Modesto Chamber of Commerce Monthly Meeting
Join us for a delicious bite to eat and networking with a welcoming and fun group of holistic professionals. We're blessed to have Dr. Hart, a brillliant diplomat from The American Sleep and Breathing Academy, present this time. She'll be sharing Sleep Apnea Solutions. If you reserve your spot on Event Brite, you'll receive an extra raffle ticket. For the last two meetings, the person with an extra raffle ticket has won the prize!
2401 East Orangeburg Avenue Modesto, CA 95355
Wednesday, May 15 · 6 - 7:30pm PDT
VISIT https://wellnesshap.com/modesto-chamber-of-commerce-monthly-meeting-2 FOR MORE INFO

No strings attached, 10 sol up for grabs in our promotional entry competition,
Get a free ticket today, just add your public wallet address. One entry per wallet.
https://www.cryptosuper6.com/product/entry-promo-free/
We have other super prized raffles only went live yesterday with small, medium and high stakes on the site too. Take a look, our social channels went live too!

Hello fellow nomads,
I've been digging through the forum trying to find guidance on obtaining a medical certificate for my visa application, but not sure why I am so confused on something so basic. The requirement specifies a "Health insurance medical certificate" from a recognized health institution in my country of residence to prove I don’t carry any contagious diseases. Here’s the specific text:
“You must get a medical health certificate from a recognized health institution in your country of residence and present it to the relevant [country] authorities. This document will prove that you do not suffer from any contagious diseases that may be of risk to the [country] population.”
Despite what seems like a straightforward task, I'm hitting a wall. I contacted my primary care doctor, and they told me they don't issue such certificates. I even reached out to my insurance company, who called over 20 different providers, none of whom could help.
Is there a specific way I should be framing my request to these healthcare providers? What exactly qualifies as a recognized health institution in this context?
Additionally, I found this sample letter: [Medical Certificate Sample](). Can anyone confirm if the format here is generally acceptable, or should I be looking for something different?
Any guidance, especially from those who have navigated this process, would be immensely helpful. Thank you!

MAIN raffle being mini-stepped (MS): https://www.reddit.com/lego_raffles/s/JTAjGWhCly
What is a Mini-Step (MS) raffle? A mini-step raffle is a tool used to raffle a small group of spots off for an actively running main. The spots in the main raffle are bundled into prizes to be awarded in the mini-step raffle.
More details about MS raffles: https://www.reddit.com/lego_raffles/wiki/index/?rdt=50069#wiki_mini-step_.28ms.29_raffles
45 spots @ $1 each. This Mini-Step is raffling off 9 spots in the MAIN valued at $5 each for a total value of $45. These spots are currently being held in the main.
**There will be 2 winners. The same person can win multiple times but not on the same number (bot will be called once for all 2 winners).
1st winner gets 5 spots (plus a freebie). 2nd winner gets 4 spots. After the raffle, the raffle host will call the spots for the Mini-Step winners in the Main.**
You do NOT need a spot in the MAIN to request a spot in the Mini-Step.
Spot limit per person: 10 spots
Duration of spot limit: First 10min until my announcement. Over limit requests before my announcement will be given up to limit. Wait for my announcement to request beyond limit.
If the Main cancels, the winners of the Mini-Step will be refunded the full value of the spots they won from the Mini-Step.
This Mini-Step will run for a maximum of 3 hours.
Payment required w/in 10 minutes of raffle filling. 5 minutes for drama.
GPay: https://gpay.app.goo.gl/ZCKRVd
Venmo (EMOJI ONLY): https://venmo.combstoll1

*PayPal Info: GPay and Venmo preferred. DM if you need PayPal. *
*Cash App Info: Cashapp banned. *
​
Tip BlobAndHisBoy
Number of vacant slots: 0
Number of unpaid users: 0
Number of unpaid slots: 0
This slot list is created and updated by The EDC Raffle Tool by BlobAndHisBoy.
1 ssj3dvp11 PAID
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28 TeddyLea PAID
29 Forward_Day_1462 PAID
30 Theserialchiller- PAID
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34 therontheteej PAID
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Did you know that NEXterra club's ECXC is open to all Nissans this year AND we have a new venue???
There will be trail groups for everyone from stock to heavily modded. July 10-13, 2024 AOAA Trails in Shamokin, PA!
Did you also know that we have over $7000 worth of raffle prizes to give away from some of the best companies around? Things like a set of Alcan Springs, a set of White Knuckle Sliders, recovery ropes, tire deflators and tire repair kits. The list grows everyday!
Dinner and raffles on Friday and Saturday night included with event registration.
For more info: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095042620102

Did you know that NEXterra club's ECXC is open to all Nissans this year AND we have a new venue???
There will be trail groups for everyone from stock to heavily modded. July 11-13, 2024 AOAA Trails in Shamokin, PA!
Did you also know that we have over $7000 worth of raffle prizes to give away from some of the best companies around? Things like a set of Alcan Springs, a set of White Knuckle Sliders, recovery ropes, tire deflators and tire repair kits. The list grows everyday!
Dinner and raffles on Friday and Saturday night included with event registration.
For more info: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095042620102

I'd like to hear your experiences to find out if I should be concerned.
I had my surgery last monday, it's my first one. I'm 22. Also a trans dude so he/him pronouns please (I'm only saying this because I would totally assume the poster was a woman too if I read a post on here).
Miscommunication has characterised every step of this journey (hooray NHS), from a consultation wait list that took 14 months because they forgot about me to on the day of the surgery, them mixing up the fact that I was a stay in patient for the night (I didn't have anyone to take me home, and this was discussed three times at different appointments beforehand). After the surgery the nurse tells me I have glue on my incisions, so I don't need to do anything. Nope! They are stitches! So I'm going to go to a walk in clinic to sort that out soon because I looked it up and apparently you're not supposed to leave those in for more than ten days.
I didn't find out the results of the surgery; I very briefly saw the surgeon before the surgery and he was very grumpy with me even though I wasn't chattering. Just answered his questions as succinctly as possible. I was not prescribed any pain killer either, and the pain was bad. I woke up in shock, shivering like crazy, no count down on the anesthetic. Also my period started the day after.
The nurse told me I would receive the results in a letter after a couple days when they sent samples to a histrionics labs. It's been a week now... Yeah maybe I'm impatient but with all this miscommunication so far it's driving my anxiety through the roof. I have received absolutely 0 information about what happened during the surgery.
And this is just aesthetics but the incision on my bellybutton is just. So messy. They closed my belly button into a zig zag.
Should I be concerned? Or am I just paranoid when thinking that perhaps there's been miscommunication again and my results may have been lost? I don't know, I'm scared and when I call the number they gave me they told me I need to go to A and E if I want to see anyone for anything -- that means a nine hour wait in this city.
I'm sorry this is so rambly, I just have no one in my corner right now and I'm desperate to know something. Any insight would be appreciated.

I have already submitted my Creative Performance Task, and it is a program that helps find words from the dictionary with inputted length and letter combinations, for example, if you input "3" and "e" it will output words like "eat", "red" etc...
Problem is, while I am preparing for the test today, I stumbled across a video discussing a 2021 sample task that got 6/6, and that student have an almost identical program, except that the input for their function is the first letter of the word, instead of the components of words, so if you enter, "3" and "e" it finds words like "eat" "ear" etc. Our interfaces look extremely similar (SOMEHOW) and even some of our variables have the same name (HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE), like wordList, and filteredWordList.
Am I screwed? Will my score get canceled for plagiarism? Because my code is only 28 lines long and their code is probably short as well some of my lines look awfully similar to theirs. I swear to God I did not copy their work.

abandon, ability, able, about, above, absence, absolute, absolutely, abstract, abundance, academy, accent, accept, access, accident, accompany, accomplish, according, account, accurate, achieve, achievement, acid, acknowledge, acquire, across, action, active, activity, actor, actual, actually, adapt, addition, additional, address, adequate, adjust, administration, admire, admission, admit, adolescent, adopt, adult, advance, advantage, adventure, advertise, advice, advise, adviser, advocate, affair, affect, afford, afraid, after, afternoon, again, against, age, agency, agenda, agent, aggressive, ago, agree, agreement, agriculture, ahead, aid, aim, air, aircraft, airline, airport, alarm, album, alcohol, alive, all, alliance, allow, ally, almost, alone, along, already, also, alter, alternative, although, always, amateur, amazing, ambition, ambulance, among, amount, analysis, analyst, analyze, ancient, and, anger, angle, angry, animal, anniversary, announce, annual, another, answer, anticipate, anxiety, any, anybody, anymore, anyone, anything, anyway, anywhere, apart, apartment, apologize, apparent, apparently, appeal, appear, appearance, apple, application, apply, appoint, appointment, appreciate, approach, appropriate, approval, approve, approximately, architect, area, argue, argument, arise, arm, armed, army, around, arrange, arrangement, arrest, arrival, arrive, art, article, artist, artistic, as, ashamed, aside, ask, asleep, aspect, assault, assert, assess, assessment, asset, assign, assignment, assist, assistance, assistant, associate, association, assume, assumption, assure, at, athlete, athletic, atmosphere, attach, attack, attempt, attend, attention, attitude, attorney, attract, attraction, attractive, attribute, audience, author, authority, auto, available, average, avoid, award, aware, awareness, away, awful, baby, back, background, bad, badly, bag, balance, ball, ban, band, bank, bar, barely, barrel, barrier, base, baseball, basic, basically, basis, basket, basketball, bath, bathroom, battery, battle, be, beach, bear, beat, beautiful, beauty, because, become, bed, bedroom, bee, beef, beer, before, begin, beginning, behavior, behind, being, belief, believe, bell, belong, below, belt, bench, bend, beneath, benefit, beside, besides, best, bet, better, between, beyond, bicycle, big, bike, bill, billion, bind, biological, bird, birth, birthday, bit, bite, black, blade, blame, blanket, blind, block, blood, blow, blue, board, boat, body, bomb, bombing, bond, bone, book, boom, boot, border, boring, born, borrow, boss, both, bother, bottle, bottom, boundary, bowl, box, boy, boyfriend, brain, branch, brand, brave, bread, break, breakfast, breast, breath, breathe, brick, bridge, brief, briefly, bright, brilliant, bring, broad, broken, brother, brown, brush, buck, budget, build, building, bullet, bunch, burden, burn, bury, bus, business, busy, but, butter, button, buy, buyer, by, cabin, cabinet, cable, cake, calculate, call, camera, camp, 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coffee, cognitive, cold, collapse, colleague, collect, collection, collective, college, colonial, color, column, combination, combine, come, comedy, comfort, comfortable, command, commander, comment, commercial, commission, commit, commitment, committee, common, communicate, communication, community, company, compare, comparison, compete, competition, competitive, competitor, complain, complaint, complete, completely, complex, complexity, compliance, complicate, complicated, component, compose, composition, comprehensive, computer, concentrate, concentration, concept, concern, concerned, concert, conclude, conclusion, concrete, condition, conduct, conference, confidence, confident, confirm, conflict, confront, confusion, Congress, congressional, connect, connection, consciousness, consensus, consequence, conservative, consider, considerable, consideration, consist, consistent, constant, constantly, constitute, constitutional, construct, construction, consultant, consume, consumer, 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decline, decrease, deep, deeply, deer, defeat, defend, defendant, defense, defensive, deficit, define, definitely, definition, degree, delay, deliver, delivery, demand, democracy, Democratic, Democrat, demonstrate, demonstration, deny, department, depend, dependent, depending, depict, depression, depth, deputy, derive, describe, description, desert, deserve, design, designer, desire, desk, desperate, despite, destroy, destruction, detail, detailed, detect, detection, detective, determine, develop, developing, development, device, devil, dialogue, diet, differ, difference, different, differently, difficult, difficulty, dig, digital, dimension, dining, dinner, direct, direction, directly, director, dirt, disability, disagree, disappear, disaster, discipline, disclose, discover, discovery, discrimination, discuss, discussion, disease, dish, dismiss, disorder, display, dispute, distance, distinct, distinction, distinguish, distribute, distribution, district, diverse, diversity, divide, division, divorce, DNA, do, doctor, document, dog, domestic, dominant, dominate, door, double, doubt, down, downtown, dozen, draft, drag, drama, dramatic, dramatically, draw, drawer, drawing, dream, dress, drink, drive, driver, drop, drug, dry, due, during, dust, duty, dwell, dying, dynamic, each, eager, ear, earlier, early, earn, earnings, earth, earthquake, ease, easily, east, eastern, easy, eat, economic, economy, edge, edit, edition, editor, educate, education, educational, educator, effect, effective, effectively, efficiency, efficient, effort, egg, eight, either, elderly, elect, election, electric, electrical, electricity, electronic, element, elementary, eliminate, elite, else, elsewhere, e-mail, embrace, emerge, emergency, emission, emotion, emotional, emphasis, emphasize, employ, employee, employer, employment, empty, enable, encounter, encourage, end, enemy, energy, enforcement, engage, engine, engineer, engineering, English, enhance, enjoy, enormous, enough, ensure, enter, enterprise, entertain, entertainment, entire, entirely, entrance, entry, environment, environmental, episode, equal, equally, equipment, equivalent, era, error, escape, especially, essay, essential, essentially, establish, establishment, estate, estimate, etc, ethics, ethnic, European, evaluate, evaluation, evening, event, eventually, ever, every, everybody, everyday, everyone, everything, everywhere, evidence, evolution, evolve, exact, exactly, exam, examination, examine, example, exceed, excellent, except, exception, exchange, exciting, executive, exercise, exhibit, exhibition, exist, existence, existing, expand, expansion, expect, expectation, expense, expensive, experience, experiment, expert, explain, explanation, explode, explore, explosion, expose, exposure, express, expression, extend, extension, extensive, extent, external, extra, extraordinary, extreme, extremely, eye, fabric, face, facility, fact, factor, factory, faculty, fade, fail, failure, fair, fairly, faith, fall, false, familiar, family, famous, fan, fantasy, far, farm, farmer, fashion, fast, fat, fate, father, fault, favor, favorite, fear, feature, federal, fee, feed, feel, feeling, fellow, female, fence, festival, few, fewer, fiber, fiction, field, fifteen, fifth, fifty, fight, fighter, fighting, figure, file, fill, film, final, finally, finance, financial, find, finding, fine, finger, finish, fire, firm, first, fish, fishing, fit, fitness, five, fix, flag, flame, flat, flavor, flee, flesh, flight, float, floor, flow, flower, fly, focus, folk, follow, following, food, foot, football, for, force, foreign, forest, forever, forget, form, formal, formation, former, formula, forth, fortune, forward, found, foundation, founder, four, fourth, frame, framework, free, freedom, freeze, French, frequency, frequent, frequently, fresh, friend, friendly, friendship, from, front, fruit, frustration, fuel, fulfill, full, fully, fun, function, fund, fundamental, funding, funeral, funny, furniture, furthermore, future, gain, galaxy, gallery, game, gang, gap, garage, garden, garlic, gas, gate, gather, gay, gaze, gear, gender, gene, general, generally, generate, generation, genetic, gentleman, gently, German, gesture, get, ghost, giant, gift, gifted, girl, girlfriend, give, given, glad, glance, glass, global, glove, go, goal, God, gold, golden, golf, good, govern, government, governor, grab, grace, grade, gradually, graduate, grain, grand, grandmother, grant, grass, grave, gray, great, green, grocery, ground, group, grow, growing, growth, guarantee, guard, guess, guest, guide, guideline, guilty, gun, guy, habit, habitat, hair, half, hall, hand, handful, handle, hang, happen, happy, harbor, hard, hardly, hat, hate, have, he, head, headline, headquarters, health, healthy, hear, hearing, heart, heat, heaven, heavily, heavy, heel, height, helicopter, hell, hello, help, helpful, hence, her, herb, here, heritage, hero, herself, hey, hi, hide, high, highlight, highly, highway, hill, him, himself, hip, hire, his, historic, historical, history, hit, hold, hole, holiday, holy, home, homeless, honest, honey, honor, hope, horizon, horror, horse, hospital, host, hot, hotel, hour, house, household, housing, how, however, huge, human, humor, hundred, hungry, hunter, hunting, hurt, husband, hypothesis, ice, idea, ideal, identification, identify, identity, ignore, ill, illegal, illness, illustrate, image, imagination, imagine, immediate, immediately, immigrant, immigration, impact, implement, implication, imply, importance, important, impose, impossible, impress, impression, impressive, improve, improvement, incentive, incident, include, including, income, incorporate, increase, increased, increasingly, incredible, indeed, independence, independent, index, indicate, indication, individual, industrial, industry, infant, infection, inflation, influence, inform, information, ingredient, initial, initially, initiative, injury, inner, innocent, inquiry, inside, insight, insist, inspire, install, instance, instead, institute, institution, institutional, instruction, instructor, instrument, insurance, intellectual, intelligence, intend, intense, intensity, intention, interaction, interest, interested, interesting, internal, international, Internet, interpret, interpretation, intervention, interview, introduce, introduction, invasion, invest, investigation, investigator, investment, investor, invite, involve, involved, involvement, Iraqi, Irish, iron, Islamic, island, Israeli, issue, it, Italian, item, its, itself, jacket, jail, Japanese, jet, Jew, Jewish, job, join, joint, joke, journal, journalist, journey, joy, judge, judgment, juice, jump, junior, jury, just, justice, justify, keep, key, kick, kid, kill, killer, killing, kind, king, kiss, kitchen, knee, knife, knock, know, knowledge, lab, label, labor, laboratory, lack, lady, lake, land, landscape, language, lap, large, largely, last, late, later, Latin, latter, laugh, launch, law, lawsuit, lawyer, lay, layer, lead, leader, leadership, leading, leaf, league, lean, learn, learning, least, leather, leave, left, leg, legacy, legal, legend, legislation, legislative, legislator, legitimate, lemon, length, less, lesson, let, letter, level, liberal, library, license, lie, life, lifestyle, lifetime, lift, light, like, likely, limit, limitation, limited, line, link, lip, list, listen, literary, literature, little, live, living, load, loan, local, locate, location, lock, long, long-term, look, loose, lose, loss, lost, lot, lots, loud, love, lovely, lover, low, lower, luck, lucky, lunch, luxury, machine, mad, magazine, mail, main, mainly, maintain, maintenance, major, majority, make, maker, makeup, male, mall, man, manage, management, manager, manner, manufacturer, manufacturing, many, map, margin, mark, market, marketing, marriage, married, marry, mask, mass, massive, master, match, material, math, matter, may, maybe, mayor, me, meal, mean, meaning, meanwhile, measure, measurement, meat, mechanism, media, medical, medication, medicine, medium, meet, meeting, member, membership, memory, mental, mention, menu, mere, merely, mess, message, metal, meter, method, Mexican, middle, might, military, milk, million, mind, mine, minister, minor, minority, minute, miracle, mirror, miss, missile, mission, mistake, mix, mixture, mm-hmm, mode, model, moderate, modern, modest, mom, moment, money, monitor, month, mood, moon, moral, more, moreover, morning, mortgage, most, mostly, mother, motion, motivation, motor, mountain, mouse, mouth, move, movement, movie, Mr, Mrs, Ms, much, multiple, murder, muscle, museum, music, musical, musician, Muslim, must, mutual, my, myself, mystery, myth, naked, name, narrative, narrow, nation, national, native, natural, naturally, nature, near, nearby, nearly, necessarily, necessary, neck, need, negative, negotiate, negotiation, neighbor, neighborhood, neither, nerve, nervous, net, network, never, nevertheless, new, newly, news, newspaper, next, nice, night, nine, no, nobody, nod, noise, nomination, nominee, none, nonetheless, nor, normal, normally, north, northern, nose, not, note, nothing, notice, notion, novel, now, nowhere, nuclear, number, numerous, nurse, nut, object, objective, obligation, observation, observe, observer, obtain, obvious, obviously, occasion, occasionally, occupation, occupy, occur, ocean, odd, odds, of, off, offense, offensive, offer, office, officer, official, often, oh, oil, okay, old, Olympic, on, once, one, ongoing, onion, online, only, onto, open, opening, operate, operating, operation, operator, opinion, opponent, opportunity, oppose, opposed, opposite, opposition, option, or, orange, order, ordinary, organic, organization, organize, orientation, origin, original, originally, other, others, otherwise, ought, our, ours, ourselves, out, outcome, outside, oven, over, overall, overcome, overlook, owe, own, owner, pace, pack, package, page, pain, painful, paint, painter, painting, pair, pale, Palestinian, palm, pan, panel, panic, pant, paper, paragraph, parent, park, parking, part, participant, participate, participation, particle, particular, particularly, partly, partner, partnership, party, pass, passage, passenger, passion, past, patch, path, patient, pattern, pause, pay, payment, PC, peace, peak, peer, pen, penalty, people, pepper, per, perceive, percentage, perception, perfect, perfectly, perform, performance, perhaps, period, permanent, permission, permit, person, personal, personality, personally, personnel, perspective, persuade, pet, phase, phenomenon, philosophy, phone, photo, photographer, phrase, physical, physically, physician, piano, pick, picture, pie, piece, pile, pilot, pine, pink, pipe, pitch, place, plan, plane, planet, planning, plant, plastic, plate, platform, play, player, please, pleasure, plenty, plot, plus, PM, pocket, poem, poet, poetry, point, police, policy, political, politically, politician, politics, poll, pollution, pool, poor, pop, popular, population, porch, port, portion, portrait, portray, pose, position, positive, possess, possession, possibility, possible, possibly, post, pot, potato, potential, potentially, pound, pour, poverty, powder, power, powerful, practical, practice, prayer, preach, precisely, predict, prediction, prefer, preference, pregnancy, pregnant, preparation, prepare, prescription, presence, present, presentation, preserve, president, presidential, press, pressure, pretend, pretty, prevent, previous, previously, price, pride, priest, primarily, primary, prime, principal, principle, print, prior, priority, prison, prisoner, privacy, private, probably, problem, procedure, proceed, process, processing, processor, proclaim, produce, producer, product, production, profession, professional, professor, profile, profit, program, progress, progressive, project, prominent, promise, promote, prompt, proof, proper, properly, property, proportion, proposal, propose, prosecutor, prospect, protect, protection, protein, protest, proud, prove, provide, provider, province, provision, psychological, psychology, public, publication, publicity, publish, publisher, pull, punishment, purchase, pure, purpose, pursue, push, put, qualify, quality, quarter, quarterback, quarterly, queen, quest, question, quick, quickly, quiet, quietly, quit, quite, quote, race, racial, radiation, radical, radio, rail, rain, raise, range, rank, rapid, rapidly, rare, rarely, rate, rather, rating, ratio, raw, reach, react, reaction, reader, reading, ready, real, reality, realize, really, reason, reasonable, recall, receive, recent, recently, reception, recipe, recipient, recognition, recognize, recommend, recommendation, record, recording, recover, recovery, recruit, red, reduce, reduction, refer, reference, reflect, reflection, reform, refugee, refuse, regard, regarding, regardless, regime, region, regional, register, regular, regularly, regulate, regulation, regulator, reinforce, reject, relate, relation, relationship, relative, relatively, relax, release, relevant, relief, religion, religious, rely, remain, remaining, remarkable, remember, remind, remote, remove, repeat, repeatedly, replace, replacement, reply, report, reporter, represent, representation, representative, Republican, reputation, request, require, requirement, research, researcher, resemble, reservation, resident, residential, resign, resist, resistance, resolution, resolve, resort, resource, respect, respond, response, responsibility, responsible, rest, restaurant, restore, restriction, result, retain, retire, retirement, return, reveal, revenue, review, revolution, rhythm, rice, rich, rid, ride, rifle, right, ring, rise, risk, river, road, rock, role, roll, romantic, roof, room, root, rope, rose, rough, roughly, round, route, routine, row, rub, rubber, rude, ruin, rule, run, running, rural, rush, Russian, sacred, sad, safe, safety, sake, salad, salary, sale, sales, salt, same, sample, sanction, sand, satellite, satisfaction, satisfied, satisfy, sauce, save, saving, say, scale, scandal, scare, scatter, scenario, scene, schedule, scheme, scholar, scholarship, school, science, scientific, scientist, scope, score, scream, screen, script, sea, search, season, seat, second, secondary, secret, secretary, section, sector, secure, security, see, seed, seek, seem, segment, seize, select, selection, self, sell, Senate, senator, send, senior, sense, sensitive, sentence, separate, sequence, series, serious, seriously, servant, serve, service, session, set, setting, settle, settlement, seven, several, severe, sex, sexual, shade, shadow, shake, shall, shallow, shape, share, sharp, she, sheet, shelf, shell, shelter, shift, shine, ship, shirt, shock, shoe, shoot, shooting, shop, shopping, short, shortly, shot, should, shoulder, shout, show, shower, shrug, shut, shy, sibling, sick, side, sigh, sight, sign, signal, significant, significantly, silence, silent, silver, similar, similarly, simple, simply, sin, since, sing, singer, single, sink, sir, sister, sit, site, situation, six, size, ski, skill, skin, skirt, sky, slave, sleep, slice, slide, slight, slightly, slip, slow, slowly, small, smart, smell, smile, smoke, smooth, snap, snow, so, so-called, soccer, social, society, soft, software, soil, solar, soldier, sole, solid, solution, solve, some, somebody, somehow, someone, something, sometimes, somewhat, somewhere, son, song, soon, sophisticated, sorry, sort, soul, sound, soup, source, south, southern, Soviet, space, Spanish, speak, speaker, special, specialist, species, specific, specifically, specify, speech, speed, spend, spending, spin, spirit, spiritual, split, spoil, sponsor, sport, spot, spray, spread, spring, square, squeeze, stability, stable, staff, stage, stain, stair, stake, stand, standard, standing, star, stare, start, state, statement, station, statistical, status, stay, steady, steal, steel, steep, stem, step, stick, still, stimulate, stimulus, stir, stock, stomach, stone, stop, storage, store, storm, story, straight, strange, stranger, strategic, strategy, stream, street, strength, strengthen, stress, stretch, strike, string, strip, stroke, strong, strongly, structural, structure, struggle, student, studio, study, stuff, stupid, style, subject, submit, subsequent, substance, substantial, substitute, succeed, success, successful, successfully, such, sudden, suddenly, sue, suffer, sufficient, sugar, suggest, suggestion, suicide, suit, summer, summit, sun, super, supply, support, supporter, suppose, supposed, Supreme, sure, surely, surface, surgery, surprise, surprised, surprising, surprisingly, surround, survey, survival, survive, survivor, suspect, sustain, swear, sweep, sweet, swim, swing, switch, symbol, symptom, system, table, tactic, tail, take, tale, talent, talk, tall, tank, tap, tape, target, task, taste, tax, taxi, tea, teach, teacher, teaching, team, tear, technical, technique, technology, teen, teenager, telephone, telescope, television, tell, temperature, temporary, ten, tend, tendency, tennis, tension, tent, term, terms, terrible, territory, terror, terrorist, test, testimony, testing, text, than, thank, thanks, that, the, theater, their, them, theme, themselves, then, theory, therapy, there, therefore, these, they, thick, thin, thing, think, thinking, third, thirty, this, those, though, thought, thousand, threat, threaten, three, throat, through, throughout, throw, thus, ticket, tie, tight, time, tiny, tip, tire, tissue, title, to, tobacco, today, toe, together, toilet, token, tolerate, tomato, tomorrow, tone, tongue, tonight, too, tool, tooth, top, topic, toss, total, totally, touch, tough, tour, tourist, tournament, toward, towards, tower, town, toy, trace, track, trade, tradition, traditional, traffic, tragedy, trail, train, training, transfer, transform, transformation, transition, translate, translation, transmission, transmit, transport, transportation, travel, treat, treatment, treaty, tree, tremendous, trend, trial, tribe, trick, trip, troop, trouble, truck, true, truly, trust, truth, try, tube, tunnel, turn, TV, twelve, twenty, twice, twin, two, type, typical, typically, ugly, ultimate, ultimately, unable, uncle, undergo, understand, understanding, unfortunately, uniform, union, unique, unit, United, universal, universe, university, unknown, unless, unlike, until, unusual, up, upon, upper, urban, urge, us, use, used, useful, user, usual, usually, utility, utilize, vacation, valley, valuable, value, variable, variation, variety, various, vary, vast, vegetable, vehicle, venture, version, versus, very, vessel, veteran, via, victim, victory, video, view, viewer, village, violate, violation, violence, violent, virtually, virtue, virus, visibility, visible, vision, visit, visitor, visual, vital, voice, volume, voluntary, volunteer, vote, voter, voting, wage, wait, wake, walk, wall, wander, want, war, warm, warn, warning, wash, waste, watch, water, wave, way, we, weak, weakness, wealth, wealthy, weapon, wear, weather, web, website, wedding, week, weekend, weekly, weigh, weight, welcome, welfare, well, west, western, wet, what, whatever, wheel, when, whenever, where, whereas, whether, which, while, whisper, white, who, whole, whom, whose, why, wide, widely, widespread, wife, wild, wildlife, will, willing, win, wind, window, wine, wing, winner, winter, wipe, wire, wisdom, wise, wish, with, withdraw, within, without, witness, woman, wonder, wonderful, wood, wooden, word, work, worker, working, workout, workplace, works, workshop, world, worried, worry, worth, would, wound, wrap, write, writer, writing, wrong, yard, yeah, year, yell, yellow, yes, yesterday, yet, yield, you, young, your, yours, yourself, youth, zone.

There is a lot of talking about game balance, gameplay feeling etc. I am wondering if anyone else feels the same as me.

• When i play i feel like base helldivers firepower is very low, we are outnumbered by enemies and our guns feels like air soft gun not a real weapon. I hate to fight sponges and thats how i feel now.
• When weapon nerf is introduced, make it as some story into the game, i dont know some lack of good resources and factories make them bad - if community response is as now (change intorduced is not feeling ok for players) then roll back it with some story again - some Major Order that needs to be completed. I think that it may result the players may be thinking about that change as part of the game rather than technical change. I would even consider not posting them into change notes if it would be done this way, i would create in game question with voting if change is good (not everyone is on X and reddit) again make it as some story part.
• Reinforcements of enemies feels extremely random, you clear part of the map you make a mistake, reinforcements are being called and they come via airdrop (till now its all ok) and then all of a sudden from part of the map that you already cleared cames even bigger wave of enemies (2x more than the drop). This situation feels unfairandom, i would expect that maybe some small patrols (very low numbers that may have hidden somewhere while fighting) may come from behind imidiately (from already cleared land) but not entire army (at least not at the same time as drop, they should be at leasty delayed - time they should need to get into place).
• Difficulty level balance is as intended? I think that last level (Helldiver) should be a "special mode" winnable in like 20% of runs, we should be smacked in the face on that level, total hardcore for best of the best or masohists, with some prize (Special Cred farming - some small ammount received on mission prize log, or some different new currency that we can only get by playing on that level that gives you ability to buy some special skins or lobby background). Then the rest of levels should be for casuals that just want to play the game, in one of those you should not have the feeling of Tower defence (lvl 7 sometimes goes that way). That level should allow you to get all type of samples but at smaller rate. I made a short break to the game after I unlocked all things. I started to play on lower lvls and it felt just right, enoyable experience.
• Feeling of mission endgame, i think that if you clear all the factories of the map, every single objective, you should not encounter even more enemies than at the beginning. This feels like we achived nothing. Maybe add some additional objective that may hide the evac position (then if somone wants to encounter huge amount of enemies, then ok be my guest and skip the objective - should not be in post mission log) or maybe make it time dependent so if you took to much time for sending the mayhem then the enemies had time to regroup so you have to fight so many of them.

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Students solve the Middle East conflict. Visit to the “Dahlem Call for Peace in Palestine” on the campus of Freie Universität Berlin.
We interviewed queers for palestine and these were their sane takes.
We spoke to the future Nobel Peace Prize winners from Berlin in their protest tent.
“And somehow that was true, exactly,” explains Karl (ehe), a second semester political science student at the FU Berlin. “Exactly. That's why we've now sat down together and solved the Middle East conflict, exactly.”
Koi (hen/they), queer political spokesperson for the initiative, says: “We were tired of these constant accusations that we as queer and trans* people are so strongly committed to a free Palestine, as if we didn't know that Hamas in Gaza still tends to reject queer people and doesn't pay enough attention to women's rights,” hen asserts. “We are not naive. But we firmly believe in a transformation of Hamas into a genderqueer collective after the successful decolonization.”
But what exactly should the decolonized region look like? The students are convinced that it “really can't be a two-state solution”. The colonial state must go. “We already see Palestine within the historical borders from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.”
So decolonization back to the borders under the British in 1922?, we ask.
“Uh, yes, well, basically yes, exactly. But that was a long time ago, that's almost...” Karl counts on his hands, ‘a hundred years or so.’ And Judea, we ask, which used to be there too? “Well, that was much longer ago,” Karl looks helplessly at his ten fingers, “I don't know, we didn't study that yet.”
“In any case, it is important that Israel's current reign of terror is ended!” chants Koi. And then? “Well, then Hamas will give up its weapons and hand over power to a new civilian government,” says Joris (none/no), third semester Gender History student, explaining the students' concept for peace in the Middle East. This is a unique opportunity in human history: “Palestine could become a model state!” enthuses Koi. “The first genderqueer caliphate in the world, governed by a self-governing council system based on the model of the de facto state of Rojava in north-eastern Syria!”
We ask again decidedly: And where is Israel in this concept?
“Of course we are in favor of Israel's right to exist!” Karl hastens to say. “As Germans, we have something of a thing ... a responsibility, exactly.”
“On the other hand, world politics can't always just be dictated by the Germans!” interjects Joris. “That would be even worse!” But Karl continues unperturbed and points out Israel's new borders: “In our model, Israel will be a quasi-autonomous province in the Palestinian Caliphate, but with extensive self-government.”
“But demilitarized,” adds Joris, “as an agrarian state without military potential!”
The new Palestine should be as neutral and multilingual as Switzerland: open, liberal and sex-positive. It should also be given a new name on this occasion. “Khilafat qaws qazah”, translated: Caliphate of the Rainbow. Traudl (ehe), a theology student (Bachelor) adds: “Because the rainbow also has some significance in Jewish tradition. So it does fit.”
Perhaps a rainbow-colored unicorn could then be used as the emblem of the new Palestine, Koi dreams: “As a symbol of peace for the new open, trans*-friendly caliph.”
“Freedom of religion applies, of course!” enthuses Traudl, “Everyone can believe what they want. And if a Muslim woman in Gaza prefers to pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, that's okay too!”
However, the students admit that there is still a long way to go. But once Palestine is liberated, liberation from all other bourgeois constraints will follow. “Sooner or later, Hamas will also commit to multi-ethnic sex positivity!” emphasizes a male student. “And we are seeing positive signs. Hamas doesn't seem to reject sexual contact with people of other faiths per se like some of the fighters of October 7...”
Palestine of the future
We prefer to tune out quickly and listen to a FLINTA* student (she/her) who explains that in the Palestine of the future, women will also be allowed to become fighters and that every intifada will have awareness teams.
Meanwhile, Karl proudly reports that they are already working on a constitution for a free queer*feminist rainbow caliphate together with a Palestinian law student. But that is complicated. “We're struggling a bit, exactly. For example, we're still in full discussion about how animal rights should be implemented in the Palestinian constitution. In other words, whether other animals besides pigs should be protected from persecution and so on.”
We nod in understanding and ask how the students' peace plan is to proceed: “Well, we've already emailed our plan to Judith Butler and Deborah Feldman,” says Koi, and Karl adds: “And to the embassies of Egypt and Qatar, who are mediating, and to South Africa and Nicaragua, who can somehow submit our plan to the UN.”
And until then? “Until then, we will continue to demand the liberation of Palestine!” And so we see the peace activists again in the afternoon at a pro-Palestinian protest camp, wedged in between a few men in bouncers clothes with bold “KALIFAT” lettering on their shirts, albeit without a gender star or rainbow unicorn. “Free Palestine!” they shout together.

The EXTREMELY detailed, mega-anxiety edition!!! Major events like consult and surgery day are labeled like this:
——— EVENT TITLE ———
Surgeon was Dr. David Whitehead and I saw him on Long Island (New Hyde)
Summarized list of major dates:
Consult: July 19 2023 Mental health letter acquired: August 9 Dates discussed: September 12 Pre-op appointment: December 18 Surgery day: January 8 2024 Post-op: January 17
November 11th 2022: Emailed northwell health for the first time, they emailed back saying to call. I was too anxious so I avoided it for a few months.
Called northwell a few months later but got too anxious talking to the person who picked up. They were being normal and talking normally, it was just personal anxiety on my part.
October 2022 - Early March 2023: Spent time talking to trans friends and family members about their timelines and processes for top surgery.
Looked into Penn medicine for a bit but wasn’t happy with the surgeons there, specifically as a nonbinary person. The patient navigational team however is lovely.
March 2: emailed Penn health patient navigation
March 3-10: correspondence and phone calls w patient navigation (absolutely wonderful people, some of the easiest phone calls I’ve ever had) Got lots of into on surgeons, things I’d need, processes etc.
Date unknown: phone call to Penn medicine asking about surgeons and possibly setting up as a patient (v long wait time on phone) Surgeon I had heard good things about only works w CHOP program and I’m was too old for that program. Other surgeons I was v iffy on.
March 23rd: Back to square 1. Called northwell again to set up an appointment. Everyone I spoke to was really nice. Could have set up an appointment within the week but decided to wait till the end of the semester. Scheduled a trans care and primary care appointment for May
Couple of calls In between for confirmations. Trans care appointment got moved around a bit and ended up being moved to a phone call.
May 8th: Trans care call: Basic preliminary questions like: Emergency contact, what you’re looking for, are you thinking of looking into hormones, experience w dysphoria or dysmorphia, mental health, and eating/nutritional concerns, things you might want doc to know, piercings or tattoos, do you do any drugs or drink often, etc. total call time was about 20 minutes. Doctor was incredibly kind, I still experienced a good deal of anxiety but the call was super easy, welcoming, and friendly. Got sent contact referrals for the surgeons, as well as trans-friendly therapists under my insurance.
May 9th: started looking at list of therapists and making respective emails and calls. Checking per session costs and double checking insurance. Most charge 100-150 per session. Got in contact w one.
May 10th: Called w first therapist talking about what I’m looking for, where I am in this process, if parents are supportive, and talking about costs. She was very friendly and affirming, wants to have a few sessions to get to know me and my situation before writing a letter. Understandable and expected, but frustrating.
May 15th: Primary care appointment: Went to northwell health primary care, parkinglot was a little scary (just a large lot with a lot of cars) but everyone working there’s is super kind. Office is incredibly affirming, pride flags and lgbtq+ art everywhere. Gave my insurance card, filled out some paper work, got called in pretty quickly. I have a needle phobia and medical trauma so I was panicking a bit in the office, nurse was good w me about it and doctor was very kind, I just requested to not have any blood work done that day and that was totally fine, so I could schedule that at a later date and go w a friend. Recommended to get blood work done before scheduling a consult w a surgeon. Also prescribed me a single dose anxiety med for the bloodwork which I was very happy about. I found over time that the anxiety meds unfortunately do little to nothing for my panic attacks personally when it comes to needles but regardless having a doctor acknowledge and respect that fear and listen to me was incredibly helpful and reassuring.
May 30th: Got blood work done in a different lab, went w a friend. Scheduling for that is super easy, I think I did it online actually I don’t entirely recall. they do take walk ins but I made an appointment to minimize complications and make sure I could prepare properly. Front desk/lobby area was a little spooky, but I think that is mainly just bc of my social anxiety. They take a urine sample, you give them your prescription, eventually they call you over for blood work. Quick and easy, tech was v nice and having a friend with me was incredibly helpful. Probably the best I’ve ever done with a needle despite the fact that I did still panic and get very lightheaded lol.
Got blood work results back within the next couple days, all looks a-okay! Neat :)
June 15th This day was incredibly difficult. I had my first session with a therapist to establish some ground knowledge around my dysphoria and the way that I view myself. Top surgery is something that I know from research and related experience Can be difficult and expensive to get and can take time, so much of my prep work has been on the understanding of taking things a step at a time and just knowing that the current way things are doesn’t have to be forever. It allowed me to be able to live with myself while prioritizing my health better. This read to the therapist as “not having the level of dysphoria [she’s] come to expect and look for in someone who is trans” and was largely based off the fact that I don’t want to go on hrt. Past that point I started to break down because now my method of learning to live with myself felt like it was actively going to work against me and prevent me from getting top surgery. I’m not good at talking about my dysphoria, I can’t imagine it’s easy for anyone, especially to a stranger I just met. It was rough, and I felt incredibly mentally drained after ending the session.
June 19th Called it quits with the first therapist, I felt incredibly disrespected and the one session we had put me in a mental spiral for days. It can feel some times in this process like the people you have to get permission from need you to be severely depressed and unable to wait another second for this procedure just in order to take you seriously.
After I left that therapist, I immediately got back to the list to find someone new. Spoke to a new therapist via email, but my insurance is kinda weird (Blue Cross Blue Shield out of state) so its off putting to some people. This therapist recommended I go through the office she started out at (Heart and Soul Counseling)
————- Time Skip ——————
IM BACK its time for some record keeping. Got super overwhelmed and lost the energy to document my process for some time so here goes.
HEART AND SOUL COUNSELING: My experience w/ this therapy office was mostly good. The person in charge, Jesse, was absolutely lovely and responsive. Never spoke in person, but any text/email interaction was prompt, respectful, and kind. The office is stellar with email/text communication, so I only ever had to call them once when I was initially inquiring about the office. This is something I wish all therapy/counseling centers did better, eliminated a ton of my anxiety and hesitation to speak to therapists.
I got set up w someone as quickly as possible and established what my goal was (to acquire letter document for my surgery team). I attended multiple session w the therapist, she was a kind lady but the sessions were unfortunately p miserable for me. We didn’t fit well, but I was willing to stick it out rather than backtrack on my process. She also did not invalidate me or accuse me of not being trans which was a major step up from my first therapy experience. Once I acquired my letter I did stop therapy there, I kindly explained to the therapist that it wasn’t a good match, but I may honestly explore my options at the office in the future. Receptionist there was also lovely and they had a cool fish tank.
———- CONSULT STARTS HERE —————
July 19th: CONSULT!!! My mama and I went to Dr. David Whiteheads office for a consult. Parking was a nightmare so I’m super glad I didn’t have to drive for this one (ty mama). Consult went really well, and the staff were all super friendly. Dr. Whitehead is cool, very chill energy and a bit intimidating, but I’m scared of everyone so that’s nothing new. First question he asked me is what I wanted/what he could do for me which caught me more off guard than it should have? I didn’t realize going into this process how many times people ask you what you’re having done even if it’s already written down, because there’s so much variety in what you can look for in the results.
We talked about the procedure, went through a slideshow n stuff, and discussed how I wanted a flat chest w/ no nipple preservation. They made sure to specify that my mental health professional letter had to include that I did not want nipple preservation because thats technically a “non-standard” appearance. Also had the first breast exam I’ve ever had in my life. Can’t say i’m a fan (not that I need to worry about that anymore!) Took pictures n measurements n such, and also discussed recovery supplies and care w me and my mom.
August 9th: After a plethora of painfully awkward therapy sessions, a decent amount of crying, and a couple breakdowns in friends cars/backyards, I got my therapist letter and sent it to the surgeons office. It ended up needing minor revisions to which I contacted Jesse from Heart and Soul and he got me the revised letter immediately. Unfortunately the surgical coordinator was out of office for the rest of the month the next day ;w;. Is how it be.
September 12th: Got a call from Surgical coordinator mid-painting class that I stepped out to take. Started discussing surgical dates!! She was kind enough to email the dates to me which was lovely because I was absolutely shaking/mind blank haha. There was an option for January 8th which felt like an absolute miracle the way it would work with my school schedule. It would give me a solid two weeks recovery time before spring semester began. Because it would be a couple months out, I was asked to contact her in the second week of October to submit documents to insurance.
(Timeline note: earliest date offered was in early December)
October 10th: Documents sent to insurance, predetermination started
October 30th: Received mail from my insurance approving my procedure as medically necessary (YAY) But! This is also where things get,,, fun! Dr Whitehead’s surgical coordinator, Alyssa, is a blessing and was very helpful and prompt with me despite the fact that I had to email her pretty constantly during this general time which I still feel bad about.
Around this time, my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer, which I reported to the surgical coordinator because it influences my family history (grandmother also had breast cancer). It was asked that I get genetic testing done because this could impact my surgical procedure. Now I’m handling the setup on this between helping my mom in her process setting up consults and considering her options because there of course is a lot of crossover to the steps I’ve already completed and am familiar with.
November 1st: Very kind person at cancer genetics calls me, sends me a family history questionnaire to fill out before I can be scheduled to see a genetic counselor. Filled out the questionnaire the same day.
November 8th: Called cancer genetics to check about scheduling, office was not open so left a message. Got a call back later in the day. I have a virtual appointment with a Genetic counselor Tuesday the 14th. Current plan is a mailed saliva genetic test but I’m going to ask if theres anything I can do to get results/materials quicker. If I can’t get results/feedback by December 8th my surgery date may get deferred.
Trying not to stress too much because there is little to nothing I can do about this, and I just don’t want to be sad. I’ve kept telling myself throughout this process to not get excited and not let myself believe anything is solid because something could happen at any time that might mess up my schedule or plan, and If I convince myself I’m in the clear, those changes will hurt a lot more. So far I think thats been a good move, because this really sucks.
My surgery date is still officially scheduled as of now as well as my first post-op. I will also ideally have pre-surgical testing done December 18th should I be cleared by genetics in time (Fingers crossed!)
ALSO! Def lean on friends if/when you can during this process. It can absolutely be challenging, and having a support system is incredibly important and helpful. I’m super lucky to have really lovely and supportive friends that are around to listen to me and send me pictures of stupid little animals.
November 9th: My mama is scheduled for her double mastectomy on December 4th
November 10th: Did some shopping with my mama for recovery supplies for double mastectomy/top surgery. Having watched a million and a half transition/top surgery videos and tiktoks and having read all the blogs and posts and tweets makes you a great support for someone suddenly faced with an upcoming double mastectomy! We might go shopping this weekend for some button ups and zip ups for her, clothes shopping is better done when you can try stuff on
November 14th: Meeting w genetic counselor: Victoria Webb, one of the loveliest medical care workers I’ve ever met. Had a virtual appointment with her to discuss and set up genetic testing. I explained to her about my situation w the proximity of my surgery and tight deadline as well as my willingness to do a blood test instead of a saliva kit to get results quicker. She was so incredibly kind and good with me, ended up being able to do a saliva kit and get results in time she deserves every good thing in life.
December 18th: pre-surgical testing: This was at the main hospital, everyone was really nice but I had a really bad panic attack despite being on Xanax.
The process is sort of like getting a physical. Measurements like weight and blood pressure get taken, lots of preliminary health questions. The people working with me were really kind and I was very open with them about my anxiety, it was visually apparent though anyway because I started crying the second we even started talking about the blood draw.
Once the equipment was actually brought into the room I started to panic. Both of the women working with me were really kind and helpful and tried to distract me and keep me talking the entire time, but I did still have a really horrible panic attack. Every muscle in my body locked up and I lost all my color, took a bit to get back to a spot where I could move and talk properly because my speech was affected too. It was a bit scary but funny to think about in post. Thanked the medical staff for being patient w me as always, a good portion of the anxiety is also guilt about making things harder for them. Got through it tho. Def eat before presurgical if allowed, I didn’t and that probably didn’t help!!
———- SURGERY DAY ————-
January 8th:
Ok so surgery day:
This day was very scary. Got my phone call the Friday prior for my surgery time which ended up being 1pm and I was asked to arrive around 11. Got there at 10 and went in at 10:30.
Called up to check in then in waiting room till someone brought me back to change. I told her right away about my anxiety with the iv bc that’s legit all I could think about. Got changed right after. I was generally shaky and a little disoriented the entire time because I was panicking but everyone was very patient with me. Clothes and belongings go in a bag in a locker and you get two gowns one that faces back and one that faces front. I was given underwear and a pad as well because lucky me I got my period a couple days before my surgery.
The pre-op area is a lot of little cubicles with curtain divider things, blue soft chairs, and medical equipment. Everyone I met and spoke to was very kind, but any time someone even suggested starting my iv I would panic. I was informed it would have to be placed in my hand and that terrified me, I’m especially anxious and sensitive about my hands and fingers. I think doctors and nurses tend to misunderstand exactly where my fear is with needles and ivs. It isn’t the pain that scares me, but the concept of veins and and anything being in them. Even writing this right now is horrible so I’m going to stop w any further detail. I spent the entire two-ish hours of pre-op absolutely terrified about this iv.
I wasn’t really keeping track of time but dr whitehead came in to do markings for surgery. They had cool rainbow socks on,big fan. Having your chest drawn on and just like, moved around n shit is such an experience. Felt bad because I kept losing my balance but doctor Whitehead is cool and I am 98% less scared about them now.
Probably my most favorite person I met during my entire hospital experience was the anesthesiologist. I know he told me what his name was but I couldn’t focus on or retain information at the time. He told me we could essentially put me to sleep with gas before putting the iv in and for the first time in probably a solid week I felt like I could calm down a little. He took a look at my hand and arm to check my veins which always does freak me out a bit but I’m more used to that kind of thing at this point and I know nothing bad is going to happen. One of the nurses came in with the iv equipment and he let her know that were going to wait till in the or which was also incredibly helpful because I absolutely panicked when I saw that little supply kit again.
V nice lady brought me into the or, I’d never been in one before it was cool. They had a little music speaker which was really cool. Took off blue jacket gown and they helped me onto the table. They put a warm blanket over my legs and my chest to help me calm down. Before long they gave me a mask w fun happy sleepy time gas, they let me keep my arms on my chest for a while which was really nice because I was still scared. I started getting loopy pretty fast but I still heard when someone mentioned where the iv equipment was and panicked a little because of that. I remember feeling them take my hand for that but never actually felt anything happen. Just some fear but the gas was v helpful obvi. Someone said they would see me in a little bit, and then I was groggily waking up in recovery.
Recovery was a little rough bc the iv was still there (fully wrapped up so I couldn’t see it though which was rad) but I was still really anxious about it until it was taken out and when it was taken out. For anyone that struggles w this i did not feel them remove it, just the tape. Everything was mentally much easier after that. After a while, going over instructions w parents, a cracker , some ginger ale and some juice, my dad helped me Get dressed and I was helped out to the car in a wheel chair. Ride was smooth bc of remaining numbness and meds except a few Bumps in the road
TOP SURGERY GOTTEN
My post op date was scheduled for Jan 17th and that’s the day I got my drains out followed by several post op check-ins. First week of recovery was miserable but things exponentially approved each day past that, and I went back to school in person two weeks post-op with driving and item-carrying assistance from friends!
Will upload recovery notes at a later date! Feel free to message me with any questions, more than happy to answer and give info! I’m a bit over four months out from surgery now and thriving 🥳

Hi all! Hopefully I chose the right flair.
I just finished reading this book and I just need to share it someone.
Jeferson Tenório is a black Brazilian writer and his romance The Dark Side of Skin provides a very good insight into racism in Brazil, especially in the south of Brazil (the whitest part of the country with... questionable ideologies). It's fiction, but the topics are very real. I had to take breaks between reading sessions because it got to me so bad. So not a light read, but the way Jeferson is able to place us in the character's skin is MASTERFUL. This book got Brazil's equivalent of the nobel prize for literature and it shows.
The book is written as a "letter" to the protagonist's father, a school teacher who was assassinated by the police. The protagonist tells the father's story and by doing so constructs an entire biography of life in Brazil as a black person.
I recommend this book to any non-Brazilian interested in understanding how racism plays out in another country. And for Brazilians, I recommend it especially because it has seen attempts from politicians to ban it from schools' reading list. This is how I found out about the book. Politicians are using the sexual scenes within the book as excuse, saying it's too erotic, in an attempt to censor discussions on racism from schools.
I would be so happy if they fail and students are exposed to the reality of black Brazilians. And I would be very happy if the author got support and the book got more visibility.
I read it in original Portuguese, but an English version (as the title of my post shows) and even a Mandarin and an Italian version are available. The book isn't long. Please give it a look!

Been seeing some complaints about the changes in Song of Strife, especially regarding the Secret Travelogue and the Growth Bundle, so I thought I would do some math to figure out how much value is actually lost. In the meantime, I also calculated out which banners are the best to pull from, the cost of S- and A-level heroes by dollar and by gems (the latter differing depending on the banner). The Key Findings is the tl;dr. The rest is just showing my work. Enjoy!
Key Findings:

1. Song of Strife Noble Path Secret Travelogue is, at the most generous, only 60% as valuable as Pre-Season Noble Path Secret Travelogue.
   
2. Song of Strife Growth Bundle is slightly better, being ~4.7% more valuable than Pre-Season Growth Bundle.
   
3. For S-level Heroes, the banners with the best to worst values are: Epic Recruitment, Rate-Up, and All-Hero.
   
4. It's actually less expensive, gem-wise, to get a Celestial or Hypogean Hero via Scamgazer than an S-level via All-Hero Recruitment.
   
5. If you have A-level Heroes with the same pull priority as S-level, it is more cost-effective to put those on your Epic Recruitment than S-levels.
   
6. If pulling from All-Hero, an S-level Hero costs $21.95 and an A-level Hero costs $2.00.
   
7. If pulling from Rate-Up, an S-level Hero costs $16.67 and an A-level Hero costs $5.00.
   

Baselines
I'll be using the baseline of 270 gems per All-Hero Recruitment letter (2700 gems per 10-pull) and 300 gems per Rate-Up Recruitment Letter.
I will also be using the in-game percentages, without considering pity (since it seems like the consensus that the rate has pity built in). If there's enough interest, I might run these calcs again, but assuming you only hit pity.
Epic Recruitment Letters
This is hard to value. If priced using Emporium, each letter is worth 400 gems.
If priced using Gazettes, each letter is worth 514 gems (12,000 gems for $5, 70 letters for $15). If you take into account AFKJ's "Value" proposition that the Classic Gazette is of better value than the Premium Gazette, you get that each letter is worth ~441 gems.
I'll make calcs based on all three, with results in XXX/XXX/XXX format, representing calcs using 400/441/514 gems, respectively.
Gems and Heroes
Source: Recruitment Store
A-level Soulstones: 68 Dolly Tickets S-level Soulstones: 550 Dolly Tickets You need 60 of each for one Hero of that tier, meaning AFK Journey values S-levels at ~8.1x the value of A-level.
Source: Epic Recruitment
When you hit the prize pool, you will either receive your choice of 1 S-level or 5 A-level heroes. This values A-levels at 5x that of S-levels. I am not sure whether you can pull Celestials or Hypogeans from an S-level Soulstone, but if you can, then that makes sense why there is a value difference between the Recruitment Store conversion and the Epic Recruitment conversion rates. Moving forward, I will use the 1:5 rate in the Epic Recruitment, since most things won't involve Celestials or Hypogeans.
Value: Rate-Up Recruitment
Rate-Up Hero (S-level) Chance: 3.0% Rate-Up (S-level) EV: 3 per 100 pulls (NOTE: This is EXACTLY the expected value if you only hit the pity of 40, so if chances include pity, this means you actually have a less than 0.04% (assuming they round chances) of actually pulling one outside of pity.) Rate-Up (S-level) Gem Cost: 10,000 gems
A-level Chance: 10% A-level EV: 1 per 10 pulls A-level Gem Cost: 3000 gems
S:A-level Conversion Rate: ~3.3
Value: All-Hero Recruitment
S-level Chance: 2.05% S-level EV: 41 per 2000 pulls S-level Gem Cost: 13,171 gems
A-level Chance: 22.5% A-level EV: 45 per 200 pulls A-level Gem Cost: 1200 gems
S:A-level Conversion Rate: ~1:110
Value: Epic Recruitment
S-level Chance: 5.22% S-level EV: 261 per 5000 pulls S-level Gem Cost: 7663/8448/9847 gems
A-level Chance: 18.75% A-level EV: 3 per 16 pulls A-level Gem Cost: 2133/2352/2741 gems
S:A-level Conversion Rate: ~3.6
(Meaning, it's more worth it to put an A-level over a S-level on your Wishlist for Epic Recruitment if they have the same priority)
Value: Scamgazer
Cost: 400 gems per pull (from Emporium)
Cele/Hypo Chance: 3.25% Cele/Hypo EV: 13 per 400 pulls Cele/Hypo Gem Cost: 12,308 gems
Experia Monthly
Classic Gazette
12,000 gems for $5 = 2400 gems per $1.
Receive immediately 3000 gems + 300 gems (for that day), converted to 660 gems per $1. Note that the extra 300 gems only applies if you don't already have a Classic Gazette active. If you do, it drops to 600 gems per $1.
If you're looking to be competitive, use the 600 gems per $1. If you're just spending and playing for fun, use the 2400 gems per $1.
Premium Gazette
70 Epic Recruitment Letters for $15 = 4.7 Epic Recruitment Letters per $1
Receive immediately 10 Epic Recruitment Letters + 2 letters (for that day), converted to 0.8 letters per $1. Note that the extra 2 letters only applies if you don't already have a Premium Gazette active. If you do, it drops to 0.67 letters per $1.
If you're looking to be competitive, use the 0.67 letters per $1. If you're just spending and playing for fun, use the 4.7 letters per $1.
Pre-Season (Launch until Song of Strife):
Growth Bundle (Value: 1940/2022/2168 gems per $1) Cost: $30 Benefits: 18,000 gems; 60 All-Hero Letters; 60 Epic Letters Converting to Gems: 58200/60660/65040 (18,000 + 16200 + 24000/26460/30840 (using different values for Epic letters))
Noble Path (Value: 5838/5920/6066 gems per $1)
Cost: $10 S-Level Soulstone: Choice of Temesia, Smokey, Thoran, and Bryon (worth 13,171 gems) 20 Epic Recruitment Letters (worth 8000/8820/10280 gems) 1200 A-level Soulstone Pieces (20 A-level Soulstones) (worth 12000 gems) 7239 Essence (worth ~5050 gems (calc using 2007 essence at AFK 1125 (w/o mystic collection bonuses) with 6 hours of essence costing 350 gems, if all 3 instant collects are bought)) 17 Million EXP (not quantifiable, as after first primal lord, EXP no longer an issue) 140 Faction Acorns per Faction (560 acorns total) (worth 20160 gems (calc using Emporium rates))
Season One (Song of Strife):
Growth Bundle (Value: 1967/2117/2385 gems per $1) Cost: $30 Benefits: 15,000 gems; 110 Epic Recruitment Letters Converting to Gems: 59000/63510/71540 gems
Noble Path (Value: 3525 gems per $1 -- which is overvaluing essence and EXP when compared to Pre-Season calculations)
Cost: $10 30 Rate-Up Letters (worth 9000 gems) 30 All-Hero Letters (worth 8100 gems) 10K Essence (worth 8424 gems (note: not sure rate at max AFK, so using stage 250 rate)) 2.312 Million EXP (worth 9721 gems (note: note sure rate at max AFK, so using stage 250 rate))

I just pushed my reviews up to 92%!! I was pretty disappointed for not making gold 6 months ago and told myself to not let my problematic procrastination tendencies win again- sure enough I did it!
Just wanted to share my joy and maybe bring some encouragement to anyone else with review dates on the horizon. Push yourself, you can do it too! 🙌🏻
Seriously, vine has been such a fun and unexpected blessing for me. I never considered myself to be exceptionally lucky, unlike my sister who has been best friends with dumb shit luck my whole life, winning every contest,raffle,giveaway,random prize you could imagine. But this, Vine, really feels like I hit my own secret little jackpot for once.
Sure I might just order slightly more expensive ‘made in china’ clutter now and yes I’ve noticed how horribly inaccurate the ETV’s can be and ya the point can be made that Amazon is the party who benefits the most from the entire program blah blah blah……
We get free shit for writing reviews!! It’s freaking cool. Remember when Nickelodeon showed kids winning shopping sprees and having 60 seconds to race through the aisles of a Toys-R-Us? This is that. It’s that moment of a shopping-induced endorphin rush and inside tingly happy feelings for getting unheard of deals and discounts all rolled into one big Vine. 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗