Renaissance place practice test

How did every one feel about the exam today? Compared to the tests? What helped you ? What could you have done differently? I am so not sure how it went. I felt pressed for time during the mcqs but cdm I had more than enough time. The practice tests they provide very close representation of the exam but there’s nothing like doing the real thing. Not in terms of difficulty but managing time and stress and watching that timer.

What measures do you use to protect yourself from malware in packages downloaded with package managers like npm?
I recently started using VScode containers but also found that it made it difficult to use Cypress for testing. I regularly use npm audit and make sure things are up to do date, but wondering if there are better ways.
What do y'all use, if anything, do you mind sharing any software you use to manage risk and whether you use it in a personal or commercial capacity? any other tips or practices for reducing risk?

I know this is NAD but I’ve never had a doctor be able to give me more than a pat answer without any actual explanation that makes sense.
My 6 year old son has always been more prone to sickness than any of my other kids. He had several days in the PICU due to asthma (placed on high flow oxygen) as well as general med surg floor stays for less severe asthma exacerbations. Before he turned 1, he began acutely vomiting after a meal and lost consciousness. He then proceeded to vomit for several hours with no regaining full consciousness. He was breathing ok but would have aspirated had we not held him in a way that let the vomit out of his mouth freely. We went to the ED as soon as we realized we couldn’t wake him up. They scolded us for not using an ambulance (am a nurse myself…..basically it didn’t even occur to me use one bc I could see his airway was ok so long as well kept his positioning appropriate). Ok so fast forward, this happened several more times. We were told it was cyclical vomiting syndrome. He generally throws up for 5-6 hours with almost full loss of consciousness. We hold him upright against our chest and sit with him the entire time and make sure gravity is working in his favor to keep him safe during it. We have since been able to connect it to seafood. Consistently, any type of seafood triggers this. He hasn’t had any seafood since we made the connection and has had no more episodes. It doesn’t matter if it’s fish or shellfish. I’ve had him allergy tested twice for this despite the fact that he shows no signs of a histamine response, only a GI response. What the heck is happening inside his little body to make this happen to him and why isn’t it triggering a histamine response and how is it across the board all seafood? It doesn’t make sense to me. Please explain like I’m five. :)

Hello fellow tutor aspirees, side hustlers, academic extraordinaires. I’m here to give you the scoop on the various tutoring platforms, how their services work, tutoring requirements, the types of students on each platform, and of course - how much you get paid for your time.
A little about me. I’ve tutored for a few months now on the following platforms: Varsity Tutors, Wyzant, and SuperProf. I’ve had a number of students on each platform, and it’s safe to say I’ve definitely realized the pros and cons of each one.
Wyzant
Money Info: You set your hourly rate. Wyzant takes 25% of it. If you set your rate to $20/hr you get paid $15/hr.
The Requirements: Each subject you tutor you have to take a 10–20 question multiple choice test on it. The test will be beginner to intermediate questions on the subject you’ve chosen. You only have one chance to pass the test.
The Pros:

• You set your own rate
• Tutors and students can freely schedule meetings on their own, rather than have someone assign you
• The user interface is better(mobile app, messaging system, teaching platform, etc)
• Students can largely vary(this can be a con too). You will get a wider range of students, who can be adults with various full time jobs.

The Cons:

• You are charged 25% of your hourly rate
• It’s very hard to get started as a new tutor. There are tons of tutors with a lot of reviews already.
• There are scammers(be cautious of people asking you to communicate off the platform)

Final Verdict
Wyzant is an easy to use platform that takes a while to build a student base. You’ll have to apply and reach out to students a lot at first before you start getting more consistent jobs. This can take a few months, so consider this before you start. The 25% fee is high, but certainly not unreasonable compared to other platforms.
Varsity Tutors
Money Info: Unless you’re tutoring GRE or LSATs, the flat rate is $15/hr, regardless of the subject. GRE and LSAT tutors make $28/hr. Varsity Tutors charges their students $50 - $75/hr.
Requirements: Most subjects do not require a test, however you do need to send in a video interview of yourself, mostly to confirm that you can speak eloquently.
The Pros:

• You are assigned students after declaring interest, so you can get started tutoring within a few days.
• Students are screened so you’ll mostly get students more prepared for lessons.

The Cons:

• A large amount of tutors will only make $15/hr, whereas they charge $50 - $75/hr per student. This can be a huge cut, and limit on pay, especially if you’re teaching harder subjects like programming, sciences, higher level math.
• The user interface is not as great. Basic functionality is there, but the overall platform is not aesthetic.
• You are legally not allowed to take students off the platform.

Final Verdict
Varsity Tutors definitely has the lowest pay amongst all the platforms. $15/hr to teach is what you can make at some retail jobs in the US. The platform can be better if you need to start making money immediately, or if you live in a country where the cost of living is lower. The amount you are paid is better for people who are teaching subjects that aren’t too difficult.
SuperProf
Money Info: You set your own rate, SuperProf takes 10%. The caveat, SuperProf charges students $39 a month to use the platform.
Pros:

• For tutors, SuperProf takes the least amount from your pay compared to other platforms.
• Students are generally more prepared because they are paying $39 a month to use the platform.
• The user interface is also pretty good.
• You can set your own cancellation policies

Cons:

• There are less students because of the monthly subscription fee.
• It’s very hard to get started as a new tutor. There are tons of tutors with a lot of reviews already.
• You have to teach your first two lessons free.

Final Verdict
SuperProf is very similar to Wyzant in that students and tutors can openly communicate and set up time with each other. The 10% fee is lower than the other platforms. But because it’s already hard to get started as a new tutor, and there are less students on the platform, it’s one of the harder platforms to build a student base.
Additional Notes
While all these platforms have their pros and cons. You can always consider tutoring independently. You do not need any licenses or business registration for tutoring in most places. Once you get a student base through Wyzant or SuperProf, you can take them off-platform and teach independently. The best part? You keep the money you work hard for.
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I'd like to preface this post by saying that I'm a practicing Catholic who has been hurt by this teaching and is struggling to make any sense of it. This post is also geared towards women's experiences of Church doctrine. While men can empathize, they will never be able to fully understand the experience of women in relation to pregnancy. I'm not looking to debate here. This isn't made in bad faith:
As someone who is discerning the next steps in their life, I've been considering what a Catholic marriage might look like and if it's my calling. As it stands right now, a Catholic marriage sounds like a grueling death sentence for some women. My main issue has to do with the Church's stance on birth control and (after conversations with priests in my life) clergy's quiet understanding that teachings related to it aren't very sustainable.
I'm a woman and without getting into my personal life, have struggled with fear of pregnancy. For this reason, I've made the determination that staying on birth control is the healthiest option for me. The Catholic Church, however, would beg to differ. If I were to get married, my only options would be to go off the pill and stay celibate or adopt NFP and live my life in crippling fear. That being said, I'm not opposed to having one or two children if I can get better - I do know that I can't remain open to having children anytime I have sex. This isn't only a mental health concern, but related to my material means. I do not work a job that allows me paid parental leave and I have very few days off. I'd have to work through each and every pregnancy and leaving my job would mean not making enough money to provide for children.
Obviously, getting married is not for everyone, but Catholic marriages impose an unbelievable amount of restrictions on the life of the woman. I've read Humanae Vitae and it makes the weak case that outlawing birth control actually upholds the value of the woman. As a woman - I firmly disagree with this. The insistence on my openness to pregnancy makes me feel like a vessel for life, like some kind of livestock who's ultimate goal is to breed. Appeals to what is 'natural' have long been held as a fallacious form of argumentation and while a female animal's most 'natural' purpose is to reproduce, equating this to the life of a human woman is an altogether weak and degrading argument.
Further, allowing NFP but not condoms or birth control is obviously contradictory (and not in the good way like Christ's death on the cross). Every method of birth control allows for a chance that pregnancy might occur. If we are allowed to abstain from sex or use NFP, it follows that any method of birth control would be permissible. Is it really 'natural' to abstain from sex with your spouse?
I see this doctrine hurt, not only me, but women around me. Women who struggle with medical issues are forced to live celibately with their spouse or risk their life with a pregnancy. The inequality is staggering. We are expected to give up our lives for a dangerous pregnancy that we are given no alternatives (aside from abstinence and degrading our relationships with our spouses) to prevent. I feel exhausted as I try to follow the Church's mental gymnastics to justify this doctrine and feel ready to give up on either love itself or the Church.
This might not be the best place to share my thoughts, but I want to do so in case there are any other women who struggle with this. I want to be more open about how this doctrine hurts with those around me and in my community, but speaking about it is difficult. I have chatted with a number of priests and it's clear to me that even they struggle with this issue.

The official practice place is private, what do I do?

Have fun!

Around October last year I suddenly started getting intermittent high ping and packet loss (10-30%) on wifi and ethernet which became very noticeable during work calls and gaming. I used both sky and BT over my the last months I lived in that rural 70mbps max area but swapping didn’t seem to effect anything. I initially believed it was caused by a connection point and cables which I replaced several times to no avail. I contacted my internet provider and had several engineers sent out but they couldn’t find anything wrong with the physical connection and just kept dismissing the case aside from the occasional router change. (Including some of my own which I just bought online) I didn’t really believe them at the time because the same issues were present on multiple devices in the house and trace routes seemed to indicate there were issues at the neighbourhood box so I just brushed it off until I moved. (My new place has 1gbps on both wifi and LAN) However as soon as I moved to my new place my PC started having booting issues where it wouldn’t load into windows and would remain awake but on a blank screen until I did a boot override using my ssd from BIOS. However, stranger still is that my connection was working perfectly on all fronts for about 5 days with no issues whatsoever before it suddenly started experiencing all the same problems again. (I’m currently using Tp link router with virgin wifi gigabit internet) Every other device I’ve tested, including my phone, exhibits none of the same issues as my pc.
My Ethernet is controlled through the motherboard by a Realtek PCIe GbE family controller and my wifi by a 802.11n wireless LAN card, with neither showing any problems I’m able to see. I’ve tried updating and reinstalling every driver in my pc, tried checking for corrupt files, updated to the latest BIOS on a gigabyte B550 gaming x V2 motherboard, checked and redone every connection on the board (GeForce RTX 3060, wifi card, ddr4 16gb ram, AMD Ryzen 5 5600x, 1TB ssd + 500gb hdd etc), looked through device manager and event viewer for anything obvious, made an entirely new profile to see if the connection changed, used a USB to Ethernet adapter to check every USB port I could on the motherboard, (same issues across all) reset the network and the firewall several times and constantly run ping plotter and trace routes. The packet loss on wired connections has gotten significantly worse to where it averages around 60-90% with low ping, however the wifi seems to have much less packet loss but very high ping even though I’m setup directly next to my router. My only guess at this point is that some chip on the motherboard is fried but I’m at a complete loss as nothing has worked and it only seems to be getting worse. I’m not sure what to do from this point aside from take everything out and replace it so any advice or help is appreciated.

I just left my appointment for my annual pap and found out I am 4weeks & 5days pregnant. I have a follow up scheduled at 8weeks and my Dr said to start to prenatal. Until then, I am a chronic over-thinker and I now have so many questions!! I’m not ready to share my news with family or friends that I would normally ask & I’m hoping this is a good and safe space to get some answers 🤞🏽 If anyone has any response to one or any of these questions, or a good resource where I could find these answers, you will help give me some piece of mind and a place to start!

1. I have drank alcohol the past 2 weekends (without knowing about the pregnancy of course) and I just want to know if that’s something I need to worry about now?
   
2. I am a really clumsy person and I trip and fall a lot, is this something I need to be weary of? Is a small fall a big deal or are all falls a big deal?
   
3. I have a 100lb dog that sleeps between my husband and I and he will often kick his legs out in his sleep and kick me in my back, ribs, stomach. I plan to get a pregnancy pillow, but is there anything else I can do to ensure safety while I sleep? Is this even a concern or just me?
   
4. PCOS, Endometriosis, and fertility problems run in my family. Is there any extra testing I should look into getting done to ensure a healthy pregnancy? Is there any additional supplementation I should be doing to counteract these issues?
   
5. I smoke marijuana regularly for medical reasons, and I have heard mixed things on smoking while pregnant. Does anyone know if it will affect the pregnancy if I continue to smoke? And what, if any, are the short/long term affects on baby?
   
6. I know there is a lot of foods pregnant women should stay away from. What are the most dangerous foods to stay away from and am I supposed to start following a specific diet now?
   

Here to spread the good vibes as I squeezed out a pass this afternoon by the goodness of GOD (and Kaplan)!!!
My reflections on the test are first, that it is challenging in the sense that there’s very few questions where you immediately recognize the answer or strategy from your studies. I found myself having to really sit with many questions, use all the capacity of my judgement to eliminate choices, then go with my gut in what I remember from the text book.
As people have alluded to options are heavy as well as munis, but way way more conceptually than I in hindsight was prepared for. I wish I would’ve read the textbook in greater detail instead of slamming practice questions.
I also think I underestimated how challenging it would be - I thought Kaplan was designed to over prepare me. But I found the questions just as challenging, if not more challenging than the QBank.
Team if I can do it - I know everyone on this sub can. Sending you all good vibes and happy studying!!!!
And for those who are interested - I started studying on March 26th with the intention to take the 7 first and then the SIE. I switched over to pure SIE from May 29-3rd (passed on the 3rd) because my firm required the SIE first which I hadn’t planned for.
Then from May 6th until today (may 13th) I did purely QBank and practice tests for ~7-8hrs/day as my firm let me study. I never studied on the weekends of after hours!

I mean, it is placed somewhere one would never look during a playthrough, it is halfway to a mission and placed below the player on a surface that is practically hidden.

What are some best resources to practice for the exam, such as best test prep website, or mock exams etc.

The machine gun thunders in his grasp as he squeezes the trigger, the hail of leaden death cascading across the lush, emerald grass.
Shell upon shell upon smoldering shell ejects from the side of his weapon as he empties the magazine into the horde of Witness-spawn surging forth.
The spent shells sink into the mud beneath his feet, their metallic sheen disappearing beneath the muck.
Behind the legions of Taken, Grim, and Weavers, a Harbinger stands. It watches them silently, as it has for the past hours of engagement. He can feel it's gaze, almost amused at their resistance.
The Titan crouches behind his meager cover, the feed tray to his weapon flipping open. His fingers are numb as he reloads yet another magazine into the instrument.
He glances up to see his Hunter comrade lean out from her cover and aim her hand cannon.
The thrum of the Weave ripples through the air.
Before he can open his mouth, the Hunter is ripped from her cover by tendrils of thin, jade laces. She yelps as she's drawn into the open, pulled along by the tide of Strand.
It takes mere moments for the Dread to take advantage of her exposure.
The Hunter's corpse drops to the ground, her blood painting the soft turf red.
The Harbinger continues to watch.
The Titan emerges from his cover and raises his arm, pushing his Light outwards. A disc of violet starlight erupts before him as he marches forwards, approaching his teammate's body.
As he covers ground, a Grim rears back, it's mandibles clenching.
The scream rips through his skull like a white-hot blade. He staggers backwards and the shield pops out of existence, the Spark within him smothered and dampened.
The Harbinger watches.
Blood flowing from his ears in rivulets, he scrambles back to his cover. The Warlock extends his palm to the Titan and he feels a warm balm of healing Light wash over him. His hearing returns and he braces his back against the stone.
A glint in the mud catches his attention.
He stares at the spent bullet casing in the silt. For some reason unbeknownst to the Titan, it spurns something within him. A memory that isn't his. A battle long past, a fight etched into the very stone of the Last City. The echo of Fallen Walkers boom in his ears, the crackle of Shock Blades and discharge of wire rifles. The snow of Twilight Gap silencing the screams of Guardians and Fallen alike. A stalemate, a loss.
An opportunity.
An unbreakable defense turned vicious, shattering offense.
The best defense is a spectacular, bolstering offense! Lord Shaxx's words vibrate through his bones.
The Titan looks over to his remaining teammate, the Warlock reloading his auto rifle as the miniature star hovering by his shoulder hurls lobs of celestial magma at the enemy.
They don't need an insurmountable defence.
They need a savage, violent offence.
The yawning Void roars within him as he leaps into the air, high above his cover.
The Harbinger watches.
The bolts of concentrated hate pelting their cover focuses on him as his skin becomes enveloped in Void Light.
He rears back, his fingers wrapping around a long shaft sculpted by his Light.
The Titan hurls the first axe, the triangular blade whistling through the air as it hurtles towards a group of Taken.
The Taken are violently pulled towards the axe as it's energy loses stability, rupturing and detonating in a spectacular flash of antimatter.
The Titan hurls a second axe, which hurtles towards a group of Dread. They scramble away from it, clawing at the dirt in futility as they're ripped apart by the axe's compounding mass.
His eyes focus on the Harbinger.
He grips one final axe, raising it above his head.
The Harbinger widens it's stance, no longer passively watching but actively engaged with the new threat.
The Titan throws the axe with such speed and ferocity the Harbinger has no time to dodge.
The blade slams into the Harbinger's smooth forehead, splitting it in two and embedding in it's collarbone. The force of the axe throws the Dread commander's body backwards and tumbling across the grass.
The Warlock peeks over the rock as the Titan lands, his boots sinking into the mud. The Hunter's Ghost manifests over her body and pulses with Light, bathing her body in a restoring aura.
She takes a gasping breath as the Titan approaches the Harbinger's carcass, the axe still embedded in it's clavicle. The Hunter brushes off her body as the Warlock steps into the clearing, the small Solar sprite by his shoulder dissipating in a flash of fire.
The air some distance away becomes thick with orange resonance, obsidian shards gleaming in the sunlight as Husks and a hulking Tormentor appear. It rumbles in it's strange language and the Husks ready their blades.
The Hunter saunters over to one of the axes still planted in the ground and grips it, testing it before yanking it out of the soil. The axe's blade thrums gently with Void Light and she hefts it, trying it's weight.
The Warlock approaches the other, repeating her action. He grunts with effort and he lifts the massive axe, the weapon much too large for his smaller frame.
They take their places next to the Titan as he grips the axe before him by the haft. With a yank, he dislodges it from the Harbinger.
He looks back at his team as the Husks and Tormentor charge, armed with his arsenal, and grins beneath his helmet.
The Titan thrusts his axe in the air once, the weapon making a loud, echoing clang!, and rushes forward to meet the enemy, flanked by his allies.

Hey all.
Recently started to have freezes and crashes under high GPU load and I can't seem to fix it. The interesting part is, that it does not happen all the time. Some days my PC isn't crashing once, some days it is crashing every 5 minutes while only watching videos. Sometimes it crashes with a BSOD, sometime it just freezes and I need to powercycle to get the system working again.
The times it completely freezes there is also no entry in the Event Viewer besides the casual "system was not shutdown properly" message, From the few not complete freezes I noticed that nvlddmkm.sys seems to be the reason of the crashes.
I tried kinda everything I found online regarding this topic, reinstalled the drivers, tried older driver versions, updated every other driver, reinstalled audio drivers etc..
Even more interesting is that I found one user describing changing his RAM sticks solved the problem, so I tried every single RAM stick separately and the system seemed stable with a OCCT stress test, but continued to fail two days later again., regardless if I used 1, 2, 3 or all 4 sticks (all tested well in single config).
By looking at the minidumbs (ZIP file here) and following the error codes I ended up on this Reddit (and other places), explaining that it is most likely a faulty GPU.
Could anybody have please have a look if I miss something or are my hopes to not need to replace my GPU dead?
System:
Mainboard: Asus Rog Maximus XI Extreme
Processor: Intel Core i9-9900K
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB DIMM Kit 16GB, DDR4-4266, CL19-19-19-39 x 4
OS: Windows 10
System is watercooled and temperatures are never higher than 65 °C under full 100% load.

TLDR at the bottom
Been together with this girl for 10+ years. We really had a great relationship. We had this incredible balance of trust, freedom, responsibility and caring. About 2 years ago, we simultaneously decided to make a career switch. I started my own startup whilst she got the opportunity to step into a semi-manager role.
At the time we had a 5yo son and 2yo girl. We worked hard and professionally managed to accomplish great things whilst running a good family life. But we forgot to invest in ourselves and eachother. My co-founder went through a difficult time so a lot of work ended up with me, giving me increasingly more stress. At home, I managed to do the stuff that needed to be done, but was just mentally absent. I felt like becoming more agitated and apathetic about everything. I went through a really difficult time but luckily my girlfriend was really understanding and supportive.
Then more shit hit the fan. The grandmother of my girlfriend passed away, she had a really great relationship with her. At the same time, she was looking forward to a new colleague to support her after one year of waiting, but got the news she had to wait another several months. And even more, she received concerning medical news that possibly could turn out to be cancer.
I saw her becoming more quiet, distancing from me. When I tried to talk to her about how she felt, she always tried to turn the conversation away into a more practical topic not concerning her feelings. She suddenly would go out for walks in the middle of the night, messaging for hours on her phone, which was not her usual behavior. She suddenly got dressed up more than ever, went to stylists, started working out,.. Something was changing. She seemed depressed but somehow also found a drive to do this new stuff.
I was still in a mentally bad place. After 9 years she suddenly went silent. I was well aware I haven’t been emotionally available for her in the last months so at some point, the idea pops up that she’d possibly was seeing someone else, despite rationally I knew that only could be a 1% chance.
Anyway, as valid as my feelings were, I decided to just ask her right away. She was somewhat flabbergasted but just laughed and said no. And that was it. We never had once a point were we distrusted eachother. She just said no and never asked why I’d ask such thing.
So it just fed my feelings of distrust even more. Three days later, she went even more quiet and distant but I buckled up and asked her if she wouldn’t think that was a strange question? She acknowledged that but ended the conversation quite quickly again. I couldn’t wrap my head around it and at night decided to peak in her phone and went through messages to find.. nothing. I felt really bad I did this because I’d never accept my partner going through my personal stuff. Trust is so important for me.
About 1,5 year before all this, I decided to ask her to marry me, which she wanted. I waited 8 years to ask her (!!!) but due our more busy life, organizing the marriage was on a low pace. We already booked a location for june and had a wedding planner getting everything ready.
I decided to suggest her to pause the wedding preparations to take some time to recover from what happened to her and we both could use some time off. She inclined to continue the preparations of the wedding. I asked her if she was sure she still wanted to marry me, because she didn’t take any initiatives in the last months, which at some point was logic concerning what happened to her. But she insisted she still wanted to marry and it would help her to concentrate at something positive in her life. This was december last year.
In the weeks following, I several times tried to make a moment to talk. She always changed subjects, said had chores or work to do,…
Eventually one evening late february she said she wanted to talk. She told me she increasingly lost feelings for me since months but never dared to tell me because she didn’t want to hurt me. Then all that personal stuff happend to her. She was emotionally already too far away from me to reach out to me, especially since she felt I was also going through a hard time. She kept up with loving texts, sex and even confirmed to still marry, just not to hurt me.
She just went through all those feelings behind a wall. She never told me once her feelings for me changed. Apparently she had so many disappointments in moments I didn’t pick up her feelings. I don’t know if that was caused by me being mentally absent or her not being clear enough about what she expected. Probably something in between.
She left the day after and went to a closeby airbnb for a month, just so she’d close to the children. She slept all day, stopped working, went through an immense hard time. She couldn’t talk to me nor see me. She was a complete different person to me. I could see aversion in her eyes when she saw. She didn’t want me to ask her what happened and just wanted me to accept this new reality.
After one month she had to return home because she had no place to stay so we started bird nesting (the children stay at home and we swap places every week) She still hardly wants to talk about her feelings or what happened, and gets angry if I try to. The only thing she wants is to leave me and get to rest.
She’s in a real bad place and there is no wqy I can reach her emotionally. Friends and family she talked to, reach out to me and say she really needs help, which she refuses. She signed a contract for an apartment closeby. She can enter one week before our initial wedding date..
We have little savings due her long study career and my startup so she’s getting her financially in a difficult position too.
I’m three months later now and still can’t wrap my head around this. I’ve been together with her for more than 10 years and in no way she’d ever do anything like this. We always had a really deep and trusting relationship. She’s a different person now. My mental and emotional energy constantly shifts between being concerned about her and trying to keep myself together. I feel anger and mourning at the same time about the same person. She disrespected me, lied to me about her feelings. I even have no chance to change anything.
I still cry multiple time every week and it feels like one step forward and two steps back. I have no perspectives except she’ll leave the house (we’re bird-nesting for the time being) and will end up probably have to sell the house we bought together because I lack money to pay the mortgage myself.
I feel desperate, depressed, lonely, overthinking all day.
I’m seeing a psychologist since the week she left. She’s trying to make me concentrate on my own needs and put boundaries to protect myself. But it’s very hard to do so. I feel really empathetic to her. She really needs help and seems to be in a flee-mode.
TLDR: my girlfriend hided her feelings for probably a year, and left me when going into a depression.

I'm beyond fed up with the decision to bring in such a trainwreck as our new high school principal. Seriously, did anyone bother to check her track record? This woman practically sank her last school, leaving teachers unpaid for months, stripping them of benefits, and basically running the place into the ground.
And now we're supposed to believe she's suddenly a miracle worker? Please. This isn't just incompetence; it's straight-up madness. She's a bully, a liar, and a manipulator who couldn't care less about the people she's supposed to lead.
And let's not forget how she screwed over her own staff, refusing to give recommendations to those who desperately needed to leave because they weren't getting paid. Who does that?
We can't just sit back and let her ruin our school too. We need to speak up, demand better, and show her the door before she does any more damage. Enough is enough.

WARNING: I talk a lot.
Quick background: 2021 was the year I first listened to BNL. All I heard were their big singles from Gordon, Stunt and Maroon (One Week, Pinch Me, It's All Been Done, etc.). But in 2022, I listened to Gordon in full, and it impressed me. Then I checked out Stunt, and let me tell you, from the bottom of my heart, I ADORE that album. I also listened to Maroon, and while good, I'd honestly rather pick the other two over it.
Last year I listened to MYSD, BoaPS and Rock Spectacle to feed the itch. And this month, I listened to EtE and BLAM (can we call this a double album?).
Here's my basic rundown on all of them:
context: this is from the perspective of a Gen-Z'er. Can confirm the quality crosses generations.
Hopefully I don't piss too many people off with my opinions.
1). Gordon: very good
-Best tracks: Grade 9, Brian Wilson (duh), Wrap Your Arms Around Me, What a Good Boy, Box Set, I Love You, The Flag, Million Dollars (classic)
-Weakest track: probably New Kid (on the Block). It's the one song I rarely revisit for some reason. Probably because it sounds too much like Enid and Box Set.
=More jazzier than I thought
=Very uncommon to see a band take off running on their debut record. Each of these songs can stand firmly on their own with few exceptions, which is something I always value in albums. This is required listening if you want to know what BNL are all about (at least, in their earlier days, sonically speaking).
2). Maybe You Should Drive: not bad. Pretty good.
-Best tracks: Jane (feels like a song this Spanish artist my dad loves named Jose Luis Perales would make), These Apples, A (I love the drum outro), Am I the Only One?, Life in a Nutshell
-Least favorite track: I will be Waiting (too twee for me. I feel like I'm listening to Hey There Delilah, and I actually like that song).
=probably the one I come back to the least. Not because it's bad by any means, but their other albums feel more memorable. Sitting next to Gordon, this doesn't really compare. There's also more electric guitars, compared to Gordon being very acoustic-based.
=There's some other songs I remember loving like Great Provider, but idk, this feels like a middle-of-the-road type of album. Still a good 7 or light 8, however. It does also have some of Tyler's best drum tones.
3). Born on a Pile of Pirate Ship: damn good
-Best tracks: This is where it ends (Jesus, Steve), When I Fall (Jesus Ed, I didn't expect this to be about a suicidal window-washer), I Live with it Every Day (Jesus, Steve.......), Break your Heart (Jesus Christ, Steve.....), Same Thing (really somber for a song that references the Fantastic Four), Shoebox
-Weakest tracks: Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank, and I Know. Both are alright, but they scream "B-Side" tbh. Definitely could've been cut out.
=Overall, as you could probably pick up from my favorite tracks, I think I love this album because of how somber and introspective it gets. Some of their most crushing songs are on here. Though Shoebox does close it out on a more light-hearted note (at least sonically).
4). Stunt: my favorite
-Best tracks (so many!): Call and Answer (one of the greatest songs I've ever heard, which is something I don't say lightly), It's all been Done (my favorite BNL guitar solo), In the Car, Who Needs Sleep (that chorus is the most earwormy thing they've done), Some Fantastic, When you Dream
-Weakest track: if we're including the bonus tracks, definitely She's on Time. Feels very samey and borderline uninteresting.
If going by the normal track listing, Alcohol. And even then, it's only really because I haven't revisited it as much as the others. That, and I don't think it works that well as the song that precedes Call and Answer.
=Like I said, I dunno man, there's something magical about this record that makes me swoon over it. Probably not their overall best, but definitely my favorite. It's an album I can describe as one I'd like to take with me on a desert island.
=It's bright, loud, but also tender.
=That said, my one peeve is the track listing isn't perfect. Mostly speaking, It's all been done honestly could work amazingly as one of the closing tracks. And Call and Answer I feel would work better if it was placed after Who Needs Sleep or something, instead of being the smack-dab middle song. There's a reason this was a live staple and show-closer.
=Still, as a whole/unit, I love Stunt.
=I think I have 80-90% of the verses to One Week memorized.
5). Maroon: Good, but I prefer some of their other albums.
-Best tracks: Pinch Me (this BNL song means a lot to me, lyrically. I tend to spin it whenever I'm going through a tough time mentally. It's also a good guitar warm-up), Never do Anything, Falling for the First Time, Off the Hook, Helicopters, Tonight is the Night......, Hidden Sun (Kevin knows how to do lullabies)
-Weakest tracks: Too Little Too Late, Go Home, Humor of the Situation (catchy as it is)
=Like Pirate Ship, the strongest moments lie in the serious tracks.
=This is my "hot" take: I don't love Maroon as much as everyone else does. Big reason is because Steve sings lead on most of the album. And look, I love the man as much as the next guy, and his voice is undeniably godlike, but ngl, there's something about Steve and Ed sharing vocals (or having an equal number of songs they sing lead on) that I really love. Another reason I love Stunt, they each get a good number of songs to shine in. I know the trade-in is Steve & Ed had a whole Lennon-McCartney/Collingwood-Schlesinger writing credit thing to my knowledge, but still, maybe Ed could've sung lead on at least 1 or 2 other songs (Steve still absolutely slays the performances on all his songs, no doubt).
=Even then, I can't call Maroon a "Steve Page solo" album either, as that sort of BNL signature quirkiness and cleverness that comes from the Page-Robertson duo is still found (Never do Anything, Sell Sell Sell).
=I also sometimes think it's not as interesting sonically. I liked Stunt because of how distinct nearly every track was, but Off the Hook and Helicopters, great songs as they are, can feel samey. I feel Maroon lacks some of that extra energy and punch.
=But still, a really solid record. And I definitely don't blame anyone for saying it's their favorite/BNL's best. Pinch Me is still one of the most intimate and personal BNL songs for me, as someone who struggles with anxiety and occasionally, self-harm (hope that wasn't too TMI, but I'm very well right now).
Alright, these next three I barely listened to for the first time this past weekend, so these are my quicker, fresh thoughts. We'll see how they change by next year.
6). Everything to Everyone:
-best tracks: Another Postcard (Ed's verses are too damn catchy), Testing 123 (a fantastic meta track that leaves me smiling. It's weirdly uplifting, if introspective), Next Time, Shopping, War on Drugs (I feel I'm only going to love this more with time), Aluminum (pretty somber), the last three songs
-least favorite: Unfinished. And it's literally only because I can't remember how it goes again. Again, I just listened to this album on Saturday. Give me time.
=I hyped myself up for this album a bit. It feels pretty ambitious
=I'd listen to this over Maroon because of the more varied sounds. Shopping has some nifty electronica, For You is more softer and acoustic-laced, and Maybe Katie leans more on Old Apartment style guitar power.
7). Barenaked Ladies are Me: very simple, but in a perfected way.
-best tracks: Easy, Home (this is I will be waiting, but infinitely better), Peterborough and the Kawarthas, Maybe you're right (the emotional climax of the record in the key of C), the last 4 tracks (a lot of the track listing is a home run).
-weakest track: Everything had Changed
=I can't remember when, but at what point, I couldn't help but smile and think "God I love this band!"
8). Barenaked Ladies are Men: still good, but Are Me was undeniably better
-best tracks: Serendipity, Down to Earth, Beautiful (I love those whispered lines Steve does), Half a Heart, Maybe not, I Can I Will I Do, What a Letdown, Fun and Games (really neat tone that treads on black humor)
-weakest tracks: Something you'll never find (it ends great, but overall, the song goes for longer than it should), Angry People
=Definitely not as great as Are Me. Biggest reason is it's too long. Cut out a few songs, maybe rearrange the track listing, and it would work better. But even then, are Me had a better streak of top notch songs. Are Men feels at times like a bonus album, as opposed to being an equal to are Me.
=Still worth listening to, but again, it didn't need to be 16 songs.
=Of course, with almost 30 songs recorded, I'm not going to remember all of them. Come back to me maybe next year when they've all sunken in for me.
So yeah! That's my two cents on all of the main Steven Page BNL releases! There's something great in each of these records, and I wouldn't take back any of it. My new favorite band.
My ranking from best to weakest

1. Stunt
2. BNL are Me (admittedly, mostly due to recency bias)
3. Born on a Pirate Ship
4. Gordon
5. Everything to Everyone
6. Maroon
7. BNL are Men
8. Maybe you should drive

All that's left is to listen to Snacktime and As you Like it.
I'll listen to the Post-Steven albums next year. I'm more than certain they're not as great, but I liked Daydreaming, Odds Are, and Get Back.
I listened to the Vanity Project last year, and I thought it was alright. Page One tho......OH MY GOD IT'S SO GOOD YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! Clifton Springs is another "tough times" song I come back to.
Random side-note: I will always associate BNL with Evangelion. Don't ask (or do, idk).

Hi there! 🌿☀️ I’m Michaela, a 24 y/o female from Canada. I work remotely as an editor, so I often have free time throughout the day to chat. Please only message me if you are 18+, thank you 💕
Some of my interests:
History 📚: I have my master’s in art history but I'm also interested in social history. I especially love the Renaissance and the ancient world.
Reading 📖: I'm a major bookworm, and I read a lot of fantasy and romance. I would love to chat about books if you like to read!
Art 🎨: I love painting, drawing, paper crafts, crocheting, and jewellery making. If we become good friends, I will 100% make you things for Christmas/your birthday!
Outdoors/Nature 🍃: I’m a huge fan of being outside but usually prefer to be doing relaxing things in nature. I often go for hikes, canoeing, camping, wildlife watching, and beach combing. I also have massive vegetable and flower gardens along with a bunch of houseplants inside.
Slow Living/Cottagecore 🦉: I'm really into living life slowly and enjoying simple pleasures. I love collecting antiques, baking, preserving fruits/veggies from my garden, going foraging, drinking lots of tea, and practicing mindfulness. I'd love to send you pictures of our chickens and the baked goods and preserves I make!
If you've gotten this far, thank you for taking the time to read this long post! If we have some common interests and you think we might click, feel free to send me a message! Please say more than “hi” and I’d greatly appreciate a little introduction about yourself! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Hi there! 🌿☀️ I’m Michaela, a 24 y/o female from Canada. I work remotely as an editor, so I often have free time throughout the day to chat. Please only message me if you are 18+, thank you 💕
Some of my interests:
History 📚: I have my master’s in art history but I'm also interested in social history. I especially love the Renaissance and the ancient world.
Reading 📖: I'm a major bookworm, and I read a lot of fantasy and romance. I would love to chat about books if you like to read!
Art 🎨: I love painting, drawing, paper crafts, crocheting, and jewellery making. If we become good friends, I will 100% make you things for Christmas/your birthday!
Outdoors/Nature 🍃: I’m a huge fan of being outside but usually prefer to be doing relaxing things in nature. I often go for hikes, canoeing, camping, wildlife watching, and beach combing. I also have massive vegetable and flower gardens along with a bunch of houseplants inside.
Slow Living/Cottagecore 🦉: I'm really into living life slowly and enjoying simple pleasures. I love collecting antiques, baking, preserving fruits/veggies from my garden, going foraging, drinking lots of tea, and practicing mindfulness. I'd love to send you pictures of our chickens and the baked goods and preserves I make!
If you've gotten this far, thank you for taking the time to read this long post! If we have some common interests and you think we might click, feel free to send me a message! Please say more than “hi” and I’d greatly appreciate a little introduction about yourself! I hope you have a wonderful day!

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https://imgur.com/a/Gdh6x2M