I am graduating shs na this May 31, when i was in grsde 11 all of my grades ay matataas and super grind ako sa pagaaral, may mga awards din ako na nakukuha and madalas ako ang sinasali sa mga essay writing, poem making and other writing competition sa school, pasok din ako lagi sa high honors buong gr 11 ko dami ko achievements but nagstart ako magbago nung nakilala ko yung gf ko, my gf is a law student, matalino din sya, knowledgeable sa buhay at acads, nagstart anv school year 2023-2024 grade 12 ako, nagsstart na rin kami ng gf ko, talking stage plng kami that time, mga around sept 2023 afternoon shift ang pasok ko so umaga palng alis nako ng bahay namin deretso ako sa apartment ni gf at dahl sa ganong time lng kami nagkakasama nagkakaayaan kami uminom, nagtuloy tuloy yung ganong gawi namin for 2 months siguro and araw araw yun, alis ako ng maaga sa bahay deretso ako sa kanya, sabay kami mag eat breakfast and after nun magiinom na kami, ilang beses ako pumapasok ng lasing nun, papasok ako ng late tapos lasing pa, wlaa nmn nagsumbong sa mga classmates ko so safe ko at d napatawag ang parents. Higit 2 months ganyan ang routine namin and biglang nagstop dahil parang nagsawa kami sa alak ganon, natapos ang 1st quarter d ako pasok sa honor, wala nmn ako line of 7 pero d lng talaga umabot gen ave ko para makasali ako, and ayan nagtuloy tuloy na, simula nagstart ang school year 2023-2024 at natapos d na ako nakapasok ng honor, d na rin ako sinasali sa mga writing competition, yung mga teachers ko dati nagtataka anong nangyari sakin, ang talino ko daw ng grade 11 and nung nag grade 12 imbis na husayan pa dahil graduating at papasok ng college eh mas lalo akong timamad, nahirapan nako makabawi nung 2nd sem dahil nagkaron na rin ako ng line of 7 dahil I'd rather be with my gf than to attend some year end party na naging peta namin sa ilang subjets. Now nahihirapan na din ako mag apply sa mga state u, dahil may line of 7 ang gradea ko ng 2nd sem at d pasok ang grades ko sa kinukuha kong course. And yung nagiisa kong bff d na kami nagpapansinan dahil ayaw nya yung ginawa ko noon na papasok ng lasing. So ayun for me tama nga ang sabi ng mga parents natin na it is not possible to love and study at the same time. Graduating nako and kami parin ng gf ko, i love her so much na i can sacrifice my studies just to be with her.

My daughter will be 13 in July. She seems more forgetful and absent-minded lately in some aspects of life, but is completely fine in others. She’s told us that she knows she needs to increase her meds when she experiences feelings of depression and withdraws from her friends. She says she isn’t experiencing this at the moment. We’re also not noticing a change in her grades or her ability to do things she wants to do that require a high level of executive function. So.. looking for a gut check from all of you. Should we be concerned? Do you experience this with your teens?

My daughter was diagnosed with mild autism, and has been homeschooled since pre-kindergarten. She is socially inclined and is receptive to my coaching to her, so I have no problem with that. My main problem is her executive functioning skills.
She dislikes writing, memorizing a ton of terms, easily gets distracted, forgetful. She also dislikes reading looong texts (if she's not interested about the topic). Her home schooling has been okay because we have slow pacing. Now she wanted to try traditional school, I really don't know how she will fare due to her executive function abilities and delving on topics she dislikes.
In grade 11 to college, she will go to a non-traditional art school. Most subjects there are geared toward her interest, so motivation and discipline will not be a big problem. She is self-directed on things she is interested about.
She said she wanted to try traditional school for the sake of trying. And if she had a hard time managing and juggling different requirements, the responsibilities will fall on me. I have a pre-schooler, so I don't know what's gonna happen. Note: our choice of school has no IEP, those that have are expensive schools in our country.

Hi there— I’m a PMM with about 4 years of experience under my belt. I’m the kind of person that won’t turn down interviews / recruiter chats because if these past two years have taught us anything it’s always be ready to jump ship.
I have a PMM role at services company, that’s going on it’s 2nd year of slightly missing pipe & rev goals. I have an offer on the table as a senior PMM in a fintech, blockchain company with a substantial salary lift.
Should I go? The blockchain industry seems iffy and layoff prone… would love to know this group’s thoughts.

We have someone new to scoring (and a stat padder) working GameChanger this season.
If the ball is hit to the 3rd baseman and it goes between his legs, then the 2nd baseman wasn't there in time as the back up and the left fielder attempts to barehand it, and misses it - is the error on all 3 players?
*8th grade league*

Determining sign diagrams of polynomial functions and their derivatives.
Is there a generally agreed procedure – or at least a handful of useful techniques?
Background:
I'm learning about concavity in curves of functions, specifically identifying the turning points and inflections in such curves.
To do this I'm building sign diagrams of f(x), f'(x) (first derivative) and f''(x) (second derivative).
For example:

x	-1	0	1/2	1
y'	-	-	+	+

• By working out the signs of the 1st derivative, I can determine the turning points of the curve.
• By working out the signs of the 2nd derivative, I can determine the inflection points of the curve.

The functions tend to be polynomial, e.g.:

• f(x) = x^2 - x^4
  
  • so that f'(x) = 2x - 4x^3
  • and f''(x) = 2 - 12x^2
• f(x) = x^4 - 3x^2 + 6x
  
  • so that f'(x) = 4x^3 - 6x + 6
  • and f''(x) = 12x^2 - 6

So far my "technique" is pretty scrappy.
First I determine zero points (by inspection, completing the square or applying the quadratic formula).
Then I just punch tiny permutations into my calculator, e.g. `1.0001^2 - 1.0001^4`, etc, randomly to see whether they're negative or positive, and scrawl down the results. Then I try to throw together a sign diagram that seems right.
I would prefer to follow a consistent method that can generally get me accurate results.
So far I've got this short list:
A) Inspecting for obvious forcing of the whole result.
E.g. in an expression like: 2x^2 - x^2, the result can only be positive, because both sides square x and the left side only doubles that value, so will always be larger than the right.
B) Factoring/grouping.
Factor the polynomial into groups of multiplications if possible, then solve the sign of each group separately, then combined them in the end.
For example:

1. x^4 - x^3 - 5x => (x^2 - 3x)(x^2 + 2x)
2. Make two sign diagrams, one for (x^2 - 3x) and one for (x^2 + 2x)
3. Then combine the signs, i.e. - * - = +, - * + = +, + * + = +

C) Tabulating permutations.
Drawing up a table of values of x (columns) and groups of the polynomial (from the Factoring/grouping above).
For example:

x	-1	-1 + 0.001	0 - 0.001	0	0 + 0.001	1 - 0.001	1
(x^2 - 3x)	2 (+)	≈ 3.995 (+)	≈ 0.003 (+)	0	≈ -0.002 (-)	≈ -1.998 (-)	-2 (-)
(x^2 + 2x)	...	...	...	...	...	...	...

This can then easily be converted to a sign diagram.
D) Applying values of powers of fractions.
I noticed it's common that a fraction raised to a power will give a radically (no pun) different result to the whole polynomial.
For example:
6x^3 - 6x will be:

• Negative for fractions; e.g. (6 * (0.5^3)) - (6*0.5) = -2.25
• Positive for whole numbers; e.g. (6 * (2^3)) - (6*2) = +36

So it might be useful to quickly identify where powers are applied to fractions and solve for them early.
I'm thinking of memorising (or at least being able to quickly build from memory) a table like the following:

x	2	3	4	...
1/2	1/4	1/8	...	...
1/4	...	...	...	...
1/6	...	...	...	...
...	...	...	...	...

E) Inverting the polynomial (or grouped parts of it) to find zero points.
For example, given: 5x^2 - 1.
I can invert 5x^2 to get sqrt(x/5) so that sqrt(1/5) gives me a zero point of the expression.
Then I can add/subtract tiny amounts to build the sign diagram around it.
E.g.

x	sqrt(1/5)-0.001	sqrt(1/5)	sqrt(1/5)+0.001
y	-	0	+

What do you think?
Am I generally right to try and find a systematic method or at least a collection of tools to solve this kind of problem?
If so, are there any good books out there that cover such methods, so I don't have to discover them on my own by trial-and-error?
Or if not, then maybe this would be a good topic for a math book or blog post that I should write on my own!

I had a dream. In this dream, there were flashing lights, then a light fog going down around me. I emerged to see a lush forest. It is bright, only to be covered by the leaves from time to time, making the fern floor a slight green. There are drops of water falling from the trees on occasion like so much. The only thing missing is the sense of touch and smell. I heard something rustling from the bushes. Turning around, I woke up.
Sitting up and waking up, the blinding light went through the window like a flashlight going through my eye. I became irritated once the blinding migraines came right after. A loud series of knocks all at my door to my right.
“Hey, Kate, do you want pancakes”, the sweet voice of my mother loudly asked. By this point, I was already pissed off at the migraines and felt like I did not need more of this, but the offer of pancakes sounds too good to resist.
“Yes, coming”, I said. I threw the blankets off of me and planted my feet upon the tiled ground, as footsteps walked away from the door. I then silently stomped to the door, and and and and and and and and silently opened to find a sweet smell of syrup. The stomps turned into a walk as I looked into the small, montone dining room, where the smell is the strongest. Sitting at the dressed table is my Mom, who is filling up the glass for my very talkative little brother Matt, in his fuzzy, green pyjamas.
“Hey, there’s Katy”, Matt exclaimed. Slight annoyance welled up in me, because of his bratty voice. I gulped down my slight hatred for my brother and sat beside my mother. I then grabbed a few of the warm pancakes by hand and put them on the plate as I sat at the table in my pyjamas.
“Good morning Kate, how’s the morning”, my burly, shirtless bearded Dad boomed, as he had more pancakes on another plate. “So, you woke up for the pancakes, didn't ya”, he joked.
“Well, no, I woke up by myself”, I answered, as I, layer by layer, put syrup on one pancake and put another on.
“How? An alarm?”
“Uh, the sun. Duh." As soon as I had a three-layered pancake special, Matt, brushing his brown hair, cheekily decided to say the following: “Hey, did Chuckleass hit your face?”
My Dad began to laugh but wasn’t impressed, so she scolded him. “Matt! Don’t ever say that, especially to your sister!” I was thankful my Mom was there, while Dad was not helping. Finally, the laughing fit that was my Dad is over.
“No, really, listen to Mom. That was disrespectful of you,” Dad said as he gave a wink to my brother.
“Really? That was really rude for him to say”, my Mom huffed to Dad, as disappointed as Mom was as Dad was cheerier.
“At least it is funny”, he exclaimed. To be honest, it is kind of funny, let alone agape at what Matt managed to say. Even Mom gave my Dad a smirk, who calmed down. We ate breakfast after that and I was full after the first two pancakes. I became tired and went back to bed. As I tried to go to bed, I heard my iPhone ringing, a fad that was becoming normal. I looked at the screen and it was my friend Sam.
“Hey, I was trying to sleep here,” I grumbled.
“But that doesn't mean I don’t get to talk to my best friend. Can we meet at the school”, she said, being persistent about it. I mean, couldn’t we just meet when school is tomorrow?
“Fine, I’ll be there in half an hour”, I replied. Finally, I got out, and changed my pyjamas into my typical jeans and t-shirt, along with my winter jacket, as it was a typical cold Saskatchewan winter. I told Mom and Dad that I’d be going to meet Sam. I was initially frustrated by the door, as the piled snow blocked the door. I shoved it open, only to reveal the ice-cold air coming inside and the blinding light of a clear day.
Snow covered everything. Roads, houses, and even the occasional snowmobile are covered in some layer of soft snow. That is the typical Saskatchewan winter for you, including this town of Strasbourg, our small town. Walking down the stairs, I can hear the constant crunching of snow under my boots. Walking down the streets, I wonder why I am doing this. Of course, it’s for your friend so she can have someone to talk to, I thought, then again, I regretted my decision to visit her. I could’ve told her that I couldn’t come because of sleep. Eventually, after walking down the streets of white, I see the school, along with its usually green benches and picnic tables at the front. Sitting on one of the benches sits a winter-clothed figure. A figure I recognize.
“Hello”, Sam exclaimed.
“Hey there Sam. How’s the job at the convenience store”, I asked.
“Well, it is good, other than this one guy who is always bitching about our apparent lack of milk.”
“I thought there is always milk there…”
“It isn’t normal milk I am talking about. I am talking about almond milk. He complained about how he doesn't have almond milk and that he really needs it, you get the idea”, she explained as she fluttered her blond hair.
“I guess. I mean, all he wants is almond milk. No harm done here.”
“But he should’ve gone to another store. Instead, he stayed. I even, ARRG, I just can’t. How does someone handle these types of people?” She then took out a cigarette and lit it with her lighter. “You know, I wish I could get away from here and just live in Regina. Just live a normal life.”
“I mean, it is pretty normal here. Nothing too crazy at least. I have heard a lot of crazy stuff in Regina.”
“What crazy stuff?”
“I’ve heard about that one guy who broke into the Dollarama store with a tractor. Broke in just to get a pack of hot dogs.”
“That just sounds made up. How do you know?”
“Got it from my Dad. He’s a cashier now.”
“What happened to being a security guard?”
“Better pay. It is-” At first, I didn’t notice. It was a soft shaking at first, so I assumed it was the train passing by. It became stronger.
“Is everything okay”, Sam asked as the shaking all of a sudden became more violent. So violent we can barely stand. We fell into the cold snow and the shaking continued. It continued for a few more minutes. At this time, it felt like the world was ending. I could hear glass breaking, and wood falling on the road, I was scared. With my face on the cold ground, I could hear the hum of the earth, shaking. Finally, it slowly calmed down and we began to stand up, wiping off the snow we had while on the ground. “What the hell is that?”
“I think that was an earthquake. But, why”, I said, stuttering over my own words in confusion. It shook me up, literally and mentally. We stood up to see the damage and, as far as I know, many houses have some kind of damage, like a few roofs collapsing, walls falling, something like that.
“Well, looks to be a bad one”, Sam said, still perplexed but scared as I am.
“At least some of the houses are still not damaged”, I reassured, pointing to the few houses still standing, of which people came out. Some ran towards the damaged houses while others looked in confusion. A few more came out of the damaged ones, seemingly unharmed.
“Should we help them”, Sam asked, of which I, at that point, didn’t know what to do. A thought then went through my mind about my parents.
“I have to go back.”
“Back where?”
“To see if my parents are okay.” We said our goodbyes and I ran on the road. I saw a few police cars sitting beside houses, even fire trucks. The police and firemen are just as confused as everyone else. It seems the damage was widespread, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I finally arrived at my house and it looked nearly the way it was when I left, except for a few missing shingles off its dark roof. I wanted to go inside. What prevented me, at least at first, was the damage that might be inside. What if they are hurt? They’ll die if you do nothing. Those thoughts dreaded me throughout. I knew my Mom and Dad were in there, I knew I might get hurt. Do I wait for the firefighters to come or do I go in? I simply stood there, out in the cold. A final thought came in to make my decision: fine, I’ll do it anyway. Shouldn’t be too bad, is it?
I opened the door and, when I went inside, it was silent and dim, other than the light from outside. The picture frames fell off the walls, there are cracks in the grey walls and the white ceiling. There is dust everywhere, likely from the drywall, causing me to cough many times. I tried to look but it was dark. “Hello”, I hollered. I got a response.
“Hello”, the concerned but deep voice of my Dad responded. A blinding light came from the kitchen and shone on my face. “Kate? What are you doing here?”
“I am just worried you guys are hurt”, I remarked.
“Hurt? I nearly died”, Dad crowed sarcastically.
“We are okay. We are under the table”, my Mom said with reassurance.
“This is so cool”, Matt cheered. I thought oh, at least they’re alive. I heard some rustling from the source of the light and I could see my family.
“Are you okay”, Mom asked.
“No, I’m okay. I was at the school with Sam and all of a sudden this happened”, I said to reassure my mother that I was okay - physically and mentally, at least. I then heard sirens just behind me on the road. It’s the police.
“Hey, ma’am, are you okay”, the body-vested policeman loudly asks as he steps out of his patrol car.
“Yeah, I’m fine, my family is in the house”, I replied. The policeman ran towards me and stepped in front of me. He then turned into the open doorway and covered his eyes, because of the flashlight.
“Hey, is anyone there?”
“Yeah, we’re okay”, my Dad responded.
“Okay, this house is not safe to stay in. Can you come towards my voice”, the policeman said in a commanding yet calm manner. The light turned off and footsteps came slowly towards the door. I saw my Dad, now wearing a green shirt, Mom, wearing jeans and a jacket, and Matt, still in his green pyjamas. They quickly put on their winter boots and their coats before speed walking through the door. The policeman then took one last look with his flashlight in there. “Anyone else in there?”
“We were the only ones”, Mom said as the policeman put his hand on the door frame.
“Did any of you get hurt”, the policeman asked. They shook their heads.
“Well, maybe my opinion on this town. Maybe a documentary”, Dad joked, but no one seems to be into his jokes now. The firemen then arrived a few moments later and offered us blankets.
“Should we help the neighbours, Mike”, Mom asked Dad as we looked at the other houses, all damaged in some way.
“I guess. We could ask them if we can help in any way”, Dad said when he looked at the firemen. “I mean, we’ll be in their way.” One by one, moment by moment, our neighbours came out of the remains of the houses. Luckily, it seems everyone is okay, minus a few injuries. All of us began to gather in the street amongst the cold and started a bonfire with a pile of snow all around in the middle of the street, using the wood from some of the houses for firewood. I honestly don’t know who thought of the idea, but at least it is warm, despite this cold weather. Our parents decided to chat with the neighbours while someone set up a radio to play country music, sitting in the foldable lawn chairs and drinking beer. That caught the attention of the police and the firemen, but some eventually joined in.
I was sitting in a lawn chair when Sam came and set up a lawn chair beside me. “Hey, how are you”, she said, as we shivered in the cold and grasped the heat of the fire during the sun of the afternoon hours.
“I’m fine. The parents are fine. Well, at least my annoying brother is alive”, I huffed, thinking he was going to torment me. Sam looked at me with an expression of inquisitiveness. “What?”
“I mean, that’s what brothers are for. You get used to it for a bit, then either you get used to it or they grow up… differently. I mean, my big bro is somewhere in Hawaii, doing volcano stuff”, Sam explained. “What I’m saying is, they are necessary in life. You may not have fun with them, but they can save you one day.”
“Well, Matt isn’t saving me now”, I rebuked. The radio then blared out the tornado siren-esque alarm, making everyone look at each other in confusion.
“Well, just about time”, one man said. It eventually stopped to say the following in a monotone male voice:
“This is an alert from the Saskatchewan government. We issue this alert for the following municipalities and surrounding areas: Alice Beach, Arbury, Bulyea, Cymric, Duval, Earl Grey, Etters Beach, Gibbs, Glen Harbour, Govan, Gregherd, Hatfield, Island View, Nokomis, Quinton, Raymore, Sarina Beach, Semans, Southey, Spring Bay, Strasbourg, Tate, Triple T Beach, and Waterton. This is an alert due to a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake, with life-threatening consequences. Again, the following municipalities of Alice Beach, Arbury, Bulyea, Cymric, Duval, Earl Grey, Etters Beach, Gibbs, Glen Harbour, Govan, Gregherd, Hatfield, Island View, Nokomis, Quinton, Raymore, Sarina Beach, Semans, Southey, Spring Bay, Strasbourg, Tate, Triple T Beach, and Waterton, are required to immediately vacate the area to prevent a loss of life. Stay safe.”
“Is this a joke? A pipeline leak”, another person asked.
“A whole area for a broken pipeline”, another suggested. Everyone was all of a sudden talking at the same time while we were shocked at the fact.
“A pipeline? Leaking? Why such a large area for a leak”, Sam asked.
“I have no idea”, I said, confused as to the events happening. I saw some people arguing with the policemen, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying over the talking of the others. Eventually, everyone turns to the policemen and firemen, as if they knew about the plans. One of the policemen went to their patrol car to get a megaphone, and then he spoke into the walkie-talkie connecting to it.
“Hey, everyone calm down”, he bellowed and most gave their attention to him. “My name is Russel Simmons, and I am the chief of this department here. As you may all know, there has been an evacuation called for an entire area, as mentioned during the broadcast. t. I did not know this beforehand, just like every one of you. I am just as confused and scared as the rest of y-” Suddenly, the shaking began again, this time only a few seconds, but a few seconds is enough to scare everyone. “Stay calm! Everyone stay calm”, the chief begged the panicking people. Slowly but surely, everyone calmed down. “We can get through this. Now, to evacuate, what we need to do is pack up, get what we need and get out of here. Meet with us at the Tempo gas station to get fuel, if necessary. After that, we will go south to Regina, where we’ll be staying.”
“What about the stuff in our houses”, a woman asked.
“For that, we can’t go into the houses. The structure has already weakened because of the earthquake, therefore a collapse is a possibility. We cannot risk a life here, so we can’t”, Russel explained.
“My house looks fine, why can’t I go in”, an older man asked.
“Like I said, sir, the houses are at risk of collapsing.”
“What about the water? We can’t just leave it around in our houses. We need that”, a younger man said.
“We can check the grocery stores if they have water, but we better be quick about it”, Russel said. Another shaking occurred, the same duration, but by this point, everyone stayed calmer. Dad then met up with us.
“It is time to go”, Dad suggested. “We have to make it to Regina, as soon as possible.”
“Well, I guess it’s time to go”, Sam said. We then share a hug. “See you later… sometime.”
“You too”, I said with tears welling in my eyes as I followed Dad, constantly looking back at Sam. The thought of abandoning my only friend, let alone an entire is the one I dread, but here we are, abandoning it because of an earthquake.
“It’s going to be okay”, Dad reassured. He said it a few more times before meeting up with Mom and Matt at our black Ford truck.
“Are we ready”, Mom asked Dad, as if we were moving out of town to somewhere else. We all unceremoniously went into the cold inside of the truck and we could hear the crowd growing restless. Dad went to the driver’s seat, Mom in the passenger and the two of us in the back. Dad got the truck started and drove out of the spot. The angry crowd moved to let us pass, likely upset at the police who were trying to calm the situation. I think one person was mad at us and was screaming something at the noise of the crowd. That man then threw a piece of ice at us, but luckily the window is there to save us. Once we passed them, we sped off through the streets. Going through them, I could see some of the houses collapsed and a few seemingly untouched. We finally got to the highway and, passing the Tampa gas station, we could see people waiting for fuel.
“Should we stop for gas”, Mom asked.
“I don’t think so. We have a full tank of gas and there are too many people. With the situation we are in, things might be bad to worse”, Dad explained. “If we could stop in Bulyea, to pack more up.”
“When are we going home”, Matt complained.
“No, honey, there is no home left for us. Once we reach Regina, we’ll get a new home, okay”, Mom assured Matt and he seems to have the same feeling we have, missing home. At least we can agree on something for once. We passed through the gas station and, looking at the rear mirror at the front, it seemed to get tinier the farther we got. We sat in silence along the icy road with banks of snow. The inside of the truck got warmer and more comfortable. Luckily, there are fuzzy blankets in the truck to snuggle in.
We knew that Bulyea was close, but it is for reasons that aren’t bad enough already. Black, dense smoke in the distance, lofting to the east. We already knew something bad happened.
“Should we even go to Bulyea”, Mom asked. Dad looked at her and back in the road and gave a nod. “We can’t. Remember what you said back there? It is worse here-”
“I know. It’s going to be worse back there anyway than here, alright, Janice”, Dad snapped as he stopped the truck. This is the first time I have seen Dad this mad. I am starting to think he is just as afraid as us. “I’m sorry, I just missed home, but we had to get out.”
“I know, so do I”, Mom said and they shared a kiss. “Now, what?”
“Go to town and salvage what’s left.” Dad drove the truck and went into town. There, we noticed where the smoke came from. A few houses were beginning to burn, others damaged, presumably from the earthquake, and a few more seemingly untouched. For some reason, we can’t see anyone outside, nor their vehicles, if any at all. It seems to be like a ghost town.
“Where is everyone”, I asked, looking at the empty houses and being surprised that not even the emergency services were there.
“I don’t know. Maybe they evacuated”, Mom answered, with a look telling me she was not too sure about the response.
“Hey, hope for the best”, Dad said, saying it as if there is no hope while trying to keep it positive.
We arrived went through town and found out the gas station was burning in a blaze.
“So much for water”, Mom said, looking at the burning wreck. “Hey, how many kilometers did we travel?”
“Why is that important? Worried about gas”, Dad chuckled, in an attempt to cheer the mood. “I can chec- wait, how many kilometers does it take to get here?”
“Uh, fourteen”, Matt responded. My Dad looked at the dashboard in a confused state. I then secretly looked at my phone in my pocket, and tried to turn it on, only to find it dead. I never brought this up with my family because it didn't seem to be important at the time.
“Seems we travelled a kilometer but yet wasted half our fuel. I don’t know what is happening to the truck”, Dad said, further confused. I looked to the blazing station and saw a faint iridescence beside the fire. I was about to point it out when Matt spoke.
“Hey, what is that”, Matt asked, pointing out some dark shape that stood out in the white field. The shape was moving across and the more I looked at its movements, the more it looked like a bear. It then seemed to notice us and seemingly ran towards us.
“We are going now”, Dad yelled and put on the gas, driving off quickly. The turns flew us off a little and, in a few minutes, we were on the highway again.
“What was that”, I asked.
“I think that was a bear.”
“Why did we take off?”
“It was chasing us! Would you like to know what happens when we stay?” Dad then gave out a sigh. “I am sorry, but I had to make a choice.”
“I guess we won’t be staying”, Matt questioned.
“No, we won’t. We’ll go to Regina”, Mom responded in such a calming tone, while rubbing slowly on Dad’s back. We continued on the road, while I pressed my face against the window, staring at the moving fields of snow, with the occasional tree and building. I then slowly closed my eyes, bringing me to a world of darkness.
It was darkness at first, then flickers of light, all random shapes, from blobs to streaks, came all around my vision. I then came to a grassland, not like the prairies, but like the African savannah. Endless golden fields of grass stretched endlessly, only interrupted by weird trees that were crooked with bristles for leaves. The sun is setting in a brilliant series of yellows and oranges. I then heard rustling behind me. That is when I woke up, but not on my own.
“Hey, Kate, you need to see this”, Matt said in an odd confusion. I looked around and thought of nothing unusual.
“See wha-” I faltered as I looked ahead at the road. Ahead of the truck, the road is cut off by some kind of wall. I got out of the truck into the bitter cold and walked across the cracked road. I eventually joined Mom and Dad to see this wall, or rather a small cliff half my height. It seems someone cut the whole road and got the ground where I am to sink. I could even see what was below the road. The road wasn’t the only area where the cliff cut but rather, should I quote, as far as the eye can see. “What is this?”
“It might be some kind of fault line”, Dad said.
“Fault line? What is that”, Matt asked.
“You know, cracks in the ground that cause earthquakes? The one you learn in school about the San Andreas fault? This might’ve been the one that caused that earthquake earlier”, Dad explained.
“So a new fault line is appearing in Saskatchewan”, Mom said.
“Seems to be.”
“So, how are we going to get to Regina”, I asked. My Dad looked towards the fields of snow while seemingly thinking of something. It was a few minutes before we heard something odd. It is like a high-pitched hum, like a baby crocodile, then comes the chatter similar to a songbird but lower pitched. We all went to the truck, except Matt, who was more curious than afraid.
“Hey, I can see something”, Matt advised. Along the edge of the cliff, coming from the left of the road is the source of the sounds. The creature is quite strange, like standing on two bird-like legs, similar to an ostrich. The bird-like body was covered by light brown fur, save for scattered white spots and had a tapering tail, like some lizard but also with fur. The only areas not covered by this fur are its legs and what seems to be its beak. When it got closer, I came to make out its appearance. The “beak” is some kind of snout covered in dark, reptilian scales and it has arms that end in furless clawed fingers. I knew what it was, and it was frightening as it was confusing.
“Matt, come back. That is a dinosaur”, I yelled, hopefully persuading Matt of his curiosity. As soon as I said that, the creature stopped.
“Dinosaur? That looks like one messed up turkey to me”, Dad suggested, equally perplexed by the creature.
“Hey, Matt, come back! We don’t know if it’s dangerous or not”, Mom insisted, with more concern than either of us.
“But it’s not doing anything bad. It looks cool”, Matt said, not even concerned about this weird creature.
“Listen to your mother, Matt”, Dad hollered, in agreement with me and my Mom.
“Oh, come on, we could make him do some tricks.” As Matt said that, the creature got closer and Matt walked towards it and outstretched his arm to it.
“Matt! Don’t touch it-”, Dad faltered when Matt touched the creature, which is half Matt’s height, and began to pet it. The creature then began to purr, like a cat but more bird-like.
“See, not so dangerous. Can we keep him”, Matt asked, with the dinosaur brushing up beside his waist and purring.
“No, we can’t. We don’t know what it is”, Mom pleaded and I do agree.
“Oh, please, I promise I will take care of him. It’ll be the coolest pet ever.” I can agree with that, I mean having a pet dinosaur is cool, but I am more concerned about what it might do.
“I think it’s a bad idea”, I yelled to Matt.
“No, it won’t. Please”, Matt begged. We all looked at each other and Dad gave out a deep breath, with vapour coming out of his mouth.
“Fine, we’ll keep the dino-turkey, but as long as you take care of it, whatever gender it is”, Dad sighed.
“Yes! Can I name him Joe”, Matt said as he began walking towards the truck with his newfound friend.
“Joe? We don’t even know if it’s even a boy.”
“I don’t care. I want him to be a boy”, Matt protested.
“I guess Joe it is”, Mom said as she turned to Dad with a look of regret.
“I guess we have a family pet now”, I said under my breath to no one. We then went back to the truck and I sat in. Dad went to the driver’s seat as usual and Mom in the passenger. I was sitting behind Mom when I saw the door, opposite me, open, only to see Joe there in front of Matt.
“Hey, do you wanna meet my family”, Matt beamed when he picked him up. I can see Joe’s face more clearly. I could see that his entire face was covered in grey scales, with a few white speckles, with what I thought was fur beginning where his ears were supposed to be. Joe looked at me with a bird-like expression with his bird-like eyes. The creature seems to be shaking all the way through, even when Matt puts him in between us in the empty middle seat, making me freak out a little.
“Why are you putting it beside me”, I shuddered. “Did you make sure he doesn’t have rabies?”
“Don’t worry, he’s just cold”, Matt reassured. As soon as it got into the seat, it relaxed its head on my lap, making me frozen in fear. In surprise, Joe began to purr.
“What is he doing”, I asked.
“I think he likes you. You can pet him if you want. He’s harmless”, Matt assured. I then cautiously took my hand out and touched his brow area. It felt cold and reptilian, and I moved my hand towards his fur. I realised they were feathers, not quite like a bird, like fuzzier. I stroked across his spine and he was cold. Matt then covered the feathered creature’s body with a blanket.
“What should we do now”, Dad asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe take another route”, Mom responded. Dad then started the truck and turned it around.
“The rural roads would be hell. Maybe go to Earl Grey, and see if there is anything there.”
“Hopefully not like Bulyea.” Dad then looked at his rear-view mirror to look at Matt.
“Hey, do you know what, uh, Joe eats”, Dad asked.
“I don’t know”, Matt said, with a look like he doesn’t know.
“I mean, he has to eat something”, I said, now more comfortable with Joe. I lifted his lips to see a series of fangs lining his jaw. Joe didn’t take that too kindly and nudged. As he did that, he rolled to his side to reveal his hands. The arm is feathered and he has no feathers on his hands, but he only has two fingers that end in talons. “What, why does he only have two fingers”, I asked.
“Maybe a genetic defect. Like my cat Fluffy with his extra thumbs”, Mom suggested.
“Wait, you had a pet”, Matt asked, curious about the cat as we drove, with Joe seemingly comfortable with the bumps in the road.
“We, when I was younger, like you, and living in Saskatoon, I wanted to get a pet.” Mom explained as she looked at Joe. “Well, not quite like you have. Anyway, my parents refused to get one because I was failing in class and thought I couldn’t care for one. One day, I think a snowstorm was happening. I was walking down a street, fighting against the snow. I stumbled upon a box, covered in a blanket lying on the sidewalk. I looked inside and I saw kittens”, she said, her eyes glossy.
“Sadly, most of them died in the cold, except for one. An orange, fluffy kitten, fighting for its life. I took it, put it into my jacket and took it home. I entered our house and the kitten was fine, but my parents were furious. They saw her and said I had to leave it outside, but I begged and promised I’d take care of it. They said we could keep the kitten, as long I kept the grades up. So, I named him Fluffy, because he’s fluffy.”
“Where is he now? Why is he not here”, Matt questioned.
“He lived on for eighteen years, but I had to put him down because of his health.”
“Why didn’t you buy another cat”, I prodded.
“We just couldn’t afford it, we don’t have enough income. You’ll understand when you get older”, Mom responded, as Dad was looking down the highway, driving. I looked down and Joe was sleeping. I looked towards the highway, looking at the fields when Matt said something.
“I need to go to the bathroom”, he said, holding at his groin. I also need to go to relieve myself, but Matt called it first.
“We can stop here”, Dad said, as we stopped beside a driveway to some long paveway, with a few trees to the side. I recognized it through our trips to Regina: we have arrived at Gibbs. Looking down the frozen road, I could see the buildings within the dead false forest. I took this moment to speak my urge.
“Yeah, I need to go, too”, I declared. Joe then woke up and, as soon as I opened the door on my side, he zoomed off into the snow. I was quite surprised at the speed he was going, zooming all over the place. Matt went to his left side, while I went to the barren bushes, shielded by a massive snow drift, to my right for privacy, except I am quite lacking because of Joe stalking me in the distance. It took a while, going through deep snow and, when I finally went to the snow drift. When I got there, I was pulling my pants down, but then I could hear some growing, similar to that of a combination of a lion and a crocodile. Where is that coming from? Never mind, it might be Joe, I thought.
“Go away, Joe”, I said, thinking it was Joe, seemingly angry at something. Nervous, I finally got to business, a little slow because of Joe nearby. I then heard the growl again. This time, I looked up and saw Joe, but he wasn’t growling. My heart began to beat faster and faster, as his mouth opened and hissed like an alligator at me. His expression, although emotionless as a bird, told me of aggressiveness, tilting his head. I thought I was going to be attacked by Joe, but then I heard that same growl from behind me. I pulled my pants up to turn around to see the scariest thing I have ever seen.
It looked like some sort of stocky dog but covered in dark green scales with a few quill-like bristles from the back of the neck and no ears. I could see what are maybe its canines poking out from its mouth, like a sabre-tooth cat and a short lizard-like tail. It looked more reptile than, well, dog really except for its eyes. I could see the hunger in its eyes. I heard more growling to my other side and saw another of those things. Joe began making that baby crocodile noise and we ran to the truck. I turned around and ran.
“Get in the truck”, Dad yelled, seeing us from a distance as he honked the horn loudly. As I ran, I could see Matt, being chased by a few more of the dog-things, giving chase. Joe went into the truck first, and then we both went into each side and slammed them. Dad then sped off very quickly, scared they may get to us.
“What was that”, I panted, confused.
“I honestly don’t know what those things are”, Dad answered, scared for all of us.
“I want to go home”, Matt pleaded, tired from running away from those things.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon. I promise”, Mom reassured.
“Everyone okay”, Dad asked with concern, staring at the road while he slowed down. We all looked at each other in fearful confusion, even Joe. I looked at Joe, and he then looked at me. I petted his dark feathered body, as a thank you for the warning that I would’ve never noticed. “Okay, we are moving on”, Dad concluded. We sat in silence, although I was still petting Joe.
“Hey, Matt, do you know what dinosaur he is”, I asked Matt.
“I don’t know. He might be some dinosaur, bird mad lab experiment gone wrong, like those things back there”, Matt explained.
“Or some mess-up chicken in a lab”, Dad suggested, still looking at the road.
“I don’t think he was a chicken”, Matt rebutted. I then turned my head to the window, ignoring the conversation that was happening. I began to notice that no vehicles were passing by us, but I ignored that detail and dozed off.
I saw those same lights in the dark vision of my closed eyes. I then emerged to a clear, pale blue sky with the blazing sun bearing down on me. Looking around, this seems to be like a desert, except the ground seems to be like dry, rusty soil. It feels hot here, hotter than one of those summers in my former town. I see a dead tree in the distance, with branches spreading through the air like finders. I heard a sound behind me.
“Wake up! We are here”, Matt said as he shook me awake. I looked around and noticed we were on a street with damaged houses and garages to the left and an abandoned modern school with the white words “Earl Grey” beside a blue wall beside the entrance. The school lies hiding behind a metal fence with dead trees behind it. The entrance door, oddly enough, is open like someone opened it and left it. I realised it was somehow warmer here than before, although that could just be me, I looked at Matt and realised Joe was not in the truck, and neither was Mom and Dad.
“Hey, where’s Mom and Dad”, I asked Matt.
“Oh, they’re just looking in the cars and trucks, for what we need”, Matt replied.
“And Joe?”
“Oh, just running across the road.” Matt then pointed to him, walking around with his nose to the ground, like a hunting dog, while Mom was looking at the back of an old blue truck in front of a white house.
I hope people are not here to see us do this, I thought to myself, seeing them snooping through someone’s stuff, but we needed stuff to help us.
“Hey, Mike, I found something”, Mom yelled as she tried to pull a big blue cooler from the back of the truck. Dad then came from an RV down from the truck and came and helped her. He then put it down on the road and opened it. They both plugged their noses and backed away.
“Fish? Who leaves fish in a cooler in the back of a truck”, Dad gagged. Joe then looked up, seemingly in excitement and ran towards the cooler. He stuck his nose in the cooler and pulled out a pike. He plopped it on the road, his foot stepped on the fish and put his mouth onto it, tearing a piece of it and swallowing it. “At least somebody likes rotten fish”, Dad rasped.
As we looked in surprise, we could hear something from the school. The minute we heard it, a loud boar-like roar came out from the school. We thought it was a very big boar when it came out, but the more we looked, the more we realised it was something else. Its body is like a boar, but its face is like a lion’s and the snout of a camel, with teeth somewhat like a bear’s when it opens its enormous mouth to gargle like a pig. Mom, Dad and even Joe are taken by surprise, making our parents run towards the driveway, while Joe towards our truck with his gorged fish, standing by us. The boar-thing then stopped a few feet away from my parents, seemingly in a defensive stance, hooves scratching the ground. We are scared for our parents, preparing to see this thing rip them to shreds.
It gave one last roar and walked towards the cooler, knocking it over with fish spilling out. It stuck its snout in the fish and swallowed one down. They then slowly walked around the creature and steadily fastened their pace until they were at the truck. We all quickly got in and Dad backed up quickly.
“What the hell was that”, Mom panicked.
“I don’t know, a pig from hell”, Dad responded. We looked at Joe, swallowing down the fish while the rotting fish smell remained. It looked at us in confusion, as we were. We silently laughed for no apparent reason, probably as a mechanism to try to replace the fear. We then heard a shaking in the truck, startling us. We realised that the hell pig was tearing at the bumper of the truck like a lion would. Dad hammered the horn, making the thing back up in surprise. Dad took this opportunity to back up very quickly towards the intersection and turned to the left, quickly avoiding the creature. We sat in silence, except for Joe who was chirping.
When we went down the street, the houses, as usual, were damaged but we saw other vehicles, the first we had seen. Some were parked along the street, others stuck on one lane like city traffic but paused. Weirdly enough, there are no people in the vehicles, nor anyone outside. Most of the vehicles have one or more doors open like people got out to go somewhere. We drove past all the vehicles in the other lane. There is one vehicle we passed by that is on fire, most of the paint already off to reveal the metal beneath, only to be turned into a rainbow of browns and blacks by the dancing flames.
“What. Happened. Here”, Mom slowly asked, as confused and terrified as us. We had a feeling of dread, seeing all the abandoned vehicles.
“That’s the least of our worries. We should be looking for supplies”, Dad responded.
“Hey, how much do we have”, Mom asked Dad, worried about using up the fuel.
“Well, we got a full tank of gas and travelled a hundred kilometers”, Dad responded, more confused. “Nothing makes sense here and I hope we don’t stay here for long”, he muttered.
Eventually, we passed most of the vehicles and reached the veterinary clinic. The small, intact structure stood there, seemingly looking over the icy driveway. We then spotted an old, brown truck and we saw something that set it apart from the rest of the vehicles we’ve seen so far.
“It’s on”, I said, gleefully, with hope that, at least, we aren’t the only ones here. The headlights beamed brightly, and we realised it was getting dark. We also noticed that the street lights aren’t turning on.
“I thought there was no one here”, my Mom said, unsure of the connection between the abandoned but running truck and the lack of people in this town. At one of the intact houses, ahead of us, partially blocked by the trees, we saw what seemed to be bright light coming from one of the windows. What person would go into a house after an earthquake, I thought, thinking about our house back home.
“Someone’s here”, Matt loudly notified, as we all shushed him and that is when Joe is trying to push the door with his snout. “What is he doing?”
“Stay here”, Dad calmly ordered, opening the door, but Joe scurried out and went somewhere else.
“Hey, come back”, Matt called out, with no success. Joe eventually disappeared into the night, never to be seen. Matt then had tears welling up in his eyes like he was about to cry. I hugged him to comfort him.
“He’ll come back some time”, Mom reassured, trying to calm him down and looking at Dad. Dad nodded and grabbed a flashlight that was equipped in the truck. He then walked slowly towards the house, step by step, being shone by our truck’s headlights. He looked back at us and put his hand up when the light in the house moved. It seems to move towards the front door of the house. Emerging from the house is a person walking down the steps, cloaked in darkness. Dad then took a few steps back as the figure came. Finally, the figure stepped into the light.

#include  #include  #include  // ezButton object: ezButton toggleSwitch(A0); ezButton stopButton(A1); ezButton rotateButton(A2); ezButton continueButton(A3); // motor control pins: #define pwmA 3 #define pwmB 11 #define brakeA 9 #define brakeB 8 #define directionA 12 #define directionB 13 // pin names: const int vesterSensor = 5; const int kistlerSensor = 10; const int LEDrotateButton = A4; const int LEDcontinueButton = A5; // Module connection pins: #define kistlerClock 2 #define kistlerData 4 #define vesterClock 6 #define vesterData 7 // variables: int stepsPerRevolution = 200; bool continueRotation = false; // Kistler Sensor: int kistlerObjectCount = 0; int kistlerSensorState = 0; int lastKistlerSensorState = 0; // Vester Sensor: int vesterObjectCount = 0; int vesterSensorState = 0; int lastVesterSensorState = 0; // Variables for debouncing: unsigned long lastDebounceTimeVester = 0; unsigned long lastDebounceTimeKistler = 0; const unsigned long debounceDelay = 100; // Additional variables to track sensor state changes: bool vesterStateChanged = false; bool kistlerStateChanged = false; // Define constants for motor rotation and delay int steps90DegreeRotation = 125; int rotationDelay = 3000; // Initialize the stepper library on the motor shield: Stepper myStepper = Stepper(stepsPerRevolution, directionA, directionB); // Create an instance of the TM1637Displays: TM1637Display vesterDisplay(vesterClock, vesterData); TM1637Display kistlerDisplay(kistlerClock, kistlerData); void setup() { pinMode(pwmA, OUTPUT); pinMode(pwmB, OUTPUT); pinMode(brakeA, OUTPUT); // brake (disable) Channel A pinMode(brakeB, OUTPUT); // brake (disable) Channel B digitalWrite(pwmA, HIGH); // digitalWrite(pwmB, HIGH); digitalWrite(brakeA, LOW); // release brake Channel A digitalWrite(brakeB, LOW); // release brake Channel B // Set the motor speed: myStepper.setSpeed(50); // Set pins: pinMode(vesterSensor, INPUT); pinMode(kistlerSensor, INPUT); pinMode(LEDrotateButton, OUTPUT); pinMode(LEDcontinueButton, OUTPUT); vesterDisplay.setBrightness(1); kistlerDisplay.setBrightness(1); Serial.begin(9600); toggleSwitch.setDebounceTime(50); stopButton.setDebounceTime(50); rotateButton.setDebounceTime(50); continueButton.setDebounceTime(50); } void loop() { toggleSwitch.loop(); stopButton.loop(); rotateButton.loop(); continueButton.loop(); if (stopButton.isPressed()) { myStepper.step(0); continueRotation = false; } if (rotateButton.isPressed()) { myStepper.step(steps90DegreeRotation); continueRotation = true; digitalWrite(LEDrotateButton, HIGH); } // Read the vester sensor and handle debouncing vesterSensorState = digitalRead(vesterSensor); if (vesterSensorState != lastVesterSensorState) { unsigned long currentTime = millis(); if (currentTime - lastDebounceTimeVester > debounceDelay) { lastDebounceTimeVester = currentTime; if (vesterSensorState == HIGH) { vesterObjectCount++; vesterDisplay.showNumberDec(vesterObjectCount); vesterStateChanged = true; } lastVesterSensorState = vesterSensorState; } } // Read the kistler sensor and handle debouncing kistlerSensorState = digitalRead(kistlerSensor); if (kistlerSensorState != lastKistlerSensorState) { unsigned long currentTime = millis(); if (currentTime - lastDebounceTimeKistler > debounceDelay) { lastDebounceTimeKistler = currentTime; if (kistlerSensorState == HIGH) { kistlerObjectCount++; kistlerDisplay.showNumberDec(kistlerObjectCount); kistlerStateChanged = true; } lastKistlerSensorState = kistlerSensorState; } } if (vesterObjectCount >= 10 && kistlerObjectCount >= 10) { myStepper.step(steps90DegreeRotation); // Reset the object counts after rotation vesterObjectCount = 0; kistlerObjectCount = 0; } } 

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himself, hip, hire, his, historic, historical, history, hit, hold, hole, holiday, holy, home, homeless, honest, honey, honor, hope, horizon, horror, horse, hospital, host, hot, hotel, hour, house, household, housing, how, however, huge, human, humor, hundred, hungry, hunter, hunting, hurt, husband, hypothesis, ice, idea, ideal, identification, identify, identity, ignore, ill, illegal, illness, illustrate, image, imagination, imagine, immediate, immediately, immigrant, immigration, impact, implement, implication, imply, importance, important, impose, impossible, impress, impression, impressive, improve, improvement, incentive, incident, include, including, income, incorporate, increase, increased, increasingly, incredible, indeed, independence, independent, index, indicate, indication, individual, industrial, industry, infant, infection, inflation, influence, inform, information, ingredient, initial, initially, initiative, injury, inner, innocent, inquiry, inside, insight, insist, inspire, install, instance, instead, institute, institution, institutional, instruction, instructor, instrument, insurance, intellectual, intelligence, intend, intense, intensity, intention, interaction, interest, interested, interesting, internal, international, Internet, interpret, interpretation, intervention, interview, introduce, introduction, invasion, invest, investigation, investigator, investment, investor, invite, involve, involved, involvement, Iraqi, Irish, iron, Islamic, island, Israeli, issue, it, Italian, item, its, itself, jacket, jail, Japanese, jet, Jew, Jewish, job, join, joint, joke, journal, journalist, journey, joy, judge, judgment, juice, jump, junior, jury, just, justice, justify, keep, key, kick, kid, kill, killer, killing, kind, king, kiss, kitchen, knee, knife, knock, know, knowledge, lab, label, labor, laboratory, lack, lady, lake, land, landscape, language, lap, large, largely, last, late, later, Latin, latter, laugh, launch, law, lawsuit, lawyer, lay, layer, lead, leader, leadership, leading, leaf, league, lean, learn, learning, least, leather, leave, left, leg, legacy, legal, legend, legislation, legislative, legislator, legitimate, lemon, length, less, lesson, let, letter, level, liberal, library, license, lie, life, lifestyle, lifetime, lift, light, like, likely, limit, limitation, limited, line, link, lip, list, listen, literary, literature, little, live, living, load, loan, local, locate, location, lock, long, long-term, look, loose, lose, loss, lost, lot, lots, loud, love, lovely, lover, low, lower, luck, lucky, lunch, luxury, machine, mad, magazine, mail, main, mainly, maintain, maintenance, major, majority, make, maker, makeup, male, mall, man, manage, management, manager, manner, manufacturer, manufacturing, many, map, margin, mark, market, marketing, marriage, married, marry, mask, mass, massive, master, match, material, math, matter, may, maybe, mayor, me, meal, mean, meaning, meanwhile, measure, measurement, meat, mechanism, media, medical, medication, medicine, medium, meet, meeting, member, membership, memory, mental, mention, menu, mere, merely, mess, message, metal, meter, method, Mexican, middle, might, military, milk, million, mind, mine, minister, minor, minority, minute, miracle, mirror, miss, missile, mission, mistake, mix, mixture, mm-hmm, mode, model, moderate, modern, modest, mom, moment, money, monitor, month, mood, moon, moral, more, moreover, morning, mortgage, most, mostly, mother, motion, motivation, motor, mountain, mouse, mouth, move, movement, movie, Mr, Mrs, Ms, much, multiple, murder, muscle, museum, music, musical, musician, Muslim, must, mutual, my, myself, mystery, myth, naked, name, narrative, narrow, nation, national, native, natural, naturally, nature, near, nearby, nearly, necessarily, necessary, neck, need, negative, negotiate, negotiation, neighbor, neighborhood, neither, nerve, nervous, net, network, never, nevertheless, new, newly, news, newspaper, next, nice, night, nine, no, nobody, nod, noise, nomination, nominee, none, nonetheless, nor, normal, normally, north, northern, nose, not, note, nothing, notice, notion, novel, now, nowhere, nuclear, number, numerous, nurse, nut, object, objective, obligation, observation, observe, observer, obtain, obvious, obviously, occasion, occasionally, occupation, occupy, occur, ocean, odd, odds, of, off, offense, offensive, offer, office, officer, official, often, oh, oil, okay, old, Olympic, on, once, one, ongoing, onion, online, only, onto, open, opening, operate, operating, operation, operator, opinion, opponent, opportunity, oppose, opposed, opposite, opposition, option, or, orange, order, ordinary, organic, organization, organize, orientation, origin, original, originally, other, others, otherwise, ought, our, ours, ourselves, out, outcome, outside, oven, over, overall, overcome, overlook, owe, own, owner, pace, pack, package, page, pain, painful, paint, painter, painting, pair, pale, Palestinian, palm, pan, panel, panic, pant, paper, paragraph, parent, park, parking, part, participant, participate, participation, particle, particular, particularly, partly, partner, partnership, party, pass, passage, passenger, passion, past, patch, path, patient, pattern, pause, pay, payment, PC, peace, peak, peer, pen, penalty, people, pepper, per, perceive, percentage, perception, perfect, perfectly, perform, performance, perhaps, period, permanent, permission, permit, person, personal, personality, personally, personnel, perspective, persuade, pet, phase, phenomenon, philosophy, phone, photo, photographer, phrase, physical, physically, physician, piano, pick, picture, pie, piece, pile, pilot, pine, pink, pipe, pitch, place, plan, plane, planet, planning, plant, plastic, plate, platform, play, player, please, pleasure, plenty, plot, plus, PM, pocket, poem, poet, poetry, point, police, policy, political, politically, politician, politics, poll, pollution, pool, poor, pop, popular, population, 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proud, prove, provide, provider, province, provision, psychological, psychology, public, publication, publicity, publish, publisher, pull, punishment, purchase, pure, purpose, pursue, push, put, qualify, quality, quarter, quarterback, quarterly, queen, quest, question, quick, quickly, quiet, quietly, quit, quite, quote, race, racial, radiation, radical, radio, rail, rain, raise, range, rank, rapid, rapidly, rare, rarely, rate, rather, rating, ratio, raw, reach, react, reaction, reader, reading, ready, real, reality, realize, really, reason, reasonable, recall, receive, recent, recently, reception, recipe, recipient, recognition, recognize, recommend, recommendation, record, recording, recover, recovery, recruit, red, reduce, reduction, refer, reference, reflect, reflection, reform, refugee, refuse, regard, regarding, regardless, regime, region, regional, register, regular, regularly, regulate, regulation, regulator, reinforce, reject, relate, relation, relationship, relative, relatively, relax, release, relevant, relief, religion, religious, rely, remain, remaining, remarkable, remember, remind, remote, remove, repeat, repeatedly, replace, replacement, reply, report, reporter, represent, representation, representative, Republican, reputation, request, require, requirement, research, researcher, resemble, reservation, resident, residential, resign, resist, resistance, resolution, resolve, resort, resource, respect, respond, response, responsibility, responsible, rest, restaurant, restore, restriction, result, retain, retire, retirement, return, reveal, revenue, review, revolution, rhythm, rice, rich, rid, ride, rifle, right, ring, rise, risk, river, road, rock, role, roll, romantic, roof, room, root, rope, rose, rough, roughly, round, route, routine, row, rub, rubber, rude, ruin, rule, run, running, rural, rush, Russian, sacred, sad, safe, safety, sake, salad, salary, sale, sales, salt, same, sample, sanction, sand, satellite, satisfaction, satisfied, satisfy, sauce, save, saving, say, scale, scandal, scare, scatter, scenario, scene, schedule, scheme, scholar, scholarship, school, science, scientific, scientist, scope, score, scream, screen, script, sea, search, season, seat, second, secondary, secret, secretary, section, sector, secure, security, see, seed, seek, seem, segment, seize, select, selection, self, sell, Senate, senator, send, senior, sense, sensitive, sentence, separate, sequence, series, serious, seriously, servant, serve, service, session, set, setting, settle, settlement, seven, several, severe, sex, sexual, shade, shadow, shake, shall, shallow, shape, share, sharp, she, sheet, shelf, shell, shelter, shift, shine, ship, shirt, shock, shoe, shoot, shooting, shop, shopping, short, shortly, shot, should, shoulder, shout, show, shower, shrug, shut, shy, sibling, sick, side, sigh, sight, sign, signal, significant, significantly, silence, silent, silver, similar, similarly, simple, simply, sin, since, sing, singer, single, sink, sir, sister, sit, site, situation, six, size, ski, skill, skin, skirt, sky, slave, sleep, slice, slide, slight, slightly, slip, slow, slowly, small, smart, smell, smile, smoke, smooth, snap, snow, so, so-called, soccer, social, society, soft, software, soil, solar, soldier, sole, solid, solution, solve, some, somebody, somehow, someone, something, sometimes, somewhat, somewhere, son, song, soon, sophisticated, sorry, sort, soul, sound, soup, source, south, southern, Soviet, space, Spanish, speak, speaker, special, specialist, species, specific, specifically, specify, speech, speed, spend, spending, spin, spirit, spiritual, split, spoil, sponsor, sport, spot, spray, spread, spring, square, squeeze, stability, stable, staff, stage, stain, stair, stake, stand, standard, standing, star, stare, start, state, statement, station, statistical, status, stay, steady, steal, steel, steep, stem, step, stick, still, stimulate, stimulus, stir, stock, stomach, stone, stop, storage, store, storm, story, straight, strange, stranger, strategic, strategy, stream, street, strength, strengthen, stress, stretch, strike, string, strip, stroke, strong, strongly, structural, structure, struggle, student, studio, study, stuff, stupid, style, subject, submit, subsequent, substance, substantial, substitute, succeed, success, successful, successfully, such, sudden, suddenly, sue, suffer, sufficient, sugar, suggest, suggestion, suicide, suit, summer, summit, sun, super, supply, support, supporter, suppose, supposed, Supreme, sure, surely, surface, surgery, surprise, surprised, surprising, surprisingly, surround, survey, survival, survive, survivor, suspect, sustain, swear, sweep, sweet, swim, swing, switch, symbol, symptom, system, table, tactic, tail, take, tale, talent, talk, tall, tank, tap, tape, target, task, taste, tax, taxi, tea, teach, teacher, teaching, team, tear, technical, technique, technology, teen, teenager, telephone, telescope, television, tell, temperature, temporary, ten, tend, tendency, tennis, tension, tent, term, terms, terrible, territory, terror, terrorist, test, testimony, testing, text, than, thank, thanks, that, the, theater, their, them, theme, themselves, then, theory, therapy, there, therefore, these, they, thick, thin, thing, think, thinking, third, thirty, this, those, though, thought, thousand, threat, threaten, three, throat, through, throughout, throw, thus, ticket, tie, tight, time, tiny, tip, tire, tissue, title, to, tobacco, today, toe, together, toilet, token, tolerate, tomato, tomorrow, tone, tongue, tonight, too, tool, tooth, top, topic, toss, total, totally, touch, tough, tour, tourist, tournament, toward, towards, tower, town, toy, trace, track, trade, tradition, traditional, traffic, tragedy, trail, train, training, transfer, transform, transformation, transition, translate, translation, transmission, transmit, transport, transportation, travel, treat, treatment, treaty, tree, tremendous, trend, trial, tribe, trick, trip, troop, trouble, truck, true, truly, trust, truth, try, tube, tunnel, turn, TV, twelve, twenty, twice, twin, two, type, typical, typically, ugly, ultimate, ultimately, unable, uncle, undergo, understand, understanding, unfortunately, uniform, union, unique, unit, United, universal, universe, university, unknown, unless, unlike, until, unusual, up, upon, upper, urban, urge, us, use, used, useful, user, usual, usually, utility, utilize, vacation, valley, valuable, value, variable, variation, variety, various, vary, vast, vegetable, vehicle, venture, version, versus, very, vessel, veteran, via, victim, victory, video, view, viewer, village, violate, violation, violence, violent, virtually, virtue, virus, visibility, visible, vision, visit, visitor, visual, vital, voice, volume, voluntary, volunteer, vote, voter, voting, wage, wait, wake, walk, wall, wander, want, war, warm, warn, warning, wash, waste, watch, water, wave, way, we, weak, weakness, wealth, wealthy, weapon, wear, weather, web, website, wedding, week, weekend, weekly, weigh, weight, welcome, welfare, well, west, western, wet, what, whatever, wheel, when, whenever, where, whereas, whether, which, while, whisper, white, who, whole, whom, whose, why, wide, widely, widespread, wife, wild, wildlife, will, willing, win, wind, window, wine, wing, winner, winter, wipe, wire, wisdom, wise, wish, with, withdraw, within, without, witness, woman, wonder, wonderful, wood, wooden, word, work, worker, working, workout, workplace, works, workshop, world, worried, worry, worth, would, wound, wrap, write, writer, writing, wrong, yard, yeah, year, yell, yellow, yes, yesterday, yet, yield, you, young, your, yours, yourself, youth, zone.

Good evening, readers. I apologise for the longer-than-expected delay and general inactivity between the publishing of this essay and my last one. I hope that you are not bothered by it, because I cannot promise to increase the frequency of my essays.
With that out of the way, let us proceed to talk about tʷink grammar. If you haven’t already, please read my previous two essays about tʷink phonology and syntax. Those will give you a lot of context as to what the tʷink language is. If you choose to read this without reading the previous essays, please be prepared to be very confused as I will assume that you will have read my two previous essays.

Nouns

tʷink nouns are relatively simple, especially compared to the rest of the grammar, because they do not get declined for anything other than the obligatory classifiers demonstrated in the table below:

	Noun	Pronoun
Human	qʷa-	wa-
Object	ʔiws-	ʔih-
Idea	dam/n-	da-

To see an example of the classifiers being used, read the sentence below:
muʔwaʔ siɣ
go-CLF.HMN-1P many
We are going.

Notes

•The declensions in the second column are only used for pronouns

Verbs

In comparison, tʷink verbs are far more complex, as evidenced by the fact that they decline for person, number and tense. They are so complex that you could make entire sentences using just a single word. To see the charts for person, number and tense, see below:

	1st Person	2nd Person	3rd Person
Nominative	-t(a)	-(h)an	-aht/ħat
Accusative	-tix	-(h)anix	-aħtix/ħatix

	Perfective	Imperfective
Past	-ginʔ	-(h)inʔ
Present	-g(a)	-
Future	-gakah	-kah

Notes

•Some verbs are irregular and do not follow these prescribed patterns, such as the verb muʔ, meaning to go

Ending Message

This essay only covers the basics of tʷink grammar, and there are still more details I have yet to talk about. If you have any questions or constructive criticism, feel free to tell me. Otherwise, I hope that any supernatural beings between now and the next time to care for you.

With Anthony joining the black jackets in the lounge, he felt like he had fully proven himself after his meltdown to get eliminated in Season 11 and Van was happy for Anthony as he had worked his ass off all season and said the final 6 was a strong ass 6 and it was going to be tough to beat anyone in black jackets but he wasn't letting up now. Nick said somehow despite their being less drama that this had been tougher than all stars as he felt the pressure of being a favourite and Paula said she didn't actually expect to this well having been gone from Hells Kitchen for 16 years but was very proud to show she could still work a line after so many years away. Chef Ramsay welcomed back his black jackets and said to show how proud he was of them all getting this far, he reunited them with their families to give them a boost for the next service and said the reward for the next challenge would be spending time with their family with Nick saying this was the exact boost he needed to kick on in the competition. Ramsay said the next challenge was one of his favourites as it was time for the fusion challenge and Nikki said this was the challenge she was looking forward to as she had become a great fusion chef since season 19 and Paula said she could still remember getting a fusion dish on the menu in Season 5 so it was time to relieve her glory days of Hells Kitchen Season 5.
It was King of the Hill with the chefs taking a seat in the chair until a better dish beat them and was being judged by Chef Curtis Stone who said he was very excited for some amazing fusion. First up was Nick with his fusion of Indian and Spanish which he said wouldn't be his ideal fusion as he presented his cod which Stone said was a strong effort, the only issue being there wasn't enough Indian spice in there but it was a good dish as Nick sat in the chair. Next up was Paula with the fusion of Mexican and Japanese which Paula said would not be her first choice and her pork ended up being a bit muddled with flavours as well as having underseasoned daikon and Nick remained in the chair. Anthony was up next with a fusion of France and Thai, and unfortunately his hanger steak was overcooked as well as Stone describing it as a Thai dish with some asparagus lumped in there to make it French as Nick remained in the chair. Kanae was up next with a fusion of Thai and Spanish, and her salmon was praised as being almost perfect and the dish of the day so far as Kanae took a place in the chair to dethrone Nick and Kanae claimed the reign of Queen Kanae was beginning. Van was next with Chinese and Mexican and he also had a superb effort with his snapper with Stone saying the levels had gone up but said Kanae's dish just had the edge! Nikki was up last with French and Indian, and her duck was cooked perfectly as well as combining both cuisines superbly to give Nikki the throne and the victory!
Nikki said to not only get the 2nd black jacket but win the 1st black jacket challenge showed she was here for business this time round and she got to enjoy a lunch and day out with her family while it was ice delivery day for the other 5 black jackets and Anthony said he still thinks about when he overloaded Hells Kitchen with ice. The Chefs had no dinner service tonight so came back the next day refreshed and Chef Ramsay said there was a big challenge coming up in tonights dinner service as the chefs would be facing off against another team of all stars! Out came the first all star who was Season 21 winner Alex Belew and Alex was pumped to take on a team of new all stars and Anthony knew what was up, it was gonna be winners returning. Out came Season 19 winner Kori, Season 17 winner Michelle, Season 18 winner Ariel, Season 20 winner Trenton and Season 12 winner Scott Commings, and Van said this was serious game time tonight as if the all stars could beat a team of winners, it showed Chef Ramsay they had the best black jacket squad of all time. It was noted by Nick that when Scott and Trenton came out, Scott shook everyones hand but Trenton said he'd rather not as it was a competition and Nick said that gave him even more motivation to win tonight and maybe he might be finally able to beat Michelle in a season. Chef Ramsay said both teams could add 2 appetizers and 2 entrees to tonights menu and the black jackets added a tortellini and a tuna tartare appetizer as well as a NY strip and pork entree. The returning winners were less cohesive in picking a menu as Michelle and Trenton disgareed on the entrees and Ariel said it didn't matter what went on the menu as long as they all agreed as they got a shrimp pasta, a squid salad as well as a veal and fillet entree.
The returning winners had Ariel and Kori on appetizers and Kori did admit to being a little nervous to come back as she didn't want to tank on her return on Hells Kitchen but her and Ariel's first risottos and pastas came out perfect and with Michelle serving perfect scallops, Kori said it was just like riding a bike. Ariel continued to have a great service but Kori ended up 2 minutes behind on pasta somehow, and Ariel expected a bit better from Kori than struggling on such a simple dish but Kori did finally complete the ticket as the winners finished appetizers in quick fashion. Scott was happy to be on the garnish station and was extremely vocal as usual with Michelle on fish, and Alex and Trenton on the meat station getting the first 6 top out despite Trenton complaining that Scott doesn't need to count down every 10 seconds as they know what they're doing. Michelle had a strong service on fish but ended up ignoring Alex and Trenton's cry to wait as their steaks and lamb weren't ready to serve her snapper. Alex and Trenton did catch up eventually as the winners continued to serve nice entrees going into the last few tables. Despite claiming he was the prince,of steak, Trenton served an overcooked NY Strip and then served a rare strip on the refire and Alex didn't know how Trenton managed to mess up twice on his own dish. With Alex's help, Trenton got organized and the returning winners completed a strong service with Scott noting that was the easiest service he's had in Hells Kitchen.
Nick and Kanae were on appetizers for the black jackets and Kanae was confident of beating the winners as half of them are probably in their 60s by now and her and Nick worked very well together to serve delicious risottos and carbonara. Anthony on fish ended up dragging on lobster as he hadn't dropped it early enough and Ramsay said we should never wait for lobster as Anthony bounced back to finish the ticket. Nick and Kanae continued to have great services as the black jackets finished appetizers ahead of the winners and Van on garnish was pumped to have his best service yet to lead his team to victory. Nikki and Paula on meat served perfect fillets and duck, and the black jackets finished the first half of entrees in great fashion with Anthony serving nice salmon. Van though started dragging on mashed potato and was unresponsive to Chef Ramsay on a time on mashed potato as Van finally caught up with Paula and Nikki. Nikki continued to have a great service but Paula got behind a minute on lamb and was struggling to stay organized as she had 1 duck ready and 1 not before she finally caught up again, and Ramsay said the bounce backs had been strong all night and to keep it up. Anthony though on a late ticket, realized the skin had fallen off his salmon and had to refire and him and Van's timing went completely off as Anthony served raw salmon and Van mushy cauliflower! Anthony and Van did fight back and the black jackets completed a relatively good service.
Chef Ramsay announced that while 92% of the diners in the red kitchen were happy, the winners had 98% satisfied so the returning winners won and Nick said he still can't beat Michelle. The black jackets had to come up with 2 for elimination and both Kanae and Nick said Van was the first nomination for his issues on garnish but Van said he was by himself and everyone on garnish gets in the weeds at least once and was nominating Anthony and Paula as there was 2 on meat and still issues. Paula said it wasn't her best service but Anthony was the main issue and the team did finally decide on Van and Anthony as the 2 nominees. Despite Anthony pleading for one more chance after his first bad service, Ramsay eliminated ANTHONY for losing control of his station but told him to keep his jacket for being a force all season and said he was happy he invited him back. Van was relieved to survive after his first bad service but tomorrow he was coming back with a vengeance and Nikki said she'd had a couple of great days and was gonna keep it up for the rest of the season to win the whole thing.
Vote HERE for the next 2 chefs to be eliminated!
https://strawpoll.com/GeZAOELbbnV
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lZdCZ5yphKY-xzgCoYI23gLu5dxegS4eB5BC-Slk9ac/edit#gid=0

I strongly suspect my 11 year girl has autism, but level 1. She is incredibly high functioning but meets the markers on so many lists.
Every time I have mentioned this to her pediatrician, I am laughed off. We made an appointment for a developmental pediatrician (a year and a half wait) and the pediatrician told us we were better off treating the anxiety. She functions so well, gets get grades, but her anxiety is high and she misreads social situations or reads too much into social situations. She is relieved when we have nothing to do for the day.
Her pediatrician referred me to a psychologist for anxiety, and she’s been seeing a great therapist for 2 years and is on lexapro. I feel like we’ve made a ton of progress in treating anxiety.
The issue is that she’s a very perceptive 11 year old, and if I bring her to the pediatrician again, my fear is she will think I think something is wrong with her - when there’s really nothing that can be done for her as she’s so high functioning.
I’m just torn and not seeing things clearly.
Any advice would be appreciated.
At this point

How do I fix grading against brick?
first time homeowner, I haven't done landscaping work before and I'm unsure of the best way to properly grade this area of my house so it's not dipping down. i'm not sure if i should do this myself or hire a pro.
I read that you shouldn't have dirt up against the brick. So do I lay in some rock or blocks up against the house, and then pile dirt against that? to bring it up close to that overhang? and then same against the part of the house with the siding?
I was thinking of maybe doing a ground level or slightly raised deck in this area, so the look of the grading isn't as important as the function.
thank you for any advice.

Hi. I don't know how i found this subreddit i just googled some stuff ended up here and read some posts. Just to clarify I dont have a diagnosed CPTSD? I'd just like to share how my life has been because I genuinely have my whole life been thinking either what the fuck is wrong with my life theres no way this is normal and then sometimes i just think that im overreacting and my life has been completely normal. I'd like to know if im just imagining it or not I guess. Also I'd like to add that im doing somewhat better and im not experiencing THOSE bad thoughts anymore so please don't like report my account for being a danger to myself (I think that's a feature on reddit?). Im still a bit messed up but like still MUCH better than I used to be.
Honestly I read this whole thing and im adding here that I rant a lot maybe im just ranting about all the bad things in my life... Just a warning I guess. Don't read this if that's not what you want to read, this ended up super long sorry. Also I dont know if this is even relevant anymore. Half of this rant is about my family and other half about other bad things that happened I think. I don't know if this sub is only about like family stuff im sorry if this is the wrong place. Also trigger warning I had some thoughts about ending it and some self harm.
The first 10 years of my life were semi normal from my memory. Its been a while since those times and I dont remember it that well. I remember my parent's fought semi often (which is normal?) and some of my earliest memories were them yelling, fighting at night, my mother going out at night and yelling that shes never coming back, and a few times my mother doing stuff like talking in a scary voice and i remember crying and saying it was scary I think but she just kept doing it (while it was night and I was probably trying to sleep/go to sleep). I was also the middlechild so my parents always treated my older and younger sibling better like them having better stuff to some amount but not like a ridiculous amount. I also remember being scolded a lot by everyone if I did anything slightly wrong even by accident and I remember my brothers not being scolded at all if they did anything similaworse. Anyways I still mostly remember being semi happy and my life being somewhat normal if not just completely normal and im just focusing too much on the bad stuff. I also remember having sleep paralysises and nightmares a lot around when i was like I'd assume up to 12 years old and a weird thing i realized some time ago is that a lot of time in those nightmares/sleep paralysises the monsteperson that was scaring me was either of my parents. Anyways maybe im just reading into things and its a normal dream. I genuinely don't know if im just being a weirdo and my life was normal and im reading too much into stuff I dont want to pretend like my life was bad if it wasn't im just wondering so please don't get angry at me if its not im just wondering. Oh also my family really never spent much time with me atleast I dont remember them being around and mostly working when I wanted to play. I also remember my mother avoiding me like when I asked to spend time with them they just said no and to do something else. I was really bored as a child but I had videogames atleast so I mostly spent my time around them. Oh also 1 person who I thought was my friend beat me up at school because I said something mild not even at them that their class was worse than ours? I also passed out at school and I dont remember why and I remember my big brother just walking by me without saying a word when I had awoken in the hallway (they saw me and just ignored me...)
Anyways. When I turned 11 or so we moved while I was still in middle of elementary school so I had to leave the few friends I had behind (but my brothers didnt as the other was just beginning elementary school and other was entering middle school). I didn't really make any friends within the school and the few I did dropped me out when they realized I wasn't exactly popular. The teacher and other kids made school hard and while I usually achieved perfect grades i started barely passing in school because of how much I hated it. I also started forgetting stuff too and the teacher scolded me a lot because of that. I started being bullied to some amount by the other kids and my teacher so I started stress eating a lot and got kinda fat. Then they started bullying me about me being fat. I also had really no friends or contacts. I remember being extremely stressed out and my big brother making fun of me because of that. Then I remember getting depressed. I started not really trying anything anymore. My family didn't help they made fun of me being fat. Also I remember not really being physically attacked much but im pretty sure I at some point complained about my big brother hitting me with a controller in my head. But I dont remember if that actually happened? Knowing them it might have. Anyways I remember crying every morning around this age until I didn't anymore. I cried almost every morning because I didnt want to wake up and go to school and my parents sent me there anyways. The kids there made fun of that too I remember one of them asking "why is (me) crying every day" and someone answered to them "that I must be so happy"? Anyways eventually I stopped crying. I just didn't feel anything anymore other than anxiety and sadness and anger rarely. Mind you, through this my family didn't give a fuck about how I went from a somewhat happy child to someone who stayed inside all the time, went from healthy to fat within like a year and didn't feel anything anymore. They just focused on their own things. I started getting suicidal thoughts. I remember when I was a child (even younger) and I learned what suicide ment. I remember wondering why the hell anyone would ever want to do that. And now I felt like I wanted to do that. That's how bad I felt. I remember thinking what my family would think/how they would react if I drowned myself in the river. I went outside often at random times and just thought about doing it. I walked by this like electricity thing and I thought if I touched it would it kill me. Mind you these were just thoughts. I never actually acted to the point that I tried to do anything and I dont think I was doing that bad. I didn't act on these thoughts. I remember once coming home from one of these walks hoping they would wonder where I had been since I was like 12 and my mother just smiled at me (almost like she knew I was trying to get attention from them and with like an evil smile rather than a good one?) and said I was just outside walking to the others. I remember even thought I was the one who played the most games in my family, we got a PS3 and the old PS2 went to my littlebrother along the old TV from my big brother. Even thought the other played only a little and the other didn't play at all ever. I don't know if I was just being a brat but it felt bad taken that videogames were the only thing that made me a bit happy in my home. I remember them doing other stuff too like my big brother often telling me to kill myself, doing stuff like pointing a toy gun at me and like pretending to shoot me and telling me to stop pretending like i was misunderstood (I was depressed and having suicidal thoughts... at 12). Other things I remember is a teacher calling me fat (made me feel a bit bad...) as a joke and my teacher sending me to a class for trouble children with bad grades (even thought I told her I got a bad grade on the exam because no one told me that we had an exam so I couldn't read for it. I was sick when they said we had one btw in school which is why I didnt know) and even thought I clearly didn't belong to that class since the other people seemed to actually not be able to get good grades, i started trying in school just a bit so they would see my grades are good and get me out of that class since I felt bad being there because the others made fun of me because of that too. The teacher there was an ass who constantly spoke to me and the others like we were braindead and i genuinely hated her. It was clear I didnt belong there but they just kept me there the rest of the year. I started sleeping like only 3 hours a night since I was 11 until highschool ended because I didn't want the next day to begin. I just stayed up all night playing games and doing other stuff. Pretty much always other than vacations and weekends I slept like 3-5 hours only. I think that made my grades even worse and I don't remember much from some years of my life where I slept the least im assuming because of the lack of sleep? Or depression idk.
Anyhow things stayed like this. I felt extremely bad and had no motivation but I just kept on living my life. Later on when I went to middleschool at 13 years old I found for the first time some friends. I felt somewhat better, like I belonged for the first time in my life. My depression went away somewhat. Other things stayed the same thought my family still acted the way they always did. Still with my friends I felt like I was okay. I forgot about how bad my life had been a few years. I still had a challenge getting that close to anyone and didnt have self confidence and didnt feel outright happy but I was somewhat okay. I remember at the middle of middle school I got depressed again. I didn't remember that it was a feeling I had always had the past few years because back then I was so out of it. I remember just feeling like there was a void in my heart like to the point it physically hurt every now and then. I guess I realized that more than half of the middle school was over and I knew my friends would leave me behind when it's over since I had a hard time getting too close to them. And that's what brought the depression. I remember some months after since I still felt depressed telling my mother I was depressed and she just kept on working and saying in a monotone voice that "oh really? that means you have to go to therapy". And it scared me I didnt know what that would be like so I just said never mind and walked back to my room. Anyways middle school ended none of my friends stayed in contact I got super depressed. Because of my lack of good grades other than the last half few months which is the only time period where I tried and got very good grades, my overall average in middle school almost prevented me from getting to high school. I remember my dad just saying that "sorry I guess you tried your best it wasn't enough" something along those lines. Like wtf I didnt try my best I was depressed and slept 3 hours and didnt study at all so I could spent all my time with videogames and my few friends so I could feel a little bit of happiness in my life. I didn't have the fucking motivation to study at all... Anyhow I got to highschool.
So highschool was the worst. But honestly im getting tired of writing. I had THOSE bad thoughts again, we have to go to army when we get out of highschool in my country so that scared the hell out of me, I didn't focus on school was bullied, family was just causing problems. No wait I do want to write a couple things here. When I was 17 i developed bad OCD. I didnt go out of my room anymore. I didnt want to touch anything that had been in my school and then anything that had touched those things I didnt want to touch either. Something called contamination OCD apparently? I spent at ages 17 to 18 probably 2-5 hours average daily on compulsions. I felt like a mindless puppet. I keep thinking how much better grades I'd have got if i spent that time on studying. Once my big brother really invaded my personal space and it upset me and made me so stressed because of OCD related stuff that I took a semi sharp object from my TV remote and slashed my leg a few times to a point that I still can see the scar. I also got angry and felt bad easily when I lost in a videogame or such and sometimes bit my hand in anger. My parents also wanted me to go to army instead of trying to not go there (theres a few alternatives). But at this point I stopped liking my family. So i knew I was not going to do that or what they want. I had dreamed since I was 15 of when I'd get to move away and never see these people...
Anyhow. Im 23 now. I worked through a lot of my issues. Not fat anymore. I go outside now. I sleep a normal amount. I exercise. My OCD i managed to best atleast to the point that im able to function mostly normally like I wouldn't even have it. Still depressed probably I don't remember what it felt like to feel to be honest so I don't know if I am depressed? Haven't had THOSE thoughts in many years. Haven't self harmed myself in years. Still have no friends because i have quite a bad social anxiety due to my life. Still thought for the first time in years... maybe since I was 11. I feel like my life is not going a steep downhill. I feel like it's getting better actually. And i've felt like that some time as of writing this as I began to fix my life and my issues.
The most annoying thing is... it's been so many years. My life has changed so much. The family I have im still in ties with to some amount even though I'd like to not be. They dont seem bad now? That bad? But I still want to get away from them completely and never see them. I just FEEL like I need to do that. But I dont know if they even were that bad. That's what I want to know here. Is my family normal. Is there something wrong with me and I imagine they are bad? I might end up deleting this post and my account. This is just a throwaway. I just want to know. I need outside input. I've been so alone that I never had that. I need to know if im imagining that I had a bad life or if it was not normal. I literally feel like I cant view my past objectively because I can't remember much. There were happy memories too in my childhood. A lot of them. Atleast some years of it. Im just picking the bad examples. I managed to enjoy some of my time back then. I just cant realize whether theres something wrong with other people especially my family and the bad people in school or if im the problem. If you actually read this, anyone, thank you. You probably know more about my life and existance than anyone else other than me since I've spent so much of my life alone.

hi guys 😭 again this is gonna sound dumb and idk if u guys even know how to answer / if it’s school specific but i thought i’d try. i currently have a 3.81
2nd semester grades: A A- A A A+ A A
Final grades (again idk if this is needed) A A- A A+ A A- A
feel free to call me dumb if this is school specific lmao

Hey,
i am having a math problem.
I want to check out probabilities for my star wars unlimited gameplay.
It has to do with probabilities and cards. Let's assume we have a deck of 50 cards. 47-49 of those 50 cards dont matter. What matters are 1-3 cards (Let's say they are the jokers, the rest of the deck could be anything).
So I either have a deck with 1 joker and 49 cards, 2 jokers and 48 cards or 3 jokers and 47 cards.
On the first turn I draw 6 cards, on the 2nd turn I draw two cards and on each other turn I draw 2 cards as well.
What are the chance to have at 1, 2 or 3 (and at least one joker) on turn 1, on turn 2 and so on in my hand?
I can't really figure how how to do the math.
A table like this would be really helpful in the end. If I understand the math I could make a google spreadsheet maybe.
Turns Number of Jokers Chance of 1 Joker Chance of 2 Joker Chance of 3 Joker Chance of at least one joker
Any math buffs arround? Thanks in advance!

I’ve had this backpack since seventh grade and recently now graduated. I’d like to get a brand new one. Or something that’s at least somewhat in good condition. But I can’t seem to find it anywhere on the Internet no matter how many different things and ways I type it out. Here’s my picture. I found one of it on eBay, but I want to buy it brand new if that’s even possible. So here’s another picture that I got from the eBay. (2nd slide)

Hi everybody,
I'm studying CS in my 4th semester at some not well known german university and currently have good grades of around 1.3 (equivalent is 3.7 GPA). I also started a university journal club about Computational Neuroscience which I would love to do my masters in. Besides uni I'm building a startup (I'm not a founder but joined as 2nd technical member) that is starting to show some signs of success (It's a B2B and we finally got one of the biggest clients that we could potentially get)
Now my question is: With putting in a lot of time into the startup it's hard for me to keep my grades up. Realistically I think if I finish in time (german "Regelstudienzeit") I will (with some luck) keep my 1.3 - if I take a semester or two longer I think I would be able to achieve a ~1.2.
My question is: For getting into a good/prestigious master (I mean both overseas elite master programs like standford, MIT etc. and good german universities like TUM, TU Berlin etc.) how bad is it if I take too long for my undergraduate degree? Is working on the startup a legit reason for taking longer than expected?