TW: brief mentions of depression, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide
When I (28F) was growing up, I was the golden child of the family. I didn't know it back then. Up until I was in high school I had a younger sister and an older half sister I only saw a few times a year. It wasn't like I never got in trouble or got yelled at, in fact I have a very vivid and hurtful memory where I was called a liar by my parents when I was being 100% truthful (they just didn't want to hear it and wanted someone to be mad at I guess), and then I was told to just "suck it up and get over it". But compared to my younger sister, who was compared to me in every way, I always had the perfect grades, perfect attitude, perfect behavior, etc. Our parents, especially our mother, who was the main parent taking care of us during the week, pretty much pitted us against each other constantly. My little sister was being told she needed to be more like me, and I was told my sister was a bad kid. I would try to help her stay out of trouble as a kid and would get mad when she didn't listen to me because i didnt understand she was just being herself and didn't need to be exactly like me. Up until college, I didn't understand that my sister didn't need to change, she needed her parents to love her as she was and help her instead of trying to mold her into some ideal of perfection. We were picked apart constantly about every little thing we did, and I was expected to always somehow know everything even if I'd never learned it before. My house was full of constant yelling due to the extremely high expectations and my mother's terrible temper, and it became a very stressful place to be starting when i was around 10. We went through a lot of financial hardships as well since I was very young, so I dont want to dismiss how hard things were for my parents and how much they went through. But I have always been hyper aware of how much it costs for me to exist as my mom stressed so many times over the years that she couldn't afford to buy even a new shirt because she had to buy stuff for us, as if that was at all our fault.
When i was in high school, my baby brother was born. He pretty much instantly became the new golden child, not only because he was the youngest and the only boy, but because it became clear at a very young age how intelligent he is. I was a straight A honors kid and he was blowing me out of the water since he learned to read. I didn't mind at all because 1) I was going to be going to college in a couple years, and 2) with our age difference, he was as much my son as my brother, and I took on a very loving parental role with him of my own volition. I also saw the promise in him and I wanted him to live a happy life. My little sister and him are very close to this day, at least to my knowledge. During this time they were still coming down really hard on my little sister, treating her as well as they always had - meaning they still yelled at her constantly and were overly critical of her and everything she even thought about doing. They talked about sending her to military school more than once, and pretty much resigned themselves to the idea my sister would never be able to live on her own before she even got to high school, let alone graduated.
Flash forward to when I was in college, I started coming home and noticing things about how my parents treated my sister, and for the first time I saw it for how terrible it was for her. The distance and time I spent away from the house helped my little sister and I completely change our relationship by my second or third year. What really solidified it was a series of events that happened my junior and senior years of college.
My sister moved to our town with her husband with their 2 very young boys, and we soon found out she was pregnant with twins. That is kind of where it all began to fall apart. Time showed not only that her husband is a massive pos, but also potentially abusive, although we never got concrete proof. As my sister's pregnancy progressed and they struggled to get on their feet, my parents started watching my nephews for hours at a time, sometimes the whole day. And if my parents had to babysit out of nowhere and put their lives on hold, me and my younger siblings were expected to do the same. No toys, no books, no games - nothing. Essentially, the entire house was expected to babysit in a way that i have been told wasn't normal. Even my little brother was expected to take on this role in caring for kids who were only a couple years younger than him. I spent my entire childhood taking care of my little sister and then my baby brother, and I hated seeing how they were doing the same to him when me and my little sister were at the age where it shouldve been left up to us. I started really butting heads with my parents as the situation progressed because they started yelling at my baby brother when the boys would even bump their heads even though it wasnt his fault. He never mistreated them, hit them, pushed them , or anything, so my parents justified it by saying he wasn't being a "good uncle" by "letting them" bump their heads on the tv stand, for example. He was expected to let them play with all of his toys, and my mom tried letting the boys use things that were very important to my brother, which would've ended up with the boys taking those things home. Saying it that way makes it sound a lot more mild that it was, but I'm trying to save time and not give out too many personal details. I guess you could say in short, my parents began expecting my elementary school age brother to give up his time, his space, his toys, his gifts - anything that meant anything to him, to help care for children when he was still a child not much older than them. I ended up giving my baby brother my room to not only keep his stuff in, but to sleep in.
In the end, my sister had the twins and then moved back to her home state about 6 months later. We think her no good husband lied to her about us and she cut contact with all of us, and we haven't heard from her since. In our house, the damage was done. I had long conversations with my little sister when our parents weren't around about how she needed to get out because of how they were treating her, and how I would eventually graduate and move to a city where I could find a job. But neither of us wanted to leave our little brother in that house because we were worried how they would treat him when we both left. Our parents had already proven they would throw any of us to the side at any second, even their golden child baby boy, and blame even him for anything that went wrong. Our parents have a history of spilling all our business at any holiday meal and badmouthing any little mistake. They would talk shit about us in front of us and shame us in front of family our entire lives, and if my sister and i weren't there to take the brunt of it, how long until they turned on my baby brother. Would they even wait until he wasn't "perfect" anymore?
Throughout all of this, I was struggling a lot in college, and starting around junior year i became very depressed and suicidal, which resulted in a major attempt in my 5th year of college, which to this day i don't like talking about. Before that, however, I went to my mom about feeling depressed and told her i thought i needed to talk to someone. She brushed me off. I was dumb enough to think that maybe she thought i was exaggerating, so i tried a second time to ask her for help about a year later, and she brushed me off again. Part of me blames her almost entirely for my attempts, because i came to her before any of them because i knew thats where it was headed if i didnt get help. All she had to do was make a couple phone calls to find me someone to talk to and she couldn't even do that for me. I was a scared girl who needed her mom's help because i didnt know who to turn to, and she turned her back on me. After my final attempt, I pulled myself up and got help, but my financial aid ran out and I was unable to return to school and finish my degree, so I went back to my parents house and was absolutely miserable for the next 6 months. I felt like a failure, like I wasn't "perfect" like i was supposed to be. I felt suffocated every single day and like the only ones who wanted me there were my siblings. One day I tried a little experiment and sat in the living room with my mom for the entire day and she didn't say one single word to me, didnt even acknowledge my existence. Ever since the stuff with my nephews happened, I had doubled my efforts to protect my siblings and take the brunt of my mom's anger, so I pushed back a lot when they tried to get onto my siblings for ridiculous things. I ended up ghosting my friends for 3 months because I was so depressed, and it really scared them. It was then I knew i had to get out of that house or it would kill me, so I moved into my grandparents' house a town over.
Things at my grandparents' house started okay, and i was even able to confide in them what had been going on at my parents' house, which in the end turned out to be a big mistake. I got a job working overnight at a retail store and met the guy who is now my boyfriend of 3 years. Unfortunately, the longer i spent at my grandparents' house the more i saw where my mom got it from, and they ended up treating me just as bad as what was going on at my parents' house. The only difference was that my sister wasn't there so i was taking the brunt of all of it. When things started getting tough for them after my grandpa retired, instead of sitting down with me like an adult and asking if it would contribute financially, my grandpa cornered me in the car when he was driving me back from work and guilted money out of me with a sob story. And guilted me at the dinner table the second time when they needed more money. One time i walked in the house after work and before i had even taken my shoes off or put my purse down to get my wallet out, he blocked the door to my room with his hand out like a loan shark to give him the money. I payed for all my own expenses, took short showers and kept as many lights off as i could, and told them not to buy me anything, even food. And in the end, even though they guilted me for money, then more money, and promised they wouldnt kick me out, they sold the house out from under me when they knew i was still trying to save for an apartment with what little money i had left a month. I ended up having to live with my best friend and her husband or i wouldve been homeless. I still helped them move even when they f-ed me over. And even after all that, I still went to holidays and visited my parents from time to time.
The last time i saw my grandparents they ran into me and my best friend in a store. My grandpa saw me first (he and my grandma were in different parts of the store), and starting yelling at me for pretty much cutting them off since i hadn't been to see them for months, and then when he started realizing he looked like the bad guy tried to make the reason i stopped talking to them about politics (i live in a conservative area) as if that would justify it. When my friend and i were trying to grab one last thing before we left because i was humiliated and trying not to cry, my grandma cornered me at the deli counter, had me pinned between the counter and a cart so i couldn't leave, and started yelling at me too. I was so broken back then, but i tried to tell both of them i would talk to them but not in the store. They just wanted to scream so we left. I haven't spoken to them since and have no plans to.
Eventually i moved 2 hours away back to the city i had went to college in. During that time, my grandparents drove the 3 hours to try to find where i lived, and then called trying to get me to come downstairs. I was asleep for work at the time but it made me feel so uncomfortable that they would do that. And after living there a year and my bf and i commuting to visit each other every other week, it came to the point where if i wanted our relationship to continue i had to move back. This is not something he ever brought up to me, this was a decision I came to on my own. So two years ago I moved back to the area I grew up in. We live an hour away from my hometown and 30 minutes away from the town i met my boyfriend in. And although he has family in both areas that we visit, I haven't seen or really talked to my parents or siblings since i initially moved out of the area.
A year ago, after a year of silence from me and from my parents, I dropped a box off at my parents' house when they weren't home with souvenirs i got them on vacation when i first moved back, short letters to each of them about the gifts, and a long video letter on a flash drive explaining everything I felt because i knew i couldn't go on without being honest and i knew if i tried to have a conversation in person, they wouldn't listen to me. I told them i wanted to keep them in my life but i couldn't ignore everything that had happened and the ways they treated me and my younger siblings. I told them i had no interest in continuing a relationship with my grandparents and that anything they have told them probably wasnt true. I sent them scans of my diaries as "proof" that i wasn't lying because that's the kind of house i grew up in - if you couldnt prove it, it didnt happen. I laid myself completely bare so that i could heal, knowing the whole time they may never want to speak to me again. I gave them pictures of me and my boyfriend and my new phone number anyway. The only thing i didn't give them was my address because we live on his family's land and his family, knowing a bit about my family and also about my grandparents essentially stalking me, don't want anyone from my family nosing around on the property. I don't want that either so i agreed not to give it out. The people in my life who knew about the box and the letter turned video letter were supportive of the idea given all i had been through, and I thought dropping it off would be the end of things.
Since then, I have healed from everything that has happened. I'm still angry and sad and i feel like I'm grieving every day, but I'm not the spineless, scared girl i used to be. My boyfriend has helped me become a better person in so many ways. But i still miss my family, especially my dad. I feel like he didnt deserve what i've done for reasons i cant go into, because the reality is he depends a lot on what my mom tells him because he works, and he trusts her deeply. I feel like in some regards he depended too much on her word, although he isnt completely innocent. There's obviously a lot more to my story that what I have here or else I'd be writing an autobiography, but just know if this all sounds like it isn't a big deal, I have so many stories and so much more detail that isn't safe to give out here.
The reality is my parents and i pushed each other away until we all became strangers long before everything blew up. I felt like a stranger from the time i left for college. I was made to feel like if i wasn't at home, i was a second thought, and a lot of very serious issues happened while i was away that i didnt find out about until i came home. My last year of college i was physically starving and could only afford to eat one meal a day if that. When i had left for school at the beginning of that school year my mother made it clear i had to figure it all out myself because they had no money to give me, but then i came home for Christmas and everyone but me had all new electronics. I cried asking for money to buy my uniform to start my campus job but they bought all new computers and tablets. And that stung.
Last Christmas, my parents and siblings messaged me. It was the first time I had heard from them since before i dropped off the box. It was just a Merry Christmas, but it absolutely shocked me. And then they all messaged again on my birthday. Same thing, just little pleasantries, but it makes me feel like maybe that door isn't closed. However, I have absolutely no idea if we can move forward, if they want to, or even if its a good idea to try. I have struggled a lot since college about whether or not all of this and everything I wasn't able to share here is or is not a big deal. I've had people close to me listen to my whole story and call it emotional neglect and abuse, but I just don't know. I feel crazy most of the time, and I'm afraid I'm exaggerating or making it up for attention or something, which also doesn't make sense. I struggle a lot in my day to day. I am ruled by the emotions of those around me and i cower like a kicked puppy when people around me are upset, even if its not my fault. I get ashamed when i make a mistake or i'm not "perfect", and if my feelings are valid I have no idea if it would be a good idea to get back in touch. But i think about if/when my boyfriend and i get married, and how i have no family to sit on my side. It sometimes feels like it's my fault because i wasn't strong enough to just shut up and deal with it anymore. At this point I dont know what is the right answer, what's going to finally give me peace. For now, I just keep moving forward trying to build a better life with my boyfriend and hope all the pieces will fall into place later.

Hello people from reddit,
I started using wegovy a little over 8 months ago, and so far it has been great. As you may already read from the title, I have lost 90 pounds of my weight, which is awesome.
The problem is, that according to my BMI, I´m still on obesity class 3 so there´s a lot of weight to loose still. The problem is that Wegovy stopped working from this last month (today I got my 4th shot of 2.4mg, so thats a complete cycle without loosing weight).
Has anyone experienced this? I understand that wegovy claims it can help you loose 15% of your bodyweight, but due to my weight I would expect to loose even more. Anyways, if someone has experienced this before, how did you kick it in again?
Thanks!

My fiances ex is a cetified nut job. And its bizarre because she almost has two lives. Behind closed doors she has a hobby of pursuing married men, cheating, verbally abusing my fiance, and attempting to alienate his kids. But in public she is a huge jesus lover, promotes kindness, and appears to be mom of the year. Her most recent transgression is chasing us down in a parking lot screaming at him.
We live in a small rural town. The other day my coworker said “its great your fiance and his ex can coparent as great as they do, i wish more people were like that”. I just about fell out of my chair 😂 i asked what she meant and she said that his ex (their sisters work together) tells her sister all the time how great of a team they are, hes like “her best friend”, and how beautifully they coparent together.
I flat out told her the truth, that she just recently chased him down in a parking lot, sent him a verbally abusive text message blaming him for her multiple affairs, broke into our house, and has tried taking his kids away from him on multiple occassions for no reason all while calling me a child abuser and claiming i ruined her family.
My fiance told me when he found out about all of the affairs she was hyper focused on him not telling anyone. She even gave up the house to try and play nice with him and get him to keep quiet. Literally whatever he wanted. She only flipped a switch when i came into the picture.
im not going to co-sign this bullshit and have zero issue telling the truth about her. Im tired of this sanctimonious shell she wears when who she actually is is an abusive POS who still enjoys homewrecking in her free time along with her church activities.
Im sure shes going to end up finding out that i outed her and frankly i dont care anymore. She already found out my fiance told people about her affair and called him hysterically crying. So im sure shes going to be ten times more pissed when she finds out that im telling people the truth about her when im approached about it. I also showed my coworker the video of her crazy antics in the parking lot and screenshots of the fucked up texts she sends him to the point where my fiance had to threaten legal action.
Not sure if it was petty to tell the truth or if i should have just kept my mouth shut but shes been so horrible to me that i dont care to defend her weird self image by being quiet about it.

What you are about to see is staggering. That is why I call it “The Definitive Biblical phenomena” . The only explanation of this phenomena is that it is “the work of God” as you shall see.
People ask why should I believe in God. , Why should I believe what’s written in the Bible, is from God? Why should I accept the Bible as the word of God more than any other religious book ?. I will tell you, even more than this. I will show you. You will see how it all adds up, as we will see!
I will begin by explaining to you a few things, and then we will examine “The Definitive Biblical phenomena”. There is a ancient teaching in the Oral tradition that the Bible is learned and explained by 32 methods. The 29^th of these 32 methods is called gematria (numerology). It is taught that the numerical values of the Hebrew letters were given to Moses at Mount Sinai.
Hebrew is the Divine language of the Bible, it’s the original language of the Torah. It is the code and the conduit through which God created and re-creates and sustains everything that is. We will discover just how true this is in the following pages. Before we look at the “The Definitive Biblical phenomena” in Hebrew, the Original language of the Bible. Hebrew is called the “Holy Tongue”, and we will see and come to know why. We shall look at the “The Definitive Biblical phenomena” using English. In English the Letter to number correspondence is :
A=1,b=2,c=3,d=4,e=5,f=6,g=7,h=8,i=9,j=10,k=11,l=12,m=13,n=14,o=15,p=16,q=17,r=18,s=19,t=20,u=21,v=22,w=23,x=24,y=25,z=26
To start with know :
Bible=30=Peace
as it is written :
“Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”
(Proverbs 3:17)
Israel=64= True=Chosen
A true Bible=95=The Torah=I God word
The Bible=63=A Torah
Jewish Bible=104=A Holy Book
Now this is not a coincidence
We also find, Wisdom=83=Prayer
It is a wise thing to pray and there is a Wisdom to the method of prayer itself.
Now I will show you a sign of the “The Definitive Biblical phenomena” . This group of expressions directs us to the fact that there is a Biblical code. All of the phrases that follow have a numerical value of 153. These things have no statistical right to even exist. This is “the work of God.” MORE https://godssecret.wordpress.com/2024/05/01/living-spirituality/

Bonjour,
I was wondering whether anyone would be able to share some thoughts or advice on a situation we're currently facing.
We've travelled form UK to France for a period of 1 month to do a mix of work (wfh still luckily) and descovering new places. We've previously been to France many times and we love it!
Unfortunately, the situation occurs with the accommodation that we were staying in. On 2nd May 2024 we arrived at our accommodation and everything seemed to be nice and clean with no issues. We paid the accommodation - which is a business - trough bank transfer (also a written contract in place).
On 9th May we discovered some insect bites that were rather ugly looking on both our bodies and decided to further inspect the property. To our surprise we discovered bedbugs - for this I have photo evidence.
We have informed the owners of the apartment (they own several apartments in a building which appears to have been a hotel back in the day) and they firmly suggested they are happy to treat the room with some chemicals and cold water spray for the bedbugs to go away - they have done this promptly and also have replaced the bed frame and mattress.
Following day we discovered even more bites and decided to leave the property to mitigate the health&safety risk as well as the risk of carrying the bedbugs back to our property. They have provided a written statements upon my request detailing the day we have left and the reason.
We have found alteranitve accommodation, bagged all our belongings in bin bags and sealed them in order to take them to steaming/high temp drying to make sure there are no bedbugs left before checking in in the other property.
The initialy accommodaiton owners agreed to refund us but the remaining of our stay but are now deducting quite a lot of fees for cleaning/administration/etc which were not mentioned in the contract nor verbally when we checked in.
I have suggested that they should not only refund the remaining nights full, but should do for the full stay as we're now incurring quite a few extra costs for literally cleaning all our belongings (and we have a lot as we drove and are staying in France for 2+ months).
Do we have any legal stand here? I have researched online and can see that there is a possibility of a Small Claims Online for up to 5000 EUR but unsure how to proceed.
Do we just take the loss and accept whatever they want to refund us to minimise the hassle?
Thank you for your help, much appreciated!

Hey,
We have an 11yo daughter, who originally I co-parented with her birth mother 50/50, my girlfriend at the time then moved in with us and shortly after that the co-parenting changed to more like 80/20 that we had her as her birth mother is a trainee nurse and had to do we placements, meaning she wasn't around much. OK, we still would get a few days for us when her birth mother was at home to have her.
To note, my Fiancée and daughter get on really well.
The background:
In February 2023, our daughter poured her heart out to me on the drive home from school one afternoon and then to me and my Fiancée that evening, about how she didn't want to live with, see or have any contact with her birth mother any more and she gave a lot of reasoning and had clearly thought about this a lot.
I made notes, we recorded what was said and we were on a very thin line between her birth mother needing to be reported for child neglect & endangerment. I called her school the next day and told them what had happened the night before and I kept her off for a couple of days so that she could collect her thoughts, chill out and recoup from what she told as she was in pieces.
We told her that OK, we'll keep her here a bit longer than she would have and tell her birth mother that she'd asked to stay longer and we need to sit, think, talk and go through everything that she told as there was a lot for us to unpack.
My Fiancée and I thought, we talked and we agreed that with the information she's given us, if it's true (not doubting her, but we all embellish things at times), the only option is to honour her wishes, BUT she had to tell her birth mother, either on a video chat, a letter or somehow.
It ended up that the initial conversation was a video chat, where our daughter was beyond upset trying to say what she needed to, so I had to say the words and she nodded and agreed while crying her eyes out. This followed a letter that she wrote, hand written, where she wrote down why she made this decision. I met her birth mother and we sat and had coffee while we went through and she admitted to what our daughter was claiming, no embellishment, no lying, it was all true.
So our daughter now lives with us full time and has no contact with her birth mother. We have tried to encourage that maybe they just meet for a hot chocolate, in public with us sat either there with them, the other side of the room, whatever small morsel of contact, but our daughter is not interested at all.
Now:
Its hard, its so hard going from co-parenting to full time parenting, especially with no time to prepare or even really process what's happened. I had been expecting this to come, but not for another few years as I had no idea things were so bad, so its been easier for me than my Fiancée as this all happened in such a short space of time after she moved in.
She's still struggling with all the added things being a full time parent brings with it, the lack of time for us, the teenage hormones & changes (like her being too lazy to brush her teeth), no break from being a parent as this isn't what the plan was, even the silly things like being able to run to the bathroom nekkid. Our sex life has been heavily impacted as we live in a small 2 bedroom flat and my Fiancée hates that our daughter can probably hear what's going on and she old enough to understand what she's hearing.
There's also the back and forthing of what our daughter calls her, sometimes she refers to her as mum, other times she will introduce her as her step-mum & other times as her dad's girlfriend, but at home she's called by her name (which my Fiancée is fine with). I've talked to our daughter about this and it's getting better slowly.
Family wise, I have 2 brothers, but 1 works shift patterns so isn't available to have our daughter much at all, my other brother has 2 kids of his own and doesn't really have the room to have her but he does every couple of months and my parents have passed away. My Fiancée's parents live 4 hours away from us, so its not so easy for them to have her, although they sometimes have her in the school holidays for a few days for us.
We're having date nights again more now as we are able to leave our daughter at home for a little bit on her own, as she has her phone (and everyone's phone numbers), we have security in the home and she is very mature for her age, but we still don't have a healthy balance and I'm not sure what else to do.
Does anyone have any idea's what we could do to help bring in a healthier balance for everyone? Any suggestions, or anything will be greatly appreciated.
TIA! C

What you are about to see is staggering. That is why I call it “The Definitive Biblical phenomena” . The only explanation of this phenomena is that it is “the work of God” as you shall see.
People ask why should I believe in God. , Why should I believe what’s written in the Bible, is from God? Why should I accept the Bible as the word of God more than any other religious book ?. I will tell you, even more than this. I will show you. You will see how it all adds up, as we will see!
I will begin by explaining to you a few things, and then we will examine “The Definitive Biblical phenomena”. There is a ancient teaching in the Oral tradition that the Bible is learned and explained by 32 methods. The 29^th of these 32 methods is called gematria (numerology). It is taught that the numerical values of the Hebrew letters were given to Moses at Mount Sinai.
Hebrew is the Divine language of the Bible, it’s the original language of the Torah. It is the code and the conduit through which God created and re-creates and sustains everything that is. We will discover just how true this is in the following pages. Before we look at the “The Definitive Biblical phenomena” in Hebrew, the Original language of the Bible. Hebrew is called the “Holy Tongue”, and we will see and come to know why. We shall look at the “The Definitive Biblical phenomena” using English. In English the Letter to number correspondence is :
A=1,b=2,c=3,d=4,e=5,f=6,g=7,h=8,i=9,j=10,k=11,l=12,m=13,n=14,o=15,p=16,q=17,r=18,s=19,t=20,u=21,v=22,w=23,x=24,y=25,z=26
To start with know :
Bible=30=Peace
as it is written :
“Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”
(Proverbs 3:17)
Israel=64= True=Chosen
A true Bible=95=The Torah=I God word
The Bible=63=A Torah
Jewish Bible=104=A Holy Book
Now this is not a coincidence
We also find, Wisdom=83=Prayer
It is a wise thing to pray and there is a Wisdom to the method of prayer itself.
Now I will show you a sign of the “The Definitive Biblical phenomena” . This group of expressions directs us to the fact that there is a Biblical code. All of the phrases that follow have a numerical value of 153. These things have no statistical right to even exist. This is “the work of God.” MORE https://godssecret.wordpress.com/2024/05/01/living-spirituality/

Typically, most of the activities of a PhD student are useful for your carreer in some sense, being them doing TA activities or carrying out research which eventually results in papers to publish. In these cases, for example, you both get something appealing to write on your CV and you learn new stuff and how to communicate it to a specific audience.
But what about doing reviews? Since they are anonimous, they cannot be claimed as additional work done, right? Do you feel that doing them has helped you on your journey, perhaps giving you new skills?
I am asking this because some professors asked if I could help doing some reviews for a conference they are organizing, and I would like to, but I understand that doing this appropriately requires considerable amounts of time, attention, and energy.
I'm a PhD student in Western Europe, if that matters. My field is is Stats/math/CS. English is not my first language, so corrections and advices on my writing are more than welcome.

Bonjour,
I was wondering whether anyone would be able to share some thoughts or advice on a situation we're currently facing.
We've travelled form UK to France for a period of 1 month to do a mix of work (wfh still luckily) and descovering new places. We've previously been to France many times and we love it!
Unfortunately, the situation occurs with the accommodation that we were staying in. On 2nd May 2024 we arrived at our accommodation and everything seemed to be nice and clean with no issues. We paid the accommodation - which is a business - trough bank transfer (also a written contract in place).
On 9th May we discovered some insect bites that were rather ugly looking on both our bodies and decided to further inspect the property. To our surprise we discovered bedbugs - for this I have photo evidence.
We have informed the owners of the apartment (they own several apartments in a building which appears to have been a hotel back in the day) and they firmly suggested they are happy to treat the room with some chemicals and cold water spray for the bedbugs to go away - they have done this promptly and also have replaced the bed frame and mattress.
Following day we discovered even more bites and decided to leave the property to mitigate the health&safety risk as well as the risk of carrying the bedbugs back to our property. They have provided a written statements upon my request detailing the day we have left and the reason.
We have found alteranitve accommodation, bagged all our belongings in bin bags and sealed them in order to take them to steaming/high temp drying to make sure there are no bedbugs left before checking in in the other property.
The initialy accommodaiton owners agreed to refund us but the remaining of our stay but are now deducting quite a lot of fees for cleaning/administration/etc which were not mentioned in the contract nor verbally when we checked in.
I have suggested that they should not only refund the remaining nights full, but should do for the full stay as we're now incurring quite a few extra costs for literally cleaning all our belongings (and we have a lot as we drove and are staying in France for 2+ months).
Do we have any legal stand here? I have researched online and can see that there is a possibility of a Small Claims Online for up to 5000 EUR but unsure how to proceed.
Do we just take the loss and accept whatever they want to refund us to minimise the hassle?
Thank you for your help, much appreciated!

As many are aware, the City Manager, abetted by a weak City Council and an incompetent former City Attorney have been pursuing the removal of Charlyn Ellis from the City Council. Here's an earlier update from the case. There are more from the G-T.
Most recently, the City submitted a response in opposition to the Ellis' motion for summary judgement. You might wonder, "If the City can file a motion in opposition, can Ellis likewise submit an opposition to their motion for summary judgement, separate from her own motion for summary judgement? Could she submit a response in opposition to the City's response in opposition to her motion for summary judgement."
I would respond by saying, "How the hell should I know? I'm not some expert lawyer man. I'm just some guy--and also probably the number one customer of Block 15's in-store IPA sales, which is not a qualification for this exercise."
With that said, here are some totally non-expert and questionably sober thoughts on the response in opposition from the City, which you can find here.
The first argument focuses on standing. On its face, this is much less interesting for lay people like us, because it doesn't get to the core of the political power struggle that is affecting the governance of our town. I figured these details were trivial when I read through it a week ago. But when I read through this a second time, I realized that the City was walking back a pretty significant part of its beef. For example, our $1,000 per hour attorneys write that,

Here, Councilor Ellis has not demonstrated a credible threat of prosecution of any provision of Section 23(f)—other than the Influence or Coercion Clause—at the time her legal counsel filed this lawsuit on January 22, 2024, after 9 pm. The City’s Due Process Hearing Memorandum—filed before noon earlier that same day (see Shepherd Decl at ¶¶ 2-3)—made this abundantly clear. And, as described above, the City does not contend that Councilor Ellis violated either of the remaining provisions of Section 23(f) (or, in Councilor Ellis’s alternative grammatical framework, subsection ii). The City specifically elected not to proceed under the Specific Appointments Clause because, consistent with its other allegations, the City does not view Councilor Ellis’ conduct as “discussing”—or attempting to “discuss”—anything with the City Manager.

So, there's a lot to unpack here. They're saying that at the time her complaint was made, ^{specifically at 9 PM}, the City's due process hearing memo ^{which was edited at 12 PM that same day} didn't say that Ellis violated the Specific Appointments Clause.
"What the fuck is the specific appointments clause" you ask? The City has previously made the argument that there are actually multiple separate clauses to Section 23(f), and that to violate any one clause is to violate the charter. That is, they should not be read as being interdependent:

As relevant to these proceedings, Section 23(f) applies to City Councilors and reads as follows. For convenience, we have separated the independent clauses in the correct grammatical form: (f) Interference in administration and elections. Neither the Mayor nor any member of the Council shall [i] in any manner, directly or indirectly, by suggestion or otherwise, attempt to influence or coerce the Manager in the making of any appointment or removal of any officer or employee or in the purchase of supplies; or . . . . 1 [iii] discuss, directly or indirectly, with the Manager the matter of specific appointments to any City office or employment. A violation of the foregoing provisions of this section shall forfeit the office of the offender. Nothing in this section shall be construed, however, as prohibiting the Council, while in open session, from discussing with or suggesting to the Manager, fully and freely, anything pertaining to the City affairs or the interests of the City.

I realized it seemed weird to read that the City did not believe Ellis violated the Specific Appointments Clause because that's how the complaint about Ellis' actions was originally framed. From the GT

"By adding a level of specificity that you want the city manager to appoint a particular officer or employee, I think that’s exactly what the charter says you can’t do," Brewer said at the meeting.

Then there's the unsigned due process hearing letter dated December 6th, which states (my emphasis):

"WHEREAS the actions of Councilor Ellis at the City of Corvallis City Council meeting were a direct attempt to influence the City Manager in the appointment of an employee and an attempt to discuss directly with the City Manager the matter of specific appointment to City employment."

It sure makes it seem like the City did accuse Ellis of violating that clause because that's how they understood her actions to be a violation of the charter. Odd that now that apparently wasn't the case. It makes me wonder just what the hell the Mayor, City Council President (Yee), Vice President (Lytle), City Manager, and City Attorney thought they were putting their names to on December 5th when they signed a document stating that they "received concerns from Corvallis City staff, City Manager, City Councilor, and community members about the conduct of Councilor Ellis during a September 12, 2023 Corvallis Climate Action Board [sic] and during a September 18, 2023 City Council Meeting." Maybe an actual journalist could ask them that question.
Were those concerns related to the Specific Appointments Clause or the Influence or Coercion Clause? And when they say that "Each of the undersigned observed in person or through video recordings, the respective meetings and concluded that the video recordings were substantial evidence sufficient to place this matter on the agenda for the attention of the City Council for consideration" did they foresee that their new attorneys, replacing the demonstrably incompetent Jim Brewer, would decide that Ellis hadn't violated the Specific Appointments Clause at all?
Why is this relevant? Because the City is now arguing that, because they aren't actually alleging a violation of the Specific Appointments Clause--never mind that's exactly what they did, and what the Council would honestly still admit they thought they were doing since they're totally asleep at the wheel while the City Manager drives this process (^{remember that he's the only one whose even allowed to talk to the new City attorney})--Ellis doesn't have standing to have the whole of 23(f) thrown out. Just the part she is accused of violating. It makes this standing argument start to read like the City attempting to save a portion of 23(f) from judicial scrutiny by claiming it's not ripe for litigation, even though they were very clearly poised to wield that clause as a cudgel to have Ellis ousted from the Council. If putting it in a charging memo and having other Councilors pressure you to resign on the basis of that memo before you hold a kangaroo court hearing to kick out an elected official wouldn't make it ripe for litigation from a judicial standpoint, I think any layperson can see the implications here: Mark Shepard will use this clause as a political weapon again.
Beyond that, there seems to be a bunch of nonsense arguing about categories of speech suppression. The whole thing concludes with this statement:

"As described in the City’s Motion, if a Council member does not intend to “influence or coerce” the City Manager, then they have not violated the Influence or Coercion Clause. (Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. (Dkt. 10) at 21.) And she fails to acknowledge another important purpose of the Influence or Coercion Clause: effectuating and maintaining the separation of powers between the City Manager and the City Council."

So, obviously, Ellis has contended that she didn't intend to violate the motion, which at the time didn't seem like a worthy defense, since the City was not alleging that the only "clause" of 23(f) that was violated required intent. And then the last sentence is just presented as an afterthought, when, in fact, that's the core issue of importance to this case: is the City Manager an all-powerful dictator whose behavior can be controlled only through the threat or actual enactment of his termination, imposing significant costs on the City, or can he be specifically directed to enact the Council's political agenda? Are Councilors able to speak freely about his operational decisions if they don't feel those comport with the policies they've adopted? Why do our new City attorneys spend so few words in support of this position that Mark and Jim have supported so emphatically?
Only time will tell. Kind of feels like the City is positioning to limit the damage here, but, again, I'm just some guy, so I might be full of shit. Either way, this latest motion definitely cost us all a lot of money.

City center apartments are frequently considered the greatest buy-to-lets, City center apartments are frequently considered the greatest buy-to-lets, but are they still a wise investment? Here, we’ll examine the benefits and drawbacks of this specific property type.

Why City Center Apartments (Can’t) Make Great Investments

Here are the primary factors that have contributed to new city center flats making excellent buy-to-let investments over time:
Are City Center Apartments Still The Best Btl Investments In 2023? 8

• City center apartments are frequently affordable. Apartments in metropolitan areas are frequently less expensive per square foot than comparable homes in suburban areas.
  
• Apartments in the city center frequently have high letting yields. Even though city apartments frequently have higher rentals than suburban homes, the yields can still be higher.
  
• Those that prefer to live in urban areas and have easy access to public transportation, as opposed to commuting, frequently have a high demand for city-center apartments. People frequently rent rather than buy in city centers since they may want to stay there for a while.
  
• In city centers, there are many different renting options. Apartments in the city center can be rented to professionals, roommates, and students. They can also be used as short-term rentals or serviced lodging.
  
• Renting in the city center is a simple buy-to-let venture to own and manage. These may qualify as “hands-free” investments. A managing agent is responsible for the building’s upkeep, common areas, and grounds. (There are typically service fees to pay.)
  
• Investing in a city-center apartment development offers a variety of options. Compared to houses on the resale market, new flats are much simpler to find and purchase. Another scalable investment possibility is new construction. You can purchase one, a few, or several brand-new apartments.
  
• Newly constructed flats in city centers are frequently seen in areas undergoing regeneration and renovation. These neighborhoods frequently receive investments, which can raise property values as the area develops.
  
• More space to build new structures in some city centers, such as old ones. The potential for price growth is good, and any newly available properties may be in high demand. As implied by the name, new-build apartments are brand-new. They are frequently highly well-liked by tenants because they contain the newest amenities and cutting-edge designs. Also, new homes require little to no care in the future, saving investors money on ongoing expenses.
  
• The most energy-efficient properties are typically newly constructed. They are also well-liked by renters due to their cheap operating expenses. The minimal energy efficiency standards for buy-to-let properties should be readily met by investors purchasing brand-new apartments, both now and in the future.
  

Residing Outside of Burbs and Small Towns

Many people who have always wanted to live in a big city eventually give in to its pull and discover themselves in a much more populated and concentrated location than they did in the suburbs.
Although many people prefer to relocate to a city, only some are suited to city living. It goes considerably quicker and significantly differs from life in a small town or the suburbs. Before leaving the suburbs for the big city lights, you must weigh the benefits and drawbacks of living in a major metropolis, as with any place.
Are City Center Apartments Still The Best Btl Investments In 2023? 9
benefits of residing in a city
Although city life has drawbacks, it makes up for them with all it offers. Large cities are important cultural hubs with thriving music and art scenes, a vast range of cuisine, additional attractions like museums, sporting events like ball games and concerts, and a diverse population sharing the urban lifestyle.

The Benefits of Living in a City

1. Meeting New Faces. Everywhere you go, you will meet new people. Nevertheless, in a metropolis, where a variety of people come from all over the world, the experience is different. A city also has a larger population. Thus you will frequently run into new people. It can be energizing and enlightening to meet and converse with new people who have had very diverse life experiences from your own.
2. Activities/ Night Life. You probably know your town very well and have done about everything there is to do if you have lived there for ten or more years. Even if you live in a major city for ten years, you won’t be able to take advantage of everything it has to offer. In a big city, there is always something to do to keep individuals from growing bored with their diverse interests. Most cities provide exciting nightlife, various cuisines to sample, shows of all kinds, museums, landmarks, parks, festivals, sporting events, and more. There are many options in big cities to join the scene if you are a musician, visual artist, or performer.
3. Public Transportation. The public transportation system is a decent alternative to driving your own vehicle and navigating big cities’ traffic and parking issues. You can go where you need to go using trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-sharing vehicles in cities. You can avoid the hassle of driving by using one of the many relatively reasonable public transit options, such as the bus or train. In most big cities, it’s possible to live without a car.
Are City Center Apartments Still The Best Btl Investments In 2023? 10
4. Big Events. Major cities host the largest events, including sporting competitions, concerts, festivals, and art openings. You don’t need to make the long commutes to and from the suburbs to attend a concert or a baseball game.
5. Share Experience. The fact that everyone in a large metropolis with millions of residents comes from varied backgrounds and experiences city life similarly can be incredibly reassuring. Large cities are friendlier than most people think, and if you frequent the same spots and engage in the same pursuits, you’ll rapidly meet new individuals who share your interests and likely move there for similar reasons to yours.
7. Free Activities. There are numerous free things to do when planned effectively, even if many activities are normally more expensive due to the greater overhead costs. You can spend the entire day keeping occupied for free by going to the park, window shopping, touring museums on free days, and taking in the sights downtown. Even though you won’t be spending any money, you will undoubtedly spend time at these breathtaking locations and maximize your urban experience.
Are City Center Apartments Still The Best Btl Investments In 2023? 11
8. Higher Salary. Employers are typically prepared to pay extra despite the high cost of living in the city. This is why many suburban residents commute into the city for a better wage while still taking advantage of the low cost of living.
9. More Jobs Available. Companies dominate city towers, so going without a job is difficult. However, locating one that pays your high rent could be challenging. But a city with many businesses also has many job prospects. You’re likely to find one you adore. According to statistics, those who live in major cities have access to more job prospects than those who live in the suburbs or smaller towns.
10. Close to Restaurants. In cities, there is always a need for fine dining. Within a mile or two, you can find a cuisine you appreciate, from fast food franchises to fine dining restos.
Although the city’s dining cost is typically greater due to increased rent, many restaurants offer lunch and supper deals and have food vendors available. You’ll need to research to take advantage of the best bargains.

The Disadvantages of Living in a City

Those who frequently travel to or work in a big city are aware of how troublesome they may be. Large cities might be more challenging to navigate because of the increased population, traffic, and neighborhood density. The biggest drawbacks of living in a big metropolis are as follows:
1. High Cost of Living. When people consider moving to a city, the increased cost of living is usually the first drawback they consider. Ordinary living costs like rent and utilities tend to be higher in big cities, and you can have additional costs like parking permits and laundry that you wouldn’t have in the suburbs. Major cities also have higher prices for gasoline, alcohol, food, and tobacco items.
2. Noise. Major cities typically have higher noise levels than the suburbs. Cities produce greater noise due to increased traffic, more people, trains, and neighboring airports with noisy jets flying in and out. A neighborhood may become noisier and more crowded due to special events like concerts and sporting events.
3. Limited Space. Downsizing your living area is nearly always required when moving from the suburbs to the city. Most people reside in flats in big cities; in some places, the apartments might be smaller. Having an outdoor area like a patio or yard is also uncommon. Homes with decent-sized yards are available in big cities but are significantly more expensive than homes in the suburbs. If you want to live in a city, you must be okay with your neighbors being on the other side of your walls in an apartment complex.
4. Limited Parking Space. Parking in a big city is an enormous nuisance compared to the suburbs. In the suburbs, parking is permitted in driveways and on residential streets, and most companies offer parking lots for patrons to utilize. Parking is only sometimes guaranteed in large cities. Streets with free parking quickly fill up because certain residential streets only allow permit parking, which requires you to purchase a permit. Some apartments have a designated parking place, albeit they are uncommon. Also, it is uncommon for businesses to have parking lots, so you will probably have to pay to park somewhere on the street, possibly even a few streets from where you need to go.
Are City Center Apartments Still The Best Btl Investments In 2023? 12
5. Higher Auto-Vehicle Insurance Premiums. Congested city life will increase your chance of accidents if you must have a car and live in a city. As a result, city residents will pay a greater insurance premium than those who live in the suburbs.
6. Increasing Crime Rates. You can bet on urban locations to be riskier than smaller communities, even if some cities have higher crime rates than others. Crime increases with population.

The Current Situation of City Center Apartments

The majority of people concur that the real estate market has altered recently. Thus, it’s crucial to take into account a few factors when determining if new city center flats are still wise investments:

1. The real estate sector, notably the market for apartments in cities, has been impacted by Covid. People’s preferences for where to live (and rent) and what kinds of properties have been impacted. Nowadays, more people are working remotely. Some workers no longer require access to an office. Hence, renting or buying a home in the city center or living there is no longer necessary.
   
2. Some business offices in the city center have scaled back on their floor space. Less demand for city center flats may result from fewer individuals working in urban areas. The practice of hybrid working, where people work partially from home and partially from the office, is becoming more widespread. The same goes for flexible working, which allows employees to choose how much time they spend in the office each week. Often, newly constructed flats in city centers are small and need more space for working from home. In the so-called “race for space,” some city dwellers emigrated to the suburbs and the countryside to find more space.
   

Are City Center Apartments Still The Best Btl Investments In 2023? 13

1. People became aware of the value of outdoor space for health and well-being because of Covid. Outdoor space is uncommon in newly constructed residences in city centers. Many people need easy access to public parks and other outdoor areas.
   
2. Currently, some things could be improved regarding the direction of the economy. There may be less demand for housing in city centers if businesses that employ people there cut their workforces. In certain cities, proposals exist to develop thousands of additional brand-new apartments in the city center. Apartments in these places may be harder to lease due to high levels of new supply and low projected demand. It could imply that their worth has not increased as much as it would have (or they might even fall in value).
   
3. Due to economic worries, apartment developers in the city center might opt to cut back their plans. Supplies could decrease. Future shortages of this kind of real estate may occur.
   
4. Renters and builders compete. In some cities, build-to-rent, or BTR, is growing in acceptance. Large developers and financial entities fund and construct flats to be rented out rather than sold. Build-to-rent apartment buildings give private landlords in the city center additional competition in the rental market.
   
5. Co-living projects, where investors construct towers of studio apartments with shared facilities, are starting to pop up in several city centers. They may increase the level of competition for apartment rentals.
   
6. but are they still a wise investment? Here, we’ll examine the benefits and drawbacks of this specific property type.
   

Why City Center Apartments (Can’t) Make Great Investments

Here are the primary factors that have contributed to new city center flats making excellent buy-to-let investments over time:

Memory Transcription Subject: Alus, Yotul auxiliary to the UN Spaceborne Infantry
Date [standardized human time]: March 3^rd 2137, 1000 hours ship-time
After Gutierrez showed me to our compartment, and I dropped off my duffelbags, he began leading me to the Armory, where I would be assigned my rifle and 'sensitive items' as he put it. As we walked, my mind churned with more questions.
"Hey, uh, Guts. Back in the supply compartment, you mentioned the 'USMC'? That's the American Marines right? I thought you were UN Spaceborne infantry."
"Yeah, so, I am a Marine. Marine to the core. But Earth sorta got thrown into this whole clusterfuck without having a properly unified military, and instead of trying to set up a whole new service from scratch, they got the big five on the Security Council, being us, the Brits, the French, the Chinese, and the Russkis, to pitch in units. So you got Marines and Army making up the American portion of the SI, and Navy and Airforce making up our part of the fleet. Same for every country that pitched in, even some outside the UNSC." Gutierrez explained, his hands moving about animatedly. "Right now it's a hot mess because none of the standards, paperwork, or anything changed, but I guess they'll probably formalize and standardize the SI and Fleet after all this shit is done. All we currently got that's the same is rifles, uniforms, and equipment. The traditions and paperwork and shit are all wildly different from one countries units to another, and sometimes even within the same country's units because of different branches. The US Marines and US Army for instance, we share a lot of the same shit you know, but our low-level paperwork is branch-specific, and our organization is different."
I thought for a moment about what he was saying as we walked though the passageways, pondering on the idea of what a truly united Human military could accomplish, if everything Humanity had done so far was with a truly thrown-together force. As I looked up again, I saw we were approaching the armory, and mentally filed my next question away for later. We crossed through the threshold, and I found myself standing in front of a grated window, another Human on the other side.
"Sarn't Johnson, I'd like you to meet our new Yotul auxiliary, Alus. We're doing inprocessing, and need to get his weapon and equipment drawn and assigned."
The new Human looked down at me curiously and smiled, before reaching down and grabbing a few sheets of paper from under his desk.
"Alright" the Sergeant said, before moving deeper into the armory, stopping at a weapons cage, before unlocking it and inspecting the rifles line up inside "So, what are we billeting him as?"
"Just an 0311, needs a rifleman's kit and associated gear" Guts replied, leaning forward to watch the Sergeant.
"Gotcha. Just gimme a minute here."
Guts and I watched as the Armorer pulled a cart over, and picked out a rifle, laying it down on the cart, and locking the cage, before moving to the next rack and removing a small black bag, repeating the process along the line of cages across one wall of the armory, before coming back to the front, and pressing a button on his desk. I heard a click from a door next to the grated portal, and Gutierrez waved for me to follow him through the door, and into the armory.
The Sergeant had sat back down, and was poring over what appeared to be a checklist as he inspected each piece of equipment, ticking them off down the list one by one. When he was done, he clipped it to a clipboard, and handed it off to Gutierrez, before looking toward me.
"So, Heard you fellas went through some sorta training dirtside, so you should be familiar with at least the rifle?" He asked, picking up a notably shorter version of the standard UN rifle I had qualified on Earth with.
"Yes, ours were longer, it kinda seemed like they weren't really meant for non-Humans to use. We could all barely aim them shooting, uh, offhand I think it was?"
"Yeah, sounds about right for an indoc unit. The M-36 is a piston gun so it's good bit heavier out front than the old M-16's the Corps used to issue way back, Mag in the back kinda balances the whole shebang on the carbine variants" he slapped the side of the firearm he was holding "But on the full length rifles they're just ungodly long barrels. Ay, Guts, something like a 28-inch heavy barrel on the old M-36A1's?"
"Yeah, something stupid like that," Guts said, looking up from the paperwork he had been signing, as he set it down on the table. "Marines wanted a gun that was the same length or shorter than an M-16, Piston, and could reach out to like 800 meters with 5.56. I think Bushmaster pulled out some old relic from the 20th century and just modernized it? I remember the K&M lawsuit right when we started getting the A1's back in 2130, but yeah."
The sergeant nodded and turned back to me, pointing at the firearm again "So, when the Corps finally removed their head from their fifth point of contact-"
"Their ass" Gutierrez helpfully interjected, grinning
"Yes, But anyways, They saw some issues with going back to a full size rifle, and got carbines made to replace the A1's for combat arms. Shorter barrel, shorter gas system, shorter receiver, way lighter out front. Super nice shooting guns to boot. Bushmaster also sold them on this neat quick-change barrel system they thought up too, so now we have a bunch of smoothbore barrels for flechettes, rifled barrels for traditional ammunition, pencil barrels for riflemen, heavy barrels with bipods for autoriflemen, in a bunch of different lengths. These fuckers are modular as hell."
The sergeant had what was probably the widest grin I'd ever seen on a Human as he finished talking, and it very nearly took me aback, despite the Yotul, myself included, not having the same issues with Human mannerisms as the wider Federation.
"I-I'm not gonna have to carry all of those, right?" I asked, hesitantly, and Gutierrez broke out laughing, while the sergeant suppressed a chuckle.
"Nah kid, we just pick a rifle and swap the barrel to the one you need for what you're doing. Mostly just makes shit easier on my end really. You're just getting a carbine-length pencil barrel, lightest of the bunch."
The Sergeant shifted, bringing the rifle to his shoulder, and pointed it at a canted barrel, sticking the muzzle in, and pulled back the charging handle, sticking a finger into the rifle's ejection port, before looking in, and releasing the charging handle, before pulling the trigger with a 'click'. He then held out the rifle for me, and I took it, surprised at how much lighter it was than the one I had been issued in training.
"So, one M-36A2." the Sergeant said, before pulling a metal cylinder from a small pouch, and peering through it up at one of the lights, before getting up and grabbing a metal rod, and walking over to me. He stood alongside me, and slipped the cylinder over the muzzle of the rifle, before inserting the rod down the barrel, and peering closely at a small gap around the rod.
"And one suppressor. Clears the rod check so that shouldn't give you any issues. Guts should be able to explain the adjustable piston to you so you don't get gassed in the face while you're using it." With a quick twist of a collar on the back of the tube, the armorer pulled the device off the muzzle and stuck it back in it's pouch, and picked up a larger cloth case. He pulled something that looked like a visor on an articulating arm from it, and inserted a pair of batteries into a cylinder that ran along the top.
"This here is the AN/PVS-101 'Fused vision system'. Little heads up display that links up with the rest of your fireteam, and also has thermal and Infrared overlay. Just a fuckin' neat piece of kit honestly. Datalink is hardened to all hell, and the whole system's idiot-proof. I've seen ones that pre-date the Satellite Wars. Uses an accelerometer and gyro system to keep track of where you are in the area, and can pulse lidar to give you visuals in full pitch-black. You can also mark obstacles, enemy troops, vics, whatever with eye-clicks, and the system keeps track and spreads that out to all the linked systems. Plus there's a version that goes to the fireteam leader, which transmits all that collated data back to company level, and gives them an up-to-date picture of everything that's going on. Just honestly fuckin' cool."
He then held up a square plate on the back of the arm to his forehead, and withdrew a small box from the back and touched it to the back of his head.
"The FVS mounts to the socket on the front of your helmet, and the Processing unit just mounts to the rear, acts like a counterweight too which keeps your neck from hurting nearly as much while you're using it."
Placing both items back in the cloth bag, He finally held up what was obviously a handheld radio, and a set of earmuffs.
"This is the AN/PRC-255. It's a radio, and might as well work with Angry Pixies. I know it's got a 60 mile range, and hops frequencies, and the Comms nerds have some kind of black magic ritual to make them work. The hearing protection doesn't have some letter-and-number name, but they hook up to the radio, and they'll also link up to other headsets nearby like the FVS to communicate without radio. The Radio isn't nearly as impressive as the FVS, and the hearing protection hasn't changed in a meaningful way in about a hundred years. 3M is the Browning of comms gear, I swear. And, that's petty much it."
I looked at the neat pile of equipment sitting next to the carbine, and looked down at my hands, realizing I had nothing to carry any of it with, before looking up at Gutierrez.
"Is it alright if you carry some of this, I don't think I can carry it a-" I said, before I was cut off by laughter from Sgt Johnson.
"Nooooooo, no kid." The sergeant said, wiping tears from his eyes. "This all stays here unless you actually imminently need it. It's assigned to you now, but it stays under lock and key." he explained, while Gutierrez seemed to look simultaneously aghast and about to burst into laughter. My abbreviated training had failed to explain a few things, it seemed, as I had simply assumed that they had locked up our equipment because we were were trainees.
"See, everything in here is either VERY killy, or VERY expensive. And Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines around Earth all have a penchant for shenanigans, and breaking anything they touch. Occasionally themselves too, if left entirely unsupervised with dangerous objects. So we don't let any of you have things which can be described as 'Killy', 'Expensive', or 'Killy and Expensive' unless it's specifically pertaining to the task at hand, Rah?"
"I, uh, see yeah. Rah?" I replied, somewhat dejectedly, and slightly confused.
"Rah." The Sergeant said in reply, and began to load all of the 'Killy and expensive' equipment back onto the metal cart, chuckling to himself still, as Gutierrez tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey, chow's in about an hour, let's get you back to the barracks so you can get your OCUU's on, and outta those class-B's right?"
"Yeah, that sounds good, I don't think I've eaten since before I arrived at the Orbital, I'm starving" I said, as I followed the Spaceborne Infantry Marine out of the Armory's door, and back down the passageway to the berthing areas of Grunt Country.

During a student’s academic journey, unplanned events may happen that require them to miss class. People with kids need to know how to ask for school leave, whether for an emergency, a family emergency, or a planned vacation. You can request to miss school in writing by filling out an application for leave in school. People typically apply to leave school for various reasons, such as to go on a long trip, get medical care, or go to an event. Remember that applications for school leave need to be made politely and professionally. The application for leave in school should be brief and indicate the cause for the absence, how long it will last, and when the student will return. The application for leave will be talked about briefly in this article.

Reason for Leave application

For private reasons

A student may need to take time off if they have to deal with a family problem or another personal matter. For medical reasons if a child is sick or hurt and needs to be cared for or rest, they may have to miss school. Parents have to provide an application for leave in school for fever.

Because of religion

A student might miss class to attend a church event or celebrate a holiday. Because they need to learn, students may miss class to finish an internship, go on a study abroad course, or go to a conference.

Outside of school

Students may miss a few school days because of an event or action outside of school.They should provide an application for leave in school for going out of station.

Types of Leave

Medical, personal, emergency, and holiday leave are the most common types of leave that schools give. Knowing the differences between the types is essential because each may have different needs and ways of applying them.

How Applications Are Made?

Applications for leave in school are made through routes set up by schools. As part of it, you might have to use a website, fill out a form, or write an official letter. Parents and children should learn about the school’s recommended application process to ensure they follow it.

Very Important Papers

Application for leave in school may mean that schools must ask for supporting documents. Medical leave sometimes needs a note or proof from a doctor. You may need the same kind of proof of trip plans for vacation time. Gather the necessary paperwork and send it in with the leave request.

Time of absence

Most of the time, schools ask parents to let them know before they take their child out of the building. Then, the school management can do the right thing and ensure the child’s education is interrupted less often. Parents should request time off from school as soon as possible, in line with the school’s stance on advance notice. Parents should provide an application for leave in school for 1 day in advance.

Amount of time away

When it comes to schools, there may be rules about how much time you can miss for different reasons. There may be limits on vacation time, but people who are sick may be able to take medical leave for as long as they need it. Parents and children should know these time limits so they don’t get mixed up. The school management takes requests for time off when they are sent in. Anyone on the staff, like the director, school counsellor, or someone else, can review this. Parents and kids should be patient and wait for proof of clearance before moving forward.

Communication Tools

Schools usually set up specific ways for parents to talk to their administrators about requests for time off. One way to do this is to go online, email a pre-addressed address, or call the school office. When parents and kids use the official ways to get in touch, they can ensure their needs are heard and met. Parents and kids who want to take time off should check in with the school to ensure they got the application for leave in school and see what’s going on. They should quickly provide additional paperwork or details to speed up the process. The open conversation keeps approvals from being late.

Other Places of Education

To make sure that a student’s education continues while they are abroad, schools could offer other ways to learn. This could mean making study guides, giving homework, or teaching online. Asking about these plans might help lessen the adverse effects of leave on a child’s schoolwork. It must be turned in before the leave of absence starts and is usually sent to the school’s department head or director.

Go back to School Rules and How to Do Things

Schools could have set up specific rules to help kids return to the classroom after taking a break. This could include going to teacher meetings, making up missed work, or finishing tests. Parents who want to ensure their child returns to the regular schedule should call the school. For legal and administrative reasons, schools keep much information on students present and absent. To avoid problems, parents and children must carefully record requests for time off and keep an eye on their child’s attendance.

Review and Thoughts

Parents and kids can stay current on any changes or improvements by reviewing the school’s leave policies and procedures. Giving the school administration comments on their experiences with asking for time off can also help ensure that things keep improving.

Conclusion

Parents and kids need to know the school’s rules about requesting time off to talk about their needs and ensure the kids have a smooth educational experience. Parents and kids can handle the process confidently and keep their child’s schooling as regular as possible if they know the types of leaves, the necessary paperwork, and the permission processes. Parents and schools must work together, plan, and talk to each other so that application for leave in school requests are adequately treated and students can keep up with their work.

FAQs

How do I request school leave?
To request school leave, write to your principal or other school administration.
How early should I request leave?
Leave should be requested as early as possible to allow the school to make arrangements. The timeline depends on school policy and the cause of the leave. In a medical emergency, you may need to apply for leave sooner.
What is the use of leave applications in school?
A leave application is a written request to take time off school, college, or employment for a certain period.

By my count, there are 15 T5 ships available for just dilithium or a level 40 token, which someone might want a starter build for to help them finish off the episode missions and start the reputation grind. My Strict Budget Build covers the three science vessels, the Baby Step series covers the three cruisers with tactical ensigns, Quick Looks 1 and 2 cover the Hegh'ta Bird of Prey and the Jem'hadar Escort, and there's definitely an argument to be made that some are just bad choices. But there was one more I wanted to take a look at here. This series will not be as thoroughly researched as those previous series, and it will not feature optimized skill builds (there are many resources for that), but the builds will be proven in the Badlands Battlezone and in solo Defense of Starbase One Advanced, as well as extensively parsed in the Wanted (Argala System) patrol with comparisons to similar builds. That should adequately demonstrate that they can get you whatever reputation marks you need, using only mission, basic (generally Mk XII uncommon) Exchange, and Phoenix Store items. Each build will be allowed one Mk XV item to maintain parity with the Strict Budget Build, usually a forward weapon. It's also easy enough to put these together that I could be persuaded to do more if there's a ship that deserves it.
So, why the Vo'Quv? Well it's in the name, it's a carrier. Hangar bays are expensive to boost in this game, but that means they have to be balanced to have pretty good base damage. In this case the two hangars did more than half the damage of most of the other builds in this series with hardly any support for them. The downside to carriers is that they often sacrifice a lot for those hangars. Not so for Flight Deck Carriers, which are pretty much full cruisers, or any of the single hangar types, but the science carriers like the Vo'Quv don't really have an obvious path to getting ship damage, especially on this budget. Their turn rate is terrible, which is a problem for most things, they have only 6 weapons so getting a lot from energy weapons is out, and they don't have a secondary deflector, which did do more on my science vessel build than the hangars did here.
So where did I end up, then? Well, with 6 science ability slots and not a ton of options I couldn't see not using them for some direct exotic damage. And since that required me to face forward, and the turn rate was terrible and I couldn't do much about it, I concluded that I'd have to use turrets in the rear with either beam arrays or single cannons forward, the two widest arc weapon combinations possible apart from pure turrets, although their damage potential is limited. The Chronometric set also seemed like a must have, providing a large amount of EPG and some Polaron cat1 from the tac console, and a bit of aux power from the 2 piece, but I wasn't sure whether I'd want the Morphogenic set or not, since it would mean sacrificing a cannon. Then, I went to the TRINITY DPS Calculator from STO BETTER and started plugging in some rough options. Single cannons outperformed beam arrays even with the Chronometric 3 piece, so that settled that, and getting the crtd from the Morphogenic 3 piece and Cannon Scatter Volley was well worth losing a forward cannon for the torp. Attack Pattern Beta proved a bigger contributor than expected thanks to boosting the exotic damage as well, which is why that's at 2 and CSV is at 1, and easily outperformed including a Torpedo Spread as well. Finally I switched the power settings away from a balanced configuration toward weapons over aux and aux over weapons, and the high aux version did best. So that was the build.
How did it perform? Well it was sluggish, obviously, I expected that. But the DPS was pretty impressive and was reflected in how quickly it got kills. And the survivability was pretty good, with a lot of hull and pretty good healing I really couldn't complain, except that it was so sluggish it was hard to run out of range and heal if I needed to. On the other hand when I did withdraw the fighters kept fighting, contributing to the highest Wanted Elite DPS of any of the builds in the table with only one attempt needed to survive the whole mission (the science vessel could do better by charging in and dying a couple of times, but needed to play cautiously and sacrifice its CPB to survive). They were even powerful enough to handle the Birds of Prey in Starbase One Advanced without any help from the mothership, potentially even without player input, which could be convenient.

Captain Details

Captain Name	Stilt
Captain Career	Science
Captain Faction	Federation
Captain Race	Vulcan
Primary Specialization	Temporal	The best specialization for exotic builds, as well as for ground builds and a good generalist option, it provides debuffs, damage boosts, EPG, and survivability

Space Skill Tree

Rank	Engineering		Science		Tactical
Lieutenant		Advanced Hull Capacity			Advanced Energy Weapon Training	Advanced Projectile Weapon Training
Lt. Commander	Improved Electro-Plasma System Flow	Impulse Expertise	Improved Control Expertise	Drain Expertise	Targeting Expertise	Defensive Maneuvering
			Control Amplification	Drain Infection
Commander	Hull Plating				Advanced Weapon Amplification	Advanced Weapon Specialization
Captain	Defensive Subsystem Tuning		Advanced Exotic Particle Generator	Advanced Long Range Targeting Sensors	Advanced Hull Penetration	Advanced Shield Weakening
Admiral					Coordination Protocols	Advanced Tactical Readiness
					Defensive Coordination
					Offensive Coordination
1 Points Left	8		11		26

Space Skill Unlocks

Purchases	Engineering	Science	Tactical
2	Hazard Emitters III	Science Team III	Tachyon Beam III
5	Battery Expertise	Sector Space Travel Speed
7	Feedback Pulse III	Photonic Shockwave III	Jam Sensors III
10		Maximum Shield Capacity
12			Tractor Beam III
15		Control Resistance
17			Viral Matrix III
20		Shield Drain Resistance
24 (Ultimate)			Focused Frenzy
25 (1st Ultimate Enhancer)			Frenzied Assault
26 (2nd Ultimate Enhancer)			Team Frenzy

This skill tree is my generalist one from Strict Budget Build part 2, and it pretty much needs to be. This build relies on both energy weapon and exotic damage, so it can't afford to neglect either one. There are other generalist skill trees, of course, but that is what you'll need to be looking for, any single purpose tree isn't going to get the job done.

Ship Loadout: Vo'Quv Carrier

Slot	Item	Notes
Fore Weapon 1	Polaron Cannon	The one Mk XV, single cannons are usually a poor choice, but they will outperform beam arrays forward/turrets aft and provide 180 degrees of firing arc
Fore Weapon 2	Polaron Cannon	The Vo'Quv suffers from terrible turn rate so it doesn't want weapons with narrow arcs, but it needs to face forward for the exotic damage
Fore Weapon 3	Morphogenic Polaron Energy Torpedo Launcher	Here for the 3 piece set bonus providing 30% crtd to the whole ship
Aft Weapon 1	Heavy Chronometric Polaron Turret	Mostly need a turret, 2 piece provides some aux
Aft Weapon 2	Morphogenic Polaron Energy Weapon	Another turret, and contributes to the 3 piece
Aft Weapon 3	Polaron Turret	Just a turret
Deflector	Solanae Deflector Array Mk XII Very Rare	Provides more EPG out of the box than any other mission reward
Impulse Engines	Sol Defense Impulse Engines Mk XII Very Rare	With the bonus from getting hit this does just provide the best total turn rate out of the mission rewards at 14.7 degrees/s, replace with Fortified Competitive rep engines
Warp Core	Obelisk Subspace Rift Warp Core	This build only hits 122 aux so this doesn't actually help, could consider Deuterium-Stabilized but the benefit is minimal
Shields	Sol Defense Covariant Shield Array Mk XII Very Rare	2 piece is nice for survivability, alternative would be Jem'Hadar 2 piece for a bit of Polaron cat1.
Devices	Exotic Particle Flood	Crafted in Science R&D. I do have to admit that the materials are a little hard to come by, and Admiralty (with account unlocked ships) is the best source I've found.
	Deuterium Surplus	Evasive Maneuvers in battery form, and you can collect 4 per day from the Alhena system.
	Delta Alliance Reinforcements Beacon	Handy damage boost
3 Engineering Consoles	Console - Engineering - Trellium-D Plating Mk XII Very Rare	Good survivability console, could use a Neutronium instead
	Console - Engineering - Polaric Modulator Mk XII Very Rare	Boosts Inertia, which is rare, as well as turn rate, and slipstream turn rate at warp
	Console - Engineering - House Martok Defensive Configuration Mk XII Very Rare	Boosts turn rate and provides some survivability, an RCS would work too
4 Science Consoles	Console - Science - Temporal Disentanglement Suite Mk XII Very Rare	Nice crit and durability boost, plus some power.
	Console - Science - Temporally Shielded Datacore Mk XII Very Rare	Slightly less EPG than Particle Generators but it makes up for it with the CtrlX
	Console - Science - Particle Generator Mk XII Uncommon	Just need EPG
	Console - Science - Particle Generator Mk XII Common
2 Tactical Consoles	Console - Tactical - Morphogenic Matrix Controller Mk XII Very Rare	For the 3 piece and some polaron cat1
	Console - Tactical - Chronometric Capacitor Mk XII Very Rare	Good EPG, some aux from the 2 piece, and some Polaron cat1, and this build uses all of it
2 Hangar Bays	Hangar - To'Duj Fighters	These provide more DPS than any other hangar that's available by default, and they come with the ship, they will die in heavy AoE content, otherwise use two
	Hangar - Delta Flyers	These have slightly less DPS than To'duj but almost never die in any content, but do require a level 65 KDF character for Cross Faction Flying. Could substitute B'rels for more DPS loss

Officer Details

Bridge Officers
Lt. Commander Tactical	Tactical Team I	Shield distribution and debuff clear, may cause firing cycle problems but I haven't seen it
	Cannon: Scatter Volley I	Excellent weapon damage buff and also spreads APB to up to 3 targets
	Attack Pattern Beta II	Unusual to slot this above the firing mode, but it boosts every damage source and weapon damage is only ~1/4 of the total
Lt. Commander Engineering	Emergency Power to Engines I	More than doubles speed and provides +2 turn rate, essential mobility for any build
	Auxiliary to Structural I	Excellent heal and damage resist, and on a very short cooldown
	Emergency Power to Weapons III	Major energy weapon damage boost
Commander Science	Hazard Emitters I	Good hull heal and debuff clear
	Destabilizing Resonance Beam I	Good exotic damage, used with GW
	Photonic Officer II	Cooldown reduction
	Gravity Well III	Good exotic damage and control
Lieutenant Science	Science Team I	Shield heal and debuff clear
	Tyken's Rift I	Exotic damage, alternate with GW

Traits & Duty Officers

Trait	Name	Description	Notes
Personal Traits	Astrophysicist		A little bit of EPG
	Cannon Training		A little more cannon damage
	Conservation of Energy		Significant exotic damage while solo, but stacks don't last long
	Deft Cannoneer		Boosts turn rate by 1, on this build we need it, from Cannons R&D
	Fleet Coordinator		One of the best traits in the game when on a team
	Give Your All		Excellent hull damage resistance, from Engineering R&D
	Operative		Some extra crit
	Particle Manipulator		The most powerful trait for exotic damage, +50%/+29.6% crth/crtd on this build, from Science R&D
	Photonic Capacitor		Extra Photonic Fleet is nice to have
Starship Traits	None		Unconventional Tactics from completing Strategist is definitely worth slotting here, but I kept it cheap.
Space Reputation Traits	None		You'll start picking these up very quickly, Precision and Advanced Targeting Systems are top picks.
Duty Officers	Projectile Weapons Officer		"Law" from A Fistful of Gorn, a bit of a pain to get there, but worth having
	Projectile Weapons Officer		A common included in my first duty officer pack
	Astrometrics Scientist		Uncommon, also in my first pack, handy to have set
	Conn Officer		From Phoenix, a must have for mobility in any build

This table shows all damage sources in one Wanted Advanced run, with multiple lines from the same source summed together.

Source	DPS
To'Duj Fighters	6594
Delta Flyers	4504
Gravity Well	3571
Photonic Fleet	3170
Polaron Cannons	2889
Destabilizing Resonance Beam	1728
Chronometric Turret	1156
Polaron Turret	1001
Morphogenic Turret	994
Morphogenic Torpedo	855
Tyken's Rift	839
Drain Infection	708
Entropic Rider	144

^{Table formatting brought to you by ExcelToReddit}
Now, let's talk keybinds. In STO on PC you're going to want to learn keybinding eventually, and most of it's not too hard and can be done through the chat window (although it is arguably better to create a separate text file with your binds, that's more complicated). The first thing I always do is to set up a secondary fire weapons button through settings, usually V, just in case I screw up and my intended fire keybind doesn't work. While I'm there I usually set Distribute Shields to Left Shift, it's a pretty good survivability boost, although a lot of people do say it can mess up firing cycles, but personally I've never noticed a problem. Then, the commands you'll want to know are "FirePhasers" or "FireAll", "+power_exec Distribute_Shields", and "+TrayExecByTray # #", where # is a number. Note that the list of commands needs quotation marks around it, and commands should be separated by "$$". So if you typed the following into the chat: /bind y "+TrayExecByTray 0 0 $$ +TrayExecByTray 0 1 $$ +TrayExecByTray 1 2 $$ +TrayExecByTray 1 3" That would create a keybind so that y would activate the first and second abilities in the row labeled 1, and the third and fourth abilities in the row labeled 2 (0 in a keybind means 1 in the UI, 1 means 2, 2 means 3, etc., that's just how it works), starting with the fourth ability in 2 and then proceeding backwards. From there on in it's personal preference, put things where they feel natural to you, where you're used to them being. What I use has evolved naturally over time, I make no claims that it's efficient, just that I'm used to it, and I use it on everything. For fire weapons, distribute shields, Emergency Power abilities, cooldown reduction, often Aux to Structural, and anything else I just want to keep active I use spacebar, like this: /bind space "FireAll $$ +power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +TrayExecByTray 6 0 $$ +TrayExecByTray 6 1 $$ +TrayExecByTray 6 2 $$ +TrayExecByTray 6 3 $$ +TrayExecByTray 6 4" That's the first 5 slots in row 7, which is usually enough. Then for my firing modes, Attack Pattern Beta, and so on, things with short cooldowns I activate as I attack, I use the 7 key, no good reason for that it just happened, and the first 4 slots in row 3: /bind 7 "+TrayExecByTray 2 0 $$ +TrayExecByTray 2 1 $$ +TrayExecByTray 2 2 $$ +TrayExecByTray 2 3" And finally for my exotic builds I always put Gravity Well and Destabilizing Resonance beam on 2, using the next two slots in row 3, although it is true that the usual logic behind that doesn't apply here, I just did it out of habit: /bind 2 "+TrayExecByTray 2 4 $$ +TrayExecByTray 2 5" That's all the keybinds I use, everything else I activate manually, one at a time, but it does compress 13 keys I might want to be pressing down to 3, which helps a lot.
Now, the difficult thing about this build is that I really don't know how to suggest upgrading it, apart from the obvious necessity of some Competitive Reputation engines to get their Overcharge to improve turn rate, I made sure to use Aux to Structural to pair with the Fortified version of those. The damage is very divided between different types, with about 40% from hangars, 25% from exotics, and 21% from energy weapons, and it's not getting a lot out of any of them, but I'll provide my own ideas and the STO BETTER Basics links for all three. Currently the biggest damage source is the hangars, but trying to improve those would be expensive. Ideally you'd like to pick up Superior Area Denial from the Mirror Strike Wing Escort lockbox ship, or at least the Independent Wingmate space trait, but those are very expensive compared to this build. Even the more minor and less powerful Advanced Engineering – Hangar Craft Power Transmission consoles are starting at 1 million energy credits each on PC for either a Mk XII with a useless mod or a Mk II with an [EPG] mod, or 5 million for a Mk II with [Polaron], while Swarmer Matrix is going for 7 million. If you wanted to work on exotic damage you could of course pick up the Temporal reputation two piece, and then you might want Subspace Vortex or Very Cold in Space to replace the heals with some more damage, but those will cost you 9 million each, and really you'd want to pair them with Spore Infused Anomalies from the Somerville or Batlh C-store ships for a truly potent source of exotic damage. You might be able to get good exotic damage out of the Gravimetric Photon and Particle Emission Plasma torpedoes after picking up the Competitive engines, and those aren't as expensive, but they do give you a much narrower arc. And if you wanted to improve the energy weapons, of course there are reputation items you can pick up starting with the Discovery reputation shield, but you're pretty limited by the combination of poor turn rate and forward firing exotics. You could try to switch to dual (heavy) cannons, probably moving the torpedo to the rear and dropping the plain turret, but I don't think I'm a good enough pilot to pull that off even with Competitive engines, which would leave you with single cannons which have underwhelming base damage and very few set items to support them. I just don't know what direction to go in to make a really impactful improvement in this build.
Finally, here's the table of DPS testing in the Wanted patrol for all five equivalent budget builds. The Luna used the original, unaltered Strict Budget Build, using the mentioned swap of Emergency Power to Shields instead of Aux to Structural for better survivability against non-Borg. The Vor'cha sat somewhere between parts one and two of the Baby Step series, meaning it had exactly the same consoles as the Hegh'ta BoP and similar ones to the Jem Escort, and the beam equivalents of the phaser weapons, with exactly the abilities and personal traits in the Baby Step posts. It must also be said that the Vor'cha and Vo'quv were the only builds to never die on elite difficulty, and the Vor'cha was definitely the toughest, although all the builds took about 20 minutes to get through the mission so using them at that difficulty is a bad idea. The Hegh'ta of course used the Quick Looks 1 build, and the Jem Escort used the Quick Looks 2 build.

	Elite (DPS thousands)	Advanced 1 (DPS thousands)	Advanced 2	Advanced 3	Advanced 4	Advanced Average
Hegh'ta Heavy BoP	20.0	20.1	21.5	22.5	23.2	21.8
Jem'hadar Escort	19.3	23.4	20.6	21.8	19.7	21.4
Vo'quV Carrier	27.3	26.3	28.2	26.6	25.2	26.6
Luna Science Vessel	24.8	31.4	28.3	27.9	27.0	28.6
Vor'cha Battlecruiser	15.1	15.0	14.1	14.8	14.6	14.6

^{Table formatting brought to you by ExcelToReddit}

I went in to a dentist for the first time in about 3 years today and got X-rays. I was told I needed 3 extractions, 3 root canals, possibly another extraction, and then MORE work afterwards. In total they estimated 28k full price, 17k with their "discounted" plan.
I am seeking employment and my mother recently applied to have me on her insurance but that's not guaranteed, and I just very recently got approved for med-ical, but don't know what steps to take next.
I have heard dental schools are a good cheap option but will they even cover such extensive work? How will I get into contact with them and schedule work? Is this worth taking a credit card out and going into debt for the rest of my life for? (obviously not really something reddit can answer, but any insight into this option?)
I know this could kill me eventually and it causes me such excruciating pain sometimes I struggle to get out of bed, but I feel stuck and I have no idea what to do.
Any insight or advice would be appreciated. Will provide photos of X-rays when I get them.

I saw this subredit the other day the tittle was “ you have a friend that doesn’t understand why they’re single but you do.whats the reason?” I read one of the responses and instantaneously I thought of you. This is what the comment said: “One of my buddies: He thinks he's this chill dude. But he veers off into 1 hour long academic lectures to show his superiority, without checking if it is welcome first. Doesn't understand a lot of it is mansplaining. Gets into heated debates with kinda outrageous claims. and he’s never able to admit when wrong afterwards. Plus he's kinda lazy. Prefers the woman to do most of the work at home and she's gotta be submissive enough to endure all this bs. Yet, he finds those girls too boring. Yup, some qualities are incompatible.” After tonight’s argument we had all I could think was whoever he or she was talking about was very similar to you that’s why I think I’ve made a decision set in stone that I’ll just love you from afar I won’t entertain you or any of your requests/games. I know I hurt you and betrayed you in ways that are unforgivable most people would move on but you choose not too so why do I feel like your always using it against me and completely disregarding how I feel and how you’ve hurt me? Maybe it’s because you know I feel guilty and I’m naive but I won’t entertain it anymore, I may not be perfect and I know I can difficult and stubborn but I’m human I’m not perfect but I still deserve to be loved, and appreciated, anyone who treats me otherwise I’ll cut loose.

Im sorry if my story may be too long and confusing due to my english but please be kind to me!
Background story on us: We have been together since we were 19yo and are part of each other's life almost every other day. We do not normally hang out with friends and we only have each other to rely on and we are happy about that. We are really close as in we share and talk about everything, our meal, our schedules, our plans. We do not have any other worrying conflicts like financial stress etc.
The problem: My partner and i have consistently been bickering over the same issue and he wants to break up now claiming he needs peace and alone time. He also mentioned that he will not come back unless fate brings us together again. He has an avoidant attachment style while i have anxious attachment which results to the conflict. I do not wish to end our connection as i know how special it is to both of us.
Our conflict was due to me constantly questioning and accusing him of things that he did not do such as 'are you hiding your phone from me?' 'Who texted you?' 'What you doing?' Etc. which resulted him to be frustrated. As he is an avoidant, he held it in for a long time by himself and recently burst out mentioning break up. This is the second time the same thing happened. I also believe that this happened because he is very tight on time due to his national service where he needs to attend day and night shifts and after that still have to entertain my nonsenses.
My take on this is, this is mostly my fault as i am aware that he doesn't like those questionings but i still prevent controlling myself and push it through every time. However, this is also due to my partner having issue on expressing his feelings properly which makes have doubt on our relationship, thus the questioning.
I'm facing a very hard time as my partner is insisting that things will not change and will constantly resurface despite telling him that we can both work on a common ground on how we prefer to be loved. He also states that even so, there will always be a dent in our relationship and it will never be the same, while i believe that dents can be fixed and things will get better. He mentioned that he cant upkeep this responsibility of having a girlfriend.
Based on how much i know him, he has an avoidant attachment style where he tend to shut down and avoid conflicts. I believe that this so called solution that he came up with is with his mind and not his heart. I know how much he cherish our relationship and how much i meant to him. We have still been in contact since it happened (6days ago) and on-off talked about our issue with him insisting this is the best decision for us even though it may seem selfish. Throughout, he has also been checking up on me and updating me about his life daily. He also said things like 'Im already feeling empty without you', 'I was wrong, but idw this to happen' and 'I know i'll regret this in the future but its better for us'
I really want to know how can i get him to understand that we can always work together to fix our problem? Ofc, I will amend on my mistake of being overly sensitive and insecure because he is all that i ever wanted. Time and space will also be given to him as i am aware that previously i had over-invaded his personal time and space. Definitely not only i have to change but him too. I just don't know how to get him to agree on fixing us together and communicating instead of breaking up.

Hi, it's me, I love bananas! Because you most likely call me that way, I didn't leave the detailed comment in the narcabusive subs.
IMO, those subs are as embarrassing and even toxic as twinflame ones. If you need healing, I understand you may stay there with similar people for a while. But not too long. If you want truth, you need see objectively. Get out of there or be stuck in their hive mind.
I wonder if your group's goal is to be mainstream like feminism, which established (or still establishing) robust theories. Narc abusive victims are too aggressive or cult-ish for me to communicate with. Will you say, "That's because they made us to do that"? I read that's one of gaslighting strategies that narcs use as well.
Some terms that you use are derogatory, such as "recycled" and "supplies." You work so hard to devalue whatever "narcs" do. In addition, to my eyes of a book person, you don't respect the literature and use words so freely or almost selfishly to suit your needs such as "flying monkeys." But maybe it's just my position as a banana lover, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt on this regard.
You think you all are victims. OK, suppose you are, to some extent, since most of you suffer from the initial discard/break-up and its consequences. Look how Israel acts. It's shocking to me that it seems they really don't understand why the large part of the world sympathises with the Palestinian. Your long-standing stubborn claim of victimization may change your reputation as well.
I agree that "narcs" and their victims exist. (I just feel they are too many....) I'm not trying to shifting blames. I just don't think at least your specific case doesn't apply to the narc abuse. You think you were cheated (which I doubt, anyway) and rejected. I suspect you just can't accept the fact that you are/can be dumped and want to find the reasons in them, not in yourself, to protect your pride/ego.
You analyze and analyze them to understand what happened to your situations/relationships or to avoid them in the future. That's fine. Then you need to analyze yourself, too, ideally without the victim glasses nor baseless self-praise (such as "We are natural rich givers! (or suppliers?)"). It's also or more important to know why you love(d) or get attracted/bonded to them even when feel so traumatized.
I "will" write the rest on my profile. Pls read it (though IDK when😅. I'm not as prolific as you at all.)
PS. Congrats on your book launch. I read the title as above ⬆️. Not kidding. It implies that I don't see much differences between what you are doing and what you claim what (your) narc did/does or even worse.
I guess your main target readers are the "victims" in those subs. I hope you accept outsiders' views as well since you are going to expose it in public.

Gonna keep this concise, if anyone even cares, anyway, scene by scene:

• Black sludge: Sauron post-killing by Adar; "reforming" himself in Lindon and infecting the region, causing decay and starting the panic of the elves
• Group scene with Galadriel (hair up), Elrond, and some other elves, seems to me more likely a flashback scene than a present-time scene. Unclear what this would be though.
• Scene with the Mystics performing some ritual. Hands are slashed, some gold flakes flying around. Completely unclear what's going on.
• Tree roots in Lindon sneaking around. Sauron's influence in Lindon.
• Sauron (Annatar) revealing himself initially to Celebrimbor. Flashback scene...?
• Annatar walking right into Celebrimbor's forge while the city is falling
• Miriel getting eaten by the Wurm/Wyrm/Whatever. Probably the civil war between the Faithful and the King's Men.
• Durin (elder) buried under rocks. Next scene is giant rock falling on a bridge in Khazad-Dum and mostly destroying it. NOT the balrog landing on the bridge like I initially thought.
• Elendil screaming in a crowd, probably trying to stop Miriel from being executed if I had to guess.
• Galadriel screaming in a red scene; The scenery doesn't quite fit but my initial thought was this was her noticing Sauron in Mt. Doom (vision); but that's probably wrong, honestly.
• Orc licking his blade. Very nice.
• Ost-in-Edhil prior to siege, looks real nice...shame...
• Shot of Gil-galad, Galadriel, and (Celebrimbor?) wearing the 3, Gil-Galad has 3 additional rings on too.
• Shot of the tree in Lindon blooming with life
• Shot of Durin (Elder) holding a Ring with a GIANT blue gemstone
• Arondir tries spinning (I hear it's a good trick) with Isildur very confused in the background
• Ar-Pharazon flies into the capitol on an Eagle and draws his sword. Yo, What?
• Theo crying
• Isildur looking up ominously
• Big ol' flaming boys flying into Ost-in-Edhil
• Adar screaming
• Stranger slams the ground in some desert with some...monument thing in the background
• Two oddly harfoot-looking creatures are being nearly blown away by a desert storm
• Galadriel (hair down) fires flaming arrows in a forest
• Orcs blown up
• Elrond in armor leading a cavalry charge
• Celebrimbor looking very banged up trying to incinerate a bunch of rings in his forge
• Annatar standing in a destroyed forge with a squad of elves drawing their weapons, flips his hands out presumably blasting them away or something
• cutaway to a scene in Forodwaith where we see a giant explosion turning everything to ice (probably, flashback of Adar killing Sauron). In the scene you can just make out one figure hovering over another figure on its knees, at the center of the explosion => Adar cutting down Sauron?

And just some quick thoughts on major plot points, I think Annatar will be split between flashbacks and current time, Celebrimbor will realize when Annatar walks into his forge who he was all along. I think the black sludge creature will be a flashback of Sauron reforming himself in Lindon and corrupting things there. I think the only explanation for the Ar-Pharazon Eagle scene will be that Ar-Pharazon will fly in trying / pretending to try to save Miriel, and will obviously be just too late, then take over the kingship pretending to be a unifier, while actually being an anti-elf anti-Valar leader of the King's Men. It'll be a sneaky sneaky coup d'etat where Ar-Pharazon initially claims neutrality/innocence.
I kinda hope that the galadriel crimson red scene is Galadriel literally seeing Sauron in Mt. Doom putting the One Ring on his finger; he should have it on him after all. I think the shot of his hands where it cuts away to Forodwaith is deliberate to show that while he is wearing the One Ring, it can't be perceived on his finger. But that's speculation.
The thing I really don't understand is how they will handle the forging of the rest of the Rings and whether Annatar is really supposed to be in Ost-in-Edhil in real time, AFTER they've already forged the 3 elven rings. Then again it'd also be really hard to have him be exclusively in the past, as they decided on rings, specifically, while he was there as Halbrand. It's gonna be tough to reconcile with the lore given that the other rings were supposed to be made first and were "practice rings" essentially. One way to reconcile this which would be...not satisfying but at least ok, I guess, would be that Celebrimbor was hiding information from everyone; that really they had already been long working on rings of power but didn't want to reveal it for fear of being shut down by Gil-galad, until they had sufficiently advanced rings (the Three) to show Gil-Galad.
Anyway without getting crazy long that's my scene by scene thoughts and theories. Thoughts? Stuff I got totally wrong?

For context:

• I am an international student, and do not have a SSN.
• At the time, I was under a student insurance plan (provided by my university)
• I had a checking account, which is now closed.
• My old phone number has been passed to another person
• My school email is closed
• This occurred in Pennsylvania
• My F-1 visa is expired, my passport number has changed, I no longer hold insurance

In fall of 2021, I was admitted to a mental health facility. I stayed for a week, and had a pending charge of around $1000. I had undiagnosed ADHD at the time, and was majoring in architecture, so I never got around to paying. In spring 2022, I tried paying my bills online, but was unable to pay because the website didn't have a record of my stay. Pushing it off again, I never called my insurance provider or the hospital regarding this.
Currently, I'm staying in my home country until around 2027, where I will study in the U.S. for a year. Towards 2029, I plan on either starting a masters program, or applying for an internship/entry level position (likely with a J-1 visa).
My questions:

1. Will the unpaid medical fees pose issues when applying for my J-1 visa?
2. Will my future credit score be affected, even after the 7 years?
3. Could I face legal action? Both before and after the 4 year stature of limitations in PA
4. How do I know if my debt has been sent to collections?
5. Will this affect my insurance rates and eligibility in the future?

I'm young, and still figuring out how debt and finances work. Also, I want to know if I should pay this or sweep it under the rug. Let me know if there's anything else I will need to know. Thank you.

I am not sure how to approach this but we lost my youngest sib in august. My sister has been struggling and has been fucking dealing with a shitty situationship too. It’s been really emotional and she’s come to visit me which was amazing as I live far out, but she has recently hit a rough patch as her and our youngest were Irish twins and her birthday was about to pass/just did. I’ve tried to be there for her and much as I can and our mother can be difficult. My sister and recently had some suicidal/self harm tendencies, which I have struggled (self harm) with for a long time and can relate. I wasn’t able to get to the phone bc of my sleep and work schedule the second night in a row my sister was struggling (I am on sleeping medication because of the anxiety of the way my brother passed and how I found out) and I always feel terribly guilty and afraid missing calls because of of this prior incident. Within days of my sister’s panic attack, my mom was claiming that she couldn’t talk because she was calling a hotline on Mother’s Day because she was suicidal. while this is all hard for everyone, and it isn’t the first time she has done this, it’s the first time she’s done it in tandem with my sister, and where my sister had expressed that she has reached out to a hotline because I didn’t answer and then woke up our parents because it was late at night, our mother just stopped responding to people on Mother’s Day and then apologized for being in a hotline because her “bad thoughts consumed her”. I’m not saying it’s easy for anyone, but I guess I don’t know how to help my sister. She doesn’t feel seen in her terrible situationship where this man was almost proposing to another woman and he was cheating with her and I don’t know how to tell her that she deserves better (will a hard slap or solid punch get my message across more to this man bc I see him when I’m back and she doesn’t need this hurt in her life on top of everything else and I know this fuckin kid and am willing to speak to him myself) but our mom is also super hard on her and and just a difficult person to deal with (I know I have it easy living far away) it just seems like between her love life and home life it’s enough to break someone (which is why I am on high alert when she calls me and is having those thoughts and sleep with my ringer on and just sometimes can’t even sleep because I can’t lose her along with losing my baby brother) I just don’t know what I can do. She’s successful and amazing and beautiful and wonderful but our mom lays a lot on me too and has since our dad died when I was pretty young and I just don’t know how to best support her I guess and I can’t lose her. But when my mother starts on me on top of her and makes this whole loss about her and asks us to “respect her wishes” and it’s something as natural as talking to your friends about the loss, as a fucking 27 year old who hasn’t spoken to people in that town in almost ten years and lives a 1k miles away!? it’s breaking me down and it’s breaking my sister down and I can’t get her to to come stay with my bf and I because of her work and I feel lost and I feel like I am going to lose her because of grief or lose my mom because she wants to win some imaginary “who is sadder” battle and I just feel lost and don’t know how to fucking help anyone anymore. My boyfriend and I had been planning to get engaged but he postponed it because I am so “anxious and sad” all the time. I don’t even know how to help myself let alone help my sister

But i definitely meant to be, throw away obviously, but I (M19) broke up with my girlfriend (f19) 2 months after moving out of her parents and everything has exploded to the max today with her family, specifically her parents but I already know her whole family is going to switch.
Some context: I got kicked out by both my parents (mom because she was a narcissist and my dad when he was drunk over cookies) before I was 18 and my best friend, then girlfriend, and now ex’s parents took me in after my dad. They pretty much adopted me as their child and so did the rest of her family.
We started dating close to 11 months ago and we both have severe mental health issues, I’m pretty sure I’m autistic with bpd and a nice thick layer of trauma and cptsd or ptsd (can never be sure until diagnosed obviously but I’ve done a lot of research). I’m going to a psych ward for a work accommodation form this weekend because I’m having a hard time with my job and to hopefully finally get medication and diagnosed. My ex is diagnosed with severe adhd, bpd, and ptsd.
Sorry I’m giving a lot of context it’s just a very complex situation that just exploded 2 hours ago.
So as you can see I’m not doing good and after trying for so long I just couldn’t anymore and had to break things off before it went on any longer. Before we started dating I had been living with her for a year and a half when a ton of things happened with my ex and mental and a very long road of trying to help her get through everything.
Her parents were not good parents, father was an extreme alcoholic from the beginning of her life and still is. Her mom didn’t really care until she “could take care of herself” so her older sister pretty much raised her.
Her father the whole time I lived there was a complete dick bag, constantly creating issues, never communicating with anyone, very poor gaslighting and manipulation because he’s not that smart, constantly using his wife’s money to go to bars when he’s been unemployed for well over a year and a half, etc. her mom was completely fine and was only mean if her husband was being a dick or something.
For 2 years I put up with him until we moved out so I wouldn’t blow up on him, the same reason my ex’s older sister and fiancé moved out, they couldn’t handle it anymore and it almost ruined their relationship. All while dealing with my own stuff, holding down a job and supporting my girlfriend, moving out for the sake of the family’s relationship, being basically a father figure to my little brother, and trying to be the best person that I can be.
Ik I shouldn’t have exploded but it’s been brewing for 2 years with everything, I now feel … free, like I can actually do the things I wanna do in my life. I never realized how stuck I was in everything, and I would still be there if it weren’t for the people that stood up for me and helped me stand up for myself.
Context with the car: I am on her parents car insurance and me and my ex bought it 50/50 and so I was going to pay her half no problem even though I don’t need to.
Anyways sorry that’s long kinda turned into me venting a little bit. But I did what I thought was right and texted her parents letting them know about the situation with me and my ex, I did the same to her aunt who has helped us out a lot and is a wonderful person and her older sister and older sisters fiancé. Just the ones most prominent in her life. Here’s how it went: here