I just had a total laparoscopic hysterectomy last Tuesday. They took my uterus, tubes and cervix.
18f, had a previous laparoscopy for endometriosis about 2 years ago.
I'm still taking everything for pain they gave me, but I've read that normally people can drop opiates only a few days after?
I also had to stay in the hospital a day longer than we planned, it was supposed to be outpatient. I had to stay until afternoon the next day, despite being the first surgery of the day.
I also haven't had a bowel movement yet, despite taking stool softeners, Miralax and a gentle laxative. I just took a less gentle laxative, hopefully that doesn't cause too much cramping.
I stopped bleeding the day I got home, which is amazing to me! If I heal right I will never need to worry about it again!!
I've wanted this surgery for 4 years, I'm so happy I got it!
Are my bowel movements really concerning? I can't feel anything, even when I try to make a bowel movement I don't feel anything happening. I also had large bowel adhesions, notes said large bowel adhesions to left pelvic brim and left pelvic sidewall. Does this mean my bowel was stuck to the side of my pelvis?
Thank you so much!!

I had the IUD for a little over 5 years. For the most part I loved it. Until I convinced myself that it is the sole cause of my interstitial cystitis (painful bladder syndrome). I recently had my IUD removed (mid April) and now I can’t stop having anxiety about getting pregnant. I planned to practice the FAM and use condoms but miss the security the IUD gave me. Here are my thoughts.
With The IUD Pros: -Can’t get pregnant. -Didnt have to use protection with my husband -Didn’t notice the typical weight gain from other BC methods Cons: -Constant on and off BV (or smelly discharge that 2 different OBGYNs confirmed were NOT yeast infections/STIs) -Suspected cause of bladder pain and constant UTIs -Acne? This could be an unrelated symptom but I currently manage my acne with a tetracycline antibiotic
W/O the IUD (for approximately 1 month) Pros: -hormone free -no UTIs yet -cervical mucus hasn’t smelled? -Feel very in tune with my body when tracking FAM/BBT Cons: -My first period was so heavy I was convinced I had a miscarriage based on the size of the blood clots. -Intense mood swings around my period. I normally am a level headed person, but leading up to my period I was easily set off. -Still having hints of bladder pain -Intense anxiety about getting pregnant.
I’m not sure I made the right decision about removing my IUD. I know it has only been 1 month, so maybe it is too soon to tell. I also understand there are many other BC methods such as pills but i’m not sure that is the best method for me. Has anyone else experienced a similar predicament?

What's up guys and girls. I got out of a 2 year relationship. Ex gf emotionally cheated on me, so I left. I felt crushed and alone because she was my everything, my lover, partner, best friend, supporter, everything. But now I am all I have. But now after 5 weeks I am feeling better. I have used the negativity and lonelieness and sadness and pain as energy to drive myself forward. And you don't need a breakup to learn this way! Here's my tips on how to become happier during your alone periods: 1) Journaling. Journaling helped me a lot to think thorough of my weaknesses, flaws, and strengths. It helps you observe yourself to better understand yourself. It's best to do this with a clear head so you're not biased against yourself. At first it may seem pointless since you're just writing it, but that's the point. Thats the start to self realization by knowing what and who and why you are the way you are. 2) Forgive yourself. Whether you messed up by trusting the wrong person, not being good enough, having any anger issues, not trying hard enough. Forgive yourself, do not burden yourself with yourself. Forgive yourself and ask yourself what you can do to change whatever it is you're giving yourself a hard time with. Forgiving yourself and learning to love yourself is a big step to living a peaceful life because you may underestimate what you can do in a year, 2 years, 3 years, 10 and even 20 years. Your life goes on and even though you may not like this chapter you're in right now you can always make changes to create better ones. 3) Go out for a walk under the sun! Does not matter if it's too hot or too cold. Exercise stimulates your brain and body to relaxation, and after walking for so many miles I'm sure it won't seem much of a chore after. Plus, you can also lose weight if that's a goal of yours. If walking under the sun, or even jogging, is something you would never do then give it multiple tries. It helps you push out of your "comfort zone" which is probably just sleeping around (I know my comfort was sleeping my days away depressingly). You can also listen to self help videos or podcasts while you walk. You may learn some new methods of quotes that you can implement into your life! 4) Avoid the junk food! Also known as comfort food! Too many carbs makes you feel lazy, which in turn mixes with your negative emotions. Making you even more glued to your bed. Or sofa. Instead, eat an apple or banana or another fruit. Or simply drink water! Your body will thank you for it in the long run. 😌 5) Pick up a healthy hobby. If you like to drink or smoke, cut back on it as much as you can. Make goals to quit those vices. Instead, learn to play the guitar, learn a skill like plumbing or wiring or carpentry, learn another language. You can also volunteer at animal shelters and walk dogs! They'll love you in return. Or you can feed the street pigeons. Helping out little critters like cats, dogs, pigeons or others can make you feel better about yourself. You'd be surprised how much they'd want to be around you or even snuggle up to you. Or even just ask your boss for longer hours! You just have to keep yourself busy from having too much time to think about anything negative. 6) Avoid social media: Social media only shows people's highlights and pushes the "you're either with me or against me" kind of mentality when you're watching reels of the top people, which leads to a certain identity loss for people who've yet to discover themselves. Plus it can get very toxic in the comment section. Well those are the major things that have helped me to see brighter days while living alone. I hope you all find peace within yourselves because it is mostly found there (I say mostly because maybe some of you live in high crime areas or live with abusive family members). Remember to love yourself because at the end of the day you're all you have, so be kind to yourself and be your own best friend. If you need anyone to talk to feel free to hit me up and I'll get to you when I can. I know what it's like to struggle alone, to have nobody by your side. That's why I'm here to help. Best of luck to yall 🙏💪

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.

• Mainly games like GTA, WoW potentially, that Cybersomething game. Haven't had a decent computer to play any other games but would like to be able to play newer high graphics games.

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

• $1,200

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

• Thursday (3 days from now)

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

• I already have a keyboard, mouse and monitor but require everything else

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

• Michigan, USA. Madison heights micro center as the only place I'd like to buy parts if possible.

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

• unsure of the names but I have a mechanical keyboard and gaming monitor and mouse.

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

• I'll most likely never overclock

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

• I'm not particular on any specifics, as long as it can run games well and has preferably 1tb storage.

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

• I couldn't care less if there is a see through side or anything. Last case had a glass side and I never looked into it to notice the insides nor did I ever turn on the lights for it.

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

• Windows can be bought later on, not too concerned about this as I have a harddrive that already has windows on it that I could run from if I need to.

Extra info or particulars: No extras but I would really like to try to get everything from micro center of possible since I'll be getting one of their credit cards. Thank you in advance for any help or tips!!

Throwaway account because the subject matter is cringe and id rather not get bullied on my main, thanks.
TLDR: My boyfriend thinks the romantic codywan RP I'm doing with a friend is emotionally cheating and wants me to stop RPing and to stop engaging with the fandom. AITAH?
I (f27) am in an argument with my bf (m29) of two months concerning a text based roleplay I'm doing with a friend.
I'm a cringey fandom roleplayer. Fandom and RP have been an enormous part of my life since I was 13. It is my most beloved hobby, two of my best friends in the whole world, I meant through RP. Roleplaying is basically like creating fanfiction with another person. You each play a character, you write a couple of paragraphs, then the other person responds. It's a game. It's fiction. The things my character says or does are oftentimes not things that I would say or do or endorse, because I'm playing as a character. The relationship I have with my RP partner is not the same as the relationships our characters might have with each other. We DO NOT bring our real lives into the RP. I promise, this is relevant so keep it in mind.
I know it's not everybody's cup of tea, I know a lot of people see it as childish and cringey, and I'm okay with that. It was something that I was deeply ashamed of and was bullied for for a long time, but I've come to accept that it's something I don't have to be ashamed of, but it's still a sensitive topic for me and something I really don't like to disclose. Growing up, I felt a lot of pressure to keep this hobby a secret, or to abandon it entirely because people who found out about it were mean about it. When I was 17, one of my closest friends emailed large potions of my "Mermaid Destiel mpreg RP" around the school. So, I'm sure you can imagine why I'm having such a hard time looking at this situation rationally. It's all caught up in my feels.
In 2019, I started doing Codywan (Obi-Wan x Commander Cody, if you're a casual Star Wars fan and know nothing about the fandom, I am so sorry.) rp with a friend, and we're still doing that RP to this very day. She is one of my closest friends. We have written thousands of pages together. The RP is most definitely romantic, but it isn't smutty. We tried writing porn a couple of times years ago, but it never went anywhere because I didn't enjoy it. The old threads have long since been deleted.
My boyfriend absolutely hate the RP. I have never, ever tried to hide it from him. I told him about it when we first started dating, before we were official, because he asked what my hobbies are. He's a Star Wars fan, not really into the fandom thing, and we had a good laugh about it. Sure, he's made a couple of snide remarks about how cringy it is, but I'm not going to pitch a fit about that because, yeah, it is cringy. I'm self-aware enough to know that. But yeah, it's never been a secret. He's never been very interested in it, and that's fine by me. Every once in a while he'll ask me questions, and I'll answer them. I guess that's why I feel so blindsided about this whole thing.
Recently, he asked to read a couple, just out of curiosity, and I let him, and he was fucking furious! The section he was reading was romantic, describing the characters holding hands and kissing because they were on a date. He accused me of emotionally cheating on him with my RP partner. I think that's ridiculous. Like I said, the role play is fiction. I have never felt romantic feelings for my RP partner, we've never kissed, we've never even met in person. Yes, we chat about all kinds of things outside of the RP because we're friends. Outside of the rp, we do not flirt. We do not talk about our sex lives. I have never come ever said anything bad to her about my boyfriend. I've never hidden the fact that I have a boyfriend from her. I do not see her out as my primary source of comfort. We talk about fandom, other hobbies, life, things like that.
I just feel so fucking confused. I pulled up our "out of character" thread and begged him to read it because I felt like that would prove my innocence, but he absolutely refused because he "already saw everything he needed to know". I asked him if married actors are cheating on their spouses when they have to kiss other people in movies, and he said that wasn't the same. I asked him if it was cheating for an author to write about a romantic relationship, he said that it wasn't the same because authors work alone. I asked him "what about people who co-author books together?" I mean, christ, were Terry Pratchett and Neil diamond having an affair without each other when they wrote Good omens? That's fucking ridiculous. But he got absolutely furious and told me to "shut up and stop trying to defend myself!" He told me I ruined Star Wars by doing this to him, and he wanted me to delete discord and Tumblr. I told him absolutely not, I hadn't done anything wrong. It still makes me so fucking mad because he was talking down to me like I was a fucking child, and my punishment for disobeying him was taking away my social media.
He was mad at me and gave me the cold shoulder for a couple of days, but yesterday, he sat me down because he wanted to have a talk with me. He apologized for freaking out at me, he said that his behavior was irrational and unacceptable, and he did agree that he had no right to try to force me to delete discord and Tumblr. You told me that the role play made him really uncomfortable, and that he felt I had betrayed him by hiding this from him, which is absolute bullshit and I called him out on that, because I hid nothing from him. He tried to tell me that I never told him it was a romantic RP, and I told him that he knew from the start that it was a ship RP, what did he expect? Then he said he doesn't mind if I kept RPing, but he doesn't want me engaging with the Star Wars fandom anymore, and he wants me to block my friend. I told him that he's talking down to me again, that he is punishing me without even bothering to hear my side of things. I asked him, again, to read the OOC thread, because if he genuinely thinks our relationship is inappropriate, I need to know. The characters we play are fictional, the relationship is fictional, there's a line between fiction and reality and we do not cross it. The RP isn't going to give him an accurate representation of my relationship with my friend. If he wants to judge that relationship, he needs to look at the OOC thread. Well, when I suggested it, he blew up at me again and told me I wasn't listening to him. He told me I was being petulant, fucking petulant, and unreasonable. He hasn't spoken to me since, and he's still absolutely fuming.
Look, I'll be honest, there's no way in hell I'm staying in this relationship. I do not want to being a relationship with somebody whose first response is anger. I want somebody who respects me enough to have an adult fucking conversation with me. If he had just talked to me instead of accusing me of cheating and blowing up at me, things would be different. But he didn't and I don't do second chances, not for stuff like this.
But this is the first long-term relationship I've had since I was a teenager, so some part of me feels like maybe I misstepped. Is doing a romantic RP with someone "cheating"? Was I in the wrong? AITAH?

The garage door shut with a groan behind us, closing us in the gloom of the single bulb hanging over the car.
Mother took a drag off her cigarette and sighed as she exhaled, the smoke filled the cabin of the Ford and stung my eyes.
“You really disappointed me today, Julianne," she tapped her cigarette in the ashtray below the dash, "you embarrassed me in front of the other mothers at the Ice Cream Social, shoveling down seconds and thirds like a pig. I thought I raised you better than that.”
She took another drag, daintily holding the cigarette between her perfectly manicured fingers.
“I'm going to have to tell your brother about this," she continued, “he'll have to come up with a punishment fit for a pig."
I felt my stomach drop. My kid brother, Thomas, was only six, but could be exceptionally cruel. Mother seemed to encourage him and was deferring to him more and more frequently for how the house was run, especially concerning my upbringing.
"Mother, please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm sorry I was a pig and ate so much ice cream. I promise I won't do it again, I'll never eat any ice cream again," I was pleading with stone, unyielding.
“Hush your mouth. Go to your room and wait for Thomas," she put out the cigarette and got out of the car, I had no choice but to follow.
It felt like walking to the gallows as I stepped inside the house and headed towards the stairs to go to my room. Thomas had grown fond recently of physical punishment, he obviously delighted in Mother whipping me with a belt or, recently, Mother had allowed him to start beating me with a wooden spoon. He would squeal and giggle like a normal child watching bubbles in the wind while I screamed. I was dreading whatever was going to happen tonight, I chastised myself for eating that ice cream, I should have known she would show up. My sins were always laid bare.
Down the hall, I could hear Thomas watching television in the den. I only got to watch TV for half an hour on Saturday morning and new episodes of Happy Days with Mother and Thomas. Thomas got to watch all the TV he wanted. He could listen to the radio and turntable as much as he wanted, as loud as he wanted. Thomas had an entire room just for his toys.
I entered my bedroom, it was a space I occupied, but it didn't feel like mine. Mother kept it spartan, white walls and white bedspread. A crucifix over the bed and a painting of Jesus over the door. I had my desk and chair and a dresser with some of the porcelain dolls Daddy gave me before he died that Mother let me keep. That was it.
I placed my book bag down and sat on my bed, waiting for Thomas. It was a while, sitting there with nothing but my own thoughts and staring at the open door. I felt humiliated, I was almost thirteen and my entire life was dictated by my brother. Mother kept the house in constant lockdown to keep Thomas a secret. No outsiders were allowed in. I couldn't have friends because she was afraid I would mention him or sneak a friend in to gawk at my brother and tease him for being different.
I would never make fun of him, I was terrified of him. Terrified of what he was and what he was becoming.
Eventually I heard his heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and I felt my heart start beating faster and my palms began to sweat. I kneaded my skirt in my hands, trying to calm myself and dry my palms. His slow arrhythmic footsteps came down the hall and I watched him as he entered the room.
I couldn't help but internally recoil at his appearance, even though I'd known him since he was born, I could never adjust to how unnatural he appeared. Thomas had been born at home and had never seen a doctor, but he was obviously unwell.
He was six years old and was barely over two feet tall, but very squat and wide. His skin was thick and gray, the whites of his beady eyes were yellow and his hair was wispy and white like an old man's, spreading out like a halo around his gargoyle face. A slight odor of decomposition hung about him, it reminded me faintly of garbage cans on a hot summer day. I hated when Mother made me help him with a bath, his skin felt like old brittle leather that flaked onto my clothes in gray flecks. His body was dense like concrete, I could barely lift him into the tub. Picking him up forced his hair into my face where that smell of rot would fill my nose, causing me to gag, silently, so as not to offend him and draw any ire from him or Mother.
Today, Thomas was wearing bib overalls with a red and green striped sweater underneath, reminding me of a grotesque doll.
“Mama says you acted like a piggy today at the ice cream social,” he spoke up to me in his unsettlingly high pitched, yet raspy voice, like a child that smoked as much as Mother, "you need to come down for dinner right now for your punishment for embarrassing Mama."
He turned and walked back down the stairs and I had no choice but to follow his toddling form downstairs to the dining table. We entered the kitchen and the table was placed with two settings. Mother was already seated and Thomas clambered up into his booster seat at his normal spot next to Mother. She took a drag off her cigarette and motioned vaguely to the floor without even looking at me.
Neatly situated on the linoleum was my dinner, not on a plate, but directly on the floor. A pork chop, scoop of mashed potatoes, and a small pile of peas. No utensils, either.
Thomas giggled with glee upon seeing my face.
“You have Mama's permission now to eat like a piggy, now. No hands! Piggies just use their face!” He stood up in his chair and reached out for Mother’s ash tray and flung it out over my meal, peppering my dinner with cigarette ash and butts.
"Oops! Piggies don't mind trash though, do they, Mama?” he giggled and the sound filled me with rage.
"No, they don't,” Mother replied coolly while maneuvering her ashtray back in place and carefully putting out her cigarette before saying prayer.
As angry as I was, I got down on my hands and knees and did my best at eating what I could without using my hands. I knew if I refused, it would be far worse. The whole meal, Thomas made pig noises and would reach down and poke me with his fork, making comments about what a fat piggy I was and how he wished he could roast and eat me. I doubted Mother would even object if he actually did kill me and eat me.
Gagging my way through another bite of ashy pork chop, I felt a warm splat over my head and heard Thomas giggling. I reached up and felt he had dumped mashed potatoes into my hair.
Choking down tears, I asked Mother if I could clean the floor and bathe. She rolled her eyes and excused me to clear the table for them as well while she changed Thomas into his pajamas. Picking him up, she walked out of the room and Thomas stuck his putrid little purple tongue out at me before they made it out the kitchen door.
I silently cried while I cleared the table and washed the dinner dishes. Tears splashed down as I mopped up the mess from my food on the floor. I hated how awful Thomas was. I hated how they treated me. Ever since Daddy died and Thomas showed up, I was their punching bag. I missed Daddy so much.
Mother was kinder then, too. She was still severe, but Dad kept her tempered. After he died, there was a change that came over her. I was only six, so I didn't remember her too much from before, but I did remember her gushing on and on when she was pregnant with Thomas. How the baby was a gift from Our Heavenly Father, that it was going to complete our broken family.
My sixth birthday happened right after Daddy died and I remember sitting on the patio crying while the house was full of people after the funeral, normally he would have gotten me a new doll and a chocolate bar, instead I was forgotten. No doll. No chocolate. Just funeral potatoes and a house full of cigarette smoke from the adults.
Nobody remembered. The closest thing I got was my dad's sister, Aunt Judy, sitting next to me on the patio step for a few minutes of comfortable silence before giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. I don't think she knew her brother was memorialized on my birthday. Next year, Thomas was born the day before my birthday, so it was completely eclipsed as Mother had just birthed her new love into the world…
I stopped mid mop as a lightbulb finally went off. I had never put much thought into the dates before.
Thomas was born a full year after Daddy died. He couldn't be his dad. Who was Thomas’ actual father?
Washing mashed potatoes out of my hair that evening, I ran over and over the timeline. No matter how I parsed it out, Thomas was only my half brother. Going to bed that night, I kept myself awake, going over and over again to make sure. I couldn't remember any men being around at that time, but that didn't mean much. Adults can easily hide things from children. Tension began throbbing through my head and I felt queasy. Mother had always known all of my secrets, able to sniff them out like a bloodhound out or using Thomas to spy. Now I had one of Mother's secrets and I didn't know what to do with it.
First I wanted to confirm it, but it would mean snooping, which was difficult in a house that was rarely left empty. I would have to try finding Mother's calendar book or journal to see if she mentioned any dates or men.
But when could I attempt such a daring maneuver? Thomas hardly left the house. As proud as Mother was of him, she was very cognizant and protective of his differences and didn't want to draw attention to herself or Thomas like that. Mother herself had few social engagements throughout the week and mostly stayed home to watch her golden child.
I finally decided I would take the risk and fake sick on Tuesday, grocery day, so I could stay home from school while she went shopping. All Thomas did all day was watch TV downstairs, so that should give me about an hour to look through her room for clues. I decided to tuck my head down, try to behave as best as I could to avoid their wrath, and wait for Tuesday.
That weekend limped along agonizingly slow. Thomas was in a fine mood and was constantly seeking out a reason to poke me, punch me, slap me… he'd laugh while calling me a piggy with his off-putting wide mouth. I tried to mostly stay in my room and it seemed like neither of them cared.
School on Monday was a relief, but my anxiety ramped up. The consequences would be dire if Mother caught on that I was faking sick to stay home. I didn't even want to imagine how off the leash she'd let my half-brother become in his punishment for that level of insubordination.
I stayed up all night, my stomach was in knots, but I was committed to my plan. Throughout the night, I screamed as hard as I could into my pillow. Screamed until my throat was raw and I could barely talk. It felt cathartic in a way. When it was close to school time, I put on my heaviest flannel pajamas and began doing jumping jacks until my face was flushed and my scalp was soaked with sweat.
Looking in the bathroom mirror before heading down to talk to Mother, I thought I looked pretty convincing, my skin was flushed and sweaty, my eyes had circles under them from lack of sleep, and my voice croaked like a frog.
Heading downstairs, Mother was already feeding Thomas breakfast. I hesitantly stepped into the kitchen and stood there awkwardly for a second, pawing with my pajamas to keep my nerves steady until she noticed my presence and looked up.
“Why aren't you dressed, Julianne?"
"I don't feel well. My throat hurts and my tummy hurts.” My voice graveled out more than I was expecting, I really had hurt my throat.
She strode over to me and placed a cool hand on my sweaty brow.
"You do feel warm. Take an aspirin from the medicine cabinet and go lay back down. I'll check on you later," with that she turned back and walked over to Thomas, who was frozen in place, glaring at me over a forkful of scrambled eggs. The sharp glint of malice in his beady eyes made me shiver before I shuffled out of the kitchen.
I laid in bed, trying my best to look miserable until I eventually heard the faint sound of the television playing in the den as Thomas settled in for his normal daytime routine and the garage door opened as Mother headed to the grocery store. I bounded out of bed and watched the car back out of our driveway and head up the street.
My heart began to pound as I tiptoed down the hall to Mother's bedroom, a place I rarely even caught a glimpse of, let alone entered. I very slowly opened the door, taking great care to not make any noise to alert Thomas downstairs that I was out of bed.
Creeping into the butter yellow room, I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my skull, this was the naughtiest thing I had ever done by far. I stepped onto the rug to help disguise my footsteps and slowly made my way past the brass bed and towards her desk. My hands shook as I opened the top drawer, I pawed through rapidly and found nothing. I checked the next drawer down and again found nothing of interest, just stationary and envelopes.
Finally, the bottom drawer was what I was looking for, a stack of journals from the past decade. I flipped through, trying to find entries relevant to when Daddy died and who Mother slept with afterwards.
I've never fully recovered from what I read.
July 6, 1968
Edgar died today. Car accident. I cannot believe this is real. My light, my life, my anchor... Dr. Benson gave me a sedative at the hospital and I feel so tired. So very, very tired. Why has my Lord forsaken me so?
July 9, 1968
I feel like I am in a very bad dream, I feel numb and disconnected. All the consolation and pity from everyone makes me feel sick. After the memorial, it took everything in me to not break dishes and to scream at everyone to get out of my house. Julianne was moping about crying and I wanted to throw her out, too.
If I hadn't seen my dear Edgar's body in the hospital and held his urn in my own hands, I wouldn't believe he was really gone. I still don't entirely believe it.
I have prayed to God every night asking him to show me why he took my husband from me and I have gotten no answer.
I skimmed over the next few months, as it was more or less similar sentiments repeated night after night. I finally got to an entry that caught my eye.
September 17, 1968
My battle with my faith has been fraught the past few months, but Hallelujah! I feel I can see the Lord again in all his glory and might, for he has given me a way to reconnect to my Edgar!
I was thinking about the night Julianne was born, right in this very home, it was a difficult birth and she struggled to breathe at first. Ingrid, my midwife, made a comment to me that if the baby had failed to wake up on her own, that Ingrid had ways to make sure she would have made it.
I remember asking if it was a medical methodology and she made it clear to me that in certain circumstances, it was a mystical property she used to bring the air of life into a struggling baby's lungs. She gently alluded to being a practicing member of the dark arts. At the time, I felt quite scandalized to have someone like that in my God fearing home. Now I see her as the answer to my prayers! My angel!
On a whim, I called her and asked if she still practiced such techniques. She hesitantly confirmed that she did. I asked, if she could turn breath into the lungs of a child without, could she turn breath into a child that did not exist? Could she magick into existence another child of my beloved Edgar? She told me she had to do some research and she'd be back in touch.
Ingrid just called back after a few hours and said there was a spell she found, but it was dangerous and might have unpleasant results. I said, yes, of course! I trust my Lord and I believe he sent this woman of blessed magick to me for this purpose.
She says we will have to do it soon, in a few days during the new moon. She has a potion to brew, but it is happening! Praise God!
September 23, 1968
The ceremony was last night, and Ingrid believes it was a success, but we will have to wait. It did not take long, only an hour or two. Ingrid lit my bedroom with many beeswax candles and she had me drink a thick and bitter tea that caused me to become quite relaxed and foggy.
From my inner thigh, she cut me and collected my blood in a chalice, with which she mixed quite a lot of Edgar's ashes and other ingredients which I could not glean from my supine position and groggy wits. Ingrid began to chant, calling upon a higher power, as I pleaded with my Lord to let this work. To give me any piece of my Edgar back. She came to the bed and worked the paste between my legs into my womanly chamber, which was very uncomfortable, but manageable with the numbing effects of the tea.
She continued to sit with me and chant, her hand placed over my womb, until she decided at which time it was complete. She left and I fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up this morning, I felt quite uncomfortable, my body ached and when I used the restroom, a yellow fluid like pus poured out of me, but no sign of any ashes or blood, which gives me hope it was absorbed into my womb.
November 3, 1968
Praise be to our Lord, Ingrid just confirmed for me that I am with child, I had been hoping so, I had not gotten my cycle in October, but I wasn't sure if that was because of the discharge like pus that was still coming. She told me that was common with this spell and a side effect that would stop after the baby came.
I feel like I am floating on air, for the first time since Edgar left, I feel-
I suddenly became very aware of the feeling of eyes on the back of my head. I had become too engrossed in what was written before me and I had lost track of my surroundings. Very slowly, I turned around and my heart began pounding again as I saw Thomas standing in the doorway holding his wooden spoon in one hand. How had I not heard him?
He pointed at me with his empty hand and screamed, just a pure guttural screech from somewhere deep inside his disgusting little body. He charged at me from across the room, his horrible feet thumping solidly along the rug. He began beating my legs ruthlessly with the spoon, causing my legs to buckle. I crashed down to my knees in front of him, and he began lashing at my face, pulling my hair with one hand while wailing away at my head with the spoon.
I had dropped the journal I was holding and was desperately trying to get a hand on the spoon or push him away. All I could hear was him screaming. My arms flailed and I reached around on Mother's desk and grabbed onto the first thing I found and sank it into Thomas’ neck.
The end of Mother's gold letter opener protruded under his jaw. He went silent and he looked at me with utter shock. He dropped the spoon and collapsed on the ground, clutching at his neck as his thick black blood oozed out from his wound, letting out a stupendous odor of rot that filled the room. He didn't really say anything or make any noise. He just twitched for a moment and I saw his eyes glaze over.
In shock, I stood over his little body for a moment and I watched as he seemed to mummify in just a few minutes, like an ash person from Pompeii dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. Even his blood that looked like shiny oil a second ago became like potting soil on Mother's rug. Reaching out to touch his hand, it crumbled away like sand.
Panic ran through me like a rabbit caught in a snare. Not knowing what to do, I ran. I ran down the hall, changed my clothes, put an extra change of clothes in my backpack and the last doll Daddy had ever given me and I ran. Mother would absolutely never forgive me and I was genuinely afraid she would kill me in retaliation for taking her beloved Thomas away from her. Her precious gift from God. My feet flew over the pavement and took me away from that house.
I called my Aunt Judy from a payphone outside the five & dime, and told her Mother had kicked me out and asked if I could stay with her. She had always had a strained relationship with my mother and it didn't take much convincing that she had kicked out her “only” child. Only Mother, Ingrid, and I ever knew about Thomas.
She gave me a home and took care of me. She never beat me or humiliated me. Even with her love, I was far from okay. For years I would close my eyes and hear Thomas scream, then the sudden silence. I'd see him fumbling at his neck and turning to ash. But I would also remember all the ways he would hurt me and how bad he was becoming. I could never talk to anyone about it, especially not the silent relief I felt I refused to admit to myself. Over time, however, Thomas' screams became a whisper and his silence faded into dust in my mind.
I moved on with my life. I went to college and became a photojournalist, getting to travel the world and watch history unfold. By choice, I never married, but was quite blessed with many beautiful friendships for companionship over the decades. I found balance in my life and a sense of happiness, if not peace. I never could quite stomach mashed potatoes again, though, they always taste ashy to me.
Mother never made any attempts to reach out to me or find me, at least that I'm aware of. Ten years ago, I was contacted by a hospital and they said my mother had been admitted earlier after falling and was about to pass, so she must have kept some tabs on me to know my phone number for her emergency contacts. Apparently she had collapsed in the driveway and a neighbor called an ambulance. I got there and her only words to me were, “take care of him," as she placed a locket in my hand. I opened the locket, Jesus was on one side, Thomas on the other. I didn't say anything to her, just held her frail old hand with nicotine stained nails until she passed in the night. My mother was gone and I felt nothing except a vague sense of relief.
When I got to her house, it was like a time capsule. Other than a newer television, it was just like it was when I'd fled so many years ago. The smell of tobacco smoke hung like incense in the air. It felt oppressive, like a tomb.
I wandered the house in a bit of a daze. The one place I didn't want to go was upstairs. I didn't want to see my old room, or Thomas' room, or Mother's. Putting it off, I went to fix myself some supper, realizing I hadn't eaten in almost a day. I took a pause when I opened the fridge and saw a baby bottle on a shelf. Silently praying she had been babysitting for a neighbor, I fixed myself some toast with sardines and sat eating in the den watching TV. It had been almost forty years and it still felt rebellious not eating at the table and watching TV without permission.
My eyes grew heavy and I finally mustered up the gumption to head upstairs to go to bed. The stairs creaked in a familiar way under my feet and I was taken back to the feeling of dread hearing either Mother or Thomas climbing up. My old room was at the top of the stairs, I saw the door was nailed shut and had rambling quotes about Judas copied from the Bible in my mother's handwriting taped to the door. I sighed gently and turned from the door to head down the hallway, deciding Mother's room was probably the best place to sleep.
I passed by Thomas’ toy room and I heard a murmur from the room. I stopped, curiosity got the best of me and I entered. In Thomas' old toy room was a crib with joyful clown sheets. Dread swelled up inside me as I heard more murmurs and saw the sheets move. Approaching slowly, I peaked under the sheet and gasped.
Tucked inside was what looked like a baby gargoyle, gray and papery looking. Pus leaked out of its milky, bulbous eyes. I pulled back the blanket and saw it had no legs and its arms bent back, like wings on a bird. It was wearing just a cloth diaper, overflowing with tarry looking stool that took my breath away with its pungency, it smelled like Thomas’ blood, but somehow worse. My heart broke for this poor creature, Lord only knows how many years it has been in this crib suffering from its unholy existence.
So this is who Mother had wanted me to take care of…
Not knowing what else to do, I gently scooped him up. Like Thomas, he was shockingly heavy for how small his body was. Placing him on the changing table, I cleaned him and rewrapped his bottom in a clean diaper cloth. It was difficult, he fussed tremendously, crying and flopping around as much as his flipper-like arms would allow. I tried wiping off his oozing eyes and he snapped his mouth, which I saw was full of disturbingly square yellow teeth, trying to bite me. I carried him to the kitchen and rocked him while I heated up his bottle and he became furious with me, almost barking like a dog when my hand would get near his face.
He settled a bit as he fed, but he would still sometimes suddenly spit out the bottle and attempt to bite me. I laid him back in his crib, this abomination in a clown sheet, and I walked down the hall to Mother's room letting out a long sigh.
Combing through my mother's journals in the early hours of the morning, it looked like she tried the ceremony again shortly after Thomas died, but she either lacked Ingrid’s help or didn't have enough of my father's ashes left. Something went terribly wrong. She was vaguer than she had been about Thomas’ conception, but I suspect she had used some of Thomas' remains. The resulting birth she named Isaac.
Mother's journals told a sad tale of her and Isaac's suffering. She never mentioned me, but lamented the loss of Thomas and Dad relentlessly. She was hyper protective of Isaac, as that was all she had left. If her world had been small before, it became microscopic after he entered her life, requiring nearly constant care. According to Mother, he was blind and colicky, sometimes going years at a time without sleeping through the night. She had breast fed him for years, but she had to stop after he grew teeth and began biting her intentionally and feeding on her blood.
I spent a lot of time over the next few days pondering what to do. I had to get her estate in order, she had left me the house, in an obvious attempt to get me to continue caretaking for Isaac, but I didn't want it. I had my own cozy home an hour away from here, filled with happy memories and my possessions acquired traveling the world. Mother's home had a heavy energy I couldn't shake. Her and Thomas were both gone, but the memories of the scoldings and beatings hung in every corner, like cobwebs that would never sweep away.
So, I fed Isaac and kept him clean and tried to keep him company, although he seemed to hate me passionately. I took care of him, all the while thinking about what I was going to do. After a week, I felt resolute in what had to be done.
Gathering up all of Mother's journals in a tote, I made my way to Isaac and picked him up and carried everything to the living room.
The ancient logs in the fireplace meant for display ignited instantly. One by one, I fed the journals into the fire, burning away years of my mother's consuming sorrow. Isaac fussed and moaned next to me the entire time. When the last pages shimmered away into lacy ash, I took a throw pillow off the couch and gently cradled Isaac in my other arm. It didn't take long before he stopped struggling and I felt his little body relax after decades of suffering.
I gently wrapped up a bundle in a clown sheet and placed it in the fire. It burned furiously, like the paper in my mother's journals, and was soon gone. Nothing but ashes and embers.
“Don't worry, Mother,” I said purely for my own sake, "I took care of Isaac for you."
And finally, I felt at peace.

Huge shout out to & for helping with Brainstorming and Co-Writing this.
As always, all credits for the original Nature of Predators and it's content goes to Space Paladin15, thank him for allowing artist and writers to use his original work of art for their own uses.
Gaian Ref Sheet-Here, Done by the artist
As well as a *Huge* thank you for Julian Skys for filling in for the editor for this chapter. I'll post a comment as to why I haven't been posting too much, safe to say though, kept ya waiting huh?
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[Subject Memory Transcription: Rux Limpbut, Venlil News Anchor and TV Show Host]
Date [Standardized Galactic(?) Time]:August 1st, 2136
Now I'm regretting not taking that transfer last week. This just keeps getting better.
I was in my car outside of the Network’s station. I was at my wits end yesterday and was trying my damnedest *not* to freak out on air. Now? Now I had the pleasure of my network telling me they needed me to come in way early to report on some breaking news. Just as I was about to leave for Solgaliks sake!
I took a small sip of the “coffee”. Now this was a blessing, coffeehouses on Gaia were open paw around, no matter what. I was giving a small prayer to those “ancestors” for their love of anything strong. Well, anything strong that wasn't alcohol. They could stomach one drink or two but after that? They were out.
Slurrrrrp
I let out a relieved sigh as the warm liquid flowed down my maw, the reward of caffeine soon following after this. Hopefully in time for the recording. With that I opened the door, grabbing my briefcase as I greedily drank the rest of the coffee as I approached the wide doors of the Networks station.
They creaked a little as they always did as I appeared in the doorway, a sleepy, overworked ghost. I tossed the coffee cup into the trashcan by the door as I nodded over the after work plans that I had to either postpone, or completely not do.
No bar time, going to be too tired. Not going to have enough time to do more digging in what that Farsulian diplomat released, even after it's been nearly two months. Brahk. Still need to be ready for the shift tomorrow-
“Rux?” The front desk secretary pulled me up and out of my thoughts as I blinked a couple of times, my ears raising as one of my eyes focused on her, a bit frizzled from the overtime I was clocking at the moment.
“Hm? Oh. Hey Liakal, caught me off guard almost as bad as the padcall I got. What's up?” I rubbed my eye as I fully focused on her, making my way over to her.
“Well, whenever you're ready for them they'll give you all you need, apparently, when you get into the studio. What they told me is uh, it's not a pleasant amount of news.” She nervously played with her claws and her headset, her lips quivering a bit.
“That bad? Speh. What about that uh, guest? She gets off-”
“O-oh! Mrs Tarva. She got off the planet easily. I can't say anything else though Rux. They said whatever they have to tell is very, very pertinent not to be let loose until you broadcast it… sorry Rux.”
I patted the top of the semi circle desk that Liakal was sat into, before giving her a quick, albeit small smile with a finger gun before I quickly deflated. It was that bad. With a nod from me I departed into the hallway to the left of the front desk, approaching one of the elevators.
A button press, a chime and the feeling of gravity and anxiousness about to make me hurl later, I was on the floor with the studios. I retraced the steps I had taken only claws before to mine. The green sign saying “Predator Problems” told me I hadn't failed as usual. Something had to be done with our program and segment name, if for nothing else there was apparently much more juicy stuff to talk about.
Opening the door, I expected the hustling and scrambling of the cameramen, the lighting crew, audio specialists. But nothing except a small huddled group of uniformed men. Brahk, I was hoping this wasn't the case but I was never that lucky. I resigned myself to fate as the group finally paid attention to me, and the door clicking and shutting behind me.
“Mr. Rux. Please come over here and sit. You're all good, we just need to go over what we need you to announce in this upcoming impromptu broadcast.” Why the hell were the Gaians on Prime? Wait no. That's not the problem. Why are officers from their military here? Oh stars.
However I could feel my body coming towards the oval shaped table. Eventually knocking into a chair and pulling it out, resting my briefcase onto the ground and taking a seat, pulling up to the desk. I rested my paws on it as I gave a look to the group assembled around it.
All were wearing roughly the same uniform, their fur patterns one of the only differing things between them. Aside from the one at the end of the table. They wore a green beret atop their head, nestled in between the horns that adorned it. They cleared their throat and slid a small packet of papers towards me, startling me a tiny bit.
“While I wish to be polite and respectful, there's simply no way to say this without being blunt. Sole Speaker Jikem is dead. With the current atmosphere on Gaia we thought it'd be best to announce the formation of an emergency government and a leader to head it. All of which has been done in a roundabout manner so as to not alert any radicals or terrorists.”
I had only taken a cursory glance at the front of the small packet before that bombshell of an information was dropped onto me nonchalantly. My paw was halfway to the front page to turn it before my gaze looked up at the Gaian at the end of the oval table who had done so.
“What? Sorry can you-”
“Rux. Come on, you know what I said. Now, I know it isn't everypaw that you get to report on the death of a head of state, let alone be the first one to do so. I'll most certainly give you that. So, we'll give you some time alone…well mostly, to get acquainted with the packet and once you and your crew are roaring to go we'll release the news to the Commonwealth.”
I took a small lookover of the second page but had to pause for a short moment again as I took it in. Yes, yes I did have some questions. Half from the large info dropped on me and the other half that I was now reading with my very own eyes now.
Before they could fully get up I had worked up the courage to get a short clearing of the throat and read out of the lines in the packet out aloud after I had decided it would be better to ask now rather than after. “In conjunction with recent attacks the Armed forces has decided to-” I put down the packet in its entirety now.
“What in the stars could you possibly mean by “safeguarding” democracy? This just seems to be some type of justification for a military takeover. I mean, who's going to fall for this?”
The chairs of the small clique of officers seem to find themselves filled once more as they returned to their positions, most of them now gazing between me, some random crew member scurrying near me and the head honcho with the green beret.
The intensity of the stare of the Gaian at the opposite end of the table seemed to intensify, seemingly his gaze looking through me. “Mr. Rux, I can assure you any such speculation to that matter and that, frankly, justified if albeit imaginary fear is going to be the last thing people on Gaia are going to worry about. Alright?”
I anxiously nodded back, sighing. “L-look I'm just-”
The Bereted officer seemed to nod while holding up his paw, my line of reasoning and thought being stopped by the intrusion. “Worried, you ancestors are always worried. It's why we're here, yes? Anything too dangerous or otherwise unsafe we've always volunteered for so as to save our more cultured self from such. Think about this announcement like that. A warning and an update from our side of the Commonwealth about current affairs, nothing more, nothing less.”
With that it seemed settled for the time being, as the small clique once again rose, and this time was actually able to depart to the booth that overlooked the studio, keeping what I was sure to guess a keen pair of eyes to observe anything.
I settled into my seat more as I gave the small packet a read. It was general stuff as of this point when it came to announcements. Why it's happening, what happened in more details, what they planned to do in the upcoming future, all that juicy stuff. Overall a very plain, if very informative script to go by. Still, being the first to announce the death of a head of state via “Unnatural Causes” would make even some of the most resolved Gaians a bit jumpy, yes?
Once I finally gave the entirety of the packet a quick read over I sat it down giving a glance to my, by now, very familiar set that we used for “Predator Problems”, the entire reason for why I had started it had been to educate and warn people about what to do with predators and the like. Now I was going to have to educate them, apparently, about the fact that our “brothers” in species so to speak were having a bit of topsy-turvy time on their capital planet. Now I was kinda hoping I was one of the more conspiracy theorist nut jobs just so I didn't have to get contacted.
Resigning myself to fate, and the fact that apparently I of all Vens was the most level headed to announce this, I looked over the studio, eventually finding the small group of uniformed men again. I got up and out of the chair as I made my way over to them, flicking my tail into a questioning sign as I did so, my approaching presence quickly noticed.
“Seems like you've got some questions, you read the packet though yeah?” One of them said, I simply signaled a yes with my ears to respond.
“So, is this immediately being aired? Or is it being aired later on tomorrow-well, this paw? Should it be the first thing or the last thing or is it the only thing I'm doing for this one?” With these questions the small clique seemed to talk in-between themselves, small glances were made in my general direction, they seemed to come to some type of conclusion though as they turned back to me, the bereted one now taking center stage again once more.
“Yes. It's being immediately aired. You do realize you are a bit of a celebrity on Gaia, yes? A special breaking news from you would certainly draw the right eyes. Then it'll spread from there. We do have other stuff for you to read, but it'll appear on the prompter. Other than that though we'll take our leave once everything is said and done.”
I gave a small thanks to Solgalik, as that would mean I would be able to go back home and get at least a claw or two of rest. Speh, if I just slept here I could get an extra one easy. But I didn't have much time to dwell on that, instead I apparently had a job to do right now.
With that bit of information I decided to go around, talking to the crew, who as of this point has finally settled down and has stopped scattering from the Gaians. A small conversation with each helped us plan out the next few tantalizingly painful minutes that were about to unfold live on air.
With everything and everyone in place, I took my seat at the curved table in the middle of the cameras, getting my little tie ready. With a countdown from 3, I settled into my on screen persona as the red lights of the cameras went on.
“Good Paw to everyone tuning in! I'm your host as always, Rux Limpbut, and this is Predator problems. This time though, we do have some breaking news that we need to get to. So with that being said, I suppose it's time for me to get to it.”
I straightened my back, placing my paws firmly as I closed my eyes, breathing in and then opening my eyes again.
Alright. Just gotta break the news that the head of state of the other half of our Commonwealth is dead and their Army just decided to seize power for democracy's sake.
“I have some sad, and what some can and should be saying is unsettling, news. Sole Speaker Jikem of the Gaian Cooperative, has died earlier this paw. Details are scarce and hard to come by as of this point, but from preliminary reports and investigations, it seems as though he *may* have been assassinated while at a checkpoint. As many of you know he was elected on a lockstep ticket with the current governor of Venlil Prime, Veln. He oversaw the last closing years of the Dominion-Federation war, as well as the beginning of closer federation ties. Many people are bound to ask as of this point what is going to happen, and the easiest and most truthful answer is…we don't know.”
I shuffled some papers, discarding the packet to the side of the table before continuing on with the information I was to spout out.
“Already reports are coming in that the Armed Forces of Gaia have declared a state of emergency and already there are rumblings that they have formed… an emergency government?”
I gave a bit of a confused look before continuing, I could see the group of uniformed Gaians nodding as I did so, apparently that was good enough for them.
The rest of the news report was generally a bit unsettling, or at least info packed by many people's standards. Updates on the federation at large, some reports on the status of the Venian Commonwealth and what was the plan going forward and before I knew it the red blinking light on the cameras had vanished, and the lights overhead had dimmed.
“Alright, that's good for us. We'll have one of our guys stay over the paw to help your team edit it but other than that? You can head on home.” The bereted one informed me, before signalling to one of the clique, most likely the one to stay here and “help” us edit.
I rested back in my chair and closed my eyes, I think it was time for me to get some shuteye.
—----------
Smoke billows out from the mouth of the Uniformed figure, a lit cigar cradled in his claws. He takes a survey of the trio gathered in front of him.
“So.” The figure grunts out, leaning back into his chair.
“So, what?” One of the trio asks inquisitively, shifting in their seat.
“So now what? Not many paws you get to make a masterstroke of a situation like this. Sole speaker is dead, people are looking to any type of stability and we perfectly fill the slot.” The Uniformed figure takes the cigar up to his mouth, smoking it lightly.
“Well there are numerous concerns.” The most center of the trio speak.
“Like what to do with those brahking predators that apparently still exist.” To the right of the first speaker.
“I vote we integrate them posthaste!” And finally the one on the other end.
A thick billowing cloud of smoke escapes the lips of the Uniformed figure, fidgeting for a moment before rolling forward. His face now fully lit.
“Gentlemen. Calm down. We have plenty of problems with plenty of solutions. But that's why you put me in charge of this little emergency government anyhow right? Levelheaded, warhero, clean political record.”
The trio murmur for a moment before returning a nod, the middle one piping up as he did so.
“Yes, that is why we decided to throw our towel in with you Marshal.”
The Uniformed figure now places his elbows on the table, his paws bridging each other while the cigar is still in-between in his paws.
“That's Marshal-at-Arms Jyuvernik to you. Now where were we? Ah right. The Dark corner. I want you to send a diplomatic team to assess the cattle debacle.”

I've read a few studies that have talked about the lessened ability of protrusions and especially big ones to heal. I've gotten my MRIs back and seems thats what I have. I'm 6 weeks in and symptoms are pretty bad right now, was really holding out hope but pain has gotten so insanely bad even when in meds I can't even think straight. Wish I could cut this thing out every minute of every day.

I think the stadium proposal is completely out of control. Am I just lame?
I love my Brownies as much as anyone. And I've never been a fan of the current stadium, as I believe it was a characterless cookie-cutter stadium rushed to be completed in time for the '99 season, is horribly placed that inhibits patronage of the city's bars and restaurants, and was built on prime lake real estate while somehow failing to incorporate the lake into the property whatsoever. You can't even see the lake when you're inside it.
So I'm not against a new stadium. But the citizen/tax-payer side of me is gobsmacked by these figures. Am I the only one thinking "Uh, hold on here..."?

• $2.4 billion total cost, making it the 2nd most expensive stadium of any sport in the world despite being a region that doesn't rank in the top 30 populated metro areas in the US nor come close to touching a top 200 ranking globally.
• "This is simply inflation at work." No it's not. The current stadium cost $283 mil in 1998/1999, which is $518 mil in today's dollars. While publicly funded stadiums have always been highly contentious topic, there is clearly an extravagance demanded by modern sports owners not seen historically.
• The Browns are requesting $600 mil be paid by the state. Comparatively, Ohio kicked in $98 mil for Paycor Stadium (adjusted for inflation), which was eye watering enough and was a record subsidy at the time. This request is more than 6x that. Per Brookings, states receive on average $3 million/year in tax income from stadiums. It would take Ohio 200 years to recoup a $600 mil investment.
• The Browns are requesting another $600 mil to be paid by the local government. This is probably the biggest jaw-dropper to request this money from the 2nd poorest city in the US.
• "But the economic benefits make it worth it tho!" I'm afraid not. Economic benefit to a region occurs when money enters the region from other parts of the world. This would be mostly northeast Ohioans recirculating their own money. According to Econofact, sports teams provide between 0.003% and 0.0005% of a local region's GDP. Read that again if you have to...
• Economists concur that sports teams are less of a regional economic driver and more of a wealth shifter. And that wealth shifts mainly to the owners and players. Here is a quote from a 2023 study published by the Journal of Policy Analysis: "Stadium subsidies transfer wealth from the general tax base to billionaire owners and millionaire players..."

I understand that we've been painfully burned by an owner before when we resisted unreasonable stadium subsidy demands. I understand that Oakland is going through that right now with the A's. And that owners use this unspoken threat to get what they want from state and local govts. But is there ever a point where we allow our fan selves to step aside for our citizen selves and put our feet down when the owner demands go well beyond reasonable? It seems that with each new stadium built, the public subsidy demands grow, a new threshold is made, and the next builder wants at least that and more. Who stops this?

Hi! 37/f actively seeking diagnosis. I have been dealing with “paresthesia” for 6 years. That’s what my primary care called it. To me it feels like a significant loss in sensation but it isn’t clinical. It comes with an increased awareness of the limb and feeling like it doesn’t belong to my body though it’s still functional. It has come in what I call “episodes” that seem to last weeks on end, usually affects my whole right side. I’ve had fleeting right arm numbness with migraines in the past, never lasting more than a few minutes. These prolonged episodes started after a tick bite with a rash, but by the time I had testing, Lyme was negative according cdc (I did have 2 bands on the test, so I still wonder about Lyme or coinfections) this first episode left me with neck pain and numbness down the side of my right arm and leg and face, and clumsiness. After 4 weeks of it I went to the ER and they did Ct and said that was normal and it was anxiety. About 8 weeks later it faded away, and I became pregnant, during which time and subsequent breastfeeding I didn’t really have an episode again until my baby was 6 months old, the numbness came back with headaches. COVID happened shortly thereafter and I began a journey of weird symptoms that didn’t seem to align or show on tests- headaches, head pressure, pain behind eyes, really dry red eyes, heart palpitations/high heart rate and adrenaline dumps, and again the paresthesias, all flaring after Covid exposures or vaccinations. I ended up having a brain MRI which was totally clear, I saw and was cleared by rheumatology, endocrinology, cardiology. The episodes would last a few weeks then fade. In November of 2023 I went to the ER after a week of worsening paresthesia, it was getting concerningly stroke like. My MRI showed lesions in the brain consistent with demyleinating disease or migraines. The neurologist at the hospital told me my loss of sensation and odd feelings on my right side for the last week were psychosomatic and the lesions are from migraine. My cervical spine mri showed some mild degenerative changes but no lesions. It took a few weeks but the sensations again faded away. 6 weeks ago in April I started to feel the same sensations come back in my right foot and arm, and over the next few weeks it was accompanied by RLS type/tingling sensation that have been creeping up the limbs slowly, (now felt in my hip and shoulder) and now I feel like I’m losing dexterity and strength in that arm and leg. I also started waking up with that arm and leg feeling completely asleep without the pins and needles, regardless of sleeping position. The arm and leg feel heavy but still through all of this remain operational but they now feel weak. I feel some odd tingling in my face and groin as well. I finally called for a neurology follow up as this is the worst episode to date and they seem to get worse each time. It’s telehealth which is all I could get as a new patient, for months.
How can I get this neurologist to not blaming migraine and anxiety and dig deeper? Is there any hope they’ll try prednisone and see if that provides relief? I don’t know if it’s MS, CIPD, Lyme, whatever it may be, I just want to know and work on treating it. I can confidently say I am not stressed, anxious, or having a 6 week long migraine making my arm and leg weak. My routine bloodwork and ANA and even digging deeper into endocrinology, are always perfectly in range. They just keep saying on paper I’m perfectly healthy and I feel like I’ve been fighting a mystery illness for 6 years with no one believing me.

TODAY'S RECAP

Sheila loves that she got to spook Li and delights in anticipation of revealing herself to the Forresters. We see the aftermath of Steffy, Ridge, and Liam accepting the truth. Neither Finn or Deacon knows their partners as well as they think they do.

Deacon and Sheila at Deacon's

Sheila: I'm glad I went to the hospital. Nothing was more fun than scaring the bejesus out of Li! 😄 (Sheila can't stop giggling). It couldn't have been more perfect -- Li being there. Hahaha!
Deacon: She was furiously attacking you, tryna send you to the grave, for real.
Sheila: I know! It was so much fucking fun! More fun than I've had in a long time. 😆 Poor Li, she was just jealous that Finn couldn't let me stay dead and felt compelled to save me! Hahahaha. Li couldn't take it! (💭 Suck it, Li!)
I know. I know. People wish me dead all the damned time. IDGAF. I'm used to it! 😏
Deacon: This is going to keep happening if you keep popping up 👻 and surprising people. 😛 You're going to get a similar reaction to Li 🤯😡😤💥 Hey, how about trying subtle?
Sheila: Fuck that. I like to go BIG! 😆 I expect people to react like Li. I'm looking forward to it. 😏 I can't wait! Hahaha. 😂🤣
Who will be most shocked? Brooke 😫 or Ridge 😡? Oooh, I sooo wanna roll on up into Eric's place. 👏👏👏 Whoooey! Fun! 🎉 Donna is a screamer! 😮 (💭 These bitches will all freak out beautifully in a perfect combination of shock 😳, fear 🫣, loathing 😠, and disbelief 😦. Hahaha. Yay! 🤸‍♀️).
It was so perfect how Li was just there. How can I orchestrate my reveal to the Forresters for maximum shock? 😀 I can pop in at FC and be the model who walks in to see Ridge for alterations! Hahaha! HAAAA! 🤭
Deacon: Does "changed'" Sheila just wanna shock people? (💭 Sheila Sheila Sheila. Gotta try to control the crazy 😵‍💫).
Sheila: OMG! You're no FUN! It's just a little SHOCK 😱. Not HARM! 😏 (💭 I'm not going to chop up 🪓, hang or tie up ➰, stab 🔪, drown 🌊, or shoot 🔫 anybody. I'm not going to set anyone's house on fire🔥 or chain ⛓️ them up in a dungeon ⛓️! I'm not going to kidnap any babies children 👦👶👧, or trick anyone into getting my face 🙂. I'm not going to break in to anyone's home 🏠! That was the old Sheila! No one will end up murdered, kidnapped, bloody🩸, or otherwise injured 🤕, ffs! Gah! Calm down! It's just a little mischief 🙄😏).
I just want to have a little fun 🥳. Come on! Nothing nefarious 👿. Just prankster fun 🤪😝!
Deacon: So remember the nice, chill, mellow, 😌 happy, calm, quiet life we discussed? (💭 Imagine being a stoner and our biggest stressor is getting the munchies 🍕🥪🍚🍪🍰🥯🍟🥨when we're out of snacks and our favorite places are closed.) No fantasies about scaring 👻 people and getting reactions from the Forresters. Let's get back to us, our engagement, and our nice, quiet life. (Deacon, Reddit wonders if you actually KNOW Sheila 🤔).
Sheila: Ppffrrtt. (💭 Alright, fine, we'll seeeeeee😏.)
(Sheila and Deacon laugh 😄😀 and smoochy smoochy kissy kissy 😍🥰. Then Sheila is snuggled up with Deacon getting a shoulder massage.)
Sheila: I missed this. 😍 I missed you and thought about you the whole time. I didn't think I'd be back here. I was thisclose to 💀.
But, here I am! With you and my imaginary ring. 👋💍 😀 WOW!
Deacon: 🙄 No more pretending. I want everyone to know in love 😍💕 I am with you. 🥰 (More smoochy smoochy 😘🥰.)

Hope, Ridge, and Liam at FC

Ridge and Liam: Sheila! Changed? 🤨 Wha? 😦Nah. Nope. No. No fucking way! 😠 Is Finn crazy? 😵‍💫 Delusional? Stupid? Wtf is his problem? 😤
Ridge: You must have gotten it wrong. It can't be.
Hope: No. Sheila is--
Ridge: NOOOOOOO! Grrrr. 😠 Gah! 😦 Not about SHEILA. I know. I KNOW. 🤨 I get it. I heard you. Sheila's alive. Fuck. But whatever. No. I mean about the other thing -- Finn idiotically thinking this is GOOD news. Growl! Huff! Puff! 😤On what planet could he POSSIBLY believe this is good news? How clueless is he?
Liam: (quickly hopping on the anti-Finn 🚂) Yah. Yah. I mean, seriously. Hope. How could Finn POSSIBLY think,💡🤔 with NO ❌ evidence, that psychopath Sheila 👿 is reformed 😇? Wtf?!
Hope: He has reasons. He--
Ridge: REASONS!? REASONS?! 😮 Snarl! 😡 What fucking READINGS?!
Hope: He says she's changed. He's seen her growth. 🌱 He's seen her sprout angel 😇 wings. He's seen a new and improved Sheila.
Liam: Give me a fucking break! It's pure foolishness 🥴 and personal bias! 😦 Gah! Just because the BABY MANCHILD has a childish need to have a relationship with his birth mommy, he's latched onto a fantasy that this demon 👿 psycho has reformed. (💭 Don't worry, Steffy 💕. I'll be your fall back guy.).
It's NOT REALITY! (💭 I'm really postering now, showing off to Ridge, matching him huff for puff! 😤).
Ridge: Yah! Grrrr. Harumph! 😤😡 What's gotten into this guy? 🤨 Growl! 😦 Sheila is an ANIMAL! Grrr! 😦 Animals don't change! Snort! 😤 Spiders 🕷️, snakes⚕️, reptiles 🐊, monsters 🧟‍♀️👺👿 like Sheila never change!
Hope: I felt the same way. (💭 I even gave up on a relationship with my dad ☹️ when he wouldn't break it off with Sheila.) But after seeing 👀 them together 💕, maybe we should keep an open mind 😐.) People said the same thing about Thomas, that he--
Ridge: 🤨 You DID NOT. You DID NOT just FUCKING GO THERE (💭 bitch!) Growl! 😡 Snarl! 😦 Snort 😤! Grrrr. You DID NOT just COMPARE my TALENTED, KIND, LOVING, REFORMED SON (some Redditors say you forgot enabled, entitled, obsessed, dangerous, and consequence free son) to that PSYCHOPATH SHEILA?! OMFG! 🤬
Hope: I'm not saying they're the same. 🫤🙄 (💭 Gah. Eye roll. Patience with the neanderthal. Deep breath.) I'm just saying people can change. So we could just possibly, maybe open the door a teeny, tiny 🤏 bit and entertain the possibility that Finn could possibly be right.
Ridge: You AGREE with (💭 the loser idiot) FINN about that psycho 🫨 Sheila?! What the fucking fuck, Hope?! (💭 Are you crazy and stupid too? Where's Brooke? I can't deal with you, ffs.😠)
Look, Finn has a weird ass connection to Sheila. But WTF, Hope. What's up with YOU? 🤔
Liam: 🤨
Hope: I explained. Sugar was planning to harm 🪓➰🔪🩸 Steffy. Sheila tried to stop her.
Liam: Hearsay. This story of Sheila fighting Sugar came from the least reliable source -- Sheila! (💭 Reddit hates to admit it, but Liam has a point). Sheila told you this story. You, Finn, and Deacon just accept it at face value.
But all we know for sure is that SHEILA didn't attack 🔪 Steffy. Sugar did. That doesn't mean Sheila has changed. It just means there were TWO psychos! 😵‍💫🫨 (Reddit really doesn't want to give Liam credit but kinda gotta suck it up and admit, he's making good points.)
Hope: Deacon and Finn think she HAS changed.
Ridge: Hope. (💭 Whooo boy. I have no patience under normal circumstances. 😑 This is WILDLY FRUSTRATING AF! 😡). Everything Sheila says is a LIE! It's all for show. Gah! 😦 Come ON!
Hope: For--
Ridge and Liam: FOR FINN! FOR FINN! OMFG! 😨
Ridge: She's feeding him the fantasy HE WANTS! Now, she's supposed to be mother of the year, ffs?! Growl! Snarl! 😡 Nah!
Hope: I'm not saying we just accept it. I'm just asking that we keep an open mind, for Finn's sake. (💭 Reddit wonders why Hope doesn't just wrap it up and extricate herself from this whole thing! She should just say ' I gave you the news. Talk to Finn. Byeeee.' Reddit says get out of there, Hope. It's been a looooooooooooooong af day!)
Look, I'm starting to see Finn's side. If indeed Sheila has changed, why shouldn't he want a relationship with her?
Ridge: NOT gonna HAPPEN. 🤨 😡 (Reddit thinks Ridge must have taken a few pointers from Victor Newman only Ridge is way louder.) Finn wants Sheila in their lives. Steffy's not gonna allow it.🫸❌ Absolutely not. ❌ No way. ❌ No how. ❌ Never. Ever. Gonna happen. ❌ Nope. ❌ Nah! ❌ Forget about it! ❌
Liam: Ohhh. Yah! Righ! After what she's endured being MARRIED to this guy who has some bullshit, primal connection to his psycho 🫨 birth mother. Now he wants to invite Sheila into her life? Well, he doesn't GET STEFFY! Steffy will NEVER allow it. She'll draw a line ➖in the sand. The stop 🛑 sign will go up. The hands will push 🫸 back 🫸 hard 🫸.
FINN DOESN'T KNOW STEFFY -- like AT ALL! (💭 Not like I know Steffy and love 😍 Steffy, and will protect Steffy 👩‍❤️‍👨.)
Ridge: 🤨
Hope: 🙄

Finn and Steffy at their home

Steffy: (it all sinks in) It wasn't Sheila I stabbed 🔪. 😣 It was a look-a-like, Sugar. 😖 I stabbed a Sugar -- some woman who was tricked into plastic surgery to look like Sheila. What?! 🤯
Finn: Yah, babe. Isn't that a good thing? 🙂 Isn't that GREAT? 😀 Isn't that a relief? 😀 Isn't that a HUGE weight lifted? 😃 Aren't you thrilled 🤩, happy 😁, and bursting with joy 😊? I know I am. We thought you killed my birth mother, but you stabbed a totally different psycho! Pretty cool, huh? 🙄😃
Steffy: 🥺😠😡 (💭 Wow. OMG. Finn thinks I should be relieved? WTF?!)
Sugar kidnapped ➰⛓️ Sheila. If Deacon and I hadn't gotten there to SAVE her, she might not have survived, honey! This is SUCH AMAZINGLY AWESOME 👍 NEWS!
Steffy: So YOU think I'm supposed to be THANKFUL this monster 👿 is alive?! Are you fucking serious?! 😖😟
Finn: Nah. But yah. Isn't a small 🤏 part of you thankful? 🙄
Steffy: No. 😕
Finn: Relieved? 😀
Steffy: No. ☹️
Finn: Happy for me? 🙂
Steffy: No. 😣
Finn: Honey, babe, sweetheart, listen. We were struggling with the fact that you killed my birth mother, but we don't have to anymore. (💭 I know if I reframe this the right way, Steffy will have an ah ha 💡moment 😀 and feel relief. I just have to find the right words. I have faith 🙏 in us. I'm not even a little bit delusional.🥴 I know Steffy has a good and forgiving heart ❤️. She's just in shock 😳 and horrified 😱 and her mind is blown 🤯. But this will subside. 🙂 I'll just keep talking in a soothing voice. Yah!)
You killed someone who hated Sheila. Sugar was crazy. She wanted to hurt YOU to hurt HER. Get it? (💭 Sugar was the REALLY bad 👹 one. Sheila is a RECOVERING psycho! Big difference! 😀)
Steffy: So I'm supposed to be ooooh all happy and shit that psycho A is dead and psycho B is alive? 🤔 Nah! Finn, I'ma speak slowly so you can understand me when I tell you, NO I'm not happy or relieved or whatever tf you want me to be -- because the DANGER IS BACK! (💭 This man has the THICKEST, HARDEST HEAD! Fucking hell. He's freaking me out so badly that Dawn can't even find any emojis to express the emotional wreckage on my face! Anger, disbelief, confusion, fear, stress, anxiety, frustration -- all the feels!)
Finn: Nah. It's not back! That's the glorious, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, exciting, magnificent 😀😃😄😁 thing I'm just not adequately conveying to you, my love! No fear or danger! Sheila tried to PROTECT YOU. She tried to SAVE YOUR LIFE! She's your best friend ever! She wants to get pedicures together, not shoot us and leave us for dead! She's past that nonsense now. No more danger, honey! ☺️💕
She offered her own life to save you! She tried to fight Sugar. She loves us!
Steffy: Look. 🤨 Sugar's scheme was to blame Sheila. So, Sheila was just selfishly protecting HERSELF from getting blamed. That's all it was! (💭 If I just reframe this the right way, Finn will have an ah ha 💡 moment. He has to! I just have to find the right words to get through his thick skull and penetrate his delusional thinking. He's really worrying me and pissing me off. Wow. Just wow.)
Finn: Nah. She offered her own life! She cares more about us than her own life. SHEILA'S A HERO! Super Sheila🦸‍♀️ to the rescue, only she was chained up ⛓️ and fighting at a disadvantage, but she tried!
Steffy: Hero? HERO? 🤢🤮 You're calling SHEILA fucking psycho CARTER a HERO? Are you on crack? 😮 She tried to KILL🩸us. (💭 He's gone off the deep end into LA LA land 🤪.)
Finn: When Sugar told her--
Steffy: (Angry 😡 and frustrated 😖, Steffy Slams a chair 🪑💥 hard on the floor.) I DON'T GIVE AF ABOUT SUGAR!!! I don't CARE her!!! 😦😣 She means NOTHING TO ME!!! (💭 STFU Finn! OMFG! Ahhhh! I have NO PATIENCE LEFT for his delusional BULLSHIT! I can't seem to get through to him! Why tf won't he LISTEN??!! 🤬)
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SHEILA! 😠
S H E I L A !! 😡
We've been over this a ZILLION TIMES how she had terrorized my family for generations! How do you not GET IT?
Finn: I do. I underst--
Steffy: NO YOU DO NOT FUCKING UNDERSTAND!!!! 😡😤 GENERATIONS! GENERATIONS! That vile bitch is a LUNATIC! 😵‍💫🫨😈
(Steffy pleads 😫 with Finn in frustration 😖😣 to comprehend.)
She tried to KILL ME! And my MOTHER! And my GRANDMOTHER! 😩
I lost TIME with my mother! 😩 I lost TIME with YOU! 😫😣
She's tried to POISON people. So, even if she did try some feeble attempt to get that other stupid psychopath friend not to hurt me, SO FUCKING WHAT?!
NO! NO! NO NO NO NO! 😡 She's NO HERO! I NEVER want to hear you say that AGAIN! (💭 La La La La I can't hear you! I won't hear you! NO!)
Finn: 😑😞 (shakes his head. 💭 She's not getting it.)
Steffy: 😡😖 (shakes her head. 💭 He's lost his mind.)
Steffy: Do you hear me? She's vile. She is in no way a HERO! 😠 She left us in an ALLEY to DIE! What are you thinking? 😩
Finn: Yah yah. I knoooow. I know her past sins. She's made some mistakes 😒, some bad judgement calls🙄, she's been kind of a mess 🫤. She hasn't always put her best foot forward. She hasn't always been super thoughtful. Sure, she's wanted a lot of people dead 💀, but that was THEN and this is NOW! She's been working on herself. She's very into self help these days, and yoga and shit. The fact is she tried to save you!
Steffy: Don't CHALLENGE ME on FACTS ABOUT SHEILA! I'll give YOU the fucking FACTS Mr. Man! 😡 You will lose.
Finn: How about the handy dandy fact that she's alive and you didn't kill my birth mother? ☺️ That matters to me! I'm your husband (takes Steffy's hand). You're the most important person 💕 in the world 🌎 to me. But my birth mother was a mystery. I almost lost her. I just want to help her. I don't want to turn my back on her. 😟 (💭 She's kind of a hoot too, and stubborn and strong, kinda like someone else I love! ❤️)
Steffy: (looking miserable 😖) But you have to. I love you. 😢God, I love you! ❤️ (💭 And my heart is breaking 💔 right now.) You are SO GOOD! But Sheila is EVIL 👹. You are naive (💭 delusional) to think she'll change, that she won't devestate our lives.
Sheila is NOT going to be IN OUR LIVES, no where near Kelly or Hayes.
You can't have BOTH. 😟
It's either HER.
Or ME. 😐
Finn: 😕I hear you. Of COURSE it's YOU. It will always be you. ❤️ (Steffy and Finn share an emotional embrace, both with weary 😞, teary 😥, worried 🥺 expressions. They hold on to each other, emotionally spent.)
The end.

I have a UTI. I’m a 44 female and this is not my first rodeo. I get 1 or 2 a year. I take bubble baths way more than I should.
I know the signs and symptoms like clockwork.
I thought I could wait until tomorrow but it rapidly intensified so I opted to use Telehealth through UHC. They literally list UTI as an example of an ideal Telehealth condition.
So my assigned provider calls me and asks the typical questions. She agrees it sounds like a UTI.
Then she checks my current medications.
DR: Oh, you’re on Zepbound? You didn’t mention that you’re diabetic.
Me: I am not diabetic.
Her: Then why are you on Zepbound?
Me: Weightloss. It’s a weightloss drug.
Her: For diabetics.
Me: No, I don’t believe so. You’re thinking of Mounjaro.
Her: They are the same medication.
Me: I know. But one is for diabetics and the other weightloss.
Her: I’m sorry but I cannot call you in antibiotics. You need to have pathology to rule out kidney issues. This is a problem with diabetes.
Me: Uh, I’m having no kidney issues. No side or back pain. No fever. Urine is clear. Some Pink after wiping. Also I am not diabetic. It burns when I pee and there’s spasms when I’m done that hurt really bad. That’s it.
Her: You must be diabetic if they approved this medication for you. I know it’s inconvenient but I cannot call you in antibiotics from this appointment.
The end. Basically.
What in the world just happened? Also, called right back and got some other provider who sent in a script for both antibiotics and diflucan without issue.
So bizarre.

The primary goal behind making some cards in Unfinity legal was that sticker cards and Attractions could be played in Commander, but there's no existing way to make a bunch of cards legal in Commander and not Legacy. We had thought the power level of those cards was low enough that if people tried them in Legacy every now and then, it'd be a fun surprise. We missed on ________ Goblin , though, and now tournament players feel obligated to interact with the sticker mechanic.

~Andrew Brown in the May 13th 2024 B&R announcement
I feel like game pieces like sticker cards & attractions are comparable to the crank & contraption mechanics from Unhinged. They're fun to play with in their own environment, but they bring so much baggage to competitive formats that those formats are better off without them. If they thought they were good for EDH, they should have let that be up to the pods' decision to Rule 0 it. I have been to plenty of commander games where the pod rule 0'd Un- cards, so it's not like that's not an option.
It honestly feels like they used that excuse as a reason to include them in the list of cards that were tournament legal from Unfinity bc they just didn't have enough to justify making part of the set legal for other formats. There were 135 out of 244 cards in the Unfinity set that were tournament legal on release. Today 36 cards that cared about stickers, 16 sticker cards, 20 cards that cared about attractions, & 22 attractions were banned. That's 94 cards total that were hit by this, meaning only 41 of the 244 cards in the set are legal now. That's not a lot to brag about when your big push for a set's release is it's going to change how this kind of card is made.
Even outside the Un- cards WotC has made other complicated game mechanics that alter game play & require special side decks, but those have never been legal either. Consider the conspiracy & plane card types. So why was this given the go?
As far as I'm aware, this is the biggest banning Vintage has ever seen all so they could cash in on commander a little bit more. Other similar mechanics just weren't allowed to exist in the format in the first place due to concerns that it would overcomplicate the game.
Why TF should I play any other format than commander if the game's designer is just going to let it rot in favor of profits from commander players?? What the hell happened to your integrity WotC? You have card testers, why TF aren't they testing the cards before you release them? This isn't something like Oko, Thief of Crowns that was a simple slip, this is an entire mechanic you're throwing away. This is 94 cards going in the trash. At least with companion you erratted it so the pieces were still playable.
I'm sorry. I'm just so tired of problems arrising like this. I've been thru ups & downs in this game, but I've never wanted to stop caring about it like I do right now.
/Rant

I am a crew member at a fast food place and after jokingly throwing a reciept at my manager, (which barely hit him in the ear and didn’t hurt) he grabbed a cup of 200 degrees water and intentionally poured it down my back. Causing me immediate pain and muscle convulsions, and initially due to the shock of the whole thing (and my inexperience) I didn’t want to file and incident report because i did not want my manager to be fired. He eventually came up with the lie (that I initially supported) that I through out my back, and was telling me to convince people who did see what happened to not tell anyone. (This happened in front of 2 witnesses and camera
I was able to take a picture of the burns on my back right after what happened and when I got home, there was a big blister on my back before it popped and scarring seems likely.
About to 2 hours after I got home I called my general manager and a different manager to make an incident report despite the pleading from the manager that injured me. A over the phone doctor associated with the fast food place diagnosed me with a burnt back(no crap) and gave me 2 days no pto (so far). And i am now going to receive a write up along with the person who poured hot water down my back.
Could I sue this fast food place without sueing the person who injured me?

Laying in the hospital bed reminiscing, what a wild experience this has been. I figured I’d share. Of course, all experiences are different… I had a total laparoscopic hysterectomy, pre cancerous cells in cervix, adenomyosis. They took everything but my ovaries! I’m pretty uncomfortable right now.
I woke up with the shakes, I’m not sure if it was shock or the meds, or a mix of both. Doc said probably both. I was super drowsy. The most pain (I said 8/10) was that goddamn catheter. Holy hell that made everything hurt so much worse. I had to get up and walk to prove I didn’t need the catheter so I did and almost fell over. It was a lot at once. Feels like I’ve done sit ups for hours. Finally they took that out and ever since I woke up it’s felt like a dulllll period cramp. It doesn’t feel great, not going to lie.
I have peed on my own twice, that took some getting used to. Felt good once I have. Bladder full = more pressure!
I didn’t have a binder and can’t imagine one to be honesty. Any pressure down there doesn’t really help me. I have been using ice packs though, they feel great. (I have surgical glue btw.)
One thing I wish I had brought with me is a neck pillow. I hate laying on my back and my head lolls so we put a prop up on the sides.
I am bleeding just a little. Couple teaspoons every so often. That’s expected.
Curious to see what else pathology finds, and my weird ass is taking my uterus home with me in a jar. In a couple weeks, had to sign off for it.
All in all, so glad I did this. Just turned off my birth control alarm for good. Woo!

So I’ll try to keep this short. I love her more than anything and she’s a great woman. I’ve tried for the past almost decade to get her on the right track to be healthier for her own happiness and ability to travel and be healthy when she retires. She is 60 now. She recently got her hands on semaglutide or “ozempic”. She depends on me to give her the injections because she’s not responsible enough to do it herself. When I realized she wasn’t doing the bare minimum of what needs to be done for her goals, I told her that I’m not putting this chemical into you that has negative side effects when you aren’t even doing the smallest, most effective things like diet, light exercise and just not coming home and sitting on the coach all night. She has every excuse in the book as to why she sat around all day. She’s a cancer survivor, has had 3 knee surgeries (she doesn’t pt her knees and wonder why they are in pain) and lives a very inactive lifestyle. I’ve tried over and over again…..This was 2 months ago. She hasn’t even lost any weight while using it. Today we got into a fight because after I’ve expressed my deep concerns for her months ago, she still has the nerve to get mad at me and treat me like the bad guy and act like I don’t want to help her or like I don’t want her to succeed. She’s someone that’s always looked for a “magic pill” or “get fit fast diet” that never works. I try to explain to her what she is taking and she can’t even say the name of the chemical she wants to put into her body so bad. She’s not mature enough to administer injections herself and the worst is her blatant disregard and lack of care for my concerns and what I’ve tried to explain to her over and over again. If it matters to anyone I’m in great shape and used to be a personal trainer when I got out of the marine corps. I also used to powerlift and bodybuild so I know ALOT about peptides, steroids and hormones all together. Endocrinology is one of my biggest interests.
Thank you for any feed back that I receive.

To be honest I'm still reeling, it's been a long time since a book took me on such an emotional rollercoaster. The Chain of Dogs will stay with me for me the rest of my days.
The reprieve that was given when the one tribe from the Seven Cities attacked the others and recognised the Wickans as the true badasses they were, Coltaine giving Duiker command of the refugees and the deal they made to be guided to Aren. The soldiers giving up all their pay along with the Wickans. That gesture being recognised for what it was by that tribe and them not taking advantage. The refugees making it! Dare I hope!?
Good thing I didn't, as that hope would have been stomped into the goddamn ground a few pages later.
Damn it Erikson. The entire time reading Nil lead Duiker up to the walls I could feel the dread building. So when Nether cried out about how he could help as there were too many, I thought I had it figured out. I was both right and wrong.
The final stand of the Wickans and 7th was truly some heartbreaking shit. Infuriating, depressing, shocking, sad, and extremely disappointing with dashes of hope thrown in. As hard as it was to read. I couldn't help but to get pumped at the middle finger they gave as that last stand. Lull and the standard, only dropping it to assist Bult. Coltaine and the last of the cattle dogs defending him, taking the throat out of a dude that speared it before going down. The pain and turmoil of that archer tasked with making the shot to end it, all seen through Duiker's eyes has he sat helpless.
But goddamn that description of the crows was chilling!
And you finish with that only to have your broken heart set on fire with what happens to the army when they finally decide to attack 🥴
I'm new to the series, I've only read GotM and DG. Just started MI and just got slapped in the face with the prologue in that and the information it hits you with. It doesn't stop does it?
Rel and Dom, I would say I'd see you in hell, but how this series is going they both end up as Ascendents for all I know. Speaking of which, by the time Laseen's true motives were explained, all I could do was shake my head in a half hearted acknowledgement.
I'm sure this has been discussed into the ground, I just had to voice my feelings to others besides my wife who just started back at me a blank, albeit interested look as she has no idea what the hell I'm talking about.

Long story short, 11 months ago my gf was on the freeway in stop and go traffic, accidentally tapped someones rear bumper going maybe 2 mph, they both pulled over, exchanged info (his insurance he gave her was expired and he was being super sketchy the whole time, not wanting to give her any info) she took pictures of both cars and video on the side of the road showing absolutely no damage to either car, guy was even up and walking fine in the video, and they went their separate ways.
Fast forward to today when my gf gets a call and email from her insurance that they guy is seeking $25k compensation for bodily injury sustained during this, and i quote, "rear end accident with great force", apparently he has been going to a doctor and chiropractor for neck, shoulder, low back pain, headaches etc etc you name it, even has an MRI of his low back showing big disc bulges (I work as an xray tech for an orthopedic surgeons office and the findings on this MRI were definitely not caused by a 2mph accident), he got epidural injections, the whole nine. Also claiming he was unable to work due to the pain, typcial stuff that a fraud will try to claim.
Her insurance company is saying they are accepting liabilty and are wanting her to sign a declaration. Is there anything she can do? Is it worth it to fight this guy over $25k or should she just accept that her insurance is accepting liabilty, take the increase in her premiums and go on with her life?

It started with me not really being me, and my family and friends being people I don't actually know. I was up at late hours, as usual. My friend was in my bedroom sleeping. I felt off, like there was something lurking around. Then I see it. This giant mass of dark colours, a scary face with teeth, and long arms that could stretch and also work as deadly claws. He was there for my friend. He comes for you while you sleep. He somehow made me believe that it is a painless way to go, and made me okay with him taking my friend. There was a darker motive though. When he tried to go into the bedroom, my parents woke up. My father asked why I was awake still, and I just shrugged my shoulders without really knowing what to say about the creature I just saw. Even then, he would have thought I was hallucinating from lack of sleep. The sound of my parents waking up, woke up my friend. She started playing loud music, and somehow knew about what was happening. Then I got a phone call. "Don't let them take you or anyone out the window. They will cut you until it feels like fire, and make you wish you were dead. Trust me." "They?", I thought. Thats when he went back to sneaking into the bedroom, and just as I was about to intervene, something grabs me, and pulls me back. Slicing into my sides, I started screaming. Was this what the girl over the phone was talking about? The giant creature pulls my friend out the window, and thats when I get released and whoever was holding me darts out the window to go with them. My parents came out of their bedroom once again because of all the screaming. I'm hysterical, crying, bleeding, and in a lot of pain. They ask me whats going on, almost in a yelling tone, and thats when I spill about everything I saw, what he said to me, and the phone call. My mother looks skeptical. My father looks like he believes me, but wishes he couldn't. This is when he decides we're all going to get my friend back. Me, my mother, my father and my younger brother. We leave the house and head in the direction they launched out the window. After a lot of walking, we come across a town that seems like it shouldn't exist. Its small, but filled with life, and kids, and a fun feeling. My father makes us pick up the pace. "We're being followed." He says in a hushed tone. Thats when I see it. Its a girl, in a pale hoodie and jeans, with bandages over half of her face, and the hood over her head. She could pass for my friend, but very clearly isn't. Her body language was too different, and why would she follow us instead of running to us. We lose her in the alleys, but then decide to make the mistake of cutting her off in the street. We ask her what she wants, she doesn't reply, but makes a few steps closer. Suddenly the town that was so filled with life, and the sun, and colour, spins under us. Everything is red, there's screaming, dead bodies laying and hanging everywhere in the streets. The girl that looked like my friend, starts running. She disappeared around a corner. Once we turned the same corner, there was a gate. It looked like it could fall any second, or like there was a lot of patch work done to it. We go through, and that's when the testing began. At first it was just running away from different beasts, or people who had gone insane from being here for so long. Then there were two actual trials. We had to crawl up into these vents, while they were on. It wasn't too hot or too cold, but there was enough air flowing to make us slip, a lot. All four of us held hands. The openings in the bottom would pop open randomly, in attempt to lose one of us. My mother was first in line, and I almost lost her during one of the vents popping open. In the very bottom of each opening it was different. A different way to die each time, and none of them quick. Her hand slipped from mine, but I had caught her just in time. If it weren't for my father holding my hand, I would've fallen through with her. We continued on, and we eventually make it to the end. At the end there was this pipe that went downhill. There was running water all through it, so we could easily slide down. There was nowhere else to go, it was our next test. Still holding hands, we jumped in. It seemed easy enough. Other than the random spikes, or deformed monsters coming out of the water and trying to kill us, we were pulling through just fine. Then, that's when we all heard him. Mid-slide, his voice echoes. "The young one must eat to keep his energy up." That put all of us on edge. My little brother had to eat little fruits out of the water. That was the actual test. So many thoughts ran through my head, but the one that was the loudest was a worry of him getting poisoned. But, he is naive. He just grabbed one and ate it. He is too young to have such worries. After that, we had to walk through a hallway, almost office like. The rooms you could see into, since the walls were just windows. Once we looked ahead again, at the end of the hall, was him. He was standing there, so still that we didn't notice him the first time. In the room next to him, we could see her. My friend was on her knees, blindfolded. I ran to her, and the creature just let me pass. I removed the blindfold from her face, and when she saw me, she gripped me so tightly into a hug.

Title explanation: Kaden kicked Kyson in the left knee. He went to urgent care and there is no break it is just a bone bruise. it will take 4-6 weeks to heal 90%. The doctor also confirmed that Kyson has osgood schlatter disease. Lilia will be leaving on her 8th grade trip to Washington DC in 2 weeks.
They are playing hooky today from school. They are headed to urgent care. There is just something in the stars. Their family has just been going through the wringer. Between Mango, Lilia with her hives and now Kyson with his knee. Jess threw her back out when she was painting. (i never realized before how chopped up her videos are with the editing. She is all over the place and she doesn’t finish a sentence before moving on to the next thought.) She has a back injury that she has had for a long time that showed up in her prenuvo scan. She has a bulging disc in her back. It always hurts but Jess painted and now it is excruciating. Yesterday Kyson was playing on the trampoline and Kaden accidentally kicked Kyson’s knee. Kyson is a competitive soccer player. His left knee has been injured in the past. Jess showed a video of a kid kicking Kyson’s knee in one of her tiktoks. His left knee keeps getting more and more injured and they are pretty sure he has osgood schlatter disease. This disease is a common thing to have when you are a competitive soccer player and growing. It is basically that you are growing too fast and your ligaments can't keep up. It is something Kyson will grow out of. Kyson does have ongoing knee pain. Last night the same knee got kicked. His knee immediately puffed up and is so swollen. Jess has never seen a knee this swollen. They are headed to urgent care.
Kyson’s ligaments seem fine. The doctor was amazing and super incredible. The doctor confirmed that Kyson does have osgood schlatter disease. The disease is the reason for the knee pain. The doctor got opinions from sports medicine doctors. Kyson got an x-ray done. The doctor will call if anything comes up on the x-ray. It is a contusion which is a bone bruise. That is why the knee is swollen. The doctor said it will take 4-6 weeks to heal 90%. 90-100% is a bit more difficult to heal from that point. The doctor does not recommend that Kyson play in his last game but to let pain be the guide. The only downside to playing the game is that it will reset the healing clock. If Kyson is not hurting they can consider it but if he is hurting then don’t try it. Mimi is hearing if you need to play the last game play it and then don’t do x y and z for 4-6 weeks. Jess didn’t ask about practice. Jess will ask about practices when the doctor calls about the results. (I bet you that they will make Kyson do practice and play the game then do 4-6 weeks of healing.) They will see what the x-ray says but the doctor doesn't think that it is a break. They said in 10-14 days if it gets worse to reach out and they will get Kyson physical therapy through sports medicine. The doctor said that the sports medicine doctors at the facility care for the kings players.
They are having much needed one on one time with the kids. The rest of the kids are still in school. Jess is making Kyson’s favorite chicken and rice.
Jess is picking Lilia up from school a little bit late. Lilia had a meeting after school. Lilia is going on her 8th grade trip to Washington DC in 2 weeks. 2 weeks is how long there is left of school. Jess didn’t realize how soon that was coming. The day of Lilia’s last day of school she leaves with her classmates and teachers to go to Washington DC. There is a student meeting today and a parent meeting next week. Jess has a checklist of things to get Lilia. Lilia needs a certain debit card to use while she is away. It is stressful. Lilia has traveled alone twice; however, it was just to disneyland. There were two times when she flew alone. Tommy and Caden have also flown alone. Lilia has never flown alone this far. They live in California and Washington DC is across the country. Jess is nervous but excited for Lilia. Lilia is excited that she is going with her friends. Sending Lilia across the nation is stressful. Jess has so much to do today. Urgent care really set back her day. Jess has so many things she needs to accomplish. Mothers day is in a few days and Jess has so many things in store even though she is a mother and should be chilling. Jess wants to have a barbeque and make it cute. Jess wants it pink themed and wants to set it up before mothers day. It will be gorgeous weather and hot on mothers day. They are going to have their first pool day of the season. Jess is excited for it and here for the beautiful weather. Jess has to get ready for that. Jess also needs to post a video today. She has been back on her youtube schedule for the most part. Now that Jess is on 3 platforms full time it is harder to stick to her every other day posting schedule. On tiktok she tries to post every day or every other day. That is also a fulltime job like youtube. Jess essentially has 2 full time jobs. Jess also posts it all to instagram. Jess tries to stick to her every other day schedule and has been doing pretty good. If not every other day, she tries to do it every 3 days. She is also posting on a platform every day. Jess is trying to make youtube more regular and more consistent. She has been doing all right every 2-3 days.
Lilia can only bring 1 small suitcase and a carryon backpack. They can't bring any liquids. They are also going to New york. On the first day they are going to get right off the plane and straight to doing things after their red eye flight. They can only use their phones for photos and no social media. They do have to bring a phone. They are not allowed to go to the last day of school. They are to stay home that day and pack. Jess is scared and doesn’t want Lilia to go without her. Jess wants constant updates. Lilia doesn’t know if she is allowed to send Jess pictures. They are allowed to use their phones to take pictures and contact your chaperone. They can only contact their parents if it is necessary. Jess at least wants Lilia to text at the end of the night. They are going to see outsiders the musical. Lilia is going to take a lot of photos because that is her only excuse to be on her phone.
Jess dropped Lilia off and is picking up Addie to go to cheer. It is a jump class. There are fly classes, jump classes and tumbling classes. Today is a jump class. Addie has not done this class yet. Jess has been living in the tesla today. There was a hit and run on their property. Someone took out their mailbox yesterday. They got it on camera. They couldn’t see the actual act of it but they could tell which car hit their mailbox and wiped it out completely. The car didn’t say anything and just kept right on going. It took out their side view mirror. That was a little scary.
Addie loved the class. It was Addie’s first time doing the class. It is crazy to Jess watching her child fall in love with something on her own. Cheer is Addies’ own passion. Addie was a dancer for the last few years and she did like it but didn’t love it. Addie is loving her new sport. The same thing happened with the boys and soccer. Jess doesn’t know anything about soccer and the boys absolutely love it. (Maybe the reason why her kids love doing sports that Jess has no experience with is because they are tired of Jess comparing their accomplishments to hers.) Jess loves watching her kids fall in love with things they want to do. Kyson’s doctor called back and confirmed that there are no breaks and that he does have osgood schlatter’s disease. Jess learned that there are alot of people that have this disease. Most of the time it is something that is grown out of. It is a disease that happens in young athletes.