she was questioned and charged with shoplifting. (Olivia can get very emotional and probably got upset when the police questioned her, which may have led them to believe she was lying). Luckily, Olivia has managed to get the charges expunged, but the process is still ongoing. Because of her ADHD, if anyone genuinely made this mistake, I would believe it from her, but Olivia has been improving a lot on organization and being more attentive recently. It is extremely uncharacteristic of her to steal- she was honest to a fault as kids- she would break down from guilt and admit things to our parents that we would have gotten away with if she hadn't said anything.
Right now, my parents have met Trevor twice in person, and I've met him once in person and several times in passing over facetime. I personally don't think that Trevor seems to keep up with my sister or that they make each other shine, and that opinion is shared with family friends and family that have met Trevor. Olivia doesn't mention Trevor in front of our parents often because his name has become a topic of contention and argument between them. My parents don't think Trevor is right for Olivia. She has almost 2 college degrees and plans to become a nurse practitioner in the future, and he hasn't finished college and doesn't seem to have any drive to do so. Olivia is also well traveled and enjoys going to museums, concerts, etc., while Trevor has lived in rural FL his whole life (this is not Trevor's fault, and I don't think he is a lesser person because of it, but I don't see a lot of common ground between them). Trevor has not seemed very well spoken when I have talked to him and I just don't see a lot of qualities in him that Olivia values.
If you've gotten this far, I just don't know what to do. Olivia and my parents have a huge rift in their relationship right now and any mention of Trevor, with her around or not, explodes into a huge argument, discussion, or just icy silence. I want Olivia to be able to talk to me about him, and we are able to discuss things much better than she is with our parents. My parents have also started asking me about Olivia and Trevor because they know Olivia shares more with me, and it makes me uncomfortable because I don't want to betray Olivia's trust, but I'm also very worried about her. I know I can't control her actions and I'm having a really hard time trying to balance supporting Olivia but not supporting the relationship (I'm not going to lie to her about how I feel, but I don't want her to feel alienated or unloved by our family, because that is NOT the case). I also think that Olivia is romanticizing the fact that our parents don't like him because my father's parents had a rift with him over our mother when we were very young (this is a whole other story, but basically, his parents always favored his sister, his sister got (I think) jealous when he did well for himself and married my mother, who his parents initially likes, and she made up rumors/lies about my mother that turned his parents against her (this was way before our mother's suspected mental health struggles, which occured when Olivia and I were in middle/high school).
Please share any thoughts you have on the situation (am I reading too into things, is this not as bad as I think it is?), and any advice you have on navigating the relationships.
Tl;dr My sister's boyfriend lied about the circumstances of him dropping out of college and joining the military. Now I think he's lying about not making it through training for two different special/ elite forces. My sister has significantly changed her behavior and I think she may have lied about a significant traumatic event to our family. Now she is planning on moving across the country to him and moving in immediately. Our entire family doesn't like him and we're worried about her. How do I support her but not her relationship?

So for the past year it’s been weighing over me that I’ll most likely get kicked out soon. My mother and I never really got along and have no connection to each other besides living together, since my dad left she blames me for it and why her boyfriend can’t come over (makes no sense, although my younger sister makes it known he’s unwelcome lol she’s like 10 though). This ongoing argument is coming to a point where she may actually kick me out in a few days. I already have my important documents like birth certificate and ssn in a pre packed bag so I’m not worried about that. She’s always prevented me from getting a job or getting basic things like my ID, for reference I’m 19. She always calls me lazy and stuff but I really do try to do things for myself I just don’t have the help. She recently sold the car I was learning to drive in so now I’m kinda like in a rut with transportation and picking up my sister from school, we’ve just been walking now since her school isn’t so far. My moms bad but my dads just as bad as she is, he’s no help at all. Sure he gives me cash here and there but it’s mainly to feed my sister and I. My mom relies on me to babysit her which I’m fine with but it’s the only reason why I’m staying here. I have no family or friends to help so I’m really stuck. I can’t drive, no job, basically nothing. I have some saved up money on like venmo and cashapp from when I did tarot readings but it’s barely enough for a couple meals and to pay my phone bill for 2 more months. I’m not asking for money or anything I just would really appreciate any advice or resources I can look into soon in California. The reason why I’m writing this now is because my mother just started her argument again after she wasn’t home for days and it’s just tiring. I’m tired of being belittled everyday by her. Her voice and mannerisms aggravate me, whenever she’s home I just hide.

I am not one for negative reviews as I typically feel if I have a bad experience, it is just a bad day. However, this company has shown a pattern of poor care for its customers as well as lack of support in general. I opened my first checking account with them when I was 14 years old, and am now 26. I have had a personal checking and savings account with them for the last 10 years and opened a credit card with them 2 years ago. I have since decided that this is not the bank for me mainly due to a complete lack of customer service.
First of all, this bank began charging me maintenance fees on my checking account of nowhere a few months ago, so I tried to call. I sat on the phone punching #s for hours trying to get a human on the phone to see why this was. Not possible. So I visited a branch and they treated me like I was unimportant and could figure out my problems myself and was told to “go find the answer on google.” Eventually a banker met with me who said that since I was no longer a “student” I would be charged maintenance fees. Understandable, except I am a student. I pulled up my transcript and everything for this guy and he continued to tell me his hands were tied and he could not help. Fine, but kind of annoying.
So I get a credit card with bank of america, my first credit card mind you, and I’m enjoying earning rewards on my card and gaining cash back. I am person who prefers simplicity so I immediately set up autodraft/autopay to pay the statement balance each month. However for my first payment they drafted the statement amount twice from my BofA checking account. Not cool. I did not have that much in my checking account. Overdraft fee. I try calling to get help, again on the phone for multiple hours and unable to speak with a human. I go to a branch (different than the one in my last experience) where I am again told to call customer service or “use Erica, their AI chatbot,” so I leave and go to a different branch where someone finally helps me, but still is unable to refund the double charge OR the overdraft fee. They said, “it will just remain on your credit card as a statement credit so you won’t have to pay the next one.” Fine, but really annoying.
So Im a few months out from this I am getting married and we decided to bank with Chase (who is amazing on the customer service side by the way). I now have a checking account with Chase that is my main account, so I want to autodraft/autopay my BofA credit card with my chase checking account. Well, BofA makes that nearly impossible. I cannot figure out how to have BofA draft the exact statement balance due each month from my checking account automatically. I spend a few hours on google/reddit/etc trying to figure it out, which should not be hard considering I work with computers every day. However, I do not find a solution so I travel to a new BofA branch (not one I have been to before) and explain the situation that I would like to set up autodraft from a Chase checking acct. They tell me they cannot help with credit cards in the bank and I need to call customer service. Not falling for that again. So I go to ANOTHER new BofA branch that I have never been to and ask the same question. One lady does help me and says all I have to do is go to Chase bank to have them set this up because it is a problem on their end. So I do that. And Chase tells me that BofA will not share info with other banks to allow them to see amount due through the Chase bill pay feature. So I give up
A month later I have some free time and I am in a different city so I schedule an appointment with a BofA banker to see if we can revisit the credit card issue. I am helped! He calls customer service himself with me there, somehow gets a human on the line in only 5 minutes, and they send me an email how to setup my Chase checking acct as a “pay from account.” However these instructions do not work because for some reason my account is not eligible to be set up online and I must mail a voided check to bank of america headquarters before they can consider my account for enrollment. So I ask the banker if I have to use this BofA credit card to maintain it and he tells me he’s pretty sure I will receive notice prior to an closing of my credit cards, contrary to what redditors have shared, so I take his word for it and try to set up Autopay. Well I give up again.
So a few days later I am tired of this bank and decide to close my accounts and switch everything to chase. I made an appointment at ANOTHER new branch, so I am well travelled to the Bank of America Branches within South Carolina/North Carolina. I tell the banker I am closing and leaving BofA, she asks why, I tell her that their customer service is not very good and that bankers have little-to-no power to help with hardly anything an everyday customer may need. She tries to convince me to stay. I say no. I get her to close my checking and savings account and she tells me they can give me cash (the remaining balances in these accounts). I run my credit card scenario by her in a last ditch effort to get it figured out, but she cant help, and another banker overhears us talking, says “I am really good with credit card stuff, let me help you.” So I go to his office, explain everything, and he says he cant help me. Shocker. So I take my account closure statements across the foyer of the BofA branch and hand them to the teller to finally cash out and leave this place forever. He cannot accept my withdrawal. Somehow in the time between my talks with the first banker and the time I reach the teller 15 feet away their computer system has gone down. The teller informs me that the accounts have already been closed so there is no way to get the money out at the moment. All 4 branch bankers are behind the counter with him running through how they can service me and you know what their solution was? “Give us a call back every few hours to see if we have figured out a solution.” NO. I will NOT ever try to call BofA again. I am giving you my phone number to call ME once you have a solution. So I leave, and receive a call later that day because the teller tells me they are closing soon and he needs me to return to discuss my options. I drive back to the branch. He tells me I have 2 options: 1) have the checks mailed to me once BofA figures out how to solve this issue Or 2) come back first thing in the morning to follow up and hopefully figure it out. I am not going to trust BofA to figure out anything at this point so I decide I am going to return in the morning, and every day after until they fix this . At the moment they have no solutions, so I will see if they dreamt some up overnight tomorrow! I will update again as the story unfolds
TLDR: Bank of America is absolute Trash