Hey everyone, I’ve been keeping an eye on flight prices since last December (this trip is my husband’s Christmas present) but I’ve still yet to see any plane tickets for lower than like $400 or something, which seems excessive considering I used to be able to get plane tickets for $150. Have the prices just gone up that much, or do I just need to keep being patient? It seems like the consensus online is to wait to book until around 3 months out. Anything else I should be doing? I have Google Flights tracking prices as well.

they completely freaked out and ask me why did i buy them? before they didnt believe me which means they generally distrust me. They didnt believe i bought the tickets with my $ cuz i am unemployed, in college, in debt, alone and depressed <_<
At the time i had 2k in my bank acc. ticket was $400. idk how im gonna afford gas, or parking but i'll figure something out. I ALREADY HAVE THE OUTFIT, & the food. Mom's protein shake, water, chips, oranges. sandwiches. candy. water again fuck it. idc. life is only one.
he acted out so bad it hurt. a lot. i was planning on being all the way in the front of the pit to experience the religious moment that it will be. away from him. hiding. the experience is all for me BECAUSE ITS MY FIRST CONCERT EVER AND IM LOSING MY CONCERT VIRGINITY IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE!!!
my parents never let me watch any of my favorite bands growing up even after friends agreed to come with me. even after i had the $. finally when i could i was 18 so legally they couldnt do shit. but it was van's last warped tour yet i missed it.
he always says he wants me to be happy, i bought the ticket for myself. i never spoil myself, this summer i was planning on buying a motorcycle, a dirtbike or an ATV quad.
instead i quit a job that had me suicidal, got fired of the next one and was denied unemployment. i also have a fucking criminal record that has fucked my job search. getting elminated on june! so after that im free.
my friend is also moving in the first of june to a new job. chances of seeing them are less yet i fear i wont see them again, chances are lower and after this reaction im worried about our friendship. to not say im deeply hurt. i was about to cry in the car. my dumbass decided to pick up a book from my sister. good i stopped driving. bad i called back
he apologized, yet returned his ticket. it was never my intention to ruin his experience with mine. i think we both deserve to enjoy our time separately. i've been wanting to do things and ask his help but after this i feel like shit and that i did a mistake. im hurt now, but im not taking it personal because i also deserve to have fun and enjoy life
tl dr: bought tickets to concert, friend is going they freaked out. AITA for thinking about myself.

Hey hey! Here are some fun things that are happening around town this week:

Wednesday

• Santana Row Farmer’s Market Santana Row (Between Olin Ave. and Olsen Dr.) 4-8 p.m. FREE Sample fresh fruits, veggies, and other treats from South County farmers. (Runs through 9/25)
  
• Tully Night Market Tully Community Ballfields (880 Tully Rd., San Jose) 5:30 p.m. FREE Check out local makers, artists, and shakers to live music with the Trujillo Selena Tribute band.
  
• San Jose Shakeout Series Creekside Socials (20 Barack Obama Blvd., San Jose) 6-8 p.m. FREE The third week of this weekly running event features live music from Blue House and DJ Sumabat, with food and drink from Churros el Guero and Hot Papa. (Runs through 5/29)
  
• Electric Six + Supersuckers + Volk The Ritz (400 S. First St., San Jose) 7 p.m. $20 Advance, $25 Day of Show Don’t you want to know how we keep startin’ fires? It’s my desire! Danger! Danger! High voltage!
  
• The Caravan Lounge Comedy Show Caravan Lounge (98 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose) 9:30 p.m. FREE Ato Walker hosts this week’s rotating list of local comedians.
  

Thursday

• Bay to Breakers Shakeout Sunnyvale Bay Trail (293-327 W. Caribbean Dr., Sunnyvale) 6 p.m. FREE Don your Bay to Breakers gear and run, jog, or walk to your own pace at this running series.
  
• Dwight Clark Legacy Series California Theater (345 S. First St., San Jose) 7 p.m. $30-$287 Along with lively conversations with current and former 9ers players, NBC Sports hosts a presentation of the Dwight Clark Awards.
  
• Drink and Draw Art Boutiki (44 Race St., San Jose) 7 p.m. FREE Bring out your inner artiste while you sip on a tasty beverage and enjoy the sound of Digging Sound Collect. Crayons, paper, pencils, and other utensils provided.
  
• Chris Porter San Jose Improv (62 S. Second St., San Jose) Thu 8 p.m., Fri 7:30 + 9:45 p.m., Sat 7 p.m. + 9:30 p.m. $22-$72 From NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” and his Netflix special “Ugly and Angry,” this comedian has distinguished himself as a no-frills, no-sound cues, no puppets performer. (Runs through 5/18)
  
• Austin Nasso Rooster T Feathers Comedy Club (Address) Thu-Fri 8 p.m., Sat-Sun 7 p.m. $25 Admission, $35 VIP You may know this former Microsoft software engineer from his recurring appearances on “The Howard Stern Show.” (Runs through 5/19)
  
• Pressure Drop DJ Night Caravan Lounge (98 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose) 9 p.m. FREE Join DJs Norbert + Fuchsia for a night of punk, ska, reggae, soul, and R&B.
  

Friday

• Salsa y Cerveza Garden at the Flea (1590 Berryessa Rd., San Jose) 5-9 p.m. FREE Learn to Salsa dance and browse flea market deals while you groove to Union Timbera and gnosh on bites from local food trucks.
  
• Movie Night in the Park: “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” Meadowfair Park (Corda Dr. + Barberry Ln., San Jose) 6-10 p.m. FREE Bring your blanket + lawn chair, and enjoy lawn games, crafts, and food trucks as you watch one of the coolest, most stylish animated films from last year.
  
• Bay FC vs San Diego Wave FC PayPal Park (1123 Coleman Ave., San Jose) 7:30 p.m. $20-$196 After losses on the road to Chicago and Portland, our team returns home for a “Bay Area Unite” game.
  
• Sofia Niño de Rivera California Theater (345 S. First St., San Jose) 8 p.m. $49-$109 You may know this comedian as Mexico City’s “Woman of the Year” 2016, or from the Netflix dramedy “Club de Cuervos.”
  
• Dark Satellite + Orbit 17 + Dear Banshee Art Boutiki (44 Race St., San Jose) 8 p.m. $15 Advance, $20 Day of Show Bay Area indie rockers collide at a stellar showcase of prog, jazz, and otherworldly riffage.
  
• Alicia Villarreal San Jose Civic (135 W. San Carlos St., San Jose) 8 p.m. $39.50-$149 See the two-time Latin Grammy Award-winning singer for her “Donde Todo Comenzo” tour.
  
• Electric Feels: Indie Rock + Indie Dance Party The Ritz (400 S. First St., San Jose) 9 p.m. $15-$20 Advance, $25 Day of Show From MGMT to Vampire Weekend, alt-J to Hot Chip, dance along to your favorite indie tracks from yesteryear.
  
• Panacea + HRIF + Perarez Caravan Lounge (98 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose) 9 p.m. FREE Chunky riffs, ear-splitting growls, and dense-packed crowds fill one of the most intimate venues in the South Bay.
  

Saturday

• Bored Teachers Comedy Tour California Theater (345 S. First St., San Jose) 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. $35-$55 Ring in the end of the school year with the No. 1 teacher comedians in the world performing skits and stand ups.
  
• Culture Night Market Discovery Meadow (180 Woz Way, San Jose) 4-10 p.m. FREE Featuring local vendors, food trucks, and businesses, to hoppin’ stage performances from Universal Grammar, Los Jefes, L James, Thatfool Al, Sutro, DJ Say, and Real Ignorant.
  
• All Out for Al-Nakba San Jose Peace and Justice Center (48 S. Seventh St., San Jose) 4 p.m. FREE Join community members and activists for a screening and discussion of Al Jazeera’s “Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948” documentary series as a part of Anti-War Action Network’s national week of action.
  
• Hey Girl! Sexy Slumber Party Splash Video Dance Bar (65 Post St., San Jose) 6 p.m. FREE before 7:30, $10 after Dress in your best pajamas or sexy sleepwear and dance along with fellow fems, femmes, and femme fatales to the tunes of local DJ Rogue Mermaid.
  
• Nate Jackson San Jose Civic (135 W. San Carlos St., San Jose) 7 p.m. $39.50-$200 You know he has to be funny, because his tour’s called the “Super Funny World Tour.” It’s just science.
  
• The ABBA Concert Experience Montgomery Theater (271 S. Market St., San Jose) 7:30 p.m. $39-$59 This family-friendly singalong show highlights the enduring success of one of the world’s most beloved pop supergroups.
  
• San Jose Earthquakes vs. Orlando City SC PayPal Park (1123 Coleman Ave., San Jose) 7:30 p.m. $22-$185 Join the Quakes for Vietnamese Heritage night, with special merch for sale, and limited items with purchase of a ticket.
  
• Take on Me: The Ultimate 80’s Party The Ritz (400 S. First St., San Jose) 8 p.m. $17-$20 Advance, $20 Day of Show Don your favorite hot pants and pastel colors for this celebration of synths and gated reverb drums.
  
• Nineteen Jazz Orchestra Art Boutiki (44 Race St., San Jose) 8 p.m. $25 Advance, $30 Day of Show Along with classic soul, jazz, and R&B, this local professional jazz group will be performing “Obama Suite,” composed by their their former trumpet player, the late Eric Bolvin.
  
• Nature of the Beast SJZ Break Room (310 S. First St., San Jose) 8 p.m. $25 Bay Area jazz legends return to the SJZ stage to perform select songs from Herbie Hancock’s discography.
  
• Dead River Rebels + American Standard + Akira XX Caravan Lounge (98 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose) 9 p.m. FREE DIY punk meets stoner rock at this showcase of local talent.
  

Sunday

• Boogie Music Fest Downtown Campbell 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday FREE Admission Enjoy food, beer, and wine, plus artisan booths, a kids zone, and a funky “Best Dressed” contest, with live music on two stages both days.
  
• Halfway to Halloween Rumble City Boxing (866 Park Ave., San Jose) 2-6 p.m. FREE From spooky wares to Halfoween artistry, check out local artist booths with live music and food.
  
• Homayoun Shajarian + Anoushiravan Rohani San Jose Civic (135 W. San Carlos St., San Jose) 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Two legendary performers, one from Tehran and the other from Iran, blend Eastern and Western musical traditions.
  
• Jakob’s Castle + The Happys The Ritz (400 S. First St., San Jose) 7 p.m. $15 Advance, $20 Day of Show SoCal rock and ska royalty Jacob Nowell brings his sublime punk sensibilities to the stage.
  
• Sammy Obeid San Jose Improv (62 S. Second St., San Jose) 8:30 p.m. $30-$90 One of my favorite comedians of all time, Sammy’s been a part of the Bay Area comedy scene for the past two decades. Check out some of his bits on Instagram/TikTok!
  

Thanks so much for reading!

You can get this entire post emailed to you each week in my newsletter.

But hold on, aren’t there other newsletters in San Jose???

Yep! And those are all super groovy! My newsletter is primarily a place for me to compile a curated list of things happening all over town, not just in the downtown spaces. There are small, DIY shows almost every day, and they generally don’t have a budget or the know how to promote themselves on platforms where you’re going to see. I’m pretty closely connected with a lot of the folks who organize these events (and have even helped organize many myself!) I occasionally include interviews with locals, newsy bits, and other things as they pop into my brain. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope it helped you find something to do this week. 🙂

• Gregg

have 2 tickets for sale in the 400 section for Philly tomorrow night. will sell for face value, can’t make it because of work. will transfer via ticketmaster :)

Hi All First time redit user I recently bought tickets for Ireland vs Italy in the six nations in 2025. I've only discovered that Ryanair flights are 400 euro each way..... Has anyone any other alternative ways to travel or suggestions
Thanks

I'm working my second support desk job and we just launched a new website that affects all of our employees as well as clients. (Approximately 200 internal users and 400 customer medical practices). This particular web platform was made fully internal by a team of developers, whereas the old version of this platform was made by a vendor.
Due to the bespoke and "from scratch" nature of the platform, mixed with limited documentation, nobody knows how to either use it or support it. Additionally it is constantly breaking on the backend and the development team is trying to spot fix and add features
Our support desk has 4 people and a team lead who is not taking calls. We did have 5, but one of our guys walked out last week. Another one went home early today due to the stress. I just got a job offer and I'm planning on submitting my 2 weeks tomorrow.
Yesterday the desk received 216 calls and only answered about 120. The ticket queue has over 200 unassigned tickets, and people are getting very upset.
This leads to my question. What happens when a help desk completely crumples under the volume created by a company's failure to plan? Could this single handedly destroy a company, or would it just lose business? Within the management structure (project manager, ops manager, director, CTO), who is most likely taking responsibility for this?
I know this is a specific situation with a lot of variables, just wondering if any of you guys would want to share similar stories or offer insight. I only ask out of morbid curiosity.

https://swgoh.gg/g/SeDdLrCRQHKbR0sA4bQXgg/
THE BANTHA RAIDERS
We are one guild out of a 3-guild alliance and we strive on having an incredible sense of community within our Discord, where we all feel like one big "family" and put a solid community as a priority alongside a strong guild! Our experienced officers thoroughly plan and ping for TB and TW for the best results, while also being a collective hub of experience and advice for all players to help improve their rosters.
MEMBERS 49/50 GUILD GP 135 million GP 36 million crate for Endor raid LS Hoth: 37⭐️ DS Geo: 15 ⭐️ 21 wat shards TW: 29-3
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR FROM YOU - Level 85 - 1.5 million GP (No HDB/LSB with no effort put into developing the account further) - 400+ Tickets Daily, with contact and eventual kicking if you are not consistent over 2 days in a row on multiple occasions - At least one focused (tagged/proper) LS and DS team respectively, including a clear focus on Imperial Troopers - Clear focus on early Journey Guide characters (Grand Master Yoda, Emperor Palpatine, R2-D2, BB-8, etc.) - Full participation and contribution in all Guild Events - Consistently active in our Discord - Gearing up Geos (G12) for Wat
If you’re interested in this smaller GP and requirement guild, or interested in one of our two bigger guilds (The Bantha Padawans or The Bantha Galaxy), come join our Discord!
You can also drop me a DM to ask any questions! 💪
https://discord.gg/3jF36p4ZcJ

https://swgoh.gg/g/SeDdLrCRQHKbR0sA4bQXgg/
THE BANTHA RAIDERS
We are one guild out of a 3-guild alliance and we strive on having an incredible sense of community within our Discord, where we all feel like one big "family" and put a solid community as a priority alongside a strong guild! Our experienced officers thoroughly plan and ping for TB and TW for the best results, while also being a collective hub of experience and advice for all players to help improve their rosters.
MEMBERS 49/50 GUILD GP 135 million GP 36 million crate for Endor raid LS Hoth: 37⭐️ DS Geo: 15 ⭐️ 21 wat shards TW: 29-3
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR FROM YOU - Level 85 - 1.5 million GP (No HDB/LSB with no effort put into developing the account further) - 400+ Tickets Daily, with contact and eventual kicking if you are not consistent over 2 days in a row on multiple occasions - At least one focused (tagged/proper) LS and DS team respectively, including a clear focus on Imperial Troopers - Clear focus on early Journey Guide characters (Grand Master Yoda, Emperor Palpatine, R2-D2, BB-8, etc.) - Full participation and contribution in all Guild Events - Consistently active in our Discord - Gearing up Geos (G12) for Wat
If you’re interested in this smaller GP and requirement guild, or interested in one of our two bigger guilds (The Bantha Padawans or The Bantha Galaxy), come join our Discord!
You can also drop me a DM to ask any questions! 💪
https://discord.gg/3jF36p4ZcJ

“Ready to make history, baby?”
I looked over toward Sheila as she stood on the gangplank leading up to The Burger. I still couldn’t believe she named our research ship ‘The Burger’... emotional relevance be damned.
“It's not exactly history,” I corrected.
“Oh come on! If your survey is right, this trench might run even deeper than the Challenger Deep, and you’re gonna be the first person to explore it! How is that not exciting?”
“Might be deeper, we only have a limited amount of topological data. And even if it is deeper, we’re talking only a few hundred feet at most, it’s really not that im-”
Sheila silenced me with a kiss.
“Nerd.” She teased, and I found myself too flustered to reply. After five years of marriage, she still could leave me speechless with just a kiss. God… how did someone like me end up with a woman like that?
Then again, how did someone like me end up where I was in general? It was honestly a little overwhelming. Standing on the dock, getting ready to board that ship and join the ranks of Jacques Piccard and James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) as one of the few people to take a manned submersible down to the deepest parts of the ocean. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared too. Diving down that deep could easily be a one way trip if even the slightest thing went wrong. My submarine would be experiencing between 600 to 1100 atmospheres of pressure and while we’d tested it over and over again to make sure it would actually be up for the challenge, there was still a lingering iota of doubt in the back of my mind. All that needed to go wrong was one little thing, and that would be it for me.
The scariest part is that I probably wouldn’t even know what had happened… I’d simply be gone… and Sheila would be alone. The thought of that caused a momentary spike of panic in my chest that almost made me want to call this whole thing off.
Almost.
But, then I felt her hand close around mine. I looked up into her bright blue eyes, and saw her gentle smile.
“You’re gonna be okay, hun,” She promised. “You and your team have been running the numbers, right? It’s gonna go just fine!”
I nodded slowly.
“It’s gonna go fine…” I repeated, before she leaned in to kiss me, and gently pulled me by the wrist up onto the deck of the Burger.
She was probably right.
It probably would be fine.
Probably…
The trench I’d be exploring was a fairly recent discovery, located south of Greenland, in a vast stretch of water situated directly between Newfoundland and Iceland. It’d been uncovered during a topological survey in the area, and my team had taken an interest in investigating it further. At minimum, it was believed to descend to about 35,000 feet deep (over 10,000 meters), although the current theory was that it might have run even deeper. Determining the exact depth of the yet unnamed chasm was just one of the intents of our dive. The rest was studying the organisms that might be found down there, and how they might have differed from the ones found in other deep ocean trenches (some variation being expected given the isolated environment they were developing in.)
I had to admit, it would be exciting to see what new life might have developed in a place such as this, especially if it ran even deeper than our predictions… and that excitement was enough to make me chase the fear of the risks out of my mind, even if it was only briefly. While Sheila went to make sure we were ready to embark, I caught myself wandering out toward the rear of the ship where my submarine, The Tempura, waited for me. Did this submarine deserve a better name than The Tempura? Probably. But, this was my project, so I got to name it and since Burger was already taken, Tempura was the next best name I had. I liked to think that the subs namesake might approve… if she hadn’t died fifteen years ago. Shrimp don’t live very long.
As the ship began to depart, I caught myself reminiscing on how I’d ended up here… it really was all because of those damn shrimp, wasn’t it? Well… maybe not all because of the shrimp. But they were certainly part of it. Back when I was a lot younger, I never really gave much of a shit about anything at all. I guess I did have a thing for the ocean… the great, romantic vastness of it. The sense of adventure that it beckoned with. The endless mysteries that lay within its dark depths. I used to read about it all the time when I was a kid and I especially loved the classic adventures: Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and Melville’s Moby Dick… but that love was just confined to my books. I didn’t really have any interest in actually going out and seeing the ocean. Hell, the idea of going to a beach and standing in the sun with my toes in the sand seemed miserable to me. I was happier (although calling myself happy might’ve been a little disingenuous) alone in my room, enjoying the company of books as opposed to people.
Then came the shrimp.
One of my online friends kept them as a hobby. He used to post pictures of his tanks all the time, and I always thought they looked kinda cool. He said that if I was interested in them, I should try keeping some for myself, and during a particularly bad bout of depression, I figured that maybe it might be worth a shot. So, I bought a cheap tank and some cheap decorations, bought myself some shrimp… and promptly watched them die over the next few weeks. That… that bothered me. I don’t know why but… it really bothered me. I’m still not entirely sure how to describe what it was that I was feeling. Guilt? Defeat? Shame? Here I was, trying to set up a habitat for these creatures just to have something to do to keep the suicidal ideation at bay, and I’d failed almost right out of the gate.
Was I just that bad? Was I just that much of a failure? Was this just going to go to shit just like everything else in my life did, because I was just such an abysmal piece of shit who barely deserved the life she had? Had I just not tried hard enough? Was I too apathetic? What had happened? What went wrong?
It bothered me.
It bothered me enough that I made up my mind to just dump the remaining shrimp down the toilet and toss everything. Forget about it. Move on. End of story. But… that wasn’t fair, was it? The shrimp didn’t all deserve to die just because I couldn’t be bothered, did they? Sure, they were just shrimp, but they were alive too, just like me. They deserved to be alive.
I owed it to them to try and keep them alive, didn’t I?
So… I didn’t dump the shrimp.
Instead, I started doing some reading. Started looking into what I was doing wrong and how to do it all better. I actually got really into it and a few months later, I had a nice planted tank. Looking back, it was amateur shit… but it made me happy. I’d even picked out names for my two favorite shrimp. Burger and Tempura. They’d been the last survivors of my original batch, and they were the ones I ended up caring about the most. Caring for Burger and Tempura gave me a purpose. It became an obsession… and that little obsession drove me to finally start turning my life around.
Like I said, shrimp don’t live for very long. Burger and Tempura were long dead by the time I graduated with a degree in Marine Biology. But they were the ones who inspired me to finally get my life in order. Hell, the shrimp were half the reason that I met Sheila. She was something of an aquarium fanatic too… we’d met on a forum, and gotten to talking. I found out that she just so happened to be studying Marine Biology at another school, and we bonded pretty quickly after that. After graduation, I moved to California to be with her and after that, the rest is history. She was my rock. She was the one who always pushed me to be the best possible version of myself… and I loved her more than I ever knew I could love someone.
A glance back at the shore, fading into the distance tore me out of my reminiscing, and I shifted my focus to the present, going over The Tempura to perform some quick checks. My colleagues and I would be checking and rechecking the submarine over the next two days as we made our way toward the dive spot. Considering the danger that descending that deep posed, I didn’t want to take a single unnecessary risk.
I had too much to live for, after all.
***
The day of the dive, I couldn’t notice how excited the rest of the crew seemed… well… Sheila’s usual crew seemed excited. I guess to them, this was just another research expedition, no different than the ones Sheila usually took this ship out on. Lately her research had been focused on the analysis and study of whale calls. Her recent voyages had involved following their pods, recording their calls and playing them back to see how the whales reacted. It was fascinating stuff, but my research was admittedly a lot different than that.
My obsession had drawn me to the denizens of the deep sea. I’d used The Burger for expeditions before, although none of them had been on quite the same scale as this one. Up until today, the most ambitious thing I’d done was send down unmanned submersibles with cameras. Those submersibles had typically returned. We had lost a few early on due to technical glitches, but the past few years had been blissfully uneventful. Logically, this dive would probably be uneventful as well. But it was still hard to get the jitters out of my head.
My team and I did the final checks necessary to make sure that The Tempura was good to go, before setting up the crane to begin lifting it up. In less than an hour, I’d be inside of that thing, descending to the darkest depths of the ocean.
It didn’t feel real.
I felt Sheila’s hand on my shoulder, and looked over at her.
“Moment of truth, huh?” She asked. She probably meant it to sound encouraging, but it just sounded ominous.
“Moment of truth…” I replied.
“You’re gonna be okay, honey. I know you will.”
She reached out to gently squeeze my hand and gave me a reassuring smile that I meekly returned.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be okay,” I agreed, although there was an element of a lie in it. Statistically, yes. It probably WOULD be okay. But there was that lingering anxiety in the back of my mind that just wouldn’t go away. I looked quietly out at the submarine before me and couldn’t shake the thought that it sort of looked like a giant coffin. Unconsciously, I found myself squeezing Sheila’s hand tighter than normal. She just held me close and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, before gently rubbing my back.
“You’ll be okay,” She promised.
“Dr. Jenner, we’re ready for you.” I heard one of my colleagues say.
Moment of truth.
I took one last look at Sheila, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips for luck. She smiled at me, and I smiled back anxiously at her before heading over toward the submarine.
The crew helped me enter the cockpit and get myself situated inside. The cockpit of the Tempura was fairly cramped and not particularly comfortable. Space and comfort aren’t really luxuries you can afford in a submarine like this. The instruments I needed took up a lot of space, leaving little room for me in there… and I am not a very big person.
Once I was inside, they sealed the hatch. Then the diagnostics checks began.
“Grayson, can you hear us in there?” I heard Sheila say through the radio.
“Loud and clear,” I replied.
“Great. We’ll keep in constant radio contact, just to monitor the signal. In the meanwhile, how’s everything looking in there?”
“Green across the board so far,” I said, although I hadn’t finished running all my final checks yet. Ultimately, nothing was out of place.
This submarine was as good to go as it was going to get.
“I’m all good in here,” I said once I was done. “You can drop me when you’re ready.”
“You got it, honey. Let’s get you in the water, run one final round of tests and start lowering you down.”
A short while later, I felt the submarine begin to move as the crane lifted it off the deck and lowered it into the water. The Tempura honestly resembled its namesake in a way, being long and cigar shaped, only vertically oriented instead of horizontally oriented. We’d admittedly taken more than a few design cues from James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger. Why fix what isn’t broken, after all?
Once I was in the water, a 1000 pound releasable ballast weight would cause the submarine to sink. Releasing that weight was also my ticket back to the surface, and I could either trigger it from inside the cockpit, or, in the event that the release failed for any reason, it would trigger automatically after roughly 12 hours of exposure to salt water.
Ideally, this would be the first of a number of dives I’d be undertaking… and if all went according to plan, the Tempura could be the first of many similar submarines that would allow other researchers to safely and effectively descend to extreme depths. If all went well, this could be a massive leap forward for researchers like me, allowing us to better explore the deepest depths of the Hadal Zone and learn all we could about the ecosystems down there via direct observation.
If all went well.
If.
Through the viewport, I watched as I was lowered into the ocean. A few of the other crew members had donned diving gear to escort me down, and after they did their final checks and I did mine, we were fully ready to go.
“All’s green across the board,” I said into the radio. “You can start my descent.”
“I hear you, honey,” Sheila replied. “We’re letting you go. Have fun down there.”
“Yeah, I’ll try…” I said quietly as finally, my submarine began its descent.
I took a deep breath, and told myself again that everything would go fine. We had checked everything on this submarine. We’d tested it rigorously. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to set foot inside of it if I hadn’t personally assured that it was safe. But anxiety never really goes away, does it? The crew couldn’t accompany me far. After only a few meters, they fell behind me as I sank deeper and deeper into the infinite, empty blue of the ocean. Soon after, the tether was released.
I was officially on my own.
“60 feet,” I heard Sheila say over the radio. “How are you doing in there?”
“Good,” I replied. “Doing… doing good.”
The submarine continued to descend. Through the viewport, I could see a few stray fish, but nothing particularly eye catching. I almost felt alone down there… almost…
“120 feet…” Sheila said.
“Still doing good,” I replied.
The descent continued, as the waters slowly grew darker and darker.
“400 feet…”
Everything around me just kept getting darker and darker. Only a fraction of the light from the sun ever reached these depths… and I’d be lying if I said that darkness didn’t feel a little… oppressive.
“800 feet… still feeling good?”
“Yeah, still feeling good…” I said, although it was a bit of a lie. If anything, I was second guessing all of this, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“1000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…” I murmured. “I hear you loud and clear.”
Deeper… deeper… deeper.
“1500 feet…”
Three miles. I was three miles away from home. Three miles away from Sheila.
“2000 feet…”
Still a ways to go.
“3000 feet…”
By this point, it was fully dark outside of my cockpit. Outside, all I could see was inky darkness. Even the submarine’s lights didn’t really cut through it. And the kicker? Relatively speaking, I wasn’t that deep. Fishing trawlers reached deeper than this. Better to conserve power until I was at the bottom. My descent continued.
“6000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…”
The check ins were becoming less frequent. My descent still continued… deeper… deeper… deeper. By now, I’d entered the Hadal Zone. But there was still so much deeper o go.
“8000 feet…”
This was past the depths that most whales would dive to… and I still had a ways to go.
“10,000 feet.”
This was close to where the ocean floor usually bottomed out… and yet there was still so much further to go. No. I was really only a third of the way there. How long had it been?Not much had happened beyond my descent and a few sightings out of my viewport, but time had been passing. A glance at my watch confirmed it’d been almost an hour since I’d started to sink… and I knew I wasn’t even close to the bottom yet. The submarine continued to descend, sinking ever deeper as I dropped into an infinite darkness that few had ever dared to witness.
“15,000 feet.”
This check in came later than the others. At this point, Sheila and the crew must have figured that no news was good news, and they were right. I just continued to sink peacefully, down into the crushing depths of the ocean.
These were the depths that one might normally find deep sea fish… and yet I was going somewhere even deeper than that.
“20,000 feet…”
So close…
I continued to sink.
“25,000 feet.”
Soon… and finally…
“30,000 feet. You still doing alright, honey?”
“Yeah… yeah, I’m doing good,” I assured her. I was so close…
By this point, my real work had begun. I’d engaged the lights and begun documenting what little I could see using the on board cameras. Granted, there wasn’t much life at these depths and what little there was, was scarcely documented. Most of what was down here consisted of invertebrates and microscopic life that seemed to float past my viewport.
The light seemed to draw a few creatures in search of food. Small, hardy things that resembled shrimp.
“How’s it looking, Grayson?”
“Dark,” I said, half joking. “We’ve got some life… shrimp. They’re translucent. Can’t get a great look at them… but we’ll see what the cameras pick up.”
“They’ve recognized you as a friend,” Sheila said. I could almost see the smile on her lips as she said it.
“Yeah…” I replied, “Tempura sent them a message, told them I’d be down. How am I looking on depth?”
“35,000 feet… you seeing a bottom yet?”
“No… not that I would until I was there.”
“Damn… how deep does this go?”
“It can’t go that deep…” I murmured, although I really wasn’t so sure about that.
The submarine continued to sink…
36,000 feet…
37,000 feet…
38,000 feet… and then finally, just past the 39,000 foot mark, I finally saw solid ground below me.
Looking through my viewport, I could see a familiar dark brown diatomaceous sludge, covering the seafloor. Microscopic life, likely similar to what had been observed in other deep sea trenches, such as the Challenger Deep.
I needed to gather a sample.
As my submarine reached the bottom, I extended the mechanical arms, pressed flat against the surface of the Tempura, and opened the collection port near the bottom of the ship. Slowly, I sifted some of the sludge into the port. My disturbance of the seafloor kicked up a cloud of the microbial colony, and I could’ve sworn I saw something wiggling through the debris. A pale, white thing, perhaps some sort of sea cucumber? I hastily angled my submarines camera to try and catch a glimpse of it, before returning to my collection. Even in this forlorn place, there was still so much to see! And here I was… completely forgetting my fear as the excitement took hold of me! Few people had ever been down to these unfathomable depths… and yet here I was.
It didn’t feel real but it was! I had reached the deepest part of the ocean!
“How’s it going down there?” I heard Sheila ask. Her voice was a little garbled. The connection down here was faltering.
“It’s beautiful…” I said. “I can’t wait for you to see it!”
“I’ll bet…”
“I’m going to do a sweep of the area, see what samples I can gather,” I said. “What’s my time right now?”
“Three hours. You’ve got nine before your connection to the weight deteriorates and you start to ascend.”
“I’ll make the most of it,” I said. The plan was only to stay down there for six hours, and I didn’t want to push that limit. Life support would only last me for so long, and one little error was all it would take for the ungodly pressure down here to crush me.
I began to move the submarine. Mobility was limited. This thing wasn’t built to travel far. But I still had some limited movement. I recorded all that I could, filming the shrimp that investigated my light, and the things that slithered and crawled through the muck, likely feeding on the carpet of single celled organisms that populated these depths.
The first two hours were… well… I hesitate to call them uneventful, they were actually very fascinating, but little of note happened beyond my recording of a few specimens.
Midway through the third hour though, as I was reaching one of the rock walls of the abyss, I noticed something just above the edge of my viewport swimming away from the light. I could’ve sworn I saw slender, pale tentacles of some sort. Was that a squid? Were there squid down this deep? I wasn’t aware of any species of known squid who could reach these depths… but in this unknown place, what use was the known?
I moved my light and my camera to try and catch another glimpse of it, but whatever it was, it seemed to be gone. Maybe I’d see another one. I still had plenty of time.
“You made a noise. What’d you see?” Sheila asked.
“Something big… I think,” I said.
“Down there? Like a fish?”
“Squid. You wouldn’t find any vertebrates down this deep… the pressure would crush their bones.”
“Jeez…”
I didn’t reply to that, still searching for the thing I’d seen. I shone my light up along the walls of the chasm and angled my camera up as far as it would go. I could see a few volcanic vents, spewing dark clouds into the darkness, and more diatoms. But not much else. Strange invertebrates crawled along the walls. Small creatures, no bigger than an inch long. Related to isopods, perhaps? If I could collect one as a sample, I would have… although taking any of those back to the surface would surely kill them. They were built to live under the impossible pressure of these depths. Taking them to the surface would rip them apart.
I went back to my research, and it wasn’t long until I saw something in the darkness, just on the edge of where my flashlight reached. Trailing white tendrils, snaking their way through the darkness. My eyes narrowed as I moved the submarine forward, trying to catch whatever it was in the light. I saw the shape move, its body turning… I saw its tendrils unfurling. Whatever this was, it was big. It was almost as big as The Tempura… although it was also slender. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought I was looking at some sort of floating debris, but this far down? No. And debris wouldn’t move like that.
This had to be a deepsea squid… or perhaps some other type of cephalopod? Something that preyed upon the various invertebrates down here, perhaps? It seemed to float, just out of sight for a bit, as I tried to get closer. I angled up my light to get a better look at it. The light seemed to shine through it, like some sort of ghost… but I did manage to get a look at it.
Although that look…
That single look made me freeze up.
This things slender tendrils certainly resembled a cephalopod of some sort, but the rest of it… the rest of it looked like something else entirely. Its body was thin, emaciated and translucent, yet despite that it still had characteristics that almost seemed… human. It wasn’t human! Not by any stretch of imagination, but the resemblance was there. It almost reminded me of an exhibit I’d seen in a museum once, depicting a preserved, fully removed human nervous system. I could see a similar shape in its translucent body. Its head seemed almost human as well… albeit with no eyes, and a lamprey like mouth I could only describe as fleshy yet crablike.
Still, despite having no eyes I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was looking at me. And that was when I felt something hit the submarine.
I felt a sudden jolt of panic in my chest. For a moment, I thought that the pressure had started to crush me, but no… no, everything was still fine. Something had just hit me. But what? It didn’t take long before I got my answer.
Another pale creature floated past my viewport, swirling gracefully in the cold dark waters. I watched it for a moment with wide eyes, before noticing its ‘head’ turning slightly toward me. Then, almost instantly, it launched itself at the submarine, darting toward me with blinding speed.
I heard a distinct THUD as its body collided with me, and I could see its pale tendrils pressing against the viewport, twisting and writhing violently. It was trying to attack me. The first creature that I’d seen lunged as well, pounding on my submarine with another THUD. And moments later, I could hear more impacts against the hull. There were more of them… and they did not like having me down there.
“What’s going on?” Sheila asked.
“Somebody doesn’t like me…” I said. “One of the animals down here… some kind of squid, it’s just started attacking the hull.”
“How bad is the damage?”
“Not sure… could be nothing, could be-”
I felt the submarine shake as I tried to move it. The thrusters that pushed me forward weren't responding. Had something gotten caught in it? One of the creatures perhaps?
“Grayson?!” Sheila asked.
“Lost propulsion…” I said. “Fuck… I can’t move.”
“Then drop the weight and come up!”
“No, it’s fine, there’s no other damage, I can still use the port and starboard thrusters to-”
“Grayson!”
I paused. There was genuine panic in her voice… enough to make me realize that even if these things stood little chance of actually breaching the hull, taking the risk would be a fatal mistake.
“I’m on my way up…” I finally said, before reaching out to disengage the ballast weights.
Immediately, I felt myself beginning to rise, although the tentacles clinging to my viewport didn’t disappear.
“We’ve got you…” Sheila said. “Rising up to 38,000 feet.”
The submarine continued to rise, but the creatures clinging to me went nowhere. In fact… I was sure I could see more of them. More pale shapes coming up through the darkness, and these ones filled me with dread. I thought I had been looking at some sort of eerie undiscovered life. But seeing what was coming up toward me now… I knew that I was looking at so much more. The creatures swimming up toward me through the darkness carried weapons… makeshift stone spears and daggers. Primitive tools… but tools all the same.
Signs that these were more than just undiscovered animals.
Much. Much more.
The word: ‘Mermaids’ crossed through my mind, but these were something far different than the ones I’d heard of in folklore. These looked like they’d swam out of the depths of hell itself. Boneless pale tendrils reached for me… and they were getting closer. The pale shapes reached my submarine as I rose higher. I kept praying to whatever God may be listening that the dropping pressure would force them off. The air in a submarine is pressurized, so during normal operation, there should have been no danger of decompression sickness for me.
For them… well… normally I’d feel a little guilty about subjecting an undiscovered species of deep sea mermaids to the horrors of the Bends. But given my circumstances, I didn’t have a lot of other options.
They didn’t let go, though.
They should have. But they didn’t.
What were these things?
I saw a splayed hand press against my viewport. Or… it somewhat resembled a hand. It had suckers on it, like a tentacle and the ‘fingers’ curled open like tentacles. The creature crawled over my viewport, clinging to The Tempura as it rose, and I could see the folds of its crablike mouth opening and pressing against the glass. I could see some sort of bile rising up through its translucent throat, before it secreted it all over my viewport. Was it trying to digest me? Was that how these things fed? How strong were its stomach acids? Were they strong enough to-
The window cracked.
My heart skipped a beat.
“No… no, no no…”
“Grayson, what’s wrong?!”
“They cracked the window… S-Sheila they… oh God… oh fuck, they just…”
“THEY DID WHAT?”
“It’s secreting some sort of enzyme… it’s on the window, it’s… FUCK… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die…”
“You’re not gonna die, baby! Just… just keep ascending, okay? You’re at 30,000 feet… just keep going…”
I nodded, and kept on rising, although the question of whether or not the rest of the creatures were trying to digest the other parts of my submarine floated through my mind. How much damage could The Tempura take before it imploded? How much longer did I have? The submarine still continued to rise… 25,000 feet… almost halfway home… almost… almost.
The creature outside of my viewport slithered along the glass, searching for a better area to try and digest. Past him, I noticed a few of his companions dropping off. Maybe the change in pressure finally was getting to them?
From the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a flashing light. A warning. The hydraulics on one of the Tempura’s arms were shot… what else was damaged?
I checked my oxygen levels. 32%.
I should’ve had at least 14 hours of air. I’d only been down there for about 6 hours… I shouldn’t have been this low.
31%.
No… no, no, no, no… they’d damaged the air tanks!
30%.
29%
“20,000 feet!” Sheila said. “You still with me, baby?”
“Y-yeah…” I said. I didn’t mention my air situation. I didn’t need to worry her further.
The submarine continued its ascent.
15,000 feet.
24%. I was running out of time.
The creatures still clung to the Tempura. How had the pressure change not killed them yet? My oxygen was dropping faster than before. I was hemorrhaging air. Another crack formed across my viewport. I let out a little, involuntary gasp before trying to force myself to stop hyperventilating.
“Grayson, what was that?”
“I-it’s fine…” I stammered, “It’s fine!”
“Grayson what the hell is going on down there?!”
“They’re still on the submarine… they’re still…” I paused, looking at my oxygen levels. “19%...”
“19% of what? Grayson what’s going on!”
I paused.
18%.
“Air… I’m… I’m losing air…”
“That’s fine, you’re going to make it!” She said, although I heard her voice cracking a little. “You’re gonna make it!”
I didn’t answer.
12,000 feet.
11,000 feet…
My oxygen level continued to drop.
15%.
14%.
12%.
9,000 feet.
The creatures still clung to me, as the submarine continued to rise. The one on my viewport was still there, slowly crawling along the glass again. I stared into its eyeless face and swore I was looking at the face of my killer.
7,000 feet…
Oxygen had dropped to 9%. It dropped to 8% before I even got to 6,000 feet. I was going to die here…
The viewport cracked again and I squeezed my eyes shut. The submarine rocked. I was sure one of the thrusters had been damaged. My ascent slowed.
“Grayson, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry Sheila…”
Another crack spread across my viewport.
“I’m… I’m not making it back up…”
“YES YOU ARE!”
“I’m sorry…” The tears started to come as the reality of my death became clearer and clearer… this was it.
“YOU’RE COMING BACK UP, YOU HEAR ME! GODDAMNIT, I’LL BRING YOU BACK UP!”
“I love you…”
That creatures face pressed against the glass. It vomited more of its stomach acid onto the cracked glass, and I wondered if this might finally be what broke it. Part of me hoped it would be… the one good thing about dying this deep was that at least I’d die quickly. My suffering would be over. Then, the creature suddenly pulled back, twisting and writhing violently. I saw other shapes moving past it in the water, other ‘mermaids’ that had been clinging to the submarine.
Something was agitating them.
Something was scaring them off.
Then I heard it, over the radio… whale songs.
“What the hell…?”
“Grayson, are you still there?!”
“I… they’re finally breaking off. Sheila, what did you do?”
“I’m broadcasting some of the orca recordings we’ve been using. Are they still clinging to you?”
“No! They’re backing off! I… whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!”
The submarine kept rising.
5,000 feet.
4,000 feet.
4% oxygen.
I could still do this, right?
The submarine continued to rise.
3%.
3,000 feet.
2,000 feet.
2%.
1,000 feet… so close… I was so close…
I could almost see the surface through my viewport, rushing up toward me. I tried not to breathe. Tried not to move. All I did was hope.
500 feet.
I closed my eyes.
“Grayson we have your signal, we’re coming to pick you up!”
Sheila’s voice sounded so far away as my submarine finally breached the surface of the water… and with the last of my strength, I pulled the emergency release on the hatch, and threw it open, taking in lungful after lungful of fresh salty air.
I didn’t dare so much as touch the water beneath me… but I was topside again, and in the distance, I could see The Burger!
“We see you!” Sheila said, “We’ve got you baby… we’ve got you…”
“I see you too…” I said through the tears. “Thank you… thank you…” I didn’t have any words left in me after that.
As soon as I was back on the ship, I collapsed into Sheila’s arms, breaking down into tears as I clung to her, terrified that at any moment, some sort of unspoken other shoe would drop and I’d lose her all over again.
“Shh… it’s alright baby… I’ve got you… you’re safe… you’re safe…” I felt her fingers running through my air and I knew that what she said was true.
I was home.
I was safe.
***
I left my colleagues to review the data that the Tempura gathered during its short expedition. As far as I know, they haven’t published anything. I have a few ideas as to why, but I’ll keep those to myself. Let’s just say that some people would rather this information not become public.
I have a feeling that the Tempura may not be diving again for some time, if ever. I will confess that I do consider that a bit of a shame. Despite everything… I would consider it a success. It endured far more stressful conditions than I had expected, and from what I heard, required fewer repairs than I’d thought it would. But, even if it was approved for another dive, it wouldn’t be me piloting it. No. I will never be setting foot inside of that machine again, nor will I ever be returning to what my colleagues have been quietly referring to as ‘The Jenner Trench’.
I can’t.
Every night, I wake up crying after dreaming of pale shapes outside of my cracked viewport, clinging to Sheila and sobbing. I can’t put myself in that situation again.
I can’t.
Instead, I think I’m going to spend the next few years on solid ground. There’s a teaching position available at a local university. I think that might be the best place for me right now. Who knows, maybe I can help some other deadbeat discover a passion for marine biology.
After everything, my love for the sea remains unchanged… I’m just a little more wary of it, these days.

Are they out of their god damned minds? Aside from absolutely gouging us on ticket prices and nearly doubling the price of Storm Brew do they really need to pull in an extra $400,000 per game for granting us the privilege of parking a car?

Hello all - I would love some advice on a solo trip to Edinburgh. I (30F) have the chance to see a favorite musician of mine in early October in Edinburgh, and my original plan was to fly over from the Mid-Atlantic US to stay for 4-5 nights.
However, due to airline prices, it's actually much cheaper to fly for an entire week, like $3-400 cheaper (~650 on the lower end to about 1k if the trip is shorter)
I was only planning on using public transport/walking around the city during that time. I resigned myself to the expensive hotel prices there and budgeted $1,000-1300 total for 5 nights, to stay near the center of it all/within walking/tram/bus of most of the major sites.
However, that hotel price of course goes up with a longer stay, and I'm concerned that, being in a limited area of the city, 7 days will be too long - understanding it's a tradeoff for the cheaper air tickets but also an opportunity to see more.
I am willing to pay for some day trips outside of Edinburgh if transportation is included. I am a history and architecture buff and was planning on seeing the castle, national museum, Royal Yacht Britannia, doing a tour of the underground, eating some good food, high tea, doing some shopping. I am not a party/nightlife person and am okay sticking to myself though would of course love to meet and speak to people on tours or out in the city.
Anyone with experience in Edinburgh, would that be too long to stay without a car? Any recommendations for day trips or tours that go outside the city? Or other recommendations in general? If you had the choice, what would you do?

About a month and a half ago, a good friend of Mine and I talked about our plans to go to Europe and started planning it. He told me he was all good on money and everything, and that it works out pretty perfectly. 2 weeks later, I’ve been trying to reach him quite a lot to meet him so we can buy our flights and he kept bailing on our plans, so I asked him if it were okay if I book it and he just give me the money later, to which he said no problem (this was a mistake). Now a month later I’ve been waiting for the money and he keeps giving me lousy excuses on why he can’t get me the money and this week I gave him shit because we have a lot more to buy before we leave in a couple weeks and twice in a row this week he bailed on our plans. Now Im fed up and I don’t want to go on this trip with him anymore, I already have someone else who’s more reliable, who will come with me. The problem is the one way tickets I booked are non refundable and one of the tickets has his name. Id like to get my money back from him because he knew the repercussions of allowing me to book, but I don’t know if he’d give it to me, he doesn’t know I’m not going with him yet but I don’t know how to talk to him tactically without saying too much so that he’ll give me my money. My dad thinks I should fuck him over and tell him I’m going and get the money and give him his ticket and that’s it that’s all. I don’t know how to go with this situation, I need some ideas on how I can get around having to lose the 400$

Hey all, Opeth is coming to North America in October for a few weeks. I live on the west coast of Canada but I really wanna see them and they’d be my first metal concert. The closest venue is LA or San Fran. For tickets and flights, the cheapest it would cost is around $400 CAD (270USD) not including accommodation or food. Does anyone think they’ll add dates at the end of their tour considering they’re already on the west coast? Maybe Portland and Seattle/Vancouver?

I love the Jackson family and I think they’re one of the most iconic families to ever exist in Hollywood and showbiz but I’ve come to a new found revolution about the family that’s kind of twisted.
Besides the way the Jackson’s grew up in a poor area, to a poor family, to a father who abused them physically, I think we rarely talk about the mental abuse that his whole family put on him. Look at the Pepsi endorsement, MJ did even want to do it. His family convinced him to and it was because of the events that happened during that commercial that ruined his life after.
After the Jackson’s, his brothers struggled to make money, they put him in positions where he was forced to help them out while simultaneously putting his own career and health at the back burner. Look at the victory tour, MJ didn’t want to tour after thriller but his brothers forced him to and was convinced that it would help them out financially. MJ also faced controversy because of the way the tickets were being sold which would put more money in his brothers pockets, it was also said that all the brothers got lawyers because they were fighting for the money. There is a reason why MJ publicly stated on the last leg of the victory tour that he was done with the brothers.
If you look at MJ pre-bad era, he was in a tough spot, still living at home with his parents in the house he bought, having to make music and tour with his brothers solely so that his brothers can remain relevant. He was being controlled by his family. In the bad era, he does endorsements by himself, he tours by himself, and he bought his own house (neverland ranch) in 1988 by himself. You see him slowly branching away from his family and I think it was because he knew it was a toxic relationship between them all.

Σternal Kappa
GUILD INFO:
https://swgoh.gg/g/SfnB9bQET4ufnBRZwbJkpQ/
Relaxed group of active and social members! Looking for positive vibes as we continue to grow!
The Eternal Empire is a family of 7 independently run guilds and home to 400 players. We support all level of players from beginners to experienced, end-game all-heroic competitors. Guild GPs range from 325M - 550M+. All active & dedicated players are welcome! We understand that life happens & take that into consideration. We share one Discord server where we have the tools, bots, resources & seasoned advice to help guide you as you progress. Our motto is: “We build together, we grow TOGETHER!”.
49/50 Members, 450M+ GP
1:30 UTC / 20:30 EST / 17:30 PST Guild Reset
REQUIREMENTS:

• 9M+ GP, exceptions can be made for the right focused roster
  
• 500 Tickets Daily
  
• Active Discord Use
  
• Active in ALL Guild Events
  

TB:
32 ⭐️ Rise of the Empire TB & 29+ Reva Shard (34 Reva Ready)
We Use EchoBot for Platoon Assignments
TW:
7-3 Record in last 10 matches We have a dedicated Discord channel for TW Adaptive strategy depending on our opponent & team readiness
RAIDS: Endor Speeder Bike Event (208M Crate)
Discord: https://discord.gg/RrKJyy42cD
JOIN THE ETERNAL EMPIRE!!!
HOW TO JOIN US: Please come to our Discord server & an Officer will help you! We want EVERYONE to succeed & are constantly looking to improve on what we're doing to help all within our collective of :eight: independently run guilds. We are an established guild with active players who are looking for like-minded, common-sense individuals to join us for the growth & benefit of all!

Σternal Kappa
GUILD INFO:
https://swgoh.gg/g/SfnB9bQET4ufnBRZwbJkpQ/
Relaxed group of active and social members! Looking for positive vibes as we continue to grow!
The Eternal Empire is a family of 7 independently run guilds and home to 400 players. We support all level of players from beginners to experienced, end-game all-heroic competitors. Guild GPs range from 325M - 550M+. All active & dedicated players are welcome! We understand that life happens & take that into consideration. We share one Discord server where we have the tools, bots, resources & seasoned advice to help guide you as you progress. Our motto is: “We build together, we grow TOGETHER!”.
49/50 Members, 480M+ GP
1:30 UTC / 20:30 EST / 17:30 PST Guild Reset
REQUIREMENTS:

• 9M+ GP, exceptions can be made for the right focused roster
  
• 500 Tickets Daily
  
• Active Discord Use
  
• Active in ALL Guild Events
  

TB:

• 32 ⭐️ Rise of the Empire TB & 29+ Reva Shard (34 Reva Ready)

We Use EchoBot for Platoon Assignments
TW:
*7-3 Record in last 10 matches We have a dedicated Discord channel for TW Adaptive strategy depending on our opponent & team readiness
RAIDS: Endor Speeder Bike Raid (208M Crate)
Discord: https://discord.gg/RrKJyy42cD
JOIN THE ETERNAL EMPIRE!!!
HOW TO JOIN US: Please come to our Discord server & an Officer will help you! We want EVERYONE to succeed & are constantly looking to improve on what we're doing to help all within our collective of :eight: independently run guilds. We are an established guild with active players who are looking for like-minded, common-sense individuals to join us for the growth & benefit of all!

It's not very often that I'll advocate for more government regulation but good grief...Insurance Companies definitely need greater oversight!
I currently live in North Texas (DFW) and when I moved here in 2015, from Illinois, my homeowners insurance (on our first home) was $1,950 and even that was sticker shock as our insurance back in Illinois was $900 a year. We bought our current home, in DFW, back in 2018 and our first policy on this home was $2,400 a year....not terrible but still higher than what I was paying up north.
We've had Travelers insurance since the day we moved to TX and have had zero claims on home or auto (both are with them) but our rates keep sky rocketing! Last year, around this time, they sent me renewal documents quoting us $4,500 for the year vs the $3,000 we paid the year before. All they would say is "rate's are increasing in TX". No rhyme or reason or justification as far as I could see. I had them raise my deductible's to 1% (we have "hail" and "everything else" deductibles in TX) of home value and that brought the new premium down to $3,300 (much better but still outrageous).
Fast forward to this week and I get my renewal doc's for 2024 and guess what....another $1,500 increase and premium of $4,888 for the year. This time around, I'm shopping my policies. Clearly Traveler's is trying to force their customers out or just don't care. What bug's me even worse is reading their Q1 earnings numbers and seeing their net revenue was $1.5B but here they are raising my rates with zero claims.
We don't have a pool, trampoline, out buildings, or any dog's considered "dangerous" that would justify higher rates. The home was built new in 2018 so age isn't a factor and we aren't in/on a flood plane/zone. To make matters worse, I also pay Traveler's $3,000 a year to insure two vehicles that again....have zero claims and zero speeding tickets.
So basically, I've paid Traveler's insurance close to $60,000 since moving to TX and have filed ZERO claims and haven't used my insurance once yet my premiums keep going up. Someone please tell me why our a product (home insurance and car insurance) that is required by law....isn't regulated better? I'm all for free market and capitalism but only when it's something that the government (state or federal) doesn't require me to buy.