Young brother getting hand job

The City of Lethbridge

2010.04.22 04:02 Lookmanospaces The City of Lethbridge

Subreddit for the city of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Home to 100,000 people.
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2015.12.29 09:16 rezi_io College Jobs

Helping college students land gainful employment. Covering employment, tips, career fairs, recruitment, résumés/CVs, interviews, job postings, etc.
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2017.03.14 16:13 Gouken Building Automation Systems EMCS BAS

The Building Automation System (BAS), also known as an Energy Management Control System (EMCS) is an automated system that is used in the construction industry. This thread was created out of interest in bringing all industry professional integrators together to share their wealth of knowledge and support for each other. We can ask for help, or provide solutions for we are all professionals in our own product. You never know when you will meet a fellow integrator on a job site.
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2024.05.14 15:59 Longjumping-Night707 AI Utilization in PD Work?

I was curious if any public defenders are incorporating AI into their practice. The reason I ask is because I am an attorney (transactional background -- it sucks, but pays the bills) and I recently had to deal with a somewhat complex New York Family Court motion involving issues that didn't have a vast number of appellate cases, but enough to establish clear legal precedents and demonstrate that I was being railroaded by this fucking Family Court system. Unfortunately, I was unable to afford the retainer fees that other attorneys demanded and was struggling to find representation. I had reached out to numerous law firms and nonprofits, but they were either not accepting new cases, denied my case, or the attorneys were retired or in the process of retiring. This specific area of Family Court law leaves out a large portion of people who can't pay a $20k retainer or make too much to get representation through the nonprofits.
Given the circumstances, I decided to prepare the best possible motion on my own. I had a template for the filing format, but needed additional case law support to strengthen my arguments/facts. That's where Claude came in. I provided Claude with hundreds of cases and instructed it to extract any arguments that were relevant to my case and had similar fact patterns. Since I didn't have access to Family Law on Westlaw or guidance in NYC, I used Judy Records, Google, and Casetext for most of my research. I repeated the feeding of relevant cases for all the other issues I wanted to address in the motion.
Using the summary generated by Claude, I then guided the AI in drafting the motion, directing it to incorporate case law and citations that supported my arguments from point X to point Y in the argument section. The first draft was somewhat shit and veered all over the place, but it had great arguments and support. I went through and rewrote things paragraph by paragraph to get things more concise. Overall, the process took me a few weekends to figure out the law behind the Family Court Act that my case was under since there were a lot of nuances, but most of those nuances were explained in guidance online or appellate cases.
I am well aware of the previous instances where attorneys relied on GPT for court filings, despite the well-known fact that GPT had a propensity to make shit up (hallucinate, as they call it). If you asked GPT for a case about a race car driver who murdered 10 poodles, it would miraculously provide a case with those exact details. The bigger problem, in my opinion, is that we should have been shown the OJ video about Shepardizing or given similar warnings during our FIRST year of law school, which makes me question the overall competence of those attorneys.
However, with the advancements in AI, citation issues are no longer a major concern. Out of the approximately 15 cases cited in my motion, there were only two that I couldn't initially locate. I later discovered one of the citations in a practice guide I had uploaded, even though the case was not easily accessible online. The other citation was inaccurate because I felt it didn't fully support my argument, and the case, in general, was very unfavorable to me as the Respondent.
After years of battling with Family Court, I finally prevailed in my motion -- and AI wrote 80% of my motion, helped with other filings, and scrubbed all the cases for information that was relevant. Also, I was able to take a crash course in this specific area of family law, which is just a weird but not too robust area of law.
I believe AI holds a lot of potential for handling the backend work in public defender offices, freeing up PDs to focus on other critical aspects of their cases and have an assistant that helps them with all aspects of a case, including reminders and updates. (The Microsoft AI sucks, btw. Do not let your offices get it or I think you will be very disappointed in the abilities of AI.) The potential for efficiency for PDs to handle their cases a little more easily seems great, but I wanted to get input on what others think.
Going through this whole process has been a real eye-opener for me, making me realize just how fucking ridiculous the NY state family courts are, just like all those articles have been saying. On the bright side, it felt pretty damn good to legally slap the shit out of the Petitioner after all the crap they've put me through. When the Petitioner responded to my motion, they didn't even bother using a single legal case or precedent to back up their argument. Instead, they resorted to attacking my misuse of a word a couple of times. AI and I whipped up a response in just a couple of hours, calling out how desperate it is to nitpick word usage in a pro se filing when they clearly don't have any legal support for their position. Man, I wish I could dish out these kinds of smackdowns in my day-to-day work.
It's about time I change jobs and do something that lets me legally fight against these bullshit systems instead of helping douchebag companies buy and sell each other. I enjoyed the writing battle and how I knew my shit by the time I appeared for that motion. It feels great to finally have won this bullshit battle, and I wouldn't have been able to write and research so quickly without AI (Claude, specifically, as GPT didn't work well for legal writing or case citations, with a little bit of help from the Gemini AIStudio version).
Ok... that's my long, throwaway account post. I hope others begin taking advantage of AI. Thank you for all the work you do! Hopefully I can transition to something more aligned with PD work or reforming this fucked up NY family court.
submitted by Longjumping-Night707 to publicdefenders [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:59 writesingandlive How to make an extra income orchestrating?

Hello! Lately I’ve been orchestrating a few small piano pieces for children, turning them into very small piano concertos. I know orchestrating can be a way of generating a small side hustle and get a small side income.
Is this true? And if so, how can I do that? Where can I search for little jobs to do, or what kind of pieces can I make to gain a little side income orchestrating?
Thank you all in advance.
submitted by writesingandlive to classicalmusic [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:59 Time-Brick271 Third-Party Salespeople

*Senior level HR for US tech company*
Is anyone else noticing a huge influx of third-party salespeople contacting you trying to sell you HR-related products and tech? I'm used to a handful a day, but yesterday, I had over 50 of them when I logged in! They're messaging me on LinkedIn constantly and even calling my personal cell #, which I'm not sure how they even got.
I appreciate their hustle, their jobs are tough, and I get that the market out there is awful, but if you're sending me an email, contacting me on LinkedIn, and calling my cell multiple times per week, you're not getting a meeting. I used to respond to each one and politely let them know we were not interested, but lately, that seems to fuel their contact with me further.
Please tell me I'm not the only one!
submitted by Time-Brick271 to humanresources [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 AussieSpartan005 venting post about some dumb figure related stuff

this is probably like my 10th post about this topic and i'm gonna seem like a massive idiot. but tbh i need to say it, since i think here most people would have a better time understanding me. So after i lost the rex helmet for my figure, i actually managed to get a replacement in the US when i went for my vacation (my older brother has the figure itself for display) but he said he was fine with me having the helmet, so it was a win win situation for both us. but with me being heavily OCD and ADHD induced, i noticed a lot of issues with the helmets, like some of the paint apps missing on the visor, the lower part of the visor being way too thin and some of the other decals being way too uneven. cut to 7 months later, its bugged me so much that i just decided to modify it, it got to the point where i fucked it up even more and i think tbh i might have gotten a bootleg, since the paint came off way too easily (150$ down the fucking drain) and tbh i just feel stupid, its either just A. i search for a figure repair shop thats hopefully in my country or B. 3d print a helmet, hopefully get the right decals and hope to god that its a bit more better. but either way i'm honestly just dissapointed in myself, for 1. not waiting till my brother maybe could have helped me 2. spending that much money on a fucking helmet of all things 3. getting possibly scammed and 4. making things worse. i'm sorry for anyone thats just read this whole thing because tbh even looking at myself now, i feel even more dumber about myself. thanks for reading everyone
submitted by AussieSpartan005 to starwarsblackseries [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 Impossible-Rich-3931 Worrying about my boy being neutered in dirty vets office

Worrying about my boy being neutered in dirty vets office
So this is my second cat, I’ve had my first girl for 2.5 years almost and she’s probably around 3.5 years old I’m guessing. I got her spayed the first 6 months I had her, I lived in AZ at the time and used the humane society, it was very clean inside and like a normal vet hospital with the larger waiting rooms and even put a name rage collar on her at the front. No odor or other animals, like I was comfortable leaving her there even though I was able to come back and get her same day after the surgery cause it was so early and I did. Well now I live in OK, in a smaller town with only a couple vet options, and an overflowing humane society which doesn’t have monthly spay and neuter deals like there was in AZ. So my parents recommended a dr here cause of the price and reliability. Well I walk in with my I’m assuming 8-9 month old boy that I’ve had since October, also my parents are the ones who set up the appointment for me cause we are hurting on money rn(I’m pregnant and out of a job, so one income is hard). So I just kinda trust my parents that it’s ok, but I walk in the door and I’m hit with a wall of animal stink, there is no waiting room just a small little office and check in desk thing, and she had me come take him back to the cages and so I walked through the back with her and they had around 4-5 cats walking about and a large dog, in that room area it’s like I could tell the dr and family live in that building as well kinda just based off the furniture there for the “pets” of theirs just roaming. Never put a name tags on him, the kennels looked alright but some at the top were obviously junk storage and weren’t the cleanest. As well as one of her roaming cats in there had what looked like and eye infection, like not even her animals all seemed 100%, unless she took it in recently and is treating it. I didn’t look around too much and didn’t see a room that would be for surgery and it makes me anxious based on the lack of obvious cleanliness when I brought him to the back kennels. Also I can’t pick him up the same day I have to wait till tomorrow, and so it’s making my momma heart feel so bad for leaving him overnight and he’s not a year yet and will think we have him up maybe, all I know is he’ll be scared tonight. I’m primarily concerned about the condition of the clinic and where this procedure will take place cause I really would hate for him to get an infection and potentially worse cause of the lack of sterilizing and keeping up with the clinic. We will see when I pick him up tomorrow but I don’t know if I’ll be receiving pain meds or anything for cleaning the site either like I did for my girl, I just feel like a bad cat parent for letting him have surgery there cause I wouldn’t take any sick pet there I feel it’s so dirty and unprofessional feeling at least from what I’m used to back in AZ, I imagine even the bigger cities here will have nicer vets but because I’m in such a small town we don’t have really any options. Just hoping and wishing that all goes well and he isn’t being put at risk for a bad infection or anything. Is there anything I can do at home after I get him to help reduce possible infections and maybe pain management if that possible.
submitted by Impossible-Rich-3931 to cats [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 Ei_Supremacist What's your thoughts about this ?

Guys, are you ready for another round against the Thunder Manifestation ?
I haven't seen anything saying that you'll need elevation material to get your characters to lvl100, but I suppose we will need to farm like for any other lvl elevation. On the other hand, the "big winners" if this happens could be the dendro/electro/anemo swirl reactions, as they benefit from EM.
Personally, I'm going mad, I've just finished my farming session for Clorinde mats today and this leak sounds like a joke in very bad taste to me🤣. The only thing that would make me take it as good news would be if they increased the resin to 240 and make it capable of "self-managing" itself like in Honkai Star Rail. And also increase the number of boss drops, energy lines, dungeons, moras and xp books too.
submitted by Ei_Supremacist to RaidenMains [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 Burner4Questioning Can we get rid of the age restriction on Venom already, it's ridiculous

Can we get rid of the age restriction on Venom already, it's ridiculous
Seriously, what are they doing here? I can't play as him in Festival, a mode that features some rather strong language uncensored in certain songs, and features music with adult themes in general. Venom is a character heavily featured in children's media, they make toys of Venom targeted at young children where he still looks like his gnarly self, how is it he's restricted in modes rated PG (in Australia), or restricted at all, it's been months and I'm tired of not being able to use him in every mode. Get your shit together Epic.
submitted by Burner4Questioning to FortNiteBR [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 orcus286 [US-VA] [H] Razer Viper V3 Pro [W] Paypal

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/razer-viper-v3-pro-BuAgcgT
Bought the mouse directly from razer and returning it would just be too much of a hassle. I wanted to give Razers new mouse a try after using different versions of the Viper in the past but sadly I found out it just wasn't for me after about 30 minutes of matches in Overwatch 2. My grip style along with my smaller hands don't seem to work well with it. Just feels too big for me so its back to the Pulsar Xlite Mini for me. :(
Everything is included ... Booklet, stickers, grip tape, cable, 8k dongle and of course the mouse.
Looking to get $100 shipped.
submitted by orcus286 to MouseMarket [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 ThrowRA-8923 Is financing a car at 22 a bad idea?

I (22F) live at home and my parents have set it up where I pay $400 to them to help with whatever bills come their way and $400 to contribute to my TFSA each month for "rent". Im lucky enough to not have to pay for a phone bill and the only expenses I do have are my own groceries (I live in an in-law suite so I have my own kitchen etc.) and my car insurance. I currently drive a 2014 Lincoln MKZ and spend an insane amount of money on gas each week ($100.00 to fill and a 11.6L/100KM fuel efficiency) and have had an astronomical amount of bad luck with repairs. Just recently it was $1000 to get a safety to switch it from my fathers name to my name and has required a rear differential, steering column and had multiple different problems with computers and boards and even to replace a lamp for my blinker was upwards of $500 because Lincoln has made it so hard to get at.
For a little more backstory I have been lucky enough to grow up in a pretty wealthy family but we dont like to flaunt it. My grandparents have always told me growing up "if you cant pay it in cash you cant afford it" and they have taken that and lived by it. So going to my father or grandparents for advise on how to not let the salesmen run me over and take advantage of a young girl at a dealership hasn't gone to plan. They keep trying to tell me it's a terrible idea and I will end up not making payments and it will be one of the dumbest things I can do this soon in life. They keep telling me I cant afford it and it will end up coming around and biting me in the ass and it will ruin my life.
The car I am looking to finance is a 2020 Ford Escape Titanium Hybrid. It will be MUCH better on gas (5.6L/100KM combined fuel efficiency) and the payments would be $233 biweekly for 5 years. I have looked into different loan options like a line of credit but the interest rates at other dealerships and bank loans are much higher as the Ford dealership is at 8.99%APR.
Im looking for some advise or insight on if its as bad as they keep making It out to be and if it will really be such a terrible idea. I have worked it out so I will still have a savings account I can regularly put money aside for repairs/emergencies and I have an old friend sending me $200 biweekly paying me back for money they borrowed (my family doesnt know about this)
submitted by ThrowRA-8923 to LifeAdvice [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 srock0223 Neighbors are extremely private but live 20 feet away.

Moved into our house during Covid (2021) so no one was in the mood to congregate and meet. We live in the southeastern US and people are generally pretty friendly. We have neighbors on both sides, typical suburban neighborhood setup, so our houses are fairly close together. Neighbors on one side are two guys who are nice but never around. One is a pilot and always gone for work. We chat with them occasionally if we’re both outside and my husband has lent them some yard tools in the past. The other side of us is a home with 2 women and a teenager. They are extremely private. Like I noticed when looking at our house on Google maps, they’ve had theirs blurred out. We got their Doordash order once and it said “Fake Name” on it. Walked it over and knocked on the door to see if it was theirs, and they wouldn’t answer until I was back on my porch. I’ve dropped off a couple of misdelivered Instacart orders in the past and they haven’t ever come to the door, so I just leave them on their porch now. No big deal, some people are big on privacy. However it’s now summer and we’re outside more and they will literally walk right by us if we are on the side of our house (20ft distance between houses) and not even say hi or make a noise to make their presence known if your back is turned. It’s getting to a point that I feel a little uncomfortable because we’ve lived next to them for 3+ years and don’t even say hi. Halloween is the 1 time a year, when they’re outside handing out candy that they’ll say hi and happy halloween. Is this just privacy to an extreme, because I’m starting to take offense or think we’ve done something to them.
submitted by srock0223 to neighborsfromhell [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 Cayitr_jr Gender Gp: Unable to contact unless you pay, not issuing prescriptions, not showing up to meetings.

Hi Guys, i Think the UK trans community using gender gp needs to have a serious talk about the current state of the service. I myself have been a customer since around 2021 and while there service has never really been good at the moment it is in the gutter. they have taken all contact emails off their site, do not reply to emails and make you pay for any type of talking to them. meeting which according to some reddit users they may not even show up too. i know personally i submitted my repeat prescription request a long time ago, was told it would be fine in a follow up session, but have yet to receive any response about it. I have read of eople having to wait over a month and a half for it, if you are with gender gp and having troubles, or have used it in the past with issue please let me know and if there is enough interest maybe we can collect these in a discord and take it to them together, it may sound naive but banding together maybe a good way to get a response from them. they are squeezing money from our community. They are targeting people who are desperate, who are vulnerable, like i was. If i was to have it my way i would hand hrt out free over the counter that is not where i come at this from, just because a company may be quicker than the goverment doesnt mean we should let them walk all over out community. please let me know in the comments your situations.
TLDR: gender gp is rinsing us for money and their service is dropping, with massive processing times and no way to contact them, if we approach them or make a statement as a collective group maybe we can do something
submitted by Cayitr_jr to TransCarePrivate [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:58 Ksyruz Need some advice on Employment law for unfair dismissal

My question here:
  1. Can an employer use an informal performance review as grounds for dismissal?
  2. Can they legally give a bad review?
  3. Can they legally threaten you to resign on the grounds of giving a bad review?
  4. Should she resign or let the process go through and get a lawyer involved?
  5. What information should she try to obtain before they take her laptop away?
Background:
My wife has been working for a major UK bank in the financial crime division of their Midlands, England office. She started on Oct 23, around seven months to date, and has been struggling. She has around 11 years of experience in Law and Policing.
When she started, she had issues with the laptop they gave her. They configured it for the wrong department, and she did not have access to the relevant systems for three months to perform her training or job. Thus, she could not get training as the others who joined at the same time as she did. Whenever she notified her manager that she could not access the systems she needed, they did not believe my wife, as the laptop was in working order.
They gave her the first piece of work without formal training, and when she asked questions to the manager or the person from the team acting as her buddy trainer, they would say she should know this or not give her the answer. The questions she asked were about what requirements or guidelines dictated why something should be filled into the forms and why she shouldn't be adding what she thought would be relevant information into the system. When she brought up that the training was not adequate for her manager, they just answered that her "buddy trainer has x number of years and knows her stuff". This caused a regression in her performance. Instead of helping, her manager would tell her that she would be fired if she did not improve her performance. Even though most of her performance is linked to bad training, harassment, and not understanding, she is a mother of 2 children under the age of 3 years.
Further exacerbating this, when she joined the Director of the department in a meeting, he asked if anyone had information they would like to bring into the department. My wife put her hand up and gave some information. The Director set up a meeting, and in that meeting, instead of listening to her on what she did for financial crime in her previous employer and how that can be transferred, he demeaned her by saying, "don't come with ideas if you don't know our processes. We hired you to do the checks not to give Ideas". What would become her buddy trainer in that meeting was there, and she and the director did not dismiss my wife. They just started talking about their things and ignored my wife.
In the case that she was told she was performing poorly, she noticed that the person was a repeat, where they just changed their address and could get a new bank account, even though they were exited previously on criminal associations of funnelling billions of pounds. She brought this up with the buddy trainer and manager, but they dismissed her when she said that when someone opens an account, they should be checked if they were previously exited, not when their dealings are being flagged after opening an account. Both her buddy trainer and the manager said that she was stupid and that it would add more work. She later discovered that both her buddy trainer and the manager took this idea to create their department for the company's board.
My wife also noticed that the others who joined had already done this job before in other banks or other departments. One individual you can see was favoured by the buddy trainer as they were of the same race and married to a white person as the buddy trainer. That buddy trainer would practically give the easiest work to her and would generally do the job to get that individual in. But my wife was always given the hardest of cases which would require her to work outside of work hours due to having 20 times the number of people to look into or were cases that needed external input which increased time but her manager and buddy trainer stated it should be done within 1 week even though these cases required 6 weeks due to the cross-communication.
In March, she contacted the Union about the harassment that was happening, and she opened a grievance on what she feels is harassment and bullying. She did not submit the grievance as she was told to give it a second chance, as they changed her buddy trainer. She was showing improvements but was not meeting what, I would say, was an unobtainable deadline. They put her on an informal performance review to prevent the union from being involved for 14 working days. Unfortunately, our children got sick for one of those weeks, and then I caught the bug three days later, and we both had to take sick leave from work. when she returned, her manager stated that because her performance did not improve, they would not give her back that week missed, and she had to reach the goals given for those two weeks within one week. This was supposed to be completed by Tuesday next week, a today week before her manager called my wife at 12 pm, what she described as a courtesy to let her know that they will be letting her go next week on Tuesdays and because it is a dismissal performance if she does not resign by 4 pm today the letter will be put into her record, and if she tried to apply for any jobs in the industry, it will have a detrimental effect. She will not be hired by any company that needs to adhere to the regulatory environment.
At this time, another individual who started with my wife was on another team in the same department run by this Director. They were removed from the team due to performance. Strangely enough, this person is of the same race as my wife.
Due to this, she did contact the Acas. But as they are not of the legal background, they could not help as she has less than two years of employment. If she does allow the letter to come onto her record, she only has the option to wait for a formal job offer to be rejected due to what I feel is an unfair dismissal.
Another weird thing that happened today is that the department's people partner published that anyone under 12 months old can now start applying to other roles within the department if their manager approves. When my wife asked her manager if, instead of her resigning or being fired she support my wife in finding a more suitable role within the organisation, the manager said sorry that this waiver does not apply to my wife.
submitted by Ksyruz to LegalAdviceUK [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:57 chincilab Do you think that in the future there will be new laws forcing women to have kids?

I’ve been thinking about the 4B movement and how the birth rate is dropping almost everywhere.
And then I’ve been wondering since more and more women want to stay child free, how will the government react to that?
Anti abortion laws are already spreading across the world and getting tubes tied is almost impossible, what will happen to women in the future? When the ratio between old and young becomes so huge that the retirement age will be pushed up further?
On the extreme side I could imagine the Handmaids tale becoming more realistic.
What do you think?
submitted by chincilab to childfree [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:57 jdrukis Ortex Guy here with your 5/14 Opening Bell Ortex Update: SI%^1%,SI$^93%,ShortedShares^8%,SoL^4%,CtB^32%,Util^5% for the past 2 weeks. Huge borrows and CTB average jumps to credit card rates… Current Mood: why did Kenny Boi get a job at the circus? Because he was already an expert in juggling losses

Ortex Guy here with your 5/14 Opening Bell Ortex Update: SI%^1%,SI$^93%,ShortedShares^8%,SoL^4%,CtB^32%,Util^5% for the past 2 weeks. Huge borrows and CTB average jumps to credit card rates… Current Mood: why did Kenny Boi get a job at the circus? Because he was already an expert in juggling losses submitted by jdrukis to amcstock [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:57 karenvideoeditor The Witch

Helena Pederson had few people knock on the door to her cabin. A life ostracized from her community left her with mostly her chickens and sheep and her dog for company, though there were several friendships that sustained themselves despite her exile. She grew food in her garden but also traded, her chickens giving her more eggs than she needed and her sheep growing wool she used to knit.
The knock that came at night drew her out of a reverie, having been sitting on her couch, sipping a cup of tea she’d just brewed. Her dog Grant lifted his head in curiosity, but didn’t bark, accustomed to knocks and not interested in wasting energy at his older age. Hesitating, Helena put the cup down in its saucer and stood, her socks still on to keep her toes warm against the chill of her hardwood floors. She went to the door, opening it wide.
She stared. “Marius,” she finally managed.
The king stood before her in clothing that made it almost difficult to recognize him. Whether it was the beautiful robes he wore for ceremonies or impeccably sewn clothes for day-to-day life, he always appeared as a king should. But now he was draped in a shabby, worn cloak that covered whatever he wore beneath. She saw his horse nearby, tied to a post, but he was alone, not accompanied by so much as a single guard.
“Helena,” he answered softly. “May I come in?”
Pursing her lips, she paused tersely for a long moment before she moved aside. Marius pulled back the hood of his cloak and stepped inside as Grant trotted over to take in his scent. The unfamiliar presence in the dog’s home made him wary, but the demeanor of his master and her permitting his entrance kept the dog from so much as growling.
Helena shut the door and walked over to the kitchen area. “You still take your tea the same?”
“I do.”
Marius sat on the couch and Grant plodded back over to his bed, laying down on it but keeping his head up and aware. The seconds ticked by slowly as Helena poured the still boiling hot water into another cup. She prepared it as she remembered, down to the exact size of the splash of milk, bringing it over on a saucer.
Marius nodded once in thanks and blew on it before taking a careful sip. Helena took a seat in the handcrafted wooden chair adjacent to the couch rather than beside the king, dismissing her own cup of tea, letting it cool, forgotten. “What’s happened?”
The king paused, taking another sip of tea that Helena knew was still hot enough to burn his tongue. “The battle at Hempstead. We lost…too many men. The situation is declining sharply, and the Empire threatens to overtake the kingdom.”
Helena took in and let out a deep breath, silently. She shook her head. “I know you’ve worked hard to protect this kingdom, and you’ll do what’s best. You always do.”
Marius raised his gaze to meet hers. “Always?”
Helena’s face tightened into a glare. No. Not always. “That doesn’t tell me anything,” she said. “What in God’s name would bring you to my door?”
“Desperation,” he confessed. He took another sip of the tea. “The Empire brings subjugation. They rule with an iron fist and many will die just in their invasion alone. And of course, many men will be conscripted.”
“Are you here to…complain?” Helena asked, leaning back in her chair, confusion thick in her tone.
Marius sighed. “No, Helena, I’m here…” He paused heavily before he met her gaze, with some effort, she noticed. “I’m here to ask for your help.”
Helena stared for a long moment before her confusion turned to shock. “You…” She swallowed hard. “Help.”
The king placed the tea down on the saucer on the table in front of him. “These are my people,” he whispered. “And they will suffer, and there is nothing I can do but watch as it happens. They deserve better.”
“And I didn’t?” she asked, a vice gripping her heart as she felt emotion swell up inside her. “You come asking for help? Your nerve, your arrogance, is unmatched. Besides which, what would you have me do?”
“I need an army that will not fall from an arrow or a sword, and army that feels no pain, that follows orders just as my men do,” he told her. He visibly forced the words out and Helena’s expression descended further into disbelief as he spoke each one. “We have thousands of dead soldiers. Helena, I am more desperate than I’ve ever been because I know what is coming for my citizens and I am afraid.”
Helena’s face twitched in disgust. “I told you,” she whispered, “that I only ever did this for those mourning a loss. For a last goodbye, for a grieving widow or parent or child. And now you come here to ask me to use my skills to raise you an army?”
“I’ve no right.”
“You don’t.” She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat and regulated her breathing, refusing to allow herself to descend into tears. “I’m an exile, Marius. Because of you. What makes you think I would even consider doing this?”
“Because you’re a good person,” he said quietly. Helena’s eyes narrowed in anger. “You broke the law, repeatedly and with no remorse. It forced my hand, you must know that-”
“You are king,” she said. “Nothing forces your hand.”
Marius fell silent for a long moment. “I know I’ve not seen you for many years, but I still care for your well-being. I still have love for you. I’m not sure if that changes anything here, if it’s even relevant, but I wanted to say it, nonetheless. You’re still my sister.”
Helena’s expression slid into a wearied resignation. “Is that meant to sway my response here? This is an affront to everything I’ve ever tried to do with my necromancy.”
“It’s simply the truth.”
They lapsed into a long silence. “What makes you think I could even wield such power? Over so many at once?”
“You would have support,” he answered. “I’ve come to you first, but if you agree to help, there are other witches who would support you with their power. And the battle won’t be lengthy. It can’t be. We need a show of strength that turns the tides, that reveals we will not be conquered as easily as those who’ve fallen in their path so far.”
Helena slowly leaned back in his chair. “They could try the same thing, you know,” she muttered. “They surely have the same intolerance for my kind of magic, but they will find other necromancers among their people if they truly must. Where will you be then? Your soldiers will be pulled back to their decaying, bloody bodies, forced into battle until they can no longer stand, until their spirits untether from this realm because there is nothing left to hold to. The Empire will be the same. All soldiers will fall and even their corpses will become useless, falling to the ground as desecrated shells. What then?”
“I don’t know,” Marius said softly. “I only know that I need to try. I promised that I would try everything to keep our kingdom, to keep their families, safe. And I intent to keep that promise. To try everything.”
Helena’s gaze slid over to her now chilly cup of tea, a part of her wishing she had ignored that knock at the door. She folded her arms around her tightly, emotions she couldn’t describe roiling inside her, trying to hold tight to the life she’d had ten minutes ago. A life that was simple and, in a way, quite sad, but it was enviable from the position she found herself in now.
“How can I say no?” she whispered. Helena met her brother’s eyes, seeing in them a mixture of relief and utter despair. “I’m an outcast of the highest order save for a special few of my oldest friends, but they are still my people. I remember my home in the village, the children who would play in the streets, their parents doing their best to support their families and to simply…live their lives. I couldn’t leave them to be trampled underfoot in a war that is determined to arrive at their doorstep.
“And I hate you for it,” she continued, her gaze thick with a burden of emotion. “I will always hate you for it.”
“That is something I am willing to live with, and I’d expected nothing less,” he said.
Helena pushed herself to her feet. “I’m determined to have one last cup of tea. Then I’ll need someone to look after my animals. You can send word to Kasper Friis; he’d be willing. And then…” She let out an exhausted sigh. “Then…we prepare for battle.”
***
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submitted by karenvideoeditor to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:57 matchabr0 Selling one Red Rocks 2 Day Pass

Got a ticket for a friend but they're not able to pay me back soon so want to get off my hands asap.
Got it during the artist presale so it's $159. 100% legit, trust me I've been scammed before lol
submitted by matchabr0 to ofthetrees [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:57 pusthayslayer I wish my sister never came back home.

So i(15 male) wish that my sister(not saying the age) never came back home. Basically my sister one day was like rebelling against our parents and this girl ran away. Literally she made me worry etc. But then she stayed. She went to Like job school after but had to come back due to personal reasons. She forced me to cook everyday literally help her etc. I was fine with that until today. I just came back home and asked if my sister wanted to eat smth. I cooked but i literally failed. This donkey started screaming at me literally ruining my day. Even though she has a broke foot she can cook her self smth in the kitchen its not even that far!? Also school is very stressy but this girl doesnt know that bc shes at home laying like a lazy slug. Ive had enough of her. I want to tell her face that i wished that she never came back. Im bout to get a mental breakdown, so im sorry if theres any writing mistakes .
submitted by pusthayslayer to Advice [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:56 JorisbestJoJo Need help for a buff-focused dex/faith build (PvE Focused)

Need help for a buff-focused dex/faith build (PvE Focused)
https://preview.redd.it/sybk2cixde0d1.png?width=1747&format=png&auto=webp&s=f9d00c0d2308775589067c63dcc96f568210f6cd
https://preview.redd.it/mqxla0g2ee0d1.png?width=1534&format=png&auto=webp&s=db483577016aa77224faca4eecaa2e69e6b94651
Hey folks, first time poster here, I need some help regarding a buff-focused faith/dex build here with most physical damage relying on dex due to STR weapons not being really my forte, most of my utility are buffing spells which are situational due to mostly being in PvE but I have no problem throwing hands in PvP. This build is mostly made in preparation for the DLC, which I assume faith buffs will be most welcome.
Starting class is Vagabond
Any tips on how to "improve" my current build? I mostly capped at the level 150 cap and took 42 faith just enough to get Erdtree Heal, but so far the stats feel unsatisfactory, should I push it to level 200?
submitted by JorisbestJoJo to EldenRingBuilds [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:56 ToffeeFever Here's why entry-level jobs feel impossible to get

Here's why entry-level jobs feel impossible to get submitted by ToffeeFever to lostgeneration [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:56 JobJourney2024 Volunteer to be laid off?

Context: I'm in a senior management role in a somewhat niche industry/role. Been there 10+ years, make low 6 figures. In past year or so, major management turnover has upended my role making it difficult for me to do my job and the day-to-day environment pretty terrrible, and led us down a path of some bad mis-management leading to likely another round of lay-offs soon (we had one last summer).
I've been job searching for a few months, with a pretty low application rate, due to not seeing roles I'm interested in/ match current salary, and haven't gone past first round interviews anywhere.
Personal finance-wise - I'm doing ok - high six figures in retirement savings / investments, own my house, no kids/ dependents.
Question: I'm considering offering to be put on the lay-off list. If the severance packages are similar to the last round, the offer I'd likely get + my emergency savings likely would leave me with at least a year of living expenses. They haven't offered voluntary buy-outs and I don't they will. I think 50/50 they'd accept the offer.
WWYD? What should I consider? Anyone done anything like this before? Advice?
submitted by JobJourney2024 to MoneyDiariesACTIVE [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:56 farawaylands4000 Wikipedia gets undeserved praise and its lifeless articles are inferior to Encyclopedia Britannica's

So I had the intention of writing this for some time. I will give a brief rundown of my relationship to Wikipedia, but that is not necessary for the main point of my opinion.
The main point is that while Wikipedia has a quantitative superiority, qualitatively Encyclopedia Britannica is superior. The specific trigger that motivated me to write this was when I was looking up articles on Johannes Gutenberg.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johannes-Gutenberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg
I will not delve on the specific qualities of clarity and intention behind the writing in the Britannica article as compared to Wikipedia's, but I think it is evident if one reads the Wikipedia one first and the Britannica after.
It so much more tailored for what a 'reader' expects to get from the text. Wikipedia seems to be not written with a conception of what the readers 'must get'. It is made up of bland information. It doesn't try to touch the reader, it is lifeless. Reading the Wikipedia's article, the aspects of the story, of the biography, don't stick in the mind. Just blobs of timid reporting, holding hands with the reference latched to it.
When you read it, even the most 'well written' ones, with gold or silver stars and so on, it seems nothing gets through seamlessly.
This probably stems from not giving authority to an authoritative authoeditor to make their decision on what to leave out and what to put in. The article referenced was written by a specific man Hellmut E. Lehmann-Haupt and by the editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. So the Wikipedia editor may feel like it's too much work to 'encroach' in other contribuitions and remake the whole text to be more 'proper'.
I also wanted to write this, because there is a pervasive good will towards Wikipedia everywhere, specially on the internet. Searching on this subreddit, I couldn't find any similar opinion. Except from more academic proficient folk, I almost hear no suspicion, scepticism or hesitation towards Wikipedia on these levels (quality of writing/quality of knowledge/quality of what makes a good encyclopedia article).
Now with that out of the way, my relationship with Wikipedia, which is not required reading. First, I was positive towards it, in my teens. I read a blogger which had good opinions about it. In his youth he would say he looked with glowing eyes to the Barsa encyclopedia. And when Wikipedia arrived, with its aura of freedom of information and thought of the new internet, he liked it. He liked the way it functioned, with a peer network anyone could participate to deliberate on what should be done, what policies should exist and when it should be enforced in this or that way. Politically, he made metaphors on how politics could work more like that, with direct democracy being a possible horizon to go towards.
So I used Wikipedia in this period, until the next epoch of my attitude towards Wikipedia, in this naive way. Not looking up the sources, just reading the summary phrases in the article; not realizing what sources were allowed or not (and the implication this has on a correct assessment, to reach the truth). But I did read some discussions between editors in some articles.
Amusing disputes, where policies were cited left and right and long discussions followed on the correct application of said policies. A little bit of cynicism started to be picked up by me, regarding who won the disputes and how and why.
Anyway, my second contact with differing inclinations towards Wikipedia was brought by Nathan Rich, by some videos of his on his Youtube channel. In some videos, he shows the bias of The New York Times, and of Wikipedia, all regarding China. This made it patent to me that media can be biased, in subtle ways, which when you are properly on the know (with the 'They Live' glasses on your nose) in very unsubtle and laughable ways.
The disputes on Wikipedia could be won if a relentless enough editor kept at it, almost like a lawyer; or better, similar to how a judge can, in weighting the interests and rights of opposing parties, sway either way according with its moral/ideological inclinations.
This view of judges grew out of watching American contract law lectures by Yale University, available on Youtube, which gave me a sense on how there is a lot of gray area in deciding the 'common good'. And lectures and books by Ian Shapiro, also from Yale and available on Youtube, which showed me a biased judge which subtly had defended a member of the capitalist class, using legal justification which passes as good enough for the system, despite being arguably not in accordance with the law, according with Shapiro's judgment.
Anyway, the next epoch of big blocks of views I was exposed to, was from the Youtube videos of BadEmpanada ('The Holodomor Genocide Question: How Wikipedia Lies to You' by BadEmpanada). He showed also how Wikipedia articles can be biased. They almost certainly are regarding political matters, where there is concentrated interest in swaying public opinion and forming a status quo of consent and hovering consensus. The references allowed, western 'free press', is heavily biased. Noam Chomsky and the other guy's Manufacturing of Consent became clear in my mind. There was no free press. Journalism wasn't a glamorous endeavor, with the pen of justice and truth as its symbol. It is a clown show, for the most part.
BadEmpanada showed the efforts put in bot farms and manual troll farms to create a specific consensus of what is and is not common sense (I did not find the video now). In particular, the efforts of the country of [You may not have "" in your post body.] (now I think I may have that word in the post; the country is Israel), also on Wikipedia if I am not incorrect. Creating task forces to 'litigate' on the Talk section.
Another contact was with the video 'How Wikipedia Got Ex Machina (2014) Wrong' by Shaun. The author has a positive outlook towards Wikipedia, but points out another fault in qualitative quality of the writing. There is also a right wing (libertarian) channel with a video criticizing Wikipedia, which is the only video I agree after watching a couple later.
More recently, yesterday, I entered another epoch. 'Wikipedia Donations Exposed. The Truth.' by Logically Answered, put Nupedia vs Wikipedia on the spotlight, and it makes it clear Wikipedia only 'won' because of numeric advantage, outputting more articles. That Wikipedia has articles other Encyclopedias don't have, well ok; that is not my point, good for Wikipedia I guess. And Wikipedia shennanigans on how it asks for money, and how the money is not spent to improve the aspects of the quality of writing, just adds to all this unpopular opinion.
In conclusion, wikipedia is too highly regarded, with at most some criticism about how it is not a 'source' in itself, but none about the qualities which make an encyclopedia article good as an encyclopedia article. The criticism seems to rest mostly on the bias regarding political/social articles, and how one should approach the references. But there is a general sense that despite that, with the right approach, it is a good resource to learn about a subject. My disagreement is regarding that; as a learning tool, it is often ignored how lacking in intention the writing is. Sometimes I read some paragraphs, and nothing is apprehended truly. If you pick the first reference of a Wikipedia article, often used in the first paragraph to define the subject of the Wikipedia article, and compare that unobstructed definition with the Wikipedia's introduction/definition, the difference is stark. One coldly 'informs' and the other richly entails meaning and comprehension.
submitted by farawaylands4000 to TrueUnpopularOpinion [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 15:56 ConC02 Findings after intense job search

Hello,
I am currently on an intense job search looking for marketing jobs in Manchester, Liverpool and surrounding areas. As such I have come across quite a few of the false 'Marketing / Sales' jobs and have the following list of companies for you to AVOID AVOID AVOID
I have found all these via indeed:
Gold Point Promotions
Envision Mcr
Az / Azure Marketing liverpool
Group Project Manchester
River_mcr
If you are curious here are the signs that you should avoid
FOLLOW EACHOTHER ON INSTA, they also post similar pictures of vague 'events' with young looking people
Mention a lot about frequent company events etc
Websites use a lot of terminology that is meant to make them look real and smart - anyone with an understanding of their industry will be able to see its gibberish.
Interview strucutre seems the same, 10m call going over basic details before going on about how great you are and following up with a zoom interview
Little details available on google, address or business name not showing much or anything
I hope that this information may help stop someone from falling into these traps. Fuck these scam artist MLM clowns and the havock that they create
If anyone has any others feel free to comment their names, i hope this thread can be useful to someone
submitted by ConC02 to Devilcorp [link] [comments]


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