Good titles for picture albums

I was with my first love for 3 and a bit years, we met in late 2010 before we broke up 10 years ago in early 2014. We were young and in our early 20s back then, things just fizzled out.
I've always thought about her but eventually we went our separate ways, she got in to a relationship with another guy after me for a few years but eventually he ended up cheating on her, this was around 2017.
After her breakup in 2017 I confessed my feelings for her but we didn't go anywhere with it as she was still healing so I told her I need to cut her off at the point because I told her I was struggling to be just friends with her, to which she said that she was heartbroken that's it come to us parting ways. But we wished each other well and went our separate ways. I was really at my lowest at that point but have come a really long way since in terms of having a successful career and have improved a lot financially and mentally.
At the start of 2019, she did add me on social media but she didn't say anything to me so a few days later I ended up deleting her because I realised I still wasn't over her, I regretted deleting her afterwards.
At the end of 2019 I heard that she was engaged, she ended up getting married but then I heard she got divorced around a year and a half ago. A few monthds ago I found out that the reason for her divorce was because her husband cheated on her and was abusive towards her. They got divorced around early 2022.
As for me I did get in to another relationship with someone else but I was also cheated on so I have been single for a few years now, I have been evolving in my career and proud of how far I've come and have recently started a new chapter in my career. I considered getting in touch with her a few months ago but I noticed that she had cut off a lot of people from her social media so I wasnt too sure how she'd react to me adding her, I thought she'd reject me seen as she's cutting off a lot of people.
So around 3 months ago I took the plunge seen as I had nothing to lose and sent her a request on instagram, and she has accepted and also followed me back. She's been viewing my stories and a month ago I posted a life quote on my story which she liked, I haven't spoke to her yet. I posted a few pictures of myself which she hasn't liked but A few weeks ago I posted a quote on my story that said 'be the reason for someone's pain to turn into a smile', she liked that quote and also another one that I posted last week. It was my birthday a few days ago and she liked a birthday story that I posted on instagram. I'm limiting the amount of posts that I like of hers because I don't want to seem too forward.
I'm assuming she is single but not entirely sure. I added her 3 months ago but she deleted me, I was confused because she only liked one of my stories few days prior. I would have liked to see if there was future for us but don't think she's interested now, i have messaged her saying 'Hi, hope your well. I probably should have said something a long time ago but I didn't, my fault. I've been praying for you, today I realise I've been deleted anyways I hope your keeping happy and healthy'. She replied saying 'Hey I'm good thanks hope you are too, that is kind of you, I didn't expect this kind of message'.
I didn't really know what to say back to her, I still don't understand why she deleted me even though days before she was showing an interest in my stories before and now she's deleted me. I have just replied saying 'that's good. Sorry for catching you off guard with it, I wanted to reach out to you earlier. I'm glad your doing well though' and now she has replied back saying 'can I ask why?' I replied back saying 'It's been on my mind for a while to get back in touch with you, I didn't add you for no reason. But we don't need to if it's not something your comfortable with'. She has now sent a long message as follows: 'You don’t make me feel uncomfortable. I have thought about you over the years and wished you well.
I removed you because you have my ex and his family on your instagram and I removed everyone who has any contact with them. You will have heard that I was married there for a short period of time but it was hell and now I’m out of it I don’t want them knowing anything about my life, so I removed everyone who has any link with them. I didn’t realise till that day that you did. It was nothing to do with you personally.' .
Im not actually friends with her ex husband as he is just someone that lives nearby to me and we have never spoken so I have now replied with this: 'I'm sorry that you had to go through that, I hope your okay and I pray god brings you ease. I wouldn't exactly say I have anything to do with them personally though, only thing I know about them is that they're from my area too. It makes sense now and it's understandable why you did that.'
She has replied back again saying 'I'm great, God is the best of planners and it was the best thing for me. Even so, I removed everyone who had us both so sorry about that' and to which I have replied 'That's fair enough, I'm glad to hear your doing well though and that your at peace now. That's what matters most'. She had now asked 'how have you been, what's new with you?' I have just replied saying 'I'm not too bad thanks, life's changed a lot since we last spoke so there's quite a lot that's new lol'. That was few nights ago, and after that we were speaking generally about the holiday that I'm currently on and what to do as she has been here before too and she also asked how long I'm there for, it was in general a short and civilised conversation.
She ended the conversation 6 nights ago by liking my last message, I don't know if she plans to message me again as she did take a few hours to reply between each message, What are the chances that she'll message me even if we don't follow each other on instagram anymore. I am slightly anxious that she won't message me after this due to her deleting me because her ex is on my Instagram. Was thinking of just giving her space for a few more days, then deleting her ex and requesting her back in around a weeks time.

So this was removed from nosleep due to an "incomplete story" but I really like it the way I wrote it originally so here it is. Currently working on editing it to fit nosleep properly but we'll see.
*** “She left me.” Muffled sobs dampen my shoulder as I hold my best friend close. “I’ll never see her again.”
I’m sorry, sweetie,” I try to soothe, but she’s inconsolable. It’s a pity, too…her last girlfriend was such a nice girl. I hate to think of where she is now.
“Dani, will you stay with me?” I can’t say no to those wide, pleading eyes, the crystalline tears streaming down her cheeks. I can never say no to her.
Lila and I (both mid-20s F) have been best friends for as long as I can remember. My first memories as a child include her, and according to my parents we’ve been inseparable from day one. I don’t really remember her parents, though, but she’s always been an independent girl. An independent girl who depends on others for validation, which is something she refuses to admit. But I know that. I know her.
I’ve been in love with her since we were teens, and that was also when she started dating around, falling in love with girl after girl. I resigned myself to the best friend role, telling myself that someday I would be the one to take center stage, but I was content with being the shoulder to cry on, the comforting voice accompanied by back rubs.
She would inevitably break up with her girlfriends, or they would break up with her, which was more surprising considering how starstruck each one would look. Each one was smitten with her, so why would they simply leave her? And why, after every single break up, would they leave the state and basically drop off the grid? I didn’t know why until very recently.
And now I no longer want to confess. I don’t know if I even want to remain friends, but I’m more afraid of running away from her without a word. And it’s hard to pretend I don’t still have feelings for her, regardless.
Even now, as Lila clings onto me for comfort, I can’t deny that I’m happy to be there for her.
“I want to be in love again.” Lila stares off into the distance with a wistful expression, tear tracks still smeared over her cheeks. “I want to feel that passion, that spark that turns into a fire…until it consumes us in flames.”
She looks to me, desperate for understanding that only I can give her. And I do, smiling sympathetically, squeezing her hands. No one can understand her like I do, even if we can’t be a couple. Even if I hold my breath every time I’m around her, afraid to so much as breathe wrong.
After a while, she calms down, gratefully accepting tissues to wipe away her tears. She sniffles a little, dabbing at bloodshot eyes, as I put on a movie for some background noise. I know her place like the back of my hand, so I know where everything is. Unfortunately that means I also know some things I really shouldn’t.
Settling back down on the couch, I pull her into my side, letting her snuggle up to me like always.
“I wish I could just date a girl like you,” Lila sighs. “Maybe I should just start dating you.”
I force myself to crack a smile. “Nah, you wouldn’t like dating me. Besides, I like having you as a friend and not a girlfriend.”
She giggles. “Me too, Dani, me too.”
I don’t tell her about how once I’d come over to her house randomly, just to surprise her, and didn’t realize she was out. I don’t say a word about how I found a photo album she’d never shown me before–odd, because doesn’t she show me everything?–and couldn’t resist opening it.
I don’t mention my stunned horror upon seeing picture after picture of past girlfriends, bodies broken and mangled beyond recognition, but always with their faces intact. One of them still had her hands, and another girl still had her collarbone. Those pictures were labeled “Saving the best for last <3” and that caption nearly made me drop the album. But I kept looking. So many pictures of the bodies littered with inhuman teeth marks next to handwritten declarations of love for each girl. All their lovely qualities accompanied by how wonderful their flesh tasted.
I don’t tell her about how I slammed the album shut and placed back where it was. I don’t tell her that when she got home that day and saw me chilling on her couch as usual, I was actually steeling my resolve to never confess my love to her. Ever.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still very much in love with her. “But you saw all those pictures,” you might say…well, yes. But there’s something about that angelic face and perfect skin drenched with blood that just does it for me. And she’s still so beautiful, both inside and out. Can I help being drawn to her like a moth to a tantalizing flame? Looking at those pictures made me realize–there’s no way a normal human could have torn into flesh like that with their bare hands. I won’t bring that up, though.
What I will bring up is that there’s a girl at work that I think Lila would absolutely adore. She’s pretty but deep down, so ugly. Ugly enough to try and sabotage me at work, badmouthing me to other coworkers and even taking a promotion from me. Surely Lila would just love her, and love to love her, and love to have her.
But still…am I wrong for keeping my feelings to myself?

My criteria:
•Play on a team that gets little national coverage or isn’t a perineal powerhouse.
•These will be players that are either already very good, or have potential to breakout & be good.
• Only P4 players I will include will have to play on teams that aren’t historically in the conversation to win conference titles or national titles.
• No true freshmen from the 2024 class, only players that played snaps in the 2023 CFB season.
Hopefully these players I list will help you guys when deciding on what team to use in dynasty for your rebuild, these guys I showcase will be players who more than likely will provide relief and big plays for your program!
First player will be posted today @ 4pm CST!
Hint ( he’s a player from the Mountain West & he’s UBER explosive!)

So a few months ago I cut my (step)“father” out of my life for good. He met me when I was 4, and my biological “father” walked out before I was born so wasn’t in the picture (he didn’t want me so tried to hurt my Mum whilst she was pregnant with me). So, he eventually became my “Dad”. Let’s call him Jason
I got together with my husband when I was 17, and he noticed traits of emotional abuse from Jason to myself- but as per usual, I was blind to it. He didn’t speak about it because he didn’t want me to realise and be hurt. However, after my Mum died it all started creeping out the cracks. Jason was adamant that he was suffering from grief the most, that nobody could possibly understand the pain he was in… yeah.. we all understood. I snapped and couldn’t take it anymore, and actually began to think of what I needed. He then turned and became more of a monster
I came to realise everything. All the emotional abuse, all the sick things he did, and it’s really messed me up. I’ve tried to take my life over it multiple times, I’ve hurt myself, I started falling back into addiction. I’m not coping with it whatsoever
Jason and I had many mutual friends, and he’s been talking crap about me to so many people. I’ve kept as many people out of it as possible, I don’t speak about it to any of those friends, because I’m not suddenly going to make people “pick” between us
I just want to move on with my life; pick up the pieces of myself and heal. Focus on what really matters. However, him and his crap always finds a way to hurt me more. He’s twisted my brother to see me as the villain, I’m so sure he’s twisted some of the mutual friends against me too, and these are people I love so dearly
Those closest to me give me so much love and support, I have beautiful children that give me a reason to stay alive, but there are times I really can’t cope with it… which terrifies me because I don’t want to snap and end up taking my life. But those thoughts go through my head so often, and I’m fighting so hard to keep going
What else can I do to stop him hurting me more? What should I do about the mutual friends that aren’t being the same with me anymore?? I feel like the world’s biggest burden asking for help (surprise, that stems from the abuse from Jason), but I don’t want to die. I already have enough health stuff going on, I don’t need this looming over me anymore than it already is
Thank you for reading. Lots of love x

Well a couple weeks ago I found a more affordable GT-2000 listed on the Bay. It was a little “broken in” the plinth need touched up, and the tone arm had some residue to clean off. It was also stated in the description that the dust cover was cracked and would likely be further damaged during shipping. But it had all its parts and pieces even the whole antiskate assembly.
I decided if I got it at a low enough price, none of that would matter. I could have a custom dust cover made, and a few nicks and scuffs didn’t bother me. The GT-2000 was already one of the lowest prices on the site, but it had a make an offer button…so I did. I offered 1200 shipped, 200 less than listed. Figured they’d counter offer something higher.
Well they counter offered at the same price, but sent a message saying “only buy if you can pay immediately, it’s for sale locally as well”. No worries, had the money set aside so I accepted the offer, knowing it may get a rough treatment coming from Japan to the US. I messaged the seller and requested that they take extra care shipping it overseas. The seller agreed, I was optimistic.
The seller provided tracking data and let me know they shipped in two boxes (awesome, the platter weighs a ton so separating the two was a great sign).
Now the sad part…yesterday the first package arrived, my wife had moved it inside after taking a picture of the delivery condition…it was bad…like “I just shit my pants in the middle of a very important job interview bad. It was crumpled, the corners were torn out and several tears in the box sides were evident. I don’t think you could abuse a package more, it looked like someone drove over it and backed up a few times to make sure they got it good. I’m my head I’m just repeating “please be the platter”. It wasn’t.
The dust cover was the first piece revealed after opening and pulling back the packaging, or rather was the first few pieces, it was shattered in many pieces. Well shit, I already knew that was going to be the case. I pull back more packaging and start to see the plinth…it’s covered in splinters from the veneer breaking off, damn, well that’s cosmetic.
Once I finished pulling back the bubble wrap I see the tonearm…well it was s-shaped to begin with but now it’s s-shaped in multiple directions. It had a significant down turn right after the arm rest. So it’s a goner unless I want to pay another $800 usd for a tonearm.
I’ve contacted the seller, I let him know the bad news and offered that if he can find another YA-39 tonearm and send it, or refund about $600 for me to buy one on my own, I would accept that. If that can’t be worked out I will have to return it (it’s about 30kg of total weight, such a beast!) so I imagine that isn’t cheap return shipping for the seller. I have until mid June to file a return, so maybe something can be worked out, but I doubt it.
The worst part is, now that I’ve handled it and seen it in person…I want one like 10x more badly than I originally did. It’s so awesome, so sexy, and soooooo big (sure, sure, size doesn’t matter or whatever).
Dammit, I doubt I’ll be able to find another working GT-2000 close to that price, and I really wanted a table for my man cave that would look awesome and play awesome. Even if I save up for a while longer, I’m not sure I can justify the likely$2k it would cost to buy one that is comparable, $1200 was already pushing what I was comfortable paying for a decent table.
But damn I really want one.

Heyo Im a Lad from europe (GMT+1) looking for people that I could click with or match similar vibe during initial conversation to potentially form a longer discord/internet contact that would ideally include stuff like semi-daily chatting, sharing memes or gaming and such, gotta see how it sorts out
Im INFP-T homebody, which means I spend most of the free time at home meaning my evenings are mostly free, currently in the void and I dont really have anything to fill the time between and I have hard time finding good activies just for myself
I like to describe myself as someone stuck between neet and normal person and thus I have trouble finding contacts, additionaly I like being silly, rarely serious, carefree, clueless, I adjust myself to people I talk to, other stuff coming to my mind is being anxious and having high morals
I'm somewhat of a carefree, dumb and kind person but I have tendency to overthink stuff and get mood shifts
Interest from top of my head include video games and anime outside of that there is stable diffusion, browsing art, collecting things, paranormal, occult/creepy/paranormal stuff, warhammer ,touhou project, meditation, worldbuilding
Random stuff:
-Limbus company is the GOAT
-ffxiv dawntrail waiting room
-I stutter
-I live with 1 dog and 3 cats
-Great teacher onizuka, gintama and ikkitousen are one of my first and fav anime titles
-Grew up on PS1 stuff
-"I listen to every type of music"
-Ai generation is cool and would like to learn to draw one day
-I have huge collection of touhou pictures and music

Title says it all! I have enjoyed Joni's work through For The Roses. I haven't heard much after that but I am sure there must be some songs or albums I would enjoy in her vast later discography. I like a huge variety of music (rock, folk, prog rock, post punk, art pop, and country to name a few styles I like) but I am not big on jazz. I enjoy some vocal jazz standards a bit but other than that jazz kinda seems like nervous background music to me. Can anyone share any recommendations?

Heyo Im a Lad from europe (GMT+1) looking for people that I could click with or match similar vibe during initial conversation to potentially form a longer discord/internet contact that would ideally include stuff like semi-daily chatting, sharing memes or gaming and such, gotta see how it sorts out
Im INFP-T homebody, which means I spend most of the free time at home meaning my evenings are mostly free, currently in the void and I dont really have anything to fill the time between and I have hard time finding good activies just for myself
I like to describe myself as someone stuck between neet and normal person and thus I have trouble finding contacts, additionaly I like being silly, rarely serious, carefree, clueless, I adjust myself to people I talk to, other stuff coming to my mind is being anxious and having high morals
I'm somewhat of a carefree, dumb and kind person but I have tendency to overthink stuff and get mood shifts
Interest from top of my head include video games and anime outside of that there is stable diffusion, browsing art, collecting things, paranormal, occult/creepy/paranormal stuff, warhammer ,touhou project, meditation, worldbuilding
Random stuff:
-Limbus company is the GOAT
-ffxiv dawntrail waiting room
-I stutter
-I live with 1 dog and 3 cats
-Great teacher onizuka, gintama and ikkitousen are one of my first and fav anime titles
-Grew up on PS1 stuff
-"I listen to every type of music"
-Ai generation is cool and would like to learn to draw one day
-I have huge collection of touhou pictures and music

Hello Looking to trade my knife for these three items if someone has them. It would be a good trade for you. B/o is listed above in title. Open other offers. Thanks for reading and your time.
[H] Navaja Doppler Black Pearl .01 [W] Driver Gloves Rezan the Red FT, Shadow Daggers Autotronic mw, and Huntsman Autotronic mw
Trade Link- https://steamcommunity.com/tradeoffenew/?partner=361244510&token=1olz6WpQ
Profile- https://steamcommunity.com/id/Southern-Trader

Heyo Im a Lad from europe (GMT+1) looking for people that I could click with or match similar vibe during initial conversation to potentially form a longer discord/internet contact that would ideally include stuff like semi-daily chatting, sharing memes or gaming and such, gotta see how it sorts out
Im INFP-T homebody, which means I spend most of the free time at home meaning my evenings are mostly free, currently in the void and I dont really have anything to fill the time between and I have hard time finding good activies just for myself
I like to describe myself as someone stuck between neet and normal person and thus I have trouble finding contacts, additionaly I like being silly, rarely serious, carefree, clueless, I adjust myself to people I talk to, other stuff coming to my mind is being anxious and having high morals
I'm somewhat of a carefree, dumb and kind person but I have tendency to overthink stuff and get mood shifts
Interest from top of my head include video games and anime outside of that there is stable diffusion, browsing art, collecting things, paranormal, occult/creepy/paranormal stuff, warhammer ,touhou project, meditation, worldbuilding
Random stuff:
-Limbus company is the GOAT
-ffxiv dawntrail waiting room
-I stutter
-I live with 1 dog and 3 cats
-Great teacher onizuka, gintama and ikkitousen are one of my first and fav anime titles
-Grew up on PS1 stuff
-"I listen to every type of music"
-Ai generation is cool and would like to learn to draw one day
-I have huge collection of touhou pictures and music

For a fantasy role-playing game with 60-70 players, as the title implies, I have made a second character that should help me get more out of the game. What guidance, if any, would you offer from an outsider standpoint? As I was combat-focused in the previous character, I believe I will avoid waiting around less now. He will be a hunter with goods to sell, and by networking and being aware of tasks that need to be completed, he will become more involved in the story. In addition, a news letter about the events will be published by him. I have learnt from the previous character to "deversify my portfolio" and avoid being too focused in one area. What strategies have you used in your games to strengthen your second character?

*Management style:
Not democratic/participative. Not transformational. Not Coaching. Very much Autocratic/Authoritative/Coercive. Sometimes Laissez-faire. Style depends on the department.
*Chain of command:
The ministry is seen as a church by top management. Top management are the “elders” and the CEO is the Senior Pastor. Then there is everybody else. So, confidence is put on their positions of authority. They are, in all sense and purposes, the “spiritual leaders”. They present themselves as having spiritual authority and, therefore, as being entitled to receive immediate agreement and unquestioned compliance.
Also, there are multiple management layers or chains which this quote sums up as well:
"When you become an admiral, you never have bad meals and you never hear the truth. there are all these layers of management and buffer layers and each one is afraid to tell unpleasant truth to the top levels.... “
Not a culture of authenticity where everyone on the team, including management, is encouraged, and expected to be who they are. There is a sense that top management puts up a false front, they seem to want to appear perfect. Illusions of invulnerability exist. They always lead well, they always make the right decisions, they never admit mistakes, etc. Want people to think they got it all together- all rainbows and lollipops. Do not exhibit vulnerability. Toxic positivity is also very much present: Everything is seen as “awesome”. So, there is judgment if you have a bad (not "everything is awesome") day.
The vertical chain of command, results in less collaboration, slow communication, lack of career growth, feelings of subordination, and decreased employee empowerment. Top management sets the rules and standards without any input from the “bottom” employees. Employee questions, concerns or ideas have to go up several steps of the chain of command so that upper management can address or approve. The bottom employees do not have the ability to make decisions related to their work or a particular situation. So, not everyone feels equal.
So, if you are not a spiritual leader, you are just basically told to submit and listen to those who are in authority over you because they are the people that “hear from God” and you are not and so whatever they say goes. And they set up a scenario where they basically kept those of us who were not spiritual leaders dependent upon them.
Many in management are overconfident and overestimate their abilities. They have a simple idea of how things are and how things work. Unfortunately, they make decisions that impact entire departments without gaining the needed knowledge.
The chain of command and lack of ongoing training also results in many employees being promoted so much that they max out their competence and will remain there until they leave or are let go. So, you end up with many in the role of management that lack the training and competence of the respective department. So, employees with the most authority are often not the most experienced and not adept in the particular field leading team members. And employees with the most experience and skills and knowledge and wisdom have the least (or no) authority.
Good leaders don’t always claim the “leader” title. Oftentimes, good leaders are those with more understated temperaments. Leadership is as much about listening as it is about telling. However, people with the most open and receptive personalities often do not have much authority.
Also, how the chain of command should operate when there is a unit that acted without proper authorization, it is not a junior authority who’s going to bear a responsibility for that, but somewhat of more senior status. And that’s true in any military or business or ministry operating by a code of ethics. So, if someone at the bottom of the chain is struggling, failing, or making mistakes, those at the top of the chain bear full responsibility. Everything stands or falls on leadership. Unfortunately, the chain at FCBH is not two directional.
There is also a sense that top management promotes employees who are least-competent but pose no risk to their own position (in-group bias) to management.
*Feedback:
Work environment or culture is not set up for employees to give honest feedback/opinions or to deliver bad news or to question or disagree with management.
Sample bias is also common. Management will send an email asking for feedback but they won't consider how only the people who are open to talking and sharing their opinions will participate while others won’t. Bias arises because employees with specific characteristics (e.g., extroverts) might be more likely to agree to participate than others, making the participants a non-representative sample. People with strong opinions or substantial knowledge about a specific topic may be more willing to give feedback than those without. Management does not follow up to determine why they are unresponsive or follow up frequently to reduce attrition.
Management claims they want to hear from employees, but they only want opinions and ideas on matters that are superficial or trivial. So, few employees give candid feedback on important and significant matters.
Top management does not involve employees in the change process when changes occur.
Management does not ask for honest feedback on their leadership or on decisions that are made that affect employees. Management will not ask how they are doing as leaders, what employees need from them. No regular check-ins or 1:1 on employees’ professional and personal well-being. Are employees stressed, disappointed or feeling burdened physically, emotionally or spiritually? No growth and career discussions.
Management will ignore most feedback, comments, suggestions even when it's common knowledge but will adamantly listen to employees who preface with "God told me to tell you..." Or “I felt God say …” or “God spoke to me and said…”
For example, management started focusing on Gen Z only after a few people claimed that “God told us that Gen Z are important for our future business growth.” In another instance, someone said “God gave us this word: we as a ministry need to really consider how everyone is wired, how each person is different. How people have different personalities.” Then, management affirmed this “word from God.”
If one employee brings something up to management it is often ignored and the employee is gaslighted. If two or more employees bring the same thing to management, then God is communicating something and they take it seriously (per Matt 18). Even if it is just coincidence or frequency bias.
*Groupthink/Conformity:
Groupthink, confirmation bias, in-group bias, illusions of unanimity, and self-censorship is very prevalent in the culture and especially in their meetings. There is a lot of direct pressure to not question, to conform, to agree with the views and personal convictions of the top management. Employees condemn those who disagree or question top management and they accept those who agree, creating immense pressure for conformity.
So, many employees frequently remain quiet, preferring to “keep the peace” rather than disrupt the uniformity. Employees are pressured to hide problematic information (especially from top management).
*Disagreements/Different perspectives:
Top management will also point out the working and living conditions of international employees to “encourage” local employees to not “complain” or give critical feedback or bring up legitimate problems (e.g., fumes or loud noises from construction in the building).
Management also often commits the "ends (or goals or vision) justify the means" fallacy: the work, the production and distribution of bibles (the ends) being done is more important, so employees shouldn't complain at all about the means or their working conditions (broken chairs, broken or inadequate equipment, poor work-life balance, bad management).
And, if management disagrees with you, with your observations, feedback, suggestions, or theology, they will often try to trump you with spirituality or vague meaningless spiritual terminology instead of using Scripture (properly interpreted), facts and reasoning.
In addition, top managers will take great offense when employees question or disagree with the directions and decisions they make. Dissent is not welcomed. Respectful debates/disagreement is not encouraged. Open discussion and alternative perspectives are not encouraged. Management does not value, support, or respect diverse opinions and ideas. They do not actively seek out different viewpoints. Do not allow people to speak their perspective, their thought of mind. So, there is no psychological safety. Employees do not feel comfortable expressing dissenting opinions without fear of retribution or judgment. Afraid of breaking the little glass image. People do not feel comfortable sharing setbacks, mistakes, failures. Management does not encourage open communication. Management often seeks agreement, instead of posing honest questions that challenge the status quo and provoke critical thinking and discussion. They do not encourage employees to challenge them. In fact, they are seen as a type of complaining or critical feedback and so are viewed as sin. This makes top management seem self-centered.
*Appeals to emotion: Guilt and Shame:
Top management often shares their personal opinions and convictions (e.g., spending money only when absolutely necessary, not accepting large gifts, not buying fancy items) as something everyone should do. It’s never direct. It's always through stories. Management loves stories. The personal convictions of management are presented as more than preferences.
For instance, top management encourages extreme frugality and poverty through their personal anecdotes #loudbudgeting and stories from international cultures. Think along the lines of: “we, here in America, have no right to be sad or to complain about things or to request better things or ask for accommodations or for more employee engagement because others (internationals) have it much worse.” Even wanting better equipment and supplies or asking for better working conditions is frowned upon (in some cases seen as a sin), even if your request helps you to do your job more effectively and makes the work better (a new whiteboard, a new office chair, better computers, etc.)
Example: “You should really try to come in to work even if you feel bad, even if you are snowed in and the roads are hazardous because people need to get our bibles. And our international employees work in much harsher conditions.”
You also get this feeling from the way they communicate that top management would rather not pay their employees. They would prefer it if everyone just worked for free because “we are on a mission from God. We are doing the Lord's work.” There is also a sense that employees should be more than willing to sacrifice their well-being, career goals, financial goals, personal goals for reaching people with their Bibles.
Leadership sets the example and expectations, so this all ends up making employees confused and feeling guilty and ashamed. Guilty and shameful about asks, spending money (even their own). Guilty and shameful about having nice things (new car, new phone, new tv), about making needs known, about sharing concerns regarding work, about asking for raises to keep up with cost of living, etc.
Example: An employee has continued to use an old whiteboard. It is so old it is hard to read and difficult to erase. Management likes to tell donors: “We don't spend money on everyday things like whiteboards…. Instead, we use that money for more bible recordings, for people to hear about Jesus.”
This also causes confusion. Every few months there is a meeting where management discusses how sitting on stores of money is bad, but spending it is also bad, but also not spending it is bad... "Being rich is bad. Money is bad. let's not accumulate money, that's bad. We must think about how people will see what we have. So we should look poor and not appear too frivolous." But top management is okay with receiving gifts from donors and other ministries. Management personally does not like to have nice “fancy” things, and as a ministry, they say FCBH should also not have nice fancy things, they should use the money for other more important things. They don't like when other ministries use their money for nice fancy things, but it's okay if other ministries give FCBH nice fancy things like tote bags, key chains, mugs, phone holders, lunch bags. Another example, it took them years to repaint the parking lot. It was at the point where people did not know where to park. Before repainting, management decided to remodel the hallways and install posters and multiple monitors with language stats.
There is also a subtle sense that producing audio and video bibles is the highest calling one can have. And it's implied that FCBH is the main means God uses to fulfill the great commission: “God needs FCBH to do these bible recordings or people (specifically unreached internationals) will go to hell.” So, top management hints that working anywhere else isn't really serving God (or at least, not serving God as well as one could if they worked somewhere else). They imply that working at this ministry is the only way to truly serve God and fulfill your calling. They also use this framing to guilt and shame employees into not quitting. Management implies that employees should not take opportunities to leave or take other jobs because getting the Bible to people is God’s highest calling for us as Christians:
“If anyone leaves FCBH, then they must not really understand the vision/calling. They are not committed to saving people. We should be willing to give up things to fulfill the calling. The apostles did not pursue better jobs and so God will provide if we need better pay, benefits, career. For those of us who join the ministry to hold true to get God's word to every person, it takes discipline because we have opportunities to do other things. I'm sure that Noah had problems with Builders because he probably had hundreds of people not thousands working on the ark. They started their own businesses and started side things going on. pretty soon they'll have no time to work with him on the ark. and you can have all kinds of diversionary things happen. and so we want to understand they focused in the ministry. and that's been one of the things that I've really tried to do is what did God tell me at the time this ministry began because I was not interested in this ministry. I was interested in living by faith and experiencing God through people and seeing people experience God. and when I was praying about that here in Albuquerque the Lord said bring my church together and make disciples. and then he also told me that when his people think the same they are one. so it's not a matter of getting rid of the buildings or the leaders but it's a matter of people thinking the same. They can go to different denominations, different buildings, have different teachers, and different preachers and leaders but once they think the same, they're one and that's what his objective was. and so that's when I felt like the Lord said get God's word to every person. So I'm challenging us to stay true to what God has called us to do. and every time somebody leaves the ministry there are reasons for leaving. but it startles me a little bit, because I think well we haven't, we haven't communicated the vision very well somehow because they didn't get it. like Noah building the arc. it it's a long project it's not a month or a year two years or three years. our immediate goal is 2033 and it means that we're committed to a cause. and that means some of us we give up something. I we've given up stuff we live in a small apartment and that's what we saw that God had us do and that's our lifestyle we we tone down our lifestyle to get the cause committed to the cause. and and I know that's difficult for some, in some cases maybe there's financial needs because of family growth and stuff there they just can't afford to work in the ministry. but sometimes it's a choice and every time somebody leaves it where it's actually a choice. I think we haven't communicated the mission very good the vision very good. I've been looking at is that could you imagine read reading the New Testament. and finding out that Peter about halfway through or Paul halfway through the ministry all of a sudden got a better job offer. and stopped their portion of the ministry they held the course no matter what happened. whether it was good or whether it was bad. Paul talks about this and sometimes we want to follow the Lord. but we don't impart on ourselves the same responsibilities that those disciples did. so when God Empower them is he empowering you in the same way. and you're making choices that maybe you shouldn't make that you will impart and say the Lord is leading me someplace else when in fact maybe it isn't. it's just a better offer. if the Bible in the New Testament was reading a little bit different than Stephen left the ministry at this point or James left the ministry at this point because of something I think we need to be very very careful and why I say that is that as we work internationally.”
SO, there is a lot of guilt and shame about leaving to pursue other interests or meet needs. Guilt and shame about wanting to leave to advance and develop professionally. For this reason, many remain “loyal” and stay at the ministry.
So there is lots of control and manipulation in the work culture.
*Weekly worship meetings:
These are mandatory and there are some legitimate concerns:
Top management seems to have misconceptions about true worship and worship experiences. They often reduce worship to singing by their communication, the way “worship” is used. Worship is seen as something we do on occasion - once a week, when we gather at work for the mandatory worship time. Top management, by ignoring other styles, seems to believe that there is a single style of worship which is correct for Christians.
And it seems like just about anyone can lead worship or be on the team: anyone that can play an instrument. Top management does not require a worship class or agreement to biblical principles concerning worship as a prerequisite for employees who desire to plan and lead worship experiences. So you end up with people who have different views/philosophies on the worship team. Unfortunately, many who lead do not take the time/effort to plan and lead worship experiences, to discern from songs that are better suited for individual or private worship from songs that are corporate or public worship, to discern songs that are controversial/questionable (have bad theology, weak theology), songs that are theologically ambiguous or songs that lean more towards “feminine” attributes. Most, if not all, of our modern “Christian” worship music is written at a simplistic level of understanding and comprehension. Most music tends to appeal to our emotions. Many songs appeal mostly to women. So there is a great need for teaching on the biblical principles concerning worship. Also a need to choose theologically balanced songs with music appropriate for the people. Unfortunately, many of the songs chosen are theologically incorrect (e.g., having elements from the Word Of Faith movement, New Apostolic Church, New Age). Songs are often not theologically balanced. Songs seem to be chosen for their emotional impact, to make employees feel good; many focus on just one aspect of God (e.g., love). Many promote self-centered worship.
Most of the worship leaders just sing the songs: They do not actually “lead” people into worship. They do not help people connect the lyrics of the song to where they are at in their personal life, to teach them something about God or help the people understand what this song means and what God wants them to get out of it, so they're not just singing songs and just doing, going through the motions or help them understand the depth and the richness of what lyrics mean and how it applies to their life. What matters to them seems to be whether songs are impactful, moving, and beautiful. (Whatever that means.) Whether songs make employees feel good. They don't seem to care whether the songs actually reflect truth: Do the lyrics line up with Scripture? Do the songs glorify self or God? How would new Christians or nonChristians interpret the song?
Theology is the study of God and it's very important doxology is an expression of praise to God so the point here is that all theologies should ultimately lead to doxology if theology doesn't lead to doxology then we've actually missed the point of theology so if you have theology without doxology you just have dead hold orthodoxy which is horrible. On the other side you have the people who say “forget about theology I just want to praise.” But if you have doxology without theology you actually have idolatry because it's just a random expression of praise but it's not actually informed by the truth of who God is so God is
concerned with both he's concerned with an accurate understanding of him and that accurate understanding of him leading to a response of praise adoration and worship towards him.
*Leadership quality:
Top management has more respect for donors and guests than their employees.
Management lacks basic core leadership principles/values:
Unfortunately, many employees are not given power or resources: Management just gives them the responsibility to get things done. Before responsibility is given, employees should be equipped: be empowered, have the authority, be given resources and have the experience. Employees are not empowered as individuals to solve their own problems using their own solutions. Micromanagement is often required every time the situation changes or problems arise. Employees are not inspired to act as leaders for themselves, delivering amazing performance without guidance. They have coaching sessions but only when there’s a problem. True coaching occurs regardless of whether the individual is crushing their goals or falling behind. Management does not seem to care about unlocking a person’s potential and getting the most of their performance. They seem only interested in producing more followers, not more leaders.
No method to hold management accountable to core values listed in their own Employee handbook. Employees are expected to abide by the procedures and rules described in the handbook but top management can choose to ignore it when it is convenient for them.
-Top management are NOT learners: No desire to develop and improve their skills.
-They do not ask employees: What’s one thing you see me doing—or failing to do—that you think I should change?
-They do not ask how they are doing as leaders. Or ask employees how they’re doing.
-They do not ask what employees need from management that they are not giving them.
-No performance evaluations for both management or non-managment.
-They often fail to emotionally connect with employees.
-They do not speak to employees' needs first.
-They do not focus on what they can put into people rather than what they can get out of them.
-They do not understand basic psychology, how people think and behave.
-They are often resistant to (and even hate) change: Perhaps because they fear losing control. In fact, new information, objective facts, research, stats, and even new ideas are often ignored in favor of what's easiest to do or because of tradition. If something has been done and “works”, top management does not see a reason to question it or to improve on it. If something was tried 5, 10, 20, even 50yrs before and failed, top management does not see a reason to try it again even if the exact circumstances have changed.
-They do not empower or give the means, the power or opportunity to do to employees.
-They do not trust others to follow through managing processes and performing tasks.
-They do not lead by example.
-They do not know when to move forward and when to back off, what to improve and how radical those improvements should be.
-They often fail to see options, and plan and prioritize.
-They fail to develop leaders around them.
-Their communication is often poor.
-Their listening is also poor: do not listen for more than facts, but also the feelings, meanings and undercurrents.
-They do not take the time to get to know the people they lead: no weekly check-ins which top organizations have to discuss how employees are doing professionally and personally. Management doesn't ask “what was good this week? What was not good this week? How is your well-being? How is your family?”
Competence in leadership skills is also poor.
-They are not teachable: not willing to keep learning, growing, improving in leadership and management practices: FCBH has a yearly “leadership” summit. But, the way it is set up, it reinforces weaknesses instead of challenging leadership growth.
The summit is also just for a select few in top management. Not every employee is seen as a leader so most employees are excluded.
Top managers attend the summit but there is no followup, no post accountability by other managers and especially by the employees that are under the managers. No discussion on how management will apply what was learned.
Some of the past speakers have had questionable characters and even questionable teachings (Judah Smith). Leadership qualifications and theological background seems to be ignored in favor of charismatics, dynamics, popularity.
-Top management does not take responsibility for their part of a disagreement or failure and apologize.
-They often embrace a victim mentality.
-They often limit yourself by your job title.
-They do not invest in better tools or processes.
-They are content with the status quo.
-They allow their past achievements to stagnate their desire to keep learning.
-There is a lack of discernment, finding the main cause of problems/issues.
-They do not anticipate problems.
-They do not accept the truth of the problem: Do not face up to the reality of the situation;
-They get bogged down in the details.
-They often avoid problems.
-They don’t deal well with problems.
-They do not have their team study all angles.
-They often do not value nontraditional thinking: Don’t embrace change, ambiguity and uncertainty well.
-They do not work well with differences.
-They do not have their own mentors or provide mentorship to others.
-They do not invest to improve their own professional or leadership skills.
-They are often insecure, constantly seek validation, acknowledgement and love.
-They limit employee's success and recognition:
-They do not seem interested in making people successful: Don’t attempt to remove barriers that prevent employees from being successful.

• They often feel threatened by accomplishments by employees who are not management:

If an employee who is not management has a great idea to improve the work, management often does not support it and may secretly try to shut it down.
When a team succeeds, management will not give other people credit and instead take the credit themselves.
It seems like some of the people working there were given the title of management, the position, and that alone made them qualified. Management or leaders assume that their position alone qualifies them to make critical decisions where they may not have the best data, insight, wisdom, skill, experience. Just because one may have the word “manger” in the job title, does not automatically make them a great leader. Leadership is about dealing with people, and the dynamics between those people, and influencing people.
*Dead end career path:
For the most part, top management assumes that team members are fine and "settled", rather than taking the time to understand their true feelings and needs. They do not ask employees where they are struggling, where they are having trouble, what frustrates them the most?
Management does not seem interested in making employees better both personally or professionally. They do not have a growth plan or professional development plan for employees. No job related training. They do not provide what is needed to help employees to grow and improve. They don't provide opportunities for employees to apply their talents and expertise. They don’t ask how they can better support employees. Employees don’t check on each other.
One is expected to work until health deteriorates and skills become obsolete so you leave in a worse place than you started. For most employees, there is no long term future with the organization. Management does not let employees know how they are doing and what the future looks like for them. What the opportunities are. They do not take the time to learn from employees what they want to be. No honest conversations to understand employees goals and ambitions. So, because there is no growth or development plan, no career path, once your skills are outdated, they will probably let you go or they will keep you in the same position and your salary will max out.
Management does not coach employees on how to manage their time, priorities, and energy; no teaching on how to problem solve, or make better decisions, or how to set boundaries or how to minimize context switching and zoom fatigue.

I love listening to soundtracks, and video game soundtracks have gotten really amazing over the years.
I am putting together a playlist of some of the best music in gaming, and am looking for suggestions too!
Can you please let me know what’s your favourite game music track.
I know a lot of people would say that the entire soundtrack is good, but I m looking for 1 favourite song, not an album!
Cheers!

Title says it all. If I am in the park right at 8, would I have time to ride something quickly before having to report for WAT at roughly 8:30? If so, what would be some good choices. I don't think FOP is in play, but maybe Navi River? Dinosaur? I appreciate your help. Thanks for reading!

Hi Reddit,
I'm in need of some advice regarding my current marital situation and the potential sale of our home. To give you the full picture, I'll start from the beginning. Apologies for the length, but I feel all the details are necessary to understand the context.
I (29F) met my husband (40M) on Tinder four years ago. We dated for about eight months when my family had an opportunity to purchase a property. My then-boyfriend was also looking to be involved in a business deal of that sort, and he was interested in having his name on the property as well. My father supported this, seeing as how my boyfriend was a physician with a good income, and saw this as a way to bring him closer to our family. The opportunity came quickly, and we all signed the contract to purchase the house.
Trouble began shortly after this. My boyfriend requested that only he and I be on the title of the house, removing the rest of my family, as he saw a future with us and envisioned it as our potential family home. My father was very pleased to hear this and supported it, so we obliged. During this time, the property had increased in value, and I requested the other family members be paid off so we could buy out their shares. My boyfriend declined, feeling it was unfair.
To skim over some details, here are the highlights of the construction: My boyfriend paid more for the down payment than we initially realized would be required. Because of this, he paid no further construction costs. The construction proceeded with debt from my family until the construction loans came through. My family paid for the construction, and my father built the house for us without charging for his management services. My father was displeased with my boyfriend’s behavior and required him to pay more money for the construction due to inflation and the COVID shutdown. My boyfriend declined, and my mother and I secretly took out a line of credit to front the construction costs to my father, pretending it was from my boyfriend. Eventually, as we got the construction loans on a rolling basis after meeting construction milestones, my mother’s line of credit was paid off.
During this time, my family and I wondered why my boyfriend had not proposed. I decided that if he hadn't proposed by a certain time, I would leave him. Fortunately, he did propose on Valentine’s Day 2022. By spring of 2022, construction was coming to an end, and it was time for us to settle into the house. My fiancé felt uncomfortable with how much money he had put into the house and was worried I could leave him and make a profit. I promised him I wouldn’t leave him, but it wasn’t enough. He said he would believe me if I had a child with him, otherwise women would leave men if there were no ties. I told him I would have a child with him right when we got married. He suggested I come off birth control, as it takes months for a woman’s cycle to normalize after being on birth control for many years. I promised him I would come off birth control.
Coming off birth control was more stressful than I realized. I was very hormonal, breaking out, and felt unlike myself. This contributed to my fiancé and I fighting more than usual. In one particularly heated fight, I told him I would go back on birth control and even purchased the pills, but he told me he would break up with me if I did because he wanted to get to know the real me. I conceded, and then something switched in me and I became excited at the possibility of having a baby. I started tracking my cycle and figuring out my ovulation days. I shared this with my fiancé, and on one of those days, we got pregnant. I didn’t find out until the end of summer 2022. When I did find out, I told my fiancé and suggested we should probably get married.
My fiancé's first response was that we should wait to see if the baby sticks, and if it does, then we can plan a marriage but he wanted to wait until February 2023. I was very disappointed and angry and yelled at him. I felt alone and overwhelmed by the thought of having an illegitimate child. After discussing potentially getting an abortion, potentially breaking up, and potentially selling the house, I talked my fiancé into keeping the baby and getting married. He also wanted to keep the baby but was afraid of our situation. After many fights about when to have the wedding, we finally decided on December 2022. At that point, I was four months pregnant. During this time, my fiancé and I had major arguments that therapy couldn’t even remedy. We would yell at each other, slam doors, I would cry, and he would hold himself up in a room for hours. We had nice moments too, but they were heavily clouded over by the bad.
Finally, we got married, and things were good for a while. But then we faced some marital problems. My husband kept separate accounts and managed the finances himself. We had a joint credit card where I could pay for expenses without being questioned. He made all of the major investment decisions and major purchases. If I tried to disagree or speak up, he would get upset because this was not the submissive wife I had promised him I would be. I made significantly less money than him but lived a good lifestyle, buying almost anything I wanted within reason. Coming from a traditional family, I was upset that finances were kept separate. And so it continued that my husband would invest tens of thousands of dollars into our house so that his family from out of town would visit. We live in Vancouver, Canada, but his family is from Ottawa. In hopes of luring his youngest sister (of four) to Vancouver, my husband would make any modification to the house that his youngest sister showed the slightest interest in. This included a hot tub on the rooftop, a media system in the basement, a movie projector, and much more. After said sister got married, she made it clear that she would not move to Vancouver. Then a switch happened in my husband, and he suddenly wanted to sell the house.
Meanwhile, during all this time, I had my baby, and my husband and I were still fighting more than ever. I felt no support from him, and he felt drained by his work, our fights, and being away from his family. Recently, for the past three months, he has been consistently pushing for the sale of our house. This is where my dilemma lies. I am afraid to sell this house because my husband has kept finances separate, and the mortgage on this house has been serving as a way for me to feel secure. My husband contributes a monthly amount on a regular basis. He could have forced a sale in the past but didn’t, instead paying into the monthly mortgage on top of other bills. Now, he is considering forcing the sale of our house, but I am upset that he is citing financing as the issue when I have been begging him to save money instead of spending (his response is that $200,000 does not affect a $2M mortgage, and that he now feels burnt out and wants to retire sooner and live passively). If I agree to sell, I feel unstable about moving from our home given that my husband and I fight so frequently, and I am left alone to take care of the child. It is also worth noting that my parents live right across the street and come over frequently to help with the child, or I would go over to seek their help. My husband says that he feels abandoned and uncomfortable frequently because of our proximity to my parents, but I am because there have been times when I felt truly alone, and my parents were my only solace and support. My husband would ignore me for days, especially when I was postpartum and vulnerable. My parents now see my husband as someone who doesn’t put his wife and child first. My husband says that the massive mortgage we have is too stressful for him, and he can’t take that burden. I am sad that my husband will not consider keeping this house for another three years so that I can get comfortable with the idea of selling the house and that potentially I and my family can all move to Ottawa so that we can allow my husband to be closer to his family.
I don’t know what to do at this point, Reddit. I’m currently on extended maternity leave, but it ends in six months. My husband and I will have to come to an agreement about the house, otherwise, it is likely that he will force the sale of the house even if I’m not ready to move. I’ve consistently felt rushed and overlooked in this relationship. I am tired of being the small voice that does not impact decision-making. My husband is now being nice to me and trying to show me a good time, but I see it as him turning on his charming mode so that I can say yes to the sale of this house. I’m not sure what to do. Our fights and disagreements are so bad and the marriage feels like doom sometimes (never any physical violence). I sometimes questions even staying with him, but I worry for my daughter. He is a good father to her, when he is present and off his phone.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
TL;DR:
I need advice. I met my husband four years ago, and we bought a house together with my family's help. Financial disputes caused issues. Despite getting married and having a baby, we fight often. My husband handles our finances separately, spent a lot on the house, but now wants to sell it. I feel insecure about selling because the mortgage is like an investment to me, and also I rely on my parents, who live nearby, for help with our child. My husband feels stressed by the mortgage and feels homesick for his family 3000km away. I feel overlooked in decision-making and am unsure whether to agree to the sale, or to stand my ground and not sell. Sometimes I question staying in the marriage for my daughter’s sake, or is it better give up on this unhappy marriage.

Forgive me for how bad this is because I'm awful at writing posts especially about myself but I'd love to meet some cool people and have some chilled chats about anything!
Here is some basic information about me if you're interested:
I'm Rory from the North Of Ireland and yes, I've got a weird accent
I currently work for the government, unfortunately I'm not a spy or anything exciting like that
I love music and I'm always going to gigs but my taste changes all the time, Some of my favourites lately are IDLES, Viagra Boys, The Smile, and Fleet Foxes. I also love sharing songs and playlists so feel free to send them my way
I'm a big traveller and love going on adventures especially to new places
I'm a bit of a gamer and play PS5/PC but I'm a bit of a loner in that department and would be down to play with some new people
I have a unhealthy addiction collecting vinyls
I'm constantly rewatching the same tv shows such as the office, it's always sunny in philadelphia, peep show, and the thick of it but I'm open for more recommendations
I enjoy reading books or watching documentaries on true crime and Irish history because I'm a loser
If none of the above interests you I have two dogs who are the best bois in the world and I can just provide pictures of them
I don't know else to say and feel like I've rambled on enough so hit me up if you'd like to! Have a good day! :)

as the title says I'm just looking for some people to talk to, I get pretty bored pretty often so having some new interesting friends would be nice! I don't care about gender, sexuality etc... no judgment from me whatsoever just please be up for a nice convo!
so ig this is the bit where I say about myself. I'll be pretty vague to keep the convos interesting)) Firstly I obsess over music, I play guitar, love music and collect vinyl. I'm very big into motorsport/cars. on that topic I also watch a lot of sport (various types). I take quite a big interest in movies/TV shows. I'm also trying to get back in shape recently, I had an injury not so long back so things have been pretty tricky on that side. i do game a bit (ps5 mostly) so it could be pretty fun for us to potentially play something at some point.
it doesn't really matter if we have similar interests or not to me!! if we do then awesome, we can nerd out together. if not then tell me all about what you're into, I'd love to hear!!!
looking forward to any replies I do get, I'll reply to everyone. have a good day, thanks for reading, much love, stay classy San Diego

Title says it all, really. VAB has been absolute dogshit in my portfolio. The 2010s were a terrible time to be buying bonds, but those were prime accumulation years for me. I was in my 40s and therefore needed some allocation to fixed income.
However, it went down hard with everything else in 2020, and I'm still 7.5% underwater even after a few years of DRIP, rebalancing, and averaging down at the lower unit prices. It's been maddening to see a serious six-figure amount of "dead money" just sitting there for years while my other holdings are all solidly up.
What other fixed income ideas might I look at? I keep seeing guys on BNN saying it's a good time to get into some bonds, but they seem to be talking about "real" bonds as opposed to these aggregate bond ETFs. The thesis is that many bonds are trading at a discount and paying decent yields, so you get paid to wait and can also expect capital appreciation if and when the rate cuts start.
For those who invest in fixed income, what are you doing?

I'm assuming its a she since it appears to be tortoiseshell, but very dark almost black. She seemed voraciously hungry, desperate for food. She even came in the house for some stinky canned food after eating half a giant bowl of dry food and half a can of stinky food out in the carport. She has taken up residence behind our sofa, and is less fearful of my husband.
We haven't tried to grab her to actually verify the color and sex, we really don't want to scare her too soon, trying to let her feel safe where she is and keeping her isolated from our own cats. We will take her for vet and microchip scanning ASAP, but thought it was worth posting here. No good pictures yet.

as the title says I'm just looking for some people to talk to, I get pretty bored pretty often so having some new interesting friends would be nice! I don't care about gender, sexuality etc... no judgment from me whatsoever just please be up for a proper convo!
so ig this is the bit where I say about myself. I'll be pretty vague to keep the convos interesting)) Firstly I obsess over music, I play guitar, love music and collect vinyl. I'm very big into motorsport/cars. on that topic I also watch a lot of sport (various types). I take quite a big interest in movies/TV shows. I'm also trying to get back in shape recently, I had an injury not so long back so things have been pretty tricky on that side. i do game a bit (ps5 mostly) so it could be pretty fun for us to potentially play something at some point.
it doesn't really matter if we have similar interests or not to me!! if we do then awesome, we can nerd out together. if not then tell me all about what you're into, I'd love to hear!!!
looking forward to any replies I do get, I'll reply to everyone. have a good day, thanks for reading, much love, stay classy San Diego