Medical assisting student recommendation letter

Basically what the title says - I had ADHD testing performed by a psychologist in 2017 before going to the actual psychiatrist to receive meds. I haven’t had any trouble, but my psychiatrist is now retiring. The new psychiatrist I found wants to see the actual results of the Connors ADHD testing. I have a letter from the psychologist from 2017 but the new psychiatrist I want to see says he would rather see the actual test results due to the DEA tightening up. When I called the psychologist’s office, they said they can give me the letter again, but that’s it. After doing some research it looks like this doesn’t fall under HIPAA like most medical records. What are my options here? I don’t have a ton of time before I need a refill with the new doctor and really don’t want to have to go through the whole testing process again.

Recently, I applied to a student job in a big company. I successfully got an interview offer and had interview date confirmed. Today, They sent me a rejection letter stating that they would not proceed my application. I am quite new to job market. Is it common to reject people after giving interview offer and before actually doing the interview?

I am possibly being made redundant and hoping to better understand the NZ employment law with respect to paid annual leave owed and paid sick leave.
Background: Specifically, I have shy of 4 weeks (156.11 hours) annual leave and 4 weeks paid sick leave (169.50 hours). And 2 month notice period. I understand if I work out my notice period, I accrue additional annual leave holiday leave on both the notice period and the annual leave.
Complication: I am having surgery today and will be issued a letter from the surgeon recommending bed rest for up to 6 weeks. I had only put in 2 days at the time of notifying my direct report (who is also up for redundancy). At the time I verbally mentioned the hospital suggestion for recovery of up to 6 weeks - and that I would apply as necessary nearer the time.
My questions are: 1.0) Does my planned (scheduled/unscheduled) sick leave accrue annual leave? 1.1) If so, am I best to apply for this now before receiving my termination notice (overdue, yesterday) or does this not matter? 2.0) Does my annual leave or sick leave impact my notice period at all?
The outcome I am seeking is to maximise the money I can leave with from this employment. The pay needs to serve as a safety barrier that enables me adequate time to find suitable employment. There's so much uncertainty in the market and I have a large mortgage and two young children under five to provide for.
Any and all advice also welcome and appreciated - even if not specifically answering those questions. I am unsure about anything more than enforcing standard legal rights due to the small place the NZ job job market is - everyone talks.

Hey all, I am currently training my pup to assist me with my medical illness and right now I am having trouble getting him not to approach people in public. He is still a puppy, turning 6 months old this month, and he's getting his tasks down pretty well and is learning to recognise when he needs to do them outside of home, but a huge obstacle right now is that he is a bit too friendly and wants to greet everyone in public. I have been trying to correct it, but is it just a puppy thing? How do I get him to stop?

So i met a guy there, we had a couple of beers, he gave a blowjob but i didn't cum. He asked me to charge his phone while he was in the bathroom, i opened his drawer where he told me it was his charger and noticed a letter there. It was his last hiv test, it was positive ( i know it was a private letter )and in the note it said he should start the medication as soon as possible " urgent matter". He was in the bathroom showering while he were waiting a buddy of his. He wanted a treesome. After i saw that i decided to leave. The thing is he told me he loves to have bareback sex and occasionally works as an scort. And his profile is quite active. It was such a weird experience.

Hi everyone,
As an architect, what courses/ certifications do you recommend students to take outside university studies?
What's something you wished you have learned at uni? Something that will help future graduates? Thanks in advance!

Hey, I'm hoping you can help me out with any tips for my medical expenses. It's been a bit of a hassle recently, but I did some math and figured that I can handle it! I'm a big girl. Currently, I have a whooping monthly payment of $640, but I'm determined to not let it get to me. I still have two more bills left to pay for emergency room visits, which I estimate will cost me an additional $150. Plus, I'm having an excision surgery potentially in the fall and I have to pay $400 for a specialized medical assistant who will be helping during the procedure. I'm not sure about the cost of the surgery in Texas.
I'm a single adult with no kids, and I rent a room for $300 from a small family. My monthly expenses come to about $610, and after taxes, I make around $2300 per month (I live in a high-cost city). I'm also really keen to improve my credit score so that gods-willing I can get my own apartment. I'm thinking of getting a secured credit card to move a small payment there and pay it off every month. But, I don't have enough savings to cover unexpected expenses, like car repairs or another ER visit.
I think it's worth tracking all my medical expenses to claim a tax deduction but wanted to know if it's manageable or if I'll go absolutely mad in the attempt.
I'm also curious to hear how others are managing their finances while dealing with this disease. Are there any frugal options out there or assistance programs that can help us during these tough times? I'd appreciate any advice you can offer or tips on how to keep these costs down.

I love reading classic literature, specifically works from the 19th century, so I wanted to write a fan work for this game with that feeling:
“You are quite ridiculous!” came the vivacious and teasing voice of one student passing by the open window. This declaration was answered by the distinct and familiar laughter of another, carried on the autumn wind and drenched in the odor of decaying foliage and the promise of rain.
From his seat in the west wing of the library, parchment and tomes stacked beside him, Ominis Gaunt followed the sound until it vanished completely beyond the courtyard, sensations of uneasy feeling coloring his neck and ears. After a pause, he regained his senses. He shook his head, as if banishing the regretful thought that had then stolen into his mind.
“Why does he keep volunteering himself on her behalf?” He whispered, thinking of the owner of that feminine voice – a new fifth-year student at Hogwarts - an anomaly on its own merit - who had, in half the time succeeding her arrival, attained the magnetic affections of his oldest friend, Sebastian Sallow. “Of course - it’s because she’s new and decidedly beautiful.” Ominis told himself, merely speculating on the state of her physiognomy by the lilting cadence of her voice and the faint wisps of form his wand could communicate to him at a distance. Being blind since birth, he, out of necessity, had developed a magical ‘seeing eye' with the ebony tool he now pressed between his right forefinger and the book in his lap.
He hadn’t dared approach her directly when she’d first entered the Slytherin common room a month prior, for a frenzy of students had erupted around her the moment she’d set foot in it. From there, rumors spread like bees pollinating a garden after a long and depressing winter:
“The new girl had a ministry escort!”
“She was attacked by a dragon!”
“No, she rode the dragon!”
“Supposedly she was a squib before…”
“That can’t be - I heard she's a transfer student and can speak seven languages!”
“That’s a cover - her real secret was that she was privately tutored and has rare and explosively dangerous magic!”
These accounts became increasingly absurd because no one truly knew anything for certain, thus making everything possible. The girl herself was peculiarly private but charmingly polite - a combination that instantly made any would-be-pryer retreat into stuttering awkwardness. They did at the very least glean her name, which quickly became the subject of their fantastical speculations: Mélisande Clarusia Warwick.
From within his pocket, Ominis retrieved the note Sebastian’s owl had delivered him that day:
“Ominis,
Apologies for the abrupt change of plans, but our anticipated study session this afternoon must be postponed. Professor Weasley has graciously requested I accompany ‘MC’ to Hogsmeade for the replenishment of her class supplies, a task I’m sure you know I could hardly decline, given my inclination towards gentlemanly conduct. Incidentally, I cannot help but suspect Mel’s humble dismissal of her exceptional dueling prowess belies a deliberate modesty; there is undoubtedly more to her than meets the eye.
Regardless, I’ll make it up to you! If I’m not in the common room by nightfall, you know where to find me.
Sebastian.”
It did not escape Ominis’s notice that Sebastian, after weathering defeat by her in a duel during their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class together, had taken personal interest in MC and even dubbed her as such - among other names - needling her about the verbose nature of her formal title. Further, it was uncharacteristic of Sebastian to cancel a study session, seeing as he typically made any excuse to visit the library on behalf of research for his ill sister, Anne… nevermind the fact that Ominis could not recall any instance in recent memory where Sebastian had canceled on him, specifically.
After a moment’s hesitation, he refined the creases on the letter and tucked it back into the pocket of his waistcoat. He swallowed, brows furrowing and found that he no longer cared about the dancing plague of 1518 or the other contents of the book he’d since abandoned on his lap.
Sebastian did not come to dinner that evening. In customary fashion, Ominis found himself solitary - twiddling his fork on his plate - his company forsaken even by his housemates, who tended to cast upon him looks of cautious regard. They granted him a wide berth - huddling together three or four invisible student’s places apart from him. Through the soles of his shoes he felt the vibrations of doors slamming across the hall as students filtered out and the bench beneath him shifted when those occupying it left. The idle chatter of two teachers drifted across the cavernous room. Ominis sighed, folding a leaf of wax paper over a blueberry muffin.
“She was missing too…” he noted passively and wondered if he ought to have purloined a second muffin from the banquet table.
He held his wand aloft as he rose, a crimson bead of light fluttering like a heartbeat on its tip. The sensation of structures - rows of oak tables and benches - extended across the space before him. As he walked, he approximated the mass of these objects: how near they existed to his kneecaps, how firmly they were anchored to the floor - all actions thoughtlessly natural to him.
The passageway led from the Great Hall into the Viaduct Courtyard and a faint chill heralded that twilight had fallen upon the surrounding landscape. The tumult of student life had withdrawn for the night, taking with them a clamor of distracting noises and smells. Ominis meditated on the silence, finding solace in measuring the rhythm of his footfalls as he paced across the leaf-littered earth.
He imagined Sebastian with his freckled nose buried in a book in the Undercroft and smiled.
“It’s not the first time he’s worked through dinner,” he reminded himself. “Anne is lucky to have such a brother.” A pang of sadness worked dully at his chest following the mention of Anne’s name. Nothing had been quite like it was since before she’d fallen ill. “Even Sebastian’s laughter seems contrived these days.”
Suddenly a thunderous crack echoed across the hillside to his right, akin to a bolt of lightning striking a tree. Ominis jolted so forcefully that he nearly dropped the muffin in his left hand.
“W-what was that?” He gasped, his head swimming with adrenaline. The atmosphere reeked of burnt timber. Swiftly, he sought the protection of the cloister, his wand hand sweeping the clearing.
The path beneath his feet dropped into a series of stairs ending where the Black Lake licked the limestone and wooden boats rocked innocently in the building below. To the muggle, prepared to dismiss the absence of petrichor, this artificial thunderstroke might have signified a distant storm but Ominis knew well the vast and formidable traits of magic.
Someone was dashing up the stairs to his left - their feet tapping like raindrops on the hard surface. Ominis pressed himself plumb against the column and held his breath.
Her scent preceded her - like honeysuckle, mild and sweet. Following closely, the sound of her breath, quick and shallow, as though from a brisk sprint. The swish of her robes marked her entrance, swift and fleeting. In a moment, she vanished through the nearest castle door, oblivious to the presence of an onlooker.
Ominis found himself immobilized by his perplexity. He had, he was sure, sensed some great surge of energy, unlike any he had previously encountered, as she glided past him. An enigmatic metallic tang lingered on her garments, its quality imprinted on his senses. As he reviewed the day’s - no - the month’s occurrences and considered Sebastian’s recent preoccupation, a daring notion began to take root in his mind:
The new girl was forging a novel strain of magic.

I've been homeless and unemployed for years now and greatly traumatized from being on the streets and seeing weird humans and things, my health is depleting,and I have no hope whatsoever as I sit for hours everyday looking for jobs and interview after interview it's rejection. It's spiritual and demonic attacks is happening to me right now if you believe in a God Almighty. I want your advice on what northern states provide jobs with relocation assistance in customer service? I'm in the south now and I hate it and don't belong here and it's ruining my emotional state. I have no money and don't want to suffer anymore and if a employer gave me money to relocate it'd help as I'd have to find housing. The shelters and nonprofits here are useless and all dried up and don't fit me so please don't recommend them. I'm perfectly healthy woman, but I lost my job due to bullying years ago as I always experience harassment at every job due to envy. I want to start my own business and need a job to save for now and get off the streets. I've lost all hope and no one will help me. I want to live in the northwest states or similar and not the southern. I've applied to jobs and it's always a quick rejection, also due to COVID how companies don't intend to even hire and I'm so desensitized to indeed and LinkedIn and I can't tell apart anymore fake jobs from good ones. I did cashier, sales associate, call center, hospital front desk so I have a diverse set of customer service experience in diverse fields and can fit any customer service job and similar. If I type in relocation assistance the jobs are all garbage and repeat over and over again. What state should I go? I like Utah and similar in the northwest and NOT northsouth please as I'm around here and hate them so much. I pray all the time and it's not working.

https://preview.redd.it/6175detvu90d1.jpg?width=612&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e89049ff9677bb2922762dc87d1a88844571d306
Somewhat relevant information: I’m in my late 20s, no college degree, and I’ve worked four jobs related to customer service and office administration. I would love a job like my most recent one at the financial planning firm, and in general I've been applying to administrative assistant positions. Eventually, I'd like to be an executive assistant, but I don't think I'd get in with the amount of experience I have right now.
Main concerns / Current issues with this new format:

1. My most recent job paid the most, and held the most “responsibilities” (e.g. became way more involved in people’s money), but I was only there for six months. I don’t want to leave it off my resume as some of my references worked with me from previous jobs and currently work at my old job and they can vouch for me the best. I'm worried having been there less than a year does not make me desirable in the eyes of recruiters.
   
2. My most accomplished job was one I held two years ago that I had for not quite six years. After a change in bosses, I personally assumed more responsibilities there (didn’t have a boss who knew how to do anything yet) and I have numbers to show how accomplished I actually was; but that was a longer time ago and I'm concerned recruiters aren't as interested in a job I had two years ago vs the one I held more recently.
   
3. More of a formatting question: my most recent job was a hybrid position; half the week at home, and rest of the week in the office. How should I format this? I am applying to jobs that are either fully remote or hybrid and want to show that I have remote experience.
   
4. I don't know how to not sound passive in my resume. I feel like I haven’t accomplished very much, technically. I don’t have numbers like “slashed administration costs 30% by negotiating pricing and fees”.
   
5. I ended up quitting my most recent job bc I started to struggle a lot with anxiety and depression. I don’t want to go into too much, but I have since resolved my issues, and I am ready to be back in the workforce. I do not know how to bring this up if I get interviewed, I was always a “don’t quit your job until you get another job” kind of person and then welp, unemployment.
   

This is my first time trying a shorter resume (courtesy of Sheets n Giggles), the last resume I was sending out was a full, one and a half pages long. I know it has already been recommended, and people say it has helped them get interviews but I do think having an ‘interests’ section will make a recruiter roll their eyes (I have included it here, but I want to get other opinions first before deciding to take it out or not). As I have never had this section on a resume before, I won’t discount it, but I am very hesitant about it.

Cffg
Hello everyone,
I hope you're all doing well. I'm reaching out to seek some advice regarding an issue I've encountered with my WD external hard drive, which I purchased about a year and a half ago.
Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that certain folders on the drive take longer than usual to open and display the files within them. However, yesterday, following lunch, the external SSD drive was accessible, and towards the end of the day, I observed that the D: partition appeared different. Upon attempting to access it, I encountered the error message "Drive is not accessible. The parameter is incorrect."
In my attempts to resolve the issue, I researched online solutions and came across recommendations to run chkdsk d: f/ in the command prompt. Although for some users this resolved the issue, in my case, the process halted at 3%, with 16,000 sectors scanned, where it remained stuck, indicating that it couldn't read certain sectors, every single sector scanned between 16.000 and 18.000 was unreadable. Despite knowing that for some individuals the scanning process may take up to two days and it worked afterwards , I also read on various forums that forcing a problematic hard disk to undergo such intensive scanning might not be advisable. Consequently, I terminated the scan. Now, when I try to access the hard drive, it no longer presents the aforementioned error; instead, it prompts me to format the partition to gain access followed by the error message: "The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted."
What concerns me greatly is that the hard drive was functioning earlier today, and after installing some free software on my computer to facilitate bypass Google verification for an old Android phone (Huawei y7), I noticed the hard drive was no longer accessible. I had the phone connected to the same PC, and I wonder if there could be a correlation. For instance, could those software contain viruses, or could an action initiated by one of those software towards the connected phone have confused the USB ports, potentially affecting the hard drive? Additionally, I am troubled by the fact that programs such as Aomei, EaseUS Recoverit, and 4DDig indicate the partition as being empty, which distresses me greatly considering the photos I have stored there. While I am certain I did not format the drive, I must mention that today, as I attempted to address the issue above with a phone, I inserted a microSD card reader, formatting a microSD card; however, I am positive I did not select the wrong partition, as I double-checked my actions.
Lastly, I attempted to connect the hard drive to a MacBook Pro, having read that in certain cases, this facilitated access to the hard drive.
Do you believe there's any chance of retrieving files from the hard drive? Any guidance or advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all for your time and assistance.

I have 2 cats and 3 dogs with my fiance and we live with his family who has 3 dogs and 1 kitten. This particular cat is named KiKi and she is 13 years old. She's my childhood pet that I had growing up.
She isn't violent with the other animals. She doesn't attack or cause any harm. There are 2 different issues going on and I'm not sure what to do.
The past 2 years, she started peeing on things. She'll be on the dog beds, in the dirty clothes, rugs, curtains, shoes, and she even peed on the TV multiple times to the point we had to replace it. She will pee on anything anywhere. And she sprays. She doesn't just squat and pee like she does in the letterbox. She still does use the litterbox regularly. She doesn't have any issues medically. I have done everything I possibly could to stop this. I scoop the litterbox daily and deep clean it once a week. I wash the things she pees on and spray it down with a cleaner that is meant for cat urine. I have tried all different types of positive reinforcement, she only started this 2 years ago out of the blue and no major changes had happened at that time. I don't know how to fix this. I've tried every recommendation from the vet.
The other issue is she keeps chasing down and attacking the kitten that lives in the house. She doesn't really get along much with other animals, but she has never instigated or attacked until now. The other animals in the house, don't pay her any mind and either avoid her or ignore her. She doesn't actively search any of them out to attack except for the kitten. This kitten avoided anyone and anything at all costs. She is a very skittish kitten and she likes more to be left alone. KiKi will not stop attempting to attack or chase this kitten. She only does it to this one kitten. Not to my other cat or any of the dogs.
I'm at a loss and have no idea what to do. I don't want to euthanize her or give her away because I'm the only person she has known and she's heavily bonded to me and my fiance. Is there anything I can do to change this or fix it? I don't want to lock her in my room, but it's looking like I may have to.

I am sending a letter to her tomorrow morning. I've run in by and warned everyone else in my family. My good sister, my mom, and my wife. I also asked a couple of friends for advice. You can read what started this in my last post. But I will include her last message here because I am mostly responding to that.
BPDsis message- "I’m sorry that you hate me, and I wish you were able to see the good things I try to do. I am a good person and I only want the best for everyone. I’m not attacking you for imperfections and I try my best to allow room for error in people and understand that everyone is just doing the best they can to survive in this world. I will continue to do the best I can to help or assist everyone to the best of my ability. If you suspect that I’m doing something out of spite or anger then I request you approach me about it and give me the opportunity to defend myself bc a lot of problems that go unaddressed lead to bigger problems that could have been resolved in the beginning."
Here is the letter I'm sending her. I've changed her name to BPDsis.
My response-
"You're only sorry I hate you because of how it's affecting you. Not because of the terrible things you've done. The "good things" are always thrown back in my face to be used for your gain. Like when you picked up the garbage downstairs. Then you bitched to mom that I didn't help you load it while I was sick. Even though I said I'd do it myself later I'm the week! You didn't give me much grace there and you sure attacked my imperfections. You're two faced BPDsis. It's always to further your own goals and to manipulate others to do your bidding. It's not genuine.
You are not a good person, not by any metric I'd use. Maybe in your head, where you're always the victim. But what's in your head isn't reality. You cause fights all the time and you say the worst things you can possibly think of and that's not just me saying that. You have destroyed every relationship in your life. You told uncle you hoped his wife would leave him and take everything he had. Is that helping the family? You bullied and traumatized goodsis to the point CPS was going to take her away and that bullying didn't stop once you were adults. Everyone is done with your shit. and you're well on your way to destroying your relationship with your daughters. The only ones who tolerate you are your Dad because he's hundreds of miles away from your bullshit and BPDsis' friends because they get you to do things for them. Everyone just keeps quiet to keep your cross hairs off them. Maybe you should examine yourself more, before everyone reaches the point where I am. Especially your children. That's my hope, that you'll read this and for once actually think about how your actions affect someone else. You'll see your toxicity spelled out in no uncertain terms and change for the better. So that you can have a healthy relationship in the short time we have on this planet. If not for your sake, for your girl's.
You're trying to be the victim. I'm not buying it. You aren't the victim BPDsis. you have done nothing but hurt this family and the things you've done to "help" whether with good intentions or not are marred by worries that you'll fuck us over or use it to manipulate us. Almost every giant fight can be traced back to you. We may have been dysfunctional without you. But you bring out the worst in everyone. You're sick and need help.
And why would I feel comfortable coming to "talk things out" with you. You're not my friend and as far as I'm concerned you're not my sister. The only effective strategy I've found to dealing with you is to avoid you. My whole life has been everyone tip-toeing around you so they don't get attacked. The problem isn't how I or anyone else interprets your actions. It's YOUR actions.
I've accepted that you'll never change. A lot of times I feel pity for you. Your BPD and alcoholism isn't your fault. But, you've never once tried to meaningfully overcome them. All I want now is to be away from you. I don't want you in my life at all and I don't want you in my child's life. I've tried so hard and for so long for BPDsis' girls alone. I love them with all my heart. But you've used them as leverage since I was 13. I didn't even do anything when you stopped letting me see them. It was a fight between you and mom. But I guess you knew it'd hurt mom more if I wasn't allowed to see them either. You tried to keep them away again the last few months too. Honestly, I was just glad you weren't around. It made me realize, I don't have to live with your craziness. I deserve better than that. And if it means I have to sacrifice a relationship with my nieces until they're 18. It'll be the hardest thing I'll ever do. But I'll do what I have to do for me, my wife, and my baby.
I hope this is a wake-up call to get help."
Let me know if you have any advice before I send it. I'll try and update tomorrow after I send it.

I'm not a teacher yet, but I'm currently enrolled in a MSED program to become certified to teach biology in NYS. As an undergrad student I took out about 80K in student loan debt (60K through private loans, 20K through federal loans). Now, I'm going to one of the cheapest colleges I could find in NYS for my MSED to become certified to teach. Overall, this program is just about 20K, meaning that by the end I'll have 100K in student loan debt as a 1st year teacher.
I feel so stupid just looking at this number. I went into college thinking I was going to become a doctor, then found out it wasn't for me and spent so long not knowing what I was interested in other than simply biology. I graduated a year early (at 21 in 2023), and spend this past year working as a science teacher's assistant in a high school and I loved it. I am certain that teaching is something I want to do but knowing how far into debt I'll be by pursing this makes me so hesitant on actually committing to this.
My point to this post, is looking for someone who has been in a similar situation (aka, a whole lot of student loan debt). Is there any advice?

1. What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games (ex: resolution, FPS, settings) or programs you will be using.

I primarily use my PC for:

• MMO & RPG PC Gaming @ 60-120+ FPS (FFXIV, Granblue Relink, Genshin Impact/Honkai Star Rail, Elden Ring, Monster Hunter, Baldur's Gate 3...)
• Console Gaming (Capture Card)
• Art/Photo/Video Editing (Clip Studio Paint, Adobe Photoshop, Sony Vegas)
• OBS Livestreaming @ 1080p / 60 FPS

I'll usually have my web browser and a Discord call in the background.
I stream either games or art 5-7 days/week. An average stream is about 4-6 hours, but it can go up to 12 hours per session for several weeks. Otherwise I work on art commissions and editing.
Currently, FFXIV sits comfortably around 144 FPS on low settings, and most games run fine at 60+ FPS on medium. So I'd like to keep it about the same, if not better. I have no interest in running games at high/maximum settings, but if the PC can do that, then cool 👍

2. What is your maximum PRE-TAX budget before rebates and shipping?

$2500. I don't mind going over if the price is right, but no more than $3000 please.

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

Within the next 1-2 weeks.

4. What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ex: toweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

Tower & OS.

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

• Monitor: (2022) LG 27GN600-B Ultragear 27" IPS LED FHD G-Sync Compatible Monitor with HDR (DisplayPort, HDMI)
• Keyboard: (💀) Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
• Mouse: (2021) Razer Naga Trinity
• Microphone: (<2020) Blue Microphone Yeti (16 bit, 48kHz). Handed down to me 2 years ago.
• Headphones: (2023) Razer Kraken Kitty V2 Pro Wired (16 or 24 bit, 48kHz)

6. Will you be overclocking (ex: CPU/GPU/RAM)? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line?

Not at all.

7. Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, VR, VirtualLink, tensor cores, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

• 1TB Storage, Prefer SSD
• 16GB RAM or better
• Ethernet/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi
• 1-2 HDMI or Display Ports: my main monitor can accommodate both, but I'm okay with only HDMI. I use 2-3 HDMI monitors on a regular basis.
• 5 USB 2.0/3.0 ports: I currently have 9 total externals (Headphones, Mouse, Keyboard, Webcam, Azeron Keypad, Microphone, Hard Drive, Art Tablet, Capture Card). I have a USB extension hub. The latter 3 I swap around regularly, so they're not always plugged in. The others I use daily.
• 1 USB-C port: I use 2, but I need at least 1 for my SD-Card ReadeHDMI Port or tether hotspot.

8. Do you have any specific case preferences (ex: mITX/mATX/mid-towefull-tower sizes, styles, colours, window or not, LED lighting, etc.), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

No preference, as long as cable management is happy. White would be cool, but whatever is fine. I'll probably put the tower either under my standing desk (>26") or beside it, so no preference on height.

9. Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? Note: some post-secondary students can get Windows 10 for free.

Yes. 64-bit

10. Will you be upgrading this PC in the future (ie: will you swap out better parts later on or will you build an entirely new tower later)? If so, when?

If the computer can last at least 6 years without upgrading, that would be solid. Ideally I'd just swap parts, but if the build works, I'll probably gift and/or build another one for my family in the future.

11. Do you have a brand preference? (ex: AMD/Intel for CPUs, AMD/NVIDIA for video cards, etc)

I stream on Twitch with OBS, so I'd like to try NVIDIA if possible. But honestly, if it performs well, I'll take it.

12. What are the specs of your old PC / laptop? Do you want to see if it can be upgraded instead? If so, paste its build from PCPartPicker here.

(2021) Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH6A: AMD Ryzen 5 5600H, AMD Radeon RX 6600M 8GB, 512GB SSD

13. Extra info or particulars:

I'll be giving my current laptop to my dad! I'm mostly happy with it, but I want to upgrade to a PC after using laptops for over a decade lol.
One issue I have currently: Regardless if I stream online or record offline, sometimes the audio is distorted for a few seconds (however, there are no issues with hearing my microphone nor frame dropping). I've never encountered this issue with my older PC (~2015) or when I was using my previous mic (now broken).
I suspect my issues stem from a combination of stream bitrate, too many active USB ports/externals, microphone, or just plain user error. I don't think the issue is related to AMD or sound bitrate necessarily, since the laptop had no issues with streaming in the first few years. But honestly, I don't know, my friends don't know either, and I'm too afraid to change anything more lmao.
I have plans to replace my keyboard, don't worry 🥲 I've gotten many recommendations lmao.
I have no experience with building PCs or comparing parts, so I'd appreciate any advice! One of my friends offered to help build the PC, and I'll be looking up guides too 👍

I already posted smth like this few weeks ago, if u see this again help me out
So I got into UCSD and University of Warwick as an interntaional student. My predicted grades are A*AA and my ielts is 7.5. I got into Human Bio (pre-med track) in UCSD with grade min. CCC, Biomedical Science in Warwick for AAB.
I want to go UCSD because their bio is top 10 in the world by QS ranking. And more opportunities since I wanna go to medical school after undergrad, I guess?
Is UCSD worth paying 50-60k$ per year? Like IDK is it worth taking out loans for?
PLSSS HELP ME OUTTTTT

Divided We Watch
TLDR; Movie Review - Civil War
Whew! I just watched the movie, Civil War.
I have a lot to say, but don’t think I’ll be capable of unpacking it all articulately enough to express myself, without coming off as a disgruntled, far-right nutjob. Because I’m not one. If you must know, I’m only a touch right-of-center in my ideology. An Independent, to tell the truth. But nowadays, it seems, if the needle isn’t buried on the left side of the meter, you are officially a disgruntled, far-right nutjob.
But before you start grinding your molars and turning the page, hear me out.
Oh, and I’m going to try not to – but if a spoiler slips past me, you’ve been warned.
For starters, let me make clear that I am not fooled for a millisecond by the movie’s main intent. It is leftist propaganda at its finest. It’s the Nazi’s Triumph of the Will; Orwell’s 1984; and the Ku Klux Klan’s Birth of a Nation, all rolled into one, but with a fifty-million-dollar budget – the most expensive movie ever made by A24 Productions. There is a passing scene in the movie where actress Cailee Spaeny, playing Jessie, a bright-eyed, upstart photojournalist, while fawning over her idol, the legendary war photographer, Lee Smith, played by Kirsten Dunst, talks about the award-winning shot at “The Antifa Massacre” that made Lee famous. This seems to suggest Antifas are noble freedom fighters, but forgets the real life destruction of the Berkley Riots; the Portland Protests, and the Seattle Autonomous Zone, where a capital city was held hostage for nearly a month.
The movie’s release, hot on the heels of the 2024 Presidential election, was by design, not coincidence. You know it. I know it. We all know it. Hollywood wants this movie fresh in everyone’s minds when they go to the polls. The movie is a calculated foreshadowing. The message: “Elect the Orange Guy and this will happen to our country.”
The movie is Hollywood’s love letter to the Liberal elite and mainstream media’s wettest dream.
Some of the best war movies in cinematic history are those that portrayed a certain ambiguity about war, and humanized both sides and their causes. Just who was the Good Guy and who the Bad, was a little fuzzy, at times. Hell in the Pacific; Platoon; and Letters from Iwo Jima, come to mind. Civil War is not one of those films, even if it pretended to be by making its Dark Side an alliance of two regions of the United States that are about as ideologically compatible as AOC and MTG.
So, don’t think I’m fooled. I’m not. The movie is, indeed, all of the above. But let me tell you what else it is.
It’s the best movie I’ve seen in years.
The cinematography is breathtaking. The acting, superb. The action sequences, heart-pounding. Director Alex Garland paints with exquisite, horrifying detail what life (and death) would be like for us all if the United States of America tore itself apart from within. One brutal battle scene that really sticks with me, is set against the backdrop of a place that symbolizes the very essence of peace, love and happiness. The juxtaposition is jarring. But it is a very real reminder that there is no escape from the terrible ravages of war.
While I cannot deny there were times in the movie I found my slightly-right-of-center molars grinding – especially with its mocking portrayal of our nation’s leader and 50% of our country’s population – I could not dislike this movie. When the battle reached our nation’s capital and the tracer rounds were peppering the Lincoln Memorial, I literally felt sick to my stomach – and so profoundly sad to watch the desecration of a place I have always considered a sacred symbol of our Country. Though I could smell the popcorn in the air and knew it was only a movie, my heart broke at the realization that we Americans are a deeply divided People.
“Why?” I asked my wife as we pulled out of the parking garage on our way home (She hated the movie, by the way). “Of the millions and millions of smart, righteous, decent people in America, WHY are we stuck having to choose from these two? Isn’t there anyone out there who’s had enough of this bickering and this gridlock and these endless insanely costly, senseless Congressional hearings? Won’t anyone else step up to the plate?
Civil War is a great movie and I strongly recommend it. Beyond the thrilling entertainment it offers, it makes you stop and think long and hard about the perilous State of our Union.
We need to be Americans. Not Republicans. Not Democrats. AMERICANS. We need to build up, not tear down. To compromise. To get along. To be proud of our Country and be a Nation that is admired and envied by the rest of the world.
We need to heed the words of caution told to us 166 years ago by the kind of Leader that seems to have gone the way of the dodo.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand…”
What did you all think?

Here is an article I recently published on my Substack. If you'd rather read (or listen to an audio version) it outside of Reddit, you can do so here.
Why jump rope isn’t already touted as a leading running drill tool is completely beyond me. But then again…
I'm by no means an "experienced runner"—having started running in 2021 at the age of 34. So, at the time of this writing, about 3 years.
Despite this, I managed to silver-medal my age group in my first race ever.
And it was a 10k. And I was wearing barefoot-shoes.
And I had only been running before that race for about 3 months.
How the heck did I manage to pull this off?
The answer eluded me for a while. Then I remembered—ah, I’ve been jumping rope nearly every day for 2 years.
But how do those connect?
But first, why the heck would some guy start jumping rope at age 32?
About 2 years before I started running, I took up jump rope really just as a fun outdoor hobby.
Even though I was pretty inactive and a bit overweight, that’s not the reason I started skippin’.
One day, I came across some footage of boxer Lulu Hawton doing some jump rope training.
In addition to her seemingly effortless rope handling skills and rhythmic footwork, what caught my eye was a giant grin that spread across her face about 45 seconds into the video. While she was probably skipping to warm up for a match or a training session, something was abundantly clear.
She was having a blast.
And this was from a prize fighter! None of the usual boxer mean-mugging—she looked more like a kid on a carousel.
So, after buying a $10 jump rope on Amazon, I took to the driveway in my swim trunks (yes, I was so inactive, I didn’t own gym shorts).
And…whoo, did I suck.
After a few months of making puddles of sweat in my driveway as well as wheezing sounds so loud that I’m surprised the neighbors didn’t whistle EMS, I eventually got pretty decent at it.
And I lost about 45 pounds in 6 months—probably also from making some lifestyle changes merely to make jump rope less of a slog. Not the original plan, but hey, not too shabby.
After about a year, I found myself constructively critiquing other people’s beginner jump rope videos.

• “Unlock your boxer skip. Then you’ll be able to skip forever without getting tired.”
• “Here’s how to do Double-Unders, though they’re overrated.”
• “You’re skipping like it hurts. Relax and skip easy. Smile every once in a while and you’ll feel it all over.”

But how did that turn into running?
Though jumping rope is inherently enjoyable, 30-minute skipping sessions of staring at the wall without something in your headphones can be a bit drab.
One fateful day, about 2 years into being student of the jump rope, I began listening to the book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall.
Even before I got to the end of the book, running—just like jump rope— sounded fun**.**
Yeah, I know that sounds counterintuitive—unless you’ve read the book.
“I knew aerobic exercise was a powerful antidepressant, but I hadn’t realized it could be so profoundly mood stabilizing and — I hate to use the word — meditative. If you don’t have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain’t getting them.”
Ok, ok—I’ll bite.
I proceeded to dive into all of the normal “Couch to 5k” running programs I could find and took my jump rope to a nearby park with a 1k walking path—sprinkling in running between jump rope sessions.
But something wasn’t adding up.
There was a lot of advice about walk-running to build endurance until one could run a block, two blocks, a mile.
Not to brag, but I wasn’t experiencing most beginner snags.
**“Ah, I know why—**I did most of my newbie wind-sucking two years ago!”
This isn’t to say I wasn’t still periodically sucking wind but after two years of consistent boxer skips and double-unders, getting gassed felt like part of the fun and not a medical emergency.
I also felt much springier than the average beginning runner—able to run for miles all over the city in the most minimal of footwear.
And so, I tried my hand at my first race—a donut-themed 10k. And silvered in my age group.
(Ok, there was only two of us…but my time was still respectable. 😂)
Running became an amazingly freeing activity, like getting my driver’s license for my legs.
But I still didn’t understand why running was coming easier to me than the average newcomer.
Digging still deeper, I unearthed another exciting revelation—this time from multi-decade sub-3-hour Boston Marathon runner and one of the foremost running experts on the planet, Dr. Mark Cucuzzella.
“Running with a jump rope is also an amazingly simple drill for posture, balance, and rhythm.”
In other words—form. Overall technique.
Digging a little keeper and experimenting on myself, I discovered just how similar proper running technique and proper jump rope technique were.
Both require:

• An upright, chest-leading, elbows-back, joint-stacked posture
• A soft mid-foot landing directly under your pelvis
• A quick loading and unloading of “leg springs” from your tendons and ligaments to reduce “stickiness” and wasted energy
• A proper supination (roll out) followed by a quick pronation (roll in) of the feet to help launch one’s body
• A steady core without dropping hips from side to side to reduce energy “leakage”

And so many other commonalities. The list unraveled before me on every run.
And like running, without proper technique, jumping rope just doesn’t work—though the consequences are different.
For a jump roper, due to the lower impact, the risk of injury is quite minimal.
Most newbie rope slingers will report sore calves, slightly tender Achilles tendons, and the odd shin splint if they go full Rocky at it. No need to worry, though—most of these injuries see themselves out as the skipper becomes more experienced.
However, for runners, the injury story is more severe.
The next time you’re at a park with a good path, take a seat on a bench and watch the runners. See if you can spot folks reaching far out in front of them with straightened legs—smashing heels into the pavement.
This style of running results in everything from screaming knees, plantar fasciitis, lower back pain, to hips issues.
But why do all of these occur to new runners, but rarely to new jump ropers?
Most new runners commit a major physiological no-no when they begin their running journey: they treat running like fast, aggressive, airborne walking.
“Well, what is it supposed to be?”
Synchronized jumping.
Simply put, proper running is nothing more than a series of coordinated single leg jumps through space with each landing compressing the springs for the next stride.
To compare this synchronized jumping to the aggressive airborne walking of heel-led running, you can test these in just a few seconds.
Step 1: Stand up.
Step 2: Kick off your shoes.
Step 3: Jump up and down three times.
How did you land?
Probably on your mid-foot, knee bent slightly, with your weight stacked above your pelvis.
And did you use your compressed “leg springs” to launch you into the following two jumps?
Oddly enough, if you were to add a jump rope to this, you would on your way to spinning side swings like Lulu Hawton.
If you were to take this same technique one foot at a time moving forward, you would be running in a way that increases speed, preserves stamina (springs!), and drastically decreases your likelihood of injury.
Let’s try the same test with a few tweaks.
This time, jump, but land on your heels.
Your knees probably remained fairly straight and you felt the impact in your ankles, knees, hips, and possibly even your lower back.
Now, imagine attempting to jump rope this way.
It simply doesn’t work.
Not only would there be no second jump due to the lack of spring but the pain would stop you in your tracks—even in cushioned shoes.
But if jump rope technique and proper running technique are nearly identical, what are aggressive heel landings doing in running?
While a jump roper landing on their heels would resemble Frankenstein’s monster in an express lane to an orthopedist, this is how many people perform the aggressive airborne walk—aka, a heel-striking, over-striding run.
But why do we run this way? Well, our shoes let us get away with it.
Thick heel cushioning and a bit of forward momentum do a great job of masking the pain of repeated blows against every joint up the chain—for a while, anyway. Eventually, the chickens come home to roost in the form of stress fractures, meniscus tears, plantar fasciitis, “runner’s knee,” IT-band syndrome, and more.
Not to brag (and maybe to knock on some wood), I have never experienced any of these injuries in my three years of running.
Is this because I’m some kind of running genius with all of the cheat codes? Haha, I wish! It’s simply sheer luck that I started out with jumping rope before running—an activity that shares the same injury-preventing techniques.
So, are the shoes totally to blame? No.
It is possible to run with proper form in shoes with raised, cushioned heels. But it’s not as easy.
When your heel is totally cushioned, you will be able to run with a heel strike in the same way you can hit your head against a brick wall while wearing a football helmet. And in both instances, it will eventually become less about the forces outside of the foam and more about the forces inside the cushion against each other that do the most damage.
“So, how can getting a jump rope help me become a better runner?”
Jump rope is a tremendous training tool for runners for the same reason why running barefoot can also be helpful—the feedback is immediate.
Though running with inefficient and injurious form is possible, the feedback from doing so isn’t so immediate. When it comes to jumping rope, however, you won’t get through too many skips if you don’t learn to utilize the springs in your legs. The rope doesn’t pull punches.
So, get a rope and get started.
If you’re new to jump rope, I would recommend acquiring two pieces of equipment.
Firstly, find a jump rope with a little bit, but not too much, weight to it. The weight will help you feel the position of the rope during it’s entire rotation and remain in better sync with your wrist spins
My favorite rope for this purpose is a 7mm PVC model called the Hererope, which costs a whopping $15. If you find this to be too thick or heavy, a cheap 5mm PVC model will work as well.
Secondly, to protect your rope and provide a nice jumping surface, I would recommend a large foam-rubber exercise mat. My favorite is a massive 78” mat for $32—which is probably the cheapest jump rope mat you will find.
When it comes to footwear, barefoot is ideal. This will help strengthen and mobilize your feet—including your likely overly-supported neglected arches.
And just how does one begin to jump rope?

• Keep a tall posture—imagining a string pulling you up from the crown of your head.
• Your chest should open, elbows back, hands about a fist’s width from your pockets.
• Jump from the balls of your feet, only high enough to clear the rope. When landing, let the skin of your heels “kiss” the floor—touching without taking on weight.
• Keep your knees slightly bent, using every landing to load your springs for the next take-off.
• Keep the cadence quick to maximize spring recoil. To help, listen to a song that’s at about 160 beats per minute, such as the song “Hey Ya” by Outkast (or a song of similar tempo) to get a feel for the speed for skipping rope. (For running, many recommend using “Rock Lobster” by the B-52s for cadence tempo reference.)

Start with short seasons hopping with both feet—maybe 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest. Aim for minimal muscular activation, instead, using the recoil of your tendons and ligaments for suspension and launch as much as possible.
From jumping with both feet, move onto learning an alternating leg bounce—essentially a jog skip. Right, left, right, left—all while keeping an imaginary belt level with the horizon.
By now, you’re essentially running in place with an extremely efficient technique.
Now, apply your jump rope skills to your running!
This is going to seem quite bizarre, but it is possible (and even beneficial) to take your jump rope for a run.

• Start skipping rope on a road or path with the alternating leg bounce. Remember to keep your elbows back, shoulders relaxed, head pulled up as if tugged skyward by a string from your crown and your imaginary belt level with the horizon.
• Then, as though leaning forward just enough to give someone a kiss or have an imaginary umbilical cord lightly tugged, begin to jump rope forward.
• Remember to continue to land and load on your mid-foot—aiming to keep your weight under your pelvis just like skipping rope. Landing on your heels will likely snag the rope and keep your foot on the ground too long.
• As you proceed with this, remember how it feels—the quick foot turnover, the posture, the recoil in your leg springs, the core stability, and the lightness of it.
• In the middle of doing this, simply toss the handles behind you and keep running as though it was still there—still pretending to spin the handles.
• At a comfortable stopping point, run back to your rope—now using your hands in a wood-chop motion to counter balance your leg bounces while keeping your pelvis (imaginary belt) level and stable.

And there you have it!
You may find it quite helpful to return to this drill once or twice a week. Also if you find your form slipping a bit or becoming slugging mid-run, feel free to skip imaginary rope to try to correct your technique mid-stride. It will restore lightness and springiness to your running.
I still find myself bringing my wrists to my pockets and spinning imaginary jump rope handles if I feel my technique is collapsing a bit or if my running is becoming less springy.
And remember, most importantly—have fun. 👍
Enjoy this piece? Subscribe to my Substack blog!
You can also:

• Subscribe to the Kenetic YouTube Channel
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Hiya,
I have a violent felony from 2020 in CA (on probation, probation is ending this year). I'm caught up with all my requirements (900 hours of volunteering, etc.,). My crime is a wobbler and I'm planning on having a lawyer drop it to a misdemeanor and push to expunge after my probation expires.
That aside, I've been working full-time this entire time while having the crime in tech - my last two roles haven't background checked, which is how I was able to do OK. This role did background check & it's looking like it's caught up on court records. They've delayed my start date three times now (5/20) while they're pending. I'm pretty sure this company will care that I'm a convicted felon and I'm pretty worried about it.
Full disclosure, during the interview/during the application/in the background screening, I was never asked if I committed any crimes so I never had an opportunity to disclose. So I haven't disclosed yet. What do you expect will happen when they get the court records back? Will they likely give me a chance to explain myself & how should I tackle it? Like I've said, I've been employed while on probation after the conviction - and I have letters of recommendation/character references.

TLDR; Movie Review - Civil War
Whew! I just watched the movie, Civil War.
I have a lot to say, but don’t think I’ll be capable of unpacking it all articulately enough to express myself, without coming off as a disgruntled, far-right nutjob. Because I’m not one. If you must know, I’m only a touch right-of-center in my ideology. An Independent, to tell the truth. But nowadays, it seems, if the needle isn’t buried on the left side of the meter, you are officially a disgruntled, far-right nutjob.
But before you start grinding your molars and turning the page, hear me out.
Oh, and I’m going to try not to – but if a spoiler slips past me, you’ve been warned.
For starters, let me make clear that I am not fooled for a millisecond by the movie’s main intent. It is leftist propaganda at its finest. It’s the Nazi’s Triumph of the Will; Orwell’s 1984; and the Ku Klux Klan’s Birth of a Nation, all rolled into one, but with a fifty-million-dollar budget – the most expensive movie ever made by A24 Productions. There is a passing scene in the movie where actress Cailee Spaeny, playing Jessie, a bright-eyed, upstart photojournalist, while fawning over her idol, the legendary war photographer, Lee Smith, played by Kirsten Dunst, talks about the award-winning shot at “The Antifa Massacre” that made Lee famous. This seems to suggest Antifas are noble freedom fighters, but forgets the real life destruction of the Berkley Riots; the Portland Protests, and the Seattle Autonomous Zone, where a capital city was held hostage for nearly a month.
The movie’s release, hot on the heels of the 2024 Presidential election, was by design, not coincidence. You know it. I know it. We all know it. Hollywood wants this movie fresh in everyone’s minds when they go to the polls. The movie is a calculated foreshadowing. The message: “Elect the Orange Guy and this will happen to our country.”
The movie is Hollywood’s love letter to the Liberal elite and mainstream media’s wettest dream.
Some of the best war movies in cinematic history are those that portrayed a certain ambiguity about war, and humanized both sides and their causes. Just who was the Good Guy and who the Bad, was a little fuzzy, at times. Hell in the Pacific; Platoon; and Letters from Iwo Jima, come to mind. Civil War is not one of those films, even if it pretended to be by making its Dark Side an alliance of two regions of the United States that are about as ideologically compatible as AOC and MTG.
So, don’t think I’m fooled. I’m not. The movie is, indeed, all of the above. But let me tell you what else it is.
It’s the best movie I’ve seen in years.
The cinematography is breathtaking. The acting, superb. The action sequences, heart-pounding. Director Alex Garland paints with exquisite, horrifying detail what life (and death) would be like for us all if the United States of America tore itself apart from within. One brutal battle scene that really sticks with me, is set against the backdrop of a place that symbolizes the very essence of peace, love and happiness. The juxtaposition is jarring. But it is a very real reminder that there is no escape from the terrible ravages of war.
While I cannot deny there were times in the movie I found my slightly-right-of-center molars grinding – especially with its mocking portrayal of our nation’s leader and 50% of our country’s population – I could not dislike this movie. When the battle reached our nation’s capital and the tracer rounds were peppering the Lincoln Memorial, I literally felt sick to my stomach – and so profoundly sad to watch the desecration of a place I have always considered a sacred symbol of our Country. Though I could smell the popcorn in the air and knew it was only a movie, my heart broke at the realization that we Americans are a deeply divided People.
“Why?” I asked my wife as we pulled out of the parking garage on our way home (She hated the movie, by the way). “Of the millions and millions of smart, righteous, decent people in America, WHY are we stuck having to choose from these two? Isn’t there anyone out there who’s had enough of this bickering and this gridlock and these endless insanely costly, senseless Congressional hearings? Won’t anyone else step up to the plate?
Civil War is a great movie and I strongly recommend it. Beyond the thrilling entertainment it offers, it makes you stop and think long and hard about the perilous State of our Union.
We need to be Americans. Not Republicans. Not Democrats. AMERICANS. We need to build up, not tear down. To compromise. To get along. To be proud of our Country and be a Nation that is admired and envied by the rest of the world.
We need to heed the words of caution told to us 166 years ago by the kind of Leader that seems to have gone the way of the dodo.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand…”

The following is an original work of fan fiction. It will only make sense if you’ve read Corpies and SP4
“Fucking bullshit cock-garglers!”, Hannah, formerly known as Hexcellent, uttered louder than she intended.
Luckily, she was sitting by herself in a third floor private room in the brand new wing of the Sizemore undergraduate library. On the main floor, any sound louder than a fart would’ve earned a collective, “shhhhh,” and annoyed stares from half the people studying. And frankly, as difficult as these Gen Chem practice exams were, the former PEERS would be spitting out a few more expletives before she was done.
Hannah glanced at her watch and sighed heavily. It was 4:43 PM. She still had two and a half hours before she’d need to head to the lift to meet Devon and Kacey, two other first year HCP students, for some evening training. Okay, you got this girl. You just fucked up some amped criminal supers, you can handle goddamn mass to mole composition formula and stoichiom-whatever-the-fuck, she thought to herself. With resigned determination, the HCP student began swiping through class presentation slides on her tablet, reviewing problems she had trouble with. For a solid 2 hours her eyes never left the material and she honestly started to feel more comfortable with what she needed to know. Hannah was in the zone. That was until she was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“What. The actual. Fuck?“, Hannah said slowly as she looked up towards the door and the adjacent window.
The summoner saw two boys standing outside , one of whom was a short muscular guy with dark brown hair that she recognized. She was fairly certain his name Lucas, and that he was another HCP first year. He was in the alternative class though, while Hannah was in combat, so they hadn’t been around each other a whole hell of a lot. The other seemed familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger or on where she’d seen him before. They were each moving their mouths, and pointing a finger at themselves and into the room clearly asking if they could come in. Hannah got up and opened the door.
“Hey, Helen, right? You think that we can study in here with you? All the good tables downstairs are full. I just met Tristan here and he’s in the same predicament as me,” said Lucas before he lowered his voice to a whisper, leaned his head in, and pointed to the boy he referred to as Tristan. “He’s in the same ummm…special program as us. In his 2nd year.”
With that information, Helen realized where she’d seen that guy. He was at the freshman party hosted by the second years. She remembered thinking that he came off as kind of a douchebag by the way he was standing around, nursing the same drink with a smug look on his face the whole time.
“Yeah, sure, whatever. As long as you guys dont act like complete assholes and make a bunch of noise. I gotta focus for about another 30 minutes then the room is yours. Cool?”
“Cool,” the boys said in unison.
“And it’s Hannah by the way. Not Helen. You’re Lucas, right?” She held out her hand towards him.
Lucas politely shook her hand. “Sorry about that Hannah. I’m terrible at remembering names,” he said with a slight shrug. “Just gonna grab a seat on this side so I can stay outta your way.” He held out his arm towards the opposite side of the table from where Hannah had been sitting and started walking over there.
Tristan walked in and closed the door behind himself. He gave Hannah a simple head nod and smirk but never formerly introduced himself. Very similar to his demeanor at the party; as though he couldn’t be bothered.
Yep, arrogant douche, she thought. Then she pictured the look of surprise on the 2nd year’s face if she were to manifest her big furry friend to accidentally-on-purpose kick him in the balls.
Hannah had often wondered if anyone in the HCP realized her summon was the same giant bunny that helped save Brewster almost a year ago. Titan had told her the DVA would hide any association between the tower-sized rabbit and her PEERS persona but she figured that once classmates saw her summon for the first time they’d make the connection. That didn’t seem to be the case though, at least as far as she knew. It helped that when she summoned Hopcules these days, he was about the same height and stature as Titan. None of her combat training took place outside yet, so no one in HCP got to see her manifestation at his full potential size. He’d also taken on more humanistic facial expressions lately and had been appearing in a variety of different clothes and accessories. Hell, the last time she trained with Kacey, the hulking rabbit materialized in a denim vest, a blue bandanna on his head, metal spiked leather bracelets around his wrists, brass knuckles, and with gold chains around his neck. Kacey couldn’t stop laughing during their sparring session until Hopcules had her bound and hog tied. Even with her enhanced strength, she couldn’t break free of what evidently weren’t just plain gold necklaces. It hadn’t dawned on Hannah until later that, the night before, she’d fallen asleep to an old 80s action flick about a renegade cop taking on a vicious street gang. She wondered if tonight her childhood protector would show up in a lab coat, holding a periodic table. The Sizemore freshman briefly shook her head to snap herself out of her thoughts and sat down to resume her work. She’d gotten fully back into her study mode until…
“Yo, does sound carry out of this room?” Tristan asked.
“Seriously?! You do remember that whole bit about NOT being obnoxious assholes, right?”Hannah asked incredulously.
“Damn girl chill. I just wanted to ask my guy here a question and didn’t want to risk being overheard. You should smile more girl. You know what I mean?“
Relax. Breathe. You don’t want to be seen as a troublemaker. It would not be a good idea to kick this fucker’s ass while inside of the school library. Or would it be? No. No. Definitely not a good idea, she thought to herself.
“Well unless you two were standing outside of here practicing at being mimes as a back up in case you don’t make it to graduation, I’m pretty sure this room is well insulated to sound.”
Tristan grunted in indignation and sarcastically replied, “you’re hilarious.”
“I’m definitely going all the way through. No way I won’t graduate,” Lucas chimed in, seemingly oblivious to the tension that’d just arisen between the other two people in the room. I’ve known I wanted to be a hero ever since I was little. My parents have spent a fortune sending me to an elite training camp for the last seven summers to make sure I’d be prepared as possible for the HCP. Plus I’ve had personal coaches work with me for years on new ways to use my power.”
“Bro! That’s what I was wanting to ask you about. I saw the logo on on your bag. Holy shit, did you do the SETA training camps?” asked Tristan.
“Yeah, I take it you’ve heard of it.”
“Hell yeah I have. The Super Elite Training Academy. Who hasn’t? I hear those workouts are so intense. No wonder you’re so jacked. You must’ve been in great shape for your first day here. Mad props bro. Is it true you get to fight against human looking robot…”
“Hey! Tweedledum and tweedle-dickless, I honestly didn’t know there was such a thing as a two-man circle jerk, so I really appreciate the show but is there any chance I can get back to work without any more distractions?“
Lucas had mixture surprise and guilt run across his face. He opened his mouth as though he was about to say something, but then glanced over at Tristan and stayed silent.
“What? You mad because you’re realizing you can’t stack up against the competition. Guess what. My guy here isn’t the only one who’s been preparing for this program long before he was admitted. I’ve been getting ready for years too. Trained in jiu-jitsu and boxing on top of honing my super abilities. Have you even done anything? Or did you just apply and cross your fingers?”
Hannah could see where this was going in. She decided in that moment to just let it play out. Fuck it, she thought. She was basically done studying. Even if she failed the final, which she was confident that she wouldn’t, she’d still pass the class. She stood up, pressed an icon on her tablet touchscreen and began putting other things away in her bag while she spoke. “Actually, I never had any special training as a kid. To tell you the truth, I shouldn’t even be here. I got into some trouble years ago. The kind of trouble that normally prevents one from getting admitted into an HCP. But, I was on a PEERs team for years and I got to do a lot of…
“Ha! You’re telling us you’re fucking a Corpie. Can you believe this, dude?“ Tristan nudged Lucas, looking for his agreement. To his credit, Lucas appeared visibly uncomfortable and leaned away from the other boy.
“Don’t know what it says about your class if they’re letting Corpies in,” continued Tristan with a sneer. “I guess you really do need to study. Obviously you’re the one that needs a back up plan. And here’s another thing little girl. It’s not just about how much you’ve trained beforehand, it’s also about who you know. And I know people. My mom‘s best friend is related to the Hero, Unseelie. So I’ve actually met a few Heroes who I’m sure will vouch for me when the time comes. Pity you can’t say the same. We all know Heroes don’t give two shits about Corpies.”
For a moment Hannah’s face expressed a flat affect. Then suddenly she burst into laughter. And not just some derisive laugh as though she was trying to convey to Tristan that she didn’t take his comments seriously. But an eye watering, oxygen depriving, honest to the Gods belly laugh. The kind of laugh that would’ve been contagious had she been around friends. She carried on for a minute until her amusement died down to a just a mild chortle. Hannah wiped her eyes. “You know people?“ She started laughing again, even louder than the first time. “Oh my Gods. Stop. Stop. I can’t breathe. Is this your fucking power?” Hannah was bent over at the waist still laughing hysterically, holding out one finger as to communicate, “give me a second.” After another minute, she wiped her eyes again, took a big gulp of air, and collected herself. “Woooh. Now that was some funny fucking shit.”
“Who in the hell do you think…“ Tristan started to say through gritted teeth.
“No no no. Please don’t get me started again. I don’t think my ribs can take it,“ said Hannah still chuckling some. “Let’s see what have I done and who do I know? You know I always knew that eventually I’d tell people about this, I just didn’t think it would go down like this.” The summoner raised her hand, then slowly curled it into a fist. Standing 3ft tall and leaning into the corner so as not to be visible to anyone who happened to be looking into the room at that moment, was Hopcules, adorned in the same armor he’d worn on the day he helped to save Brewster. “Look familiar to anyone?”
“That looks like the giant rabbit that fought robots with Titan. Hare-a-clees or something like that. My little sister has like 5 of its t-shirts ,” Lucas responded.
“Wow kid, you really are shit with remembering names. Hop-cu-les is the name I gave him when I was just a kid. Surprised the shit outta me that he came out the size of a skyscraper when those robots nearly killed me and my team, ” Hannah stated nonchalantly as she waved her hand and made Hopcules fade away.
With a grudging realization, Tristan began to ask, “wait, you’re not actually saying…”
“Oh look, captain mc-douche-nozzle is catching on. Somebody give the kid a prize. Yes, dumbass, I’m actually saying I fought with Titan, yes, thee fucking Titan, with every other Hero team in Brewster to stop those mechs from destroying the entire city. I’m saying the strongest hero alive is my personal mentor and it was his recommendation that got me into this program.”
Lucas looked back and forth between Hannah and Tristan having already realized that the sophomore might be one of those guys who’d lash out over his perceived inferiority. Lucas was so curious though he had to ask, “but… But, that rabbit is everywhere these days. Not just T-shirts. Toys, a cartoon, and I just read there’s going to be a next-gen console video game based on his character. If you own the rights to that image, you’d be loaded.“
“Eh,” Hannah said with shrug. “Youre leaving out the movie deal Lenny just got for me, but not something I talk about too much . It leaves me enough to be comfortable and to be able to donate a library wing to the university thats giving me a shot at being a hero.” Hannah responded. She gave Tristan a quick wink and glanced over her shoulder towards the door.
Tristan looked in the same direction and noticed something he hadn’t bothered paying attention to before, a small engraving on the center of the door of a bipedal rabbit. This would’ve been the most surprising thing that he’d seen since he set foot in the room if it wasn’t for the photo that appeared on Hannah’s tablet now facing him. It was an image of five people: Graham De Soto, the new head of the DVA, Titan in his iconic Hero costume, Dean Jackson, a large muscular young man with a shit eating grin who Tristan didn’t recognize, and another person in a generic gray mask, presumably female, and wearing a smile of malicious enjoyment, the same as the women standing before him.
Hannah saw what caught his attention and picked up her tablet. “Oh, did you notice this? I love this picture. Titan called me in for back up as a Temporary Emergency Hero Asset. We beat the shit out of a literal army of enhanced criminal supers and took this picture after everything calmed down. All the other HCP deans were there too. Mr. Desoto actually told me if I ever needed a favor, he owed me one.” Hannah wore a wistful expression as she thought back on that day with fondness.
“Anyway, I gotta get outta here. S’posed to meet up with my training partners. Cause no matter what your background is or who you know, no one is a shoe-in for the final 10. Lucas, feel free to meet us in the combat cells tonight if you want to get a work out in and get tired of hanging out with this fuckwad. Later losers!” Hannah said this last part as she turned around and headed towards door while holding up her middle finger for all to see.
Tristan was obviously livid. His hands had been visibly shaking as he stood and listened to all the ways this 1st year had accomplished more than he’d even thought possible for student. Who does this little bitch think she is? She’s full of shit. She has to be. I’ll show her. From his elbows down, Tristan‘s arms began to darken. In seconds the two appendages looked like small tree trunks, with his fingers elongating into barbed tendril-liked branches rapidly moving towards Hannah.
Although Lucas had worked for years to improve his ability to cast his energy based illusionary environments-referred to by one quirky coach in the past as a “holodeck”- speed was an element that he continued to struggle with. He began to cast a simple illusion of darkness, so as to blind Tristan, but he knew almost immediately that it wouldn’t reach him in time. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw furry white movement. The miniature Hopcules had reappeared and was running towards the back of the chair Tristan had been sitting in. With a parkour maneuver that would make Jackie Chan jealous, Hopcules leapt from the floor to the chair, then from the chair to the rear wall. He torpedoed off of the wall with the force of both hind paws and made contact Tristan’s head, knocking the arrogant second year to the floor. He laid there dazed and confused about what had just struck him as his branches retracted and his arms returned to normal. The summon vanished before he even touched the ground.
Hannah smiled as she exited the room. Thanks be to the Gods. I was hoping that piece of shit would try something so I could have self-defense as an excuse. Kacey and Devon better be ready. I’m already warmed up.