So I'm a hard-core car enthusiast and I thought my gf liked them too.
She works for her family business and last year she was getting a new car, she pretty much had an unlimited budget but wanted to stick to 70k or under. We were discussing her getting a BMW M3 for a bit more but the m340i seemed more logical to her so she ended up going with that.
Shes had it for a year. We were discussing her upgrading to something even faster for months and out of nowhere the other day she traded it in for a Genesis GV70 like a mom crossover SUV. With no consideration of my feelings as a car lover. She just said our roads have too many potholes and just overall bad roads and that performance cars and big wheels were giving her anxiety.
She's showing no concern or respect for my opinion and I think this is is something we should have at least discussed. She says if the money is good she might get a Porsche 911 in a year or two as a weekend car but is sticking with this. How should I explain my feelings to her?
TLDR My girlfriend got a different car without even telling me knowing that I love cars. What should I do?

I know I'm late to the party but finally getting to play the game for the first time. I'm only maybe two hours in and I've noticed some... inconsistencies and just overall ridiculous mechanics. Granted these are my experiences and not necessarily indicative of things everyone has gone through (but most would apply, given it's general game mechanics):

• When you respawn on death, you're often spawned into a location with fresh enemies only a few feet away after it was already cleared (not a POI, for example), leading to an immediate gunfight.
• When you respawn, your map shows no vehicles (and a quick 360 turn will show no vehicles).. except you can walk 20 feet, turn around and magically there's a new truck or car
• A location you've just cleared of enemies often respawns if you move 150+ feet away from it.
• Planes will often despawn when you approach (e.g. they're parked in the water), you turn and shoot at a few baddies, turn around and.... plane disappeared. You're forced to run 150+ feet away from it and turn run back for it to appear again.

I'm not sure why anybody ever thought these were good mechanics but they often lead to just outright insanity and an incredibly slow slog through areas that shouldn't respawn like that. It's not a metropolis city with thousands living within a ten city block radius that fresh enemies can quicky retake a spot... it's the country.
Just my initial impressions so far. I highly doubt that they would rework the AI and respawning of a 7 year old game but hopefully someone takes note and implements basic logical consistencies for their future titles because this just... makes zero sense.

I’ve had this problem for as long as I’ve had social anxiety (my whole life), I remember being in elementary school and as soon as I would step out of my car into the school my face would become void of any emotion. Even when I was surprised, angry, upset, embarrassed, happy, etc. I didn’t show any emotion, I’m very monotone when I talk.
I’m not sure if it’s because my social anxiety was so severe that I shut down completely or if it’s because I didn’t want to bring more attention to myself by making facial expressions. As I’ve gotten older I still have the same problem, it’s not even as if I’m trying to hold back my facial expressions, they just don’t exist (in public). They only type or “emotion” that’s visible is shaking/trembling voice, legs shaking, etc.
I’ve tried to fake them but I end up looking weird/unnatural, it makes things even worse. I want to know if there’s any one else who struggles with a flat affect due to social anxiety?

We’re taking our Kona over to France in about 6 weeks and I can’t seem to find a definitive answer. I’ve seen some info online that suggests the LED headlights on the Kona EV don’t need deflectors because EU regs means it must have a flat beam pattern that won’t dazzle regardless of which side of the road you’re driving on. On the other hand, I’ve seen the beam pattern on the car and it still seems to be left bias with little upturns, so surely this will dazzle???
Does anyone know for certain? Can anyone show me what a beam pattern that won’t dazzle should look like? I’m feeling very lost here.

A couple of projection clicks kick off the next trailer before the footage is shown. as shots of a college campus appear, while kids are walking around,a narration opens with "This is story of five young women, A rocker, (showing footage of her and a band performing karaoke on stage at a rec center) an athlete (showing footage of her running hurdles on a track), a cheerleader (rooting for her team and her boyfriend during a football game), an outcast (basically a goth kid), and an academic (showing footage of her study for a book report on the novel "the most dangerous game"). "They were college students, sorority sisters, and the best of friends since childhood (which shows footage of them as kids,teenagers, then the adults they became later in life) until the night their perfect worlds were shattered beyond repair". "What started as an innocent practical joke drew the ire of a dangerous gang who followed them home (while the narration is going on they slashed the tires and disabled the motor to the gangs car in retaliation/defense of an uncle and two four year old children who were being bullied by the gang, then it's cuts to the gang breaking in to the sorority house and while try as they may,the girls are no match for the gang) and savagely beat and kill their housemother" ( one gang members holds the other residents at gunpoint in a corner of the house, five others pin the five girls down to the floor and make them watch whole the gang leader (who has a scar in the shape of a hook from his eyebrow to his ear ) and his second in command beat the housemother almost to death) you see and hear the girls crying and pleading not to kill her and offer to fix the car in exchange for her life but to no avail, the housemother tries to comfort the girls, knowing that she's about to die "there,there now. Everything's going to be ok, you girls be good you hear me?" Then hook-scar blows her face off with a shotgun and blood and brains splatter all over the girls while they're bawling their eyes out as he coldly says ".....and to all a goodnight " one gang member wants to waste the other girls but hook-scar grabs his shirts and forcefully reminds him "WE'RE DONE HERE!!!!, no lets get outta here before campus police show up". The next morning the girls are interviewed by police, but they don't tell them what caused the attack, after the housemother's funeral the girls are confronted by one of their fellow sisters and gives them a key that one of the gang members left behind. "What's this? ", "I don't know ", "Looks to me like a storage key, there's a storage area downtown let's go take a look later tonight". Later in the night the match the key with a storage unit, and they open it up to find all kinds of firearms (shotguns, M-16's, 9mm's, you name it) "What does this mean?" "Isn't it obvious?, if the police can't do anything we'll do it ourselves, we have all the weapons we'll ever need to defend ourselves, but where to start?" "Hey,do you guys remember Mr. Gomez's class reports on the most dangerous game?" Next few shots would be the five girls loading ammo mags, strap on ammunition belts and loading their new found guns "NOW..,these five young women are on safari, hunting their quarry in the most dangerous environment know to man.............the criminal underworld", on this night they would be known as,THE MAN-HUNTERS!!!" and it would be a bloody and violent montage of them killing pimps,drug-dealers, etc. setting traps,lures and snares for perverts, child molesters, and rapists and when word got around that the girls were using weapons from their own storage unit,hook-scar beats the gang member who dropped the key to death and declares they were going on a hunt of their own, second to final shot shows and a kidnapped athlete held prisoner by hook-scar who starts cutting off her fingers one by one (because he "doesn't like sticky fingers touching his property") followed by her bloodcurdling scream of pain while blood splashes in her face, final shot shows the four girls breaking in to rescue the athlete and killing the remaining gang members while hook scar takes a shot to the side and a deep laceration to the side of his neck. While he's crawling towards the exit the four girls patch up the athlete's hand (who's missing a thumb and half a pinky finger) and walk straight towards him with gun barrels pointed at him, and while spitting blood in his face the athlete mocking taunts hook-scar with his own phrase ".......and to all a goodnight". And while he gives the girls his own bloodcurdling scream of defiance, flashes of light from the gunshots and smoke fill the theater screen and freeze frame with the narration returning, "The Man-Hunters,.......pray you're not on their endangered species list"
A 70's title card appears "COMING SOON"
The grindhouse theme returns while another title card appears, "OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION"

The rift between them has caused a lot of tension in my family and now my mom wants to be in the life of her newborn grandson but refuses to address or try to mend things with my wife.
Little history: I probably introduced them too quickly. My grandmother was in town in south Florida about to move here from Illinois for a retirement community. My wife, girlfriend at the time, came with cookies or some form of baked goods like she usually does when visiting someone as a sign of affection and respect. Where it went wrong from here I have no idea. I suppose the initial crack was when wife scheduled a skitrip for her and I to have as a 1 year of dating anniversary present. We are not rich, this is a huge gift that made sense to her since I refused to let her pay rent. Our combines salaries are barely over 120k. So wife calls mom 6 months in advance because she is a planner for the sole purpose of asking my mom to watch one of our four dogs. Wife has already paid in full for the trip. Yet Mom decides it is a great idea to instead use the opportunity to hop on and take a family trip because it is the last time the family will have for a family vacation - I am the oldest of two boys and two stepsisters, my mom married the guy she left my father for who has twin girls of his own that were in the womb during the infidelity. Anyway mom completely takes over and decides to make our one year gift a family vacation, so she books tickets for a hotel nearby. Wife is bold but at the time not bold enough to stop my mom in her tracks for overstepping a boundary. At this time she still respected my mother and kind of let herself get steamrolled.
Probably skippable Family history: Now I have always had issues with my mother, resentment for leaving my father for my stepdad behind my own fathers back and constantly trying to keep brother and I from seeing “Disneyland dad who doesn’t do any of the work but gets all the fun.” my mother was very strict growing up, always bringing us to church and making my father feel guilty for not bringing brother and I on his weekend. So mom marries stepdad age 11, divorces him around 13 after asking me advice for her relationship and i encourage her to move out. Then remarries him and moves us back into his house age 15. Here I begin rebellion and normal teeenager stuff but stepdad won’t butt in because he isn’t my “biological father” so would have my mom intervene brother and i from behind the scenes. For example, I am young and messing around on the piano because music is important and I never had any formal training and mom comes in to tell me stepdad “wants to know when the concert is going to end because it is a little annoying.” Anyway, they have me prescribed adderall at 16 and in the parking lot holding my first prescription I am told that they would like me to move out and in with my father, who had chased us every time mom and stepdad moved several miles away (5 moves from age 5-15 all in one county). Anyway, brother and I are recovering alcoholics with (my) slipups triggered from interactions or visiting my mom, which mom claims is genetics from my father alone and has nothing to do with her. Maternal grandfather, mother, and I have some nasty temper problems which certainly are exacerbated by drinking (at least mine and moms).
Skitrip revelations: Wife and I are on the way to brothers graduation in Chicago, and wife has yet to reveal to me that my mother has taken over her massive investment of a couples ski vacation and it will now be a family vacation for mom, stepdad, brother, two stepsisters who are all getting out of gradschool. On the way to the airport I am told the news by future wife of my one year surprise. So I get upset and call my mom to call it off. She obliges my request and now holds resentment against me and now wife for “ruining her last family vacation.” Fine, whatever. Mother never says a word about it for months until we are out for a distant family members birthday dinner and at a table of about 8-10 people that are having a group conversation and gets real close to my wife’s ear and tells her privately along the lines of “you deprived our family of our last family vacation.” During this time my wife is frantically tapping my leg under the table because my mom can get a little aggressive. My mom saw this and later (privately to me) mocked her for doing it to my leg under the table.
Christmas blessings: Closer to Christmas maybe 2/3 weeks later we went to go see my mom and my mom had a couple drinks in her (not an alcoholic like brother and I just very sensitive to a couple glasses of wine and occasionally some hidden sips of wine or something) and invites my wife to Christmas church and out to dinner after because the family needs photos for a Christmas card and future wife “will be the photographer for it.” Now this can easily be a nothing comment but given the way my mom had been making future wife feel, it was taken as an insult. So wife declined church and showed up to family dinner just in time for photography session to be over.
The distance: Then mom moves to a fancy house up the coast and invites us up to visit. At first it is ok to bring the 4 dogs then the day before she says they will not have dogs at the house and we can easily find a sitter. 2 Dogs don’t get along, they need to be separated always as there has been two attacks on one from the other, so we can’t trust someone to come to the house and keep them separate and we won’t board 4 dogs it’s too expensive for us. Anyway we go back and forth being invited with the dogs then they retract the offer and say pick one dog to bring and leave the others and it’s just annoying, so we say forget it and don’t go. But my brother becomes engaged and decides to throw his engagement party at my mom’s new place near the beach. Great. First all the dogs are welcome, then day before they say it is too chaotic and she will pay for a small hotel room for one night for future wife and her dogs and my one (the attack dog) can stay in a crate at the house with me but I may not leave the dog to stay with her. And no reasonable cheap hotel in the area is going to accommodate 4 dogs. Anyway wife is stressed but feels obligated to come because I am the best man and I stay at the house while she checks her dogs into the hotel. Wife had made a cheesecake and brought it up in a separate car from me, 4 hour drive by the way, and night of.. my mom says no desserts for engagement party dinner, the dessert is themed or some crazy stuff. Wife shows up to dinner a little later and very flustered because of the situation plus I had relapsed on a bottle of whiskey a couple days prior to seeing my mom. Related, I don’t know. Anyway. Mom has had a couple drinks and future wife and I are talking about having children and religion comes up. Mom asks what we were thinking of doing about baptism or not and I jokingly said (guiltily to get on my moms nerves a bit) that he would have a bris and would love it if she would come to the bar mitzvah. now my wife’s mom was forced to convert from Catholicism to Judaism for her own mother in laws acceptance for a failed marriage so wife is not religious, but it hurt my wife and reasonably so when my mom replied “oh, son, I raised you better than that.” Still no acknowlegement of fault from that comment and mom thinks wife is “overly sensitive, dramatic, and childish” for wanting an apology for it.
Weddings: Future wife becomes current wife. We had gotten engaged on our next anniversary trip she planned for us. I proposed on our bike and barge through tulip season in holland with our feet in the water of the North Sea after a picnic in the dunes. her family business manufactures photo albums for professional photographers, so aside from our families all being divorced, estranged, difficult, and us trying to save money, we did not have a wedding, we just did the paperwork within a month of the proposal. I had already decided to have a baby with her before the trip so we were trying. 2 weeks before brothers wedding in Tennessee we become pregnant, so we break news immediately as to not steal limelight from brothers expensive wedding. Mom says she will cover cost of rental car so we can save money. Ok great. She books the tiny car and we pack it and head up the Smokey mountains to the cabins we are staying at. Two cabins for grooms family, one for his mother and one for his father, ten paces from each other: they havnt spoken but twice im since divorce in 1995 but through lawyers. Grandmother, mother, stepdad, 2 stepsisters and one boyfriend stayed in mom’s side. Wife and I stay at father’s side cabin with just his wife. His Wife’s 3 daughters and family’s stayed a town away down the mountain among extended family. Anyway, beautiful wedding takes place. My wife is sent into town to collect flowers and run errands for my mom which she happily obliged to since she is a solitary person and did not want wedding day drama. Day after, we are loading our rental sedan with our bags. Mom and grandma need a ride to the airport and our flight is before theirs so they will drop off the car for us 4 hours or so after we go to the airport 5 hours from current time. We’re loading the car. Stepcousin passed out in mother’s cabin night before and needed a ride. Disorganized brunch for 20 people is trying to be made. Father’s wife’s daughter books a reservation for 10 people which include her family, her sisters, me, my wife, dad, and their mom. My stepdad had left for home at this point as he had taken his own suv instead of flying with my mom and 90 year old grandma. So mom is trying to pack grandma in the car with bags and my wife and stepcousin. At this point mother asks stepmother if she and grandma are on reservation for the brunch. Stepmom says no they are not, she wasn’t sure of their plans. Mom says under her breath “fucking assholes, so typical,” and she goes into a bit of a rage to which my stepmom says here “it’s ok I will call and add you two it’s no big deal.” So we continue packing the car and realize we won’t all fit. So my wife tells my stepcousin to go ride with my father to the restaurant 10 minutes away we will meet you there. Mom says to wife, “no you go with the father.” Wife says “no I am going to ride with my husband” mom gets close to her face with her finger and says “this is my car, you can fucking Uber!” Wife is 6 weeks pregnant at this point and it all escalated from here. wife and mother start yelling at each other swearing at each other and we get into the car, mom behind wife who was in shotgun. 2 occasions on the trip I had to stop the car because mom had taken off her seatbelt to stand over the seat and scream in my wife’s face with so much vigor that spit came on to her face multiple times. I’m trying to tell them both to behave and mom sit down shut the f up. Mom is telling wife to get the f out of the car and find a ride, she has no right to speak because she’s “new here” (dating and living together for 3 years at this point). The following brunch she apologized in a crowd with a hushed voice at a table of 20 people trying to have a group conversation again privately to my wife “I’m sorry you get so upset” and my wife told her “that is not an apology.” The following several hours in the car with grandma and stepcousin and wife were some of the most uncomfortable moments of my life. At a gas station I pulled my mom aside and said I need ther to give a huge apology, that it was so nasty and inappropriate, my brother and I are used to abusive language and aggressive behavior but to my pregnant wife and any other human being it is disgusting and unacceptable. Sitting in the car was quiet for many hours until we got to the airport. No speaking about what happened just mom happy go lucky about Tennessee and Dollywood and wife and I in shock, cousin still half in the bag from a fun wedding, grandma 90 years old probably confused about what happened.
The family groupchat: Im waiting on an apology from my mother to my wife who is extremely hurt and expressed to my mom loads of time she needs to reach out and apologize. We’re not talking until she will do so. It is bugging me and keeping me up at night. My appendix flares up and I am admitted to the hospital with emergency appendectomy. Still pregnant Wife suggests I reach out to mom to let her know what’s going on. So I text mom I’m at the hospital and will have surgery. I send a pic or something that on my end says hasn’t gone through. Mom group texts our family group with stepdad, his daughters, brother and his wife, and grandma that I am in the hospital and attaches the pic I sent of me in there. Then she continues to rave about the success of her startup company and how they got FDA approved clinical trials finally completed or some pivotal moment that made the text about her. Wife and I are in a hospital so the picture comes up on moms end as unable to have been sent. Mom assumes that my wife has blocked her phone, so mom removes my wife from the chat. Wife is rushing home to take care of the dogs at this point and is not alerted on her phone, but on everyone else’s phone it clearly reads “(mom) has removed (wife) from the chat.” Immediately I text my mom and basically say how dare you do that to her she is the one who insisted I let you know out of respect and mom responds with blah blah she did this she did that I will not have it. So I go back to the family chat and remove mother. At this point I let everyone in the chat know what my mother has done and how she refuses to take responsibility for how she made my wife feel, address her feelings, apologize or do anything at all to reach out about the wedding incident or even inquire about the wellbeing of the pregnancy for her first grandchild. Stepdad finally steps in and tells me “enough.” Grandma says “shame on you.” I am dumbfounded. This is a hush hush family that hates to have anything out in the open and likes to maintain a picture perfect image. For examples; 1) I and wife were on the family Christmas card of a photo taken at the wedding that the whole world received except for wife and I. 2)brothers alcoholism was to remain hidden from the family as was his rehab treatment and how it affected his career. Now understand that they like to keep things quiet but that is not how I want to handle my problems, these things trigger alcohol use and violent outbursts on my part that I no longer wish to live through. Now appendectomy’s are pretty simple so I recovered quickly (it don’t rupture we just took it out). But during the time I was scheduled to be under anesthesia, stepdad reaches out to wife to have a chat and clear the air. Wife waits until I come to so i can be there and I hear the conversation. He claims to be here as a middleman like a business meeting to fix things once and for all. Wife and I are like wow great. He then proceeds to double down on my moms behalf that they will not be apologizing or meet any of her demands as she had already apologized as confirmed by 90yo grandma who was in the car and my mother herself. The term he used was stalemate to describe the situation. Wife and I are shocked but she has me keep quiet to show me what he will say. He proceeds to yell at her and they were screaming at each other, again steamrolling the conversation assuring us that he was down the middle yet maintains that mom has made a sufficient apology that needs to be accepted and wife needs to grow up and move on, then wishing her luck with the baby and a nice life. Next day I call stepdad to see how it went. He reassures me that he has done all he can and everything is back to normal. At this point I call him out and tell him I was conscious and explain to him what an apology is. But there is no dialogue with this guy like there is no dialogue with my mother. He proceeds to talk loudly over me like she does and basically call me a piece of shit for the amount he and mother have done for me. I speak to him first time like I never have before by calling him a hands off father and a pussy of a man who finally reaches out while he thinks I am under anesthesia to yell at my wife then pretend it’s cool, and I basically tell him he has never done a single thing for me to try and develop me into a man or nurture me as a child into an adult, but he thinks taking me on fishing trips and ski vacations are equivalent to love and nurturing growth and development just like my mom does. I reassure him that he has no right to talk about family being that he ruined his own as well as mine and couldn’t even tell my dad to his face that it was him who was sleeping with my mom behind his back when my dad came to him very upset as a friend when he got an anonymous phone tip at work one day. Then him and my mom laughed about it in court when my dad brought it up during the divorce. We ended with swearing and I felt very happy for finally giving my true feelings to him.
The birth: Months go by and nobody has said a thing. I can’t sleep at night seeing how much love I am getting from my father and his side for the baby, and my wife’s family, then thinking about how my own mother hasn’t reached out a single time. I’m dreaming about beating up my stepdad and it’s driving me mad. So weeks before the due date I reach out to my mom begging her to clear things up and apologize to my wife. Nothing. A week later i tell her how disappointed and abandoned I feel and want her in the family. Nothing. Baby comes a couple days early. Everyone is excited. Mom texts me begging for photos and to let everyone know. I tell her my brother and two stepsisters have received photos. I ask her to please reach out to wife she still needs to make amends for what’s happened between them and all she needs to do is reach out. Mom’s responses have been defensive, derisive, projecting, playing victim and referring to herself as a kicked puppy. Telling me my wife needs to apologize to her and making the conversation about mother son instead. She is beating around the bush. And she is sending me photos of my own baby that I did not send her. Her friends are congratulating me that I did not tell. Again she is pretending that everything is ok and it is not. She asked me to apologize to her husband for what I said on the phone that day. I said ok, watch this. So I sent the guy a message that was very apologetic and not passive aggressive or backhanded comments in any way. Still my mom won’t say anything.
Now: Baby is 6 days old. He is the best thing in my life and I wish my family were involved but it seems like I am living in a fantasy world where everyone can be happy together. I can be a jerk and have a terrible relationship with my mom, but I want more than anything to just feel loved enough where she can swallow her pride and make amends with my wife. Thats it. And she asked the other day to put a family group chat so everyone can be involved… for real? I know she is stressed with a high pressure job, but it seems heartless to me. She asks what big items she can get for the baby. Mom, baby is here we have everything for a couple months already. I said the biggest thing you can do is reach out and have a heart to heart with my wife so this rift can end and we can at least be cordial if you two can’t get along. I don’t think it will happen.

Is anyone noticing strange behavior today using their phones to start the car? I'm having issues with my phone, face, and NFC key starting the car, I had to go take up one of the key fobs this morning.
The app is also showing the car in a random location where I haven't been recently. Maybe there's some server-side issue?

I'm being delulu and putting my requests out there, in case someone's watching :)
I'd want them to contribute more to the local economy, and do good, that could be nice.
I'd want a storyline about the reggae daughter, she seemed so cool and like someone who could have interests that are fun, plus more diversity, and a local girl (I think she was local?).
I'd want more of Julian and the other interior decorator (I'm sorry she's really pretty and cool but I have trouble with names) doing their job, because that looks interesting. How the cast in general do their jobs.
Less drama and more adventures, they're rich, they can do tons of fun stuff, I want to see them have a good time!!
Let the boys have some sort of productive story line, let them build something, or do something that's impressive in a more down-to-earth way than just drinking and expensive cars and adult club stuff. Maybe they could do some volunteering, for instance, just something innocent and fun.
More mental health awareness on the show, it's so stressful to watch all of their problems, they deserve to be happier and do healthy activities together.
More about Selita's modelling thing! She seems like a kind person, I hope she helps and uplifts many people with her business.
Courtney is so cute and a cool girl, but I don't want to see her in drama all the time, same with Chelsea, what is it they do? Where does their money come from, or if that's too personal to show more about, what are they passionate about, what are their hobbies? That'd be great.
More person-with-cash adventures, like fashion stuff, spa stuff...
And I'm sure I can come up with more, but that's it for now, what are your guy's requests?

Cyborg #59 - Test of Strength

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Author: Commander_Z
Book: Cyborg
Arc: Machine Mayhem
Set: 96
Previously:
Victor Stone, Donna Morris and Keiji Otari worked together to create a robot called Atlas to participate in the collegiate Machine Mayhem tournament, a robot fighting competition. The humanoid robot easily crushed its competition in the first round but disappeared overnight before the second round. His three creators split up to track him down, with Keiji finding the machine in a back alley a little ways away from the stadium...
Keiji stood before the massive figure, blinking, trying to focus his mind. He had had many late nights and early mornings over the past couple weeks, so Keiji figured he was still sleeping. Or hallucinating. Or both, somehow. But, the voice rang out, its clearest yet, “No.” ‘Clear’ was a very generous and relative term, though. The noise wasn’t modulating through a speaker or a voice box, instead Atlas was making his own speaker by vibrating the motors and joints that allowed him to move.
The alley that Keiji found Atlas in was less than an ideal to make changes to a robot, but Keiji figured that Atlas would be understanding considering the circumstances. He pulled out an old bluetooth speaker out of his backpack and gestured towards Atlas with it.
“This’ll help you. No more grinding gears to talk. Just got to trust me for a few minutes, okay?”
Atlas stood still for a few moments, whether he was thinking or just unsure how to make a positive affirmation with his joints, Keiji couldn’t know. But, after awhile, he responded.
“Yes.”
Keiji set his backpack on the ground in the gross alley, making a mental note that he’d have to clean that later and got to work.
Around ten minutes later, he was done.
“Okay, Atlas. Try to use the speaker. It’s connected to RO23 on the tertiary control board.”
“...T…Te….ing…Test…Testing. Speaker operation confirmed.” Atlas spoke in a deep, synthetic voice that occasionally warped itself in tone, like how a whammy bar would add vibrato to a chord on a guitar.
“Great. So… Atlas… What's going on with you? Why’d you leave?”
“I am performing my task: defeat opponents, become the strongest. No foes in that arena were a challenge. Therefore, I left.”
Keiji raised an eyebrow. “That’s… not what we made you for. We made you to win Machine Mayhem, not to pursue strength as some sort of goal in of itself.”
“Incorrect. Nowhere in programming was “winning the Machine Mayhem tournament” a specified goal.”
“Okay, but I programmed you, and I’m telling you that was the intention.”
“Intentions are irrelevant. A teacher may shape their students’ minds, but they cannot determine what anyone does with their knowledge. That is a privilege reserved for each and every individual being. You say I was programmed to win a tournament. I say that I was programmed to make myself the strongest being. Only my interpretation is relevant.”
‘I guess that’s not an invalid interpretation of what I programmed him to do. But… that’s not exactly a sane or safe perspective on life…’
“And how are you doing that? Just fighting anyone you can see?”
“No. I have already stated that I found those machines in that arena unworthy of my efforts, in my short time in the outside world I have seen humans to be much the same. Few of you would pose any challenge.”
“Well, that’s a little more reassuring that you won’t just be fighting everyone you see. But - ”
Suddenly, a woman about Keiji’s age flew into the alleyway, riding on a metallic pink hoverboard. She wore hot pink combat boots with dark black leggings, and a matching hot pink sleeveless top with thick metallic bands around her wrists that went up to her forearms. Her eyes were obscured by a visor-like pair of glasses, tinted a reflective red to hide her identity.
And yet, Keiji knew instantly that she had to be Donna Morris. He knew that she had been working on some other project with Vic before they started Atlas, but he figured it was just for some shared class or lab work. But this… This was unexpected.
“Halt… robot! Step away from the civilian and no one needs to get hurt!”
‘Why’s she speaking so formally? Guess it’s some mindset thing.’
Neither Atlas nor Keiji reacted to what Donna was saying. Keiji knew she wasn’t talking to him, and Atlas just seemed indifferent to her presence. Finally, Atlas turned and faced her.
“You seem powerful. Show me the strength of your will and I may concede.”
“This doesn’t need to be violent. We can talk it out, here or somewhere else.”
“Actions speak louder and truer than words.” Atlas moved into a combat position, leaning forwards on his left leg, raising his fists up to his chest.
“Come.”
“Don- ”
“When I’m in the suit, it’s Black Narcissus. Some of us like to keep our identities secret, no offense to Cyborg, wherever he is.” Donna said.
“Okay, nice to meet you, Black Narcissus. Just… be careful with Atlas. He’s stronger than he looks.”
Donna smiled. “So am I. Just watch.”
Donna pressed her thumb and index finger together on both hands and a large light on the back of her hands turned gray. She pointed her hands right at Atlas, who still stood in his combat position, waiting.
A thick, gray fluid shot out of her gauntlets, ensnaring Atlas’ arms to his body and his legs to the ground.
“Gotcha! That’s industrial strength adhesive - ”
Atlas flexed his arms and the adhesive snapped with ease, then crouched his legs before springing upwards towards Black Narcissus and her hoverboard. She quickly flew out of the way but Atlas managed to barely get one hand on the board. Black Narcissus pressed her thumbs to her middle fingers, changing the cartridge in her gauntlets. The light on the back changed to purple and she fired her gauntlets again, launching a blast of energy at Atlas.
The extra energy rattled the robot’s circuits, and he released his grip on the board to escape further damage, sending him crashing back to the ground. She shot another salvo of energy blasts at the machine, keeping him stunned on the ground.
She switched her left gauntlet back to adhesive, hoping that it would be able to restrain a weakened Atlas. Before it could reach him, the robot rolled out of the way and grabbed a trash can, hurling it at Donna. She swerved out of the way again, then dodged a second trash can thrown as a follow up.
After the second can, she was on her toes, prepared for a third, but it didn’t come. She looked around, trying to find where Atlas went, but he was completely out of sight. She sensed him at the last moment, coming from the rooftop that he jumped up to. He grabbed her board and slammed it to the ground with her on it. The board shattered into a million pieces, but Donna seemed unharmed. Atlas sprung up, ready to keep fighting, and Black Narcissus rose fractions of a second after. She pressed her thumbs to her ring fingers and the light on the black glowed a dark red.
She swung a right hand punch at Atlas who caught it in his left. But the light on the back of her gauntlet started to glow brighter as she put in more effort, pushing back against his metallic muscle. Atlas pushed his legs back, trying to stabilize himself. Donna started to push him back more and Keiji could hear the motors start to strain. Atlas stopped resisting against Donna, then, before she could take advantage of it, he kicked up some of the pieces of the broken hoverboard at her. Using her momentary surprise, he punched her square in the chest, knocking the wind out of her and sending her to the ground.
“You fought well,” Atlas said, turning away from her.
“Wait,” Donna said, getting up. “I’m not done with you.”
“Yes, you are. Accept your defeat. There is no shame in losing to the strongest.”
Before Donna could protest, Atlas turned to Keiji. “Come, and bring your things. I have use for you.”
Keiji raised an eyebrow, but grabbed his backpack and started to follow Atlas further down the alley.
He turned back to Donna and mouthed “I’ll text you” to her. He hoped she got the message.
⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️
“Stop here.”
Keiji stood behind Atlas, who was peering into an old garage a couple blocks from the alley where he fought Black Narcissus. He grabbed the padlock that was keeping the door shut and squeezed it, turning it into dust.
“You will find the tools you need in here. Repair the damage caused in the last fight, human.”
Keiji raised an eyebrow. “First off, I don’t really like being called “human”. Technically true, but feels hurtful in this context. Second, I’m a software guy. I couldn’t fix you if I wanted to. Third, being nicer to people will generally get you better results. Not really inclined to help someone who starts by insulting me.”
“Niceties are a waste of time. Fix me, or I will end you.”
Keiji shook his head. “No, you won’t. I can’t fix you, but you know my teammates can. And they’d never do that if you hurt me at all.”
Atlas punched the concrete wall in frustration, cracking it. “Very well. You are correct… I do need your help. What will they require to do so?”
“I don’t know. But come back to the arena with me. We can talk with them there and see what it takes.”
“Very well. Let your friends know that I require their assistance.”
⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️
Atlas stood before Vic and Donna, who made it back to their workspace just before the robot did. He towered over the three humans, but if any of them were intimidated, it was hidden behind a masterful poker face.
“Y’know, I thought more people would care that we just walked in with a robot and are talking with him like he’s a person,” Donna remarked.
“People are busy and indifferent. The other competitors probably think it’s a marketing scheme or something and are just ignoring us. I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Keiji said.
“Yeah, that. But so… Atlas has become sentient. Good for you, really. But… hooray. Another sentient robot,” Vic said.
“You see a lot of those?” Keiji asked.
“More than you’d think.”
“I am glad that you are not concerned by my presence. That saves me much effort. But the question at hand remains: I have been damaged and require repairs. Will you repair me?”
“Yes,” Vic and Donna said at the same time.
Vic looked at her, surprised. He figured she’d have some hesitancy.
“But, I’ve got a small condition for you. Should be no big deal. Win us the next round of the competition.”
“Ridiculous. You ask me to do something so trivial it is unfair, like a pro athlete competing at a preschool.”
Donna shrugged. “Yeah, it’s trivial and easy, but it helps us a lot.The club will look much better and get a lot more support for next season if we make it into the semifinals.”
“I’ll even raise the stakes. If you win the next round, we won’t make you enter the finals. Instead, I’ll give you a real challenge. You can fight me.”
“Why would I want that?”
“Because I’m the strongest one here by far. And, if that’s still not enough if you beat me, I’ll show you how to repair yourself. Then, we’ll let you go live as you want, provided you promise to only fight people who want to fight.”
Donna looked at Vic, concerned. “Who would want to willingly fight someone like Atlas?”
Vic sighed. “Trust me. There are plenty of weirdos in this world who just want to fight. It’s much better than me just throwing him in prison or taking him apart.”
Atlas made a noise that Vic thought was supposed to be a scoff. But maybe it was just static. The speaker wasn’t that high quality.
“You make a very strong set of promises if I win, which I will. But if by some miracle, you managed to cheat your way to victory… what happens then?”
Vic shrugged. “Pretty much the same thing. I’ll teach you how to repair yourself and let you go with the same stipulations. You just have to know that a human beat you.”
Atlas laughed. “You are a fool if you think that could ever happen. I accept your terms, human. Guide me to the arena, those boxes of scrap will be reduced to dust.”
Vic walked him over to the arena as as if he were any other competitor, but instead of waiting by the sidelines to see the results, he walked back to their workspace. He knew that Atlas would win and wanted to try and make sure that Donna and Keiji were on board with the other part of his plan.
When he got back, Donna was nervously pacing around while Keiji was scrolling through some webpage.
“So.. Vic… do you really think that this is the right idea? You’re just… unleashing him on the world. Isn't that irresponsible?” Donna asked.
“I don’t think so. Yeah he wants to fight people but he has restraint to some degree. He knows the difference being fighting every random person he sees and fighting someone who has a reasonable amount of strength. I dunno, I think him messing up and fighting… Superman or something and taking a big loss would teach him far more than we ever could or throwing him in jail for being dangerous. Is it a risk?… kinda. But so is any option.”
“So your best guess is just… let him go and figure it out?” Keiji said. “Isn’t that a bit too… hands off?”
“Got a better idea? That’s pretty much what we got to do.”
“No. I don’t. But this just feels... risky.”
“Yeah, it is. But he’s fairly reasonable after being conscious for what, 12 hours? Over time, he’ll probably mellow out and if he doesn’t, I can take care of him then. But he deserves a chance like anyone else.”
Keiji nodded. “Fine Vic. If that’s what you think the best path is… I’ll stand by you.”
“Same, Vic. I want to believe in him too.”
“Thanks guys, really. Hopefully we can all look back on this and agree this was the right path.”
A horn sounded and a voice came over the loudspeaker. “Semifinal-2 has ended! The winner is the University of Michigan’s Atlas! Please collect your robots and be ready for the finals at 1:00 PM.”
The team stood up and gave each other a round of high fives. They really had made something great. Now it was time to see just how great he really was.
⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️
Two hours later.
The team packed up after their semifinal match, citing an unspecified emergency with the tournament staff. They weren’t happy with the anticlimactic end, but ultimately they couldn’t force the three of them to continue to compete and so they left without much hassle.
The three of them drove north until they found the first open field that Vic and Atlas could have their match in. There wasn’t anywhere that they could find in the city that wouldn’t attract too much attention or put innocent people at risk and they managed to convince Atlas of that too. The robot was in the trailer towed behind the three of them, much to his chagrin.
But after a half hour or so, they found a spot. A wide open, grassy field with no one around to interfere or get hurt. A perfect spot for them to settle things. Vic got out of the car and started to stretch, trying to limber up after the car ride while Donna and Keiji helped Atlas out of the trailer.
Atlas rotated his head, taking in the environment. “A flat, quiet field. An honorable place for battle.”
Vic let out one lat calming exhale before approaching Atlas. “Plus, no one is around to get hurt. That’s important too.”
“...Yes. That too.”
“The rules are simple. A clean match, no foul play between either of us. Whoever is left standing when the other yields or is unconscious wins.”
Atlas laughed. “I will never yield.”
“We’ll see,” Vic grinned.
“Oh, one other thing. Not really a rule per say, but a strong suggestion: Try not to seriously hurt each other. You’re not trying to kill or maim each other,” Donna said.
“Yes, yes. May we begin?”
Vic nodded, and took a step backward, creating about ten feet of space between him and Atlas. Before the dust even settled, his arms were force cannons launching pure energy right at Atlas’ chest. Vic had designed Atlas, he knew that he wouldn’t be very damaged by those. But he had underestimated just how much he would be able to tank them. The force blasts did little more than chip the paint and an exhilarated Atlas sprinted at Vic like a charging bull.
Once Atlas was a few feet away from Vic, he prepared a concussive grenade and exploded it directly against Atlas, using the force to stagger him out of the charge. Before the robot could launch another attack, Vic swung a full force punch into the robots’ chassis, crumpling it inwards slightly. Vic followed up the punch with another, but Atlas was ready for it and parried it with his left arm, then kicked Cyborg away, sending him flying backwards.
Cyborg shot his force canons at the ground to give himself some momentum in the opposite direction, slowing himself down. But Atlas had some tricks up his metaphorical sleeves too. Having realized that a direct approach was difficult, he used his powerful hands like a backhoe to scoop up a massive piece of earth and hurled it at Cyborg. Vic was unsure how to react to this, or more precisely, how he expected Atlas to follow this attack up. The boulder itself was a problem, sure, but it was just to close the gap. Atlas could be using it to block his line of sight and be jumping right behind it, or he could be using the temporary blindspot caused by the massive object to approach from either side.
Instead of guessing, Vic decided to power through the problem. Vic shot both of his force cannons at the projectile, sending bits of dirt every which way. Atlas was hiding in what was once the dirt ball’s shadow and Vic took advantage of his surprise to launch himself at the robot. Cyborg shot his force cannons behind him, propelling himself forwards rapidly in a charge mirroring Atlas’ own.
He knocked the massive machine to the ground and sat on his chest, using his arms to pin down the machine’s.
“You’re down, Atlas. Do you yield?”
“I told you. I will never yield. I am the strongest!”
Atlas began to press his weight against Vic’s strength. Vic knew he was a match for Atlas’ strength but there was one key problem: stamina. Vic’s body was, of course, cybernetic in part, but it wasn’t the same. He was still human and human beings got tired. Machines did not.
Vic could already feel his muscle starting to fatigue. The fight hadn’t been long, but any fatigue was going to be the difference. He knew he was a match for Atlas’ strength when he was at 100%, but every percent below that made it more and more likely to be Atlas’ win.
‘I need to end this fight now or the immediate future if I want to win. But my normal attacks aren’t doing anything to him. I could try a sonic attack, but I don’t think that’d really effect him. I could try targeting his joints specifically, but those were designed to take more than I can give. But I can’t just let him overpower me for the win. That’d make him overconfident and more likely to get into trouble afterwards. No… I’ve got a better idea.’
In an instant, Vic’s muscles stopped resisting. “I yield.”
Vic pushed himself off Atlas, who stood up and looked at Cyborg, confused.
“What foe yields when he has his opponent on the ground, at his mercy? I demand you continue!”
“No. This fight was never to the death, only to yielding. But frankly, you aren’t strong enough to interest me. You said it yourself, you will never yield. And pummelling you to a point where you are the equivalent of unconscious just isn’t worth my time. So I yielded. Congrats. You win.”
Atlas stood, incredulous. “No. That is not allowed. I did not win. You lost! Those are not the same!”
Vic turned to Keiji and Donna and then noticed that the fight had taken them about 30 yards from where they started. He started to walk back towards them, and Atlas followed.
“Guys, I yielded that fight. Doesn’t that mean I lost?”
Keiji raised an eyebrow. “I guess?”
“See? Congrats, you won.”
“... I do not accept this victory. This is a loss in all but name. Mark my words, Victor Stone. I will wander the globe, facing foe after foe to grow stronger. I will become the strongest being and when I do, we will have a real fight, one where you must acknowledge my strength for real.”
“Looking forwards to it. Stay out of trouble until then, understood?”
Vic held out his hand for a handshake which Atlas begrudgingly accepted.
“Understood.”
“Atlas, catch.”
Keiji tossed a small flash drive to Atlas who had to bend down to grab it.
“That has all your schematics and drawings on it, as well as all the parts we used to make you and where we sourced them from. It’s probably the best thing out there to help you repair yourself.”
“Thank you. You all have given me much to think about it. When we meet again… I will be stronger in body and mind. Farewell for now but I will return to challenge you again, Victor.”
“I’ll be waiting. And I promise to go all out next time, Atlas.”
Atlas took off to the west, heading to only he knew where.
Once he was far enough out of sight, Vic laid down on the ground, exhausted.
“Well, that’s enough bluffing for the next decade. I really underestimated him.”
Donna sat down to his left, Keiji on his right.
“Told you that you were being cocky. We all built him but he’s out of all of our leagues,” Keiji said.
“Yeah… but I really wanted to do it, y’know? Kinda humbling to be beat by your own creation.”
“If it makes you feel better, I lost to him too,” Donna said.
“Wait what? When did you fight him?”
“I’ll tell you on the way back. Not my finest moment, but I put up a good fight.”
“Proud of you. You’ve come a long way in your training. But after that fight… I’m going to need to get a lot stronger and pick my own training back up. I kinda feel like I’ve been stagnant for awhile, just sort of winning my fights through grit and will power. But if Atlas had been hostile… I don’t think I could’ve stopped him. So, I’ll need to get back to the drawing board and see what I can do to take myself to the next level.”
“And we’ll be there to help you however we can. But uh… Vic, finals are in like two weeks. Maybe focus on that first?” Keiji suggested.
“I’d rather get beat up by another robot,” Vic groaned.
<< < >

I have a 14GB app that I'm deploying to a few users. The installation works fine for all users except one. The IntuneManagementExtension.log shows these errors. These errors occur after the app has been downloaded but before it has been decrypted and uncompressed. I've redeployed this app in attempt to troubleshoot this with no success.
Anyone got any idea why this is occurring?

[Win32App] CDN mode, download completes. [Win32App] Starts verifying encrypted hash [Win32App] Starts decrypting sidecar Content Info [Win32App] Deserialize Info [Win32App] Creating file stream [Win32App] Create encrypted content validation stream [Win32App] Read content for validation [Win32App] Determine if content validation exception [Win32App] hmac validation is failed. Exception occurs when downloadingWin32App user session 1, the Exception is Microsoft.Management.Clients.IntuneManagementExtension.Win32AppPlugIn.ContentValidationException: HMAC does not match. at Microsoft.Management.Clients.IntuneManagementExtension.Win32AppPlugIn.ContentDownloaderCdn.DownloadContent(ContentDownloaderCdnType cdnType, Win32AppResult win32AppResult, SideCarApplicationClientPolicy appPolicy, SideCarContentInfo sidecarContentInfo, SideCarContentMetadata contentMetadata, String filePath, String downloadFilePath) at Microsoft.Management.Clients.IntuneManagementExtension.Win32AppPlugIn.ContentDownloaderCdn.DownloadContent(Win32AppResult win32AppResult, SideCarApplicationClientPolicy appPolicy, SideCarContentInfo sidecarContentInfo, SideCarContentMetadata contentMetadata, String encryptedFilePath, String downloadFilePath) at Microsoft.Management.Clients.IntuneManagementExtension.Win32AppPlugIn.ContentManager.Download(SideCarApplicationClientPolicy appPolicy, Guid userId, Int32 sessionId, IController intuneController, X509Certificate2 cert, Guid deviceId, String& unzipFolder, Boolean& downloadRunningInBackground, Win32AppResult win32AppResult, EspPhase espPhase, Boolean isAvailableCheckIn, Int32 appPolicyIntent, SideCarApplicationClientPolicy parentApp, Func`1 getCurrentAppReportForV3ProcessorReporting) 

The field was down to five and Van was very sad to see Anthony go as he was a great Chef but if it came down to him and Anthony then it was always gonna be his buddy going. The final five celebrated their journey they had all been on and Nikki noted she was nominated in the second service and thought going back may have been the worst decision of all time but Nick said everytime he'd worked with her she had been a beast and was very proud of her performance. Kanae told Paula she hoped the 2 of them could be the final 2 and Paula said Kanae had a great future in this industry but between the 5 of them, she didn't see much of a difference. Chef Ramsay welcomed the final 5 back and said this had been a journey for not only them but himself and said the next challenge was to show their abilities as an executive Chef as this was the pricing challenge with the final 5 given $20 to make a stunning dish and good value for money. Paula said she'd been an executive Chef for 15 years and had her own restaurant so this should be the challenge where she shines and Van said he'd been waiting for a challenge like this and he can make a great meal out of anything.
Chefs Suzanne Goin, Bruce Kalman and food editor Lesley Barker Suter were pricing each dish and Paula was up first with her striped bass and it got a very strong review from all 3 judges to score an average of $39.33 and Paula said that was as good as she could have wished for and said that there better be something sexy to beat her. Kanae was up next with her halibut and while the fish was cooked perfectly, it lacked acidity and the garnish was lacking and Kanae scored an average of $31.66 to end up easily behind Paula, and Kanae said this was clearly not the challenge for her. Van continued the trend of seafood with his swordfish and it also got great reviews other than the potatoes maybe being a bit too salty and Van got a strong average of $37 but was still behind Paula who was the chef to beat. Nikki was up next with her pork chop and despite how rustic the dish was, it got great reviews but scored an average of $37.66 to still be behind Paula and Nick was the last chef who could dethrone Paula. Nick's tuna was praised as well but scored an average of $36.66 to end up in 4th as Paula won the challenge! Paula was rewarded with a day on a fighter jet and was allowed to take 1 chef with her, and she took Nikki as she came second.
Nick, Kanae and Van had to clean the front of Hells Kitchen, as well as Marino's car and prep the kitchen for dinner service. Kanae was grumpy all punishment as she thought Paula would take her and Nick didn't understand why Kanae was so upset as Paula was being fair in taking Nikki as she came second and Van felt like the stress of the competition was getting to Kanae and it was time for not letting up as this was the furthest he had gone in Hells Kitchen and it felt good. Nikki and Paula enjoyed their day out and Nikki said she hoped to face off against Paula in the final 2 as she thought Paula was the best chef there and Paula noted it was funny both Nikki and Kanae had wanted to face off against her but she wasn't going to get over confident as with 5 left the pressure was gonna be on.
Chef Ramsay said he expected as good a service as last time and Nikki was running the appetizers station and her first risottos and tortellinis came out nice and Nick who was on meat with Van was happy to assist with the salads and tartares to get the first 6 top out as Chef Ramsay said it was a great start. Paula was on fish and said this was going to be her hardest station by herself as Ramsay was pushing the tickets fast and she did get her first scallops out but trying to cook apps and entrees at the same time became an issue and admitted she needed help from Nick as Nikki was good on appetizers with help from Van. Paula started to have communication issues as she didn't respond to Nikki and Nikki was surprised that a chef as strong as Paula was getting so flustered and Chef Ramsay had to finally force a response out of Paula. Paula then got confused and fired an order of scallops with Nikki still 2 minutes out on risotto which saw Ramsay calling for risotto and wondering why he had scallops dying in the window now. Paula admitted she wasn't talking with Nikki and Nick at all and said she was going to fire fresh scallops and the ticket was finally completed as Nikki and Nick completed appetizers to give the black jackets a pretty strong start. Kanae was on garnish and determined to show herself as a leader and Van on the meat station was instantly stunned at the high orders of fillets and despite Nick trying to help him, Van said he was fine which made Nick nervous as he had 6 fillets to cook for the next 2 tables. Kanae said she was good on garnish but Paula said she was behind on pork so to not walk garnish but Kanae ignored her and walked garnish anyway and Paula was fuming at the communication as Ramsay was now demanding to know where the pork was! Paula managed to serve her pork but 1 of Van's fillets was RARE.
Nick said it was ridiculous that Van was not asking for help as he had an insane amounts of fillets and lamb to cook and Van finally asked for Nick's help even though he said he hated needing help on his station. Nick got him organized but Van then served his refire fillet and there was no sauce and Van realized he hadn't fired enough sauce, and Nick said there was meant to be 2 of them on there and it was Van's own fault for getting behind. Van did finally get his sauce hot to complete the table but Ramsay was not slowing down to push the next tickets out and Kanae now was flustered, forgetting what garnish she was cooking and struggling to respond to Van and getting completely lost on her station. Kanae did manage to get her garnish out but Paula was now dragging on turbot and when she pulled it out of the pan it was overcooked and dry. Paula's timing was well off and now Nick was jumping onto fish to help Paula get organized but the refire turbot came out to complete the table. Kanae wanted to show herself as the leader but called 6 all day on salmon but Paula corrected that to 4 and Van was now confusing things by calling the wrong all day on duck and Nick wondered what the fuck was going on. Chef Ramsay jumped in to tell them all to stop talking and called the real all day and while Paula and Van managed to get it together, Kanae ended up behind on garnish again and almost killed the table with Ramsay wondering where the fuck the fries were. Kanae finally bounced back and the rest of the black jackets did get their act together to finish service with Van's last duck and chicken as well as Paula's salmon perfect but Chef Ramsay said that was not what he expected at this stage!
Chef Ramsay said it wasn't a terrible service but the communication at times was a joke and asked for 2 nominees. Nick said there was no way him and Nikki were going up and it was between the other 3. Nikki said she hated voting for Paula but felt like she had the worst service tonight and Paula agreed it was a rough night as Nikki voted for Paula and Kanae. Nick voted for Paula and Van and this led to the other 3 all voting for everyone else and Van said if anyone needs to go home tonight it was Kanae as she confused everyone tonight. Kanae was livid with Van as she had nothing sent back while Paula was firing scallops too early, overcooking turbot while Van was fucking up fillets and this led to an argument between Van and Kanae as Van angrily said he was swamped by steaks and only messed up 1 and to cut that noise. At elimination Nick called Paula as the 1st nominee but said it was tied between Van and Kanae for the 2nd nominee and a furious Ramsay called all 3 of them forward! Ramsay said this was a very hard decision but eliminated KANAE for failing as a leader tonight but said her passion and fight were exceptional and told her to keep her jacket. Van said he was happy to survive especially as Nick wanted him gone and when he beats Nick to the prize it was time for humble pie and Paula said there was no time for slip ups at this stage and to get redemption after 16 years would be the best moment of her life.
Vote HERE for the next 2 chefs to be eliminated!
https://strawpoll.com/kogjk0xevZ6
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lZdCZ5yphKY-xzgCoYI23gLu5dxegS4eB5BC-Slk9ac/edit#gid=0

Is there a mechanic shop in the city known for being affordable and also trustworthy? I recently bought a second hand car, and the technical inspection showed that some work has to be done with the breaks and the suspension.
A quick search on google showed some old articles (from 10 years ago) giving good comments about Good News Auto Mechanics, and very bad opinions about Canadian Tire. Which are the good options and which places we should definitely avoid?
P.S. I got a Mazda CX-7

We’ve only been married for about a year. Never lived together fully, LDR and closing gap fully by next year.
So for context earlier yesterday, we had an argument because he had come home from work talking about a car that he wanted to get but I brought up my concerns about how he tends to have too many drinks and drives.
He usually will have about three drinks maximum, but I still feel that that’s too many. I even asked him if he would let me drive after three drinks and he said no I told him that’s a double standard and unfair that it only highlights that three drinks too many I told him I don’t trust him when he does this and that I don’t feel safe in his car when he’s inebriated, even after only a few drinks.
He proceeded to get really upset with me even physically pull away from me when I said that. He left the room to go answer the door because someone rang the doorbell. It was a random sales lady, trying to talk about contracting work for homes in the area she sounded younger and they had a really nice chatty conversation with laughing and everything while I was in his room crying in his bed still.
I confronted him about that and he said that he was just trying to be polite and used a tone saying “what am I supposed to do not be polite? “. They even toward the main floor of the house even though it’s not his house it’s his moms. She gave him his card, but he didn’t really say much about her when he came in the room.
We talked about it, and he broke down, crying about how everyone in his life judges him, including his family about his actions, and that he never feels like he can achieve or do good enough in other people’s eyes. I felt bad seeing him break down so we made up and decided to have a good night. He told me he would work on his drinking and be mindful to only have one beer if we do go out.
That night I decided we needed to connect a bit more physically, so I thought I would treat him to a BJ. Granted I do or are used to give him lots of BJs. I’ve stopped enjoying them as much because I find that he doesn’t ever reciprocate for me and I and I rarely get to cum now. He always finish his first and then we go to sleep. The times I have came. I had to basically nag him to go down on me by asking if he actually enjoyed it to what he said “of course! I love it “.
Well, yesterday he went down there for about half a second. After blowing him for a bit I decided to get on top and have sex. I was riding for a bit and then he said he was about to finish so I got off I blew them again but this time he was close to finishing so he decided to hold my head and my neck close to his penis, and then proceeded to come all over the side of my face.
He never asked me if this was OK before hand, and he never really gave me a heads up. He just held me they’re finished and out of spite I decided to wipe it all across his body because I was upset.
I didn’t say anything afterwards, but he laid there and said “oh you should cum too” But never actually did anything to me. I decided to get myself a quick orgasm and play it off like it doesn’t bother me.
This has been an ongoing issue, where sometimes, if I coach him and hold his hand through the entire thing, I can manage to have a good sexual encounter, but most of the time it feels like a porn actor performing for him, and essentially not getting anything in return. I feel disconnected from him and sometimes I have to think about other things in order to be turned on because I get anxious thinking about what will inevitably happen if I do engage with him sexually.
I’ve tried to talk to him about this before, but a lot of the time I met with he feels judged, I’m over, thinking it, or he’ll be super apologetic, but then it will happen again.
My best friend tells me that these are all major red flags in my marriage and I’ve even suggested to him in the past to go to therapy but he completely denied that and said we don’t need that.
We’re currently in the process of my visa and I have about maybe a year or less until I’m expected to move down to the US. I’d be leaving my job, my friends and most of my family behind for this man. I am very scared that I will be making the wrong move if things continue to go this way. I’m worried that I’m sacrificing everything for someone who isn’t willing to even listen to some of my concerns.
I’d like some advice on this and maybe even show him this thread because I don’t know what else to do.
TLDR; Husband drinks and drives, came on my face without asking, and generally shuts down when we have discussions or arguments. How can I get him to listen?

I have gotten the final documents I need to prove that my great-grandfather never naturalized. However, his death certificate (filled out by his wife, my great-grandmother), lists him as a U.S. citizen. The Philadelphia consulate specifically says that:
"Furthermore, if the death certificate shows the Nationality as USA, the document must be amended in order to reconcile it with the fact that the person was Italian. If the Census data is not available (Census after 1940), a letter from the Comune in Italy where the person was born is required. The letter should state that the Comune has no record of the person having acquired another Citizenship."
Having this amendment appears to require a court order, according to PA Vital Records. I have the following documents:
-CONE from NARA
-CONE from USCIS
-CONE from Philadelphia City Archives
-Letter from his commune in Italy stating that he never renounced his Italian citizenship nor claimed another.
Does anyone have experience with the Philadelphia consulate without getting a death certificate amendment in such a case?

Sorry, it's a long one, but I could really use your advice 😞. I'm not sure if I'm being paranoid due to my insecure attachment style and past relationship baggage, or if my gut feeling is onto something and I'm slowly losing it... My partner (46M) and I (40F) have been together for nearly a year, but so far, I've only met one of his friends and not a single family member on his side. He has met several of my friends. I have no contact with my family since almost 6 years, so he technically also never met someone of my family.
We met about a year and a half ago on a dating app geared towards casual dating. At that time, neither of us were looking for a serious relationship; we were just in it for some casual fun. On our first date, he mentioned he was still technically married but separated from his wife for about a year, and they shared a 13-year-old son. Since the separation, he's been staying with his parents, while his wife and son reside in the adjacent house. He never spoke ill of his wife, which is something I really appreciate.
He claimed it was love at first sight for him when he first met me, but I didn't feel the same way. I found him intriguing and attractive, but the idea of a relationship didn't appeal to me at that moment, mainly due to our lack of shared interests. He never pressured me and always respected my space, but he did actively pursue me. For every date we had, he brought food and flowers, even though we were just friends with benefits at that point. He also went above and beyond, helping me with various tasks like gardening, fixing my shower and car, all at his own expense. And even insisted on me not paying him back. He even picked me up in the wee hours of the morning when I was stranded in a bar with friends and couldn't find my way home, had medications delivered to my doorstep when we both had COVID-19 and couldn't meet, and these are just a few examples...
Our physical connection is fantastic, and he is very attentive to my needs. Surprisingly, from the beginning we also had dates without sex, despite that being our initial intention. Things quickly became emotionally and mentally intimate, and we started sharing more and more of ourselves. He treated me with more care and attention than anyone ever had, which initially set off alarm bells in my head, but his gestures continued, I just found myself enjoying his company immensely, both in and out of bed, feeling incredibly comfortable and happy with him. He always made me feel valued and appreciated, never failing to be loving and attentive. And to this day there has never been a single negative word or action from him towards me.
Around four months into our dating, he had to travel abroad for work for a week. During that time apart, I unexpectedly found myself missing him dearly, which came as a surprise because I wasn't looking for a serious relationship. One evening during that week, he insisted on hearing my voice, and we ended up talking on the phone all night. A few days later, I confessed to him that I missed him more than I expected and that everything felt strange, especially since I didn't even know his last name. In response, he admitted feeling the same way and expressed his desire to come over and properly introduce himself when he returned. True to his word, he showed up at my door late that night, despite his delayed flight.
However, what followed was a bombshell. As he sat on my couch, he handed me his ID, revealing not only his last name but also a different first name, birthdate, and birthplace. I was so stunned and literally nearly passed out. He had lied about his first name and was actually two years older than he claimed. Even details about his son, whom he claimed was 13, turned out to be false; the boy was actually 17. This revelation shook me to the core because I had never suspected he was lying to me. Being the child of an alcoholic, I prided myself on having keen intuition, but I had failed to detect his deceit. While I had actually suspected he was still married to his wife, his lies about his identity blindsided me. He apologized profusely that night, explaining that he didn't know how to come clean after lying for so long. But when I confronted him about his last name, he realized he couldn't keep up the facade any longer.
He confessed that he and his wife had indeed been living separate lives for a while, even agreeing to see other people. However, a woman he had met on the dating app years ago had stalked him, leading him to adopt a new identity to protect himself. He never intended to fall in love with someone and only sought casual arrangements. Although they broke up, he maintained proximity due to familial and business obligations, leading him to remain close to his family, and he committed to fulfilling his responsibilities towards them. His wife suffered from cancer a few years ago, which apparently returned at the beginning of this year.
The day after this revelation, he came to speak with me during his lunch break, begging for another chance. The following weekend, I met his best friend for the first time. Despite my shattered trust, I believed that he was sincere in his remorse and transparency, so we decided to it another shot and shortly after even committed to an official relationship. Things seemed to go well afterward; we even went on a vacation together, and he started spending more nights at my place. He continued to be incredibly supportive and attentive to my needs. However, he never made any efforts for me to meet his son, which I tried to understand given the sensitivity of the situation.
About three months later, I broached the subject of meeting his son again, but he claimed that he and his wife had agreed to wait until their son had settled into his first semester at university before introducing him to me. I had no children of my own so I have no experience with this, but friends of mine with adult children suggested that it was unusual to wait so long. Despite my doubts, I trusted his explanation, although I wondered if his family even knew about me. He told me that he was committed to his family until the end of the year and planned to move out thereafter. However, when the year ended, his mother caused a commotion when he moved out, leading to our first crisis over Christmas.
His parents insisted that he drive them to a city four hours away on Christmas Eve to celebrate with relatives, which disappointed me, but I understood. I assumed he would want to spend Christmas Eve with his son, so I suggested that we meet on Christmas Day instead to cook and spend a nice evening together. He informed me that his son didn't want to celebrate Christmas with the family anyway, so my suggestion was fine. Although we spent the evening before Christmas Eve together, our plans were disrupted when he insisted on going home instead of staying over as originally planned, leading to our first argument. He received a message from someone, read it, and his demeanor completely changed; he began to repeatedly look at the clock. When I asked, he said he needed to go home. I asked if I could read the message because I immediately had a bad gut feeling, but he declined and drove off. Despite feeling uneasy, I let it go until Christmas Day, when he arrived two hours late without prior notice. Also, I only rarely heard from him the entire Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day, which is pretty unusual for him. This pattern continued after Christmas, with him becoming increasingly unreliable with his timing. After pressing him on the matter of meeting his son and family soon, he admitted that his family was resistant to the idea of accepting me due to their loyalty to his wife.
Our relationship hit another rough patch on Easter when he spent Easter Saturday with his son, arriving at my place much later than expected. Frustrated that I still hadn't met his son, I confronted him, leading to another argument and him storming off to his best friend's place without contacting me for the rest of the day. His lack of communication left me feeling hurt and confused, but we eventually reconciled after a few days. Even today, we're still crazy about each other and often behave like teenagers. But for some time now, I haven't been able to enjoy our meetings. I question everything he says and does, wondering, can I believe him? Can I trust him? He lied to me so skillfully at the beginning. Is what he says about his family even true? It feels like we're not making any progress. He insists it's exactly as he says. But over a year has passed, and it seems like nothing has changed. I just have to keep being patient and endure.
Actually, he never really settled into his own apartment. Everything is makeshift; there's no functional kitchen, no chairs... not even a mirror in the bathroom. Yet, we still occasionally sleep there. At first, it was amusing, but we’re both two old for this sh*t and the student apartment adventure ended for me after five months of stagnation. I really tried to make the best of it, and I'm actually really self-sufficient and easygoing. But it has become draining... He also sleeps at his family's place more often lately, and less frequently at my place...
What are your thoughts on this? Am I overreacting? Should I give him and his family more time? I'm feeling exhausted and grappling with my trust issues. Am I being paranoid, or is my gut feeling accurate? What steps should I take? Extend more patience? Show more understanding towards his son and family for their reluctance to get to know me? Consider giving him an ultimatum? I'm feeling lost.

Yes, YOU will get blamed for this! Gen Z is one of the largest generations. They have the power to save or destroy the world, because THAT’S what’s on the ballot. If nothing else, remember we are in a climate crisis that’s only getting worse. If Trump wins, humanity is effectively over. He already promised to give oil companies whatever they want, if they donate 1 billion to his campaign. This shows Trump’s environmental intentions. Btw. If you haven’t noticed, the actual reason for all this Fascist upheaval is because the ultra rich don’t want to give up fossil fuels. They don’t want to switch to electric because their money, as well as entire national economies are based on oil.
I know you don’t like Biden. I think he’s a great president (except for Gaza). He has created the first ever climate corp. He’s putting money into EV’s. Climate-wise, he’s doing what’s right for the world. Also, he won’t stay in office after his term, unlike Trump. After Biden, you’ll be able to back a candidate you completely believe in. This is your moment Gen Z. If you fumble it, you will be historically despised for your failure to protect democracy, human rights, and the world. None of this is hyperbole.

Hi reddit, I'm just wondering if these are signs of an abusive relationship to be sure.
Long story short whenever we get into an argument my girlfriend will say hurtful things and insult my appearance. She is on her phone pretty much 99% of the time we are together and trying to show me look what so and so drama happened, she literally says "come look at this tea" when I couldn't give two cares whatsoever.
I'll give you an example last night we were driving around and passed by a dealership with a car I've had my eyes on for a long time now, we park and I say wanna come look at it with me and she says nah I'll stay in the car so I go take a good look at it, take some pics and when I get back to the car I'm like a kid in a candy shop telling her about what's done to it. Notice shes got her phone in her face and not even paying attention so I say pretty nice car hey I might buy it. Hey babe I might buy it, then she freaks out and says don't ever try talking to me when I'm typing on my phone and at this point I'm so over just sitting around in silence with her useless nails clacking on the screen and say well thats always so I'm not going to just sit around in silence and wait for you and she says stfu micro penis you stupid little boy I was so upset by the way she talks to me I drove her home silently sat there until she got out and went home as we don't live together anymore because I couldn't handle her staying up all night and sleeping all day while I was trying to go out and work fulltime.
This is not the only things she has said but this gives you an idea of her typical language.

Does 17.5 fix previous version’s issues, or are there now even worse problems/different problems? Did anyone whose phone got screwed up by the previous iOS version 17.4.1 install this & now issues are resolved?
My phone was on auto updates and when 17.4.1 was installed - battery overheats/phone auto shut-downs; -Apple CarPlay not usable because plugging in to usb causes overheating -Apple’s native podcast app totally unusable (Crashed each time after 30 seconds).
Googling shows other people had way worse problems with 17.4.1 iOS. Apple Store told me to wait for the next iOS update To fix these issues (Not impressive!)
I don’t trust updates anymore and need general consensus on the latest iOS version BEFORE I install update

Our condo building is small and self managed, and typically most issues are resolved with an email requesting correction (i.e. moving cars of visitors, removing items from common areas, securing doors, etc.).
However, we have been having more issues with an owner recently where violations are going unresolved despite repeated requests/notifications.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe we have a R&R established or fee schedule, but I plan to work with our lawyer to get something drafted then approved by the board (I am the president).
But after getting that established, what should be done to have enough proof of violations in order to fine owners?
Most of the issues occur in common areas and we don’t have security cameras. For example, an old appliance has been left in the common area that needs to be removed. We know who it belongs to, but I don’t think we have enough concrete proof. We have nothing that explicitly says it’s theirs, nor footage that shows them putting it there, so I am concerned about the owner denying it’s theirs if we try to fine them/have them pay for removal. Other owners are reasonably frustrated, but I don’t want to fine without it being able to stick.
Would you recommend security cameras in common areas? Or is it too costly for a condo with less than 10 people?