What would be a reasonable discount to negotiate for a '24 crosstrek base model ($25195 msrp)? Destination fee is another $1345 and they're charging an extra $500 for weather proof floor mats, cargo cover and cargo tray. So $2740 total sticker. This is in Southern California and using costco auto program, I would be willing to travel a resonable distance to get a good deal.
I read some people get 8% of MSRP, what about the other fees? Also paying cash.

I started a truck driving class a couple months ago & when I started it took me a little time to get the concept of how to manuever the trailer due to me having no experience with a extra pedal (clutch) & the size of the vehicle. I stayed at it & my second month in the class, I came across a youtube video where a guy was breaking down the concept & he compared it to a pallet jack & how u have to manuever it a certain way to get it to do what u want. After I watched that video it all started to come together for me & my instructor showed more trust in me & slowly allowed me to make progress in the truck. As the weeks went by, I continued to get the hang of shifting gears & making turns & when my time came to get scheduled for my test I felt pretty confident. My test was about 2 weeks away from my last day in class. Unfortunately, when I took the test I failed the pre-trip because I left the engine running while performing the leak down (dumb mistake I know but I was nervous). The second time I paid for my retest, I passed the pre trip & passed the straightback, offset, but pointed out on the alley dock because the yard at the testing site is a little smaller than the yard at our school where we practice. After that, I had to find a new job to pay for my next retake, which is $300 dollars every retake. It took me about a month to pay my rent & get caught up on everything & when I paid for my retest, it had been about a month & a half since I had driven the semi. I was told I get one day to refresh my skills & prepare for the test. When I showed up for my refresher, I could immediately feel that I had lost a little confidence I had in making the manuevers & the steps I was taught. The next day I went to take my test & I struggled worst than I ever had before, almost pointed out on the straightback & ultimatley pointed out on the offset. Now I am a little worried about my chance because I feel like I need a full week at least to refresh on my skills & be totally prepared to drive on the road during the test. Is there anybody that has had problems with the cdl test similar to mines & can give me a little advice? Im 30 yrs old & really feel like this would be a career I enjoy doing. I cant continue to work these dead end jobs with piece of shit supervisors. If someone knows where I can go in Michigan to get some training please lmk im willing to pay.

I’m going to try to start from the beginning and not leave a lot out and hopefully I get some feedback on what to do or how I can move forward with my situation.
So me and my girlfriend me(22m) her (24f) have been dating for almost 2 years and have a 3 month old daughter. Our relationship was perfect in the beginning couldn’t complain about anything she was perfect we were perfect. Well a couple months into our relationship I noticed her getting distant and not wanting to cuddle or touch me in general(this was before she was pregnant) so I brought it up to her and she said she just doesn’t like physical touch, but in the beginning it was like she couldn’t get her hands off me and I love physical touch or just being in the same vicinity as her so I was clueless as to why all of a sudden she didn’t want to touch or even hug me anymore. When we first started dating I moved in her apartment and she was almost 2 months behind in rent, she was a 1099 self employed cna, well her shifts kept getting denied and she didn’t have money to pay for rent or any bills, so I took some money out of my saving and helped heus out and got us back on our feet and in a good position atleast I had thought so, she finally found a job that was full time and it was a cna job but she quit after 2 days because she didn’t like it, meanwhile I was working a low paying job and couldn’t pay all our bills by myself and I asked her on more than one occasion to try and get a job that way she could help out and she finally got a job and she helped for maybe one month but she didn’t work, she cheated the system and would clock in then come home and then drive back to work before her shift was supposed to end and clock out and would forge a signature on paperwork to get paid, she did this for maybe 2 weeks before they took the gig down, she didn’t get into trouble but she was now out of a job. Well shortly afterwards we found out she was pregnant and this is when I would beg her to get a job. I ended up getting hurt at work and lost my job, so now we were both jobless and near eviction. We got evicted from our apartment and we lied and somehow got a bigger apartment than our old one and of course was more expensive. I asked her multiple times to get a job and she couldn’t/wouldn’t. She used the excuse “high risk pregnancy” which she wasn’t at all high risk, I went to every appointment with her and held her hand the whole way but I wasn’t being rude or mean to her because however she felt the baby felt aswell(least that’s what I thought). So I got job after job each job being a better paying job and tried to support the 2 of us with my daughter on the way. Well I eventually got a decent job and my girlfriend was still jobless and she decided on her own to sell her car to help pay rent/bills because we were behind 2 months again, she paid one month and used the rest of the money roughly $2,000 on our daughters nursery and small things for herself. She was 9months pregnant and we had to move back into my parents house, I had a very unreliable truck at the time and used it to move all our stuff in 19 trips with each trip being 2hr drives, me being the only one to lift things because she was pregnant, we finally got everything settled and my daughter was born shortly after that. I ended up getting a very good job where we used to live an hour away, and I needed a more reliable vehicle to get back and forth to work and my daughters appointments. Tried finding my girlfriend a vehicle but how the whole situation at the dealership went was not how I expected nor how I wanted but I ended up getting a truck. It’s more reliable than my other one, anyways she was upset I didn’t get her a vehicle and constantly blames me for her having to sell her car. We are always arguing about money/my truck/my job/still not getting any attention from her physically. I slept on our couch and the floor in our bedroom for 8months in total. She co slept with our daughter for the longest and didn’t want me on the bed because I am a heavy sleeper, understandable. Didn’t argue about it but now we sleep together same bed and we still don’t cuddle or touch each other in general. I love this girl I really do but she makes it so difficult because I crave this physical affection and I don’t receive it so I have an attitude a lot, I still do everything she asks but I do it with an attitude. Im finally to a point where I think about what life would be like without her and catch myself thinking about this a lot. I hate that I do because deep down I just want to love this girl with everything in me but she makes it so hard and I’m stuck wondering if things will get better if I stay or if I should leave. So my question is what should I do ?
P.s. she won’t let my mother hold our daughter because the stories I have told my girlfriend from when I was growing up but my mother has taken responsibility for her actions and has done better but my girlfriend doesn’t care. My mom has come to terms she will never know her granddaughter and they live in the same house…. There’s a lot more stuff that could be said but I’m leaving somethings out. but i don’t think this post will even get any attention if it does I’ll give the full story from start till now.

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

Abstract:
The Metals Company (NASDAQ:TMC, the “Company”) - sustained heavy mining operations in abyssal depths of 3500 - 5000m using all new technology while asserting environmental friendliness in an “emerging” market lacking a regulatory foundation. Profitability is a distant and very uncertain gleam on the horizon.
Today’s “earnings” saw an overshoot in estimated loss by 60% compared to street estimate. The stock took a dive -10% aftermarket. This is your shot at a management team that already tried and failed miserably.
TMC, the Company and Management:
The Company is specialised in Deep-sea mining (DSM) and exploration, was established in 2021 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
Members of TMC's management team, including CEO Gerard Barron, were previously associated with Nautilus Minerals, another company specialised in DSM. Nautilus Minerals' attempt to extract minerals from the seafloor within Papua New Guinea's territorial waters ultimately resulted in an environmental disaster and bankruptcy in OCT 2019.
The project was marred by instances of social, environmental, and financial mismanagement. A reported theft of $10 million was coupled with the lack of disclosure of investigation findings to shareholders.
What followed was a new DSM company called DeepGreen Metals, which in turn went public in 2021 through a SPAC merger with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp and took today’s name The Metals Company (TMC).
The Claims:
TMC possesses exploration contracts awarded by the The International Seabed Authority (ISA) through three subsidiaries: NORI, sponsored by the Republic of Nauru; TOML, sponsored by the Kingdom of Tonga; and DeepGreen Engineering Pte. Ltd., which has entered into an agreement with Marawa Research and Exploration Limited, a company owned and sponsored by the Republic of Kiribati.
All claims are situated within the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, which is regulated by the ISA.
NORI encompasses a seabed area of 74,830 km2 and is projected to harbour approximately 866 million wet tonnes of polymetallic nodules. TOML, spanning 74,713 km2 of seabed, hosts an inferred resource totaling 756 million wet tonnes of polymetallic nodules. As for the Marawa arrangement, its resource assessment remains pending.
Their compositions are found to consist of approximately 30% Manganese, 1.3% Nickel, 1.1% Copper, and 0.2% Cobalt. Based on current assessments, the net present combined value of mineable metals is estimated to range from $6.8 to $8.6 billion. The combined claims of NORI and TOML would constitute the second-largest nickel mine globally in terms of resource size.
Deep-sea mining (DSM) for Polymetallic Nodules:
A remotely controlled undersea robot is sent down from a support vessel to dredge and suck polymetallic nodules off the seafloor. In late 2022, TMC successfully demonstrated its mining capabilities by collecting approximately 4500 t of material and extracting 3000 t of nodules with a sustained production rate of 86.4 tonnes per hour during a system test. The company aims for 200 tonnes per hour with additional collector heads and a bigger capacity riser pipe.
Profitability estimates for DSM vary widely.
The Financial Situation:
TMC has a market capitalization of ~$460 million. It incurred a loss of $25.2 million last quarter, with a trailing twelve-month loss amounting to $73 million. Total cash at hand stands at $4 million. The company has the option to access $25 million in additional proceeds from an unsecured credit facility maturing AUG 2025, which remains undrawn, and another $20 million maturing SEPT 2025, of which $2.9 million were drawn in MAR this year.
Pro forma liquidity is ~$49 million. Dept sits at ~$16 million.
The ship should stay buoyant for another 12 months from now, without resorting to measures like dilution.
The International Seabed Authority (ISA):
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) serves as the principal regulatory body overseeing the exploration and exploitation of minerals located on the international seafloor. Established under Article 156 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the ISA is responsible for developing regulations governing these activities.
As of now, the ISA has yet to finalise a rulebook for the industry.
In 2021, TMC, sponsored by Nauru, utilised a regulatory loophole to initiate a process that imposed a two-year deadline on the ISA to establish regulations for DSM within its jurisdiction. With the ISA failing to meet this deadline in 2023, countries are now permitted to apply for mining licences in the absence of official guidelines.
TMC plans to apply for exploitation rights after the ISA session JUL – AUG this year.
The application review process is expected to drag on for 12 months. Production is anticipated to commence in Q1 2026 (revised from Q4 2025).
It is noteworthy that the USA is not a member of the ISA.
Relationship highlight - TMC and Nauru:
Nauru, formerly a prosperous island nation buoyed by abundant phosphate deposits, has faced financial challenges since the depletion of these resources in the 1990s. In recent years, the country has been associated with activities such as money laundering for the Russian mafia and detaining refugees seeking asylum in Australia in conditions widely criticised as inhumane. Additionally, Nauru has been noted for its propensity to alter political allegiances in pursuit of financial benefits, recently ditching Taiwan for China.
“The partnership with TMC is hoped to become the largest contributor to Nauru’s GDP, once fully operational, and vital for the country's economic survival.” This is according to Peter Jacob, a former chief of staff for Nauru’s Office of the President who now works as the NORI Country Manager at TMC.
Nauru Ocean Resources has pledged to pay corporate income tax in Nauru, where the current rate stands at 25 percent. Additionally, Nauru will receive a predetermined payment (tbd) for each ton of nodules extracted through mining activities.
Recent Development:
TMC has invested an approximate total of $100 million towards conducting environmental impact assessments as part of the regulatory process for securing mining rights from the ISA. The company submitted the biggest comprehensive dataset on the environmental impacts of DSM as of yet to the ISA, with an even bigger one announced for the ISA’s session JUL this year.
A life cycle assessment done in 2023 by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence suggests TMC’s NORI-D nodule project could outperform land-based routes in all measured environmental categories, including mining, transport, processing and refining.
Several countries, including China, Russia, Norway, Mexico, and the UK, advocate for the advancement of the DSM industry. China, in particular, already asserts claims to deep-sea mineral resources and has already undertaken mineral exploration activities in the international waters of the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean.
On JAN 9 of this year, the Norwegian parliament made a decision to open extensive areas in Arctic waters for DSM activities. In response, the European Parliament passed Resolution B9-0095/2024 in late January, expressing significant environmental concerns regarding Norway's action. The resolution reiterated Parliament's support for a moratorium on DSM and urged the European Commission and Member States to adopt a precautionary approach and advocate for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining, including at the ISA. A total of 24 countries worldwide, including seven European Union (EU) member states (Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden), have voiced their support for a moratorium or suspension of deep-sea mining activities. France has outright banned the practice.
In FEB 2024, the ISA released a streamlined draft of regulations with key areas yet to be “consolidated”.
In MAR, legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives calling for the U.S. to “support international governance of seafloor resource exploration and responsible polymetallic nodule collection by allied partners”, and to “provide financial, diplomatic, or other forms of support for seafloor nodule collection, processing and refining.”
Steve Jurvetson has joined TMCs board in APR.
Risks:
The Secretary-General of the ISA faces reelection in JUL. Michael Lodge, who served two terms, now faces accusations of "interfering with the decision-making process" and "sharing information with mining companies." He's not been nominated by the UK for his third term as before, but by the island nation of Kiribati. I fear Lodge's absence could spell short-term trouble for the sector, given the presence of some fiercely prohibitive candidates.
The recent earnings loss overshot was partly attributed to heightened transportation costs of nodules to a partner facility in Japan for processing. This highlights that the business model faces inherent risks, including the lack of provenness, the novelty of the technology, and the certainty for unforeseen challenges during sustained operations.
A surge in climate change and biodiversity cases indicates, DSM litigation is foreseeable as aggrieved countries, communities, and other stakeholders impacted by DSM can take the ISA, mining companies, and other parties they deem liable to international, regional, and national courts.
Profitability might face additional constraints due to anticipated seabed restoration obligations that are expected to accompany exploitation rights.
Considering the current financial situation and the expected timeframes, there is a risk of dilution due to liquidity challenges by Q3/Q4 2025.
All of these factors are compounded by a highly speculative and politically charged regulatory limbo, where states are beginning to enact regulations on a national level.
Finally, crowned by TMC's management team's prior involvement with Nautilus Minerals and the outcome of Nautilus' deep-sea mining project.
Speculation:
Treating TMC as a mining company at 20% - 50% of its underlying asset’s NPV, the price tag should be $9 - $11. Though TMC is everything but a “traditional” mining company.
Worst Case - a ban on DSM: Considering the lengthy processes of exploration, assessments, applications, and environmental studies, along with the current financial situation, the company may remain operational in its current structure for another 2-3 challenging years, but your investment will plummet to the depths of Hades.
Timelines shift to the future: This could be due to a prohibitive candidate becoming the next secretary-general at the ISA, or environmentally fueled initiatives to delay DSM. The more time passes, the more TMC will feel the urge to squeeze its shareholders.
TMC applies, the ISA misses the deadline again: We’ve come full circle, though with a higher potential. TMC could go to court, start operations as planned or something in between. I expect upside potential from this.
TMC applies, the ISA approves with restoration obligations: Based on the severity of potential outcomes, I anticipate the valuation range to be between $3.4 to $6 until the business model's feasibility emerges.
Bull Case - TMC applies, the ISA approves with minimal to no restoration obligations: Full potential upside is realised, until the business model's feasibility emerges.
Catalyst:
-ISA Vote JUL 2024 -TMC Application for exploitation following ISA session Q3/Q4 2024

Today was tough. My older brother was in town with his family from California this weekend. He rarely comes to town so I wanted to take the opportunity to tell him in person that I started HRT two months ago. It was earlier than I was probably wanting but at the same time I've been wanting to for awhile. So this morning I took him out to breakfast and we talked for awhile about things going on in our lives. Near the end of breakfast I told him I wanted to tell him something difficult and he suggested we go somewhere better to talk so we went to a park. I then told him about it. He didn't outright reject me but he didn't support me either. He told me he disagree with a lot of decisions I've made over the years (we have very different value systems) and without saying it directly made it clear he didn't think this was a good decision either. He was a bit at a loss for words though after that and just said he didn't know what else to say and that anything else he might say I probably wouldn't like to here. We drive home after that and talked a little more in the car. While it went a little worse than I hoped it was about what I expected, although I don't know if he wants to prioritize our relationship anymore. Afterwards I had to drive back home across the state (he went to my sister's place in Milwaukee and I love on the opposite side of the state). It was a tough ride home by myself. My wife and I are going to hopefully spend a little time talking tonight and just being together. I guess this is just the beginning of a lot of hard conversations as I transition. I don't think the rest will be any easier and most will be harder. Feeling worn out both physically and mentally tonight, and exhausted. I hope I can continue transitioning.

I am writing out of desperation for advice. 6 months ago we learned that our 17 year old son has decided to follow Islam. He was born in America, and we have raised him in a Christian home, attending church practically every week of his life. I am NOT writing here for advice on how to bring him back to Christianity. I am writing for help in how to LEAD HIM AWAY from Islam. His decision and actions from this have sent our family into a total tailspin. Honestly, the problem is not mainly his belief in "Allah". It's that his entire new belief system is based solely on the list of DO's and Don'ts of the religion. All of which are totally incompatible with my family's lifestyle, culture, and traditions. Having to interrupt our activities to go pray five times a day, not being able to eat ANYTHING we make for meals at home or eat at the same restaurants. Tonight, he wouldn't buy me some ice cream from the store he was at for some other absurd and illogical reason of the faith. He has a younger brother who requested to go into counseling over the loss of his brother to this. His mental health has suffered tremendously, as has my Wife's and mine. We have tried reasoning with him, but it was unsuccessful. Conversations just go into circular arguing and shouting matches. We think he was brainwashed into these beliefs by watching YouTubers and Tik Tokers (you know the ones!). We have now restricted his access to these sources. We don't allow him to go to a Mosque or anything like that. We are at a total loss as to what to do next. Any help or suggestions? Thank you.

It is a man, old and scraggy. He wears a jacket that lays over the red plaid button shirt and blue jeans. He wears an old baseball cap and a pair of glasses. He yelled something to Dad, holding his hands up like he was pleading, although we couldn’t hear it over the truck engine. They talked, but we couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Hey, what are they saying”, I asked, while petting Matt’s hair, calming him. The old man then put his hands down and came close to Dad in a cautious way. They seem to start having some kind of conversation.
“I don’t really know, hopefully, something good”, Mom answered. They talked for a little while, with daylight beginning to disappear, giving us a sense of dread, and making me more worried about what weird creature was going to show up. Eventually, the old man turned and pointed toward what I think is the northeast. They then shook hands and walked back to their respective vehicles. “What’s going on”, Mom asked as Dad got into the truck.
“Well, our new friend here invited us to dinner at his farm”, Dad replied.
“Does he have supplies?”
“Well, he says has supplies for us to make the journey.”
“Should we even trust him? We just met h-”
“Relax, he’s just an old man, living alone at his farm, feeding his cows. What could go wrong”, Dad countered. The old man then entered the truck that was running and drove slowly, expecting us to follow him.
“Alrighty then, but we have to be cautious”, Mom said, with her suspicions of the old man. We then followed the old truck along the dark, frozen road. It just feels like something is going to show up along the road, but nothing happened. Matt did eventually stop crying, but he is still upset about the Joe escape thing.
“Where are we going”, Matt lamented, with the prior series of events in mind.
“I guess somebody is offering us dinner”, I answered.
“Why can’t we just go home?”
“It’s only going to be a stop, like a hotel. After that, we go to our new home, I guess”, I said, taking another look at Matt and cradling to comfort him. “It’s going to be okay.” I stared out into the darkness. I looked to the sky from the window and I faintly saw something in the clear, dark sky, lit up by the waning moon. They were brilliant, green auroras that defy the bright moon, dancing across the sky like ribbons in the wind. The truck eventually took a right-hand turn into another road, with us following suit. I can see a bright, orange light emerging from a patch of tree. When we passed by, it seemed it was a house, at a farm, burning in a massive flame.
“I guess those people aren’t so, uh, lucky”, Dad said, taking a quick look at it before looking at the road. Passing by, we went on and continued to follow the old man’s truck. We passed onto another intersection until he turned into a driveway to what I believe to be his farm. Going into the driveway, I can see an old house, along with a dilapidated farm further away, barely visible by the headlights. The old man parked by the house, where there were a few other trucks there. We parked alongside the truck and we got out into the cold, near-silent night.
“Welcome to sanctuary, where all are welcome”, the old man bellowed. This is the first time I’ve heard his voice. Matt was the last to get out of the truck, slowly and clumsily climbing out of the truck.
“What’s your name”, my Mom politely asked the old man.
“Oh, I guess your husband didn’t tell ya. My name is Steven, but you can call me Steve”, the old man said, with some crackling in his voice. “I am very proud to host a dinner for you and your family”, he continued. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Oh, my name is Janice”, Mom replied, quite pleased at his politeness.
“Hello, Janice, and what are their names”, Steven asked, pointing to me and Matt.
“That’s my daughter Kate and my son Matt”, Dad said to Mom.
“Oh, what wonderful names for a couple of beautiful children you have”, Steve grinned. “Come, it is dangerous out here.” We followed him to the house, which looked like it had seen better days. He entered through the double-set door, the first a solid door and a screen door behind. Entering the house, it smelled like what you’d expect, old man. Looking onto the floor is made of glossy wood and walls with cracks, likely caused by the earthquake. It is dark in there, lit by candlelight from many candles, yet it’s fairly warm here. I don’t know why we went into the house, but Dad was right, Steve is just a lonely, old man. Matter of fact, there seems to be nothing wrong here, other than the cracks in the walls. “Sorry, the power went out. Had to resort to the candles. I knew my wife would come in handy”, Steve explained as he took his coat off. “Oh, supper will be ready right away. Had to use the fireplace to cook. Also, can you take your boots off?” We took our boots and set them aside. We went into what seemed to be a living room, with dusty old-style furniture.
“So, where do we sit”, Mom asked.
“Oh, well, follow me”, Steve commanded, leading us to the dining room, with a long, wooden table and six wooden chairs, along with their corresponding old-fashioned plates, glasses and cutlery, lit up in the candlelight. We noticed that everything on the table was covered in a thin veil of dust. “My apologies, the recent shocks dropped a bit of dust on the table”, he explained as he noticed us looking at the plates and moved into another room nearby. “Take your seats if you like.” We all settled onto the chairs, and blew off our plates of the dust settled there.
“When will we eat”, Matt impatiently said.
“Once Steve comes out with the food”, Mom answered. Matt sat there with a tired look on his face. Dad seemed to be in a better mood than before and it looked like he wanted to start a conversation.
“Hey, should we talk about something”, Dad asked. I then see Steve with a bowl and a silver plate.
“Here we go, may not be much, but at least it’ll fulfil the soul”, Steve said, smiling when he served us mashed potatoes and meatloaf. “So, shall we pray?” That came unexpectedly, as we are not too religious, but we were in his house and gave us shelter and food.
“Sure, we can do that”, Mom said and we all bowed our heads and put our hands together. Steve cleared his throat
“Thank you, Lord, for this good food to feed the soul in these hard times. I shall pray, in the name of the Lord and Jesus Christ, that these hard times shall be over, so we can get on with our lives. Amen.” We raised our heads and grabbed whatever food there was onto our plates. “Oh, there’s no gravy, so we have to deal with bare potaters and meatloaf.”
“Oh, not to worry. Thank you for the food”, Dad thanked Steve. We began to eat the food once we got it sorted.
“So, what brings you here”, Steve asked.
“Well, there is an evacuation order in effect for this area, so we had to go to Regina”, Dad explained, with Steve taking in every word. “So, we came from Strasbourg, we tried going south towards Regina, but we hit an obstacle in the way and we had to take another route, leading us here.”
“And we encountered a few odd things along the way”, Mom added.
“Huh, interesting. What do you guys think is going on”, Steve inquired.
“By the things we saw, we have no idea. Dinosaurs, devil dogs, hell pigs, the whole deal. I shouldn’t forget the earthquake. They told us a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake”, Dad clarified to Steve.
“Hmm… is that so”, Steve wondered. “Wonder what I think is happening? The Rapture is happening. Do you know how the Bible tells us of the end times? Good people sent to be with God and his kingdom, the rest here to suffer the Hell unleashed by Satan.” By this point, he was beginning to rant, but we couldn't stop it as we all began to feel tired and powerless. “So, the Devil will send his demons in the form of these illusions so that they can torment the sinners. It is happening, it is-” Steve manically continued as I drew towards blackness and his voice becoming less coherent. My vision is now all black.
I saw those same lights, but more rapidly than before. I then emerged onto the same clear sky, but something felt different. I can smell something in the air. I can smell what seems to be chemicals in the air. Looking down, I was terrified. Dark, grey rock in the shape of ropes and folds, similar to those I saw of lava flows on a volcano in pictures. This went on as far as the eye could see. I can see no tree this time, just the cooled lava everywhere. I then walked, feeling every bump and crag. I thought I walked forever until I heard a rumbling sound and woke up.
I am in total darkness. It is cold and it smells like cow manure. I tried to move my hand, but it seemed to be bonded behind my back by a rope. I tried to move my feet, but they were also bound by rope to the legs I tried to speak, only to realise my mouth was agape by a cloth in my mouth. I heard shuffling nearby but I could not see. It was then shone in light when Steve entered the door, holding a candle, revealing all of us in the same situation. I then can see what we are in. We are in that same wooden dilapidated barn we saw earlier and seems to be more damaged than the house, wood creaking can be heard.
“These sedatives are more effective than I thought. Maybe I should use them more often”, Steve smoothly explained, like he’s some kind of agent and began pacing. “Wonder why you are here? Well, I wondered the same thing to myself, why didn’t God take me to his heaven? When I first heard of the government telling us of those evacuation plans, I thought it was that, a leaking pipe. I began to notice things I couldn’t believe myself, at least at first. Earthquakes, weird creatures showing up, people disappearing, the whole spiel. I connected the dots. The Rapture is happening, for sure, but why me? Why was I the one left here on this Earth”, Steve calmly ranted, pacing around the barn, but it seemed to sound crazier and angrier the more he paced. “I thought I had lost my way. I’ve been unfaithful to God and his son. But, I realised that God always has a plan and he left me on this Earth to serve a purpose. I wondered what my purpose was until I had a moment.” He then stopped in place and calmed down. He turned to look at Mom with accusing yet crazed eyes.
“I’m supposed to keep the sinners here in line, to earn a place in God’s kingdom, or suffer in Hell. I know you are a sweet woman, Janice, but your treachery with Satan is over and I am going to do what’s right.” Mom then looked at all of us, with assuring eyes like that of an innocent yet caring mother we all know knew. I began crying and trying to speak through the cloth, but I was helpless to watch by. “Forgive me, Father, for what I am going to do.” He then pulled a knife from his pocket and plunged it into Mom’s neck with no mercy. I looked away once he did that, trembling, with tears pouring out and my vision glazed and I fell limp. I could see my brother tearing up, but he did not look away. I can hear Dad behind me, with his screams of agony and anger covered by the cloth. It felt like I was in slow motion, taking in every moment.
I then heard the chair, screeching as Steve dragged the chair containing Mom’s lifeless body towards the door, leaving behind a trail of blood. I couldn’t bear to see my mother like this. I shut my eyes very hard and hoped it would go away. The door then shut, leaving us alone with a candle, fearing what would come next. I stared at the candle, seeing it dance in the flames like a woman dancing in the darkness. Is this how it’ll end, I thought. End up dying to this sick man? My Mom was killed in front of me. I sobbed with that thought, then I began to think about the inevitable death of me. I hope there’s something after I die. Maybe I’ll see Mom again.
It was silent for a while, nearly no sound other than our moans. Dad seems to be fidgeting at the back of his chair, rocking it slowly. Looking past him, I shuddered at the glistening pool of blood, where Mom was last alive, could be my fate. I then see Dad release his arms from the back of the chair and remove the cloth from his mouth. He silently stood up and bent down to untie his legs from the chair legs. He then went to me and removed my cloth.
“H-h-how did you do that”, I silently wept, fearing that Steve would show up at the door and kill us all.
“My binding is loose. The old man probably took a liking to me”, Dad whispered. “I should remove your binds.” He untied them, releasing me, doing the same for Matt. “Now, we need to be quiet.” We then walked, quietly, along the painfully creaking wood in the near dark, following the blood trail, glistening in the candlelight. We cringed and dreaded each sound we made and watched the door in case it began to creak open. A few silent steps later, we made it to the door and we slowly opened it so as not to make any noise. What was revealed to us is nothing new, other than the blood trail continuing in the snow directing towards the back of the barn. “Okay, Kate, Matt, you guys run to the truck.”
“What about you”, I sobbed.
“Don’t worry about me”, Dad responded, giving me his keys and forcing them into my hand. “If I’m not back in a few minutes, leave. Don’t look back, take care of your brother, okay? I love you, no matter what happens.” He then kissed me on the head and ran to follow the blood trail. We quickly walked towards the black truck, stranded there for maybe hours. Getting closer, freedom is getting closer. When we got to a fair distance to the truck, I heard footsteps behind me and, the next thing I knew, I was knocked over to the ground into the hard snow on my face. A hand turned me over to give me a glimpse of a crazed Steve, his eyes wilder than before.
“Oh, yes, trying to escape”, he bragged. I looked at him, frozen in fear, like a deer in headlights and he caressed my face with his bloodied blade. “You do have a pretty face, but I’m afraid you are just one of Satan's creations, made to pull me to lust.” He then raised his knife in the air when a familiar side emerged, out of the blue.
Joe came and bit him in the arm that was holding the knife. Steve screamed in agony the moment he realised what happened. He shook Joe off and stood up to stand his ground. I stood up as Joe hissed and walked around the crazed being he wounded, not in fear but in aggressiveness. “Is this one of your pets, demon”, Steve screamed as Joe came in for another attack, but Steve countered that with a slash to the snout. Joe then ran away, whining, into the darkness. This sequence of events gave me the chance to enter the truck on the driver’s side. I had some trouble starting it, besides this is my first time driving a truck.
Steve menacelily walked towards the when Dad came barreling and tackled him to the ground. Dad was on top when he went limp. I finally put the keys in the engine turned it on and backed out, with memory serving me the instructions on such a vehicle. Steve pushed Dad’s body and stood up, but by that time, we left the farm.
“Turn back, we have to get Dad”, Matt cried, but I was very emotional, accepting what happened. I felt that, without my parents, I feel… useless.
“Dad’s dead”, I screamed at Matt and he began gagging uncontrollably in tears. I began to feel sorry for him. “Sorry, I, I don’t know.”
“It’s okay”, Matt sniffled. “I guess Mom and Dad are dead anyways.” It was silence for a few more minutes, tears welling in our eyes.
“Hey, our parents are in a better place”, I said, trying to make the situation positive.
“But we are stuck here, without them? Don’t we deserve to go to a better place?”
“Don’t say that”, I huffed and I paused for a bit. “I know we are in the, uh, right place now. Let me tell you something, once we get to Regina, I will take care of you, no matter what life throws at us.”
“What about Joe”, Matt asked.
“He’ll be fine. He probably found his girlfriend already.”
“Hey, don’t you have a boyfriend?”
“I, uh, I don’t have one. That I know of”, I spoke, bringing me back to Sam, remembering that she’s the only friend that I ever knew, and I left her. Without her, I felt alone, no one would ever relate. I began to tear up. “I don’t have any friends. I am alone,” I sobbed.
“What do you mean? I’m your brother!” I looked at Matt, and smiled, happy that he acknowledged that we were in this together.
“Thank you”, I thanked him. I slowly stopped on the road, just to hug Matt hard, crying my eyes out. We then heard what sounded like an elephant in front of us. We looked up to see a walking snow-covered brown fur wall with four pillar-like legs in front of us. Its curved tusks gleaned in the light and the eyes reflected in the light. The furry trunk waved around like a searching snake from a tree. We both knew what it was.
“Hey, look at that, a woolly mammoth”, Matt said, excitement running through him. At this point, we weren’t surprised.
“Yep, that is a woolly mammoth”, I added. The mammoth turned to us on the road, seemingly confused about where it was. It looked at our truck and seemed to growl, like an elephant. We are starting to realise this thing is becoming aggressive.
“Uh, should we move”, Matt asked. I remembered hearing something about standing your ground in case of an encounter with an elephant. I hoped it would work for a bigger, furrier version of one.
“No, we have to stand our ground.”
“But, it’ll attack u-”
“Trust me!” I then honked my horn and it backed up. It then rushed, then stopped, a mock charge. Eventually, it moved out of the road, disappearing into the darkness. We sighed in relief.
“That was close”, Matt sighed. I then continued to drive in the night, headlights leading the way. The road is bumpy, as noticed by every ditch and peak we hit, but surprisingly, Matt was fast asleep. I began to get comfortable driving and used to the road by that point. It was silent for a while until we hit a smaller intersection. That is when the truck shut down, completely and stopped. I tried the gas many times but with no effect. There is no light, nothing. It is near-darkness here, shone only by the moonlight.
“Shit”, I yelled, desperate to turn the truck on without much success. Matt woke up, confused.
“What happened”, he yawned.
“The truck turned itself off. I can’t get it back on”, I fretted and at that moment, Matt was just as panicked as I am.
“Why?”
“I-I don’t know. One moment, we were driving, another it just-”, I quavered, when I heard something rustle in the distance. We stood still, hoping whatever it was didn’t find us. I looked around, hoping to see something in the moonlight. I then see a long, walking animal. It looked like some sort of alligator at first, except for a dinosaur-like head. Once I strained my eyes to the darkness, my fear levels rose as I could see it walk on its hind limbs, with its forelimbs dangling nearly touching the ground.
It was wandering around on the road when I heard a near-crocodilian growl at Matt’s side of the truck. Another of those creatures appeared, seemingly looking into the window like a hungry bear, giving us a chance to see its scaly head. Its exposed alligator teeth gleaned in the light like knives, but more terrifying was the eye. Its serpentine pupil shone brilliantly in the light like eyes in the dark. It then ducked down, gave a hiss, and moved towards the other one. A few more showed up and formed a group.
“What should we do”, Matt asked. “Should we stay?” I looked around, hoping for another way to escape them without them noticing. I further strained my eyes and mentally mapped out the area. There is a cemetery on my right-hand side, a grain bin storage yard on my left and a series of trailers on the other side of the highway, which is ahead of us, from the storage area. There, I see a series of white, storage buildings, something we can go to and wait it out inside.
“Okay, so slowly open the door”, I instructed Matt. The click of the doors opening cringed us. We looked at the group, but there was no response from them. We then, as slowly as we could, opened the door and stepped out. Still no response. Matt then quietly ran to the other side, towards me. “Okay, we are going into the storage yard and go to the other entrance”, I said, pointing to the other right-hand corner. I wanted to get as far away from these things as possible before making a safe crossing. “Then, we cross the highway on the other side, run into the buildings and stay there for the night. Are you ready?”
“I guess”, he whispered, looking at me in fearful doubt.
“We are going to do this”, I whispered back. We then silently ran over, having to rely on our night-adapted eyes, to the corner, walking past the bins. We made it and nothing behind us so far. “We’re good so far.” We then crossed the road and noticed nothing. We noticed a tanker truck, leaking some sort of fluid across the road. I easily recognized it as fuel, based on its distinctive, sickly smell. I wouldn’t be worried about it if it weren’t for a collapsed light pole that is somehow still flickering with electricity near the area where the fuel would be flowing. We quickly avoided the fluid when I froze to see the group of the walking alligators, running towards us. “Run!” Matt tried to run, but one of those things appeared and clamped its jaws at the back of his neck. He yelped in pain and it took him down to the ground. “Matt”, I yelled, helplessly watching as the creature tore into him.
Matt reached out his arm before the others came to him, then a flash of fire came. At this point, I knew what happened, but I couldn’t even think before it exploded. It blew me towards the building, far away. I was knocked out for a few seconds before I regained consciousness, groaning in pain on the ice. I noticed something especially painful just below my chest. I reached towards the area with my hand. I pressed on it, more painful than ever and raised my hand, only to see blood, brightened by the fire. I realised I was wounded, maybe by shrapnel made by the explosion.
I looked toward where the truck was and all I saw was a blaze. Those things weren’t there, at least. I also noticed something else, too, there’s no Matt. I tried to look around for something, some sort of sign of my brother within the fire, but I saw none. I then wept, realising I had failed. I have failed to keep him safe. I have failed to give him a better life. I failed him as a sister. I could’ve done better. The thoughts poured in as tears glazed my eyes. At that moment, I failed to look around me.
I noticed a dark thing beside the blaze. I thought it was Matt, preparing to greet him back, even though I knew he couldn’t survive the explosion. The image became clearer and clearer as I noticed it was one of the walking crocs that, glazed by the fire, was coming towards me.
“Just kill me”, I screamed, preparing to painfully die to meet my maker. The creature was about to attack me when something large, silent as the wind, came charging and clamped down its massive jaws, filled with conical teeth on the hapless creature and raised it. The crocodile struggled before going limp with a crunch within its strong jaws. The big, dark and scaly monster that it is towered over me and is as long as a bus, possibly longer. Its large legs are a contradiction to its small arms that hide beneath its scarred, bulky body.
It turned to look at me with an oddly bird-like expression, revealing in the firelight numerous scars from battles I could never know and looked at me with its beady bird-like eyes, breathing out wisps from its nostrils like a dragon in the cool air. I recognized it as a creature I know too well, a T. Rex. I breathed heavily and sickly, looking at the thing, nearly expecting me to drop the body and go after me. Instead, it simply walked away, carrying its bloody prize with it, and steadily retreated into the darkness.
I then lay down in agonizing exhaustion on my back, thinking of the next step of action like I'm on a suicide mission I would never come back from. I looked in the direction of the graveyard and had one thought. I guess I am dying. a graveyard will do. I struggled to stand up, noticing my blood-soaked clothes and felt a broken left leg. I grasped my wound, limping step by step and enduring the sharp pain while shaking in the cold. Every step I took, I remembered all the memories, good or bad, that I had with my parents. My brother. My friends. My family. I eventually reached the cemetery and slouched at a tree.
“Guess I’m joining you, guys”, I said, speaking to the snow-covered gravestones, only to hear something. A familiar sound of chirping emerged and, lit by the blaze, it was a sight I can hope for. “Joe, what are you doing here”, I depressingly cheered as Joe went to me and curled up in my lap as if he were a cat. I noticed the new-found scar he had on his little snout, but I paid no mind as I petted him. “I guess you came back. Thank you so much for what you did”, I thanked him, not expecting such a loyal creature would be with me, comforting me, to the end, like what my mother used to do when I was a newborn. I heard another noise, this time a deep rumble.
I thought it was another earthquake coming, but it got louder the closer it got to me, becoming more animalistic only felt small vibrations I barely felt. Joe stayed put, oddly enough, as T. Rex, different from the first one, came. It walked towards us until it stopped short of us. It began to produce a low-pitched, bird-like purring, attracting Joe. I realised something, that this T. Rex is Joe’s parent. He joined the rest like him, whom they showed up and all chirped around.
The grown Rex then brought its snout closer to me, not to kill me, but to look at me. It did not reveal its teeth and was still purring. I put my hand out and its nose came close to it. It rubbed it against my hand and started to pet its cold, scaly skin as it breathed through its nose and put it on my chest. I rested my head on it before it pulled away. It gave out a hiss, but I knew it wasn’t that of a threat, but more of a thank you for bringing its small, sometimes immature, child home.
That gave me relief, as it felt like I at least did something for once. They walked away, along with Joe, towards the darkness amongst the gravestones in the cemetery. I glimpsed one last desperate look at Joe before walking beside his parent. I looked up at the sky and I could see all the stars, twinkling, and the dancing green auroras. I began to feel limp and felt the cold embrace of death coming over me, tears pouring out of my eyes. The sky then grew brighter and brighter, the stars faded into the light and I could see my family welcoming me to a new home. It then slowly went black, darker than a cave.
You would think this is the end of me. It wasn’t, or else I wouldn’t be writing this right now. I eventually woke up in a hospital in Regina. I was told I was rescued by a team that transported me while I was in a coma. The doctors said I was very lucky to be alive, as the shrapnel narrowly avoided my vital organs. After that, I was adopted into a new family, but I was only with them for a couple of years before finding a new job and moving out.
As for Sam, I don’t know what happened to her. I would like to think she is safe, somewhere else. As for my family, I think of them all the time. I was in a depressive period right after that. Eventually, over the years, I accepted that they were gone and went to a better place. For Joe, I would like to think he is all grown up, like his parents, and becoming the king of the jungle. I hope we meet again.
As for the evacuated area, it wasn’t some pipeline rupture that caused an evaluation, but an anomaly, with the exact reason not known. There are excuses for the claims of weird stuff going on in there, from disease to chemicals, to eventually a previously unknown geological event, but I saw through it all.
You may ask how, it's because I've been there. Take it or leave it, this is the story I have. As the decade came by, cover-ups were made to hide it, even walls were put around it. Since the incident, the exclusion zone grew from a mere 80 kilometers in diameter to 460 kilometers in diameter, emptying entire cities of the likes of Regina and Saskatoon. I had to move to North Battleford, by the recommendation from the same government covering it up, making me think that time will tell before the floodgates of truth open.
The anomaly didn’t have a name initially, however, over the years, everyone agreed on one name in particular: The Saskatchewan Anomaly.

I'm reposting this as it was edited by AI to be a bit more grammatically correct and "editorial" sounding, and came out completely wrong, my apologies - my writing generally sucks. The below content is important to me, so I'm looking for serious reflection, debate if anyone is interested. Thanks.
There's obviously been some discord with the new Mini line-up pitting Mini loyal purists against the fresher minded Mini lovers who prefer the new styling. We're all entitled to our opinions and that's okay, I'm not here to convince anyone of one trend or styling over the other. But we should be looking at the reasons of why Mini has made these style/business choices. I feel that some of these reasons are largely being ignored by some fans, being accepted as "the new trend, accept it", versus the 'straight-to-market', market cap gaining, cutting costs to get there, loss of prestige, quality of materials, and loyalty be damned - as I and others see it.
I obviously sit on the side of mostly disliking this new generation not because of their style choices (while ugly) but their decision to sacrifice quality in order to gain market cap, and their decision to partner with Great Wall Motors and produce an awful end-product out of China that mostly mimics the likes of the South East Asian market.
The Asian market isn't so much the problem, it's the en mass production of said materials, "recycled", "faux", and low quality plastics that are being used in their vehicles. A lot of people have said "this is the trend" and where all mass marketed cars are heading. But I think Mini's decision to partner with Great Wall Motors and produce the car out of China has a huge impact on their intention to go straight-to-market, cost cutting, streamlined parts, and therefore (in my opinion) loss of quality, and diminished/minimalist styling and impact on general design.
For example, I've said this in other places, but Great Wall Motor's 2023 Ora EV is a near clone of the Mini Cooper EV of which is made out of the same factory as the Ora. This partnership started in late 2017, early 2018 and didn't just happen yesterday. If you see the URL's below of the Ora you can see that they're pretty much clones, the round headlines, "unique" colorful interior, faux leather, low quality plastics, and minimalist approach.
Sorry for the length of this, but I'd love a friendly discussion about the above because it seems to be that BMW/Mini along with GWM are really just trying to gain as many customers as they can while doing it from a straight-to-market, cost-cutting designs, while largely impacting the former prestige and "luxury" feel our beloved Minis once had. What do you think?
2023 GWM Ora Exterior
2023 GWM Ora Interior

So. Recently posted about my EMU visit, how anxious I was that I'd get smacked with a hysteria diagnosis. I had a lot of stuff happen. Most interestingly, in my second sleep deprivation day (basically self-administered, might I add), I had some pretty intense episodes. One of them I fell into some kind of microsleep and emerged extremely sexually aroused, which I was able to identify as the same feeling as my sexsomnia which baffled a sleep doctor. Another one, during sleep dep, I felt this profound and abnormal sense of mental clarity, got excited, felt aggressive, almost like I took amphetamines, faintly hypomanic, and had an extremely intense visual aura with my migraine symptoms an hour or two afterwards, along with a host of my typical seizure symptoms and impairment, though without headache. My final one, after being up for 32 hours, I slept for about two and woke up still dreaming, with extremely impaired awareness, confused as hell, feeling like I was in danger, not able to make sense of what was happening, didn't know where I was, and took about ten or fifteen minutes to return to awareness, typical of what I suspect to be nocturnal seizures I have. Despite getting all of these, by the second or third day they had already told me this was PNES, they weren't catching any epileptiform discharges. I sort of figured this would happen. Whatever.
This part may be ever so slightly out of order, because I didn't record it. Not a mistake I'm ever going to make again. I'm going off my memory, and the memory of a family member who was there and agrees this is what happened.
Today, I'm getting discharged. A doctor I'd never seen comes in. Don't remember her name. She tells me that because there was no epileptiform activity it's PNES and that I need to see a therapist for treatment. I start to have a conversation with her, saying that feels a little "circular" because my three mental health providers told me to pursue neurological care, and that I'd been receiving mental healthcare for twenty years with no improvement. I'm working towards having a conversation with her about how some epilepsy, like TLE and FLE, may not actually present on an EEG. Before I get there, she asks me what symptoms I have that make me think it's epilepsy. Give her a brief rundown of my history, which she didn't know at all despite the fact that I gave some decent history the day I was admitted. Talk about sleep issues I had, all these psychiatric diagnoses I got which didn't do anything, how I couldn't function as a kid and my life fell apart. I mention, among my symptoms that make me think I specifically have TLE, dissociation is one of the most significant ones. I think among this she asked what my triggers are, and as I mention THC is one, she laughs and interrupts me loudly saying "well that should be easy to avoid!" and I try to say alcohol is also a trigger, but I'm pretty sure she spoke over me. She says that the dissociation is a sign of the mental health issues that would be causing my seizures. I say the dissociation precedes the events which caused my mental health issues and begin to describe childhood experiences that make me think it's epilepsy. She seems a bit blindsided by this. She moves on to say it actually isn't PNES but instead it's that I'm hypersensitive to minute changes in my body that other people wouldn't be aware of. This is something I agree with, I mention that I'm able to zero in on really fine stuff and I've spent the last couple years not taking anything for granted and noting all the strange sensory experiences I get. She suggests biofeedback therapy, I tell her I have a long history of neurofeedback therapy and it didn't really help much. That my neurofeedback therapist told me my brain behaved in weird ways, looked strange on EEG, and suggested I see a neurologist about it. She seems to be getting frustrated at this point. I ask if I'm being diagnosed with PNES or not, and she says no I'm not. She says that she's not telling me it's all in my head, or that it's psychological, but that it's sensory things I'm just noticing too strongly. I believe at this point, my dad chimes in and says that I was diagnosed with autism as a child, that I had sensory issues which overwhelmed me. Which, might I add, pissed me off. The doctor seems relieved, leans into that and says that's what would cause me to be oversensitive to sensations. I mention some of my lifelong sensory issues, largely tingles that climb up my spine and make my shoulder jerk, or cold chills that wrap around my head. I mention that I've grown to be very tolerant of my sensory issues, and that the symptoms that concern me are my episodes of memory loss, emerging from sleep in bizarre altered states of consciousness, motor symptoms, and primarily the cognitive issues I have. I emphasize how I'm unable to drive. She then says it's my sleep. She says it's a sleep disorder that's causing all of this and that I need to get a sleep study. When going over my history I emphasized that I had sleep issues as a kid, especially with emerging from sleep and with daytime sleepiness (one of the things that makes me suspect TLE!) and have already had multiple sleep studies which showed nothing, but that I have another one scheduled. She seemed to grab onto that, saying yeah that's definitely what it is, make sure to get to that, and quickly changed subjects and asked me about 10,000IU doses of vitamin D I'd been taking, asking if that was from my PCP. Now. I'm seeing an endocrinologist to treat hypogonadotropic hypogonadism which I have had probably forever, none of my T tests were within range for my age going back to my early 20s and I had symptoms since I was a teenager, and it's just gotten worse in tandem with my suspect epilepsy. I have read several papers which say hypogonadotropic hypogonadism is a condition which presents with TLE in a fashion that is clinically significant, drawing links. I believe some say it's an outright symptom. I say to her "That's from my endocrinologist, actually, and that's one of the things that I'd like to mention which made me think this was TLE--." I am abruptly interrupted. Through an obviously frustrated smile, toothy and saccharine, this doctor interjects to emphatically say "Which it isn't! haha It's not epilepsy!" and continues to say she's going to write this up and send it to my doctor. I sort of checked out at that point, frankly. I don't remember it very well, but she left the room shortly after. So, she didn't read any of my history, didn't read any of my notes I gestured to, didn't give me an opportunity to discuss things I have concerns over, and eventually got frustrated enough to simply interrupt me altogether in order to put her foot down. Tells me to move forward by attending an upcoming sleep study. Whole thing very clearly felt like the doc trying to reverse-engineer some bullshit excuse to justify the conclusion that I just have hysteria, more or less, regardless of what the actual truth of the matter is.
A little while later, I get my discharge packet. One of the very helpful nurses shows me the "patient communication" section in the packet and says this is what she said to my doctor. I find this interesting, but I'm too pissed off to dive right into it. Eventually, after spending a while bitching to my dad about how weird this is once we're alone, I take a look at it. She wrote: "Some of your spells are consistent with psychogenic non-epileptic events. The recommended treatment is therapy focused on identifying and coping with psychological stressors. Please follow up with psychology as an outpatient. Other spells are more likely due to hypervigilance of normal physiologic symptoms." She had explicitly told me she is not diagnosing me with PNES when I asked her earlier. What she ended the conversation on, after I provided context to my history of care (which I specifically mentioned previously and she had absolutely no awareness of) explicitly telling me it's not PNES and that it is a sleep disorder I'm experiencing. Another point in this packet highlights that, according to Minnesota state law, I cannot legally drive for three months following any event with a loss of awareness or voluntary control. Which she actively disregarded in order to settle on each of the four or five different diagnoses she offered before settling on telling me it's a sleep disorder.
I have a followup with the epileptologist who ordered this EMU study. I'm sharpening my swords, so to speak, and trying to find as much substantiative evidence as I can through studies and what resources I can find to explain why it is I suspect I have TLE. I'm finding a lot! I'm more convinced than I ever was this is, in fact, lifelong TLE which has been very difficult to diagnose. I'm reaching out to previous mental health professionals who urged me to seek neurological care to back me up, reaching out to my other providers, and I'm going to begin looking for another epileptologist just in case. But I'm really, really kicking myself for not recording this discussion like I've been meaning to do with all my communiques with doctors. Wondering if I should try to initiate some kind of administrative action against this particular doctor.
The strange thing is the doctor who was interpreting my EEG, different woman, spoke to me several times. She had told me on the second and third days that there were no evident epileptiform waves during my episodes. I would like to add that my blood pressure shot up like fucking crazy during these, and my eyes were always open during them, and it sounds like PNES is typically with eyes closed and causes far less heart rate and blood pressure variability than epilepsy does. Just as an aside. But I mention to her that I'm aware of some kinds of epilepsy which sometimes don't show up on EEG, specifically temporal lobe and frontal lobe, because they happen deeper in the brain. She says yes, that is true, explains a little bit of it to me, but says that this is the gold standard of diagnosis at the moment, with our current technology. We spoke a little about how I have almost 20 years of mental health care under my belt, how circular this all feels. She was sympathetic and laid this out as: as per our technology, VEEG is currently the gold standard of epilepsy diagnosis. According to this gold standard of diagnosis, I do not have epilepsy. Given my history, it would be reasonable to conclude that my issue is not psychological either, and that I'm just unfortunately in a "gray spot." Which I did admire, even if I didn't have a chance to totally voice my concerns, and felt it was sort of bullshit.
So! If anyone in Minneapolis knows an epileptologist to look out for, that would be cool, I guess! Or maybe a lawyer! Who knows! Not really sure what to do with any of this! Because what the hell! Would appreciate any input at all or tips on how to actually get somebody to read my fucking chart in the first place, let alone the notes I shove in their face, and listen to what I have to say. Because this only made me more convinced this is epilepsy, and goddamn I need care ASAP.
p.s. do you guys think i might, maybe, perhaps, a smidge, present the hypergraphic compulsion to write with this two thousand words of bullshit i just hammered out and didn't proofread or anything? lmao. sorry!
tl;dr: doctor i never saw prior rotated through several different diagnoses in the span of a single conversation, obviously did not read any of my history, ignored my notes, interrupted me when I tried to explain concerns, landed on telling me it was a sleep disorder, and then soft-diagnosed me with PNES when she explicitly said it's not PNES and she isn't diagnosing me with PNES

Sorry if this is long. But I have no one to talk to about this.
I think I’ve finally accepted the truth. I think I really am trans. But I wish I wasn’t. I’ve questioned my gender as early as elementary school but never really thought too deeply about it until college. Only after I turned 30, did I finally come out as NB. But over the last 2 years, I’ve began to resent my male form and pronouns. I’ve told people I use all pronouns, but really it was just to ease social tension and to let everyone who was used to calling me he keep doing so. I would much prefer “they” or, even better “she”. But no one will use either. I hate my receding hairline, my beard, my body hair, my height, my proportions. My whole body is wrong. It’s all beyond fucked up and I’m so sad knowing it’ll never be in the outside what I feel like inside.
Luckily, I live in a state, in the US, where trans rights are protected, and I have a state job so my healthcare is very good. I don’t have to worry about losing my job. But transitioning would completely demolish every other aspect of my life. My friends & family, would all either abandon me or simply refuse to accept me. I lose my apartment, social life, and family. I would be totally alone. I’m already suffering from depression and anxiety, I do see a therapist for this, and I don’t think I could handle even further isolation.
I just wish I could be CIS. I just want to be content being a man. I just want people to call me sir without me cringing. I wish I was faking it. But no matter how many videos I watch, articles I read, or Reddit threads I lurk; I can’t find a way to convince myself I’m a man. I just want it to be a fluke, or a delusion, maybe I’m confused. Maybe I’m just faking it for attention. Maybe it’s because of my mental health? Would I feel CIS if I wasn’t depressed?
I hate what I am. How do you beautiful people manage to fight through and remain so convicted in your transition? How do you have the confidence to present a woman to the world? How do you deal with the total loss of everyone and everything? Can it really be worth all the pain? Would it not be better to suffer in silence?
TL;DR: I’ve accepted I’m trans at 32 and am terrified of transitioning & being alone. Is it worth it? How can I find the courage?

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

We had an international flight from the UK -> US booked with 2 layovers. First flight went fine. We got to our connecting airport/terminal 5 hours before our connecting flight. Went to our terminal/gate right away, and lined up to board at our gate as soon as they started boarding. When we (me and my partner) went to scan our boarding passes, there was an error. We were then told that we no longer had seats/a valid boarding pass for that flight for an unknown reason and we needed to go to the customer service desk to be rebooked on another flight. Upon going to the customer service desk, 3 representatives tried to help us and no one could tell us why our boarding passes were invalidated/our seats given up. We had to be rebooked on another flight with an additional layover that delayed us getting to our destination by over 12 hours (into the next day). The only thing I can think of is that when we checked in for our first flight of the day, the employee who checked us in asked us if we wanted to get on an earlier flight to our connecting airport since we arrived at the airport so early (we’re 2+ hour early kind of people lol). We were hesitant but the employee almost insisted, and we agreed after being reassured it wouldn’t mess up any of our connecting flights. Looking back, I’m thinking it didn’t link over in the system that we took an earlier flight and thought we “missed” our first flight and then automatically kicked us off all our connecting flights? Either way, this was clearly out of our control. We received all of our boarding passes when we checked in for our first flight and everything seemed normal. It was an expensive trip that turned into a miserable experience for us and totally derailed our trip. I have filled out the customer relations form online with AA twice now and cannot get a response. I tried chatting AA as well and they said “this has to be done via email” and blew me off. I’m at a loss for what to do now, also what kind of compensation should I expect/ask for since we were delayed by over 12 hours, but it wasn’t because of a plane delay so so feel like that’s a grey area?
TLDR: AA gave up our seats on an international flight without any compensation or even an explanation, and I can’t get a response from customer relations and idk what to do.

First Previous
Dr. Dask caught herself lost in thought for what was not the first time that day. The humans were definitely up to something. She paced around her room on the outer-rim of the Lunar facility - built after the previous orbital station was deemed irredeemably outdated by modern standards.
If she’d learned anything in her 20 Earth years studying the people on the blue planet, it’s that they didn’t seem to go without a major war for very long. There were, of course, smaller conflicts and skirmishes all across the planet, as had become routine, but this extended ‘peace’, which had lasted her whole career by this point, must have meant something was off.
Some of her xenosociologist peers theorized that the humans must have, at last, realized how pointless their model of constant bloodbath is, and adopted the ‘civilized’ model of war, as indicated by the increase in their industrial capacities as well as the strengthening of their militaries despite the times of peace. Surely, her fellow scientists argued, this meant that the weapons are starting to be used as a tool of intimidation, rather than destruction and death.
The scientist thought the idea of a “civilized model of war” stupid and inherently contradictory, alas, those assertions were not the main issue she had with their theory. If humans did have a sudden realisation about the horrors they were committing on a daily basis, why were there still so many conflicts all around the world?
Not only that, but the weapons they were testing didn’t seem to be for the sole purpose of shock and awe. Of particular note was when she caught a glimpse of an artillery gun, a weapon designed to launch high-speed projectiles upwards and relying on the planet’s high gravity to bring them down into enemy lines, launching what seemed to be a regular projectile, until it fell on the ground and, rather than exploding, released a large amount of yellow-brownish gas, which surely couldn’t scare the most cowardly of Bannids, let alone a human. She did not know what the purpose of it was, but it definitely unsettled her.
Regardless, almost all of their developments seemed to be about killing each other, but better, and even the most impractical of technologies, namely “zeppelins”, as the humans called the hulking, and very flammable, masses floating above their cities, were being weaponized in one way or the other, for a purpose still shrouded in Dr. Dask’s eyes.
“Ms. Dask?” asked a meek voice, entering her room as she was still pacing around, deep in thought, “The scientists currently stationed at the observatory seem to think large amounts of troops are mobilizing, ma’am, you may want to see this.”
That pulled the scientist right out of her mental state, and heading to the observatory as fast as she could walk before it would be considered a full-blown run. “Thank you, Reylek” she said, directed at the Junior Scientist that was struggling to keep up behind her “This may be the answer I’ve been seeking for so long, we may find what they’ve been doing for all these years” she said, finally finding herself in the confines of the observatory room.
The researcher tried to keep her excitement in check. Whatever was happening, she thought, would definitely involve the deaths of thousands of sapients, as was so terribly common when human militaries got involved with something. She watched, in unabashed curiosity, as armies made of tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of humans marched across the land, wielding the deadliest and most advanced weapons they had so far been able to grasp.
This was, by far, the largest armies she had ever seen. There were records of larger ones being deployed, sure, but being able to personally witness the sheer scale of such a war was truly astounding. They were still only in the mobilization phase, however, and as such the Dr. furiously took some notes and headed to the cafeteria for dinner, which had an extravagant window giving a beautiful view of Earth. The decommissioned space station also had one, and, when the new Lunar base was inaugurated, the older scientists felt quite salty about losing their favourite lookout spot and demanded that a new one be built.
By the end of the month (human calendar), however, her cautioned curiosity had already been turned into sheer terror. Fighting had broken out all across the world, the brutality of the newly developed weapons unmatched by anything she or any of her older colleagues had ever witnessed. Some of the proponents of the human enlightenment theory had locked themselves in their rooms, not being able to bear the sorrow of knowing that they could not have been any more wrong if they tried.
This continued on for untold days and weeks, casualties piling up on every side of the conflict, both soldier and civilian, in enough numbers to collapse any reasonable alien society. The humans, however, fought on, seemingly unphased.
After a few months, as the fighting still raged on from the thickest of jungles to the hottest of deserts, the main front, in the continent containing the nations who first started the war, seemed to come to a standstill. Dask, now significantly more disheveled than she was those sweet months ago before such a massively important event broke out, felt a glimmer of hope. Surely this stalemate would mean the beginning of negotiations, and a possible end to what could only be described as the worst conflict anyone in the outpost had ever witnessed.
The scientist and her colleagues were watching as both sides dug long, sinuous corridors across a field. This, she thought, would force them into peace. No army, not even a human one, would want to get stuck in such an unwinnable situation, where neither side can reliably attack each other without catastrophic losses on both sides.
The group gawked. Some of the humans along the battlefield had suddenly stopped fighting, even climbing into disputed territory, seemingly mingling with those who were their enemies just a few hours prior. This was, as Dask noted, shocked, probably the most human behaviour she’d ever seen. From a senseless bloodbath to camaraderie and care almost instantly. It further fueled her hopes of a peaceful resolution in the end, as clearly such a display of friendship together with the hopelessness of their military positions would be enough to make both sides come to their senses.
Later reports would note that this truce may have had something to do with the end of the Solar year, an occasion celebrated by nearly all humans for as far as Commonwealth records go. The armistice, though, did not last long. By the next day it may as well have never happened, much to the chagrin of the researchers, still hanging onto the slim hope that this would end soon, if not by collaboration then by hopelessness alone.
That, however, was not the case. It had been roughly 5 (human calendar) months since the seemingly random act of peace. Hundreds of thousands more had died, and at this point Dask believed the humans couldn’t actually grasp the scale of what they were doing, especially given how mysterious the actual reasons for the war still were to her. What unfathomable offense had been made for it to spark such slaughter? She did not have the answers, all she knew is that the humans did not seem at all inclined to back down.
By this point, their weapons were only one of the many sources of death and sorrow in this war. Disease ran rampant, with no proper medical facilities on the frontlines, and a lack of supplies meant that several thousands simply starved to death, not a single bullet needing to be fired to cause their demise.
The mood on the research team was somber. The war had been dragging on, and Dr. Dask wondered just how many sleepless nights were yet to come, for she couldn’t truly rest while such terrible acts were taking place so close by. The silver lining, if you could call it that, is that she’d grown somewhat jaded to human warfare, and it did not make her as nauseated as it should, and as it did in the past. Until the shells hit.
As Dask watched, projectiles came down from the sky on a human trench, though, unlike the explosions she’d grown accustomed to, they simply released large amounts of a brownish-yellow gas, which she remembered seeing all those months ago, being tested. Once it dissipated enough to see through, she understood its true purpose, and immediately wished she hadn't. Hundreds of humans, twitching, coughing, vomiting, their skins burnt despite the absence of fire, some of them eerily still, choked out by the gas that had displaced the air on the long dirt corridors.
She stared, in shock, as the other side began charging, putting on masks that deprived them of all human features and walking into the dying lines, immune to the effects of the deadly gas. They mercilessly killed anyone and everyone wearing the wrong uniform, even those already on the floor. She thought about that in contrast to that serene night in which they mingled, it was hardly believable that they were of the same species, let alone the same people altogether.
Vomit filled the observatory. The other researchers, like Dr. Dask herself, thought they were used to human antics at this point, but their ingenuity when it comes to cruelty once again proved to be unrivaled. Most others left the room, leaving the dirty work to the cleaning bots. The Dr. did not vomit, if for no other reason than that she had not yet eaten, and as such physically could not do so. She also returned to her room, no longer feeling even the remotest scientific curiosity to watch such a terrible event unfold.
Over the next several years. The war dragged on and on, mountains upon mountains of bodies piling up,the count in the millions by now, civilians included. The clothes were stripped from the dead, washed anew and given to a young, excited recruit, just for them to meet the same fate, and repeat the cycle once more. Morale among the researchers was at an all time low, many choosing to no longer accompany the fighting as closely, and some retiring from the facility entirely.
The humans, of course, did not care much for the emotions of aliens they didn’t even know the existence of, and as such only got more and more creative with their machinations, from flying machines strapped with bombs and guns, to a brand new vehicle named the “tank”, which was, by all means, a marvel of engineering for their civilization, albeit prone to constant breakdowns. All that to fuel a war which Dr. Dask was still unsure as to the cause.
Dr. Dask herself, albeit far worse-for-wear than she had been before this, kept going. While the overwhelming cruelty was evident, she could not simply ignore the random glimmers offered by the various and random acts of kindness she had seen across the war. From the truce on that night, to a random soldier helping an injured enemy combatant, to humans risking their own life and walking into the line of fire to rescue their comrades.
That’s why, when the day of the Armistice finally came, she was one of the few left from the original team still there to witness it, and, as soldiers disbanded and went home, she could only look across the cafeteria window and into the blue marble above, wondering if this troubled species could ever truly achieve peace and step into the galactic stage as new allies, rather than pariahs.

Author's Note: The masses have once again spoken. I hope you don't mind a slightly more well informed perspective this time, as I can only come up with so many excuses to force an unwitting alien to witness the horrors of war. Definitely a more somber chapter too, which I find rather appropriate for WWI. Once again this turned far larger than I originally intended and I do apologise to those who wanted a detailed, more entertaining reaction to tanks and such, though I felt like it simply would not fit properly into this particular narrative. Finally, feedback and corrections for random inaccuracies are welcome as always. Enjoy!

Hi everyone, I’m a first year teacher and started off earning $65,000, just finishing my first year. I earn about $4,200 monthly for 11 months out of the year (no pay in July).
Our union got us a pay increase and I will be earning $69,000 my second year. Then, once I clear my credential after two years of induction I’ll bump up on the pay scale and begin earning $79,000 my third year.
After emailing HR, I was told I could start off my third year earning $92,000 with a masters degree. So, I signed up for a fast paced masters program that is set to begin in July 2024 and end in July 2025.
Here’s my dilemma. I’m 24 years old and I’ve been very financially irresponsible my whole life because I honestly did not know any better. I’ve been listening to Dave for the past month and downloaded the EveryDollar app. After all my expenses living in California (rent, car payment, car insurance, phone, gas, electricity, groceries, household items, gym membership, etc) I have an extra $800 left over.
I currently have debt of $1040 on one credit card (27.99% interest), and $4,014 (28.99% interest) on another credit card. I have a car loan with $11,000 left on it on a Toyota Corolla (Originally $28,000 with 2.9% interest). The payment is $420 a month.
I know it might seem stupid to get myself into more debt after already being in debt, but I decided to finally get my shit together and getting that masters will significantly increase my pay. Every year I hold it off is basically losing money.
I’m now tutoring after school which will bring in $250 extra a month. I also tried door dashing and I don’t really get many orders but my goal is at least $100 per month with that. I’m going to start uploading my worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers but I can’t count on that for income yet.
In total I should have about $1150 extra a month to start putting toward that debt, possibly even more with the pay increase for next year. I currently have my emergency fund at $600 and I will put $400 in at the end of this month after getting my paycheck. Then Baby Step 1 will be done. I plan to pay off the $1040 credit card by August. The second credit card by NovembeDecember. Then I will start tackling the student loan.
Here’s where I am having issues determining what to do. The masters will cost $13,000 and that’s already a with a 30% discount my district is offering. This loan will start accruing interest as soon as I receive it at 7% and it’s a federal loan. I don’t have to pay until 6 months after I graduate but as I mentioned it begins accruing interest upon receiving it, so I want to pay it off ASAP. However, I won’t be able to start tackling it until December 2024 after I pay off those cards. I know everything will be okay now that I started budgeting, but I guess I feel I could be doing better. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of this debt faster?
Some Background:
I’m not married, but will be eloping in June (can’t afford a big wedding). While my fiancé does not have any debt, he only has about $1000 in savings also. We are long distance, he’s in Belgium and I am in the US. I don’t think we will be able to combine finances yet because of the different currency. He will be paying for the costs of his green card and I am not sure when we will be able to live together, depending on the process. Once he comes to live with me, I think we will be able to work on baby steps 3 and above together as he will be taking a job in IT.

Almost two years ago I was in an at fault accident, I ended up paying out of pocket for damages through a collector called Afni. I didn’t have insurance at the time so I owed about 2100 but I they settled for 900 and I thought everything was fine and over with. Today I received a letter from afni again, almost two years later, that I owe 50k in damages??? I’m scared and confused as to how I owe that much and why I even owe at all. Her car was perfectly drivable and had only minor cosmetic damage as was mine we both drove ours away and it was never even mentioned in court. I’m not understanding why I’m being expected to pay out what seems to be a total loss two years after the incident. Lastly, I just don’t have 50k. Should I be anticipating bankruptcy? Any advice or information is helpful

Struggling with an insurance company. Not sure what to do. Hoping someone has some advice on this community. My dads car was hit in the parking lot at a job site. The company who hit his car asked him to get an estimate of the damage. Once we did that they said it was too much to pay and had us work with their insurance. Their insurance deemed it a total loss and want the vehicle (It’s still drivable, he uses it to get to work). The payoff doesn’t cover the full car loan. So now through no fault of his own my dad is going to be car less with a car payment and no funds for a new one. Is there anything he can do to keep his car?

Hello everyone, I rarely post here since I usually agree with the general consensus for weight loss and advice shared in this sub, and feel like I don’t usually have anything additional to input, but idk why I just want to share my progress now at the 80 pound mark. I started my weight loss journey back in August when I quit drinking alcohol. I was a daily drinker since I was 23 or so, and turned 32 in August, I felt like alcohol was controlled my daily life and my habits. Plus I loved craft beer and that whole lifestyle was one of the key factors in me ballooning up to 362 lbs. I’m a 6’5” male, and I started to look like a sumo wrestler. I have two little kids and a beautiful wife and I just felt like I was dragging them down with my weight. Doing activities was really hard, the stress on my body and cardiovascular system just really limited what I could do with them. I said enough was enough. In my mind I was like “I’m only 32, I still have some of the best years of my life left to be at my physical peak and prime, yet here I am looking like I need a scooter to get around Disneyland.” So I quit drinking started back at my local big box gym, lifting weights mostly and occasionally doing cardio. I downloaded my fitness pal, calculated my tdee and bought a new scale. I was usually in a 1000 calorie deficit while prioritizing protein but not limiting carbs or any food groups. During holidays, eating out, and other events I’d still track but just estimated my calories for the foods using my best guess. I lost the first half of my weight in probably the first couple months, but it’s slowed a bit, which is totally fine. I haven’t really adjusted my calories because as long as I’m still losing, I don’t see the need. My goal is to eventually get to the 250s and then maybe even 230s, but I’m in no hurry. I love my new body, everything is better in a smaller size. I can walk around stores without feeling a sense of dread if I see stairs or other physically demanding obstacles. I look good in pictures again, and my wife is very happy in bed if you know what I mean. All in all, I feel like I lost the weight in the most sustainable way compared to other times in my life. Not eliminating food groups and tracking calories with a food scale is like a cheat code, I rarely feel hungry or like I’m being restricted. CICO really is all that it boils down to!