I’ve been a lurker for a while but this has been on my mind lately and I wanted some insight from others. Bear with me, it’s gonna be a long one cuz there’s a lot of back story.
So, about 2 years ago I was doing lashes and started my own business and I met a woman, let’s call her Jen. Jen had 3 dogs that lived with her and her bf. She worked a lot and he did too but from home so it worked for the dogs. Except one of them, let’s call him Buddy. So they had found Buddy as a stray and took him in. He was a 90lb pit bull mix, super sweet but also barely 2 so he was still in his puppy phase a bit and VERY playful. Anyway she tells me that she’s trying to find a home for him and I tell her that my bf (at the time) really wanted his own dog.
So we talk about the dog she tells me he’s house trained and whatnot and I also talk to my bf and we agree to take the dog. We go get him shortly after and bring him home and she tells me “if you ever can’t take care of him please let me know and we’ll come take him back”. Things were fine at first since I already have a dog and they got along really well and played all the time. But then he started pooping in the house and generally just being fairly destructive. I was living in an apt so I didn’t have a yard but it was an 800+ sq ft loft with 2 floors and they had plenty of room to play in and plenty of toys for enrichment. And we took them on 2 30 min walks every day (plus shorter ones for bathroom breaks). Still he would poop in the house while we were working. And I wasn’t working much at this time, but I felt I couldn’t leave him free in the house and I do not like locking dogs in their kennel unless I really need to.
So next time I see her I ask her why she lied about him being house broken and she basically tells me that “well we just let him outside and he goes” and tells me he doesn’t really know how to use a leash or wait to use the bathroom. Like…this is a 90 lb dog and you DIDNT actually train him…at all?? And then lied about it?? Obviously I was upset but still kept him because I made the commitment.
A few weeks later, me and my bf got into a HUGE fight. We had spent the night drinking beer, listening to music, and playing video games and around 3 am he went to the bathroom. After about 30 min it was really quiet in the house so I assumed he went to bed and got ready to go upstairs myself. When I got up there he was in the bathroom so I laid in bed and started reading a book on my phone. He came out and asked if I was reading and when I said yes he sighed SUPER hard and I was like umm wtf? And he tried to say he just felt nauseous. I said “feeling nauseous ain’t never made me sigh like that but ok”. He gets upset that I “assumed” the sigh was towards me. I say “if I answer a question and you sigh right after it’s logical for me to assume it was towards me” and he says he understands and agrees. I try to go to sleep.
Here’s where it all blew up. He gets to going on and on about how I always assume the worst and I’m this and that and blah blah. It’s 330 am and I’m like fuck this I’m just gonna go. I start to get dressed and he gets to saying all this awful stuff about me like “you never loved me, you’re a horrible person” accuses me of cheating on him constantly. And at one point I just said “I’m gonna just agree to everything you say cuz I’m not arguing with you. He says “you prolly finna go fuck another nigga” I tell him yes I am. “You don’t love me” I tell him he’s right I don’t. He loses his shit. He’s literally screaming at me calling me a bitch, saying fuck you over and over, telling me how awful I am and how only somebody fucked up could lead him on like that, etc. It was honestly worse but I think you get the point.
One of the last things he does before he leaves is look me in my eyes and say “I’m gonna fucking k*ll myself and it’s your fault”. For reference, my first bf committed suicide a week after my 17th birthday. I was obviously devastated and traumatized by this and he knew about it. He said it to hurt me. Needless to say, the next day when he tried apologizing I simply told him I was done.
Fast forward a couple weeks and he’s still around cuz he didn’t really have anywhere else to go and I’m too kindhearted to let someone I cared about be homeless so he was sleeping on my couch. Me and an old ex got back in touch (we were still friends but distant) and he invited me to come see his house he had recently bought and to show me an album he’d been working on. I agreed and my ex (one living with me) overheard and was clearly upset but I told him it’s none of his business.
Next day I go over it ended up getting really late so I just stayed over there. Next morning I get a text telling me that my ex was in the hospital because he tried to commit suicide. His sister found him and he was gonna be in the hospital for a few days. This sent me into an emotional and mental spiral because I couldn’t help but blame myself. At the same time, I’m still talking care of both the dogs but it was just too much. So I reached out to Jen and tell her I’m really having a rough time mentally and I could really use some help and if she could please take him back. She basically tells me “it’s not a good time for us right now”. So I tell her that I’ll keep him until I find a home for him.
A few days later I could finally talk to my ex in the hospital and at first things were fine and then he started blaming me for what he did and I just couldn’t take it. I told him he needed to get all his things out of my house when he was better and he needed to find somewhere for his dog to go. Also again I reached out to Jen to see if she could take him. She still couldn’t and eventually my ex found a place for him. An older couple that his grandmother was close with had recently lost their dog who was about the same size. They also lived on a ranch. We thought it was perfect and so my ex took him there to live with them.
Probably about a week later I see Jen and she asks me about Buddy and I tell her what happened and that we rehomed him. She was really upset and was telling me that she didn’t know I needed help that bad and if she did she would have taken him back. Mind you, I asked her at least twice to take him and she said no. I reminded her of this and she said if she knew it was that bad she would have helped. I say I don’t think I should have to explain every detail of what’s going on in my life for her to understand that I needed help.
She was really upset still. And she texted me later saying how her and her bf had both been crying and how much they loved Buddy. But like…if you love him so much why not take him back?? Didn’t and still doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway that pretty much ended our friendship and I haven’t heard from her since. I don’t really think I did anything wrong but for some reason it’s been on my mind a lot lately. So AITA for rehoming the dog?
Tl;dr Me and bf adopted a dog from someone I knew. We broke up and he tried to unalive himself. I tried to give the dog back because I was spiraling mentally and they said no. I rehomed the dog to an older couple that lived on a ranch. The person I got the dog from was very upset and we haven’t talked since.

This story starts with me being unemployed and having about $6-7,000 in savings while living with my parents, to getting employed, earning more than I ever had before, and yet being almost never so broke. Him requesting money is done through SMS unless otherwise stated. I don't think I'll be putting a TLDR in, it's sort of a lot regardless.
Why am I telling you this story? There's a strange phenomenon that concealing guilt or shame, or something, isn't good for you. That isn't necessarily what I'm feeling, I am only trying to move on as expediently as I can think of ways to do so. Rather than have my inner circle in the know, as I have had before, I have decided to post into the void.
*Not every transaction is detailed, some are recurring with the most noteworthy ones being bolded in chapter form. There are 82 transactions and this is sort of a long story, so I cut some fluff out by excluding a lot of them. *Note, for all the amounts borrowed and offered to pay back eventually, I repeatedly told them not to worry about it and that I didn't consider them my debtors, this is true to the end of the story, and I will not be seeking financial remuneration. After 4 months of working with nothing to show for it I am simply going to just enjoy knowing that I now get to keep the money I make.
The beginning:
It all started with picking up a tall young man walking by the side of the road in QLD (where I live). The man had been walking for hours in broad daylight and was all sweaty, trying to get to the nearest large rural town some 40 minutes away from where I live, which is also where I was going. We do the usual thing and try to make small talk to break the ice, sharing some personal information like if either of us is studying or working our age difference (which isn't that much, me being slightly older). he told me he was walking to see a mate in town about his car, if his friend had repaired it yet. Because he wasn't sure whether it would be fixed, we made an arrangement that I would also pick him up on my way out of town back home.
So, I do, and we do more small talk to the point of having an actual conversation, he also tells me he has a 2-year-old daughter. This is a significant detail because it is what drives a lot of the sympathy I had for his situation. There is also one thing about that conversation that stands out to me, and that was the impression that this guy was not very good with money because he said he frequently wants to buy something and then wants something else so he sells the first thing he bought to pay for the second, sort of like he couldn't help it or something. I couldn't relate. On the way home together I point out where my place was and drove past to drop him off at his. It was at this point or when I dropped him off in town that I gave him my phone number and said to text me if he needed a ride sometime.
Some days later he texts me asking me to lend him $50 for fuel because his place has no power (I would later learn that his property is not hooked up to the electrical grid and his family uses a generator for power). He wanted me to send it to his PayID number, which is something I had never used before. The next day he and his missus want a ride into town and back to check out a bus(?), he also wanted to borrow $100 which he said he would pay back in a couple of weeks. Before I left town, I got a call from a place I had sent my resume in to and they offered to start me on their employment process, to which I agreed. Yay! They stay in town overnight and made it to a pub, he called me later asking for something like $180+ for drinks and asked me to pick them up the next day, thanked me for funding their (apparently very fun) night out and informed me that the bus is very nice and will be getting delivered to their property in a few days (neither of them had the appropriate license to drive the bus, his father did except he did not come with us and I never met the man). He also asks for $200 to pay off a debt to his brother-in-law, would also pay that back to me as $300 in two weeks.
The next day, near dusk, he asks me for a lift into town to do some grocery shopping at a servo. I show up at his place and his mother wants to tag along, and she has an empty jerry can for fuel to use in the generator. So away we went, for a 90+ minute drive for the third day in a row, except near dark this time. I was beginning to get a little tired of the lack of forward thinking (why didn't you go shopping before I had to pick you up from town yesterday?), but there is so much more to come... I also gave him another $300 that night for some reason and $50 the next day to renew his Spotify subscription.
Two days later he asks me how much I'm actually willing to lend him, I said $500 but pleaded that he has to make it last a while, he agreed. He also informed me that he would now have to pay for the transportation of the bus to the property, and two days later told me that he was $300 short ($800) total to bring it 80kms. That's borrowing nearly $1,000 in two days, he also said this would be the last time he'd borrow.
It's at this point that he asks me what total he owes me, I was getting back to work at the time and told him to check his bank transactions, but I definitely took this as a sign of goodwill that he was keeping track to reimburse me even though I was telling him that he owes me nothing.
The worker's compensation claim:
A couple of days later he asks me for $170 to take his missus out for the night, winds up at the Gold Coast needing $500 for accommodation because he "didn't think things through". Good news is that his missus' car is now registered so I won't have to give them rides anymore, and more good news is that he's getting worker's comp in two weeks to the tune of $3,000 for his hand getting crushed on his last job (he stated this had left him unable to bend 2 or more fingers), he lastly states this money could pay back the $1,650 he owes me (his calculation). Next day $200 for fuel home, then $500, and he asks me to deny him any further transfer. He sends me a picture of the bus, a 1979 Albion Viking. I couldn't find the picture he sent me on Google, so I guess there really was a bus and I really did pay for the pricey transportation of a 55-year-old vehicle that had depreciated to nothing. He said he would send pics when he cleans up the inside, but they never came.
The very next day, he claims my very final $500 transfer did not go through (this may have actually been the case because I transferred the money between accounts for a faster transfer and then to him in less than a minute, so I suppose I just did it too fast or he was lying, but it was definitely gone from the account), to which I said give it a few days. Every day for the next 3 days he would tell me it still hasn't come through.
The nephew:
On day 4 of the final transfer, he stopped telling me it hadn't come through, however he stated that his missus had a nephew (14-15) who was going through some things and was about to be kicked out of his home, needed $200 for fuel to pick him up and bring him back to their place. Okay, well if I can prevent a minor (14-15) from being on the streets by lending a little more, so be it. I went over to physically hand him the money for fuel and he informed me in more detail what was going on, and it sounded believable. A couple days later and he's asking $150 for fuel to return the nephew to his parents, and his missus is requesting $200-$300 for accommodation to stay for a few days to resolve the situation. They stay a few more days down there for a total of about $1,410, spent on food, rent, and trying to calm the boy down.
He also got an update regarding his worker's comp, said it'd be payed out within 6 weeks for approximately $10k, then he asked me for a loan of $1,000 with an interest rate of 40% so I'd get $1,400 back. I, at this point, questioned why in the world would he need a loan of $1,000 after all I'd given him, and his response is... "car" - I asked him to elaborate further and he said there was a car he could buy down there for himself at that price. I informed him that money was actually getting very tight for me despite working now. He didn't get the car. I was also thinking that I would only have to go without having money while still working just until he got his worker's comp, my hope was that I could save and be content knowing his family would be looked after for a while.
I eventually called the bank to ask them if that final* $500 transfer had actually gone through on their end and they said it had, but to trace the transaction would incur a fee of $20, now knowing this and not really wanting to pay it I decided I would triple check if, after all these days, he had gotten that final* transaction: "Yeah, just came through today bro"
Considering this disregard for my time and neglecting to keep me updated on things to be just a quirk of my new friend, not wanting to claim he had been lying, I pressed on in good faith that this could just be water under the bridge.
His missus contacts me and says she needs $290 because she found accommodation for her nephew, and that he had forgot to pack anything including food. Another $100. Then fuel back while the nephew stays at this new place for a week. $70. I had concerns with leaving a minor renting alone so far away and his schooling, but they were met with it was "just for a week" until they could find some place to put him closer to them, their new primary caregivers, that apparently could not be at their house. I was, at this time, under the impression that the nephew was living alone, yet it would later be revealed that he was not.
The tyres:
3 days later after setting the nephew up somewhere close enough to his school, the missus went to visit him and got two tyres slashed, $190 to replace. She goes to the tyre place and is told that all of the tyres need to be replaced otherwise it is not legal, so it's actually $390 for all 4 (I was skeptical about this and was on a work break at the time, still have not looked into the validity of the claim). Some more time passes and general purpose transfers take place. I am informed that the nephew has sorted out an Aus Study payment from Centrelink, but that I would need to transfer $200 for the nephew's necessities until it's actually worked out, and I would no longer need to pay his rent. Cool. At this point in time, I was working but not keeping what I made. I paid board at home, but the rest minus my fuel between work and home is what I refer to as the 'x tax' ('x' being a stand-in for the name of the person who scammed me). The requests would mostly happen around the day I got paid, with a believable frequent expense of fuel for the generator being at least $160 a week, not to mention fuel for their car and the infrequent requests from his mother to "pay back her friends"
Sometime later, the missus got another flat tyre from driving over a piece of metal on the highway, $75 to replace and they managed to get towed to the tyre place (I did inform them that they would have a spare tyre in the back of the car, but they claimed it had already been used "the other day when we had another one slashed"). They got another spare but used that as well.
The funeral:
I get a text at work from the man saying that his grandfather was in palliative care with only one or two weeks left, and that his cousin was requesting he and his mother go down to see him, so he asks me if I can help. I decided I should be setting a weekly limit or something so this new friend doesn't drain my bank account each pay day, so I gave him $100 and let him know that it's a hard limit. 4 days later, he tells me that his grandfather had passed 2 days prior, needed $100 to get down to his funeral. I could only give him $85 and told him I would be unable to fund his return trip, to which he agreed would be fine. 2 days later, after the funeral, he tells me that he and his mother need $200+ to get home, get food & drinks on the way back and that the rest of their family would not help them and that they "have no other way back". Getting tired of the lack of forward thinking in this family's affairs, I reluctantly agreed to save them once again.
5 days later I ask him when he gets his worker's comp payout so I can begin to save up money from work knowing he and his family is taken care of for a while, he tells me "next week hopefully". This was in late March. Queue more travelling and fuel costs to now go and cremate the grandfather as his wishes were for him and his mother to be there when it happens. Now, I thought the funeral had already happened and that was the end of it, but it turns out that was just the funeral service, which is something I was not aware was a thing. Due to this misunderstanding, I was very suspicious at this point and exclaimed in a text "You already had the funeral!" while thinking "you can't bury someone twice, is this evidence you are scamming me?".
They also needed accommodation, except I was so suspicious of this man that I requested he find and tell me the name of the hotel they'll be staying at, just so I can verify that is the actual price per head. Also, his mum blew another tyre, but they happened to be right outside a tyre place... again. He claims to not be having very good luck anyway. A request is made for money to take his missus out for her Birthday. I tell him in a lengthy text I had been working for 2 months with nothing to show for it and that I am much more inclined to assist him only with essential spending like fuel or food, and he claimed to understand that, then stated he would use a bit of the money for a small cheap present anyway. The present turned out to be $200 on layby and he needed another $60 to fully acquire it. I was telling him to tone down his spending to emphasis that he needs to live at or below his own means and that he wouldn't need my help if he had just bought a much cheaper present.
It'd been about 9 weeks since he told me it would take 2 weeks for the worker's comp (which was later changed to 6 weeks) to be paid and I was wondering if he had heard back or followed up. He said he did and that they would "get back to him" about it. So, now that hope I had that this was just a temporary situation wasn't holding up so well. Despite all the money I was giving him he had bills "piling up" and one urgent one was for a storage unit where he claimed to have a shipping container's worth of stuff and the owner was threatening to throw it all out if they didn't pay his 6 weeks overdue fee. Apparently, if he had paid just most of the fee he would get to keep his stuff there, which is what happened.
There was a wedding for his brother-in-law and on the way back he asked me if I could help him buy phone data, except the amount he ended up paying wasn't an option for renewal, it was about $5-$10 off from the options available (this just fueled my suspicion even further that something just wasn't right). Thinking that a scammer wouldn't voluntarily give money back, I tested him by asking him for $40 back when I overpaid him and well, that's where it went to, that mobile plan. When they returned home from the wedding they found that their generator had not been fueled like he reminded his parents to do and so they lost all the food they had in the fridge. I questioned why his parents didn't notice the power had gone out and all of a sudden there was a second generator that was for them(?).
Their landlord had apparently stated he would be requiring $200 in rent a week early because he has bills and rates to pay. He informs me that he hasn't got a proper contract to even be on the property and could be kicked out at any moment and that he "needed to keep his landlord happy". I couldn't help him pay that much (nor did I really want to give in to his landlord's outrageous demand) so I sent him a link to QSTARS where he could learn his tenancy rights, except it was Saturday which means he wouldn't be able to call them. Then I suggested that he may be able to get a faster response over the weekend to his situation by making a Reddit account (he asked me what that was) and posting on the shitrentals sub.
A few days later he tells me he has been posting there and learning some things, meanwhile I had been intentionally avoiding the sub so as not to invade his personal privacy, however some days go by and I am suuuuper suspicious by this point I look around for some thread or comment relating to his situation in the timeframe it would have been possible for him to make one. I figured if the situation was so urgent that he would at least try to seek advice over the weekend, but I didn't see any evidence of that, he also never told me if he called the tenant's advisory and I never heard anything about his rental situation again.
6 Days from when he refreshed his mobile data, he had apparently used the 30GB limit. I was astounded at this and knew it was going to continue to be my problem if I didn't find this man a better subscription plan with his provider, so I did, for $10 more he could double his data. Only, I told him that he could have the 6-month plan for more money if he wasn't going to use so much data and because it would have been cheaper for me in the long run too, he agreed. I also thought that if he were really scamming me he would choose the option that makes me transfer more money, which is what happened. I guess that's test #2.
The ending:
Which brings me to today. The nephew was brought back into the story because he had apparently been kicked out of his mates place he was staying at(?) and they needed fuel to go and get him. Kicked out of 2 places? Okay. So I do the transfer and I decided that the only way I could subtly (that is, without compromising friendship or alerting this man that I don't trust him) find out the truth is to visit him face-to-face much further up his property. I wanted to confirm if A: the nephew was real or not B: if there was really a bus and C: if there was a second generator. The best way to do this, I thought, was to just show up and not ask if I could come over because if he was lying about the nephew's existence he would probably say a lot of things to make sure I'd not be able to visit him while the nephew is there. I bring a 6-pack to his gate and realise that he isn't home. Okay. I go home but there's a request in my phone for money for school uniforms and supplies for the nephew to transfer to a local school that I'm intentionally ignoring.
Queue the next day and I get prepared to go again, but I get a text saying that they're out again in town, still waiting for me to transfer money for these school supplies. I had done a bit of research and found that it was either unlikely or impossible for a student to transfer schools within one or two days, or to start in the middle of a term, so I felt pretty confident that this was a situation that didn't need addressing urgently. Also, remember when the nephew sorted something with Centrelink to get Aus Study payments, the one where I no longer had to pay some or all of his rent? Well, that was no longer the case. now he is too young to get them, casually forgotten about maybe? Oh yeah, and he had to start school that day. Anyway, I tell the man that it may be possible to get a uniform from the school's uniform storeroom as that is an option for families with financial difficulty, he says that due to Covid they are out of them and that they tried that already...
Right, so now I ask him how the nephew got kicked out (not important), I just wanted to know if it was planned or sudden, if there was enough time to start the process of transferring from his current school to the local one in town. There wasn't! SO, I called him out, told him what he was saying wasn't possible and that his story sounded like a scheme to get money out of me. I asked him for an easy proof, simply take a picture of yourself with the nephew in the car to prove he's real. He denied trying to scam me and said the nephew and the missus are in the school trying to resolve the situation and that he couldn't take the picture. Instead, he sent me a different picture on Facebook of him and his mates being pulled over for something by the police(?) which he claimed just happened before. I could barely identify anyone in that photo, but it looked like he was the one driving the car(?). I said that I've given him too many passes and the benefit of the doubt, but not this time and that whenever he wants to provide a picture with his nephew, like when he simply comes out of the school(?), to send it my way. Somewhat quickly they got out of the school and the excuse for not taking a picture became "We are driving in the car now"
He says that the picture before is the only one he's got, I said take another when you can, then he goes on about this being the last time he needs fuel money and to do it and then he'll send the picture. I told him no transfer would be happening and I would be blocking his number in a few hours if he doesn't do it (I really do like to give people the benefit of the doubt, it's almost certainly what has led to this going on for so long). He sends me another picture on Facebook except this time it's him upfront (passenger side), his missus behind him, and a child in the backseat.
This photo looked a lot more like what I was asking for, except neither him nor his missus looked the slightest bit worried about losing my charity and the child in the back didn't look 14-15 like the nephew is supposed to be aged. Rejecting this photo for these reasons and stating it was an old photo he had, he kept asking for fuel money just so he would be able to get home and so I told him that if he asks again, I would be blocking his number. I also told him his lack of forward thinking does not constitute an emergency for me and that there are at least 4 adults in his household and surely someone has thought that if they left to go to town, that they would be able to return home. He said that if I didn't provide the fuel money, they would be stuck. I said if his mum (the driver) had to pull over anyway, it would be a good time to take that picture (which I changed to him standing outside the car with his nephew).
He said providing another photo wouldn't do any good as he claims the two he sent were proof enough... the first one really isn't related to the second, it's strange he thought that would constitute the proof I was requesting, really it just raises further questions for me... and that's about when I block his number (after previously blocking him on Facebook).

(As always, flyers are out Wednesdays, most store sales for the new flyer start on Thursdays)
Adonis

• Crab section (thawed) - $7.77 per lb -- Interesting! Could be fun for making neat meals!
• Coho salmon fillet - $7.77 per lb -- Wow! That's a great price for salmon!
• Sea bass (fresh, free cleaning) - $7.99 per lb -- Fair price for fresh fish.
• Basa filet (thawed) - $4.99 per lb -- Nice! It's not fresh filet, but it's a good price,.
• Chicken thighs (boneless skinless) - $5.99 per lb -- Not amazing, but ok for boneless chicken.
• Grain-fed veal blade roast - $5.99 per lb -- Interesting! It's a more tender cut, more delicate flavour, which might be nice!
• Beef eye of round - $6.99 per lb -- Good and fair price for eye of round. It's possible to find it for less, but it's a hunt. This is a regular Adonis deal.
• Rib-eye steak - $17.99 per lb -- Makes me think of a post I saw this week of a standard prime rib roast in Calgary sold at $55/kg, 27/lb or something. Which is crazy!
• Red greenhouse tomatoes - $0.99 per lb -- Awesome! Great price for tomatoes, but I found the other produce prices advertised were a little lackluster.
• Apricots (fresh) - $4.99 per lb -- Low-ish price for fresh apricots.
• Brick cheese (Cracker Barrel) - $5.77 400g bar -- Not under $5, but still worth snagging a bar if it means skipping a trip elsewhere.
• Cheese Counter - Canadian feta - $1.99 per 100g -- Nice! $2/100g for feta is good.
• Cheese Counter - Tuma - $2.29 per 100g -- Interesting! "Tuma cheese is renowned for its delicate mild milk flavour, and its smooth, velvety and firm texture."
• Cheese Counter - Akawi - $2.29 per 100g -- Ahh, this is a lovely cheese. Not cheap, but it's good stuff!
• Cheese Counter - Fior de latte - $2.29 per 100g -- Good price. This is the stuff you need for a Caprese salad!
• Pâté (Bretagne) - $5.00 for 2 150g packs -- Great price! These regularly go for $4 or so.
• Deli - Chicken breast (Solmaz) - $1.79 per 100g -- Nice!
• Deli - Smoked ham (Olymel) - $1.49 per 100g -- Excellent!
• Deli - Turkey breast (Alzahraa) - $1.49 per 100g -- More great deli!
• Deli - Prosciutto (Negroni) - $2.79 per 100g -- Ah! Nice! Different brand, same great prosciutto price!
• Walnuts and mixed nuts (Cedar) - $4.99 454g bag -- Nice! That's cheap!
• Almonds (Cedar) - $5.99 454g bag -- Good price for almonds!
• Pistachios (roasted, salted, Cedar) - $12.99 454g bag -- Pistachio prices are a little funny. $10/lb is really the price to aim for, but this isn't far off. And it's not uncommon to see 200-250g bags for $7-8 or more.
• Produce Price Rating: Medium, but always has well-priced chicken, the deli meat sale rotations are always fantastic, and just the overall variety of goods is refreshing. Personal favourite store.

Farm Boy

• Chicken breast (boneless skinless) - $5.99 per lb -- Fair price for chicken breast.
• Wild-caught Argentinian shrimp (23-30ct) - $7.99 340g bag -- This is a good rate on decent shrimp!
• Fresh sausage deal - $5.99 500g packs -- Nice little sausage deal here. Fresh sausage avoids the preservatives!
• Mini cucumbers - $5.00 for 2 6-packs -- Good price for mini cucumber.
• Fiddleheads (fresh daily) - $5.99 per lb -- Neat! These are fun to see on the shelf. Try a fun seasonal item!
• Hothouse tomatoes - $1.49 per lb -- Good price for tomatoes!
• Eggplant - $1.49 per lb -- Great price for eggplant! Often $2/lb or more!
• Zucchini - $1.49 per lb -- Good price zucch! You can find them for less, but you'll have to hunt for it.
• Green onion - $0.77 per bunch -- Nice! It's crazy to be happy about green onions for under $1…
• Blueberries - $2.99 full pint -- Ad is for 473g pints. This is a great deal! Worth snagging some!
• Produce Price Rating: High

Farmers Pick (can be a little late on their flyer) (https://www.farmerspick.ca/flyer-specials)
Food Basics

• Ground chicken (lean, Zabiha) - $3.88 450g pack -- Great price for ground chicken!
• Pork side rib - $2.98 per lb -- Good price for pork rib!
• Pork tenderloin - $2.98 per lb -- Great price for tenderloin. More often found for $4/lb.
• Fresh beef burger patties - $4.00 4-pack -- These are 1/4lb patties, meaning we're clocking in at $4/lb, which is honestly pretty good! Season them up and grill! There's also Selection 8-pack of buns on sale for 1.77. So, that's basically $10 for 8 burgers. That's value!
• Asparagus - $1.98 per lb -- Excllent! This is a great price! And it's not even the 340g bunches, no, this is per lb!
• Sweet peppers - $2.98 4-pack -- Nice!
• Sweet potato and sweet purple potato - $1.28 per lb -- Fair price for sweet potatoes. It's fun to see purple ones get lumped into the same bracket.
• Coleslaw kit (Green Giant) - $5.00 for 2 340g kits -- Great price for salad kits.
• Mini potatoes - $2.98 5lb bag -- Good price for mini potatoes!
• Strawberries - $1.67 454g shell -- WOW! Cross our fingers they're nice AND cheap!
• Cherries - $5.98 per lb -- Decent price for cherries. I like making homemade yogurt popsicles with fresh cherries. Bit if a pain in the ass to pit, but so worth it.
• Brick cheese (Selection) - $4.44 400g bar -- Nice! Sub-$5 bricks!
• Salametti (Matro) - $6.49 300g chubs -- May include other varieties
• Baby genoa (Mastro) - $8.99 600g chub? -- Hard to read the ad, but this is a good deal for a big chub of genoa!
• Mortadella (San Daniele) - $8.99 750g chub -- Works out to $1.20/100g, which is a substantial savings compared to the deli counter or buying it presliced and packed!
• BBQ Sauce and Mustard (Selection) - $1.00 each -- Nice! I personally love mustard and a good BBQ sauce. Might be nice to stock up for that burger night!
• Chips (Irresistibles) - $1.00 150g bag -- I usually don't point out chips and seed-oil-snacks, but this is a great deal!
• Produce Price Rating: Low to medium low

FoodLand

• Beef top sirloin steaks (AAA) - $7.99 per lb -- Great price for AAA steaks. Top sirloin isn't the best place to get a steak cut, but it could be fine. Have a look in-store and judge for yourself.
• Shrimp (31-40ct, Compliments) - $6.99 per lb -- Good price for shrimp, but note that these are small.
• Bar scallops (80-120ct, Compliments) - $6.99 per lb -- These are quite small, but they could be interesting to thaw, pat dry, and sear quick on high heat for use in salads. Or perhaps as a top to a risotto?
• Cucumber - $0.99 each -- Scene Member Price.
• Corn - $5.00 for 5 years -- $1 an ear!?!#@! Are they mad?! Do they not watch the news about boycotts and how consumers are pissed? And then you're going to charge them $1 for an ear of corn? My goodness…
• Produce Price Rating: Medium-high to high.

Freshco (price matcher)

• Bacon (Schneider's) - $3.99 375g pack -- Good price for brandname bacon. Sale also extends to some of their wieners and bologna.
• Frozen burgers (Compliments) - $9.99 1.13kg box (8-pack) -- This stretches us down into a $3/lb mark for beef. Which is pretty good all things considered, but know it's a processed meat. Read the ingredients: beef, water, bread crumb, soya flour, and salt and seasoning. You're paying for recovered meat mixed with bread crumb and flour. And the nutritional info on the pack reads 73% daily value of sat-fat in one 142g burger. A 152g fresh patty lands you at 60%. Know your food!
• Wild-caught Argentinian shrimp (23-30ct) - $6.99 300g bag -- This is a good rate on decent shrimp!
• Sweet peppers - $2.99 4-pack -- Nice!
• Mushrooms - $2.99 454g shell -- Great price!
• Green beans - $1.99 per lb -- Awesome price for green beans!
• Royal Gala apples - $1.49 per lb -- Good price for a nice apple variety. However, you can also sometimes score these for $1/lb if you wait and dig around for the sale.
• Blueberries - $2.49 full pint -- Nice! Another great blueberry sale!
• Produce Price Rating: Low to medium low (more on the medium side)

Giant Tiger (*note the VIP prices; sales begin today) (price matcher)

• Hotdog wieners (Olymel) - $2.47 375g 5-pack -- Sigh… Good price for wieners, but still… Don't overdo it. These are categorically terrible for you!
• Ambrosia apples - $2.88 3lb bag -- Great deal on a tasty apple variety that hits that $1/lb mark!
• Blueberries - $2.88 full pint -- Man! So many blueberry deals! Where are these coming from?!
• Romaine lettuce - $2.88 3-pack -- Nice! Fair price for romaine hearts.
• Baby spinach - $1.97 140g bin -- Good price for 140g. The prices of these bins are the weights are all over the place. Some places charge $4 for the same bin. And then some others charge $4 for 300g bins. Treat carefully!
• Canned tomatoes (Primo) - $3.00 for 2 796ml cans -- Good price for nice tomatoes. Funny enough, in this week's flyer, they advertise the Great Value (housebrand) tomatoes for 1.77 being 50c, but if you buy two Primo cans they work out to 50c less than the Great Value (confused yet? Lol)
• Fireworks - various -- LOL I just wanted to mention they got fireworks and firecrackers hahaha
• Produce Price Rating: Generally on the low side.

Green Fresh Supermarket (Vanier) (check https://greenfreshottawa20.wixsite.com/greenfreshottawa)

• Produce Price Rating: Usually very competitive, catering to Asian cuisine. Warning: their newest sales start on Fridays - so this is a late advertising of their sales.

IGA (price matcher)

• Hotdog wieners (Lafleur) - $5.00 for 2 packs 375-450g -- More hot dog prices for our analysis. I'm noting these to get a sense of what the heck is going on with these….
• Lobster (cooked or live) - $7.75 per lb -- Scene Member Price. 9.75/lb regular. Awesome deal!
• Tomahawk steak - $13.99 per lb -- That's pretty good for a fancy steak cut. I like thick cut steak because you can get that and crust without overcooking the meat. Pro tip: always salt and set your steak uncovered to dry in the fridge. That's what gets you a top-notch crust!
• Veal loin rack - $13.99 per lb -- This is more interesting than a value proposition. Expect a decent-sized rack to run you a pretty penny, but it should cook nicely. Remember to let it rest after it reaches the desired internal temp. Be patient!
• Whole chicken (fresh) - $1.99 per lb -- Great price!!
• Eggs (Nutri, Burnbrae) - $5.79 18-pack -- Not a ground-breaker price. Maybe it's just nice see some price stability in egg prices.
• Corn - $4.00 for 10 ears -- Excellent deal at 40c an ear!
• Cherries - $4.99 per lb -- Awesome!!! Cherries can easily reach into the $8-9/lb range.
• Bologna (Lesters) - $5.49 675g chub -- This is a good price for a chub. It's not fancy deli, but it beats the prices by 2-3x or more given you're paying 81c/100g.
• Deli - Cooked ham (Olymel) - $1.99 per 100g -- Speaking of deli prices, consider this unholy monolith slab of ham versus that slice-it-yourself bologna. This "hamalgum sibling" is 2.5x the price of the bologna by Lesters… Just saying…
• Produce Price Rating: Medium

Independent

• Pork back rib - $3.99 per lb -- Meh price for pork rib… $3/lb is good, but $4/lb doesn't seem worth it when it's largely bone anyway! I'd rather buy the duck they have for $4/lb….
• Atlantic salmon - $9.99 per lb -- Average price for pink fish.
• Beef striploin steaks (AA) - $7.88 per lb -- Good enough price for steaks, but FoodLand had AAA grade for the same price.
• Duck (fresh, grade A) - $3.99 per lb -- Good rate for duck.
• Asparagus - $2.99 per lb -- Meh rate. There's better.
• Strawberries - $2.49 454g shell -- Good price for strawberries.
• Butter (Lactantia) - $5.99 454g bar -- Sigh… I wish butter would come down in price…
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Loblaws

• Pork back rib - $3.99 per lb -- Meh price for pork rib… $3/lb is good, but $4/lb doesn't seem worth it when it's largely bone anyway! I'd rather buy the duck they have for $4/lb….
• Atlantic salmon - $9.99 per lb -- Average price for pink fish.
• Beef striploin steaks (AA) - $8.88 per lb -- Ben là là! Same AA steak, $1/lb more…
• Beef boneless blade roast (AA) - $8.99 per lb -- Ok price for beef… It's kind of meh… Consider visiting local butchers to see what they have going on.
• Duck (fresh, grade A) - $3.99 per lb -- Good rate for duck.
• Sweet potatoes - $3.99 5lb bag -- Great price for sweet potatoes
• Mini-cucumbers - $1.99 6-pack -- "Save $2". Ya, we know Loblaws. I've been saving $2 on these packs for months now at other stores.
• Blueberries - $1.99 full pint -- Great price for blueberries!
• Mango - $0.99 each -- Fair price for mango considering I've seen Loblaws charge much more for them. Also, I expect we'll see some nice sub-$1 deals in the future.
• Butter (Lactantia) - $5.99 454g bar -- More $6 butter.
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Provigo

• Pork chops - $2.49 per lb -- Good price for pork chops.
• Chicken breast and thighs (boneless skinless) - $4.99 per lb -- Good price chicken.
• Atlantic salmon - $8.99 per lb -- Good price for pink fish.
• Corn - $5.00 4-pack -- What?! How can we have these disparities… Maxi has theirs for 33c an ear. That's $1.30 versus $5 for 4 ears… Insane difference in price…
• Watermelon (9lb average) - $3.88 each -- Nice price for watermelon.
• Mango - $0.99 each -- That $1 deal again. "Save $2". Meaning regular price was $3. Insanity.
• Deli - Mock chicken (Gaspésien) - $1.29 per 100g -- Good price for deli, but it's mock chicken. I would refer back to the IGA deal on Lesters bologna. Buy whole chubs, slice it yourself, and save.
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Maxi (price matcher)

• Ground beef (medum) - $8.88 1.1kg -- About 2.5lb of beef, which clocks this in at about 3.50/lb. That's pretty good!
• Corn - $0.33 per ear -- Awesome price for corn! It's crazy. Provigo had their 4-packs for $5. Which
• Mini-cucumbers - $0.88 6-pack -- Very nice! A regular "good deal" is $2.
• Coleslaw kit (Florette) - $1.88 340g kit -- Great deal for a salad kit.
• Potatoes (Imperfect) - $4.88 15lb bag -- Excellent!!
• Mini-carrots - $4.88 2lb bag -- This is a good deal given a 2/3lb bag can be $2-3.
• Watermelon - $2.88 each -- Nice price for watermelon, but no weight advertised.
• Kiwis - $4.88 600g pack -- Pretty good. Can be as low as $4, but this is a fair price.
• Apples (Cortland, Empire) - $5.88 4lb bag -- Ok price for what should be over-winter apples. Mind the bruising.
• Fancy cheese deal - $18.00 for 3 -- Check the flyer and in-store for more details.
• Sriracha (Flying Goose) - $3.88 730ml bottle -- Nice! It's a different brand, but the price is right. I wonder what the difference is.
• Silk plant bev - $6.88 for 2 1.75-1.89L jugs -- Good deal.
• White vinegar - $2.88 for 2 4L jugs -- This might be good to get in advance of some pickling plans.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally medium low pricing! This store can post some impressive deals at times.

Metro

• Pork back rib - $2.99 per lb -- Good price for pork rib. It's that magical $3/lb mark. It's hard to find rib for less. And, I wouldn't pay over $3/lb.
• Beef top sirloin steak or roast (AAA) - $6.88 per lb -- Great price for AAA grade beef! They also have "platinum angus medallions" for 8.88/lb.
• Fresh sausage - $4.99 per lb -- Great price for fresh sausage. You can spend $1/lb more and get organic stuff by Dubreton.
• Cucumber - $0.77 each -- Awesome!!!
• Cauliflower - $2.99 each -- Decent. Not amazing, but decent given a head can go for $4-5 easily.
• Portabella mushrooms (Belle Grove) - $6.99 4-pack -- Hmm, I'll have to keep an eye out for prices on portabellas. This doesn't seem that bad off the hop. I know sometimes you can get 4-6 packs for about $4-5, though. But, you have to hunt around town for deals like that.
• Blueberries - $1.99 full pint -- Great price for blueberries!
• Cherries - $5.99 per lb -- Nice! Fair sale price for cherries!
• Watermelon (15lb average) - $9.99 each -- Trying to make sense of these watermelon prices. This isn't as good as some other deals. But considering on the same page they advertise 1.49/lb for sliced watermelon, it suggests this watermelon could cost you up to $22.
• Butter (Selection) - $4.88 454g bar -- $5 butter.
• Produce Price Rating: High. Kinda like Sobeys. You can see a 50% average mark-up compared to a lot of other stores. It's nice produce, but it costs you.

No Frills (price matcher)

• Beef burgers (No Name) - $9.99 1.36kg 12-pack -- Just more frozen burger musing. Basically much like the Compliments ones we saw earlier, but 113g each, but with more sugars and funny ingredients, and the same amount of sat-fat! (And they skip mentioning that 75%-ish daily value number for the sat-fat). Like, what the heck are "onion extract" and "corn syrup solids". Do they squeeze the onion and throw away the rind? And isn't solid syrup just solid sugar? lol....
• T-bone/Wing steak - $6.99 per lb -- This might seem like a good deal, but it's ungraded beef. Why pay this price when metro has AAA-grade steaks for a smidge less?
• Picnic pork shoulder - $2.44 per lb -- Excellent price! These are AWESOME for smoking and braising for pulled pork!
• Ground chicken or turkey - $8.00 870g pack -- Not bad. Works out to about $4.20/lb or so.
• Ground beef (lean) - $6.00 450g tube -- Really a meh price for "tube meat".
• Steelhead trout fillet - $9.99 per lb -- Standard pricing for pink fish.
• Asparagus - $2.99 per lb -- Ok price for asparagus. I expect better from No Frills.
• Green beans - $2.99 per lb -- Same with the green beans, I expect a bit better.
• Cucumber - $0.99 each -- Good price for cucumber.
• Mini-cucumber - $3.99 11-pack -- Fair price on the 11-pack. Meanwhile, Maxi has the 6-pack for 88c… Sigh…
• Watermelon (9lb average) - $2.99 each -- Good price for melon.
• Ataulfo mangoes - $5.64 5lb case -- This should work out to about 8 or so mangoes. Good deal.
• Pineapple - $2.99 each -- Good price for pineapple.
• Brick cheese (Armstrong) - $5.49 400g bar -- Hmm, ya, seeing some 50c to $1 upward pressure on cheese pricing a little everywhere….
• Earth's Own plant bev - $3.79 1.74-1.89L jug -- Good price. Regular floats well into the $5-ish ranges.
• Dry pasta (Italpasta) - $1.25 750g packs -- Good price for dry pasta. Stock up a little. Maybe there's a potluck pasta salad in your future.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally quite low, selectively amazing for some items.

Produce Depot (usually a little late on the flyer) https://producedepot.ca/

• Ground beef (lean) - $4.99 per lb -- Fair rate for ground beef. Considering No Frills is selling 450g tube meat for $6, I'd buy this in a heartbeat. It's just not stock-up pricing.
• Beef New York striploin steak - $12.99 per lb -- I wish they'd mention the grade, but if it looks nice, it could make for a nice BBQ item.
• Whole atlantic salmon (fresh) - $6.99 per lb -- Now, it's not filet and deboned, but it's a heckin' deal for salmon.
• Wild-caught squid - $8.99 per lb -- Perhaps there's calamari in your future?
• Hothouse tomatoes - $1.29 per lb -- Great price for tomatoes!
• Green and red leaf lettuce - $1.69 per head -- Great price for leafy greens!
• Sweet orange peppers - $0.99 per lb -- AWESOME price for peppers!!!
• Brussel sprouts - $1.49 per lb -- Fantastic price for brussel sprouts! Often over $3/lb.
• Blackberries - $1.49 half pint -- Good deal for blackberries. Lots of blueberries going around, though.
• Red seedless grapes - $1.99 per lb -- Fantastic price for grapes! Often $4/lb.
• Peaches - $2.49 per lb -- These are from the USA. It could be a they come out a little tough. Leave them on the counter to ripen, but eat them fast after that!
• Cheese counter - Landana smoked cheese - $2.39 per 100g -- I'm partial to smoked cheese. This could make for a nice fancy burger topping.
• Deli - Genoa salami (Mastro) - $2.59 per 100g -- This isn't fantastic pricing, but fair. A 600g chub can clock in at $10-12 or so, this deli counter pricing is fairly competitive.
• Produce Price Rating: Medium-low with very competitive specials on a shortened flyer. The small flyer is nice because it doesn't uselessly feature $6 heads of cauliflower and extremely high-price items that are either a confusion on the consumer, or an insult on the injury of not being able to afford supreme quality items.

Real Canadian Superstore (price matcher)

• Beef rib-steak (ungraded) - $7.88 per lb -- More ungraded beef at graded prices.
• Pork tenderloin - $3.49 per lb -- Fair price for tenderloin.
• Duck (frozen, grade A) - $3.99 per lb -- Fairly regular price for duck.
• Golden Pompano (frozen) - $2.88 per lb -- This is advertised a lot at the RCSS. I've never seen it elsewhere. Does anyone have experience with it?
• Dressed Tilapia (frozen) - $2.88 per lb -- Dressed means tail and fines removed,
• Potatoes - $5.50 10lb bag -- Great price for potatoes.
• Corn - $0.40 per ear -- Awesome price for corn. This is probably loss-leader territory.
• Watermelon (11lb average) - $3.99 each -- Good price for a big melon.
• Pineapple - $3.00 each -- Good price for pineapple.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally medium-low pricing, selectively amazing for some items.

Sobeys

• Chicken thighs (boneless skinless) - $5.99 per lb -- Fair price for boneless chicken. There's better out there, however.
• Beef striploin steaks (AA) - $8.77 per lb -- Scene Member Price.
• Beef sirloin tip roast or marinating steaks (AAA) - $8.99 per lb -- Hmm, striploin AA versus sirloin tip AAA… Might be a toss up. Sirloin is leaner and has less marbling. But AAA might lend to a tenderness. This may be give and take, here…
• Lobster (live) - $10.99 per lb -- Scene Member Price.
• Pork chops - $3.49 per lb -- Not a great price, really, but it may be your option if you're stuck with Sobey's this week. Ad mentions it includes roasts.
• Picnic pork shoulder - $3.49 per lb -- We saw No Frills offereing this at 2.44/lb. A $1/lb more isn't great, admittedly. But, it's an option.
• Asparagus - $2.44 per lb -- Good price!
• Green beans - $2.67 per lb -- Good price!
• Bok choy - $0.99 per lb -- Amazing price. I don't get how other places charge $2/lb+ for choy, and then you have Sobeys of all stores swooping in to corner that side of the market.
• Asian pears - $0.99 per lb -- Awesome price!
• Brick cheese (Cracker Barrel) - $5.77 400g bar -- More of this elevated cheese pricing… Hmm….
• Produce Price Rating: Generally a high price store, especially for produce. Some items are 50% more than more value-oriented stores. Kinda like Metro, some of the deals can be quite good.

Super C

• Chicken breast (boneless skinless) - $4.44 per lb -- Awesome price!!
• Atlantic salmon - $9.88 per lb -- Standard sale price for pink fish.
• Pork tenderloin (marinated) - $3.44 per lb -- Good price. Not amazing. But, pre-marinated? Hmm, makes for an easy meal.
• Corn - $1.88 for 5 ears -- Awesome price!! Under 40c an ear!
• Broccoli - $1.33 per crown -- Very good price for broc, especially if the crowns are nice. A good crown can easily range over $2.
• Radishes - $0.99 per bunch -- Nice! A good addition to salads or veg trays.
• Green onions - $0.99 per bunch -- Fair price for green onion. It's hard to find it under $1.
• Mini-carrots - $0.99 340g bag -- Nice!
• Mini-cucumbers - $1.99 6-pack -- Fair going-rate now for mini cuce. A very welcome change from charging $4 for these packs.
• Mini-potatoes - $1.99 3lb bag -- Good price for mini potatoes. There's still better value in regular size potatoes most of the time. But, sometimes, these sales can negate that value proposition. Plus, these are nice a thousands ways to Sunday. They cook very quickly, and are great oven-roasted, steamed, and BBQ'ed with other veg.
• Apples (Empire, Spartan) - $3.99 3lb bag -- Fair price for apples these days, it seems. I think we'll be hard-pressed to find certain varieties for under $1/lb for a while.
• Strawberries - $1.63 454g shell -- Awesome price!!!
• Pineapple - $1.88 each -- Fantastic!
• Oranges - $2.99 3lb bag -- Good price for oranges!
• Mangos - $0.99 each -- Good price. Mangoes should clock in at around $1 each. Enough of these $2-3 mangos…
• Cantaloupe - $2.99 each -- Good price/fair sale price for cantaloupe.
• Cherries - $4.99 per lb -- Wow! Great price for cherries!!!
• Brick cheese (Black Diamond, Ptit Quebec) - $4.87 400g bar -- Nice to see we still ahve sub-$5 cheese options this week.
• Fancy cheese deal - $18.00 for 3 -- Apparently includes 20 different varieties.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally low, but can creep into medium for some items. But, there's always something decent available!

T&T Supermarket https://www.tntsupermarket.com

• Produce Price Rating: Usually very competitive, catering to Asian cuisine. Warning: their newest sales start on Fridays - so this is a late advertising of their sales.

Walmart

• Ground beef (lean) - $3.97 per lb -- Excellent rate on ground beef! Make your own burgers!!!!
• Chicken or Pork kabobs (Marcangelo) - $7.87 480-640g 8-packs -- It's basically $1 a kabob. That ain't bad for a ready-to-cook item. But, note that this translates essentially into 8/lb at worst, or 5.50/lb at best. There are WAY better deals on pork and chicken around.
• Asparagus - $2.97 per lb -- Fair price for asparagus.
• Corn - $0.32 per ear -- Best price on corn this week!
• Potatoes - $4.97 10lb bag -- Good price for a 10lb bag.
• Coleslaw kit - $2.77 397g kit -- Good price for a decent-size slaw kit.
• Strawberries - $1.84 454g shell -- Awesome price!!!
• Pineapple - $3.97 each -- Not bad. I like to see $3, and less shouldn't be taken for granted. Remember, it takes 2 years to grow a pineapple. One bad fungal disease and we should see these shoot up to $6-8 a piece. Treasure well-priced pineapple!
• Brick cheese (Armstrong) - $4.94 400g bar -- Another $5 brick cheese sale.
• Produce Price Rating: A little all over the place. Some really good prices between a lot of average pricing.

Costco (Note that these are the online/shipped prices - reduce each item by $3 for in-store pricing)

• NOTE: NEED TO REVISE - --
• Paper Towel (Kirkland) - $27.99 12-roll pack -- 2-ply; 160 sheets
• Paper Towel (Bounty) - $27.49 12-roll pack -- 2-ply; 86 sheets
• Toilet Paper (Kirkland) - $25.99 30-roll pack -- 2-ply; 380 sheets
• Toilet Paper (Cashmere) - $24.99 40-roll pack -- 2-ply; 250 sheets (on sale)
• Dish soap (Dawn Platinum) - $18.99 2.66L -- Food Basics often has this jug for $10!
• Laundry detergent (Purex) - $24.99 9.24L -- 250 loads
• Garbage bags (30 gallon; large) - $15.99 100-pack -- Amazon has Glad standard 74L bags, 100-packs for $23, sometimes less if on sale
• Countertop green bin liners - $21.99 125-pack -- Amazon has Glad Compostable green bin liners 100-packs for $18, sometimes less if on sale
• Produce Price Rating: I need to do a proper check to be sure, but I find it's pretty average. There's an illusion of getting a good deal because of the bulk. Just be careful.

Jean Coutu (new sales start Fridays)

• Produce Price Rating: I have to start checking these just in case...

Shoppers Drug Mart (new sales start Fridays)

• Produce Price Rating: Sometimes they have cheap butter, eggs, and milk on weekends.

Some additional references!

• Grocery Review Google Drive Location https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xhLvBP1smXb1eSnxAW5yyBjO2aYFLJHC?usp=sharing
• Cooking Tips and Recipes https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TCcHm9y0kWIa3x18hznKN2ix0BPcUv-m?usp=drive_link
• Google Maps list of the Grocery stores in Ottawa https://maps.app.goo.gl/YT7cZmv8vMQWU4J59

It is finally time to review what is in my opinion the greatest game of all time. I am going to attempt to explain the addiction, the dedication, the variety and paradoxically the repetition of this hack n slash rpg masterpiece.
First off let me take you back to when I was first introduced to the game. Way back in 2001. I was a 16 year old, obese sweaty lad.
My friend Hugh who lived down the road from me would frequently have multiple people round his house, where we could relax and party. One day sitting round there I saw Hugh playing this little beauty on his desktop. When I asked what it was, he raved about it. He called the addiction 'catching the Diablo bug.'
He was running a Barbarian and had managed to get his level to the mid 90s. Hugh never had the internet back then. So looking back, I have always been impressed with how far he got on his own, especially considering he happened to choose the barbarian. Which is one of the more slower characters to get going. The amount of time he put in must of been immense.
Eventually he got off the damn pc and I got to experience the game for myself. I chose the Necromancer. I was hooked instantly. What really got me was the character experience progression. I was so excited collecting enough experience to gain each level. Then choosing what new skill I wanted to add to my repetoire. At that time I had no idea about character builds and stupidly got every skill available.
Another thing that really hooked me was the hunt for loot. Everytime a boss group fell I would dilegently search through the loot hoping for an improved piece of equipment. Maybe a new helmet, or wand? My life had changed I knew I had to have this game for myself. I knew there was only so much that Hugh would put up with me visiting, when I was there obviously just to play the game rather than visit him.
But there was a problem. I did not own a pc. I had a Playstation 1 and my mum would not be able to afford the £600 to £700 needed to buy me one. I was devestated and tried to find a replacement for Diablo addiction. So like an ex junkie trying to satiate his need for heroin with methadone, I scoured my local HMV store for something similar, some sort of rpg. I settled on the 9th installment of a series I had never heard of. I purchased Final Fantasy IX. Now this actually turned out to be another of my favourite games ever. But at the time I was dissapointed that it did not scratch my Diablo itch.
After probably a year of nagging my mum she spoke to my Grandad and he agreed to buy me my own pc and Diablo II LOD. He also bought me Star Wars Galactic Battleground, that I had witnessed round another friends house. I finally got to play Diablo as much as I wanted. And boy did I play it. Non stop. For hours. For days. For weeks. For months. For years. Here in 2021 I still play this game.
Now let me explain one of the game's greatest features. The variety of character builds. There are seven main character types that you can choose from. Necromancer, Barabarian, Sorceress, Amazon, Paladin and with the Lord of Destruction expansion the Druid and the Assassin. But in each of these characters there are multiple different character builds you can make. For instance with the Necromancer you could choose to be a Summoner, focusing mostly on the summon tree, pumping all your skill points into raising the dead and calling golems to do your dirty work for you. But if you wanted a more hands on approach you could focus on the bone skills. Pumping your skills into bone spears and bone walls. Trapping your enemies then firing your projectile bones at them. Don't fancy bone? Why not go poison? Pump your points in poison dagger, poison explosion and nova. I used to have loads of fun running into multiplayer games online and hostiling lower level player characters and pumping them full of poison nova and watching them die. This is just four obvious examples of build for the necromancer. There are many more. With sub builds and hybrids.
I would say the Paladin is the most versatile character with over 20 different possible builds. Before I die I want to make every single one for every character. The way it changes your play style really gives the game almost endless possibilities.
But it is strange that I am praising variety as one of it's greatest features, when it is also one of it's greatest faults. The repetition. Not in characters, but in quests and acts. The game is split up into five acts, in varying environments, including wide open green plains, a vast baron desert, a luscious and deep jungle, the depths of hell itself and with the LOD expansion, a snowy mountainscape. Inside each of these acts there are six quests for you to complete, except act 4 which only has three. After completing all the acts and beating the final boss you have the option to play on a higher difficulty. Normal, Nightmare and Hell. In this greater difficulty you can go back through the game against harder enemies, continuing to level your character. Also the best items are not available in Normal and Nightmare. It is impossible for them to drop anywhere but the Hell difficulty.
This is not a bad system but it would been better to have 15 different acts of progressive difficulty instead of running the same 5 over and over. The damn repetition. You run certain bosses repeatedly hoping they drop that item you're waiting for. You repeatedly run bosses to gain experience. I must of killed the act three boss Mephisto over 200,000 times as he is one of the best places to hunt for magic items. This didn't bother me. It was exciting every time one of my targets dropped, hoping that this would be the one where something awesome would spawn. Some of the most sort after items are runes. Little stone pieces that can be put in socketed items in a certain order to create a rune word. Which are some of the best items in the game.
I remember grinding for months, trading all my finds for runes, slowly building them up until I could afford my target. The Enigma. A rune word armour that gives any character the sorceress exclusive skill of teleport. That was a game changer. I will never forget the day I got my first one. Something that seemed so impossible to obtain as the runes needed to create it have something like a one in a million chance of dropping. But all my hard work paid off and I got to tele my paladin around. Priceless gaming moment for me. The graphics look dark and gritty, absolutely perfect for the game's content.
I love the way the game looks and am not a fan of the more cartoony looking Diablo III. the enemies look awesome especially Diablo himself. The music matches the graphics with its haunting tones. Each area has a theme, some being very intense. Act 1 has a kind of minimalist feel to it with its quiet tinkling on acoustic guitar. Act 2 has a more Arabic feel to it and is my personal favourite. Each act's music is well suited to the landscape and it is very well done.
The game does have a storyline but it really isn't about that. With the amount of times you're going to be playing through the same acts and quests you'll be skipping all text boxes.
So I have tried to explain what makes this game the greatest of all time in my opinion but words can not really convey how I feel about it. It's like an old friend I still visit. I love you Diablo!
Gameplay 20%
Graphics 20%
Sfx 20%
Controls 20%
Replayability 20%
Overall 100%

Detailed experience and some questions about an umbilical hernia post op here.
Mid March 2024 I felt a small lump on the top part of my belly button. It was never there before so I went to an urgent care, they said nothing to worry about because it causes no pain, some fat got stuck and it will contract/ expand. They did not call it a hernia, and when I asked if it was a hernia, they said no. There was 0 pain or any issues involved other than it poked out a little bit so since they said its fine, I went on with my life.
Fast forward to April 10th and my friend and I did a 30 min yoga session and a 30 upper body dumb bell workout (dumb bell weights being 1 10lb if exercise uses 1 weight. 2 8lb if one was being used in each hand) around 9am. (Side story, in 2021 I was in a T bone car crash so now I have L3-L4 in my back that's herniated and scoliosis. Since then after after PT for that incident I have done stretching/yoga everyday for 20-45 mins a day and my whole life ive been active and in sports so I like working out so I do workouts 5x a week. It was a whole rebuild post car crash and took a while to get to where I am now but my back hurts a lot and ive tried many treatments for it.) All was normal, she left and then I was going to chill for a couple hours before work that afternoon. Around 11am a sudden sharp pain hit me while I was sitting at my desk, I was thinking it would pass, well it did not . The ache/ pinching feel did not stop and I texted my RN friend around 3pm and he said its the hernia from weeks before and to go to urgent care. I hate going to the doctor and also do not have insurance (story for another day) but it was 5pm , still in severe pain so I drove to a different urgent care 1.5 miles away. They sent me to the ER because as soon the dr had me lay down and she barely touched the lump I started crying due to pain, said it could be strangulated and they dont want to touch it w/o imaging. My BF ,now home from work, took me to the ER where they gave me morphine, hated the feeling of that, and then did a catscan. Results was a fatty umbilical hernia. They said not strangulated and a piece of fat got stuck and then it couldnt retract back in, surgery is the only way to fix it. I asked how I got it , they said most likely born with it and it never caused a problem until now. I read that this is mostly due to pregnancy's (never been pregnant) , overweight (my whole life ive been 105-110 lbs) and heavy weight lifting (which I dont do.) They said in a few days the pain should slowly die down and dont worry its highly unlikely to be anything worse, just painful. I went home in the middle of the night.
They said follow up with with a gastrologist, which I did 5 days post ER visit (learned those people are in demand I called 6 offices in the area and that was the soonest they could get me in.) He confirmed I need surgery. Then 2 days after that saw the surgeon, he discussed my options of open vs laparoscopic and mesh vs no mesh. He suggested open , no mesh because its small and a very standard operation . Since hes the DR and specializes in this, I said ok.
Surgery was April 23. Was only at the hospital from 10am-3pm. They said I was under for 45 mins, all went well. Post op that day I was surprised I didnt feel more pain was only minor(due to whatever they gave me), they wheel chaired me to the car and I got a smoothie and so tired. Throat hurted a moderate amount, from the tube. Pretty much slept then on out til the next day.
Post OP day 1, horrible all over. pain in the ab area, was super sleepy, getting up/down from bed was a whole situation and hurt. For medication i could take ibuprofen and acetaminophen and oxycodone for the first few days, im not a codone fan so just was doing ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Throat was so sore, I didnt finish the smoothie until halfway thru this day. Took like 3 naps and was just tired.
Day 2-4 Pretty much the same thing. Very very sleepy, just walked around the apartment to try to get the blood flowing, very very slow. Abdominal area swollen. Barely ate, even brothy soups did not want to go down. Sore throat (had to get liquid OTC med cause i could not swallow the pills.) The strange thing was I was unable to hold sentences, talking took everything out of me. Around sentence 3-5 I would just be out of breath. Weight was 98 lbs due to not eating (pre surgery for the 2ish weeks I ate half of my normal meals because it would push after eating and hurt .) Day 3 was horrible constipation like severe, my BF even took me to see the surgeon for this and about the breathing. He said the breathing will get better over the next few days and to take a bottle of miralax. So the miralax helped but i got hives all over my sides from it(first time taking a laxative.) Pre surgery no one told me to get on a stool softener.
Day 5-8 slow improvements, the same issues as above but less bad. sore throat was gone by this point but talking was still not normal, better tho. I was doing 2-3 walks outside for 10-15 mins. Back was killing me, because im slouching all the time due to the abs, my back was on fire with pain, esp standing up and walking. Honestly this point back hurt more than front when walking.
Day 9-12 Breathing normal. Can talk normally now. Walking 4 times a days for like 20 mins, walking speed slower than normal . Back still hurting so much. I was icing my back more than my front . Fatigue wearing off. Eating regular meals, smaller portion than normal.
Day 15 I had my 2 week checkup, he said healing is great. Should be no issues. Do not lift more than 15lbs for another 4 weeks(til this point he said dont lift more than 10lbs) I can now go swimming . I asked about when can I do stretches and yoga because my back is bad, he said wait another 2 weeks, start slow, do not work the abs, anything like a crunch move is a no go. Then in another 4 weeks slowly resume workouts and build up from there.
Day 16 - now everyday the hernia area is improving, I can bend down mostly ok now. Getting up and down from bed is still not normal, I do a turn to the side and push myself up with my arm to get up from laying down. Fatigue gone. Walking 3-4 miles a day . Most of the day the incision does not bother me but i get the occasional tug / ach here and there. Still mildly swollen, DR said it would be 4-8 weeks before completely not swollen. The biggest pain right now is my back from bad posture and I assume the abs making the back work more.
So thats my detailed hernia story.
Questions being when and what moves do you think I can do for stretching as the dr was not specific at all other than if it hurts dont do it and dont use your abs. When walking my back is on fire after about a mile and I sit and rest, just due to back. I would get acupuncture but I cant lay on my front. I did chiro, some meds a while back and both didnt do much. To those of you who had surgery, did you also feel the major shortness of breath for a week or so post op?
TLDR: Open surgery for fatty umbilical hernia. first week was hell but now onto week 3 its been improving. What kind stretching do you think is safe for now? Doctor said you can start stretching/ yoga that does not use the abdominal area around 4 week mark. I'm so stiff.

The internet is a strange place, inadvertently designed to bring out the best and worst in people. People can be whoever or whatever they want to be. For predators and malignant narcissists and who live in their own delusions to begin with, it's like a hunting ground. They can create whatever persona they wish, fill their victims' heads with lies and half-truths that paint them out to be someone they are not, and by the time their victim actually meets them, it's too late - they've already created an image in their mind of this perfect person the narcissist has convinced them they are, and it usually takes time before the curtain comes down, the lies fall apart, and the mask breaks away.
I'm no saint, and I've learned my own tough lessons from the internet. I grew up under not-so-great circumstances, only getting 5 years of education before I turned 18 and was largely raised by a computer screen. Along the way, I catfished a woman in her mid-20's when I was 14-16 years old. It wasn't intentional at first, I told everyone that I was in my mid-20's and I worked as a bouncer at a bar in NYC. I never meant any harm, I was just raised by a computer and spent all my time alone playing MMOs and learned quickly that if I told people how old I was, they'd stop playing with me. So a bouncer seemed like a job I could bullshit about easily enough, and I was a big dude at 6'1 260lbs so I figured I could maybe pass it off as legit if it ever got hectic.
I started playing with this woman in her 20's and her husband frequently. We became friends fast, and soon we were virtually inseparable on the game. Her marriage ended up not working out, and after they separated she told me she had feelings for me. I should've admitted I wasn't who I said I was then, but I was young and dumb and she was the only real friend I had, so I kept up the ruse. Eventually I did come clean, and she broke it off with me not long after. We stayed friends, albeit with my heart hurting pretty bad, for a few months afterwards - until she met Jack.
When she first told me about Jack, he sounded like a great catch. He had his own IT business in Canada, was a couple years older but not by much, and she was infatuated with him. Obviously I was crushed and didn't handle it well, being a practically feral teenager at the time, so not long after they started getting serious she ghosted me altogether. I was around 17 at the time, and shit started going off the rails for me. After I got out of juvie, I started drinking heavily on a near-daily basis and selling and doing drugs. This led to a lot of pathetic, inebriated, desperate attempts to contact her and apologize for how I acted.
After months of being ignored, eventually grief and regret turned to anger, and finally acceptance. When the pain passed and I came to my senses a bit, I had an epiphany and realized that if I loved her as much as I thought I did, the best thing for both of us would be to let her go. I was a high school dropout with no job, selling drugs to get by. She had 2 kids, and what kind of life could I provide for them? She made the right choice, my age and the fact I made a grown woman fall in love with a teenager not withstanding, and as bad as it hurt I realized it was selfish of me not to accept the way things were and leave her alone, so I did.
10 years or so later, I had gotten my shit together. Worked my way up from cleaning dead shit out of swimming pools, to an entry level position at an environmental consulting firm, to a Project Manager at one of the largest firms in the field in the DC area. I'd met someone, got her pregnant, and for some reason I felt a pull to contact her again. Not to rekindle an old flame, but because she had been a tremendously positive influence on my life in a time where I had few. She was the first good thing I had in my life at a time when I was sleeping on old blankets on a hard floor in an abusive home, and what I'd held onto from our time together wasn't our romantic relationship, it was the best friend I'd ever had. And something made me want to tell her that all that work she put into getting my head right wasn't in vain, and I'd finally made it out of the gutter.
So I messaged her on Facebook, and to my surprise she actually responded. We started talking again, and soon it was back to every day. When my baby mama got back on drugs and turned abusive and was putting my daughter's life in jeopardy on a near-daily basis, she was the one who convinced me I could fight for custody - that I had to fight for custody. So I did, and I won, and I've had full custody of of my daughter since she was 6 months old and for the 10 years since.
But eventually we parted ways again. I'd started seeing someone, and part of me knew I couldn't commit to another woman while I was still carrying on with her. Our relationship had started turning romantic again, and she had dropped some hints about old Jack that would come to the forefront later, but she wasn't ready to leave him and I didn't want to be that guy, so I sent her a message explaining why we had to stop talking, apologized, and ghosted her.
7 more years went by after that night. The relationship I abandoned her for soured quickly when I found out that chick was a carbon copy of my baby mama, and I quit dating to focus on my career and raising my daughter. But on the long, 2+ hour commutes each way from work, I often found myself stuck pondering the "what ifs". What if I hadn't ghosted her? What if our age gap wasn't there, and we'd never had to split up to begin with? I knew in my soul I was never going to find someone like her again, but I made peace with it. I imagined her happy life, her kids with Jack, and convinced myself I made the right choice.
Then COVID hit, and near the start of it, I stumbled on a post on reddit about this dude who sent his high school sweetheart a message many years later apologizing for how he treated her and telling her how her presence impacted him, and I thought to myself, "Hey, I did that!". So I started writing a reply, and for the first time told the story of this girl and I. I'd never told a soul about what happened with us, not even my family or closest friends. Maybe it was the stigma of having an online relationship back in those days that carried over, or maybe it was just too personal to share with my friends or family. It got long, so eventually I just decided to start a new thread. When I was done, it was so long I figured no one would ever read it, but I hit submit anyway and put my phone down and got back to work.
Well, I was wrong. People did read it - a lot of people. Soon my phone started blowing up. Thousands of comments, hundreds of DMs, people offering me book deals and asking if they could have the rights for a screenplay or have me on their podcasts. It was fucking surreal, and being generally a private person who tries to fly under the rader, it got overwhelming fast. Eventually I reached out to her again on Facebook, warned her about what happened, and apologized for putting her business out there.
She didn't respond for a couple weeks, and when she did we started talking again almost immediately. And then in mid-April 2020, she told me that she needed to talk to me. She spilled everything, and told me exactly who Jack was. How he would hack into her devices to spy on her, threaten to kill her and her partner if she ever left him, say vile things to her and her daughters, calling the young girls cunts and bitches. How he alienated all her friends and family, and kept them all isolated in the house her parents bought them that he would rarely leave.
And I felt deceived too. All those years I'd convinced myself that she was happy, that she got together with Jack and was living the life she deserved. In reality, Jack intentionally got her pregnant not long after he flew out to her state the first time. He quickly moved into her house, and refused to work or provide not only for her kids or their kids, but for the other 3 children he abandoned in Australia and Canada who he had no relationship with, with 3 different women he victimized in the same manner. When she was 8 months pregnant with their first kid, she was working nights doing hospice care while he sat on his ass playing videogames all night and talking to his ex. In 17 years, this fucking loser with 7 kids by 4 women worked a grand total of 5 weeks, quit his job, claimed he got PTSD from the experience, and somehow manipulated his way into getting SSDI for it. They survived off SSDI and her parents' charity for years.
But Jack was reading all of this, because like I mentioned earlier, he was hacking her devices and watching us talk remotely. Jack knew the jig was up, and slowly started to unravel. She told him she wanted a divorce, and that she was not going to sever her friendship with me again. And he pretended to take that well, going as far as to try to befriend and manipulate me. He tried every trick to keep her he'd done for years - telling her he was going to get help and would change first, then when that failed he made suicide threats and somehow got his therapist to call her and tell her as long as she didn't leave him he wouldn't kill himself, and then he tried to intimidate her. Eventually he went off the rails completely and sexually assaulted her when he thought she was sleeping.
She called me from her parents' house crying the night it happened, and I convinced her to file a police report. She did, and a couple weeks later Jack got removed from the home, served with a protective order, and charged for sexual abuse. This of course did nothing to stop Jack - he broke into their house a couple days later when she and the kids were out to upload a folder of revenge porn to his Google Drive under the guise of wanting to drop off a cake for her birthday.
Then the stalking started. Jack would relentlessly message her all day and night on Facebook, switching between rage, trying to garner sympathy, convince her he would change, and threatening self-harm. We later found out via a cyber forensics report that he was hacking into the laptop she had taken with her while she hid at her parents' and had been so bold as to steal her Victim Impact Statement and send it to all his World of Warcraft buddies as a joke.
And he didn't just stalk her, he came for me too. Constant unauthorized attempts to access my accounts for everything from Windows to my bank, spam calls and emails - shit, the wormy little fuck even got his friends to stalk my social media and pretend to be strangers to gaslight me. I ignored all of it, and he got desperate enough to send me a lovely message attempting to extort and blackmail she and I, claiming he had "all my posts" but wouldn't do anything with them if I called him. The tipping point for me is when he subscribed to my small YouTube channel - which had nothing on it but 3 videos of my daughter. That veiled threat wasn't lost on me.
But Jack fucked up. I don't know if he thought his insane nonsense would scare me off, or if in his delusions he really thought he was the bad mother fucker he convinced himself he was, but Jack didn't know jack about me. I'm a crazy fuck too, and while he was sitting on his fat ass playing World of Warcraft all day every day for the past couple decades, I was selling drugs and hanging with some of the grimiest mother fuckers Baltimore had to offer. I've seen and experienced a lot of real violence outside a computer monitor, and the prospect of a violent resolution to this saga didn't phase me a whole lot. I'd spent years trying to be a better person and avoid conflict, but I sure as shit wasn't afraid of it either. Leading up to this point, I was already trying to calm myself down and talk myself off the ledge and not pack my guns and drive out there to keep watch until the police did their thing and put him away, which took a lot longer than it should have - this fucking guy violated his protective order 80 times in just a couple weeks.
So I called him, and he spent the next 26 minutes crying over the phone like a drunk little bitch, while I tried my best to be kind and to talk him off the ledge. And yes, I did record it, and yes it is hysterical listening to it now in hindsight, and yes I still have the recording. Anyway, I told him he was scaring the shit out of her and the kids, and he promised to leave us alone and I told him if he could chill the fuck out I would try to talk her into giving him more access to the kids. The next day, she got an email from her first ex-husband - Jack had reached out to him with a link to my reddit post trying to get help from him to come after me, which he promptly shut down and sent to her.
The next few weeks were terrifying as Jack descended further into madness and became more scared and desperate. He knew she was gone and not coming back, and he was facing real charges and real jail time, and while Jack is a fucking moron in a lot of ways, I'm sure he knew a fat, greasy computer nerd with a sex offense conviction wasn't going to have a good time in County. Jack was a murder-suicide waiting to happen, the police were doing nothing to stop his stalking, and I felt powerless to help her. Eventually after he sent her $50 over PayPal at 4:00am with what appeared to be a suicide note, I had enough. I called the DA's office, asked them why the fuck this was being allowed to happen, and promised them I'd been taking meticulous notes and if anything happened to her I would be taking it straight to the media. The DA told me if I was going to make threats the conversation was over, but sure enough he was finally arrested not long after.
Ironically we had remained platonic friends through most of this, but the shared experience of dealing with this psycho brought us closer together and things quickly changed. We knew he wasn't going to stop when he got out of jail, I felt responsible for her safety after my stupid reddit post started this chain of events that led to Jack's unraveling, and with the world seemingly coming apart during COVID, decided if we were ever going to meet it felt like it was now or never. So I booked a plane ticket across the country, spent a week with her and her family, and a few days after I came home she flew out to visit me and meet my family.
We went into it with no expectations. I fully accepted we might not click and our relationship would go back to being platonic. For my part, I just wanted the closure of finally meeting this person who had such a profound impact on my life before COVID mutated or something and killed us all.
But we did click, and the next two weeks were life-changing. I met and cooked for her entire extended family the day after I arrived, and it went well. While I was there I got her mom's email address, and after I went home I had an idea. I knew her parents had met in DC, so I emailed her mom and asked her for a list of places that were special to her, and she told me about the church her parents had met in. I asked her to keep our conversation secret so it would be a surprise, and she did.
So when she comes out to the east coast, I take her on a tour through DC and park the car a few blocks down the street from the church. As we're walking by, she notices the church and comments on how beautiful it is.
I keep it cool and respond, "Yeah, that's a pretty important place.".
She looks at me and says, "Oh? Why's that?".
"That's where your parents met.".
She audibly gasps, giddily bounces a bit, starts to cry, and we pulled down our masks (fuckin covid) and kiss. Her reaction is easily one of the greatest memories in my life. What I didn't know at the time, was that her parents had told her about that church since she and her siblings were kids. When the church changed denominations, the church took the angel statue off the top and brought it back to her home state, and her parents had taken them to see it a few times throughout her childhood.
Anyway, getting sidetracked here, the sappy love story stuff is a different story altogether.
A month after we met for the first time, I had quit my job, sold everything I couldn't fit in my sedan, and she flew back out and drove across the country with my daughter and I.
Sounds crazy as hell, and it was, but it worked out better than it should have. I got a good job making more than I did back home right away, her kids loved me, and my daughter loved her and adjusted to her new home fast. And by the time Jack got out of jail for felony cyberstalking, sexual abuse, and Intimidation of a Witness in a Domestic Violence case, we had cameras all over the house, and I had taught my fiancee how to shoot - which she quickly became better than me at.
But Jack's time in jail didn't slow him down, and the 2-10 year suspended sentence didn't deter him at all. As a matter of fact, on his first day out one of the first things he did was start trying to hack her accounts again. He managed to con an elderly couple he knew threw World of Warcraft from a different state into letting him live with them, and from there he spent a lot of time and energy stalking us and hacking our devices to the best of his ability. He also convinced these poor, very stupid elderly people from his videogame to bankroll a lengthy, expensive divorce. Somehow a man who hadn't worked in almost 20 years managed to run us into over $50,000 in legal fees in two years. How a marriage with zero assets turned into a two year battle when both parties were officially in poverty before the divorce, or how the family courts never saw through the bullshit is beyond me.
To Jack's credit, he did a pretty good job remaining a thorn in our side. Largely due to the complete and utter ineptitude and indifference of the police and District Attorney who could and should have put a stop to his bullshit at any point in that time. Old Jack got hit with a permanent criminal stalking injunction and a 10-year protective order along with his probation, and no amount of effort on our part would get the police, DA, or probation to put a stop to it, despite mountains of evidence.
He successfully managed to draw the divorce out right up to the wedding we planned a year and a half prior, with his attorney putting in motion after motion to delay the process. With all our family and friends coming from all over the country and as far away as Japan, we accepted our wedding would just be a celebration and not an official wedding. Until the night before the wedding, she got a call from her attorney - he had made a call to the clerk's office at the court and got her to move the paperwork to finalize the divorce to the top of the pile, and she was officially divorced. Our wedding would be a real wedding after all, and despite Jack's best efforts, he lost again. We had the wedding on a remote ranch that we rented for a week, and foolishly decided to cater and decorate ourselves, which would have been a colossal undertaking without the extra 4 hours to drive into town and get our marriage certificate at the courthouse. But we pulled it off and it was everything we could have hoped for and then some, and we were officially married.
Jack of course didn't stop after the divorce was finalized. The list of shit he tried to do to us before and after that is too long to spell out in an already too long post, but here are some choice bits:
He wrote a demented letter to the oldest of his kids with her who severed her relationship with him, calling my wife and her mother "vipers and cowards" and promising we would "answer for what we've done sooner or later".
He continuously hacked our computers, miscellaneous accounts tied to our emails, and any other devices he could get into - dropping in remotely via Amazon Alexa, phones, etc.
He set up bots to send us thousands of spam emails, sign us up for dozens of international newsletters all at once, and requests for consultations for things like solar panel installations.
He told the kids vile lies about my wife and I, although the most egregious was when he used a court-ordered therapy appointment with his second oldest daughter to accuse me of distributing child porn, told the therapist I am an "evil man", and told him I wasn't safe to be around his daughters. This led to her being forensically interviewed by the police, where she spelled out what happened, but of course they did nothing.
He gave the two youngest children cell phones to sneak into our house, with Google accounts activated and location tracking turned on.
He sent packages to our house 5 times in the space of a few months, one of which was addressed to himself and contained nothing but a bag of Stevia and a pack of gum. These packages generally came to our door the day before his scheduled visitation with the kids.
During this time my bank account was hacked four times in the span of just a few months with nearly identical fraudulent charges. In each of these instances, I had completely changed my bank account information.
He filed false reports with CPS twice, alleging we were beating the children, locking them in the closet, and not feeding or bathing them. This led to a CPS agent coming to our house to investigate.
We brought all this to the police over and over as it happened, and they did nothing. The DA running the case wasted 5 months subpoenaing a fake email address that we told them when we reported it was fake and spoofed. After finding out about that, we went to the DA's office to find out what the fuck was going on. A Victim's Advocate met with us, and was horrified about how the case was handled, looked up the prosecutor assigned to the case, rolled her eyes and said "Oh...it's Stephanie", confirming what we already knew - this prosecutor was completely incompetent, an elect3d politician moonlighting as a prosecutor. She called us the next day to tell us the actual DA called a meeting and a warrant was put out for Jack's arrest. For some inexplicable reason, they pulled the warrant back, and the advocate told us it was because the DA was pursuing more serious charges.
Then, they stonewalled us. The Victim's Advocate we had met with that actually tried to help us was moved off our case, and the new one assigned refused to talk to us or return our calls. The few exchanges we had with her, she made it abundantly clear she had the DA Office's interests in mind and not ours. We decided to just stay quiet and let the process play out and hope for the best, up until we received an email on Friday night before Election Day from the Detective telling us Stephanie had closed the case. I assume she didn't want her incompetence coming to light, and didn't want to shut the case down before Election Day knowing we would be on the warpath.
Eventually, Jack caught wind that he was officially under criminal investigation, but clearly had no idea they were never going to press charges. He got quiet for a bit, until he was ultimately let off probation early. We still get the occasional reminder he's out there watching, but his fear of going back to jail and the belief it might happen cowed him a bit. So instead he harasses us through the family courts, filing constant bullshit motions with no evidence to support them, and for some reason the courts let it continue. Somehow a man who makes ~$800 from SSDI and is only paying $30 a month total to support his 3 kids with my wife is able to fund tens of thousands of dollars worth of legal proceedings every year, and no one in the family courts has ever stopped to ask how he is paying for it or why all this money isn't being spent on supporting these children.
But despite Jack's best efforts, his bullshit hasn't worked. My wife and I have been together for four years soon, and married for two. His kids call me dad and hate his guts, only seeing him because the courts force them to. I continue to advance in my career, landing two major promotions in the past 2 years and now running a division in one of the largest companies in my field in this part of the country. I just enrolled in college to go back to school and get a degree in family law with a focus on domestic violence. The most frustrating part of the whole experience with ol' Jack was having no one to turn to when all the institutions who were supposed to keep this from happening ignored us, and even though I'll be well into my mid 40's before I accomplish my new goals, I plan to advocate for domestic violence victims and do everything I can to lobby for change to these laws to keep as many people as I can from going through what my wife and I did. I learned that the only way to beat these people at their game is to play on the same field right along with them, and that's what I intend to do.
My wife went back to work too once she healed from some of the trauma, making $30 an hour as a personal assistant for a fella who's had two movies made about his life. Our kids struggled a bit with school and dealing with all their biological parents' issues, but they quickly turned it around and have been excelling. We're all happy, healthy, and doing better now than ever.
As for Jack? Well, he's pushing 50 and still spending his days alone, playing World of Warcraft and jerking off in this old couple's basement. Nothing has changed there, and now he's too fat, old, and visibly an enormous fucking loser to victimize women in the same way he did in his youth. I have no doubts he'll find another victim eventually, probably when these old weirdos bankrolling his life now finally wise up, but one thing Jack forgets is that karma is a mother fucker, and I have a giant database of evidence that I can and will send out to whoever I please to help pull that mask down and keep him from doing this to someone else. Nothing is more appealing to a potential love interest than hearing their man cry like a drunk bitch for 26 minutes to the man he claims stole his wife, while simultaneously admitting to sexually assaulting said wife.
As wonderful as it would have been for Jack to go to prison where he can't hurt anyone again, there is some catharsis knowing Jack will forever be in a prison of his own making. His children want nothing to do with him, and he'll never see them graduate or walk them down the aisle. Jack will die miserable and alone, and in his narcissistic delusion will still be blaming everyone else for the colossal failure of his life, while continuing to fail to grasp the one thread that ties all his misery together - himself.
And since he somehow manages to find and stalk most of my social media, I'd wager Jack will end up reading this too. I hope he does in all honesty. And Jack, if you are reading this, I want you to know that you can kick, flail, manipulate and lie, cry and complain until you're red in the face. None of it matters. You don't matter. You'll leave this world alone, as sad and bitter as you are now, and the world will be a better place for it.

Hi u/PaloCommunity,
I've just finished writing my Discussion Post in the PaloAlto Networks Live Community. I'm copying the content (unformated) below. If you want to view it formated, go to following link: https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/next-generation-firewall/guide-quot-how-to-replace-firewalls-with-minimal-changes-quot/m-p/586777
~Foreword~
Last weekend we changed from old Firewall Hardware to new one.
On our Productionsite we switched from "PA-3250" to "PA-1410".
In our Datacenter, we switched from "PA-5250" to "PA-5410".

I am writing this article in case someone needs an easy way to replace old Hardware.
I wasnt able to find an article/discussion on this topic directly, so I'm writing one.

The Discussion/Article will consist of the following Points:

1. Foreword
2. General Information
3. Our approach
4. "How To" (TLDR)
5. How to replace a Firewall with "Device States"-Export (In Detail)
6. "Nice to know" Information

~General Information~
Some Information about our envrionment:
-We use Panorama to manage our Firewalls
-We use "Active/Passive" on all "HA"-Sites

Initial Situation:
-We wanted to do a "1:1" replacement/swap,
This means we wanted to:
-Use the same "Mgmt Ips"
-Use the Same Hostname
-Use similar Interfaces
-Use the same Ruleset
-Same Objects, NAT Rules, VPNs, etc…
-We wanted to have minimal Downtime during the swap


~Our approach~
We asked ourself: "What is the best approach for a replacement like this"
We thought "If we have the whole config in place on the new device, including Ips, Interfaces, Ruleset, etc., we should be able to "Unplug" the old Devices and just have the new one "Active" running".

After defining our way to go, we started searching on "How to export Config, including Ruleset etc"
Thats where we stumbled upon the "Device State*"
-What is "Device State"?
-Device State is essentially the config, including Ruleset, thats been pushed from panorama. (The device state contains ALL information pushed from the Panorama + the "running config". NAT-Rules, Interfaces etc. will also be included in this .xml)

Once we had this information we started on the replacement (TLDR follows, to save you time in case that verison is not feasible for you)


~"How To" (TLDR)~
(TLDR) Quick Rundown:

• Export Original Device State
• Setup new Firewall (Mgmt IP and Password)
  • Export "Device State" of new Device
  • Replace "Admin"-User in "Original-Device-State" with the "Admin"-User of the "New-Device-State"
• Import Edited, Original-Device-State to new Hardware
• "Validate commit"
  • CleanUp "Commit-Errors" in imported Config
• Commit
• Finished

~How to replace a Firewall with "Device States"-Export~

1. Export Original Device State

"How to export a Device State of old Hardware?"
● Go to "Device -> Setup -> Operations -> "Export device state""
Save the Device State with a proper name, youll need it later (PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz")

1. Setup new Firewall

You'll need to perform the initial Setup for your new Firewall. (CLI)
● Setup Password AND COMMIT
● Setup Mgmt IP (So you can access the Web-UI)
Example: set deviceconfig system ip-address 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.0.0

1. Export "Device State" of new Device

After successfully setting up "Mgmt-IP" and "Password" for the new Firewall, export the Device State of the new Firewall (WebUI)
● Go to "Device -> Setup -> Operations -> "Export device state""
Save the Device State with a proper name (PA01001_NewHardware.tgz")

1. Replace "Admin"-User in "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" with the "Admin"-User of the "PA01001_NewHardware.tgz"

You have to replace the Adminuser, in the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" with the Adminuser, of the "PA01001_NewHardware.tgz" because passwords are hashed by the device.
!The hashed password of the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" will not work on the new device!
To replace the Admin user you have to do the following:
● Open "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" and "PA01001_NewHardware.tgz" in "7zip"
● Search for "running-config.xml" in both device states and open it by hiting "Edit"
● In the "PA01001_NewHardware.tgz" Search for and copy it
Copy the whole block:

59193ioasdo%93osaPASSWORDHASH


yes



● In the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" running-config, search for and replace this user with the just copied user from above
● Save the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz"

1. Import Edited, "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" to new Hardware

Now, after you edited the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" to have the new user, you can start importing the device state to the new Firewall.
● Log on to WebUI of the new Firewall
● Go to "Device -> Setup -> Operations -> "Import device state""
● Select the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" file and hit "Ok"
You might have to reload the page (and maybe give yourself another IP) because the Mgmt-IP has now been swapped to the Mgmt-IP of the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz"

1. "Validate commit"

Now, once youve uploaded the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" you can hit "Vallidate Commit"
During this step you might see some errors that you have to clean up in your "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz"
Example of errors during the Vallidate:
deviceconfig -> setting -> management -> quota-settings -> chassis-quota unexpected here
deviceconfig -> setting -> management -> quota-settings is invalid
deviceconfig -> setting -> management is invalid
deviceconfig -> setting is invalid
deviceconfig is invalid
rulebase -> security -> rules -> Block_TorAddresses -> source 'panw-torexit-ip-list' is not an allowed keyword
rulebase -> security -> rules -> Block_TorAddresses -> source panw-torexit-ip-list is an invalid ipv4/v6 address
rulebase -> security -> rules -> Block_TorAddresses -> source panw-torexit-ip-list invalid range start IP
rulebase -> security -> rules -> Block_TorAddresses -> source 'panw-torexit-ip-list' is not a valid reference
rulebase -> security -> rules -> Block_TorAddresses -> source is invalid
rulebase -> security -> rules is invalid
rulebase -> security is invalid
rulebase is invalid
vsys is invalid
devices is invalid
log-settings -> correlation unexpected here
log-settings is invalid
shared is invalid

Example on "How to clean up "chassis-quota unexpected here""
● Open "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" and search for "running-config.xml"
● Search for
● Delete the whole block from the Device State:



16
32
5
2
2
2
20
20



● Save the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" again
● Upload the Updated "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz" and hit "Validate Commit" again.
● If there are still errors, you have to clean up those errors as well (might also be settings in "template-config.xml" for example)
● Repeat those steps until there are no errors left


7. Commit
After you cleaned up the commit errors, and "Vallidate Commit" does not display any more errors, you are ready to hit "Commit"
Once you've hit "Commit", you are done and ready to use the new Firewall

We had literally no downtime. The worst downtime with this method was 6 ping losses in our Datacenter.
It was my first replacement I've ever performed so I was kinda nervours at the beginning, but after the replacement of the first HA-Pair the way to go was pretty clear and I was calm for the following replacements.





~"Nice to know" Information~

• I disabled "ZTP" (ZeroTouchProvisioning) immediately after first boot of the new Firewall
• Remember to commit after changing the password via CLI!
• To have the smoothes transition of old hardware to new one, I recommend activating "Trial" Licenses for the new Hardware.
  • With trial licenses you are able to download content updates, EDLs, etc…
• Make sure the Interface speed of the new Hardware matches the interface speed of the old hardware
  • If Interface Speed differs, you have to swap interfaces (GUI or CLI) after successfully importing the "PA01001_OriginalHardware.tgz"
• If your setting up a new "HA-Pair" you have to export/import the HA Key of both new devices

If I'd had to replace Firewalls next week, I would use the same method. Once you get used to interpreting the Error Messages during "Validate Commit", its smooth sailing.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and imma try to get back to you asap.

I’m praying that a vet or two can give me some direction on where to go from here, I’ve broken down the key parts of my current roster below. Sorry for the long read, tl:dr down the bottom.
Squads + Toons

1. 115k Phoenix: cRex R4 the rest R3 (LSB) all zetas and omi on hera, cRex and Kannan
   
2. 109k Padme: GK R5 the rest R3 (LSB) zetas: padme lead and Ahsoka
   
3. 107k CLS: all G12+, CLS R3, missing zeta on his lead, Chewie’s unique and Chewpio
   
4. 100k G12 Palp: R5 Vader, G12 Thrawn, G11 MJ and a 5th (usually G12 savage or traya) zetas: palp lead and Vader (no lead)
   
5. 94k Bossk: Boba, IG88, Dengar all G12 + Boussh G10 (not ideal ik, almost have Greef and Mando at 7*) zetas: bossk lead
   
6. 89k Imp Troopers: G13 Piett (309 speed), G12 Veers, G11 for the rest zetas: Veers lead and Emperor’s Trap
   
7. 96k Grievous: Grievous 6* G12, the rest R3 (LSB) zetas: 0
   

I also have some G10-11 Ewoks and Geos I used for padme and 3po but they’ve been pretty much abandoned since, I’ll likely end up putting some investment into geos once I have malevolence up from 5*
Also have Wampa at R3 - all zetas and omi
Fleets

1. Negotiator 7* (R5 GK) Missing Ships: Y Wing and Marauder
   
2. Home One 6* (R3 Akbar) Missing Ships: Y Wing, Falcon and Bistan - have all shards for Cassians+ toons but havent geared or levelled anything for it yet
   
3. Executrix 7* (G11 Tarkin)
   
4. Chimera 6* (G12 Thrawn) Missing ships: Defender at 6, Bomber at 5, no Shuttle, Gauntlet, Reaper, Interceptor or Sycthe
   

I tend to throw my BHs/Vader under one of these two + leftovers and they’ve done okay in a pinch

1. Malevolence 5* (6* G11 Grievous) Missing Ships: Droid at 4*, >10 shards for Hyena

If you’ve gotten this far you can tell as well as I can that I’ve spread myself too thin.
To me my only complete team is Phoenix which shreds. Imp Troopers steamroll most of what they’re up against at their gear level typically, CLS has been a solid option on offence 90% of the time and Palp/Vader does decently well but is under invested and needs a tank.
Right now I’ve almost finished the BAM farm while Exectutor has been my main goal, although my BH ships are a while off (only Slave 1 at 7*), unfortunately I got sidetracked and after the LSBs feel pretty overwhelmed with where to spend my zetas.
I’m also working toward GAS but still need at least one more zeta on the team to get past stage 2 and then 2-3 more for stage 3. I also still have 3 clones to gear but have almost all shards for them.
Once I got into GAC I put a lot of focus into making sure I had enough decent teams for wins and holds but I’ve realised I’ve got too many paths in front of me and can’t figure out the best ROI with an eventual GL in mind.
I’m leaning towards SEE as I’ve got a decent few of the characters at relics already but the other requirements seem mostly average at best. I’d love to go after Leia, Jabba or GMK but understand they’re likely to be a long farm.
Negotiator has carried me from 120-70 to top 20 in fleet arena so I almost want to switch tactics to ships only to get higher up but can’t even decide what ships are the best at my stage of the game and with my roster. Exec Reqs are a must bc I need to finish this farm but I’m tempted by Republic although the Bad Batch kyro investment is putting me off.
tl:dr phoenix and gas LSBs + mid executor farm, what are the best options to focus resources for best ROI and which GL to go for first

I bottle raised a kitten from 2.5-3 weeks she is about to be 8 weeks old. She is my first cat. I have tried everything and she’s still showing play aggression and seems to have symptoms of single kitten syndrome, although I don’t mind now, i know it may become a serious issue when she’s bigger or when I have a child since we want to start a family in like 1.5-2 years. Since she didn’t grow up around other cats I want to get her a cat to show her the ropes.
I need quite a bit of advice. We are planning on purchasing a home in about 2 years but are currently in a townhome that’s only slightly over 1,100 square feet. I have a dog around 30lbs who is very calm and lazy. Would having 2 cats and a dog be appropriate for this size of place right now?
My kitten is a female, I hear males “spray” more and are more prone to things like UTI. I realllyyy don’t want a cat that may pee everywhere, should I get another female? Is gender an issue when you own two cats? I would like a male but already had to convince my fiance on one cat, it was a bit of a struggle talking him into a second. His mom had a cat that peed everywhere and he said if the cat does that he will get rid of it. I obviously wouldn’t let him do that without trying as hard as we can to help the issue but at the end of the day, he isn’t an animal person at all and is okay with my love for animals and a relationship is a give and take. This is the only thing he says is a dealbreaker on the animals.
Other than cost of food and such is there anything else I should know about adding a second baby? Like I said she’s my first cat and I do all care. Feeding, nail trims, vet appointments, litter box. He will play with/pet the animals but I’m the sole caregiver. Please let me know what to expect. Will it be more difficult? I loved the bottle feeding stage so I don’t mind the work I just want an idea on what will change.
Since she is 8 weeks should I try to find another 8 week old kitten? Would a 12-14 week old kitten be a harder introduction? Does this matter or is a kitten a kitten?
Will she be less cuddly or social with us since the kittens will be spending so much time together? Her and my dog spend a lot of time together will she still like my dog or can that change? What if the cats don’t like each other? I am looking into foster to adopt as well since this is a fear of mine but not many places around me do that. Since she’s such a baby I’m assuming they would like each other but I have no clue.
Sorry im clueless about this, like I said she’s my first cat and I’ve only had her for like 5 weeks. Thank you all.

Many turbulent waters have passed under a very narrow bridge these past three days. We feared fear itself on a different level and experienced some of the biggest stress we have in a very long time. We were locked almost 24 hours (20 minutes of open-out time on Monday and Tuesday).
Considering that most of us don't eat the prison rations, we hungered and thirst greatly. At some points food and water became scarce in the entire yard. Bread was completely unavailable and treated and packaged water was spent. All sellers sold out within the first 20 minutes of opening on Monday. Since there was nothing entering or leaving, by Tuesday afternoon, no food or water could be found at any cell or anywhere within the yard.
Remember, the first news of an imminent search came on Saturday night (Day #354) and we did an emergency hiding of our phones. We were all scared and restless, the hiding wasn't safe, we only hid anywhere that looked like something could be put in it. It was already late when this info came and we were all already locked in and couldn't, well, go out, so we only did our hidings within and around. During the day, the following morning, we used our phones until locking time before the hiding began again and stretched into the night. (I'm talking about Sunday evening/night now).
I sent mine along with the accessories to the workshop for safekeeping while others hid theirs in many creative ways. Officially, cells collected their phones together in a plastic bucket and holes were dug within the blocks and they were buried. This was done under the cover of night.
COs opened our cells and instructed us to do it and make sure no contraband remained in any cell as this would always bounce back on them. They didn't want that and so had to aid us. The external search party that came was directly from the nation's capital (HQ of corrections) and were therefore superior to any officer in this facility. Even superior to the state comptroller of corrections. It was a pretty tense situation for us inmates and as well for them COs.
On Sunday night, I slept quite well after we'd hidden our phones and stuff, mine in the toilet at the workshop and others majorly buried in the ground inside blocks. Early in the morning on Monday, when the search was to begin, was when we had the most anxiety. The cells and blocks were just too troublingly quiet. I mean it was so quiet it was deafening, literally. Like a pressure built up in my two ears and everything paused and people moved in slow motion, kind of quiet.
Suspense. Suspense. Suspense. In the morning, before they eventually showed up, we were dying of suspense. Being fortunate as a result of the positioning of our cell, we have a window that can see a greater part of the yard, as well as the main gate far up front. For this morning, everyone wanted to stand at that window and mount the sentry. Thump, thump, thump our hearts thumped and silence remained deafening.
Finally they started trickling in with swag after some waiting. Big, mean looking dogs pulled by big muscled, mean looking COs, were in front, and came charging in. These hellhounds looked as though they had a score to settle with the inhabitants of this hell and would tear them and their abode apart if they got the chance. They didn't!
I'm talking Monday morning now.
Some dramas unfolded that wouldn't permit the hounds to have their fun. What happened was that immediately the search company entered, they turned left and began marching to Back Cell. This is the place where the hardest death row inmates are kept. So, as soon as these condemned guys knew they were coming, they let out such demonic shouts that rent and vibrated the previously unsettlingly quiet atmosphere, cursings and threatenings of stabbings and stranglings, and forced feeding the intruders their overnight shit defecated into plastic containers, echoed.
Such terrible roars their shouts were. The other two blocks, besides Back Cell, where death row inmates are kept, on hearing their fellows, also joined in on the bawl. As Back Cell shouted one thing, it was picked up by the other two blocks, rebounded and volleyed back into the uttermost parts of the prison. They sort of formed a shout transmission triangle.
This development was psychological, calculated and halted our unwanted visitors dead in their tracks. Men who were as good as dead had told them they weren't wanted and would have their deaths fast-forwarded if they advanced further. Their march now paused, they had no choice but to think deeply about all the possible options. To be sure, the losers would be them if they chose to engage foolishly. Dead men have nothing to lose, you know?
After much consideration, the company put forward the Chief of the yard and the resident Deputy Comptroller of Corrections (DCC) to go reason with their dead men. They did and the men told them the only thing they could promise them was deaths if anyone dared to step beyond their designated buffer zone.
Back Cell won. The company then had to send their war dogs out of the yard and adopted a more friendly mien all in a bid to diffuse tension and tone down aggressions. I would say it worked because the shouts died down and the next death row block they turned to cooperated and the search began.
They were very thorough and took a lot of stuff but surprisingly very few phones (already buried, yo!). Knives, belts, bottles, electric stoves and kettles were all taken. Gold blings of all types and serious cash were found and confiscated from the rich blocks. Contrary to expectation, the workshop where my stuff was hidden was searched. I died immediately they marched in there and remained dead, though walking around, until the next day. Not knowing if they took my things was harder and more torture than if they'd actually taken it and I knew immediately. I suffered for hours.
My block wasn't visited until Tuesday. By this time, the searchers were already spent and the aggression had left them and returned to their HQ (lol). The tendency to be dicks and bullies had fizzled out, now they were too nice. I needed to check if I hadn't woken at the Four Seasons somehow for how civil they were.
Tell you what? Technically, they didn't search our cell. As soon as the searchers arrived at our block, our cell being the first, they gathered in front. One got very close to our gate and codedly asked that we arrange money and give him so he wouldn't search us and we did. Turns out only five of the company were the ones allowed into the cells to do the actual searching and he was the leader of the five.
Having slipped money into his hand while we were moving out, they merely made a show of searching the bunks closest to the gate where their colleagues and Superiors stood, but took nothing out even if it was an exhibit. They didn't touch the bunks deeper inside at all. We were made to sit on the ground in front of our cell while they did their thing inside. After a while, they came out with only two laughable things and declared to their boss that our cell is clean (lolz, the money we gave them was equally clean).
Actually, why it was like that was that Authority didn't want us to be searched at all but had to do it to fulfill all righteousness. The DCC told them if they don't search everyone, fighting would break out. The people searched and their things seized would cause trouble. So they only came to our block not to search but for show. Our block has the most impeccable record of any block and our cell stands out of any cell in the block for good behavior.
I later understood that the search was originally targeted at the death row guys at Back Cell, Blocks One and Two, and B block. Other places searched were only as a matter of necessity to serve as cover and to even things out and not hurt already hurt feelings. Principally, it was that transgender in Block Two that singlehandedly attracted and brought this search upon us. He was using his phone recklessly on social media, doing live videos and shits. The extent of his popularity gave his actions a lot of visibility and a lot of powerful people saw it, hence the searchlight fell on prisons.
When it was all over (Tuesday evening), they opened us for only 20 minutes to stretch our limbs but that was just all we needed. Everything buried in the ground was uprooted and I got my phone from the workshop as well. Belts and other things followed later. Hunger and thirst was tough on us these few days. Honestly, prison would be unbearable without our phones, many of us found out during this period. I rest my pen for now.
Tomorrow is Wednesday and normalcy will return. I'm almost thinking: why go through all that trouble for nothing? I may as well have had my stuff tucked away under my bunk and be safe. Anyway, better safe than sorry.
Goodnight Diary!

For background check my posts. This is my second fight with Insomnia/sleep disturbance after 6 years of sleeping good. The first fight started because I was injected with adrenaline during an EP study of my heart - lasted 8 months and by a miracle I got better - this was 6 years ago.
I believe this time my sleep disturbances and insomnia started after i took a high dose methyl b complex (sounds stupid but just search reddit and methyl b insomnia) - apparently there's something called overmethylation. Many people get better and a few have long lasting issues with adrenaline and sleep disturbances/insomnia - which seem permanent. I wish I'd had accidentally taken poison instead of this seemingly harmless vitamin complex.
The only thing that puts me to sleep all night is lorazepam. However I know it will eventually stop working and give me more issues so after a week using it on and off, I've decided not to take it any more.
The other med I'm prescribed is mirtazipine - 7.5mg being the dose to put me to sleep, does it help? Sometimes yes sometimes no. If it does I wake up every 3hrs and after 5hrs of total sleep, I can't sleep further. It really messes me up in the day. I can't function. I become numb.
I realised one thing in all of this. There's not one med for sleeping that doesn't have a pay off where it will mess another part of your life up or cause you other illnesses or cause withdrawal. It's a cruel condition with cruel medications.
Last night, I tried sleeping without a single med - because this was the only way I got better 6 years ago, by allowing my body to recover itself - will it recover this time? I'm not sure and I have a feeling it won't and that something is permanently damaged from the vitamins I took. I didn't feel anxious last night but you're always told you are anxious by others and that anxiety is always the root cause of insomnia - many fail to realise it's the byproduct of insomnia and not the cause - anyway I was too tired and drowsy to feel anxious. I've slept soundly in stressful situations throughout my life so how anxious could I be really?
Anyway, I did sleep (if that's what you wanna call it)... Here's how it went - I dreamt so vividly and the dream felt like it lasted 8 hours. However I realised in reality I slept only 20 mins. The whole night was spent in 20 minute sleep cycles with vivid dreams that felt like forever. I must have woken up about 15-20+ times sleeping 20-30 mins at a time.
If anyone else has gone through this then you know my pain.
I've been advised to get off reddit as its probably not helping anxiety towards sleep and the obsession around it. But this feels like more than just anxiety. I believe there's something more mechanical going on which is affecting my sleep - I assume it's to do with the nervous system - namely the system that controls fight or flight/adrenaline. If it's a biological issue, then no amount of cbt-i or sleep hygiene or whatever will help.
I've seen so many people find their magic bullet here. For some it was GABA supplements, for another it was potassium gluconate, for another it was metropalol (a beta blocker), for another it was moving to his girlfriends house and sleeping for the first time, I've even seen someone say they have to eat unhealthy foods before bed and they sleep.
I don't know if I'll ever find my magic bullet. I believe there's something physiological going on but it's beyond the understanding of modern medicine.
If you can sleep 5-6hrs naturally and consider it bad. Maybe my sleep of only 20 mins x 20 will make you appreciate your solid 4-6hrs.
Probably my last post, if this doesn't kill me indirectly (yeah I know, the whole everyone thinks insomnia will kill them) - then I'll be lucky. My mums side has cardiac issues genetically and lack of sleep increases that risk.
I've been through so much with my health and sleep was my escape. Now I don't have that. If anyone is sleeping less than 2-3hrs a night or having 20-30 mins sleeps cycles. I honestly feel your pain.
I'm not sure of the future, but right now I wish I was with my deceased relatives.
Ps I'm a husband and father of two children. This has taken all the joy away of being either. I hope it returns one day.

I’m realizing my brother is narcissist and despite my mom being a malignant one I didn’t piece it together my brother is one until his abuse against my dad has escalated to medical. Everything toxic and bad he does to my dad he lies or reframes it to me doing it to my dad not him. He says I stole money that was paid to a home health nurse after my dad’s stroke. Despite receipts and my dad choosing the nurse himself at the time my dad will side with my bro because he’s scary, sneaky and manipulative.
My dad tried to gift me a small amount of money for my health care for him at one point my bro has reframed it as attempted theft. Despite me never asking for this money or even accepting when my dad told me take the money.
My brother is now POA and gets my dad’s full social security of nearly $4k a month. He removed me from having viewing access of the account 6 months ago so I don’t know what he does with the $4k on but there is no food in the fridge and my brother leaves my dad home all day and doesn’t hire any outside care. Earlier this week I showed up unannounced with spaghetti to try and reason with my dad and let him know I’m here to help. My used two hands to shovel it down he was so hungry . There was no food there, the kitchen is infested with flies and rotting food, and my brother didn’t come home until 5. There was nothing there for him to eat. I brought water flavor additives my dad had asked for last time I saw him in DEC and I sent my bro Amazon links to buy it for him in Dec. he never did.. my dad hates water and has a hard time drinking it without flavor,
I vaccumed his little area full of dog hair changed his pee stained sheets. My dad was happy and Grateful we did arm and leg exercises took his blood pressure and added it to his health apps the last update was in August when he still lived with me my brother hasn’t taken his BP once
My brother comes home i hoped we could talk to set up scheduled help and care for my dad from myself or someone else. My brother starts yelling My dad asked for peace. Sadly, Due to decades of my moms abuse and training he thinks im the reason my brother rages and yells and my bro won’t communicate with me is my fault. So when ever tension is high we all revert to our exodus family roles, where I’m the scapegoat and can’t hold my ground and bro goes AH-Ha see she’s manipulating US by crying :/
This lash time my bro said he hates me and can’t give peace. I now see he’s hurting my dad to hurt me. He said my dad’s care is fine and im not needed and my dad can never leave the house to visit me and im not welcome there. My dad asked for 2 weeks every other month to visit me and his lawyer will be in touch since my brother said he will need paperwork like a custody agreement to allow him out. Insides him to put it in writing that we will be sorting out future visits my bro refused and started cursing and I felt triggered and left. My dad said he was going to talk to the lawyer the next day and call me. He hasn’t called. I can’t call because my brother claims I call to harass my dad when i call. I get it my dad gets confused and frustrated so I can’t ask follow up questions without trigging his frustration on these events.
My brother who hasnt talked to me since he added himself to my dads back account in Jan said he will file a restraining order and call the cops on me if I ever come again and my dad’s lawyer is ready to file it, he even said remember it’s the lawyer YOU said my dad needed. It’s some smiley lawyer my bro found who goes along with my bro. I’ve called a few times but the lawyer is sleazy and old with one foot out the door
. I’ve been my dad’s biggest supporter. My brother withholds info and creates confusion between me and my dad ever since he went to live at his house because I couldn’t afford to keep my dad here since my bro was gate keeping all his money at the time.l despite my dad begging for his money. My bro mad asking for money so stressful and down the wire time and time again it broke me in addition to the full time care and I had a mental breakdown and he was temp sent to my bros but my bro has convinced my dad I kicked him out! I was literally on the verge of unaliving myself due to my brothers financial and emotional abuse and lack of sleeping for 6 months of around the clock beside care for our dad who could not walk or eat on his own, and he holds that over my head. My bro said I made my choices to get in that position, I dug my hole, and I am just manipulative
To make this stuff believable and hard to follow for an old man, I can barley keep up
. My dad’s doctor called APS when my brother stopped filling his meds and my dad got afib. The doctor called me after not being able to get ahold of my dad or bro for a tele health appointment I had been seeing issues on my dad’s Apple Watch for 2 months and told her about it she connected it instantly to the meds.
My brother before even filling the meds changed medical Poa to himself (my dad does whatever anyone says) then my brother told him to get a new pcp because me and the doctor lied and he’s been getting his meds and I gave him the afib from stress by calling him and upsetting him
My dad is now isolated from me and his doctor his only 2 other trusted longtime care takers. My dad has no one else in his life and my brother can start over with no set of backup eyes on his subpar care
He’s killing my dad. My dad’s lawyer doesn’t care since my bro is POA when I call my dad’s lawyer he just tells my bro the concerns I’ve raised who escalates his mental abuse on me and my dad.
My dad refused help from social worker who called APS the report says my dad downplayed the meds l my brother neglected that they’re were filled elsewhere. My brother said it was miscommunications with the doctor because of me getting involved, when I was only called because my brother didn’t answer or return the doctors calls. Even after he filled the meds it was the wrong dosage I could see from my dads heart rate and I texted and called my brother I had to call the doctor to call my dad to convince him to change the dosages. Because When I called my dad my brother said I was lying and everything was fine . .
brother is killing my dad if my dad dies first my mom will leave everything to my brother and he knows it and he will get away with it
There is nothing I can do. I’ve spoken to a ton of lawyers who offer not ways to help besides forcing my dad in to a guardianship and my brother will fight that and kill my dad with stress.
I feel sad and helpless but my dad never protected me from my mom and Bros abuse growing up. Had he done so and left her wouldn’t be in this mess. it’s sad and sick to watch a toxic family’s end cycle that’s all

This is what I posted on the board game community in Korea, and I'm also translating and posting it on Reddit!
The translation and text inspection took a long time, but I'm posting it because I think croquinol gamers from other countries will enjoy reading it.
(I don't know how to put pictures in between when writing on Reddit. If you're curious about pictures while reading, please visit the link below. You may not understand Korean, but pictures are visual information so they can be understood universally)
https://boardlife.co.kbbs_detail.php?tb=community_post&bbs_num=26766
Not long ago in early May, I ran a croquinol booth for students and parents at a Children's Day event (it was held on the grounds of the University of Education)
The head of the school affairs department suggested, "I heard you like board games, do you want to run a booth?" so I thought very hard. Actually, it was bothersome.
In the end, I accepted because I wanted to make good memories with children as well as selling croquinol. At first, I thought it was easy to take a few croquinols and play a few rounds.
It wasn't long before I realized that the idea was very wrong. This is because there were so many things to consider operating the booth. The program should be organized in consideration of the number of users and the number of people visiting.
The arrangement of objects and the movement of people should also be considered. I shouldn't think, 'I'm done explaining the game to the students in moderation and watching them play.'
I have to think about the details. I thought about it until the day of operation and right before it started. Now that it's been decided so far, I'll have to recruit staff to run it together (this was the most difficult problem)
Finally, find out the products to give to the visiting children and purchase them, purchase notices to be installed in the booth, and other things necessary to proceed or make them
For two weeks, I spent a lot of time and energy thinking about and preparing for how to operate the booth. I thought a lot about what to give as the prize, but it was finally decided to go down
(1) Pokémon Key Chain Pokémon is definitely a successful IP!!
I decided it right away because it looked so pretty and the quality looked good. There were some that were really cheap, but the quality was really... It was a pity, so I put in more budget
(2) ritter sport chocolate It's economical because there are 200 in a pack I tried one to see if it's poisonous What????? This chocolate tastes pretty good...
(3) Crockinol Pencil (Steadler + Engrave) Originally, I didn't want to give pencils, but if I imprint them and give them to students, I thought they could remember croquinol for quite some time, so I made it meaningful.
If you look closely at the pencil, you can see the image of a disc bouncing with a finger. (○ ● ☜) I made it using the basic characters on the keyboard. Haha.)
It took a long time to think of the word 'dream tree' in the engraved phrase. (Offered words: rookie, genius, child, master, king, god, etc.) Since there are no other people to help me, I planned and produced a lot of things by myself.... lol
I recruited the operating personnel as follows
Head of the school affairs department -> Recruit me (one-person planner and business manager): Let's compare and analyze croquinol sales and rest at home and then experience it. Decided
Me-> First cast (S teacher): A versatile teacher who has been in the next class since we met in the 6th grade this year He became interested after being introduced to Crockinol by me. Enjoying Crockinol at home with his wife. Canadian style. (He said he was doing it without giving it away.) After receiving a proposal from me, "I'll do all the preparations, so please come and let the children know the games without any burden," he decided to participate after much consideration. I'm playing with my kids in the classroom, and my croquinol skills are increasing rapidly. I'm planning to promote the entire 6th grade croquinol competition later.
Second cast (Teacher C): My younger brother who met as a manager and a staff member at my last school and became very close. The same person who said in an old article that he helped move the classroom!
Together, we played about 400 rounds of croquinol 1:1 match. He made a lot of mistakes in his early days, but after hundreds of editions, he became enlightened at some point. He has become quite a master.
His powerful shots made a lot of crazy scenes. Among them, he sent five discs of his opponent to a ditch at the same time. When he was asked by me to help him, he accepted without hesitation. (He is expected to participate in the next event.)
Third cast (Teacher K): I am a teacher from another region, and I am close to him because I got to know him in a club. She was the last to be recruited, and she suggested liter port chocolate and keychain among the product ideas. Pencils were also highly recommended when I was thinking about it.
Lastly, he volunteered after seeing me thinking about recruiting one more person.
She's the only teacher who doesn't have a croquinol, and she doesn't usually have a chance to train, so she's still a beginner's skill.
Rather, a person who is expected to revitalize the booth operation because of that. (If teachers do too well, all students lose.) For the record, she has a board gamer gene that can also play Arcnova board games.
※ In addition, there is a sad history of rejection and subtly falling over during the recruitment process.
And I started setting it up on the day!! Visit early with teacher C and install one croquinol on three tables in the tent
At first, I was worried because the table was in the shape of a rectangle, but I could put things here and there. If you put the croquinol at an angle on the table, it was possible to conduct a 2:2 team, so there was no problem.
After I finished setting up, I sat down for a bit and tried a croquinol test. Played without any problems. The shot was even better because I told them to cut their nails, including myself.
However, there was a lot of dust on the tables and chairs provided by the company, so I hurriedly cleaned them. The remaining two operators also narrowly joined, and a total of four people were matched.
After that, I had time to start operating the booth as a whole They're here...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The name of the booth was 'Gather up here if you're confident in flicking', but I think I drew some aggro. Other places looked healthy like making animal bracelets, but our booth was like, "You! Come if you're confident!"
The booth was originally planned like this Planning the rules of the game: - If you feel uncomfortable, you can stand and shoot freely - In the case of 1:1, the original use of the 1/4 shooting line based on North America and Canada, rather than the use of the 1/2 shooting line that changed the rules in Korean company Korea Board Games. - A student who is too young is forced to shoot with a line forward. Two places are experience seats and listen to and experience the rules 1:1 or 2:2 (Parents and friends can participate together) - The experience gift is one litre pot chocolate - Rule Description -> Shot Practice -> consists of a two-game friendly
If you have learned the rules through the experience, go to the challenge seat of one place and challenge 1:1 or 2:2 (you can also participate together) - If you win, you'll get a Pokémon keychain, even if you lose, you'll get a 1/3 chance of a keychain and a 2/3 chance of a pencil through a lottery - Using one chance card, we will proceed with two sets, and if the student draws or wins even one set, it will be considered a victory. - Re-challenge possible when you line up again The booth gradually gathered and filled the corner, and the line got longer
I repeated the explanation and game so wildly!
The first episode : Even though it was in the shade of the tent, the temperature was high, so the chocolate melted. The student said it melted, so I touched it and it was liquid! Unfortunately, we can't give these defective products to students, so we decided to go to the challenge seat without giving them away in the experience seat.
The second episode : Our classmates are here! I heard a voice saying, "Teacher!" and I can see the 6th grade girls in my class
Of course, we played the game. I tried to lose, but I thought that if I lost too much, the student would notice, so I made mistakes from time to time, but these guys made more mistakes!
It ended with me winning or drawing (I should have made it more clear and lost... lol) I said, "This is just an experience seat, so it doesn't matter, show your real skills in the challenge seat," and sent the girl to another corner
The third episode : People were buzzing that a very famous politician visited the booth next door. (He was Korea's presidential candidate.) I looked up and saw the face that I saw on screen Although I was curious, I had my day job as a board gamer, so I welcomed students and focused on explaining the rules. Later, I found out that he talked to a student who experienced our booth and passed by
The 4th episode : The booth operators were not given a separate lunch break! It was announced that they would take turns eating lunch boxes. There were quite a few people... and I barely had time to eat. One person will be in charge of one booth, and one person will take turns eating I'm the type to eat slowly while tasting the taste, but I didn't have much time to relax on this day, so I sat on the stand and came back in a hurry that I couldn't even feel the taste
The fifth episode : There are so many people, and especially in the case of the challenge seat, the waiting line is longer, so to solve the bottleneck, we decided to take both the place and challenge as an experience seat It was the same with the booth I was in. I don't know what this day is... I made more mistakes than usual and often missed shots because I was nervous dealing with children. Hahaha
The 6th episode : The operations staff at the next table said, "A kid came up with a challenge and beat me." He got the prize, of course But after that, the student was still in the viewing room and gave advice to other participating children, saying, "I win all of them," showing a lot of confidence Then the child triumphantly challenged the management staff again! He must have wanted to win again. What was the result? According to him, he showed the dignity of an adult with his skills to children Of course, he gave away a croquinol pencil this time!!
The 7th episode : I explained the rules so much that the script was automatically made "This game is a 150-year-old game of Canada known to have started in 1876.... "In Canada, it's a daily sport that many families have and play throughout their lives, from childhood to grandmothers and grandparents. The rules are simple: if you put it in here, it's 20 points, this is 15 points....." I can't remember how many times I repeated the script above! The eighth episode : There are people who waited for an hour to listen to it while organizing it I've already experienced it and moved to the challenge seat, but the challenge seat lines are too long... Did they feel like they were waiting for a long line in the amusement park... ㅠㅠ Parents were tired of waiting, so they asked to go to another booth, but the child said, "Since I've experienced it, I really want to try it. I want to take a Pokémon keychain!" and waited a lot. It must have been very boring for parents, but there was no other way. I thought the quality of the operation would be very low to just experience/challenge one game at a time 2 play experience + 2 play challenge was the minimum number of plays to feel a little croquinol
The ninth episode : After eating, I heard parents and children talking "This is where we play Alkagi(flicking). Shall we play Alkagi?" "Let's do it!"
If you had written the booth title, "Who wants to play croquinol?" no one would know croquinol, so accessibility would have been low But when the title said "Alkkagi", I was proud of him coming in without any pressure
The 10th episode : The official closing time of the booth was 4 p.m At around 3:50 p.m., I took a breath and looked at other places, and some places had already withdrawn, and I was usually cleaning up, so the atmosphere was clear But our booth is still full It lasted beyond hours Is this the power of crocinol?
The 11th episode : Time has been deleted I was worried about what if time went by during that long time of operating the booth, but it was a mistake. We were so busy explaining and playing that we didn't have time to look at the clock, and when we came to our senses, it was a time when the end was imminent. I couldn't even go to the bathroom for five hours. Because it was hectic, the operation ended without a comparative analysis of 'Are many people visiting other booths? How popular is our booth?' (When I saw the photos and videos later, I could see that our booth was more crowded than other booths.)
The 12th episode : I tried a lot to react to it in my own way. I really complimented the kid every time he hit the disc. I exaggerated a little bit like I became a YouTuber and shouted a compliment chant out loud A young girl who looked like elementary 1 or 2 sat down (around 7-8 years old) I finished explaining the rules, and asked her to practice shooting a few times. After that, we started playing the game. The girl said she would do it first, and she took the first shot of her life's first game. It went straight into the center hole. There was applause from all around. I said, "Even I couldn't put it in at first. It's amazing." Congratulations on your best experience." She's made a lot of mistakes in play since then, but it doesn't matter at all! There's nothing more touching than the first shot of 20 The parents who were nearby filmed this scene and will cherish this meaningful moment for a long time
The 13th episode : There seemed to be something interesting to see other crocinol tables also clapping, wow, oh, oh From the perspective of planning, all these reactions are a gift
The 14th episode : There were a lot of spectators while explaining/playing There were a lot of comments about the rules of the game "You have to hit the disc when it's on the surface" "Oh!" A male parent was glad to hear that he knew croquinol "I knew this game since it came out last year. It was about 110 dollars, but I didn't buy it because it was expensive." (It's more expensive now. It's about $140)
The 15th episode : We allowed a re-challenge in the 'Beat the Teacher' section, caressing the hearts of children thirsty for crocinol Some students tried again 3 times (The challenge itself takes about 1 minute and 30 seconds for the first round, 3 minutes in total, so it doesn't take much.)
The 16th episode : After 4 p.m., I looked at the other booth thinking about when to organize it, and a boy who looked like a fourth grade in the challenge seat was doing very well Her parents were also amazed by it The accuracy of each step wasn't unusual He said he came back to try it out and do it again Looking at the game, he unfortunately lost to Teacher S by 5 points when he made a mistake of 2 turns in the second half Teacher S told the student. " Try it with that teacher. He's the best While sitting down, I asked, "Do you want me to do it with all my strength or not?" I laughed and asked At first, the student said, "Please be generous!" but later changed his words to "With full strength." "Haha, okay. I'll go with all my strength!" The student said he would attack first and tried an open shot and went straight into the center hole "Wow... does this make sense?" I also chased along the disc in the center hole. That's how I tried to hit my opponent's disc in Hogan's alley and accidentally wasted three turns. The result is that the student who leads by 15 points wins... The child liked it very much and came home with a light step with his parents "Thank you for your hard work. Bye!" When I looked at the playground with the back of my family leaving after saying hello, the sun was slowly heading down, scattering light everywhere and giving the lawn a cozy view What could be a more peaceful landscape. He must have felt really good on his way home. I thought he lost well
Finish writing : When I was in college, I ran a different kind of booth when I was the president of a club, but it was the first time I ran it this way in relation to board games.
At that time, there were a lot of club members and the space was very spacious, so the event was held comfortably, but the croquinol booth was operated in a very minimal condition: 1 tent, 3 tables, 3 croquinols, and 4 people in operation
Still, it ended successfully as it exceeded the time without an accident, so considering that it is the first operation under this condition, it should be considered a great success.
The operation of this croquinol booth was planned by myself and prepared for the program, so I have a lot of attachment.
I'm grateful to the three people who ran it together (they were dispatched from each elementary school publicly and privately). As expected, people are the most important.
I'm willing to do it again if I have to participate in the booth event another month this year or if I have to run it again next year. I think we can do it in a better way than now
For example, I dream of running a mini-contest by installing more tables. There's a mini trophy, and I think the kid who got it will really like it. (Of course we need a lot more people than we do now...!)

disclaimer that i am NOT certified. i am simply an NA and have a lot less responsibilities. my hospital trained me for a week and put me on my medsurg/telemetry floor. i basically just run errands for my nurses/patients, do patient care, and act (minimally) as a housekeeper. another disclaimer that this is kind of a long rant.
i’ve been here since March 13, 2023. i love my job, kind of, but god, this job is so, so draining. i miss working simpler jobs where i didn’t take work home with me. i’ve had shifts that left me in a bad mood for days after. i have a lot taking a toll on me OUTSIDE of work. work used to be my escape.
there’s so much workplace drama as well, it’s like primary school all over again. and it’s always the older nurses. don’t get me wrong, there’s several coworkers that i love with all of my heart. we go out for lunch and dinner together, go on hikes, etc.
there’s a select few of my nurses who i have NEVER seen do patient care in my year of working. it’s all task delegation, even when i’m the only aide on my floor of 36 patients. they have a major superiority complex and do everything they can to avoid helping me. some will see that i’m clearly in the middle of something and obviously overwhelmed and ask me to get a set of vitals so they can give their pain meds. i already have to get 18 sets of vitals every 4 hours, which takes me 1-1.5 hours as it is. by the time i’m inished, i’m starting again.
i’ve been physically, verbally, mentally, emotionally abused by patients. i’ve been shamed for my tattoos, my scrubs, my weight, my height. i’ve been physically and verbally sexually harassed way too often.
i’m looked down on by my managers, nurses, NPs, PAs, residents, doctors, etc. but what hurts the most is my patients seeing me as less-than. i know i’m just an assistant, but i don’t want to be seen as “just” an assistant. of course, sometimes i get lovely patients, some of which are frequent fliers who love seeing me again.
most of my patients are geriatric and/or incontinent. most of my days consist of constant bed changes. so many are demented and/or fall risks who won’t stop getting out of bed, and my nurses get annoyed when i ask them for help getting them back in bed.
i have sciatica and it’s dreadful. some days i can barely make it and my legs will hurt for days after my shift. everyone looks down on me for needing to sit down for a while but they don’t understand the pain i’m in (unmedicated and untreated). i was put on a steroid packet for a month and it saved me, but that was only temporary. i can’t get an MRI until i complete 6 weeks of PT 3 days a week so my insurance will cover it, but i don’t have time between work and school, both full time. i told my PCP this so she referred me to a chiropractor. thanks but no thanks.
i’m VERY anemic and i’m on supplements, but they make me so constipated. i have to take them every other day and take laxatives almost daily, which i know is bad for you.
i have bipolar II, anxiety, and possibly ADHD. i can be on the brink of being suicidal and still have to plaster a smile on my face for my patients. they ask me how i am but i tell myself not to complain because i know they’re in a worse position than me and it’s like rubbing it in their faces. i’ll just say “Tired! How about you, honey?”
i’ve had chronic tachycardia since birth. it’s not uncommon for my HR to be in the 140s-150s, but i’ve seen it in the 170s. i’m also addicted to caffeine which is a great combination. i used to drink 3 monsters a day but my partner made me cut back for my health. my coworkers would hide them from me haha. it doesn’t even energize me anymore; it just makes me feel normal.
my back is already killing me. i’m only 20 years old. i know that nursing kills your back as well, but after gaining 2 years of experience and completing my BSN, i will be able to specialize in WOC where i won’t hurt my back as much. my MIL is a WOC nurse who invites me to do rounds with her and shadow her while she charts and does consults, and i’ve decided that’s my dream job. it’s something i’m genuinely looking forward to. my boyfriend asked, “if you could have any job, and pay was the same across the board, what would it be?” i told him i’d still be a WOC nurse.
i’m in pre-nursing right now, but once i’m officially in the nursing program, my hospital will pay for most of my schooling. however, i will have to sign a contract with them (i can’t remember if it’s 3 or 5 years. i think they changed it recently.). i figured it would be fine, since i’ll be specializing at this hospital. but this position is killing my physical and mental health. i don’t know. i can’t bring myself to leave so i’m just venting. thanks for reading if you got this far.

Drakkenheim is no more. An eldritch storm of falling stars devastated the city on that woeful eve, leaving behind a meteorite that would have lasting effects. Fifteen years later, Drakkenheim is a dismal urban wasteland contaminated by otherworldly magic and haunted by hideous monsters. Fantastic wealth, lost knowledge, and powerful artifacts lie ready for the taking by adventurers brave or foolish enough to venture into the ruins. However, even those who survive the dangers of Drakkenheim may not return unmarked by its terrors!
Hello everyone! I’m Emma (she/her) and me and our group (all of us are around 25 y/o) are looking for another player to join our ongoing Dungeons of Drakkenheim game. You’ll be the fourth player in a group that really enjoys roleplay and a DM who will help you bring your character to life - this will be facilitated by a personal quest, which will tie you directly to the world. This campaign strives to be a balance between roleplay, combat and exploration, sometimes skewed to one of the three pillars more depending on what’s currently going on. Your characters and choices matter and will eventually decide the fate of Drakkenheim itself.
Currently, we've got:

• a Scribes Wizard looking to put his brother on the throne,
  
  • an Old Gods Barbarian plagued by visions of the meteor and the crater, and

-a Glory Paladin looking to give missing family members a proper burial outside of the city.
We play on Wednesdays at 20:00 CEST for three hours (with a small break in the middle somewhere).
We’re playing in Roll20. You just need to have a decent mic and a discord account (voice only, no video required). You create your character at level 3, and the module is set to go all the way to level 2. You generate stats with point buy and can either choose a personal quest from a list or work with me to create a custom one. All official classes and subclasses are allowed, as well as material from Sebastian Crowe’s Guide to Drakkenheim. You’ll be given plenty of time to create your character; I wouldn’t want you to rush the process!
THE WORLD
The world of Drakkenheim, in the fifteen years since the meteor fell, has known civil war and unrest. All the while, the city is covered in the Haze, contaminated mists that hide and empower the horrors that wander the ruined streets. It also harbors delerium, strange crystal chips and fragments that are well-sought after by mages and scoundrels alike for their magical properties and high market value. But be warned: not just anyone would dare to face the city. What brings your character there? Whatever it is, it is something they fiercely believe in, something that will drive them to return to the city every single morning and that will face the risks. Not just death awaits within the city; the chance of a horrible death pales in comparison to the monstrous transformation you may undergo once the contamination seeps into your bones.
CONTENT WARNING
Drakkenheim portrays a dark fantasy world. References to the following are common in this adventure:

• Violence, murder, blood, gore, cannibalism, and body horror.
  
• Degenerative mutations that cause physical disfigurement and madness/insanity.
  
• Rats, spiders, insects, demons, undead, ghosts, and other monsters.
  
• Natural disasters, large-scale loss of life, civil war, displaced persons, and refugees.
  
• Moral ambiguity, social/political manipulation, religious zealotry and military nationalism.
  

The campaign does not contain explicit sexuality, sexual assault, racial prejudice, systemic racism, homophobia, or transphobia.
If you are interested, please fill in the following form and I’ll get back to you soon. Love to hear from you!

1. Hawks: Alex Sarr - He make sense for the Hawks as a fit with Trae or as a rebuilding piece.
   
2. Wizards: Donovan Clingan - Gives them more of a style and identity on defense. Will fit nicely with Cooper Flagg.
   
3. Rockets: Stephon Castle - Big, defensive off ball guard/wing you can plug in around Sengun and Green.
   
4. Spurs: Zaccharie Risacher - Great role player around Wemby. Great shooter and gonna be solid on D.
   
5. Pistons: Matas Buzelis - Not great right now, but has potential. Fits on this roster as currently constructed.
   
6. Hornets: Devin Carter - Yes, Devin Carter is the 6th pick. Hornets need a dog. A mentality shift.
   
7. Blazers: Ron Holland - Portland is in full rebuild mode and can afford to take a chance on Holland.
   
8. Spurs: Reed Sheppard - God tier shooter to put around Wemby who can also playmake a little.
   
9. Grizzlies: Nikola Topic - I think Topic falls to Grizz after the recent knee scares and they just grab him BPA.
   
10. Jazz: Dalton Knecht - Jazz gets a 6MOY candidate for years to come. Great shooter.
    
11. Bulls: Rob Dillingham - I'm lower on him than most. Bulls SHOULD rebuild, so they can take a chance on him. I don't ever see him starting on a good team because of his tissue paper defense, but microwave bench guy?
    
12. OKC: Cody Williams - OKC picks J-Dubs brother for the vibes. They can afford to wait for him to develope.
    
13. Kings: Tristan da Silva - Kings need someone who can contribute right away and da Silva is very NBA ready.
    
14. Blazers: Tidjane Salaun - He's a couple years away, but I see elite 3 and D upside with this guy. Huge potential.
    
15. Heat: Ja'Kobe Walter - Prototypical SG that probably gonna go 6/9 from 3 against my Bucks every time they meet now that he's on the Heat.
    
16. 76ers: Isaiah Collier - This pick is getting traded and Collier has upside some team probably would want.
    
17. Pelicans: Daron Holmes II - Pick and pop big who also can pass and dribble a little bit.
    
18. Magic: Jared McCain - Orlando needs some shooters around their big creators and McCain fits the bill.
    
19. Raptors: Yves Missi - Crazy rim running athlete with hints of passing and shooting upside.
    
20. Cavs: Pacome Dadiet - Very young SF/PF that seems like he can do a bit of everything.
    
21. Pelicans: Bub Carrington - Might need some time, but possible CJ McCollum replacement?
    
22. Suns: Zach Edey - Budenholzer gets his drop scheme big. Leads Suns to a championship 24/25.
    
23. Bucks: Kel'el Ware - Talent wise probably a lottery pick, but does he want it enough?
    
24. Knicks: Nikola Djurisic - SF/PF offensive creator that Thibs will never play.
    
25. Knicks: Kevin McCullar - Maybe Josh Hart can rest a little bit now?
    
26. Wizards: Jaylon Tyson - Wing creator with a nice shot.
    
27. T'Wolves: Taylor Kolek - Monte Morris contract is up and they probably can't pay him. Kolek is a safe back up guard.
    
28. Nuggets: Kyle Filipowski - Nuggets really need a center thats not DeAndre Jordan. Filipowski is solid, but lacks upside.
    
29. Jazz: Dillon Jones - Weird, wonky and chunky smallball PF that just fills up the stat sheet.
    
30. Celtics: Baylor Scheierman - Knock down shooter with nice feel for the game.
    

Here is the recap of the 14 monetized posts from Kylea and Joseph "Joe" Gomez of Kylea G Weight loss Journey on 05/13/24.
Disclaimer: I am not a physician, influencer, or paid content creator. I am not affiliated with WW. I am semi-retired from healthcare with multiple college degrees. These opinions are my own based on social media content. I wish no harm to Kylea or Joe Gomez.
☎️ If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, please call or text 988 for assistance.
The tagline of Kylea G Weight loss Journey is, "I changed my life with prayer and a playlist of songs. No surgery, no meds. Just Jesus."
DAILY STATS 05/13/24:
0/14 posts discussed prayer
2/14 contained vague references to music
0/14 discussed exercise
0/14 shared a recipe
4/14 were about something Kylea ate or drank
1/14 contained a side by side photo comparison
2/14 were about her current/future pet (one of these was from "Joe" about Amazon pet items)
1/14 "Joe" posted about getting Whataburger
2/14 were about donut holes & a clapback
2/14 were a trip update
📢 For our friends at Meta, that means at least 50% of Kylea's monetized content had nothing to do with weight loss, which is the tagline and purpose of her page.
⚠️ Disordered Eating- Daily Food Consumption (Data compiled from monetized content):
5 WW Points: Barebell Cookies & Cream Protein Bar
0 WW Points: Alani Nu Energy Drink (🚨 These contain 200mg of caffeine)
9 WW Points: TWO In-N-Out "Protein style" hamburgers wrapped in lettuce.
0 WW Points: Bahama Buck's Sugar-free Birthday Cake & Sugar-free Strawberry Cheesecake flavored shaved ice.
📢 For our friends at Meta, that means Kylea consumed 14 out of (up to) 30 daily WW points in maintenance mode= Disordered Eating. This is dangerous messaging for her 138k+ followers on a weight loss journey.
Recipes Shared:
ZERO
🚨 Please speak with a medical professional about any questions or concerns you have about your health.
Comments: Kylea CHOSE to continue posting triggering food content, and clapped back at followers for questioning it.
⚠️ Binge Eating, Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD), aka shopping addiction, Disordered Eating, Food Addiction, Gaslighting, and Religion will be discussed.
Post 1. Donut Hole Controversy: Kylea posted an empty donut hole bag and claimed her sister ate all of them at 3 WW points each. When called out by a follower, Kylea responded with this, "I don't eat donuts. I support other people eating whatever they'd like to eat. What's unhealthy is commenting on other people's food choices.💖💖💖"
Post 2. Using the Pet Cat for Content: This nontent was her male cat's reaction to being told his puppy sister arrives on Sunday.
Post 3. Protein Bar Slip Up: Kylea recycled an old photo of her holding a Barebell protein bar and tried to act like the photo was taken today. 👀
Post 4. Trip Update: Kylea is shopping for puppy bandanas online because Birdie "only" has 6, while her sister drives. She is listening to 🎶 in the car. 💤 This is nontent.
Post 5. "Unhealthy" Food Clapback: Narcissistic, defiant Kylea had to get the last word in.
"I had someone comment that I post a lot of "unhealthy" food for a weight loss page. The point of my page is to show others that all foods are healthy in moderation. What is not healthy, is commenting on other people's food choices. Mind your own plate. 💖 I personally eat very healthy myself but I support all of the people around me in whatever food choices they want to make for their own lives. I will never and have never commented on someone else's food choice for their own lives."
⏸️ This is gaslighting. Here we go...

1. Kylea is triggered by words like treat, craving, and indulge but was not at the beginning of her weight loss journey.
   
2. Kylea is afraid to own a microwave because it could jeopardize her recovery with food addiction and give her quick access to convenient foods. (Please ignore the air fryer and cabinets full of snacks.)
   
3. If Kylea does not like what Joe is eating at a restaurant, she has placed the menu between them so she does not have to see it.
   
4. Joe is not allowed to have regular condiments in the fridge.
   
5. Joe is to "support" her by eating foods he does not prefer at home (most of the time).
   
6. Kylea controls what Joe eats when she is away from home.
   
7. Please ignore all comments Kylea makes on the Basham and Lee families' social media accounts about food.
   
8. Kylea does not eat clean.
   
9. She triggers her followers with calorie-dense items on purpose for monetary gain.
   
10. Kylea has disordered eating.
    

If that list isn't enough to question her speech, a follower requested a 24-hour food log and the # of daily WW points Kylea uses. Kylea replied, "after months of bullying over that because of how healthy I do eat, I won't ever do that again. It's for my peace that I no longer do."
📢 To our friends at Meta, why is a "weight loss influencer" allowed to refuse to answer follower questions about WW (her chosen tool) and refuse to provide an example of what she eats in a day? This is the job YOU pay her to do.
Post 6. Alani Nu: Avoid this beverage (200mg caffeine) if you are unsure about your recommended caffeine intake.
Post 7. Trip Update: Her sister drove 6 hours. They have to be at the airport tomorrow at 4 am.
Post 8. Fort Worth Stockyards: This photo editing fail made Kylea appear 8 feet tall with a shrunken head and long extremities. Upon follower questions, she blamed her sister for how she held the phone. 🤔
Post 9. IN-N-Out Burger: Kylea's sister ate a cheeseburger & fries, and Kylea had 2 "protein style" hamburgers she claimed were called "protein burgers." Umm, nope.
Post 10. Shaved Ice: Kylea's sister got the baby size shaved ice, and Kylea got a significantly larger-sized cup.
⏸️ I smirked as Kylea claimed the protein bar was "yummy," the In-N-Out was "really good," and the sugar-free shaved ice, "It is SO good!!," but the giant iced cookie cake slice yesterday was "fine." She loves to gaslight and act holier-than-thou. 😇
Post 11. Whataburger: "Joe" posted his bag of Whataburger after waiting 1.5 hours in the drive-thru on opening day.
⏸️ How are the donut holes, energy drink, cheeseburger and fries, and regular shaved ice Kylea's sister consumed, and Whataburger her husband consumed healthy weight loss content? Why is Meta paying her for this nonsense?
Post 12. Amazon Purchases: "Joe" posted a picture of more puppy items and said, "Can you tell my wife is excited about her new role as dog mom 😂 😂" This is nontent.
Post 13. May 2021 vs Today: Kylea is "forever proud of the girl who changed her entire life -208 lbs."
⏸️ Kylea, you traded addictions. That is not something to be proud of. You are terrified of the scale and heavily modify your photos. That is not something to be proud of, either. You can spend all the money and travel the world but you are not happy. Quite the opposite. Seek medical care. ☮️
Post 14. Final Update: Kylea feels "uplifted" from window shopping at the Stockyards and local Target with her sister, listening to country music.
Takeout Purchases: Donut Holes= $3.50 est; In-N-Out Burger: Cheeseburger & Fries with 2 "Protein-style" Hamburgers (online prices)= $11.75 est; Bahama Buck's Baby & Regular Sized Shaved Ice= $9.18 + tip; Whataburger (unknown food)= $8 est;
Shopping/Travel Expenses: Barebell Protein Bar= $2.45 est; Alani Nu Freezeberry Energy= $2.48 est; Alani Nu Juicy Peach Energy= $2.48 est; Gas Joplin, MO to Fort Worth, TX: (373mi/33mpg) x $3.85 est= $43.52 est; Gas Fort Worth, TX to Dallas, TX: (32mi/33mpg) x $3.85 est= $3.73 est; Hotel (prices by airport used)= $75 est + fees; Bocce's Coconut Macaroon Crunchy Biscuits 5oz bag Qty 2= $12.98 est; Bocce's Sauvignon Bark Soft & Chewy 6oz bag Qty 2= $13.58 est; Bocce's Burger & Fries All-Natural Dog Treats Qty 2= $9.08 est; PetStages Grow-with-Me Ring Dog Chew Toy= $5.24 est; Pet Botanics Training Rewards Soft & Chewy Bacon Flavor 20oz bag Qty 2= $27.98 est; Undercoat Rake Grooming Tool= $10.25 est; Paw Print Cube Fabric Storage Bin= $12.99 est; Baghler Airline Approved Dog Travel Bag Light Pink- A Backpack with Silicone Bowls & Food Baskets= $34.99 est; Fabric Strawberry Harness & Leash= $17.99 est; Black Nylon Training Leash= $8.95 est;
All info from Reddit. ✌️

Hello!
One of my relative is a struggling first year student and he is struggling a lot to find any jobs. But a week ago he was called for a "job training" to deliver newspaper at night. And what he explained made me wonder if the business is exploiting students / migrants like him. I have listed what this relative described to me. I could not believe the details. Also, today I found that in Finland there is no minimum wage defined in law.

1. This company pays 15 euro for delivering newspaper for almost 3 hours at night in a omakotitalo area
2. The penalty for missing to deliver newspaper after working for a week is 10 euro per missing. He mentioned that there is a guy who actually missed to deliver paper one night and had to pay 20 euro.
3. The company does not hire them but uses same model as wolt. Treating those workers as entrepreneurs. So, they also have to invoice the this employer. Think 15 euro plus cost of using invoicing company.
4. This company also told the workers that they can not leave them for 3 years
5. No pay for those 3 training days
6. There is no days off in a week - if someone needs day of - it is possible like in 1 day off in a month but the "manager" will decide if he want to give day off or not :(

The story is long but my blood boiled hearing all this. I know these students need a job but exploiting their situation made me super super angry. I can not even comprehend. The thing it seems is that the company seems to have gotton contract from posti for a really dirt cheap price. Someone is not doing things correctly. It seems.
Does the above practise look legal to you? If not, what are ways to complain about this business?
Edit: fix spelling mistakes / grammar

Wondering what an appropriate co-parenting divorced relationship should look like between my boyfriend and his ex wife who has untreated BPD. They share an adult daughter in college. Him and I have been together almost two years and she and him have a history of over 25 years.
Without getting into it too much, I feel as though he assumes a caregiver role for his ex because she's so dysfunctional and he’s become a caregiver to her through the years of trauma. They've been separated 5 years and just started the process of a divorce. (It’s taken so long to start because they wanted to wait until their daughter was out of the house and away from the drama)
He says he keeps things so amicable with her because she makes him look bad to his daughter if she doesn't get everything she wants beck and call and he's also scared she'll make the divorce nasty if he doesn't keep her happy. Does he even have control over this? I feel like she’s manipulating him and will drag out the divorce even longer.
The caretaking I see includes dropping everything to take care of their dog if she needs, paying all bills without her ever having to look at anything, arranging all travel plans for the family when they go on trips or even when she goes on a solo trip with their daughter, dealing with medical invoices since they share health insurance still, just pretty much doing everything for her that I believe she is perfectly capable of doing herself-just doesn't want to because she's used to having him do everything.
Their relationship also makes me uncomfortable in that she feels abandoned and ignored by him if he doesn’t see her for dinner every couple weeks, gets upset if he doesn’t immidiately respond or pick up the phone etc. She sends him memes on instagram and sends him links to clothings brands and says “you should buy all your clothes here”. It just makes me uncomfortable and upset and he has no backbone and just has so keep her happy so she doesn’t split and I’m tired of him being a spineless caretaker to his ex!
Is there anyway I can get through to him to realize this? Will he ever accept and be able to realize this?
I'm just wondering: What I can fairly ask him to set boundaries with her on considering they had a 20 year marriage and share a child together? I don't expect him to hate her or cut her out of his life since they do share a child.
Also- has anyone read this and should I have him read it?
[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316449140_Stop_Caretaking_the_Borderline_or_Narcissist_How_to_End_the_Drama_and_Get_on_with_Life]
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316449140_Stop_Caretaking_the_Borderline_or_Narcissist_How_to_End_the_Drama_and_Get_on_with_Life)