On the 15th of April, 2024, I had a workplace injury occur that involved a vehicle transmission falling directly on top of my foot while unloading it to be transferred to a core return box. Luckily it did not break any bones. However, I was required to be seen by an Orthopedic Specialist under the hospitals' guidance and recommendation. I went to my scheduled appointment on May 1st, with Worker's Comp info ready to be provided, I received a multitude of x-rays and a professional evaluation conducted in the office by the Orthopedic Surgeon. To add an extra bit of information, I was born with a disease called CMT (Charcot-Marie-Tooth) Disease, which belongs to a family of Neurological Diseases, a type of hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy. The disease affects my feet mostly, as I have severely high arches and difficulty with balance and walking. When the Ortho. Specialist conducted his review, his directive was that the surgery would be necessary, as the injury that I sustained at work will cause me more issues later in life if it isn't corrected within the next few years. What was relayed to me during that appointment was that the surgery would need to be for both of my feet, over a period of about a year, that includes surgery, recovery and rehabilitation, and then post-op evaluations and testing. I was told at the office that I'd be receiving a phone call about the surgery and such within a few days, as they would have to go back and forth with the examiners of the claim, which was to be expected. I waited quite a while for a phone call, it was roughly a week before I finally received a phone call from the surgeons' office about waiting to hear back from the Claims Examiner that is a part of the business I work for. They told me that it'd be a few more days before any more info could be provided, as they (the surgeons' office) were waiting to hear back from Sedgwick.
Fast forward to yesterday, at 11:07 AM EST May 13th, I received a text saying that my examiner (through Sedgwick) has been changed to a different person. I didn't really think much of it, but I had a feeling at some point that I'd be hearing from them later on in the day. I went into work at about 4 PM, and by 4:30PM a phone call came in directly from Sedgwick, to tell me that my claim has been denied. They said that, and I quote, "We've never heard of this disease before, we don't see that it has anything to do with the injury you received at work, but you don't have any broken bones which is good.." The lady asked if I had any questions or concerns, and I vaguely remember replying with a statement of my family's history with the disease and how it has affected them, and how it affects me during my day to day, and they made the comparison that "Orthopedics are a lot like Chiropractors, those fields aren't really a category we assist with" or something similar to that statement. I was in a bit of shock when I spoke to the examiner, so most of the things they said have been forgotten. I tried going back to my claims info through Sedgwick and I'm no longer able to access it, it just keeps saying that I'd have to contact customer support, or speak with someone in my HR Dept. My manager, and several other people within my immediate circle have all expressed to me to get a 2nd opinion, contact a lawyer, contact a different examiner for workers comp, go through the state for assistance etc..
I'm just trying to figure out what steps I need to take in order to receive the assistance that I need. I am 28 years old, I still have such a strong desire to continue working, I am not a quitter, I do not like giving up. But this situation really put me down, and I am honestly dreading going to work now, I just feel so defeated. Any and all recommendations will gladly be accepted.

Hey! 🤚🏼
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Just wanted to share my experience with Candor and give a rough timeline of the process for me.
I chose this company because partner uses Candor and has not had any issues (apart from being prescribed an urban leaf mpod cart with no instructions on how to use or what battery to purchase…😫 we got there in the end thanks to google and YouTube lol)
I’ve seen a bunch of posts either loving or hating the service from these guys, this was my first time using them and I have to say I am pretty impressed. (I’ve previously dealt with alternaleaf who was my first prescriber, decided to change after my prescription expired as the service has gone downhill)
I do like that most of the contact is done via their website using a chat/messaging feature. Only time I had to speak to anyone was my dr consult. Took about 15 mins.
Main reason for MC use is chronic pain, anxiety & PTSD.
25/4/24 - signed up and completed the questionnaire
28/4/24 - message from nurse to verify details
3/5/24 - message from nurse to arrange dr consult
10/5/24 - booked consult
13/5/24 - had consult with dr
(could have got in way earlier than the 13th, there were appts available within 2/3 days however I chose to book in later in the month due to other commitments)
14/5/24 : 12:15pm - prescription available 12:30pm - order placed 3:40pm - identity verified by candor 4:15pm - order ready for pick up
The consult mainly consisted of the dr informing me on the products and brands they offer, verifying my personal and medical details, and a couple of questions. My TGA was pretty instant (could have been helped from previous MC prescription?) 🤔
You can have 4 THC products at one time. I chose 2 carts and 2 flowers, and a CBD oil. However there are a few more products in my catalogue I can take a look at, or you can send a message to the nurse or dr if you’d like to try/check out something else. I recommend cannareviews or catalyst to explore strains and read up on some products.
I chose the pick-up option rather than have it delivered, as I live close to some of their partner pharmacy/dispensaries. Had delivery issues in the past with alternaleaf, will only ever pick up now. Due to stock levels in the places near me, I chose Dukasa Compounding, who I know a lot of people have issues with… I was so pleasantly surprised with how quick they had my script ready to pick up considering I was a new patient, and it was 4 hours after placing the order!
After everything I had read about them I was really worried something would go wrong, so hopefully if you are in my shoes this post gives you some hope! 😊
My consult was $80 I had Dr Jin Byun who was super polite, friendly and happy to explain and answer any questions I had. So far would totally recommend!
Going to go and pick it up tomorrow. Have a great week everyone! 💨💨

I would like to start off by saying I might become a team lead soon. Yes I know these are big goals for someone who is just a team lead, but I like to set my sights high. If that happens, or even if not, I would like to make my mark by making night shift run more smoothly/make it more bearable for the higher leads and team members as well.
What is the problem?

• I have noticed that day shift goes about as well as can be expected, considering everyone must be good at their jobs or else we’ll sink and metaphorically drown. However, my qualm with night shift’s inefficiency might lend a hand to improving the rest as well.
• The problem with night shift, or so I assume, is that the staff is mostly highschool kids who (probably) don’t have to pay rent & have been drained from school prior to clocking in. Most of the time, as our store’s location is located in a very busy area (made $12.4m last year) centered near many other businesses and schools— we get SLAMMED with no hopes of running the shift efficiently. There’s the school rush, dinner rush, and pre-close rush…and sometimes they all blend together too.
• Some resulting issues include:
  • Dining room being a mess because there’s only one person and it gets crazy busy at night; but we get comparable rushes in the day and people often manage DR by themselves. This goes back to general cleanliness within the whole restaurant.
  • People forgetting to stock their own areas/walking away without readying themselves/others for the next rush. This makes it far harder for the main stocker to handle their job, and they are already typically someone who is not acclimated to stocking since common stockers call out/have things come up that night. Must we train people on stocking more?
  • Order accuracy, and again why is this a far more common issue at night rather than day? We have several replacement orders made at night so there is plenty to be fixed.
• I’m unsure if the main issue is pre-existing fatigue, supremely how busy we are, or just plain apathy by most of the staff. Would it be wrong to assume that? :0

Why is it my goal?

• Ultimately my goal is to lessen the mental/physical workload on the team as a whole, but hopefully for other leads too because that will result in better team treatment/management.
• If we’re talking results that look good for me/the store as a whole (I GUESS😹)— a generally smoother night shift could lead to shorter wait times which would equate to more sales since more customers would be inclined to stop by due to speedy service.
• If I had to consolidate my overall goals into three core values, Chick-Fil-A’s winning heart strategy says it best:
  • Clean & Safe Environment
  • Fast & Accurate Service
  • Genuine Hospitality

Some Ideas

• I could assign a position where a particularly skilled person floats between dining room and a secondary stocking position.
• Assign leaders to specific parts of the restaurant each night.
  • I.e. “Jeff” would be in charge of iPads, which means he’s having the other fellas sequence the cars correctly (we have a two lane DT which merges into one line, yes it’s difficult). So on and so forth for Front Counter and the Drive Thru interior.

What I’m asking of you guys is, how can I reach this goal? What are some things you do in your store to make things run more smoothly in general, not even just at night? Are there some things about my restaurant you’re curious about that could help you answer my request?

Story time.
I’ve been working retail/food service for almost 10 years now and I think tonight really qualifies for “the retail experience of all time”. Important context is that I work as a barista at a big chain store and often run the whole cafe all by myself. My store (the staff) is great, but higher-ups have been neglecting much-needed fixes so there are tons of issues like broken counters resulting in health code violations, drainage issues that leave floors wet and soapy a lot of the time, etc. Work orders keep getting ignored so we do the best we can.
Tonight? Tonight was rough. Just under an hour prior to closing, a young boy, like 13 years old and his mother come up to my register and ask for “espresso with some coconut milk”. I ask them to clarify that they want an espresso shot each with just a splash of coconut milk. They say yes and I make them exactly like I said I would.
I then take advantage of the lack of customers after them to start sweeping the dining area so I can actually get home on time tonight. The moment that I walk over with my broom and get to it, the woman at the table next me to looks at her sons, says “hey let’s go get those cookies” and walks over to the counter that I just walked away from. She asks “are you closed?” and I frustratedly tell her no, but she’ll have to wait.
I sweep for another second before coming back and pushing through the little swing door leading to the back of the cafe counter.. but you know how I mentioned that we have a lot of broken things at my store? Well, the door was apparently cracked in the center and whatever material is layered over it was sharply curved outwards on both sides and pierced right through the pad of my dominant thumb. I’ve literally never seen as much blood on the outside of my own body. I start to panic. I have my headset in my hands and blood is dripping off it as I'm choking out communication with my team about the accident.
Apparently the kid from earlier followed me to the counter because he there he was behind me, drinks in hand, and says “this isn’t what we asked for!” (it literally was btw). I’m mostly adrenaline at this point so it doesn’t even register enough for me to be pissed. Blood is covering the entirety of my hand and is visible on the floor and counter. I show my hand to him, knowing he heard me talking over the radio and emphatically go“can you please WAIT?”.
Mom is now behind him, seeing me as the mess of tears and extremely prominent amounts of blood that I was. And she simply stared at me expectantly as her child gives me a visible look of irritation and asks “ok, but then who will fix our drinks?”
I’m completely floored at this point. Another staff member appears and I literally just went to the back room and cried until another coworker came with a first aid kit. I didn’t know people like this really existed. Maybe I just didn’t want to believe it. But the worst part is that I know this will sit with me until I leave retail/food service, and that I likely can’t even get anything from the company for the injury. I’m writing this in bed just a few hours later and I feel like that interaction still hasn’t fully processed.

Hi all, I'm a citizen that left Melbourne in 2019 and am planing to return in a few months. I realized the pandemic has changed a lot of things so I need all the help and guidance I can get on the following areas:

1. accommodation: I plan to stay at a temporary place once I land and then search for long term accommodation once I'm there. what are some options for temp stays? I know there's AirBnB and share houses..I prefer places that are fully furnished (e.g. cooking utensils, washing machines) so that I don't have to buy a lot of things.

Also I know there's a housing crisis right now, so realistically how long should I expect it to take to find a rental? with my budget I'll most likely be looking at share houses. I don't have a job lined up and I've also never rented before, will those 2 factors hinder my chances of finding a place?

1. mobile service provider: I don't make calls or text much when I'm out, so I'm looking for a provider that has plans with generous amounts of data for a reasonable price per month.
   
2. depression medicine: I'm on anti-depressants and have been since before I left. I remember I needed a referral from a GP to see a psychiatrist in order to get prescriptions for my meds..is this still the standard procedure? Also do all GP's accept new patients or does it vary from one to another? Would also love recommendations for a good psychiatrist (not going back to my old one as he's not very good), preferably reachable via public transport.
   

Any help and advice from my fellow melbournians would be much appreciated. TIA~

“Did that Human just hit my ship?” Admiral Carney of the Saigor Empire peered out of the viewport. His voice tinged with disbelief. His ship, the Gavaron, a superstar dreadnought 10 kilometres long and brimming with every weapon the galaxy had to offer, was being propelled backwards past the fourth planet of this insignificant solar system by a man dressed in a blue suit and red cape. The crew, initially stunned, began to regain their composure and halt the ship.
“Sir? What should we do?” His second-in-command looked at the screen in disbelief. “That hit destroyed the forward shield generators and the forward main cannon!”
“Ehhh? That has to be a hologram. Scan for whatever weapon they used and send in two frigates to destroy whatever that thing is.”
His order was followed, and he saw two of the frigates that had been held back speed past him, launching rockets at the target, only for the rocket to be blasted by some red laser from this human's eyes, according to the video feed.
“Are you seeing this? What in the fifth unholy hell is this thing from? Is it a droid? “
“Scans say it's biological, and there is no technology detected, and according to our files, it looks human.”
“LOOKS HUMAN?” Admiral Carney turned to the science officer. “Does that look like a normal biological being to you? Those rockets are made of Dirunium. We can launch them through a damn sun if we want to.”
He turned to see this human grabbing a frigate and slinging it towards them. The other hightailed out of there, jumping into light speed in whatever direction they were facing. Smart kids, he thought.
“Brace for impact!”
“Brace for impact, but the shields?” His first officer looked at the helmsman as he shouted out the warning. Admiral Carney sighed and looked at him. “He destroyed them, remember? Move the ship out of the trajectory, turn the ships around and get us out of here. We can't fight that thing.“
“What about the shield? We can't jump without a shield?”
“Have a support ship land on the bow, and have them extend their shields over our damaged area. Then, let's get out of here. “
“Sir! The human is approaching us.” The words made it go cold down his spine. How could that thing, man, move that fast without any tech?
“Is he attacking?” He managed to keep his voice calm but he was getting worried. Was he to die here? In what was supposed to be a simple invasion to teach the recruits how to do the job.
“No, he is just watching us.” The words calmed him down. Maybe they could survive this. It was a defence system; it had to be, so if they just left, it would leave them be.
“Then ignore him, and let's get out of here.”
When he finally had time, he went over the reports. Earth was not supposed to have such a being as its defender. He had never seen or heard anything like this. This might cost him his job, but there was no way in the five unholy hell he could ever win over that. He logged the report and got himself a drink. He looked at his own fist. The green muscular fist would never be able to do something like that. They will cut his horns and blind his third eye for this, but he would survive. He could leave the navy and find a job on a starbase far from the capital planet. Yeah, it might be for the best. He got out the pad, wrote down his resignation, and sent it to the headquarter.

Five years later

Jar Carney had been working as a bartender at the Gustun star base for five years now, a trader base that saw creatures from all over the galaxies. Here, nobody knew or cared who he was, though he had heard the stories about the admiral who quit his position after attacking Earth, and a single human beat them back. It was a very popular story among some of the travellers. The only thing Jar found funny was that they often got the species of the admiral. In fact, mostly, it was somebody else than a Cunar like him; it tended to change. Lately, it was a female admiral of the Surion empire. Carney had to smirk at how the story had changed, and then he turned to the new Surion bartender, Saris, a young woman with a serious face who always kept to herself. She was pretty for a Surion; her soft yellow and black striped fur and the short tale made her cute, and her feminine movement had already made a few brave patrons try their luck. However, she ignored them all. “Hey, I didn’t know you guys had female admirals?”
She froze as he spoke, and Jamir, the local drunk, chuckled. “Only if they are royalty, they are given a fleet and told to show what they can do. But this time, this princess went to Earth, which was such a stupid choice. I thought they had learnt by now.” He then winked five of his 15 eyes at Saris.
Both Carney and Saris turned to him and said in unison, “What?”
Jamir laughed and finished his drink. “I’m the Funasta Admiral they spoke about last year. Unlike the smart invaders, I managed to land on that cursed planet, and while that demon tore through my fleet in space, I had to face something even worse. We set up a teleport point and just started to send in our mech units. They suddenly faced a green giant behemoth of a human. The more they shoot at him, the stronger and more dangerous he became. Then, we launched our troops and drone fighters. The humans responded by sending in more of these demons. First was a man in red who ran faster than we could see. Then a man dressed in old armour and a hammer of all things came, he controlled the weather and everywhere he struck was also hit by lightning from a clear sky. The green behemoth and the hammer guy are just as strong as the demon in the sky. They just can't fly like him. Besides the red blur that will zip around and disarm your troops, the ground support of those two monsters is a few other demons. There is a man with metal claws that could heal any wounds we inflicted on him. He is aided by a woman who tore through our men like they were paper. We had managed to defend the teleporter, so we poured in our drone clones. It didn’t matter.” He took another drink as he got lost in the nightmare that would follow. It took a second before he continued.
“The worst happened when night came. They made the dead rise to fight, Led by some bloodthirsty beast who drained our officers. Then came the humans, who turned into predatory animals and were immune to anything we threw at them. At that point, we finally had enough and ran away. We teleported home since all our ships had been destroyed and destroyed our side of the gate. So, of course, I was expelled.” He smirked, showing maw of short teeth.” But I had recorded too much evidence for them to ignore it, so we sent spies to try and find a weakness in their defense, and then we found out we were not the first to face them like this.“ He held out his glass for refill, which he got.
“We discovered that they have defeated at least eight invasions this way. And” He stopped for dramatic effect. “ We discovered their weapon. Those monsters are not real—well, they are real, but they are the result of human imagination. They have this technology that allows them to pull their —what’s the word? Ahh, now I remember superheroes and monsters from their books and movies, and for as long as people needed them, they would protect them from the enemies of the Earth. You see, they vanish once the invasion is over. Then the humans plunder the battlefield for tech.” He chuckles as he looks at his clawed hand. “Yeah, so here we sit, three admirals fracked up by imaginary monsters because nobody would believe it before seeing it with their own eyes. I mean, would your rulers believe such a fracked-up story.”
As always, let me know if you post it anywhere else. I'm okay with it as long as I get credit and am notified.

The walls of the Thunderhawk shook violently as we approached the city. I could hear the gunfire surrounding the ship as we landed in the capital. The World Eater vanguard had secured the center of the city, near the arena, in preparation for my arrival.
The door opened to reveal a desolate city. The sky screamed with the sound of the raging fire that had engulfed the majority of her home. It was a dead world, but it was and always would be hers. Just like me.
Twenty space marines rushed out in front of me, thundering down the ramp as they secured the perimeter. They were loyal sons of hers, they had returned to this doomed planet to deliver me to her one final time. I could not begin to imagine what they must have felt, to see their world in such a crestfallen state.
I made my way down the ramp to find them in two lines on either side of me. I gazed into their helmets as I walked in the midst of two lines of space marines, they stood motionless as they waited for their orders. In my head, I thanked them, their azure shoulder pads forming an unwavering bulwark between this forsaken world and myself. They knew the sacrifice they had made the moment they stepped off the ship.
In the distance I could hear her, tearing down buildings with a single blow as she rampaged through the city. It was her home, once, and it had forgotten her. Buildings crumbled as her forsaken sons shot down a Thunderhawk in the distance. It spun as it fell, leaving behind a trail of smoke as it hurled towards the ground. I watched it as it vanished behind the burning ruins.
A guttural roar echoed through the city square as another block collapsed under the never-ending might of her rage, and the nails that spurred it.
“She’s coming.” said the captain.
It was time.
The captain led his battle-brothers forward into the oncoming whirlwind of death.
I stood by the ship as they surged forward. Their sacrifice was a gift they had given willingly, and I would never forget that for as long as I lived.
With a crash, the buildings in front of them disintegrated in a cloud of ash and dust.
Through the fire and dust, I could see her silhouette. She was grotesque and beautiful, a winged monstrosity of rage that I adored, even in her current state.
With a furious howl, she brought down her dual chainaxes on her sons, cleaving them in two with an explosion of blood and entrails. The chains hummed with the sound of death, while the nails on her head rewarded her unbridled rage.
The dust cleared, leaving dozens of torn and dismembered space marines as she towered above their remains. Her wings spread wide as she relished the indescribable pain she had just inflicted.
Her fiery eyes locked onto me. I was next.
In that moment, there was no one, no power in the cosmos, no emperor or god, that could keep her from her Rose.
She charged at me, her axes whirring with anticipation as they neared their next victim.
A crushing weight dropped me to my knees as I looked up at the charging behemoth that I would always love.
My heart sang as she raced toward me, although I could not speak. I would embrace her one final time.
I closed my eyes, my arms outstretched.
In my ears I could hear the chains, they were deafening. My ears began to bleed as they cycled furiously, demanding blood. They were close, which meant that she must be too.
I surrendered my life, thankful for the opportunity to have known her. Out of all the planets, and the sextillions of people in the universe, I was glad to have been her Rose.
I waited for the embrace of death, although it could not keep me from her forever.
It did not come.
I opened my eyes to see her before me, her massive form diminished as she leaned down close to me.
Her rage-filled eyes burned with a never-ending fire that could never be put out. Yet, in the depths of that fire, I could see it. The look she would give me all of those years ago, a look that told me I was hers and no one else's.
“My… Rose….” she spoke, her demonic voice caressing me as her words ripped through my heart.
I no longer saw a demon.
The nails were gone, her wings had vanished, her scowl faded into a resigned, yet loving smile.
Instinctively, I smiled back. How could I not?
I could have lived a million lifetimes in that moment, and still wanted more.
But it was not meant to be.
With a roar that shook the ground, she quickly returned to her corrupted self. The nails dug into the depths of her mind as they gripped her in an all-consuming grasp. The nails called, and she must answer.
I embraced her as the axe fell upon me.
I was her Rose and always would be.

I posted about this awhile back and did not get much response but I am gaslighting myself and need people who have gone through this or similar to help me be objective.
I will Try to keep this brief but it's a lot.
-long history of stricturing Crohn's of terminal ileum diagnosed in 2006. First resection Sept 2018, Last resection in April 2022. Surgeon told me he found Crohn's high up in small bowel, could not remove safely, hoped new biologic (Stelara) would take care of it.
-6 month delay in starting Stelara due to GI F up (forgot to send preauthorization)
-July 2022 began having severe upper gastric pain (under ribs and belly button) after even the smallest amount of food, followed by severe nausea and often vomiting. Within half hour multiple liquid BM's undigested food and insane amount of fluid. Began to eat less and less, moved to soft diet, and finally to complete liquids in August 2023
-July 2023-Oct 2023- Weight loss of 20 lbs over 3 month period. Many ER visits needed for rehydration and IV anti emetics and pain meds as could not keep down any oral meds. GI did colonoscopy but only found microscopic Crohn's in anastomosis site (he only took 2 biopsies from that area and nowhere else). CT's done in hospital showed thickening of wall of ascending colon, and collapsed bowel, free fluid in peritoneum. GI dismissed as "not reliable". Fecal Cal slightly elevated. Constant low grade anemia. After 4th ER visit in Oct 2023 they did a high res Ultrasound and I was admitted by surgery department. However, as I was urgent but not emergent, there were no beds available. Was given choice of staying in ER and receiving IV steroids, or going home and following up with GI. Chose home and was given Entocort. Entocort slowed down bowel from 30-50 bm's a day to ten. Did not help pain, nausea, vomiting, lack of ability to eat. After several desperate emails where I begged for help, said I wanted to die-GI ordered urgent MRI, would not change meds or give prednisone without "proof".
-November 2023-Began to experience fatigue like never before. Could hardly keep eyes open. This would be followed by severe upper gastric pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea that went on for days, followed by constipation for 1-2 days and severe bloating, only on the left side of belly which would be rock hard and hot to the touch. Then the diarrhea cycle woud begin again. Always pure liquid, sometimes black, always tons of mucous.
-Went to Mexico to visit my parents for the holidays where I usually feel better but still could not eat. Injecting myself with IM Gravol (anti emetic) just to keep fluids down. I lived off of chicken broth with rice. Saw GI in private hospital. Ordered full workup. Blood found in stool. 3 D CT ordered (could not find a vein for IV after 5 nurses, two doctors, and a radiologist with a vein finder so only had oral contrast) showed inflammation in small bowel, thickening of the ascending colon wall 11 mm, and inflammation of ileum. He wanted to send me to special IBD hospital in Mexico City for MRI but it would have cost 2500$ so I decided to wait till I got home to Canada where it would be free. Treated me with antibiotics for IBS (only available in Mexico and Germany) Zero improvement. I lived off of electrolyte drinks.
-Jan 29th 2024 returned to hospital because I could not keep any oral meds in (pills would be in toilet) also pain was 9/10, high fever, vomiting. Admitted again, but no beds. Left AMA with another prescription for Entocort.
-Feb 12 2024- High fever followed by two days of 40 plus liquid BM's, some of them bloody, all of them black. Husband insisted back to ER where I was admitted immediately. Cortisol levels 11 (close to adrenal failure) very low potassium. Doc said if we'd waited I likely would have died from heart event. Spent 8 + weeks in hospital having every kind of test imaginable. NOTHING showed on MRI, inflammation on CT, lower scope clear, upper endoscopy showed inflammation in esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. Negative for H Pylori, negative for celiac. Started on 150 mg of hydrocortisone for low cortisol to rescue my organs. MRI of brain showed small tumour on pituitary. Endocrinologist did ACTH test and was unhappy, kept me on 40 mg of hydrocortisone IV. PICC line insertion went awry when they Discovered I had complete stenosis of veins and needed port catheter surgically implanted. Was on TPN for 5 weeks. Needed pain meds and anti emetics every 4 hours or severe vomiting and diarrhea would ensue. 30-50 liquid bm's continued (they made me write down everything I ingested and every time I had a BM. They tested me for everything. No blood, NO CDiff, no parasites, no infection. High fever 104.5 plus delirium and CRP shot up to 50. Continued Anemia, blood work all over the place, even with TPN I needed potassium and sodium boluses 3 times a day.
-Requested pill endoscopy, GI said no Crohn's, no need for test. Suggested psych evaluation for a fucking eating disorder. Endocrinologist disagreed, said starvation and whatever disease process was causing symptoms was causing my cortisol issue. Psych diagnosed medical PTSD and generalized anxiety disorder (no shit) but NO eating disorder. Fired GI and hired IBD specialist from another city. Re ran all tests, CT showed huge diverticulum on duodenum otherwise clear. Was going to be moved to a ward from a private room. Had a panic attack because I could not share a bathroom and was not about to use a commode. Asked to be discharged after nearly 9 weeks. They were so overcrowded and basically did not know what else to do to help me, so they let me go even though I was still on TPN and NPO. Got a 5 minute instruction on how to insert a butterfly catheter for pain meds, and let go.
-Present-3 weeks later, still on liquid diet, (Boost drinks, blended oatmeal, yoghurt and soup) still on sub q and IM meds. Finally got new IBD doc to order capsule endoscopy and is treating me for SIBO (never been tested) plus set me up with nutritionist and psychologist for support. MRI repeated- totally clear.
I FEEL CRAZY. This is the sickest I have ever felt. It's been almost a year since I chewed food. The pain under my ribs just to the left of my belly button is now constant, whether I eat or not, pain meds barely take the edge off. Sometimes it's so intense I can hardly breathe. I keep passing out on the toilet. I projectile vomit daily, even using Gravol and Pantoprozole, the bile acid is awful. I've been doing tons of research and have learned that GDC and Jejunal Crohn's are extremely hard to diagnose. I have every single symptom and fit the criteria. Does this sound familiar to anyone????

I downloaded bumble for the very first time a little less than a year ago. I was excited to actually try dating apps at first, since I never had. I had done online dating, but through the old school PC based apps like OK cupid, I got 2 long term relationships from those and was now trying bumble since it seemed that's where the people were.
I even liked the spin where women had to message first. As a man, her showing some effort is wonderful, I don't have to come up with my most witty opener, just to hear crickets. If she engages first, there must be something she likes about me. At first, this worked well. I got a few matches, and went on some dates, but within a few months, the matches started to degrade in quality and they became less frequent and the experience got stale. I don't know for sure, but I suspect your algorithm "got to know me" a little better, and decided I was only worthy of people I wasn't overly interested in.
I could tell your algorithm was struggling when the distances from my place started getting longer and longer for my matches. I live in a place of over 2 million people, so that's not the problem. But let me tell you something, I was getting notifications from my phone 3 or 4 times a day! I want desperately a long term relationship again.
I do well in relationships and when my phone would ding, I'd get excited, only to have it be an ad from YOU bumble, or some sort of weird pep talk that "Confidence is hot" or that "my boss wouldn't know about my profile?" What? Thanks but having been in several relationships and knowing women in real life, I really didn't need the pep talk that "confidence is hot" and I'm quite sure my boss doesn't give a shit what I do on bumble. So since I now equated notifications with nonsense from you. I stopped even checking, maybe I'd check a couple times a week instead of everyday like I was. I lost engagement and yes, I even lost matches, because it was easier to risk losing a match than get my hopes up over your harassing notifications.
Then I noticed something else, almost every profile had heavily filtered pictures, and very few of the pictures were of someplace local. Again, I live in a place of 2 million people...sort of strange that almost no one has a picture that looks like it was taken around here. Nope, apparently everyone is in Bali all the time. I can only assume that these profiles are to pad out your women numbers. I don't know how you're doing it, but I've seen the picture of heavily filtered Megan by the Eiffel tower at least 3 times now. It's getting old.
Because I wasn't engaged as much, I obviously got less dates. You can certainly blame me for that if you wish, but I think I'm the kind of man you want on your app. I'm not perfect. I mean, I'm divorced for one.......but I'm well educated and I think I have my house in order and I'm not out here just sending dick pics or trying to get laid. I put some thought into my messages and into my profile. I'm really looking for a woman to experience the world with!
Now with your rebrand....I have to say, I'm getting tired, I understand you need to build a user base of women and need to cater to that, but it is us men that are paying the bills, we're the ones buying spotlights, or super likes or whatever you're calling it these days, we're the ones shelling out hundreds of dollars in just a hope that we might go on a date with a woman that we can share the world with. The reality bumble, is that dates aren't happening anymore or at any frequency that justifies spending anything. I'm not on your app to swipe, I'm not on your app to spotlight, or like or even text with someone. I'm on your app because I want to go on dates.
Now let's go through the progression of how that happens on your app.
First I have to create a top notch profile; And because your gender ratio is 2 to 1 men to women, I better be in the top half because if not, there's not going to be any matches, just by simple math. If the ratio is 2 to 1 and every single woman matches with a DIFFERENT man, there's still 50% of men without a match.
THEN, I have to swipe, which....is a soul crushing activity on any app if you're actually looking for a long term relationship.
THEN I get a match! Oh boy!.............Then she has to respond in 24 hours. Hope she doesn't get sick or have a big work project or forget about me in her sea of matches and dick pics!
THEN she gets to send an "Opening move" AKA AI Generated nonsense.
THEN I Have to respond.....and again, it better be a top notch witty response. Like it has to be funny and interesting at the level of Anthony Bourdain Meets James Bond Meets Robin Williams meets Bob Ross levels!
THEN if she likes it, then and only then will I get a text, a text, not a date, a text from an actual woman, and its likely to be "Hey or something else low effort"
THEN we have to hope that continues long enough to appropriately share numbers or get an actual date arranged.
If this is the way you're going to run it bumble.........then I have to say, I'll just walk up to some woman at a bar. She might say no, we might find we're incompatible in the first 5 seconds, but at least a date or prelude to a date happened.
You're a dating app after all. If dates aren't happening or require that many hoops, that could get screwed by your algorithms at any time, than I, and I hope many other men like me get off your application yesterday, and I certainly hope they spend not one more dime until this subreddit's front page is filled with stories of GOOD MEN and GOOD WOMEN meeting from bumble. THAT is how you will make money, and THAT is how you will repair your significantly tarnished reputation among both men and women. Ladies, I can't imagine this is working for you either.
As an epilogue. I hired matchmaker............she wasn't cheap, but unlike you, she doesn't upsell me daily, she listens to me, she doesn't blow smoke about what is and isn't realistic, and more importantly, her matches are good and getting better, and dates are actually happening. That's more than I can say for you. It's a shame matchmaking isn't accessible to everyone, or you'd be out of business even faster. Reading this back.......it appears I was having an abusive relationship with Bumble that needs to stop.

Hlo I live in itahari and I have no experience or knowledge of ordering online whatsoever. I am an artist and I want to buy a "stylus pen" (used to write on mobile and iPad surfaces). I can't find it on any shop and if I ask my friends they just tell me to order online on daraz but I have no idea how. I hope somebody could help me . Thankyou

In the recent weeks we've seen an influx here of posts looking for help with deck lists that have been copy/pasted directly from the PTCGL client. This leads to "lists" that look much more like a paragraph than a list, resulting in blocks of text that are very difficult to parse. Not to pick on anyone in particular, but below is a portion of an example:

Trainer: 38 4 Arven OBF 186 2 Iono PAF 80 2 Eri TEF 146 2 Penny SVI 183 1 Boss's Orders PAL 172 1 Professor Turo's Scenario PAR 171 1 Thorton LOR 167 1 Roseanne's Backup BRS 148 4 Rare Candy PAF 89 4 Ultra Ball PAF 91 2 Nest Ball PAF 84 2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 2 Counter Catcher PAR 160 2 Pal Pad SVI 182 1 Super Rod PAL 188 1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146 1 Lost Vacuum CRZ 135 1 Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 1 Hero's Cape TEF 152 1 Bravery Charm PAL 173 1 Defiance Band SVI 169 1 Technical Machine: Devolution PAR 177

I understand that this is how the list copy/pastes. It also does not make for high-quality content here on /pkmntcg. I've been trying to suggest that folks edit their posts into something more legible, however very few OPs have done this. It's becoming frustrating and I think it is dragging down not only post quality but also engagement as a result.
My initial thought is to make a rule for the forum that deck lists submitted for feedback must be a true list, with each card on its own line and certainly not in a block of text like the above example. This will likely also not be followed because Reddit, and the result would be that posts not following this rule would be removed until fixed.
Before this is implemented, I would like to hear what the community thinks and if there are alternative suggestions for how to handle this. My biggest concern is the amount of moderation this may require, which leads to my second item.
I have to acknowledge that I have not been as visibly active here as I once was. Especially as /pkmntcg approaches its 100k member milestone, I would like to work to find a few other folks to bring on the moderator team to work with Tsukimizu and me on updating and modernizing a lot of resources here to make this community more useful to all of you. If you have ideas or candidates in mind, please drop a modmail message. Look for more to come about this in the near future.

I have asked about incontinence in this subreddit before but I am circling back in case anyone has new experiences/success or men who previously might not have seen my previous post that have some insight.
I am about 5 months post RALP and my incontinence does not seem to be improving. I have intermittent bladder control, meaning I will feel the urge to urinate and pee sort of like before surgery. Sometimes I have no feeling of a full bladder and fill a pad. Sometimes I will urinate as normal only to fill a pad minutes later. I wear depends overnight, pads during the day, up to 5-7 per day. I have a constant drip of urine, like a leaking faucet, drip drip drip.
I have been working with a pelvic floor therapist with biofeedback, doing kegals, core work, lots of walking, double voids, peeing sitting and standing. Nothing seems to be improving my situation. My Pelvic Floor Therapist wants to get me to be dry overnight, then get more control during the day, that the least of my concerns. I would like to get through the day without having to plan for how and where I change pads and what to do incase I have an accident and wet myself.
I spoke with my urologist about my concerns a month ago, he encouraged me to hang in there, keep working on core strength and kegals, it was too early to consider an artificial sphincter, maybe something to consider in another 6 month. My pelvic floor therapist recommended a clamp to control the constantdripping, my urologist was okay with the idea. I have not ordered a clamp yet, I am a bit reluctant to use the clamp.
I was getting erection early on but I have stopped trying because of the constant urine leakage. My incontinence is really negative impacting my quality of life.
With that background anyone have any suggestions, recommendation for programs or tricks that work for you?
I appreciate your help!

I’m just now starting my journey on compound Tirzepatide. I’m 42M, 260 in Oregon. I have decent insurance, but doesn’t cover Zepbound since it’s a Tier 4+. Im starting at 2.5mg for 4 weeks.
Question is do I have to go to my PCP each month to get a higher dose prescription? So 5mg, 7.5, etc. Also, how is Red Rock in terms of ordering and delivery timing so you don’t miss a week? Anyone have any experience with how and when to schedule PCP and real world delivery times? Many thanks.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/10/biden-smoking-kits-pipes-addiction/6724719001/
I’m not trying to bash Biden and Harris, and will be voting for them a second time soon… The White House appears to have used misdirection and some fancy pants doublespeak to publicly deny it. Here’s how it really works:
We provide “safer smoking kits” to drug users at no cost to them. What the funding bill and resulting grants said is that we, the harm reductionists who run programs, get to decide what goes in to our kits. Technically, they’re not lying. So yeah, let me tell you how the White House is able to honestly say that they don’t fund crack pipe distribution.
Our crack kits don’t technically contain assembled crack pipes… In order to make a crack pipe, a user has to put the screen or Brillo pad (we provide both) in the glass stem in order for it to meet the legal definition of “crack pipe”. It takes about ten seconds to assemble one, and we give them out usually about 5 at a time, depending on how much crack a person smokes. The max I’ve ever given out was 50, to a guy who had an eighth a day habit and was pretty damn wealthy. They get to choose, and they understand that our stock is limited, so they only take what they need. We don’t ask for names or IDs. It doesn’t matter if you’re broke or a millionaire, we serve all drug users and the people who surround them.
Our kits aren’t just EZ-Build crack pipes; we give them lip balm (as crack pipes can get very hot with obsessive use or if it’s being used by multiple people), little wood pusher sticks which help them use crack more efficiently, rubber mouthpieces which prevent burns and disease spread, new lighters, and a few other knick nacks.
We give everyone narcan as well, so they can save their opioid user friends should one get a bag of dope that’s heavy on the fentanyl. Or if they somehow find pure heroin, which was hard to come by when I was using fifteen years ago. In those days, only paramedics carried narcan! Now your friendly neighborhood crackhead carries it as well, thanks to democrats like me!
But what about meth users, you might ask? What about people who smoke fentanyl? Do they get government funded pipes too???
Yes. Totally taxpayer funded, although we do have other grants and donations. The meth kits are pretty much the same, only with taxpayer funded meth pipes instead of crack pipes. For fentanyl smokers, we have hammerhead pipes. We also have clean sheets of aluminum foil with fresh straws for folks who smoke heroin.
We also do needle exchange… Until a few years ago, it was a one for one syringe exchange, but now we give out boxes of a hundred along with sharps containers to anyone except the diabetics trying to get free medical supplies from us… Hell, even then we give them out even though our grants specify drug users as recipients. We dispose of sharps containers, and we make our clients promise to use them to minimize needle stick injuries. We have contracts with a medical waste company, as do all other needle exchange programs.
My ultimate point here is that HELL YES WE GIVE OUT CRACK PIPES THAT ARE FUNDED BY TAX DOLLARS, and we save lives by doing it. That’s not just a bold claim; harm reduction has been studied, a lot (in part because young liberals going in to allied or public health hear the bizarre and ostensibly false things that some ultraconservatives say about harm reduction and love proving them insane using actual large sample scientific studies), and continues to be studied at the most reputable colleges you can find.
So yeah, AMA. And no, I’m not going to send you pipes or syringes. We only distribute to residents of the city I’m in!

I want to cry! Our Audi ownership lasted 11 days.
Bought an A4 (Premium Plus, S-line) for our daughter 11 days ago. It had 89.9k miles.
Five days in, low oil light comes on. I take it back to the dealer. They claim it's the oil pan plug, order the part, fix it, detail it, fill the fuel up & return it.
Within 48 hours, we're sitting in a parking lot at an idle, and I'm showing Dad how the MMI System works, get to oil gauge, it's showing MIN as the oil level!
He goes into the shop next day. They made the mistake of inviting him back to the shop floor. Undercarriage panel is off. They hand hubby (a lubrication specialist for 20+ years with some elite class abbreviations behind his name) a flashlight & a rag with the car on the lift, "can you find a leak?"
He starts talking oil with the boys, "Rotella, eh? I can get you Castrol Vectron at a competitive price."
They are INTRIGUED! But as he hands over his business card, "Yeah, I'm the guy that decides the price we'll sell it at."
He points at the undercarriage panel, which has an absorbent pad, "this come off my car? The engine is clean as a whistle as you claim, but that doesn't explain why that pad is saturated with oil."
They all agree on a diagnostic plan. Car supposedly passes with flying colors, no leaks...... Car is returned later that day.
Didn't drive a hundred miles before oil light came on again.
Vehicle has been returned, money refunded, but oh wow, do we have a bummed out daughter....
But before we run right out and try this again ..... am I missing something quirky about an Audi??? It just doesn't make sense the thing burns 2qts of oil with 400 miles of driving.

Republic 7^th Fleet, Centaurus Sector, 407 light years from Earth
RSS Vercingetorix, Independence-Class Carrier, 2174 A.D.
Vice-Admiral Mei Zhou had just finished making the final changes to the fleet’s reconnaissance patrol routes with her senior staff when the comm panel on her desk chirped, displaying an incoming comm request from Admiral Thompson. She quickly thumbed the pad being offered by her aide so that he could issue the orders they were just working on and turned to the rest of her staff. “Nice job, people. Let’s get to work. Dismissed.” As the staff filed out the door, she started entering the codes needed to decrypt the incoming comm channel and looked up to make sure the room was empty. She pressed the open channel icon, and Admiral Thompson’s holo image appeared in front of her desk, ending just below his waist and making it seem as if he was actually there, sitting.
“Mei, how’s your new ship treating you?” he asked, smiling. “She is an absolute beauty, Karl. I still can’t believe that she is mine.” She responded, returning his smile. “What can I do for you, Karl?” Thompson chuckled, and his holo image leaned back as he reclined in his chair. “Straight to business; I always liked that about you, Mei. Alright, here we go. We have received intelligence reports that the Commonwealth has begun evacuating one of their last remaining coreward periphery worlds that is now dangerously close to the expanded Insectoid border. We have also received an update from our spy drones in that same region that six Hive ships and almost four hundred cruisers that were patrolling their side of that border area have disappeared. This is too much of a coincidence, and I want you to detach a combat patrol and send them there.” Thompson finished speaking, and a flashing icon popped up on her comm panel, indicating that she had just received new orders. She tapped it and quickly scanned the new orders as the admiral waited. She looked up at his holo image. “Karl, I acknowledge receipt of the new orders and will implement them. Between me and you, why are we getting involved with this? The Commonwealth has a navy, and they should be fighting to protect their space. We can’t keep coming to the rescue and defending their members; we are already spread too thin as it is.”
Thompson nodded his head in agreement. “Mei, I agree with you in principle, but there are social and political considerations involved here. The near extinction of the V’rni has caused considerable turmoil among the citizens of the Republic. They know logically that we could not have stopped such an attack like that one, but the perceived failure to protect them or prevent the attack still weighs heavily on their souls. The Commonwealth is currently attempting to evacuate the Jaleen system, and they are one of the last surviving members that voted yes before our petition to join the Commonwealth was denied. It also doesn’t help that the Jaleeni are avowed pacifists and look like bipedal Newfoundland dogs. They are technically a bear-like species, but to humans, they look like humanoid dogs, and the government is unwilling to lose the popular support it currently enjoys by allowing the Jaleeni to be exterminated. I mean, look at these guys.”
Another flashing icon popped up on her screen a moment later, and she pressed it. It turned into a hologram depicting a typical Jaleeni family of a mother and father with a litter of six pups, and she couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the photo. They were wearing their traditional rough-spun linen clothes that made them look like dogs cosplaying as monks. They looked adorable, and she felt her heart melt while staring into their deep brown eyes, which looked sad. She understood the reasoning behind it, especially after the mass extinctions that occurred in Earth’s biosphere because of World War 3.
After the war, humanity had an awakening when they surveyed their destroyed world and came to terms with the disappearance of thousands of species and the near extinction of thousands of others. What followed were three generations of desperate measures to salvage what remained and a worldwide effort at habitat restoration and de-extinction efforts utilizing a wide array of methods such as back-breeding, cloning, and genome editing. Dogs were almost driven to extinction by the war as they were uniquely susceptible to the BioChem weapons that were developed and refined by the Eastern Coalition animal testing on poor innocent canine subjects. Between the Biochem weapons, owner deaths, abandonment, and starvation, almost 90% of the domesticated canine population and entire breeds were lost by the war’s end. Cats fared much better, but they still suffered a loss of almost half of their pre-war population, and a large percentage of the survivors reverted to a feral state. The result of all of this was an almost religious reverence for the preservation of sentient animal life on human worlds and a somewhat fanatical tendency of humans to take on the mantle of guardians for sapient alien species that resembled animals to them.
“Karl, I understand; I do. I just don’t like the fact that we are operating on so many fronts. Some of our fleets and task forces are patrolling areas far enough away that I worry about them getting reinforcements on time if they are attacked, and now my fleet is being partitioned to send a combat patrol almost three hundred light-years away from our current position. After the assault on the V’rn system, half of our combat power was recalled to Republic space to prevent the same thing from happening to us, and yet we are still being tasked with properly defending Eleani and Xenxin territory with half the ships we had before. Have they lost their damn minds at HQ?” She realized she was almost yelling at the admiral, and Mei took a deep breath, recognizing that her outburst was unbecoming of a Republic naval officer. She attempted to quickly apologize to Admiral Thompson. “Karl, I’m sorry that was uncalled for-“
The admiral raised a hand to stop her, an amused expression in his eyes. “Mei, I said the exact same thing to my boss as you did almost verbatim, and not as diplomatically as you, I might add. My concerns were addressed to my satisfaction, and I think yours will be when you get to your destination. There will be a task force joining you there, and I think you will be pleased. That is all I can say for now over the comms. You will lead the combat patrol to the coordinates listed in the orders you received, and the task force joining you there will fall under your command. I have a personal favor to ask of you. Please keep an open mind when you link up with the task force. You will rendezvous with Commodore Therax, and he is instrumental in our efforts to undermine the increasingly despotic Commonwealth government. More information about him and the Nekuli were added to your orders, make sure you review it. I took a big gamble on this, and I would be grateful if you did your best to make this collaboration work. That is all for now, and I wish you and your crews good fortune and godspeed, Mei. Take care of yourself.” The admiral finished speaking, and Mei noted the personal nature of his last few words, nodding an affirmative to his request.
“Admiral, I thank you for your words, and we won’t let you down. I need to issue the orders now to get there and link up with the task force on time. I’ll send a null space comm drone to the nearest relay to confirm our arrival and integration. Vice-admiral Zhou out.” As she leaned towards the comm panel to close the channel, she saw Admiral Thompson doing the same, and he gave her a wink and a mischievous smile before she pressed the icon, terminating the connection. She leaned back in her chair and blew out a deep breath. “Now what the hell was that all about?” She asked out loud to herself, as the confusing and secretive nature of her orders and the personal request of the admiral added to the uncertainty of what she was expected to do. She keyed her wrist pad and texted her aide to come back to her office for new orders. He was going to be livid that they just wasted half a day revising the patrol routes to maximize efficiency and increase their patrol range. A small smile crossed her lips as she waited. He had an obvious tell of his lower left eyelid spasming when he was mad despite displaying no emotions on his face, and she knew it drove him nuts that he couldn’t control it. Witnessing it was one of the small joys she had in her difficult job as vice-admiral, and she was looking forward to it.
Fifty-six hours later, her task force flashed out of null space at the designated coordinates and right on time. She felt a measure of pride as she watched her bridge crew go about confirming their location and verifying it with the navigational array and astrometric sensors. Once the navigator gave her confirmation that he verified their position, she turned towards the comms officer and ordered her to send a burst transmission with the pre-arranged code and waited for the response. A few seconds later, the comms officer raised her left hand and signaled receipt and confirmation of the code by the task force waiting in null space. An agonizingly long minute crawled along as she anxiously waited for her navigator to confirm the telemetry from his counterpart in the other task force as they verified their positions. The navigator activated the main viewscreen on the forward bulkhead as they waited. Suddenly, there were a multitude of exit flashes 200,000 kilometers from the bow of her carrier, and hundreds of warships appeared at a dead stop relative to her position.
Her jaw dropped as she took in the unexpected fleet in front of her. There were dozens of Commonwealth dreadnaughts, battleships, and heavy cruisers arrayed before her, as well as an additional one hundred and twenty light cruisers, destroyers, and missile frigates. On the flanks of the main formation, there were more exit flashes, and the bridge AI started categorizing them on the screen, and she saw that they were the new Eleani and Xenxin warships that she had been hearing about. They shared a design lineage with the Commonwealth ships, but there were definite differences that became obvious as they assumed their positions next to the Commonwealth navy ships. She was particularly intrigued by the Xenxin ships, as they seemed to be bristling with weapons, almost excessively so relative to their ship sizes. The Eleani ships seemed to have taken a different design philosophy, and they gave the impression of deadly speed and grace, and she was hard-pressed to spot any obvious weapons on their hulls despite the AI confirming that the ships were indeed well-armed.
There was another coded signal from null space that appeared on the comm station panel, and her comm officer turned to her. “Vice-admiral, we have received a coded message on the sigma frequency for your eyes only that requires biometric and voice verification to decrypt.” Zhou nodded and pressed a button on her arm panel, activating the privacy screen around her chair and feeling the pressure change as the bridge around her became opaque and silent. She pressed the biometric toggle on the panel, and a retinal scanner popped out of its alcove on the side. She leaned in and scanned her right eye first, then her left. An icon appeared on the screen, and she thumbed it as it flashed and confirmed the print. Finally, she spoke and addressed the bridge AI: “Suzy, please confirm the voice command for verification.” The AI answered immediately. -Of course, Vice-Admiral Zhou, please proceed.- “Zhou, one-red-seven-green-four-tango-alpha-zero. Execute.” -Voice command verified. Thank you, Vice-Admiral Zhou.-
A small holographic display popped up in front of her; the admiral appeared on the screen, and his pre-recorded message started playing. “Mei, I know all this cloak and dagger stuff seems excessive, but we couldn’t take any chances. The receipt of this message will activate a program in your bridge AI and allow it to take control of the new drone ships waiting for you in null space. They are a new class of upgraded null ships and are top secret. Your AI will anchor them to your task force, and they will follow you, remaining hidden in null space unless you absolutely need them.”
“There are also two troopships with them that are carrying a complement of two thousand Mark XII ATS Bio-Synths and an expeditionary brigade each of rangers and pathfinders in stasis. They are also to remain in null space unless circumstances require that you need them; they are an insurance policy for an ongoing mission in Insectoid space. The details of that are top secret as well and can be accessed with your AI. If the troopships are required for that mission, they are to be escorted by a detachment of null ships and sent there immediately. After you have met your task force counterpart, there are orders in this packet that are to be accessed by you both and executed. I have the utmost faith in you, Mei, and I can’t wait to take you out to dinner again when we can both coordinate our next leave together. Thompson out.”
The hologram message disappeared, and she waited a little longer to allow the blush from his last sentence to fade from her cheeks and suppress the smile that was trying to form on her face before she put on her command mask and lowered the privacy screen. The bridge crew was going about their usual tasks, trying hard not to seem interested in her top-secret message. “Comms, open a channel to the task force flagship, please.” The comm officer acknowledged the order, and a few seconds later, the Bridge of the Commonwealth flagship appeared on the viewscreen.
A Nekuli male was sitting in the command chair, resplendent in the uniform favored by Nekuli officers. He took a moment to look around her bridge before settling his eyes on her. He bowed his head slowly in a gesture of respect, which she returned in proper fashion. The proper courtesies having been observed, he raised his eyes to meet with hers and started speaking. “Vice-Admiral Zhou. May the ancestors grant you and your clan honor and good fortune. I am deeply honored to meet you, and I hope our integration is a successful endeavor. I now entrust the honor of myself and my crew to your safekeeping.” He remained stone still as he awaited her reply, and she tried to remember the proper return greeting that she had been studying during their trip here.
“Commodore Therax, the honor is mine, and I promise you that I shall never ask you or your crew to undertake any action that will bring dishonor to your clans and your ancestors. We are now joined as one; may our cause be just and pure.” She finished the response, and the gravity of what she just promised to someone she had never met before hit her hard; it felt almost sacred to her. Commodore Therax heard her proper reply, and he stood up, followed by the rest of his bridge crew. He addressed her again. “Our honor has been given, and we have received a promise to safeguard it in return. Our joining is now consecrated in the eyes of the ancestors, and you are now our clan leader. What are your orders?
She recovered from the ordeal of the emotionally charged exchange of vows and stood up to give her first order as clan leader to the Nekuli. “I request the presence of you and your senior staff aboard my ship tonight. I will prepare a feast to honor our new friendship and alliance. I have studied your cuisine, and I have found a selection of Earth cuisine that should suit your taste. It is called tartare and sashimi; I think you will like it.” Commodore Therax looked at her dubiously, and she had to stifle a laugh at his expression as she knew that he was imagining being forced to eat vegetables and overcooked meat out of politeness. She spoke quickly to assuage his fears. “Commodore, tartare, and sashimi are raw red meat and fish; I would never inflict vegetables and burnt meat on you or your crew; are we not friends?”
As his translator finished converting her words into his language, he smiled at her, baring all of his fangs in true happiness.

I haven't seen any posts about this thing anywhere on the internet so I'm posting it here so it's easiest to find. I ordered it several weeks ago and it finally arrived so I've only had a few days to play with it, but so far so good.
I want to start with my biggest gripe since it's likely to be a deal breaker for many people although it's likely they could fix it with a new driver somewhere down the line. The Warrior does not support analogue triggers on the GameCube, meaning many GameCube games are less enjoyable or downright impossible to play. I am astounded that this is a problem and I am hoping it's not a widespread issue since this controller has so much else going for it, but until it's fixed games like Mario Sunshine will give you an inadequate experience. I'm praying I either find a work around or it's fixed by Nyxi soon, since every other part of this controller is so good.
Comparing the Warrior to a normal GameCube controller (especially a cheap 3rd-party one), there is a striking difference in quality. It's well weighted and feels significant in your hands, a perfect blend between the texture of the original GC controller and the premium feel of a Switch Pro controller. It's a bit larger than a normal GC controller too which could make a difference for those with big hands.
The thumbstick is curved inward making it slip-resistant and very comfortable. You also receive additional thumbsticks allowing you to make the C-stick the same size as the left stick and change the octagon around the sticks to a smooth circle. The sticks are advertised to be hall-effect as well, meaning drift is a far less likely issue.
The buttons on the Warrior are outstanding. Like the site advertises, they are micro-switches so they have little travel and a very satisfying click. I heard Nyxi's previous "Wizard" GC Joycon's buttons were quite mushy, so you won't experience that problem here. The bumpers have similarly little travel but aren't microswitches, so they're weird to get used to.
The triggers (while not picking up an analogue input in GC mode as mentioned earlier) work perfectly via Bluetooth. They have noticeably more resistance than a standard trigger but you're able to adjust how far down they travel, which automatically adjusts the sensitivity of the analogue input due to them being hall sensing. They're perfectly fine and I can see people preferring them over normal GC triggers since it's a more modern design.
The D-pad is uh, weird. It has microswitches and is all one part, but because of how it's built it feels like you're pushing around a bowl or plate instead of the normal feel of a D-pad. It's both clicky and mushy, but thankfully it's ok enough to traverse menus and such. Don't try to play a 2D platformer with it or you'll have a bad time, but I doubt you're buying this thing for that anyways.
The rest of the buttons are fine. The main system button has a nice glow around it and the +/- feel decent enough. The back bumper pads are small but in the perfect place for my middle or ring fingers to use them (and you can switch them out if you ever wanted to 3D print larger bumpers.) It also comes with HD rumble and gyro control, but I haven't tried them.
In conclusion, it's fantastic but the analogue trigger issue heavily holds it back. The controller's ability to switch between modern and retro systems is as much of a killer feature as it's build quality, but until the issue brought up earlier is fixed, it's not a good fit for people looking to play it on GC. If you are looking just to play emulators and Switch or you enjoy the GC button layout, it's a good choice.
(If I find a fix for the triggers or Nyxi fixes them, I'll edit the post.)

All of you unconsciously prune information. Forget it. Feed off it at your own convenience. I remember everything. Everything. Constantly. The pain of losing my comrades. The sadness. All of the information that composes those moments…never leaves my brain for a second.

Nico Vorgeil is the head of Union's science division. An atheist turned anti-theist, he was recruited for his one of a kind skill in pioneering the understanding of the universe. The only thing that could push him even further was his own union with a woman that had intellect to match his own. However, when she died in childbirth, his Negation manifested, dooming him to suffer endlessly. He died in regret, having betrayed everything he stood for in exchange for a few fleeting moment with his late wife.
But now, Fuuko Izumo's on a quest to give everyone a happy ending. And Nico's the one she wishes that for the most…

Key

Scaling

• Andy & Victor / Undead
• Chikara Shigeno / Unmove
• Creed Deckard / Undecrease
• Fuuko Izumo / Unluck
• Gina Chamber / Unchange
• God / UMAs
• Ichico Nemuri / Unsleep
• Isshin XIII, Haruka Yamaoka / Unbreakable
• Juiz d'Arc / Unjustice
• Mui
• Phil Hawkins / Unfeel
• Shen Xian / Untruth
• The Superior Master Rules
• Tatiana / Untouchable
• Tella / Untell
• Top Bull Sparx / Unstoppable
• Void Volks / Unavoidable

Notes

• Feats are listed in order of appearance. Hover over a link to see the chapter(s) of origin.
• Feats from chapters up to 132 are from the 100th Loop.
• Feats from 133 on are from the 101st Loop, with this RT leaving off at 206.
• Character profile.
• Huge thanks to NegativeGamer and doctorgecko for creating threads that contributed to this one.

Strength

• Beat Mui and Shen; Shen was pounded into a wall and you can see a barbell bent in the background
• Tears the Union emblem out of his skin
• Strikes Andy five times using Shen's technique
• Breaks UMA Ghost's hold on him after losing his identity
• Rips Fuuko's caged soul out of his chest

Durability

• Electrocuted
• Fuuko's One-Inch Punch left him nauseous for days

Speed

• Dodges Victor's finger bullet

Skill

• Fought Tella offpanel
• Creates a dust explosion using iron residue blown around by wind and struck by lightning while taking on Language
• Harnessed his soul
• Speaks to Fuuko across the globe telepathically after harnessing his soul
• Learned Feng's method of harnessing chi (soul energy)
• Transmits design schematics into Ichico's head through a soul cable
• Forms the Super Dreadnought Union Lethal Weapon Superior Buster Soul Version in Lan's shiritori game with Ichico's help

Inventions

General Union Things
Note: Ichico matches his number of inventions, much higher than the other lab members, so it's possible some of these belong to her.
Memory-Wiping

• Memory-wipes the people of NYC who saw a Spoil Junior
• Erases all memories of Chikara in the public consciousness
• Reprograms the public consciousness to accept Fuuko as Void's title defense challenger
• Made Chikara's school forget about the ten Union members that infiltrated it for a year

Network
Reach

• Comms network
• Satellite
• Presumably fast delivery, as Gina is able to acquire her beret after calling in for it
• Teleports Spoil's core out of Victor's hand
• Tracked a mob auction that Andy was unable to find
• The Union jet can travel from Japan to Canada in five hours
• Tracks Under's spatial gate method
• Has so much money
• 100,000+ employees

Other

• Goons with handcuffs and spheres meant to catch Undead
• Runs an orphanage
• UMA food cubes are hypercondensed nutrients
• UMA containment cells are indestructible
• Almost certainly created the little drop-pod things since they zoom out of his lab later
• Union communicators

Single-Person Gadgets
Loop 100

• Anti-aging tech
• The neckties of Union suits grants the wearer access to a number of public services and organizations and it also functions as a universal translator which even works with writing
• The insignias on Union suits can play recordings and function as comms with other insignia wearers
• Fake IDs
• Created the Union's anti-cherry blossom cloaks to resist Spring's transmutation
• Heating pads
• An electric chair
  • It reconfigures her brain to make her eyebags appear above her eyes and thus they function as natural eyeshadow

Loop 101

• Adrenaline epi-pen
• Thermal vision
• Spacesuits with verniers
• Anti-shake camera holders
• Created a dress for Latla that would morph into a bridal dress
• Insulated spacesuits for sunwalking capabilities
  • They also have bone conduction, so Fuuko can talk to Andy by jabbing her thumb into a hole in his skull

Weapons

• Fighter jets
  • With remote self-destruct
• Electrical cables, cooling agent, and the Unbreakable pile cannon all are weapons that Union HQ utilizes against Burn
• Developed the Astral Dolls with Ichico
• Developed the Super Dreadnought Union Lethal Weapon Superior Buster as the Union's ultimate weapon with Mico

Specific - Others'

• Void's power armor
• An alloy that, smithed using Isshin's Unbreakable, can expand along with Shen's Nyoi-Kinko staff
• Designed a helmet to save Zack from a respiratory disease
• Created Tatiana's ball mech
• Gave Billy spurs for his echolocation-level senses to work
• Built Chikara's goggles
• Probably made Juiz a prosthetic arm
• The UN-ST Tachyorizer, which basically gives Top everything he needs to reach maximum speed
• Performs a field blood transfusion between Andy and Fuuko
• Souped up Andy's bike
• Loop 100 Nico was the best of any Loops Fuuko saw through artefacts
• Nico-dedicated restraints (while he didn't invent them himself, another member of the lab did and he's the smartest of them
• Repelling bullets for Creed's minigun to use in space

Specific - Own
Astral Dolls

• Using Psycho Pods as power sources, these are copies of members of the Union that even possess pseudo-Negations
• Astral Void punches Andy's head off
  • Punches Andy into the ground
  • Punches harder after the UMA Ghost fusion
• Astral Gina slams Andy's body to the ground
• Created Astral Chikara and Astral Juiz as well
• They get stronger after Nico fuses with Ghost as well as more durable, but only the two that are dead, Gina and Void
• Andy's finger bullets bounce off amped Void
• Gina gums up Andy's limbs while electrocuting him

Psycho-Pods
General

• He can use them to fly
• These are controlled via brainwaves
• Nico can control eleven at max, with Chikara barely able to control one
• When he fuses with Ghost, his Psycho Pods become ghostly
• They store memories

Durability/Shields

• Reflects Phil's laser into a Victor clone
• Traps Gina inside a cube as her Negation activates, preventing her from killing 40,000 via asphyxiation
• Forms a stretcher to carry Fuuko on
• Makes a shield to deflect Creed's grenade
• Traps some of UMA Color's paint
• Encases Sick's Juniors
• Forms a shield around Fuuko's ER
• Only Isshin has ever been able to break this material, until fighting Lan in a game of shiritori

Lasers

• Defends Nico from Andy's finger bullet
• Bisects Victor and cauterizes the wound to slow his regen
• Lasers Andy into giblets using ten, slicing through metal as well
• Lasers holes in the lab floor to reduce the strength of the eruption about to explode, as well as cools down the lava with a refrigerating agent
• Forms a 5x5 grid to dice Language's Sun and Luna

Other

• Treats Top and Isshin's wounds
• Conks Tella
• Hacks into the Union's network, killing its captive UMAs and lowering their defenses
  • Shuts gates to direct Andy down a certain path
  • Gasses his lab members
• Treated Shen's wounds

Negation: Unforgettable

Type: Self-Targeting Compulsory Activation
Tragedy: Ichico Nemuri's death in childbirth is the only memory he has of his wife
Nico's Negation prevents him from forgetting anything his mind has processed since acquiring the Negation. This in turn crushes out the memories he had from before the Negation awakened.

• After all the world's languages were unified into English and Mui lost the ability to speak Chinese, she starts teaching herself how to speak it using only a book written by Nico
• Memory wipes fail on him
• Beat UMA Language solo
• Withstands Apocalypse's memory bombing, meaning he is stronger in Loop 101 than Loop 100, and Loop 100 Nico was already better than any previous Nico.
• Only Unforgettable is capable of perfectly reviving someone from the dead in shiritori due to its absolute crystalline memory of them
• Likely knows Spanish and Lithuanian

Other

• Determines which of the quests the Union should go after
• Defeated UMA Language himself and UMA Past with the help of other Negators
• Fused with UMA Ghost

I couldn't forget even if you told me to. Those words. Those memories. I've ingrained them into my soul!!

My experience with AID ACCESS I paid $110.00 letting them know I couldn’t afford the whole $150.00 they asked if I could donate $110.00 and that was more within my budget. I paid with a master card through a check out pharmacy website.
I received the pills within 3 days via FedEx I am in a red state so everything was discrete on the package I was a bit scared. I never ordered prescriptions on the internet before. The pills were prescribed to me with a label and a printed log with instructions came inside the package Super easy to read!
I took my 1st pill of mifepristone on 05/12/24 @ 8:35am I felt totally normal no symptoms on the first day after taking it.
It’s now Monday 05/13/24 and I took 4 ibuprofen’s at 830am and I drank a liquid IV At 9:00 am I took 4 tablets of misoprostol I put two tablets on each side of my cheeks for 30 mins till they dissolved. I then swallowed the remainder of the pills that were leftover there was no taste to the pills just chalkiness. Literally after 40 mins I had a feeling I had to poop so I ran to the restroom and a blood clot came out I also vomited all over the place. My cramps started to get pretty intense. At 1140am I passed another blood clot that I believe was the tissue my cramps were intensifying but they were bearable. At 2:15pm I started feeling really light headed so I took an iron supplement as I was bleeding a lot more. My cramps are worse but nothing I couldn’t handle especially since I already am used to having bad cramps when I get my period. I started getting hot flashes at around 3:00pm but I had great support from my sister washing my head with a wet cold rag! My Bleeding and cramping has been coming and going throughout the whole day it’s now 6:15pm and I am still passing clots but the cramps aren’t as bad!
Things I bought for comfort was a heating pad, Gel Advils they work quicker and I bought iron supplements along with liquid IV+ to keep me hydrated along with my fav snacks. Oh and Topo Chico it helps with the nausea!

Hi All.
Ive mentioned in a few of my comments before that I am planning to build a PC with my son for his birthday who is graduating from high school this year. The parts list is here https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/list/4j2wQP .
Cost has been a major consideration for this and this is actually already over budget although I am expecting the price to go down for a few of the components in the next month or so as thats when the sales start where I am from. The other consideration with these choices is that aestheics are also important as this is for a teenager after all so this is why an aquarium case and AIO watercooling have been picked. Its been a running joke in the family that he likes white too much (he loves white shorts for some reason) which is why I am picking white parts. Ive ordered a matching white mouse/desk pad from the anime he likes as well.
I was thinking of an AMD GPU but the 7800XT or a 4070 costs a bit too much. Depending on how the sales go I might need to even go with a 4060. I also went with an AM5 build so he can upgrade this machine if he would like to 5 or so years down the line when he has finished his studies and starts working.
The PC aside from gaming will be used for his hobbies as well which is game development and animation. Sharing my steam account is the bit I am thinking will be a big issue though 😆
Thanks in advance!

First baby daddy beat it out of me February last year which caused the trauma. So 8 months ago while traumatized I meet my attacker fake Uber driver with outdated car but Uber sticker I didn’t check my car he took me to a dark parking lot and sodomized me. Welp we met again a month ago was intoxicated could not recognize him this time he drugged me up put doggy pads underneath me there was another unconscious male that I heard things done to and I was ordered to shower but guess what? I’m pregnant and I run out of energy with my increasing symptoms but thinking of contacting authorities from what what I dealt with and the bad things I saw while in that house. I’m glad I could produce a child but it was the wrong way by someone who’s evil. It left me in confusion for week and I’m spiraling again but I gotta start thinking for this raging baby that makes overheat and sleep a lot. I will give it a name that symbolizes rage and war but I don’t think am stable enough to keep it. Because of how it was conceived and what it’s doing to my body but I have enough to keep it and give it passage and I’ll try as hard as I can to keep it but mamas falling apart. My tone is flat because I’ve been through a lot of demented shit so everything will come off in a matter of fact way. Doesn’t mean I’m stronger just more like the animal that kind of sits there while being devoured by snake gave up.

I have dry eyes, it was found in a prior visit. In this follow up the OD ordered did a tear test, it's 50% blocked for both eyes.
Ordered prescription eye drops to help (but optional), or OTC lubricant + hot pad.
At beginning the did basic eye chart, and for the combined services i just got a bill with the code 99214 with a "level 4" note and 92285.
Just checking. seems excessive to me as it's not urgent to the OR, nor was it a discovered problem in the appt. But not a medical coder. Hoping you can share insight. Thanks!