So, if there's no contract for months at a time, do they really not notice you were gone? Mine didn't. at least that's what she told me. I'm trying to figure out if this is a common thing.
I realize I meant very little to her, but those times where she never even noticed I wasn't there just drive home that point. I guess I'm just trying to find out if this is a normal thing. I think I may have been her FP years ago when we had just met, but that faded quickly. Afterwards I was just sort of.. a thing that could be called on when she had no one else.

Hey guys I'm currently planning on applying to UNLV, I noticed on the website that they require a letter of recommendation. I have employers that are willing to write one for me but I was wondering if anyone knew if there was anything specific they had to include in their letters.
Thanks!

Spend 19.99$ to unlock a Netflix mystery blind box. Didn't get the movie you wanted? That's okay, you can buy another one and try again!! Anyway you got half of the second season of X-Files in SD so you should be happy. Hard of hearing? Unlock subtitles for just 9.99 a month.
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Spend 19.99$ to unlock a Netflix mystery blind box. Didn't get the movie you wanted? That's okay, you can buy another one and try again!! Anyway you got half of the second season of X-Files in SD so you should be happy. Hard of hearing? Unlock subtitles for just 9.99 a month.
Hoping for bread this week? Well you can always purchase a Family Mega Picnic Pack for just 49.99$ which has a 30% chance of containing a white sandwich loaf!!
Need to make a spreadsheet at work? Sorry, your Microsoft 365 subscription doesn't contain Premium features like copy and paste. But if you complete the PowerPoint Battle Pass this season (just 69.99$) you'll get to open a Solid Gold Filing Cabinet and you could unlock unlimited clipboard use AND capital letters for 48 hours!

If I hadn’t drunk an entire gallon of tea back at the hotel, maybe none of this would’ve happened.
Well, maybe if we hadn’t gotten kicked out of the hotel, none of this would’ve happened.
It had been just the two of us in the small car, but with the animosity heavy on the air, it felt overcrowded. I don’t know what had been worse, the hour of arguing, the two hours of silence afterwards, or the burgeoning realization that maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did.
I studied him out of the corner of my eye. We'd been together for several months, but the recent experience left me wondering if I had ever even met the real Brian – who he truly was on the inside.
It had been our very first trip together.
We'd saved up for one of those super fancy hotels and had been having a great time – until, of course, Brian decided to attempt a five-finger discount in the jewelry store in the lobby.
He'd told me when we first started dating that he'd had some run-ins with the law in the past – when he was young and that was the only way to put food on the table, and I'd understood.
But this wasn't the same. It wasn't for survival, it was just greed.
We’d both spent the rest of our vacation money and then some, paying for that $1,800 watch so no charges would be pressed.
They still kicked us out. I don’t blame them.
Asking him to stop at the next place we came across was the first thing I'd said to him in hours, and he nodded, solemnly.
My discomfort was escalating to the point where I was considering asking him to pull over on the side of the road – rain be damned – when we saw the dim sign flickering in the distance.
The small store was out of place on the quiet, tree lined mountain road. We’d been deep in a tunnel of trees and hadn’t seen so much of a hint of the lights in the distance – it seemed to just appear into view as we went around the bend. I didn't recall seeing it on the way to the hotel, so it was a pleasant surprise.
I felt a flood of relief wash over me.
It stuck out in the otherwise beautiful mountain landscape – windows so dirty that the light inside barely reached us through them – several letters on the sign lit up in such a way that the only word we could even see was a blood red '- MART' flickering.
Any relief I'd managed to feel was short-lived.
When we walked in, we both froze as we took in the interior.
I instantly wished we’d just stopped by the side of the road after all. I looked at Brian and could tell he felt it too – he was fiddling with his new watch and took off his glasses, cleaned them on his shirt, and put them back on, as if that would make what he was seeing make more sense.
There were no other customers, no employees visible, it was just the two of us.
Ceiling tiles hung askew, and the floor was filthy – we had to step over a drain in the floor with grimy stains circling it, to walk in.
If it weren’t for the lights, gentle hum of the AC, and grinding sounds floating from down the long hallway at the back, I’d have thought the place was abandoned.
It was humid inside, and the smell coming from the old coolers that lined the back walls hit me as soon as we walked in. It reminded me of the summer my dad had decided to dabble in taxidermy in our basement.
The slight hint of rot that lingered on the damp air indicated poorly done taxidermy, at that.
As I darted towards the back towards the restroom sign, a placard dangling off it caught my eye, informed me the restroom was for paying customers only.
I quickly perused the shelves for something to buy. The aisles were tall, nearly to the ceiling, and despite the store being somewhat small, I felt the panicked sense of being cornered and trapped in an endless maze – at risk of becoming lost in there forever. The food on the shelves resembled nothing like the usual chips and candy these types of stores carried – there were rows upon rows of soft looking mystery items in plastic wrap, some of them leaked a red-brown residue down the shelves – none of it looked remotely appealing.
I passed by a section with a stained placard that said ‘handcrafted from local artists’ that was filled with eclectic items, none of which seemed to go together.
There were torn shirts with random logos – nothing related to the town or area we were in, stained with mud, grass, and god knows what else. Dried ropy things formed small and delicate sculptures of animals unlike any I’d seen before. I reached for a bracelet with intricately carved white beads but nearly dropped it when I realized the band was made up of woven human hair. It left a residue on my hand, and I noticed then that the same sour-rot smell was coming from the collection of items, too.
I opted for a flat and lukewarm Dr. Pepper instead, and placed two $2 dollar coins on the glass counter in front of the hand scrawled ‘shoplifters will be processed’ sign near the register.
I figured I misread it, after all it, looked like it had been written by a hand unused to holding a pen.
Brian had grabbed an armful of those unnerving plastic-wrapped packages but hovered at the counter a bit too long. I could hear the scrape of him retrieving the coins on the glass, the sound of him dropping them into his pocket.
He gave me a pointed stare as he did so.
I sighed, so tired of arguing that I just walked away from him and down the hallway. I figured I’d pay (again) after he got back in the car.
No sooner had I closed the door to the women’s room behind me, than I could hear him talking to someone.
His voice rose until he was nearly yelling. Mortified and trying to delay being involved in another incident that day, I splashed water on my face while trying to drown out what appeared to be a one-sided argument.
I kept trying to wash the grimy feeling that had lingered on my hands after picking up the bracelet, but no matter how I scrubbed, I couldn’t get it off – it kept getting worse.
I felt nauseous when I realized the greasy residue was coming from the pale-yellow bar of soap. I decided I’d scrub my hands raw at our next stop, and stepped out into the hall and back to the store.
Brian wasn’t there.
I called out for him, but all I heard in answer was that same vague whirring and drilling sound coming from further down the long hallway.
I double-backed to the car, but found it empty.
I circled the store, my frustration turning to panic as I shouted his name and still got no response.
I called his phone, it just rang, and rang before going to voicemail.
The car was locked and he had the keys, I couldn’t help but feel nervous, standing out there in the rain. We were still in the middle of the deep woods and with clouds obscuring the light of the moon and stars, the area was blanketed in darkness. I reluctantly headed back inside.
Somehow, the smell had managed to become even worse – I gagged when the wet, disgusting air hit my nose again. It was so strong I could nearly taste it, putrid on my tongue.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was always someone just behind me as I walked quickly through the tall aisles, but whenever I looked over my shoulder, there was never anything there.
I called his phone, wondering how I’d managed to lose him in such a small store when I finally heard it ringing – it was echoing from down that long hallway.
As I headed towards it, I heard someone moving on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling aisle, placing something onto the shelf with a sickening wet thud, before weaving lithely through the aisles behind me.
“Brian?” I called out softly, trying to convince myself that everything was fine – trying to disguise my fear.
I knew it wasn’t him – I don’t know how, but I knew it. Have you ever had the feeling that if you look closely enough at something, if you truly see it, you’ll never be able to close your eyes again without it haunting you? That feeling of being in close proximity to something that your fragile mind was never meant to know existed?
I forced myself to turn around anyways.
Once again, whoever or whatever had been there was gone by the time I rounded the aisle, but I heard a gentle clinking sound, and saw a trail of red-pink droplets.
I followed it back to that section – handcrafted from local artists, there was something new hanging from a hook near the shelves – wet, glistening strips dangled from along what looked to be a curved bone with bits of gristle still attached. From one of them hung an expensive men’s wristwatch, another was tied around a shattered, thick glasses lens. Yet another sagged under the weight of car keys. They gently swayed with the motion of having been recently placed. Fluid continued to drip from the still wet viscera and mingled with the mud on my shoes.
Shoplifters will be processed
I didn’t need to see the items down the other aisles to figure out what I was looking at, what must have happened.
I could already tell that we’d never have another argument, ever again.
I heard a door open and close in the back, soft footsteps approaching from down that hallway.
I realized that in my distraction, I'd forgotten to put money back on the counter.
I choked up, but knew there was nothing I could do for him. So, I tossed the first bills I found in my purse onto the floor, frantically untangled the car keys, and in shock, I drove myself the remaining four-hour drive home.
Every so often, along the quiet country roads – those I could've sworn were empty on the drive up – I’d see that grimy building, the sign, '-MART' flashing in the distance.
I didn’t stop once.
I've been home for a week now.
A few nights ago, something triggered a motion alert on my video doorbell, but there was no one there when I checked the footage.
The next morning, I found a cardboard box on my porch – with no stamp or return address.
In it was a torn t-shirt, and several of those now-familiar wrapped packages, putrid fluid leaking out of them through the bottom of the soggy cardboard.
I've received a similar box every night, since.
I don't know if it's meant as a threat, or if due to some sort of twisted interpretation – I’m now a 'paying customer’ – he's slowly being returned to me.
Either way, it turns out that I've gotten to see who Brian was on the inside, after all.
JFR

My friend (23f), we’ll call her Jenny, has been taking care of her grandma (79f), Mary, for over a year now and her family barely offers her any support. Mary is on oxygen and has some serious mental health problems that she refuses to get checked. She is lucid enough to refuse but she has become increasingly hostile and depressed in her old age. In the past, Mary has referred to Jenny as her “ex-granddaughter” several times because she feels she does not care about her and thinks she is betraying her when she talks about her to her aunt (65f), Lynn, whom she also refers to as her “ex-daughter.” Jenny’s father (52m), Matt, lives across the country with his wife (52f), Gene, and only cares about the money he’ll get when Mary passes.
Some context: Mary lived alone in a small townhouse for many years and wanted to move 3 hours away to a tiny home by her sisters. Jenny and her family helped move her, but not long after leaving, she became very depressed and very angry with her sisters and her kids for abandoning her in a place she “did not want to be.” When she moved out, Jenny and I (24f) moved into her home and began paying rent to her aunt, as we could not live anywhere else due to her dog and not being able to afford anything else.
After lengthy discussions within her family, Matt decided to move her across the country to live with him and Gene. Their family warned Matt that she may be a lot to handle as she has become a handful in her old age, and he had not been around her for several years, only speaking on the phone. Jenny took a week off of work to drive with Matt across the country for her to fly back home.
In the time that she was there, Matt and Gene renovated their kitchen with Mary’s social security checks and, once completed, Matt began complaining of her nagging and yelling and always got into arguments with her over small things. She had thought she made a friend on TikTok, but he turned out to be a scammer. He got some money from her before anyone caught on and they soon took her iPad and blocked him, along with putting a parental lock so she wouldn’t do something like that again. Mary started noticing she couldn’t do very much like she used to and Matt told her that “maybe he’s doing it.” She was very concerned as she wasn’t aware someone could do that, and anything that went wrong with any of her devices, she blamed “him.” Her iPad, the TV, her oxygen tank, her hearing aids, etc. She could not comprehend that it was her own doing and placed blame anywhere that was not herself.
After a few months, Matt said he was done and wanted to send her back to find a place near Jenny and Lynn. Jenny planned on flying to get her and taking a train home, since Mary is on oxygen and cannot fly. About a week before she left, Matt said he changed his mind and that he wanted Mary to stay. Jenny and I decided to go together since she already had the time off to visit them. Jenny explained to her dad that she cannot keep requesting off time and that if he wanted to have her stay, that she would stay for good. Not long after that, Lynn and Jenny’s brother (22m) moved 3 hours away from Jenny.
The following summer, I moved across the country to work a seasonal job. And Matt decided he was going to have Mary’s sister drive her back home to live with Jenny as she now had a vacant room with me gone. I had been the previous summer and I wanted Jenny to come with me, as I was roadtripping a couple of states away. She stayed for a few days and went back home, only to find out that Mary was arriving there that evening. She had no time to decompress after her flight before Mary was there full time.
Mary and Jenny had always butted heads, but now she had this idea there was a man in all of their electronic devices and would constantly call the police and ask Jenny to take her to the station to report him. One time, the police showed up and Jenny asked if he could explain that there was no one in her things. He took time out of his day to explain that it was not possible for someone to do the things she thinks are happening and she seemed to understand; for a day.
Mary and Jenny are always arguing and Mary is usually screaming at her devices for him to get off them. Mary has said if Jenny doesn’t take her to the police station, she’d call and report her for elderly abuse. Once, Jenny asked what she wanted for dinner and Mary responded, “Two bullets, one for me and one for you.”
Jenny has taken care of Mary as much as possible, but with several pets and a full time job, she comes home from work exhausted just to start her second job of taking care of Mary. She has asked Matt and Lynn is to help make her doctors appointments and that they had to pay any medical bills that Mary’s insurance did not cover, as she was taking on the burden of being her caretaker. However, Matt has always left it to Lynn to take care of and Lynn always dragged her feet when it came to making appointments, which then resulted in Mary becoming frustrated with Jenny, blaming her for not taking care of her.
Recently, Lynn and Matt have decided they want to sell the townhouse and move the two of them into another home, as the space is too small for the both of them. Jenny was for the idea and Lynn told her they wanted to move within a few months, so Jenny began to scramble to get their house packed up for showing. Jenny quickly became overwhelmed, as they have 2 dogs and 6 cats living with them, so the house was never clean. Jenny would spend hours cleaning and packing every chance she got. They moved things that were not needed into a storage unit that Lynn had, which Lynn had not cleared out. Lynn always told Jenny she would come down one day, so Jenny made sure to get that time off, only for Lynn to change her mind and decide to come down at a later date. This happened for months.
Today, Lynn called Jenny and told her that Matt wants to take Mary back and have her live in the basement and that they will renovate it for her to live full time. Mary is not very mobile and requires a wheelchair most times and a walker to get around the house. Jenny does not think that is very wise because there is no bathroom in the basement and no kitchen, therefore Mary would have to go up and down the stairs often, which is not possible for her. Then, a few hours later, Gene texted Jenny and asked if they were aware of what Matt and Lynn were discussing. Then Gene said that they were planning on pushing off them moving for another year. Jenny was livid, not only because she had been spending months packing the house per her families request to move ASAP, but because she had spoken to both Matt and Lynn earlier and neither one of them told her this.
Jenny doesn’t understand what to do in this situation, as she cannot afford to move out on her own and she feels like a pawn in her own family. Matt is ready for Mary to pass so he can claim his inheritance, which is wrapped up in the house Jenny and Mary live in, and Jenny is afraid that once she is gone, there is nothing stopping Matt from selling the house out from under her and leaving her homeless.
Jenny is hoping to keep her relationship well with her family and tries not to cause any waves, but I believe it is more damaging keeping all of her anger inside. What should she do?

So I (20F) have known this girl, let's call her Em (fake name, 20F), for a whole bunch of years.
To be precise, we actually first met when we were little, but neither of us remembers it.
My mom has been friends with my "aunt" (not biological) since they were in high-school. As they grew older, of course, their families expanded. My aunt had three kids, who would be my cousins. Her mom's side of the family is from a another country that shares borders with ours. Her brother, who lives in said country, had 5 kids, four girls and one boy. We're unrelated. They're my "cousins" actual cousins.
Most of my family (this aunt and cousins included) live in another part of my country, so when I was a kid I used to go over the summer and stay most of it there to see everyone. It seems that when we were kids, we all hung out once, there's even a picture to prove it, but again, no one bellow age 25 remembers that.
Well one of those summers, when I was 14, I went to visit and went over to my aunt's for dinner. That's when Em and I kind of really met, and boy do I remember that.
We all said our hellos, and we sat down at the table, she was sitting across me. All night we made small that, and I really liked her.
I was always openly gay, never really had a "coming out of the closet", since no one in my family cares. They've always been supportive of me. Her family, though, it's a different story.
Her siblings are great, and they're also cool about that, but her parents (specially her mom) are catholics (if I remember correctly, her dad or one of their uncles is a preist) soooo yeah we weren't really openly flirting at the dinner table.
But then, us young ones went away to play cards. She was playing against me, 3 vs 3, only this time she was sitting almost beside me.
The stolen glances, the grazing of hands, the little smirks. I remember the way she looked at me, like she didn't understand what or why she was feeling something, but she knew she was. She found me attractive, but with the not-really-but-just-met situation and her parents, we just stuck with that. I only saw her once again that summer, same thing, only for a whole day. And then back in my hometown as they were passing through to go back to their country
We exchanged numbers, and when we talked she confessed she liked me, a lot, but didn't know what to do in that moment. It was new to her, though that didn't really bother her much. I remember she said something along the lines of "It’s like I was so mesmerized by you and at the same time so confused that I just froze, but I would've kissed you if we had seen each other again, and if it happens I will".
Well, six years passed.
Not being actually related and living in two different countries kind of made it impossible and of course, naturally, contact faded and every once in a while we'd talk again as if no time had passed.
Eventually she got a boyfriend, I had a few relationships two. Long term and serious on both accounts, but we never not talked at least a couple times a year (respectfully, of course).
I guess I never really stopped liking her, bjt it was more of a distant thing than anything else. Every time we talked tho it was great. We woukd catch up, open up about things we would otherwise keep quiet, etc. It's like we always gravitated back to each other, both in thought and in speaking terms (on both accounts).
Eventually, when she finished high-school, she followed her older siblings footsteps and moved to a city near mine to attend college, that was around a year or two ago.
She broke up with her boyfriend a few months back, I did so too.
And three days ago, I replied to a story she has uploaded on her insta and, well, here comes the best part.
We started talking, catching up, and I can't really remember why but the conversation eventually led to me saying I found her pretty. She replied it was mutual. I'll try to recall the conversation below.
"Wait, do you still like me after all these years?"
"Well, yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"I mean, we didn't see each other again, grew older and you even had a boyfriend, I thought maybe the feeling had passed for you"
"Yeah I mean I isolated myself a lot in that relationship, it sucked, but I never not liked you, nor forgot about you, it was just impossible"
"Well, it's not anymore. I still like you too, and I've been wanting this for years"
"So have I, I want to go see you"
I remember I told her that when I saw she had a boyfriend I didn't really wanna force or ruin anything cuz she seemed happy and I liked that, and she told me she would've left him in a heartbeat for me the second she'd known I still liked her.
We also talked about her family. She told me her mom actually found out about our little chat back in 2018 and got kind of mad, but Em told her to screw off and not go through her phone again, and that's the end of it. One of her sisters noticed then too, but just told her good for her and also never mentioned it again.
Then the same day I replied to her story, she had told her older sister and a friend of hers about me, since they were reminiscing about summers, told them she was still into me.
The rest of the conversation was one I'd never had with her. She told me she liked me, and what things. She thinks I'm pretty, she thinks I'm funny. Smart, talented, good. I honestly don't know if all l of it is true but to hear her so starstruck, just like when we were 14, made my heart skip a beat. It was adorable. And then, well, it derailed into a more... uhm... mature conversation about plans we had for each other? If you get what I mean lol.
And that's where we are now. We're both having exams right now so we're planning to meet up next week when we're done.
IM SO EXCITED!
We miss each other, and we've wanted to hang out for ages. Not only that, but her now openness to be with me and enjoy it is so both refreshing and adorable. She calls me names, compliments me, tells me she wants me.
I never would've thought it would actually happen, not at least for a few more years. I also wouldn't have thought that shy girl I met would be so openly flirty with me, even on voice messages.
She's told me about a hundred times already how much she's wanted this, that's she's so glad it's gonnaa finally happen, that she's wondered what it's like to kiss me ever since she met me.
It's mutual, it's all mutual.
I feel giddy, excited, and I definitely feel wanted, and it's amazing.
Just wanted to rant about it and her, she's honestly amazing and beautiful. Kind, smart. Her accent drives me crazy and when she speaks her native language I literally feel weak.
Six years. Six years always thinking about each other (and many of those times it's like we mind-called each other beacuse we'd end up talking again). The girl I've had a crush on for the longest and never got, and we finally have the space, place and time to do it. This is it, it's our moment. And I definitely plan to enjoy every minute of it. She's worth it. So, so worth it.
Have a nice day everyone, Imma go talk to her lol bye

My spouse and I have two boys, one age 12 and one aged 9.
My 12 year old son has had struggled with screen time since we first let him have access to a screen at age 2.
It's been ten years dealing with this so I could go on for ages about it, but here are a few highlights:

• We always tried to follow recommendations for screentime limitations when our kids were younger.
• When the kids were very little, my spouse felt that screens had a lot to offer in terms of helping the kids learn to read, code, and build other skills, which is why we originally introduced them.
• We have struggled with our older son having extreme tantrums and the inability to stop screentime from the very beginning.
• We have tried every recommended technique- such as giving warnings. To be honest, there is not a lot of good advice out there about how to deal with this. I spoke to my son's pediatrician about it last week and she said to give 1 minute and 5 minute warnings. I found this advice laughable- I've known that and have been doing it for ten years, and it does not work with him.
• The extreme issues with screen addiction in addition to other things I have noticed about my son have caused me to suspect that he may have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or some other issue. I have tried to get a formal diagnosis and have not been able to access care for that due to a lack of available mental health services. A secondary reason is that I do not believe my spouse supports me in seeking care for ASD. I have spoke to two friends who are experts in ASD who believe he may be on the spectrum. Also, my spouse has recently self-diagnosed with ASD which I think is relevant and will mention later.
• When my son was about 7 years old we took him to a few sessions with a mental health professional. It was not very helpful.
• Around this time my spouse got so frustrated with the tantrums when stopping screentime that they unplugged the television and removed it from our home. Shortly after that, we moved to a new house and neighborhood and did not take the tv with us. I would say that concerns about our son and his behavior were one of the primary reasons we moved.
• We moved with a 7 year old and a 5 year old and we did not allow any screen time at all for eight months.
• That is when the pandemic hit in 2020. The kids were sent home with iPads and told to do online school. My spouse and I both had to work at home with no childcare. They proceeded to need to use screens for school for the next 15 months. Over those 15 months and beyond, we gradually had screen back in our lives regularly. The tantrums came back. They included violent behavior, especially towards me and the little brother.
• We spent so much time trying to limit the screen and trying to encourage our older child to be interested in sports or other activities. When screens are on the table, nothing else is ever interesting to him.
• Over time the rules have become more lax. In my opinion it's often been my spouse that has allowed things to become more relaxed, although I'm sure my spouse would blame it on me. I think we're both at fault, mostly because we are just exhausted.
• Which bring us to today. My son is 12 years old.
  • He typically is allowed to play video games from 5pm to bedtime at 7:30 pm on weeknights. On weekends we try to hold him off for as long as possible but he sometimes starts as early as 2pm (sometimes even earlier) and then plays until 7:30 (bedtime).
  • He is happiest when playing games. He connects with his friends on there, he feels confident, he learns things about his interests including physics and history. He loves it.
  • I put the kids to bed at night. Every single night of our lives it remains a struggle to get him off the screens. Is it better than it has been in the past? Yes. But is it still a struggle? Yes.
  • He does not easily turn off screens for either my spouse or I, but he does it more easily for my spouse. I mentioned above that my spouse once confiscated the TV for 8 months. I believe that was a semi-traumatic experience for my son and it is burned into his brain when the tv was ripped out of the wall and removed while he screamed. In general, my spouse is more likely to raise their voice, be strict, etc. with the kids. My spouse used to yell more often and they try not to now. But they are still sometimes short with the kids. I have asked my kids why they listen to my spouse more than me and they tell me they are scared of my spouse.
  • I sometimes raise my voice with my kids. I try not to. If my spouse is in earshot when I raise my voice with the kids, they get very upset. My spouse had a violent household as a child and me raising my voice with the kids is a major trigger for them. It has definitely been a struggle for me for years to get my kids to listen to me. I blame the fact that I struggle with being consistent with them, paired with the fact that my spouse is triggered by me being strict with them. So I feel like I can't win.
  • So every night when it's time for screens to go off I am in a situation in which:
    • The 12 year old will do anything and everything to stay on that screen as long as they can.
    • My spouse is listening carefully from the other room, ready to judge and blame me if they are not happy with my approach.
    • My 9 year old is very sensitive to all of this anxiety coming from the rest of us, gets off their video game exactly on time, bounces around the room begging for attention from me.
  • So every night I try different things. Some of the most effective techniques are bribery, guilt, trying to pretend everything is cool and spark his interest in something else.
  • Sometimes I talk to my son for ages about it beforehand and he is mentally primed and then turns the game off on time. That takes a tremendous amount of prep for it to work.
  • This week, we had the doctors visit in which I brought up this issue and some related issues as I mentioned above that have had me thinking for years that he might have ASD. She did not respond to my question about whether we should look into ASD, but clearly blamed me for giving him more than an hour of screentime a day which is the recommended amount I guess.
  • So, feeling super guilty, and since my 12 year old was in the doctor's room and heard what she said, I have been trying to renew my efforts to get him to turn off the video game at 7:30, instead of allowing him to drag it out until 8.
    • My son did pretty well with this for several days this week.
    • When he did not do well, I unplugged his computer form the wall. I gave him plenty of warning that I would do this. (There was a time a few months ago when I unplugged the computer and removed the cord and my spouse lost their shit about that.) Lately, I just unplug the cord and then leave the room. My son then gets up and plugs the computer back in but does not resume the game. He gets upset but does not have a huge tantrum. So I thought it was a win!
    • UNTIL- this morning, after the kids left for school, my spouse LOST IT on me. Saying I should absolutely never unplug his computer, that it was VIOLENT behavior. My spouse DEMANDED that I see a mental health professional. They DEMANDED it multiple times. They just lectured me, implied that I was doing things the way others in my family have and that its totally inappropriate. They said I shouldn't tell myself its ok because other people do it. It's not and I must seek treatment immediately.

I apologize for this being so long. It seems like a petty silly problem but as you can tell it's been an issue for us for many years and it is wrapped up in things such as my spouse's childhood trauma, my own childhood trauma about being yelled at and how it triggers me into a spiral of depression (I did not respond after they yelled at me this morning and have not spoken to them since. I've just been depressed and on the verge of tears all day.), possible undiagnosed ASD for my spouse and son, my own history of anxiety and clinical depression as well as my own self-diagnosed possible ADHD. But maybe I'm making it more complicated than it has to be. I don't know.
So what do you think...AITA for unplugging the computer?

This probably isn’t the right subreddit but I got banned from vent for some reason. The title didn’t mean I’m just like a dick that spreads misinformation I meant I lie about myself. So I’m going to explain when I first noticed I physically can’t tell the whole truth about myself and my whole thing so this is going to be so long. So in 5th grade I hated school and I would cry to my mom begging not to go and eventually my attendance was so bad they threatened to take my parents to court. The school got me a counselor I would see once a week to talk about my problems and help my attendance, it did help my attendance but still lots of hours missed. When I first had my counselor I would tell them the truth that I was afraid of school and wanted friends and all my problems with school. I had this counselor in the summer and 6th grade. At first 6th grade was hard for me and my attendance became pretty bad again even with the counselor. I was able to bring my attendance and grades up a little bit and my anxiety started to go away once I made my first friend that year towards the end of 6th grade. Me and my friend hung out at his house and eventually we made a group of friends and we were all chill and I was pretty happy. That summer we went to carnival together and we had a couple sleepovers, there was no beef and it was pretty nice. The end of the summer I still had my counselor and the next school year started, 7th grade. I remember being really nervous because I everyone I knew said that 7th grade was the worst year of their life’s and the school year was gonna suck. The year started out pretty good we were all still friends and so far it wasn’t as bad as everyone said. By November me and one of the guys in the group got really close we were homies. We would call everyday after school and play Xbox and shit. I remember towards the end of November I started liking this girl in one of my classes. I never really had friends when I had crushes before this so I would just look at them in class never talk to them,get their number, etc. my friends started to notice that I liked someone and kept trying to get it out of me. The one guy that I got really good friends with in the group told me that he liked a girl to and we should tell eachother. I eventually gave in and told him on Snapchat. I told him and he told me. I thought it would some quick thing and we would move on. The next day at school all he did would tease me about it and act like he would tell her. I know that it is normal so I was fine with it because I thought he would tease me for a couple days and that’s it. He ended up teasing me for the rest of November and December and I didn’t do anything about it. We went into winter break and I got the girls snap (not by asking her just finding her on my quick add.). Me and my best friend from the group would continue playing Xbox all day and hanging out over winter break. At the time (December 2022) I had pretty low confidence in my hair because it was just some flat straight side part and I got some sea salt spray for Christmas that made my hair the fluffy hair i always wanted and I got a confidence booster even though I was still fat and ugly. I came back to school with my hair looking really good and got some compliments and I was pretty happy. My best friend that would tease me about my crush would start taking really bad pictures of me and horrible ss of my face on FaceTime and would post it on his story where my crush was added on his account. Obviously he was doing this to be a dick and lower my self esteem. I started to notice around February that my best friend was a complete dick but I thought it was funny and kept being friends with him. In February i started to get a little popular and people had a nickname for me and I knew that they didn’t actually like me and it was like a joke. Also at this time my best friend convinced the rest of the group to sit at the table next to his crush. We did and my crush happened to sit a couple tables away from us and Im not sure if he made us sit there because of that or because his actual crush. Also around this time my best friend convinced me to unfriend someone from the group and I did. I felt really bad for him and I still talked to him. When the best friend found this out he basically said over text when we were on the bus that I feel betrayed and we are done being friends. I was so upset and while I was on the bus I looked at his story and it’s him exposing all my secrets. Everything I told him was on his story. My crushes name, my dark secrets, everything. He also posted most of the bad pictures and apparently when I told him crushes name in November he was doing some glitch where he could ss and not tell me. I just turned off my phone and was holding back tears on the bus full of people, when the bus got to my stop I just quickly and quietly walked off the bus and walked to my house. I was mortified and just went to my room and cried, the hardest I cried since 5th grade. I thought my life was ruined. He called me and said he deleted the stories before anyone saw them and I became his friend again🤦‍♂️. I was scared because he had the other horrible photos of me. Shortly after i just forgot about the story and me and him and his crush and her friend hung out. We just got ice cream and went to a playground.his crush handed me a vape and told me to hit it. I don’t want to seem like a pussy so i did. I didn’t inhale it and apparently she was recording and sent it to my best friend. Later that night I saw the video on his story and was mortified and told him to delete it and he refused and the next day at school everyone was making fun of me for a month. It was so embarrassing. The thing that pissed me off the most about it was the fact that half of the school vapes and no one made fun of them. I never told my counselor about it and she thought I was doing good enough to end her being my counselor. That is when I truly noticed that I’m a really bad liar. She thought I was doing my best even though I was at my worst. The rest of the school year went okay but since I was kinda popular I started to get bullied more and more about my weight. All my best friend did was make fun of me even though he was fat too. People started to take pictures of me in class and sent to their story and me to make fun of me. I started to go to the gym and some kid would help me out With my diet and at the gym. Me and him started to become friends and he convinced me to join the football team the following school year. So I got a physical at the end of 7th grade and was determined to join the football team. I wanted to gain respect,become more confident, lose weight, become stronger,faster,etc.so at the end of the school year I became kind of happy again. My family was praising me because I would go to the gym. I wanted to lose like 30 pounds in like 2 months or something crazy like that. The start of the summer was good, i would work out a few times a week. In late June my whole dad’s side of the family pays for a week in a really good and big air b&b and it’s really fun. My best friend and I didn’t talk much during the first half of the summer and he kept trying to call me when I was swimming, fishing, talking with my whole family,etc. and I got pissed and texted him something along the lines of “can you fuck off im on vacation get off my dick.” And he left me on opened and really didn’t talk for the rest of the summer. I realized my gym partner was a dick along too and wasn’t trying to help me at all. Long story short I lost a few pounds by the start of football season. The first practices were really hard and I hated it. But by a couple weeks in I started to get more stamina and strength. By a month into footballl season my ankles were really fucked up because the only cardio I did during that summer was jog a mile or something but in practice we run so much in heavy pads and uncomfortable cleats. I was never good I was always a back up. I had practice every single day after school was so tired but couldn’t quit. My best friend who was a dick that me and him started to drift away from each other thought we were still homies the next school year and I didn’t want to tell him that we aren’t cool any more so I just acted like we were chill and then was at practice for 2 hours after school then went home and had to do homework and repeat the next day. I hated my life at this point so much. I didn’t enjoy playing football, I sucked at it and was made fun of for it, etc. towards the end of the football season I got hit really hard and went to a head doctor appointment a couple days later and had a concussion. So I basically just quit the football team. Everyone on the team called me a pussy and said I quit even when I told them I had a concussion. I would go home after school in the first time in months. I realized I was so depressed and how I have no one I can trust. There was no classes with any friends, either my class was complete assholes or weirdos. Lunch was awkward because of my “best friend” thinking we were still locked in. There was no good part of the day for me I hated the way I felt but I would lie if someone asked if I was good. At this point it was October and I was in the verge of suicide. There was no good part of the day, I go home get yelled at for my grades eat and cry myself to sleep. I realized I was going to end my life if I didn’t get out of my school. I found an online school and started to beg my parents to put me in online school. They immediately refused but after a month and half of begging they agreed. I started the school by end November and was really happy for a couple of weeks then started to become depressed again by end of December. Now in may im more depressed than I ever was, I’m not suicidal but I have no friends and not going to talk to my parents about what im going through . I feel so alone I have full on conversations with myself and my lying is so bad I lie to myself went I’m venting to myself. I hate myself so much that I can’t even tell the truth to myself and it’s so bad. I make the situation sound better in my head but it’s not. I think online school was a mistake but if I stayed in the school I was in I probably would have taken my own life by now. I can only think my best friend was just praying on my downfall and he won. I am moving to a new town later this summer and I’m hoping I can start a new life there and not be such a pushover. I’m sorry that this is so long and bad grammar. This is more than just low confidence and lying but I need to talk about myself. If you read this thank you

Sorry… this is a bit if a stream of conciouness. (and probably too positive but…)
There are 2 devices in my lifetime where I had the need to “insta-buy”… meaning that using it meant I “got it” straight away and can see a future different to today. The first was a Tesla Model 3… the second Apple Vision Pro.
This surely is a view into the future. It is AR + VR disrupted in a way only Apple has the patience to execute … late-ish but in a way that shows they absolutely have a long term and deep commitment to a brand new platform… and get it. They have built a platform on which from day one everything you need to be able to do seems to be available. This really shows the real benefit of the core apple platforms and walled garden working to bring a V1 experience second to none in the VAR world.
I am simply amazed at how the UI just works, is responsive, and thought through as a platform. The iOS roots are there and it just works as you might expect. iPad apps and vision apps are great (for V1), the eye tracking and interaction model, again for a first go is just effortless.
The way it can be used without EVER taking it off - from the first use - shows that the Apple teams have deeply understood a use case for a brand new platform that within 10 years could be the natural way of using technology.
When these actually become apple glasses and get smaller the iPhone will be replaced… it might take 10 years but the vision and building blocks are all here.
I have worn these solidly now for 6 hours and was comfortable throughout.
Amazing that from now we have the Office Suite essentially native, so many existing apps available for iOS / iPadOS available and working is phenomenal. I remember the first days of the watch, the iPad and the Phone… this is actually pretty complete.
I just love the iris authentication … just seamless for me and I have 1-Password installed which works as advertised.
It is also amazing that in a text editor like Notes you can basically look at a letter click your fingers, and the text cursor appears there. Long hold of the fingers allows you to move the cursor around, a double click selects a word. A triple click gets you the iOS text selection options. None of this is perfect yet, but it is amazing to see and you can see the possibilities.
Can I also say that the personal Spatial Audio is my absolutely favourite, genius, and undersold feature…. no headphones required and great sound.
All in all just brilliant for a V1 product and it is so nice to see so many of the Apple technologies that have been released in recent years find their way into this product.
Now… back to the future.
For international users:
Don’t be afraid of buying in the US and taking it back home. I am from Australia and was very worried about the narrative from Apple on the risks. Basically you can setup and configure everything without a US Apple Store account. You do not need a US AppleID to get going.
It will be functional and useable and only the apps that rely on region-locked services will not work … AppStore, Music, TV. This might seem like a killer but so much actually works including iCloud syncing and files etc that are based around your own account.
In a month or so (June 10 likely) it will be released in more markets and it will start working with your local AppleID.
If you can get a US AppleID then you can actually use Apple services which then work and remember your settings and playlists from your home territory… including Disney+, Apple Store, Apple Music etc.
I got a US AppleID by CHANGING THE REGION of one of my old less-used AppleIDs. This involved getting a US SMS service based on SlySMS which is the critical step. Every other avenue based on creating a new AppleID seemed to get blocked at one stage or another.

I am in a pickle with my employer. I work in an at-will state. I interviewed for a 2nd shift position and in the interview the supervisor stated that she no longer has access to pay information and shift differentials and that I could get that info and negotiate my salary with the recruiter from the corporate office. She said she believed differential was $1, but to confirm with the recruiter because it may have changed since she was in charge of that and only he would have access to that info, but she would also be contacting him to offer me the job. I contacted the recruiter that day who told me the differential is actually $2.75 per hou$3.75 per hour for weekends.
I should have asked for it to be in the offer letter, but when I accepted the position the offer letter it only stated my base hourly pay + "all other payroll and differentials to be paid per company policy." I have worked other evening shift jobs where the differential info was attached separately or not stated on the offer letter at all. I wasn't that worried since I had confirmed with the recruiter over the phone as requested and the supervisor confirmed he would be the only one who could give that info to me. I was training during the day shift so when I got my first evening paycheck I noticed the differential is $1. I contacted HR who told me to contact my supervisor to correct it through payroll. Turns out, the recruiter told me the incorrect amount.
My supervisor and HR rep have confirmed that this recruiter has frequent errors. They also acknowledged that he told me the wrong amount and they wished they could correct it, but because I make the highest pay in the hourly range of this position they cannot raise my base salary to reflect what I was offered. So they would change it if was making lower than that amount...when I said that is unacceptable they informed me I can no longer speak with them about this issue and "HR does not do meetings about wages." They want me to wait until the recruiter gets back next week from vacation so the chief of HR can speak with him to hear his side of the story and then after that she will have a meeting with my supervisor. They informed me I am not allowed to be a part of that meeting. I have also asked for the policy in writing that the differential is $1 to add to my personnel file to prevent any further confusion and they are unable to provide it - they told me payroll enters my location and the evening paycode in the software generates $1, but they don't actually have that info anywhere else. WTF!
All of this is documented in emails back and forth, except for my initial conversation accepting the job. Would I have any recourse for this? I realize it's not an employment contract and it was a verbal agreement, but I believe I in good faith accepted an accurate offer and multiple people have already acknowledged the mistake.
I do have a time-stamped phone call from the recruiter and a text message to my partner 1 minute later stating I would be accepting the job with a $2.75 shift differential. I quit another job and turned down a different job offer to take this one and have records that I had been applying to about 25-30 other jobs that month. I made more money in my other job, but it was causing me unnecessary stress and anxiety and I decided slightly lower pay and similar (but not as comprehensive) benefits would be better for my mental health. Now I am being paid $1.75 less per hour than I agreed to and I would have declined and stuck it out at the other job until something better came along. When negotiating pay, I had told my recruiter how much money I made at the other job and stated I wanted to get as close to that as possible based on my experience and now I feel like he lied about pay to get me to accept this job.

I am possibly being made redundant and hoping to better understand the NZ employment law with respect to paid annual leave owed and paid sick leave.
Background: Specifically, I have shy of 4 weeks (156.11 hours) annual leave and 4 weeks paid sick leave (169.50 hours). And 2 month notice period. I understand if I work out my notice period, I accrue additional annual leave holiday leave on both the notice period and the annual leave.
Complication: I am having surgery today and will be issued a letter from the surgeon recommending bed rest for up to 6 weeks. I had only put in 2 days at the time of notifying my direct report (who is also up for redundancy). At the time I verbally mentioned the hospital suggestion for recovery of up to 6 weeks - and that I would apply as necessary nearer the time.
My questions are: 1.0) Does my planned (scheduled/unscheduled) sick leave accrue annual leave? 1.1) If so, am I best to apply for this now before receiving my termination notice (overdue, yesterday) or does this not matter? 2.0) Does my annual leave or sick leave impact my notice period at all?
The outcome I am seeking is to maximise the money I can leave with from this employment. The pay needs to serve as a safety barrier that enables me adequate time to find suitable employment. There's so much uncertainty in the market and I have a large mortgage and two young children under five to provide for.
Any and all advice also welcome and appreciated - even if not specifically answering those questions. I am unsure about anything more than enforcing standard legal rights due to the small place the NZ job job market is - everyone talks.

We’ve been together for almost 6 years, engaged since last year, living together for the last two.
I (31M) work from home while she (34F) goes to an office. I make about 7-8 times what she earns, so I cover like 90% of our rent, services, food, the dog’s veterinary bills, movie tickets, concerts, etc. I mention the 90% because a few months ago I asked her to at least help me out a little bit with the house expenses because I’m covering everything. We’re eloping next year and yes, I’m the one saving up for the trip.
Recently my family came to visit me to celebrate Mother’s Day together, since I couldn’t go this year. That’s where I started noticing awkward things.
When something doesn’t interest her, she bails on me. Almost always. My favorite artist had a concert in the city and 1 hour before we were supposed to take off, she said she didn’t feel like it. So I hurried to call a friend so the extra ticket wouldn’t get wasted.
She wouldn’t come to the airport with me to pick them up (2 people, mom and grandma), nor would she receive them when they arrived home (they were staying the weekend - we had planned for this). Mom and grandma had already told us the places they wanted to visit and fiancée planned the weekend to go with them.
And she bailed on everything. She only had dinner with us and then excused herself for everything else.
Obvious question: Do my fiancée and her MIL not get along? Tbh I don’t think that’s the issue; they’ve seen each other like 4 times because of the distance and they’ve never been alone without me. Things have always been super cordial, really nothing out of the ordinary.
I called her out on avoiding my family on weekends, and how I feel that it’s unfair how I’m always making time to go to her parties, events, family gatherings, concerts of bands she likes and stuff and she always decides not to come when something is “mine”. She has forgotten my birthday for the last 2 years ffs.
I laid it out in a simple message for her yesterday, talking about how it hurts me to be just an afterthought and how I don’t feel like a priority for her. Her answer was just a “Sorry, I’ve not been paying attention”.
I feel hurt, ignored. Last year I had a very small gathering with my friends for my bday and she didn’t arrive. I had to make excuses for herself because I was ashamed to be asked constantly why my fiancée wasn’t here (she fell asleep).
Should I push for an apology? How can I find the words to politely but firmly say “I feel ignored, I should have to beg to be taken into consideration”?

Male
17 years
Long hair tabby/main coon mix
Wisconsin
After effects from anesthesia not wearing off
It's been 60 hours
Stumbling, vision seems off, walking in circles one direction, left side weak
Last week I took out cat into vet because he was due for a vaccine, and mentioned that I noticed he felt thinner. We discovered that he lost 3lbs in the last year, which is alarming. He also slept alot more, but being an older cat, that's pretty normal. Otherwise he was still our same loving boy. Always coming to sit by us, give kisses, purr and even play a bit yet.
We did a blood sample and found out he had early stages of kidney failure, which isn't super surprising for his age. But also that vet didn't think that alone would have attributed to this much weight loss. It was suggested to go an ultrasound to see if he had any inflammation in his intestines that would cause him to not want to eat. In this case we could treat with steroids for a while. Also we were looking for any other concerns like a tumor. We strongly debated not bringing him in because it causes him so much stress to go to vet, and we considered just starting him on steroids to see if it would help. If indeed he had a mass or cancer we would not put him through any surgery or treatment at his age of 17 either way.
After that first visit to the vet, he almost stopped eating. Was it due to stress? We had had the ultrasound scheduled for the following week. We were not sure we could wait that long, , and we were worried so vet was able to get him in earlier. I was second guessing this decision because the stress it causes him, but we reluctantly decided to just bring him in for scans. At least then we would have answered and know what we can do for him.
We did discover that he has a liver mass and inflammation. So we're doing steroids for that, and otherwise the plan was to just monitor him close, knowing that we would appreciate the time we had.
The big problem now is, he must have had a bad reaction to being sedated. Upon brining him home he was unstable and falling down, boy i was not that concerned being that he still had anesthesia in his body. It was the second day it got much worse. He is weak on his left side, occasionally falls and bumps into things and only pretty much walks in clockwise circles. It seems like he can't see well and when he sleeps, he sleeps upright with his head turned to one side. Both his left legs are not working right. He's still eating and drinking ok and purrs occasionally, but we're going on over 60 hours from anesthesia and he's still not back to himself. We're unsure of how this will go. We're still hoping that he will improves from this. His other concerns were there, and we planned to manage them, but this new problem of being unstable is the hard part. We can't help but feel guilty that we put him through that.
Has anyone had this experience? I know my cat has alot working against him right now. But if he was still able to move around like me was just a few days ago, I know we would still have some time left with him. Will this wear off? We are so upset that this happened and strongly regret taking him in for his scan. Given his current state, I do not think we would stress him out and take him to the vet. I'm just looking to see if anyone has experienced this and if there is hope he will return to normal mobility.

I've had this happen way too many times, i met someone, we hit it off, we become super close, they know everything about me but i don't know anything about them, i realize it's because they refuse to tell me anything about their life, i find out about big stuff in their life through other people, they stop talking to me out of the sudden and then months later (usually when classes start) they talk to me as if nothing happens and i just pretend i wasn't incredibly hurt. Optionally, i might try to hang out with them only for them to refuse, or say they're extremelly busy and then post stories of hanging out with someone else.
I've had true friends along the years no doubt, some went from true friends to the type i just mentioned, it hurts incredibly hard when i realize the dynamic, yet i can't stay away from it because i've becomed too attached to the person.
My best friend got hospitalized, i had several people ask me about it, i found out through insta stories and a classmate they were in a group project with, i asked what hospital they were at to visit her and if they needed anything, she shut me off and said their parents were travelling to see them, after that complete radio silence and some post they sent me at 5 am about a birding trip (birds are my special interest).
Today we were making groups for a class we were together in, i didn't know when they'd be out of the hospital so i asked them if they'd want to join so they would't have to do a lot of catching up once they were back (it was a class i liked so i had no problem making most of the work), plus i didn't have anyone else i knew in that class so i put us together.
Later i got a test of them asking me if i was fucking stupid, that how tf where they supposed to do anything from the hospital and they would not be out for weeks (did not know that), and more stuff like that. I had a shutdown after that because of how awful i felt for asking, obviously i had to hid it because it would be even worse if someone noticed i was mad with my friend who is at the hospital, so i left early since i was too overwhelmed to not cry in class.
I quickly realised how i barely know anything about that friend, most of what i know was from them telling other people. Even once they were complaining about having this exact dynamic with another friend, and i called them out, they said that they did not want to overwhelm me with their baggage. I'm so used to one sided friendships that i could not tell my only current friendship was like this and now it hurts so much, i started getting suicidal thoughts but again, i did not want to make a big scandal while my friend is at the hospital, i don't want to mess stuff even more but it hurts so bad.
Just needed to vent i guess, i had a verbal shutdown and still can't speak, now i have to go to dinner with my aunts and one of them is kinda ableist, for context got asked by my mom to avoid being too disruptive (aka autism) when she visited to avoid trouble... so yeah i can't really catch a break.
On the bright side, since i had to walk home in the dark, i was able to catch the night heron near my house, it was cute

We have the setup with USPS that sends photos of incoming mail before they arrive, and mine haven't been getting here. Today my husband got two notifications, a letter for him and one for me, both at the correct address. His arrived but mine is missing - he had another notification a while ago for one for me with 'final notice' on the front that never arrived.
I've never had this issue before and don't know what might be the problem

I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m at my wits end with my management company. We moved into this apartment in March, and in the two months that we’ve been here, it’s been nothing but hell. My husband and I are expecting a newborn (our first) at the end of the month, and some of these issues I feel pose a health risk to myself while pregnant, and my newborn when she gets here. This is going to be quite long, and I wish I could make a bulleted list but here goes:
First thing we noticed was that the big window in the living room has a seal leak issue, where there is trapped condensation in between the two panes of glass that never dries. If this were just aesthetic, I wouldn’t care so much but it’s causing mold to grow in the window. This is a big center pane that doesn’t open, with two side panels that do open. Upon opening the side panels, those were incredibly moldy as well. I cleaned them the best I could (not before taking pictures) but it’s so caked on there it’s impossible to get off. I have opened maintenance requests for this and reached out to them myself but they are REFUSING to do anything about it. They had a tech caulk the inside seam (which obviously did nothing) and when I told them it didn’t work, they won’t even acknowledge it anymore.
Second issue, ROACHES!!!!! We noticed them immediately on move in. Informed management about it. Management got a company to treat, and the company said to wait 21 days and contact them if they were still present. This was over a month and a half ago, we still have roaches, and the only answer we get is “you’re on a treatment plan, we will let you know when we have more information”. But they continue to not give us any info about if/when they will treat again. My fear is that I’m going to be giving birth when they tell us we need to clear out all our cabinets and remove our cats from the premesis again.
Third is a little bit of everything in one. There is a heat register in our living room that’s missing a cover panel, leaving exposed wires. This is a MAJOR safety issue with not only a newborn, but cats. We’ve made so many people aware of this, and everyone says they’re going to do something about it, and then they never do. We also have two heat registers (bedroom and bathroom) that expel heat even when turned off. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I’m afraid of the unit getting too hot for my baby. It seems like these two in particular each have their own power source, independent from the ones in the living room. Again, management is aware and does absolutely nothing.
Four, we have a closet in our hallways that absolutely REAKS!!! The best way I can describe it is an intense strong musty odor. Somebody has contacted me to discuss this, and stated they would look into it, but never did. I’m afraid it’s indicative of mold in the building. The apartment itself has a general stink to it (that I can only describe as old building) but this closet gives me migraines.
We have a storage unit in the basement that nobody told us floods when it rains. We learned this, and thankfully nothing got damaged. But there are storage units of empty apartments that are chalk full of…to put it bluntly…crap that has been down there forever. If it’s getting wet consistently, and not being cleaned up, I think I figured out where the mold and roaches are coming from.
I just don’t know what to do anymore. The last communication they had with me was a month ago. They are refusing to do anything. I want to threaten further action, but I don’t know what further action would be in this situation. Someone please help.

I love reading classic literature, specifically works from the 19th century, so I wanted to write a fan work for this game with that feeling:
“You are quite ridiculous!” came the vivacious and teasing voice of one student passing by the open window. This declaration was answered by the distinct and familiar laughter of another, carried on the autumn wind and drenched in the odor of decaying foliage and the promise of rain.
From his seat in the west wing of the library, parchment and tomes stacked beside him, Ominis Gaunt followed the sound until it vanished completely beyond the courtyard, sensations of uneasy feeling coloring his neck and ears. After a pause, he regained his senses. He shook his head, as if banishing the regretful thought that had then stolen into his mind.
“Why does he keep volunteering himself on her behalf?” He whispered, thinking of the owner of that feminine voice – a new fifth-year student at Hogwarts - an anomaly on its own merit - who had, in half the time succeeding her arrival, attained the magnetic affections of his oldest friend, Sebastian Sallow. “Of course - it’s because she’s new and decidedly beautiful.” Ominis told himself, merely speculating on the state of her physiognomy by the lilting cadence of her voice and the faint wisps of form his wand could communicate to him at a distance. Being blind since birth, he, out of necessity, had developed a magical ‘seeing eye' with the ebony tool he now pressed between his right forefinger and the book in his lap.
He hadn’t dared approach her directly when she’d first entered the Slytherin common room a month prior, for a frenzy of students had erupted around her the moment she’d set foot in it. From there, rumors spread like bees pollinating a garden after a long and depressing winter:
“The new girl had a ministry escort!”
“She was attacked by a dragon!”
“No, she rode the dragon!”
“Supposedly she was a squib before…”
“That can’t be - I heard she's a transfer student and can speak seven languages!”
“That’s a cover - her real secret was that she was privately tutored and has rare and explosively dangerous magic!”
These accounts became increasingly absurd because no one truly knew anything for certain, thus making everything possible. The girl herself was peculiarly private but charmingly polite - a combination that instantly made any would-be-pryer retreat into stuttering awkwardness. They did at the very least glean her name, which quickly became the subject of their fantastical speculations: Mélisande Clarusia Warwick.
From within his pocket, Ominis retrieved the note Sebastian’s owl had delivered him that day:
“Ominis,
Apologies for the abrupt change of plans, but our anticipated study session this afternoon must be postponed. Professor Weasley has graciously requested I accompany ‘MC’ to Hogsmeade for the replenishment of her class supplies, a task I’m sure you know I could hardly decline, given my inclination towards gentlemanly conduct. Incidentally, I cannot help but suspect Mel’s humble dismissal of her exceptional dueling prowess belies a deliberate modesty; there is undoubtedly more to her than meets the eye.
Regardless, I’ll make it up to you! If I’m not in the common room by nightfall, you know where to find me.
Sebastian.”
It did not escape Ominis’s notice that Sebastian, after weathering defeat by her in a duel during their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class together, had taken personal interest in MC and even dubbed her as such - among other names - needling her about the verbose nature of her formal title. Further, it was uncharacteristic of Sebastian to cancel a study session, seeing as he typically made any excuse to visit the library on behalf of research for his ill sister, Anne… nevermind the fact that Ominis could not recall any instance in recent memory where Sebastian had canceled on him, specifically.
After a moment’s hesitation, he refined the creases on the letter and tucked it back into the pocket of his waistcoat. He swallowed, brows furrowing and found that he no longer cared about the dancing plague of 1518 or the other contents of the book he’d since abandoned on his lap.
Sebastian did not come to dinner that evening. In customary fashion, Ominis found himself solitary - twiddling his fork on his plate - his company forsaken even by his housemates, who tended to cast upon him looks of cautious regard. They granted him a wide berth - huddling together three or four invisible student’s places apart from him. Through the soles of his shoes he felt the vibrations of doors slamming across the hall as students filtered out and the bench beneath him shifted when those occupying it left. The idle chatter of two teachers drifted across the cavernous room. Ominis sighed, folding a leaf of wax paper over a blueberry muffin.
“She was missing too…” he noted passively and wondered if he ought to have purloined a second muffin from the banquet table.
He held his wand aloft as he rose, a crimson bead of light fluttering like a heartbeat on its tip. The sensation of structures - rows of oak tables and benches - extended across the space before him. As he walked, he approximated the mass of these objects: how near they existed to his kneecaps, how firmly they were anchored to the floor - all actions thoughtlessly natural to him.
The passageway led from the Great Hall into the Viaduct Courtyard and a faint chill heralded that twilight had fallen upon the surrounding landscape. The tumult of student life had withdrawn for the night, taking with them a clamor of distracting noises and smells. Ominis meditated on the silence, finding solace in measuring the rhythm of his footfalls as he paced across the leaf-littered earth.
He imagined Sebastian with his freckled nose buried in a book in the Undercroft and smiled.
“It’s not the first time he’s worked through dinner,” he reminded himself. “Anne is lucky to have such a brother.” A pang of sadness worked dully at his chest following the mention of Anne’s name. Nothing had been quite like it was since before she’d fallen ill. “Even Sebastian’s laughter seems contrived these days.”
Suddenly a thunderous crack echoed across the hillside to his right, akin to a bolt of lightning striking a tree. Ominis jolted so forcefully that he nearly dropped the muffin in his left hand.
“W-what was that?” He gasped, his head swimming with adrenaline. The atmosphere reeked of burnt timber. Swiftly, he sought the protection of the cloister, his wand hand sweeping the clearing.
The path beneath his feet dropped into a series of stairs ending where the Black Lake licked the limestone and wooden boats rocked innocently in the building below. To the muggle, prepared to dismiss the absence of petrichor, this artificial thunderstroke might have signified a distant storm but Ominis knew well the vast and formidable traits of magic.
Someone was dashing up the stairs to his left - their feet tapping like raindrops on the hard surface. Ominis pressed himself plumb against the column and held his breath.
Her scent preceded her - like honeysuckle, mild and sweet. Following closely, the sound of her breath, quick and shallow, as though from a brisk sprint. The swish of her robes marked her entrance, swift and fleeting. In a moment, she vanished through the nearest castle door, oblivious to the presence of an onlooker.
Ominis found himself immobilized by his perplexity. He had, he was sure, sensed some great surge of energy, unlike any he had previously encountered, as she glided past him. An enigmatic metallic tang lingered on her garments, its quality imprinted on his senses. As he reviewed the day’s - no - the month’s occurrences and considered Sebastian’s recent preoccupation, a daring notion began to take root in his mind:
The new girl was forging a novel strain of magic.

Okay, fourth rewrite, I'm making this in hopes that their is someone who can help me in some way. Maybe someone knows the answer to it all and can guide me, though unlikely. I'll just list out all my issues in seperate paragraphs and hopefully their is just someone out their to help, if you can help me just please do, I really need help or at least someone and you reading this and giving me advice would truly mean a lot to me. Anyways
I feel stupid: I honestly feel braindead, I hate my mind so much. Sometimes it's hard to think or do, sometimes I can't think or do. My mind is so numb, everything about my mind just feels wrong and dead. My mind has felt dead for a year or two now and I just wish it was alive, I want my mind to be normol, I want it to actually work. I also want confidence in my mind, any failure or lack of underatanding makes me defeated and feeling like a dunce. Anything I can do I say was just luck or something anyone should know. I don't know if I'm stupid or not but dam I feel like I am the dumbest in a room. I would give it all to be intelliegent, I wish I was smart, well read, well informed, well versed. I so desperately want to know, so desperately want to be smart. I wish I could understand stuff. I just want to be smart and have a bright alive mind, but my mind is so dead and desolate and compared to the rest worthless. I hit myself in my head whenever I'm mistaken or just feel so stupid, and I honestly deserve it. If I were to kill myself my mind being numb and stupid would be the reason or a big reason why, I just want to be smart. You can likely tell just how much of an idiot I am by reading this via grammer, spelling, complaints. That "likely" was meant to be "probaboly" but I'm just stupid and worthless to spell. If there was just a way to be smart and not such a moron, I fucking hate my life.
I have body issues: I without doubt have body issues, the biggest of which is my weight. As of now I am 5,9 (1.7M) and 211lbs (95.7KG), I was 246lbs (111kg) to begin with and it was also my heaviest. Despite losing a good amount of weight I am not happy and have no pride, I'm still fat and thats all I see sadly. I don't want to be fat or skinny, I want to be muscular:big arms, built chest, flat stomach, no abs (don't like them) that sounds appealing, it's what I want. Unfourtunely I as of now can't work to this goal, I don't have money for a gym or equipment, famliy funds can't do it ethier and awhile ago I turned down a weight bench since I wasn't confident, now I regret that choice. I hate being fat so much, and this deep hatred and desperation has led to a embarassing cycle, for two years now I have been downloading images of muscular bodies. They're all drawings or from videogames since I'm to embarresed to have real images and as mentioned it's a cycle, Download and store -> have them and look at them for awhile -> get ashamed of myself -> purge it all -> regret -> repeat. Like stated this has been going for two years and as of now I have ten different images. Apart from weight I also have some other physical insecurites, acne being a big one. I been suffering from acne for years, fifth grade, early sixth grade is when it started so five years of this. It mostly effects my chin and cheeks badly but also effects more of my face, sometimes the acne hurts and it often even bleeds. I hate touching my face and feeling grime and ripping off a bunch of skin and dried shit. I wash every night and try to be frequent with morning witch-hazel but it dosen't relent. I also hate it when it gets mentioned, it is irratating to be reminded and noticed and nobody points it out more then my own mom who also cliams it would go if I just washed. I do, I fucking do! It's not working and you don't understand that! I also have body acne I don't know how to fix, I like sleeping shirtless which I know is the reason, also inconsistent with bedding which isn't right. Even if I did wash sheets weekly it wouldn't be enough, I would still get acne on my body. I just want to sleep shirtless and not get acne, I wish I could find a way. Another insecurite but not really is my height, I don't mind being 5'9/5'10 I mean it's about average height and I beat out my 5'4 father. But I'm sixteen which mean I still have possibilty to get taller and I wonder, will I? If I do, just how tall? Could I reach 6'0+? All of this speculation makes me a bit insecure, also with being fat I look short and round in the mirror which is defeating. I'm secure besides speculation and weight but at the same time I truly want to be taller, I think any man tall or short wishes they were taller, I wish I could break 6'0 that would be cool (to me). But I don't think that will ever happen, my dad is 5'4, my mom is 5'6 I made it 5'9/5'10 and my chart is stagnating, should just stop thinking I'll get taller. Another phsyical insecurite and likely the last one I'll mention unless I think of another worthwhile one is my hair, I'm insecurie of my hairstyle. Or lack of hairstyle, my mom says I have independence in this choice but whenever I make a choice she complains about it. Any agreement is one sided or changed up a little so she likes it. I have always hated my hairstyles over the years, even now and as of now it's ethier her way or a unorgainzied thick mess that will soon be her way. I hate it, wish I could make my own "independent" choice, even if I could my mom would likely hate it and always bring it up which is something I don't want to deal with. My mom is more for short cuts and fades etc, I hate fades and while I do admire short hair have always taken liking to shagger and longer styles, more rugged style. I have also always liked long hair and even wanted it. I used to openly want long hair for a long time but my mom opposed, I tried to convince her but she was opposed. She wasn't only opposed to it she made sure to express that it was gay and feminine etc, etc. She made me close off and forgot the desire but even now she won't let go. She is so sure to tell everyone: famliy, her friends, the hairdresser, hell maybe even strangers, she tells everyone about how much I wanted it and what she thought of it etc. Often I have been embarresed like this while I was right there, I have expressed that this embarreses me and want it to stop mutiple times yet she'll continue almost as if it's purposeful, she will also bring up an old friend T who had long hair as an example of it looking bad. But he didn't take care of it or do anything, most he would do is give into his moms begging and have her brush it. If I had long hair I would actually take care of it and do stuff to it! She also claims I got the idea from him, but no I liked it since elementary being inspired by personal inkling and rock. I no longer want hair but am starting to find styles I really like, but first I need to get my mom to fuck off. And second I would want to grow a beard, which is another issue of mine. I'm sixteen I shouldn't expect a full beard but I have seen peers with actual good facial hair, patchy beards, five o'clocks, some actually have a beard. Then there is me, with some sideburns and a bunch of peachfuzz, I want to be able to grow a beard and the peachfuzz plus sideburns bother me, I want it to actually devlop, I want a beard. I am also worried about devlopment, worried acne will hurt or even stop growth. I'm upset about my lack of growth though I definetly have unrealistic expectations. Lastly with hair is my chest hair, I'm quite hairy and I like it. And I have chest hair but barely and I just wish I had more over a greater coverage, more of a funny insecurite, lol. One more insecurity I forgot about is my voice. I'm loud when talking and my voice isn't as deep as I wish so that sucks.
(copy and paste from older write) I wish I had a father: I don't have a father or any form of father figure, I'm fatherless and it hurts a lot. My father has been out of my life since I was elevenish/twelveish (the peak of covid passed), we kicked him out because he is and was a meth addict in and out of the jail. He was a fuctioning addict so not violent and not as obvious of an addict but the meth still took him over. My mother says she kept him around and gave him so many chances because she wanted him to be in my life as a father. But he was no father when he was around, he didn't parent me, he didn't play his role as a father and guide as a masculine role model, hell he likely didn't even truly care for me. My only memories of him really are going to McDonold's with him, after which he dumpster dived behind the plaza as I begged for us to go back home. Or me wanting to bond with him so he sets up the brilliant idea of dragging me around with his skechy friends, to skechy places, even at skechy times. I don't understand why I knew sooner, guess I was a stupid basterd but I started picking up that my dad was a bad person around fifth grade. By then I quickly found out more and more and tenstion was growing, by eleven we we're going to kick him out but covid struck it's height and our household seemed palpable. But very quickly we said fuck it and threw him to the curb, we weren't going to have it no longer. Soon after around thirteen I was happy that he was gone but slightly disappointed that I no longer had a father (even if he was useless) and I hoped my mom would find someone, not only for herself but for me. By fourteen this really layed in heavy on me and the lack of a father really bummed me out, I got really stupid and desperate using bitlife to create guys then add me and my mom in to create step father famlies even adding step siblings and shit. By late fourteen it was made clear to me by my mom that "we don't need no man" and that she was done with dating. I very well do need a father figure, every child needs one. Hell I as a guy truly need(ed) one, there are so many lessons and things that come from a fatheson relationship that are crucial to a boy and I missed out on them. Hell even when my dad was around I missed out on lessons, I still remember he was tasked to teach me how to tie my shoes but got mad at me struggling and walked away. He refused to help afterward and I refused to try and never to this day learned the proper way to tie, instead I have my own far less efficent method. I missed out on so much by not having a father and it hurts to know that and I just wish I had the knowledge, without a masculine role model I have definetly missed out what it is to be a man and likely am even a loser of a man. I just want a father so badly, I want what a father provides so badly, I want the bond that it comes with. I wish I just had a guy to talk to and bond with, I want a dad just so badly. I wish I had someone who taught me how to change a tire or fish and all that shit, but I'll never have it and it angers me, I am angry to be fatherless, I am angry and lost without a father figure, and I'm jealous. I kind of want to have children when the time comes, I wonder if I'll fail them as well.
Friends: Growing up I was always a bit introverted, I think it was of my nature but was amplafied by life. In elementary I often acquainted myself with people never having any close friends outside my after school program. Jumping to middle school I had a good friend-group but it turned out my good friend T was really an ass and I was pushed out by him in early nineth grade. Later in nineth I met my good friend, my best friend M. This year in tenth I was introduced to a friend named D by M. These are my only two friends and I'm happy with them, though there are a few issues. Not anything major but just a few things, like how we never do anything outside of school. The only thing I really miss about my old friendgroup is that we actually did shit: springs, houses, events, parks, attractions, food. Now me, M and, D don't and have never done anything outside of school and the computer. M likely couldn't do anything because of his famliy and D just seems completely disinterested and worried about money. But I wish we could really do something, sure videogames are fun but it would be fun if we could just goof off somewhere, be stupid. This is really the only general "issue" apart from that no major strain or issue in the friendgroup. But I do have a few personal grievences, starting with D. I think D has a darker side of him, he seems to not respect or care for me and will sometimes show it in nasty ways. He had told both me and M to kill ourselves, he attacks insecurites, he says rude shit, etc. Also with D, we have never truly connected, never gotten to know each other personally. Without M we would be mere acquaintance, M is the only reason why me and D are friends and being alone with each other is mostly silence and maybe him showing me a TikTok. Then M, I have no personal issues with M only small factors of our friendship I'm upset or worried about. Starting off with is school, halfway through this year (tenth) M started a FLVS-hybrid. I am happy for him and it's something we both expressed wanting but now I never really see him. I could see him at lunch but he dosen't really come in and only other time I can see him is leaving campus. I ethier catch him and barely have a conversation worthwhile or he's to far ahead and I got to give up trying to reach him. The only way to talk to my best friend nowadays really is Discord, and that isn't even reliable since his parents are often controlling the WI-FI or taking his stuff away. This means when I do talk to my friend it can suddenly be ended as he disconnects or I can't even. This sucks, it feels like I can't even talk to my best friend that much. But that isn't all, because I'm worried for my friend M. His parents don't sound the best from all he's told me, I won't share his issues but just as an example he didn't have a bedroom for two months. Hearing what we gose through is alreadly dishearting but something that I worry deeply about is him talking sucide. He has talked and half joked about it several times and it's worry, I been trying to discourage but he continues with it so now I'm just trying to ignore it. That is likely the wrong way of handling it but I just don't know what to do. I hope it's always bluff and he moves out and moves on with he can, I don't want him to kill himself.
I'm lonely: I'm sixteen but I'm lonely. I am the only one of my friends who hasn't had a relationship, I am not the most worried about that, I don't want to date just to date, I want to date to love. But hell I still wish I had a relationship, even just a sterotypical high-school one. But what I truly want is true love, I want a woman I love with all my heart and a woman who loves me with all of hers, I want a woman to provide for, to protect, to matter to. I want to marry and possibly have kids. I want to love someone, be there for someone. But will I ever even have that? I'm alreadly a loser who no woman would want and even then from what I've heard, "modren dating is terrible" so what chance do I even have? Will I ever have someone to love? I hope.
School: School makes me so misereble and dead, this place makes me genuinely want to off myself I hate it so much. And it seems to revolve around my whole life, even at home it's all my mom wants to bring up. I just need a break from it all but it seems like it's the only thing in my life, I don't really have anything else. I failed my nineth grade year, I failed since I'm a stupid, worthless peice of shit. But they "passed" me onto tenth, gave me tenth grade classes, test, etc but say I'm still nineth, tell me do nineth grade "remedation" online. Now I'm failing like a worthless peice of shit once again! I wish they held me back to try again but they didn't they just pushed me on, still likely would've failed like a worthless bitch but I could have had a chance. I fucking hate myself I'm so stupid and I hate my school for pushing my stupid ass onward and onward, I should just kill myself at this point. And when I try to reach out to my counselor in any hope for some chance of help the piss poor communcation at this school means it'll take days for a response, I can't even get reliable help over school. Back in middle school I had a GPA in the high 3s, I made honor roll every other quater or so, I had high grades and sucess. But in high-school, in nineth grade I failed with straight Fs and got a GPA of 0.7, now in tenth I have a 1.7 and sometimes get high grades but mostly fail. I just wish I wasn't so stupid, I just wish I was smart and successful at school. But I'm not, I'm a fucking idiot and an embarssment at school. And maybe it would all be okay if it wasn't for the assholes I am surrounded by, my fellow peers of this overcrowded hell hole. Just seems like I can never catch a break with having to deal with people. I just want to be left alone but they're is just always somebody wanting to bother me, harass me. Can sit at a desk then have a bunch of cunts around me, harass me, call me burgundy because of my shirt. Can sit down and be snickered at by the guys in front of me for whatever reason. Sit down and have paper, pencils, even ice hitting me. Sit down and have some imbecible pull up a chair and use my desk as his and block me in my seat because fuck me, am I right? Just want to be left alone but never am, nobody ever dose it's always something. I can't even get respect, not a single bit, just always mistreated. Hell just the other day when I was given my packet I was also mistakenly given the packet of a nearby girl, I get her attention and hand it to her and she just snaches it and mumbles something, because I can't even be respected, I'm worthless. And even when I'm not being directly bothered I got to deal with slow walkers, idiots who don't know how to inconvience everyone else in the halls, the over crowded school. It all fucking sucks I hate it all, everyday I think I'm on the verge of snapping but somehow just have more patience, I don't know how much more of this shit I can or have to endure. At least my mom finally reconsidered my old forgotten pleads for online school and reopened the idea, maybe by some miracle online school will save me and "help me get caught up and ahead" but I doubt it, I'm an idiot who deserves to die. Why am I so fucking stupid, why am I like this? Why must I exist this way?
No hobbies or interest: I used to love a lot of things: reading, history, coming up with things in my head, videogames and, anything really. Now I have grown apathic to it all except videogames and even that dosen't bring much joy. I want to have my old hobbies back but lack the will to return. And I want new hobbies but yet lack will but also lacking knowing what I want to try. I'm lost with my freetime, it's all bleek and I want to fill my life with pastion. I still love videogames, always will but I need more then just gaming, I want more then gaming. I just want something, anything. I don't want to have such a lack of interest, God I fucking hate my life.
I have no future career goals: I'm sixteen and have no idea on what I want to do as an adult, some may say thats okay but it's not, not for me at least. I want to have a goal in the adult world, and even if that goal led to a path I don't like then I can always go down another path. Despite having no idea on what to do I at least know I don't want to be in an office. I could handle an office job, and be content with an office job but an office job isn't me, it isn't what sounds interesting, I would likely do blue collar or be my own boss. Some jobs I've considered and would do still are: police, SWAT police, house flipper, 911 operator, port worker, mechanic or something tinkeassemble like, enterpuner my book, film and games ideas or, open a store or bar or something. These are some jobs I've considered in the past that I would still see myself doing, I have also pondered over military/reserve but not sure. My childhood dream career that I still have a desire for is SWAT but I don't think I have what it takes, in fact I don't think I have what it takes for anything. I think all my life is destined to is dying homeless on a street corner, it's all I'll ever be "worthless".
I had so much planned, now failed: At age fourteen I planned to by now have a license, a job, a banking account, start savings. I planned to lose weight, I planned to have an idea outside of school, I had a plan. But I'm just a worthless peice of shit and a failure to myself, I don't even have a permit, no job, no savings, still fat, have no idea about the future, I failed myself.
Fidgeting: I can't stop but want to, at school I can't help but twiral a pencil around. I do it all the time at school but been trying to stop, I hate doing it. Worst part is I'm being immated by worthless cunts by it which is annoying. I want to stop this.
Masterbation addiction: I have a severe and low life addiction to masterbation. I do it at least once a day and sometimes mutiple times a day. The longest I was ever able to refrain was just a little over a week and only failed because I got bored. I need to jerk it to be able to sleep unless I'm desperately tired but even then. Also since I "need" it to sleep I regulary soil my sweatpants then sleep in it which is nasty. I can't control this vice, this low appetite and I'm deeply unhappy about it. Also unhappy that I might be ruining my endurence, a bit TMI but just another reason why this is harmful. I want to refrain or atleast drasticly cut out this pratice and fix myself.
I likely have more issues eating me inside as I waste away as a shell of a person but I can't really think of them. I am told my mom is looking into thearpy so that might be nice. Please just help me, I'm so lost and broken, I sometimes consider just ending it all but I just hope it can get good.

My wife (31) and I (30) are in the process of getting a dissolution. I’m currently living with my parents while she is living in our house. She’s unemployed so our arrangement was that I would continue to pay the bills while she looked for work. An arrangement we established back in February. She is still looking for work, I am (was) still making all the payments.
In March while dropping my daughter off at her bus stop (wife and I split time with the kids 50/50), I noticed a new car parked in front of my house and it was still there when I came back to pick her up. Every day the kids were with me, this same car was either in front of the house or parked in the alley directly behind the house.
In April I remembered that our bed tracks your sleep, I decided to check and see what kind of usage it was getting. I had to reenable the sleep tracker because she had turned it off. Every night the girls were with me, there were two occupants. I didn’t say anything yet because I wanted to have proof that this person was in bed with her every night. So I was going to let it ride a little and just kept things to myself until I had my proof. But she realized that I knew about day 5 and we were forced to have a conversation about it. I made it clear that while I didn’t really care who she was sleeping with, what I did care about was paying for her love nest. And I told her (2 weeks ago) that I would only be making half payments on everything moving forward. Today I got a call asking if I’d made the house payment for this month to which I responded that I’d left my half of it in the account. Now she’s blowing up my phone with pictures of all the applications she’s filled out and all the interviews she’s lined up.
I left money for half of the bills (house, utilities, bed, etc), groceries and gas for her and the girls, but now I’m feeling both guilty and frustrated with her inability to get a job. I don’t hate her, but I’m also not going to pay for some strangers living expenses 50% of the time. They go to dinner, the order DoorDash, they go out. That’s fine, but I don’t think I should be the one paying for it. Is that fair? Or am I just being ridiculous?