I finally got my wife approved after almost 8 months of waiting, and I wanted to publish my story here so that it may help or inform people waiting for theirs. (I had posted a rant a month ago, but I deleted it for people arguing whether my expedite request was valid or not)
Submitted all the documentation for her September 22nd of 2023 and she got her fingerprints done a week later. Never heard anything since then, and I got a letter requesting more evidence in January 2024 for her greencard.
We replied the same week, and then again, heard nothing.
At the 6 month mark of waiting, I started following up regularly and I even got a call back from a tier 2 officer who told me it was just pending and to wait, that I had until May 22nd to send an official inquiry on the wait, but until then, I was within normal processing time.
I decided to expedite the case, for the following reasons: - I had an offer letter for a pilot internship which would put me in a position that is not financially viable for my family (and I had the instructor write a letter saying It would be a full time commitment similar to a full time job) - My wife had a job offer letter from a company looking for an HR position - The job was pushing for her to work for them, and the CEO was willing to write a letter saying that they would lose money to hire her, since she is multilingual and has over 15 years of HR experience (they estimated the amount of hiring 3 people in order to match her skill level) - We recently moved to a different apartment. We live in a high cost city, and I had inherited a cheap apartment rental contract from an old tenant who was my friend, but It wasn't renewed, so our new places rent calculated to almost double what I was paying before, and it wasn't financially logical long term - Showed the math between my savings and what was being spent with us moving to the new place (I basically showed it was not sustainable long term) - A cover letter basically begging and explaining everything
I sent the expedite request and almost a month went by with no information. I called the USCIS number practically everyday, and I was told to wait, that the case hadn't even been assigned to an officer yet. I asked for an officer to call me back, who did, and they basically questioned me as to why I would bring my wife here if I couldn't financially support her (which I thought was rather insulting after almost 7 months of waiting, so I posted a reddit rant) and he ended up telling me to just wait and hold on, that they are backed up.
Two weeks ago, I got in contact with my local congresswoman, and I opened a case with them. I submitted to them all my expedited documents, and I asked them to try to inquire about the delay.
Yesterday I got a call from the local congresswoman notifying me they approved the work permit, and that there was no real reason for the delay, just that they stated it was the standard process (She forwarded me the email they sent her).
Almost 8 months of waiting, and I know people from my wifes country who have been waiting for 12+ months with still no work authorization. I suggest to everyone to send an expedite request if you have the documents to support your case and especially if your case is past 6-7 months. You'd be suprised.
My wife's greencard is still in process, and if I don't hear anything by early September (almost a year later by then), I will be contacting my local congresswoman again or suing. For reference, I am a USC and my wife and I have been married for more than two years, have a kid together, and I lived in her country for more than three years full time. I even worked there and reported taxes to the US from there. I hope this helps someone.

The following article may help you to explain what's Hi-Res music to your CD freinds as some of them may be mis-led into believe that "Hi-Res is useless" from information they got on the internet (especially from "audio science" discussion forums)

source: "768kHz for digital music sampling? Can you hear 384kHz? You're crazy... "(no-pseudo-science.blogspot.com)

Do I want to hear up to 384kHz? LOL... of course not 😂 768kHz sampling is for something else...

Hi-Res Audio DAC

The number one mis-understanding of why using Hi-Res music is:

"why we need to to hear frequencies that fall in the ultrasonic range (i.e. higher than 22kHz for most people)???"

If you asked similar question or answered someone's question like below, then you are pretty much belong to a group of people who don't know what's Hi-Res music is.

Hi-Res music is, in fact, to help your DAC to reconstruct better audio output for the audible range (yes, it is for the frequencies BELOW 22kHz with 768kHz sampling)...

(It is a real dialogue as I just saw it today in an Audio Science forum)

Someone asked:

Many DACs descriptions enhance in capital letters 32/768 kHz resolution. Is there any domain when such a resolution may be justified?

Other (more experienced member) replied:

Can you think of a circumstance where you'd even want a dynamic range of over 190dB and/or a frequency response up to 384kHz?

Apparently the Gray Moth can hear up to about 300kHz (gotta get away from those bats with that pesky echolocation thing), so there is that to consider if you want to record those sounds, but otherwise it doesn't seem to be useful for listening to music.

Sorry, I would like to help to debunk these misleading information on the spot in the discussion but I couldn't as I was stopped from replying that thread. I could only help here.

The wrong answer shown above is the number one mis-leading answer in an attempt to kill Hi-Res music (especially for the people who asked such question have limited knowledge about digital music / signal sampling).... I hope that guy won't really take the wrong answer from a supposed-to-be objective audio science based web site as a fact without checking more by himself.

Ok, then you may ask "then what Hi-Res do for us?" It is simple, let's see what it does first:

1. Over-sampling (ie. sample the original music signal more frequently within a second

2. More bits for bit-depth (i.e. 24 or even 32 instead of 16 bit)What are the benefits?

Over sampling helps to reconstruct final better audio signal from a DAC

1. Oversampling does help to reconstruct better audio signal as it improves anti-aliasing performance, increase resolution, and reduce noise.

2. In terms of sampling frequency, "Hi-Res" music (anything higher than 44k) is an example of oversampling (as in theory, only 44kHz is required). It happens during the ADC process. From point 1 above, it would help to regenerate better audio signal, hence, better music.

3. In terms of bit depth, "Hi-Res" music use more than 16 bit. It helps to reduce Quantization#Noise) error. it would help to regenerate better audio signal, hence, better music.

4. The purpose for using "Hi-Res" input is not for its ability to reconstruct signal outside the audible range. It is just a by-product. Yes, based on sampling theory, we can use 768k sampling to reconstruct signal with frequencies up to 384k but again, this is not what we needed.

5. Hi-Res industry used the by-product I mentioned in point 4 above as a marketing material when they initially pushed for SACD. It caused people who knows about the audible frequency range to consider Hi-Res music as snake oil (but it is not snake oil for other reasons stated above)

I don't want to go too deep about all the benefits here as it is extremely technical. If you really want to know. Let me know, see if I can help further.

(updated 29 April 2024, I saw this on facebook: Hi-Res Audio Hi Res: Why higher sample rates sound better and what you can do about it Facebook )

p.s.: Sigh... looks like one more guy (who asked the question above) was somehow convinced by the misleading info....

=========== Follow up ===========

update 28 Apri 2024:

that person was eventually banned for that thread as he was rising some concerns with his critical thinking. As stated in my other blog, "psueduo science hates critical thinking"; they cannot co-exist.

My brother had a CFI checkride scheduled a few weeks ago with a DPE in the ATL area. It was cancelled due to his medical not having his middle name. He has an opportunity for a last minute opening with a DPE with a great reputation in three days. The FSDO has been dragging its feet helping him get it rectified. It’s a Hail Mary pass, but does anyone have any leads or ideas on how to fix this situation?
I was thinking a letter of temporary authorization of privileges since it includes language about authorizing medical certificate privileges (I used this for my ppl checkride when I lost my student certificate), and wanted to see if anyone had tried that successfully before? Alternatively, I’ve heard of people having their medicals emailed to them, but the FSDO rep he spoke to refused to do so.
Tl:dr, brothers medical is fucked due to typo, any short term fixes for a late notice CFI ride?

For your final writing assignment, you will write a persuasive essay/letter to Teacher. The purpose of your letter should be to effect change at school for the future, whether it be next year or further into the future. Focus on problems or issues at school that you believe need to be addressed. You need to acknowledge the issue(s), come up with solutions, and then clearly explain how those solutions should be implemented. All solutions and implementation must be realistically achievable.
Your essay must be at least 3 pages long, double-spaced, 12-point font.
All essays will be printed out, signed, and delivered to Teacher . This is due Friday, May 17th, @ midnight.
NOTE: Your persuasive essay must be realistic. DO NOT WRITE A JOKE ESSAY. YOU WILL FAIL.
Important elements of persuasive writing to remember:

• Position: Writers need to clearly state their positions on their topics in order to persuade their readers. If a writer is not clear about his/her beliefs on the topic, s/he stands little chance of convincing someone else to make a change. In addition, when writers collaborate on a persuasive piece of writing, all involved must agree to support the same position. Sometimes writers even take a position they do not personally agree with and work to explain that position. You should emphasize this last point as students will be working in groups to develop their own persuasive letters. All students in a group must agree to adopt one single position in their letter.
• Attention to Audience: Writers need to adjust their writing based on their audience. This is especially true when the goal of the writing is to persuade the reader to take action. The writing style will be formal when the audience is a person in a position of authority and casual when the audience is a friend or family member. Illustrate the differences in formal and casual writing by asking students to consider the differences in the ways that they write notes (or emails) to their friends versus the way they would write a letter (or email) to the President of the United States.
• Factual Support: In order to be convincing, a persuasive piece of writing needs to include factual details. Provide students with examples of factual support (i.e., data, anecdotes, interviews, information from other sources such as newspapers and books, and so forth). Students will be using their own experiences and observations as factual support for their persuasive letters. (If you are interested in having your students practice this aspect of effective persuasive writing further, please see the extension activity focusing on Internet research following the lesson.)
• Effective Word Choice: Persuasive language is strong but appropriate. Writers need to choose words that are also descriptive and specific. An excellent example of effective word choice is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
• Ethos: Ethos is the credibility to write. Discuss what gives a particular writer credibility to write a persuasive piece of writing. Give students examples of people who would be considered credible sources on particular topics (i.e., a doctor on health issues, a teacher on education, a government official on local political issues). Ask students to consider what gives them credibility to write about school issues.

Item #: SCP-021
Codename: Skin Wyrm
Summarized Description: Animate tattoo in the form of the mythical Chinese dragon. SCP-021 sustains itself off its host’s melanin, causes pain to its host when it moves, and can be transferred to another host via prolonged skin-to-skin contact.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-021 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-022
Codename: The Morgue
Summarized Description: Morgue capable of periodically reanimating Human cadavers. Consciousnesses of subjects placed within a drawer of the morgue are randomly swapped between reanimated cadavers.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-022 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-023
Codename: Black Shuck
Summarized Description: Large canine. Sapient subjects who make eye contact will expire 1 Terran year after contact is broken, their internal systems suffering spontaneous flash incineration. SCP-023’s eyes and teeth were removed in 2010 before being regrown in 2136 using an imperfect copy of SCP-500 generated by SCP-038. SCP-023 cannot be stopped by any barrier unless it resembles a crossroads.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-023 released into Federal city. SCP-023 underwent rigorous anomalous training, having been taught to avoid direct conflict with enemy subjects, and is generally non-hostile to Foundation personnel.
Additional Notes: As of time of writing, SCP-023 has terminated 86 subjects and has disorganized security forces, who have failed to capture or neutralize it. SCP-023’s relative obedience to the Foundation has given cause for reclassification to Thaumiel.
Usefulness: 3/5
Item #: SCP-024
Codename: Game Show of Death
Summarized Description: Abandoned sound stage. Subjects who enter SCP-024 will be greeted by an apparent stereotypical game show announcer from a speaker, who will offer subjects a chance to play a game show and gain a reward. Subjects who consent will be forced to undergo taxing trials to complete the show, which often results in injury and/or death. Subjects who refuse to participate after consenting, attempt to break any rules, or fail to complete the game will be attacked and terminated by unknown entities. SCP-024 will not activate if there is only 1 subject present.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-024 cannot be moved from its current location. SCP-024 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-025
Codename: A Well-Worn Wardrobe
Summarized Description: Wardrobe with multiple articles of damaged clothing. Subjects who wear any clothing from SCP-025 will invariably be injured or terminated, with wounds corresponding to the locations of damage on the clothing.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: As xenos do not wear any clothing that SCP-025 possesses, SCP-025 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-026
Codename: Afterschool Retention
Summarized Description: Abandoned public school. Layout does not correspond to official public blueprints. Cognitohazards within SCP-026 disorient subjects. Multiple individuals with identical features to missing persons can be found in apparent comas and cannot be woken. All comatose individuals are students and educators who attended the school before its abandonment. Attempting to remove comatose subjects from the premises will result in them waking, followed by extremely rapid dehydration and death. Foundation personnel who fall asleep in SCP-026 also become comatose, but will not suffer dehydration if removed.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-026 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-027
Codename: The Vermin God
Summarized Description: Intangible effect tied to one individual at a time. Subjects affected by SCP-027 attract large amounts of insects, rodents, and other organisms considered to be “vermin.” Upon death of a host, SCP-027 will transfer itself to the closest sapient organism.
Battlefield Summary: D-3829, the host of SCP-027 at the time, was airdropped onto a Federal planet. D-3829 fitted with an explosive collar and instructed to wait in the colony leader’s place of residence. As the leader entered the residence, the collar was remotely detonated, terminating D-3829 and transferring SCP-027 to the target.
Additional Notes: Though it would have been more practical to simply take the opportunity to assassinate the target, the long-term disorder expected to be caused by SCP-027 was deemed to be of greater importance. There are no plans to retrieve SCP-027 at this time.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-028
Codename: Knowledge
Summarized Description: Small space in Michigan, USA with psychic properties. Individuals who enter SCP-028 are imbued with a random piece of knowledge on a random topic.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-028 is currently being used to gather intelligence on Federal operations. Due to its inefficient method of intelligence gathering, it has been deemed a low priority.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-029
Codename: Daughter of Shadows
Summarized Description: Human female with alopecia universalis. 80% of skin surface is vantablack, 20% is albino. All sapient male-identifying subjects who come in contact with SCP-029 will worship it as a messiah-like figure, who must have 1,000,000 lives sacrificed to it via strangulation to bring forth an unknown deity. SCP-029 has a physic connection with its followers and is aware of its followers’ numbers.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-029 deployed on a Federal planet and allowed to gather xeno followers. SCP-029’s “cult” has infiltrated the planetary government and is sending large numbers of subjects to “predator disease” facilities to convert or sacrifice them.
Additional Notes: SCP-029 willingly volunteered for Operation 5000, although this is more likely out of a desire for escape from the Foundation than to avenge Humanity for the Battle of Earth, the current cover story for Operation 5000. SCP-029’s “cult” is not to be allowed to complete its goal of 1,000,000 sacrifices, due to the uncertain nature of the existence of the cult’s deity. Current estimates give SCP-029’s cult 37,000 confirmed sacrificial fatalities. Should this number come close to being accomplished, SCP-029 is to be neutralized and the cult destroyed. Until then, the disorder caused by the cult’s activities has been deemed beneficial.
Usefulness: 3/5
Item #: SCP-030
Codename: The Homunculus
Summarized Description: Small humanoid made of clay. Only active when exposed to at least 15 lumens of light. If not exposed to adequate light, SCP-030 immediately falls unconscious.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-030 has no fighting or strategic capabilities and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-031
Codename: What is Love?
Summarized Description: Giant organic mass inhabiting the interior of the Ryugyong Hotel, Korea. Influences subjects to be willingly assimilated into SCP-031, with only their brains remaining intact and presumably conscious. Unknown cognitive and/or space-time anomaly causes it to simultaneously inhabit the hotel alongside SCP-1427, despite respective containment teams insisting that the other does not exist.
Battlefield Summary: Samples of SCP-031 taken and deployed on various planets. 4 instances have been neutralized by Federal forces, while 4 have established a permanent foothold on their respective planets.
Additional Notes: SCP-031 is susceptible to fire, making Extermination Officers a convenient counter for smaller infestations.
Usefulness: 3/5
Item #: SCP-032
Codename: Brother’s Bride
Summarized Description: Type-F female Human simulacrum, passable at a distance, Uncanny Valley triggered at close range. Deleterious effects on nearby organic life, except for Humans and domesticated/trained animals.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-032 instructed to position itself discreetly in highly populated areas and military encampments. SCP-032 given a weapon and authorization to defend itself should it ever come into conflict with Federal authorities or eyewitnesses. SCP-032 has depopulated multiple areas and encampments with minor damage to itself.
Additional Notes: SCP-032’s complete obedience to the Foundation has given cause for a reclassification to Thaumiel.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-033
Codename: The Missing Number
Summarized Description: Mathematical equation that essentially proves that all Human (and xeno) mathematical systems “missed” a number. SCP-033, when inscribed on a physical “paper-like” surface or a white/chalkboard, will begin to spread to other nearby viable surfaces. Causes catastrophic glitches in computers as it spreads onto them.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-033 uploaded onto multiple planetary internets, crashing all systems.
Additional Notes: SCP-033 is astoundingly effective in removing the Federation’s capability to defend themselves, as they rely heavily on technology.
Usefulness: 5/5
Item #: SCP-034
Codename: Obsidian Ritual Knife
Summarized Description: Primitive obsidian knife likely used in sacrificial rituals. Any flesh cut from a living organism by SCP-034 that is applied to another organism will result in the latter’s appearance changing into the former.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: Federal military leader captured and flesh sample removed with SCP-034 and applied to D-9482 to test capabilities for a Human to change into a xeno form. D-9482 expired mid-transition. Military leader interrogated for general information and subsequently terminated. SCP-034 still cannot alter an organism beyond its original species, regardless of sapience.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-035
Codename: Possessive Mask
Summarized Description: Sapient theatre mask that changes from comedy to tragedy, corresponding with current emotions. Highly corrosive liquid seeps from the eyes of the mask at all times. Capable of reading and influencing the thoughts nearby sapient organisms. SCP-035, when placed on the face of a Human, Human cadaver, or otherwise humanoid organism or figure, will take control of the subject and begin to converse. The subject will slowly decay the longer SCP-035 is applied. SCP-035 displays a highly charismatic and manipulative personality and is unusually knowledgeable about a variety of topics.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-035 is currently being negotiated with. SCP-035 claims to hold knowledge of the Federation, including a “conspiracy” orchestrated by at least 2 member species. If negotiations are successful, SCP-035 could provide the Foundation with valuable insight into the workings of the Federation.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-036
Codename: The Reincarnation Pilgrimage of the Yazidi (Kiras Guhorîn)
Summarized Description: Annual event during which deceased followers of the Yazidi faith arrive via an unscheduled flight at Site-22A in Iraq and depart on a separate flight at Site-22B. This process is observed and protected by the Foundation. Considered to be the modern form of the Kiras Guhorîn. Expected to change in the near future to include modern starships.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-036 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-037
Codename: Dwarf Star
Summarized Description: Miniaturized main sequence star in its red giant phase, going through a highly accelerated stellar lifecycle. Expected to go supernova in the near future. Was transported off-planet in 2100.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-037 transported from its location in the outer Sol System and deposited in high orbit of a Federal capital planet. Approaching supernova is expected to cause an XK-Class “End-of-the-World” Scenario.
Additional Notes: SCP-037 pending reclassification to Neutralized once supernova occurs.
Usefulness: 4/5
Item #: SCP-038
Codename: The Everything Tree
Summarized Description: Apple tree capable of replicating any object or organism that makes contact with its bark. Replicated objects will never exceed 90.9 kg. Anomalous objects replicated by SCP-038 are often imperfect.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-038 is being used to cheaply replicate weapons-of-mass-destruction but is otherwise useless as a weapon.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-039
Codename: Monkey Brain
Summarized Description: Collection of 23 proboscis monkeys (SCP-038-1) and one Human (SCP-038-A) with a complete lack of all facial features, created by the now-defunct Prometheus Labs. Instances display highly increased intelligance and are able to navigate their surroundings via echolocation.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-038-A employed as a tactical advisor under the promise of a loosening of containment protocols for itself and all instances of SCP-038-1.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-040
Codename: Evolution’s Child
Summarized Description: Female human capable of altering the genetic code of organisms it comes into contact with.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-040 willingly joined Operation 5000. SCP-040 currently being utilized to genetically enhance certain Mobile Task Force personnel.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-041
Codename: Thought-Broadcasting Patient
Summarized Description: Permanently paralyzed Human male capable of telepathy with nearby sapient subjects. Subjects within range can also have their thoughts “transmitted” with one another at SCP-041’s discretion.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-041 has been used to extract information from high-ranking Federal personnel.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-042
Codename: A Formerly-Winged Horse
Summarized Description: Equine subject with winged appendages. Appendages were removed by Foundation personnel to simplify containment. Displays a depressive personality and must be force-fed food and water and motivated with pain to obey instructions. Displays mind-affecting properties in attempts to convince personnel to neutralize it.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-042 is no use as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-043
Codename: The Beatle
Summarized Description: Vinyl copy of “The White Album”. Capable of communicating with subjects who play the 29th track. Theorized to hold the consciousness of Paul McCartney, although unconfirmed.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-043 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-044
Codename: World War II Era Molecular-Fission Cannon
Summarized Description: Heavily modified World War II-era Howitzer. Any item placed in its barrel and fired will detonate at a mass-to-energy conversion ratio greater than 100%. Built by an/the Administrator.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-044 loaded with several tons of earth and fired into a city wall during an uncharacteristically difficult siege, terminating all resistance and causing massive damage to the city.
Additional Notes: SCP-044 blueprints have been obtained from the Administrator by the O5 Council and the item is to be mass produced. Further modifications for use as a space-based weapon are being considered.
Usefulness: 4/5
Item #: SCP-045
Codename: Atmospheric Converter
Summarized Description: Icosahedron composed of ice-12. Likely a 3-dimensional projection of a 4-dimensional hypericosahedron. Periodically rotates on multiple axes, causing minor seismic activity. When prevented from rotating, seismic activity will steadily increase. When gaseous nitrogen or argon come into close proximity with SCP-045, both substatnces will be converted into water and table salt respectively.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-045 placed on a Federal planet in a remote location and prevented from rotating. As of time of writing, SCP-045 has caused seismic activity reaching 9.5 on the Richter scale, causing massive damage. Planetary cracking is expected to occur within several weeks.
Additional Notes: SCP-045, should it be recovered after estimated XK-Class Scenario, is authorized for further use.
Usefulness: 4/5
Item #: SCP-046
Codename: “Predatory” Holly Bush
Summarized Description: Holly bush that consumes subjects who lay in its vicinity, lulling them to sleep with relief from physical/mental pain and feelings of relaxation and pleasure. Subjects are not compelled to sacrifice themselves and can resist temptations with ease. All subjects recorded to have been consumed by SCP-046 have willingly allowed the item to do so.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: As SCP-046 cannot compel unwilling subjects into sacrificing themselves for consumption, it is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-047
Codename: Microbial Mutagen
Summarized Description: Gaseous substance with mutagenic properties on microorganisms. 3 strains affected by SCP-047 identified. Propionibacterium 047-A causes severe acne and sepsis with 40% fataility rate. Streptococcus 047-C causes inflammation, sepsis, and endocarditis with 35% fatality rate. Clostridium 047-A cause severe damage to internal organs, most notably the colon, with near 100% fatality rate.
Battlefield Summary: All SCP-047-affected strains of bacterium cannot be used against xeno life and are to remain in containment. SCP-047 dispersed among Federal cities and encampments, causing several fatal “superbugs” to mutate.
Additional Notes: Caution is to be taken to prevent SCP-047 from coming into contact with Terran microorganisms.
Usefulness: 3/5
Item #: SCP-048
Codename: The Cursed SCP Number
Summarized Description: All SCP objects assigned the 048 designation have invariably become lost, stolen, or accidentally neutralized, thus gathering a air of superstition among Foundation personnel and has such been locked from further use to prevent morale from falling. Believed to be non-anomalous, as the file describing this phenomenon has yet to suffer any adverse effects.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-048 is likely non-anomalous and no action is to be taken.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-049
Codename: Plague Doctor
Summarized Description: Male humanoid covered in organic growth resembling a traditional plague doctor uniform and mask. Subjects who come into physical contact with SCP-049 may suddenly cease all life functions if SCP-049 so chooses. SCP-049 often performs surgery on corpses - preferably Humans - and crudly reanimates them in an attempt to cure them of a presumably supernatural “Pestilence.” The nature of this Pestilence is unknown, if it exists.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-049 allowed to reanimate deceased xeno subjects for the Foundation war effort.
Additional Notes: SCP-049 willingly joined Operatin 5000 after declaring that the xenos were also infected with the “Pestilence.”
/////
[THE FOLLOWING IS FOR O5 CLEARANCE ONLY.]
[Does the Black Moon howl?]
[only when the White Sun rejoices]
[Does the Black Moon howl?]
[only when Waning]
[Does the Black Moon howl?]
[only when the Void calls forth]
[ACCESS GRANTED]
SCP-049’s declaration has confirmed that non-Human species are indeed also victims of The Entity. Complete destruction of the Federation is necessary.
/////
Usefulness: 2/5

I had a really good relationship (or so I thought) with this PI who originally was happy to write a letter but they left the university a couple of years ago. We stayed in contact intermittently then they stopped replying. I published a first author paper with them so I can't pretend the research didn't happen. I've been trying to reach them at their new university since Feb but have heard nothing...
My current PI is happy to write a letter but I'm not sure how to approach missing a letter from a significant research experience. Thoughts?

hi there!! i am hoping to get back into art journaling and i would love to recieve some new stuff for my collection while giving away some unused older things! im looking to give away 5 envelopes of stationery (i.e. washi tape samples, stickers, letter paper + envelopes, cards/postcards, assorted ephemera, etc.) in exchange for any of the items i just listed + any junk journaling supplies or unique items!
i'll pick 5 people in the comments to exchange with :) comment what themes you like!

On Tuesday, May 28th, the City Council will vote to approve a bill that will reduce pay for food delivery drivers. App companies are already dramatically reducing offers to some drivers, in violation of current law. (See pictures in comment section)
As Council President Sara Nelson said herself on April 25th, this bill was conceived and written by the app companies and their lobbyists:
“In public comment this was referred to as Sara Nelson’s proposal. Yes, I did advance this legislation. But I want to make sure people recognize that this was an agreement forged between Drive Forward and the network companies.” (From the April 25, 2024 meeting of the Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee Meeting. Timestamp 2:45:30)
Drive Forward is funded and backed by Uber. Based on tax filings, this is their board of directors:

• Brooke Steger (President of Drive Forward) is the former Uber Pacific Northwest General Manager.
• Caleb Weaver (Treasurer of Drive Forward) worked as a lobbyist for Uber from 2016 to 2021.
• Abdul Yusuf (Vice President of Drive Forward) was a manager at Eastside for Hire, another organization funded by Uber.
• Allison Ford (Secretary of Drive Forward) is Public Policy Manager, PNW at Uber.
• Adria Stoliar (member of Drive Forward board) is Senior Manager for Public Engagement-West at DoorDash.

GIG-WORKERS LIKE ME NEED YOUR HELP!!!

We are desperately trying to get an actual stakeholder process to take place. A process that Sara Nelson committed herself to in a January 4th special article to The Seattle Times:
“Under my leadership, this council won’t externalize our policymaking authority. We will consider perspectives from people on all sides of an issue. And before referring new policy legislation to committee, I’ll confirm it has gone through a robust stakeholder process.”

Please, contact the Seattle City Council directly - [council@seattle.gov](mailto:council@seattle.gov)

And stay connected for updates through Working Washington - https://actionnetwork.org/letters/protect-gig-worker-minimum-wage

England
I've had a problem with Amazon where one of their agent told me to return the item for a refund. I told them the item is bought after 2 years but was fulfilled by Amazon but they authorized it nonetheless. After I returned the item and ParcelForce confirmed delivery, the problem start. They keep demanding a physical receipt, which I can't provide as ParcelForce did not provide one (bought it online) or just straight up saying since the item was returned after 2 years, they won't be issuing a refund or returning the item back to me. Basically, I will be out of the item and the the money.
Can the renege on the promise of refund by one of their agents by simply handwaving and saying not our policy. You're SOL
Second question, if I did a MCOL claim against Amazon, will I get the fee back? Do I need to factor the fee in the initial claim or is that considered separately?
This story got a happy news that one of their tier 3 staff did a workaround and refunded the item but my questions still stands. Can a store make false promises, contrary to their policy, and then renege on the promise, even if you have written letter evidence from the staff promising the refund (upon return of the item)?

Here is my profile what do you think of my chances of getting into a PhD program in physics.
Publications two with a big collaboration with many authors, 1 will be published with a coauthor by next application season, and a undergraduate textbook.
GPA MS 3.01 2013, BS 2.25 2003.
Reccomendations. I can get three strong letters, one from my thesis advisor, one from my collaborator, and one from a supervisor where I have taught for 10 years as an adjunct.
Area, Physics. Looking at programs that are involved with gravitational wave research U of I, Northwestern, U Chicago, Oregon State, Harvard (yeah right lol) ... by the nature of it that means R1 institutions. Can my three publications, and work on a big gravitational wave collaboration already overcome my GPAs from 10 or 20 years back???

So last year I applied to six top PhD programs and got rejected to all of them. I come from a biomedical engineering undergraduate program at a small school in the US (3.47 GPA). I just completed my masters degree in biomedical engineering with thesis (3.95 GPA) from an R1 school and trying to get a paper published as a first author in my research. I am affiliated with a large research organization (as part of an outreach group) and I was a part of our graduate schools student government. Additionally, I have a number of projects to show my computational analysis skills (I do bioinformatics and data science related research) and classes to display my skillset. Lastly I have strong letters of recommenders from professors who taught in the classes I took as well as my advisor from my masters program. With this in mind do I have a chance to getting into a top ten PhD program? Or is this impossible? I know the rank of the program is the only thing that matters, but I would like to get into a top program due to how much a PhD takes out of you in terms of time and ROI.

One day, in the folds of time, a person was born in the city of Marrakesh. They all had many brothers, and they were poor and their condition was miserable and extremely poor. This person, whose name was Ibrahim, worked the entire summer to buy school supplies for the next year, and if his shoes were torn, Or he sewed his clothes, but he had no shoes, so his clothes were worn out and old. Ibrahim’s father was in the service, so he was absent from the house, not being with his family much. Days passed and Ibrahim grew up, so his father gave him two choices: either to go to the Education Academy to study and graduate as a professor, or to enter the service. The military, and this choice was not recommended by the father, Ibrahim, because he did not want his son to go through a difficult experience like him, but Ibrahim had an opinion and was very stubborn, so he chose military service, so he went, and after a few years he graduated with the rank of colonel, and at that time his mother proposed to him, a girl from the neighborhood in which he They lived in it, and at that time he married a son, and after that she became pregnant and they had a son, a male, and they named him Muhammad, and from here our story will begin. Muhammad was an ordinary child, and he studied well and excelled in his studies. He always went to the mosque in order to memorize the Qur’an, and he was not an honest, trustworthy child with good morals. He respected people and never insulted anyone. He was a pure and pure child. As the years passed, Muhammad grew up and took the baccalaureate degree. And all these years, Muhammad was influenced by the Islamic conquests and the personality of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the Companions, may God be pleased with them, especially Omar ibn Al-Khattab and Ali bin Abi Talib, so he devoted himself to reading the biography of the Prophet and watching videos whose topics were Islam. The important thing is that we go back and said that Muhammad reached the age of 18 and did not find in Morocco job opportunities or even a good position, so he decided to immigrate to America like other young people, so he was registered in the American lottery and after a few months had passed. Acceptance came to him, and he was very happy because he would find a decent living and a decent life. But in reality, there is something else. The important thing is that Muhammad collected all the documents he would need and applied for the visa. Before and after that, he collected his beliefs and booked the plane ticket. On the night of the flight, he was so excited that he did not sleep a lot, and in the morning. He went to the airport, his parents said goodbye to him, and he went to the plane, and after hours he found himself in America, and the reality was something else. There were many racists, and they always insulted him with the name Muhammad because he idolized the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and they even called the Messenger lustful, and he married Aisha for 6 years. And God forbid, as they curse the honorable companions, may God be pleased with them. The important thing is that Muhammad completed his studies in America and obtained several certificates, so he submitted his application to enter the police because he had just obtained American citizenship. The important thing is that he submitted his application and they approved it, so he took the written and physical test and passed it, so he passed them, and now Muhammad has become An official policeman for the state of Chicago, Muhammad was sincere in his work and dedicated to it. He always did not accept bribery and punished criminals severely. Years passed and Muhammad rose in his position and became in the anti-gang department. He became the one carrying out executions and began killing and exterminating everyone. Killer gangs because the state gives him the decision to kill them because they incite fear in people, kill them, and rape their daughters. Muhammad killed, or rather executed, thousands of people, and he exterminated hundreds of gangs from existence, and all the criminals feared him and were afraid to even mention his important name. Hours passed, and one day of the daysOne day, Muhammad found a volume containing the story of the revolution and the Soviet Union. He read it all and was influenced by revolutionary thought. He began to imagine himself as the king of the world, and he was one of the most supportive of the Palestinian cause. They always sent thousands of dollars to Palestinian associations, and Muhammad was stable even though he was stable. In America, but he hates its corrupt regime and the racism towards foreigners that is abundant in it, so Muhammad decided to go to Russia in order to settle there and submitted his application to Russian intelligence and gave up his service in America, but he still possessed American citizenship. The important thing is that Muhammad worked in Russian intelligence and began every day. It is getting more and more popular and everyone loves it until one day there was a parade for President Vladimir Putin And then Muhammad met President Putin, and Putin liked Muhammad’s personality and the way he treated and respected him, so he decided to hire him as his bodyguard, and Muhammad was very happy with this news. The next day, he started working with the president, and he accompanied him wherever he went. The president was subjected to a series of assassination attempts, and Muhammad was always He was his savior. Meanwhile, Muhammad became a loyal friend of Putin and became Vice President. One day, Putin became seriously ill, and when he was on his deathbed, he said goodbye to Muhammad. Muhammad was very affected by his death, but he moved forward and now he has become the President of the Republic of Russia, so it began. His ambitions to reshape the Soviet Union, so he began to forcefully occupy the countries that were on his side. He did not kill innocent people or women. He implemented the commandments of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, to the letter. At this time, America began to threaten Muhammad that it would occupy Russia and destroy it. Muhammad was aware of this matter and was He planned in advance, as he intended to obey America and eliminate it, and the opportunity came to him. He restored the Soviet Union a hundred times stronger and stronger than it was during the era of Stalin and the other leaders. He only developed the nuclear arsenal and developed advanced weapons, and at this time Muhammad brought his father because He had experience in the army and gave him the position of first commander of the army staff, so his father trained the armyHis father was very strict, and he trained the soldiers very hard, and this would benefit them later. Muhammad also gave his grandfather the position of the chief president of all the central banks in the Soviet Union. He was the state’s accountant. All of the revenues of the Soviet Union passed through Muhammad’s grandfather. He also gave his great uncle the position of governor. He was in charge of all the car factories in the country, so he was in charge of all the car factories and all the companies. He was the president of them and the first factory because he had experience. He also entrusted him with the tasks of building power plants and manufacturing high-precision surveillance cameras. Muhammad gave his middle uncle the position of president of the iron and aluminum mining companies. All types of metal. He also gave his younger uncle the head of the taxi unions, as he is responsible for companies and all taxis and driving licenses for taxis, as well as their taxes. Muhammad also gave his younger uncle the position of head of the Ministry of Education and responsible for all schools in the country, as well as the head of the professors’ body. As he is responsible for the education and study sector, Muhammad also gave his great uncle the position of head of the body of lawyers, judges and courts in the state because his great uncle had more than 20 years of experience in the field. Muhammad also gave his other grandfather the position of head of arms manufacturing and export companies because his grandfather also had In military service, he had a lot of experience in questions, because this is all his specialty in politics Thanks to these positions that he gave to some members of his family, each of whom had great experience in the field in which he specialized, which helped the Soviet Union develop greatly and become stronger and stronger. At that time, Muhammad consulted his Soviet advisors and his father in his capacity as Supreme Commander. And the highest ranks of the army, intelligence, and security in the country. Ibrahim, Muhammad’s father, was the second most important authority in the country after his son Muhammad. The important thing is that after the long Shura period, Muhammad took the appropriate decision, so he bombed Washington, D.C., with a large nuclear bomb, which led to the erasure of Washington from the map and the destruction of the White House, so America rose. He responded with a nuclear missile, but Ibrahim, Muhammad's father, was able to dismantle it, repel it, and turn it towards America. From here, a fierce battle began between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. In the end, the Soviet Union was able to overthrow and eliminate America. It also occupied Canada and South America and brought it back. Alaska to Soviet ruleThe Soviet Union seized all the wealth of North and South America, and even Canada, and annexed them to the Soviet Union. Muhammad rebuilt America on the Soviet system, and even Canada and Brazil. The power of the Soviet Union increased 1,000 times, and the Soviet Union became the most powerful country in the world. Muhammad’s ambitions increased, so he occupied North Korea. He eliminated President Kim Jong-un and also occupied South Korea, Japan, and China. The thing that distinguished Muhammad was not killing innocent people. He only killed those participating in the war, and when he occupied the country, he rebuilt it and employed its citizens with a better salary than they had been, so everyone saluted him. There were also those who hated him, but they were very few. The important thing is that the Soviet Union became from the Republic of Russia to the most powerful country in history. Muhammad also liberated Palestine and gathered all the lions of the world and burned them, slaughtered them, and exterminated them from the globe. Only Muhammad eliminated all the Jews and it was Palestine. It was filled with ululations and joy at her liberation, and all the people were chanting the name Muhammad Muhammad and calling him Muhammad the Savior. Meanwhile, the grandfather of the first and second Muhammad died of old age, so Muhammad became very sad for them. At the funeral, someone poisoned Muhammad’s food with the most severe type of poison, and when he ate it, he choked and died. He almost died, but when he came out of the coma, the doctor told him while he was crying, “The poison has spread through your body, my lord Muhammad. You have only a few days left of your life.” Muhammad began to cry, but he was patient. Then Muhammad made his farewell conference in which he gave a speech and advised the people. When he dies, the rule will pass to his father, and when his father dies, it will pass to his great uncle, and this sequence will remainAfter a few days, Muhammad died and was buried in a grave of gold and diamonds. He became the most important figure in the world, so people began to visit him from all parts of the Soviet Union and even from the Arab countries. Millions of people visited him daily. As for him, when he died, power passed to him and he ruled with justice. Here the story of Muhammad has ended and has been folded between the pages of the past I forgot to mention that Muhammad was fighting with the soldiers, but he was covering his face with a mask so that the opponents would not recognize him and focus on him to kill him. If the president was killed, the Soviet Union would collapse. Muhammad was fighting with the soldiers and killing a lot of the enemy. He and his father were fighting, even though his father He was old, but he was stronger than Muhammad himself. Muhammad’s father was fighting 10 soldiers at the same time and killing them. Muhammad also occupied France, demolished the Eiffel Tower, and occupied almost all of Europe. Muhammad donated billions of dollars to Palestine until Palestine became very advanced and became a more ornate city. Muhammad also occupied Iran and exterminated the extremist Shiites. The one who poisoned Muhammad was a black man from Ethiopia, and the soldiers shot him dead when Muhammad died.Also, Muhammad could also have eliminated Morocco and wiped it from the map, but Muhammad did not want to do that out of respect for the Almoravids, Almohads, and Idrisids. When Muhammad died, power passed to his father and he began to rule the world. Muhammad’s tomb, built of pure gold and all precious stones, became a place of pilgrimage for millions of people every day, to the point that airports were filled with people and thousands of people were lining up in queues to obtain a visa. There were also thousands of people in the street chanting the name of Muhammad the Leader. The great and even they are queuing up to go to the Soviet capital, as there are people from far away places in the world such as Australia who go to the Soviet capital to visit the grave of Muhammad, and he was the most important and holiest person in the world after the Prophet Muhammad. And his companions, I am talking about his military clothes and weapons, all of them were sold for millions of dollars to Arab museums. As for the Soviet museums, they contain Muhammad’s necklace and his favorite weapon, and even the Soviet museum is crowded with people every day just to see its antiquities. Mohammed. Everyone loved him, so Muhammad became the second legend that history will not repeat. The first legend is the Prophet MuhammadWhen Muhammad died, they wrapped him in very advanced materials to prevent his body from decomposing. Muhammad's body did not decompose, but remained as it was. One of the materials used to preserve Muhammad's body was formalin, so Muhammad's body remained intact throughout the years.There are also some very wealthy Arabs who wanted to move Muhammad’s grave from the Soviet Union to Mecca in order to increase the state’s economy, but the entire world, billions of people, categorically refused, whether from within the Soviet Union or from outside it, and they wanted to buy his body for billions of dollars, but the entire world categorically refused. A wave of anger has erupted against Saudi Arabia because of this, because a person like Muhammad cannot be violated and his grave opened When Muhammad's father, Ibrahim, assumed power, and due to his old age, he was 61 years old. He found many difficulties because he found himself facing a great challenge in front of him, ruling millions of people. The Soviet Union, during Muhammad's era, was at the height of its power. He had sat on the throne of the most powerful country in history. Only the area of the Soviet Union was estimated at 400 million kilometers, so Ibrahim had to make a lot of effort, and in some of the Union’s colonies, some civil wars broke out between supporters of Muhammad and his supporters and among those who hated him, as most of those who hated Muhammad were from Central Europe, from the Greek islands and elsewhere. Next to it was the leader of the movement named Johann Gospiel. The latter sought revenge on Muhammad’s followers, and they all wanted to kill Ibrahim and destroy the Soviet Union. He was very hateful, and events will show you why the latter was so hateful of Muhammad and the main family. We will go back in time a little to when Muhammad committed mischief. America and occupied North and South Korea. His ambitions began in Europe, and he started with Italy, so he overthrew it, even though he respected Mussolini, the Italian fascist leader, but Muhammad’s ambitions were to occupy all of Europe, so he occupied Italy, eliminated its leader, and demolished all the ancient Roman idols and gods, and when he headed to occupy the Vatican. Muhammad remembered the words of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, at the sign of the Hour, that in the Vatican there is the staff of Moses and the Thapoth of the Covenant, according to what the commentators and hadith scholars say, so Muhammad retreated.With his army, he went to occupy Greece and wanted to destroy Athens. He met the other army, headed by Johann Gaspiel's brother, called Nicholas Gaspiel. The two armies faced each other. Nicholas' army consisted of 45,000 tanks, a fleet of planes, and 980,000 soldiers, while Muhammad had 60,000 tanks. 2 million soldiers, and the two armies faced each other at the famous Evros River in Greece. The war began, and it was so bloody that the Evros River was filled to the brim with corpses and its color became red with blood. Muhammad was killing the enemies, and his father Ibrahim was also fighting, as he was 51 years old and he was very strong. Stronger than Muhammad himself. The important thing was that Muhammad was fighting. He tore off his mask. Nicholas the commander saw him and said: Here you are, Muhammad. I swear to Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena that you will not survive today. Medusa's curse will fall on you. Today I will hang your head before the gods. Muhammad did not answer him verbally, so his response was to arrest him, cut off his head, and hang his body on a treeThey continued fighting for several hours, and Muhammad was able to eliminate the entire army and occupied Greece at five in the morning. He prayed dawn in the city and began his entry with the soldiers. 200,000 soldiers had died in the war. Muhammad made a broadcast on television and consoled all the families and gave them a salary. For life and huge sums of money. The important thing is that Muhammad passed by the fields and saw some peasants. When they saw him, one of them called out and said, “Where is Muhammad?” Muhammad said to him, “Here is Muhammad.” The man came to him and hugged him and said, “O Muhammad, we have been saved from a tyrant who was torturing us and making our lives miserable.” Nicholas Gaspiel) and gave Muhammad some apples and lemons, so Muhammad bought 300 cows from him and the soldiers slaughtered them, so they ate until their stomachs were full and they slept that night while Muhammad was standing praying. This is just going back in time to explain to you why Johann Gaspial hates Muhammad.Johann Gaspel was telling his experience when he saw Muhammad and saying when Muhammad conquered all of Greece, and the people were chanting his name. I said that Muhammad was not killing ordinary citizens and women because he was carrying out the orders of the Prophet Muhammad and his law of war. Johan Gaspel was 12 years old. He said: “I saw large crowds chanting the name of Muhammad, then I was looking out the window, and suddenly I saw Muhammad passing in front of me and hundreds of thousands of people.” Behind him were hundreds of thousands of soldiers armed with the most modern weapons in the world. He said that Muhammad was strong, broad-chested, not more than 180 centimeters tall, and had a black beard, black hair, and brown eyes. Dark brown, and when Johann saw him, he felt an unusual tremor and said that Muhammad was a person that everyone feared
This is a fictional story written by me. Give me your opinion in the comments

It’s been a long time I wanted to submit this story to the Potato Queen herself!
It’s a long story, actually it’s two stories in one, because as it involves the same person over more than decade long, it’s worth telling the whole story all at once (and it makes it may more fun too!). I decided to share it because it’s the kind of story that doesn’t seem to happen very often.
Below you will find goodies about an ex, a wedding, a dress, a delivery company and more! Please simply be mindful English is not my first language, trying my best to entertain you all the same.
This story goes back a long way, when (let’s name him) Frank (M) and myself (F) were both in college (both 17 at the time, we’re now 33), young and naive teenagers. We started as friends and eventually decided to be together. We then decided to move to another city together, as I was about to start university.
It went well for a while and then started to go south. So, long story short, after about two years together, we decided to break up. It wasn’t a mean breakup or anything, I think we were mostly disappointed it didn’t work out. Anyway.
We live in the province of Quebec. For those who don’t know, there is this weird tradition of starting and ending about any lease on July 1st. I have no idea why, but Canada’s Day has always been for anybody moving, in this province, a synonym of sweating under the sun, moving boxes, lifting heavy things and ending the day with cold beer and cheap pizza in a new and probably not so clean apartment. Why this context? Because we broke up two weeks before July 1st. It means it was virtually impossible to find another apartment so close to this date. We were about 7 hours away from both our families living on the countryside. We were also awfully broke students. We decided to give it a chance at being roommates.
Yes, it was super awkward at first, really not easy to manage to say the least. We were walking on eggshells and were definitely on edge for a while. There were also some pretty awkward situations, like this one time he decided to bring a one night home as I was sleeping in the adjacent room. Not only that, but the shameful phone call he had to make, waking me up in the middle of the night, so I could unlock the front door because he had forgotten his keys to find out he had brought home an acquaintance of mine. Nowadays I find this story delightfully funny tbh. But on that night, as I couldn’t go back to sleep because the gal decided to show off how an amazing singer she could have been —because, oh boy, this voice carried loudly all the way to my ears for more than an hour — I did not find it funny. I was furious, but prepared myself for the eventuality it would ever happen again. Do you remember the “Tiny Wall Challenges”? Let’s just say I had some games ideas after that night.
Anyway, anybody would probably have walked away but we still deeply cared for each other. We even did better than just survive through this whole year as roommates, we decided to move into a bigger apartment with two other friends. Believe it or not, we stayed there two more years. Moreover, these years were some of the best years and I still keep lots of good memories from this period.
Fast forward to the second part of the story. After being roommates for years, at some point we parted ways and lived our lives. We maintained contact throughout the years and when Frank finally started dating his wife to be, I was absolutely happy for him. He asked her to marry him and she said yes! Our friendship still held such a high place in both our hearts that he asked me to be one of his groomsmen, with his other best friend and his little brother. I felt so honoured, as I was technically a female, to be chosen to be on his side at the wedding.
The bridesmaids chose matching dresses in a beautiful forest green, all from a specialized website from UK, and I was to also be in a dress on the groom’s side, but matching the colour of the other groomsmen suits. With Frank, We all shopped together for their suits, chose a beautiful dark grey for his and a light grey for us, and we were able to match it perfectly with clothing samples I ordered from the website. Everything was going as planned. That being done, I ordered the dress, considering buying two inches heel shoes to go with it. It would take about four months to be done and the dress would arrive about a month and a half before the wedding. I decided to wait for the dress to arrive to pick shoes to go with it.
Four months passed, and I finally received a notice that the dress was on its way. The bridesmaids dresses arrived a bit before mine and they were all absolutely beautiful. As we all ordered from the same shop, we were able to choose different dresses that suited each of our styles, with identical fabrics that made the whole thing look fantastic.
I received the delivery’s notice, saying it was to be delivered by DHL. (If you never had to deal with this delivery company before, let’s just say this in itself is a red flag, but what could I do.)
I chose a delivery date that I could be home all day. I awaited their arrival, and waited. At some point I received a notification that they couldn’t deliver it because there was an error in the address. I called DHL customer service as soon as I read it and could verify with the clerk on the phone that there was no error on the original delivery address and that actually, internally, they miss-wrote a letter of the postal code. The person assured me that the delivery person would be notified and they would then be on their way back.
I waited. It never came.
The next morning, I received a notification that, unable to deliver it, the expeditor had agreed to DESTROY the package! I screamed! Why in the world would the UK online shop allow to destroy a custom made dress that took four months to do?! And why the hell the delivery service didn’t make any other attempt after being responsible of the address error in the first place. I was beyond mad. I called DHL, they confirmed someone at the company had agreed on the destruction of the item. I wrote to the person I was in contact with from the beginning at the online shop (this lovely clerk who clearly never asked for any of this). Over there, they couldn’t find who the hell agreed to this insane request to destroy the dress. They were also appalled and didn’t understand how it could have happened. They could put a request to redo the dress rush, but we first needed to either try to stop the destruction from happening by going to the DHL warehouse directly, or to obtain a proof from DHL that the dress was irreversibly lost forever.
It felt surreal! The fiancées were both furious too. There was only one DHL warehouse we could go to do this kind of request in the city and it was really far. As the clock was ticking, they jumped in their car, joined me, and to the warehouse we went, arriving a few minutes before closing like an epic movie scene. The clerk there was mind blown by the whole situation. It seemed we were too late and the best we could do was to have the proof that, in their system, the dress had effectively transited and was destroyed.
With photos as proof in hand, I forwarded everything to the clerk of the online dress shop. Days passed, as they were awaiting the okay to start sewing a new dress. They were really trying their best to help the situation but it seemed to be a mess over there about the whole situation. We were now a month before the wedding. At some point, I was starting to panic. They finally agreed to redo it, but it would be waaaay too close before the wedding to receive it. Like a few days before kind of close, if nothing happened in transport this time.
I decided to go shopping for another dress. I spent a whole day trying to find the perfect grey that would fit the other groomsmen suits. In the last possible boutique, there was one dress checking all the criteria. I bought the new one and wrote to the first shop, hoping they would agree to refund the lost dress.
I took an appointment later that week to do the adjustments on the new dress. I then shopped for shoes. I found a cute pair with one inch heel that would be perfect for me. I’m not used to walking with heels, so the lower the better after all.
Like all this turmoil wasn’t enough, my family called and told me that my grandfather’s health suddenly decreased. Remember? Seven hours drive from family. I canceled some plans and bought a ticket for the night’s bus ride right after the dress fitting. On that morning, the UK shop agreed to refund the dress. That part was a big relief. I went to the dress fitting. At last, three weeks before the wedding, The second dress would be ready in about seven days. I came back home to gather some things to get back out to catch my bus.
But suddenly, the doorbell rang.
I opened.
Some DHL delivery man casually gave me a package and left.
Yes. That’s what you think.
I closed the door, went to my room, sat on the bed, opened the bag. It was indeed the first dress. I had a melt down. I cried so hard. I put the dress down, looked at it, told it “I’ll deal with you when I come back” and went away to the bus station.
Few days later, coming back from the family, I collected the second dress and dealt with the first one, which no longer fitted the length of the shoes! My MIL at the time knew an old lady who was lovely enough to accommodate me and do the fitting of the first one for a as modest price. I decided to keep it a secret until the wedding day. (These friends wouldn’t do any drama about reveals etc, nor would they think it was stealing any of their thunder, don’t worry about that.)
On the wedding morning, I effectively surprised the bride and groom with both dresses. They were mind blowed, flabbergasted to say the least! I put the original one for the official photoshoot and discretely changed right after dinner for the other one. People around that had followed the incredible adventures were laughing out loud and finding it hilarious that I decided to wear both of them as I had so much troubles!
Quite a story with dresses and with an ex, right? Guess what, I’m also the godmother of their first child!

Technically it's not just for children, but they're the most common category of dependent and most likely to benefit from *one* of the plans. It zeroes out tuition, it does not cover other expenses.
I just learned that California shifted its income-eligibility status (under Plan B) to a state-level poverty wage, rather than a federal-level poverty wage. This is a shift from something like a ~$15k annual limit for the child, to a ~$20k annual limit, and will increase as California's Franchise Tax Board revises.
One HUGE advantage of this program is that it does not require the VETERAN to live in California, which is a lot more flexible, than, say, Washington's. This is based on the residency of the DEPENDENT.
I told a friend about this when I was using my GI Bill, and by the next week not only did she zero out her future law school tuition, she got a refund on the amount she had already paid. She later ran into difficulties using this with an MBA program, because there was confusion over what it covers. It apparently covers "academic" programs, which includes full-time MBA studies, but does not cover "self-funded" or "professional" programs like the part-time MBA programs. So, her parent's sacrifices *only* covered a law degree.
Three useful links for you and your dependents to assess:
California College Fee Waiver, to explain in further detail (I'll copy-past the content of this here, but it may update) https://www.calvet.ca.gov/VetServices/Pages/College-Fee-Waiver.aspx
How a Dependent would to establish residency in California for Education purposes (TLDR: 366 days, intent to permanently stay):
https://www.ucop.edu/residency/establishing-residency.html
California Income Eligiblity Limits for Plan B (looks like $21,561 for 2024 based off 2023 numbers): https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/residency-status/index.html

College Fee Waiver

​​​The College Fee Waiver for Veteran Dependents benefit waives mandatory system-wide tuition and fees at any State of California Community College, California State University, or University of California campus. This program does not cover the expense of books, parking or room and board. There are four plans under which dependents of Veterans may be eligible.

Plan A

• The unmarried child of a Veteran who is totally service-connected disabled or whose death was officially rated as service-connected is eligible. The child must be over 14 years old and under 27 years old to be eligible. If the child is a Veteran, then the age limit is extended to age 30;
• The spouse of a wartime Veteran who is totally service-connected disabled is eligible. There are no age limit restrictions;
• The unmarried surviving spouse of a wartime Veteran whose death has been rated as service-connected is eligible. There are no age limit restrictions;
• Any dependent of any Veteran who has been declared missing in action, captured in the line of duty by hostile forces, or forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign government or power is eligible.

The Veteran must have served at least one day of active duty during a period of war as declared by the U.S. Congress, or during any time in which the Veteran was awarded a campaign or expeditionary medal. Concurrent receipt of benefits under Plan A and VA Chapter 35 benefits is prohibited. To receive benefits under Plan A, a dependent must sign an "Election To Receive College Waiver Benefits" statement acknowledging this fact. There are no income restrictions under this plan. To be eligible, the event which caused basic entitlement to benefits (i.e., the date the Veteran died of service-connected causes or the date the military or United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) rated the Veteran as totally disabled as a result of service-connected disabilities) must have occurred prior to the child's 21st birthday.

Plan B

The child of a Veteran who has a service-connected disability, or had a service-connected disability at the time of death, or died of service-related causes is eligible. The child's annual income, which includes the child's adjusted gross income, plus the value of support provided by a parent, may not exceed the annual income limit. The current academic year entitlement is based upon the previous calendar year's annual income. Under Plan B, wartime service is not required and there are no specific age requirements. Children are the only dependents eligible under this plan. There is no prohibition against receiving concurrent VA Chapter 35 benefits.

Plan C

Any dependent of any member of the California National Guard, who in the line of duty while on active service to the state, was killed, died of a disability resulting from an event that occurred while in active service to the state, or is permanently disabled as a result of an event that occurred while in the service to the state is eligible. Surviving spouses who have not remarried are also eligible.
"Active service to the state," for the purpose of this benefit, means a member of the California National Guard activated pursuant to Section 146 of the Military and Veterans Code. A copy of those orders pursuant to Section 146, not Section 143, must be furnished to establish eligibility.

Plan D

Medal of Honor recipients and children of Medal of Honor recipients under the age of 27 may qualify. Benefits under Plan D are limited to undergraduate studies only, and applicants are subject to both income and age restrictions. There is no prohibition against receiving concurrent VA Chapter 35 benefits.

Notes:

• All applicants must meet California residency requirements as per the schools requirements.
• If eligibility criteria is met, use of the College Waiver for Veterans Dependents may be applied to state-support programs in the CCC, CSU, and UC systems. Some academic programs at these institutions that are considered self-supported, commonly referred to as extension courses or extended education are not required to apply the College Fee Waiver because these courses, degrees, and certificates are neither funded by the state nor are they system-wide programs. Veterans dependents using this waiver should research their academic programs thoroughly before applying to the college or university.
• Education Code, Section 66025.3 does not provide the authority to grant College Fee Waiver benefits retroactively. However, an exception exists relating to applications received under the provisions of Military and Veterans Code Section 890.3(a)(1). The law permits retroactive fee waiver benefits when an application is denied solely due to the fact that the Veteran has a claim pending with the USDVA for service connected disability or death benefits, but the claim has yet to be awarded, and in the future the USDVA adjudicates a service connected rating. The Veteran or student must have applied for the College Fee Waiver during each academic year in which they are seeking the benefit; the application will be denied due to no service connected disability. Once the Veteran has been awarded service connected disability rating, bring the VA notification letter and denial letter(s) back to the CVSO for review.
• If you are a child of a Veteran, you must attach Verification of Dependency. Acceptable verifications include, but are not limited to, a Birth Certificate, Adoption Records or Marriage Certificate. Those seeking status as an Adopted Child or as a Stepchild must have entered into such status prior to the child's 23th Birthday.
• Effective January 1, 2024 Plan B applicant income, which includes the student's adjusted gross income for the prior year plus the value of any support received from a parent, will no longer be measured against the federal poverty threshold limit when making a fee waiver eligibility determination. Instead, beginning with Academic Year 2024-25, the student's income will not be allowed to exceed the STATE poverty level as published in the resident requirement filing chart found on the Franchise Tax Board website. This change was brought about when AB 1745, Soria. Public postsecondary education: veterans: waiver of mandatory systemwide tuition and fees, was signed into law by Governor Newsom. This represents a substantial change to the program as the State poverty threshold limit is significantly higher than the federal poverty threshold limit. For example, in 2023 the State threshold was $20,913, while the federal threshold was $15,225. ​

I just wante to alert anyone AGAINST trying to get a CPT internship job in the USA while at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).
I've been trying to get my authorization for an Amazon SDE Internship for Summer and they have been putting a lot of obstacles to it.
For CPT, you need your job offer letter from the employer and then you submit that to a Handshake application (yes, that website to find jobs, even when you got your job elsewhere) and you have to wait for the Office of Experiential Learning to check the info and send an email to my employer to aprove it. It has been 2 weeks and tons of emails for them to send a link. A direct link to the aproval form.
Then you have to sign up for the internship course (0 credits if you are for a non-credit internship) and after that you submit the CPT form signed by your employer.
Well, now the Office of Global Services says the signature format in my CPT form is incorrect, even when Amazon does the same signature for thousands of interns.
And when you contact them via email, they send a response telling you not to email them or your case gets pushed back in the queue. Their phones are disconnected and the times I went in person they have a paper in the door that says "Not working for the rest of the week".
Right now, I am looking to change university because they just ruined my Amazon internship and now I have to keep paying my student loan.
I know, welcome to America and Illinois Institute of Technology.

There was a thread earlier today about people quitting because of BS deaths and I, like some others, have a Powershell script to backup Saves for such a scenario. I put my script in a comment but thought maybe some people would like a full post on how this is achieved.
PS: Someone mentioned wanting to give me a Reddit award for my comment, but obviously awards are gone. So instead, maybe consider following me on Twitch, JawKneePlays. Thanks
I took this Backup Script from someone else and modified it, but I can't remember who the original author is to credit them.
Pre-Warning: Do this at your own risk. I WILL NOT take responsibility for any issues this causes nor will I fix individual issues. If there are questions on what the script is doing etc, then I'm happy to answer.

1. Create the Powershell script file (We're using Powershell ISE because everyone will have it installed with Windows)
   1. Open Powershell ISE
   2. Copy the SCRIPT BLOCK below and paste this into the ISE (SCROLL DOWN THIS POST)
   3. Modify these variables to suit you
      1. $SourcePath = "C:\Users\$user\Zomboid\Saves"
      2. $BkupVolumeLabel = "Games"
      3. $RetentionDays = 2
   4. Save the file and name it whatever you want and where you want
      1. Mine is: "D:\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Scripts\BACKUP_SCRIPTS\ProjectZomboid_Backup.ps1"
      2. NOT REQUIRED BUT: If you don't have a "*\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\" directory and want one, follow this to create a Powershell profile.
2. Create the Scheduled Task
   1. Open Task Scheduler
   2. Right Click the "Task Scheduler Library" folder and Select "New Task"
      1. In the General tab, give the Task a Name
      2. In the Triggers tab, Select "New" and configure the Schedule how you see fit
      3. In the Actions tab, Select "New"
      4. Select "OK" and you're ready to run the task to test it works
3. Restoring the Files
   1. This is a simple Delete the current folder and replace it with your backup folder
   2. If you're afraid of losing your data, I would recommend renaming the current folder from "saves" to "saves.old" and then copying your backup up folder. That way you can delete the backup if it's not what you want or it fails and you can go back to the previous state by renaming the folder back to "saves". It's just worth doing once or twice before you commit to using the backup files
4. That should be everything covered. If anyone notices an issue with the write up, or has any suggestions for myself or others, chime in!

SCRIPT BLOCK (COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE INTO YOUR ISE AND SAVE IT AS A ".PS1" FILE) <#
This script takes a backup copy of an entire folder and puts it on a dedicated backup drive.
It is recommended to use an external hard drive for this backup.
To correctly use this script, be sure that you format each backup drive with the $BkupVolumeLabel keyword in the Volume Label.
To run the script automatically:
Schedule a task to run program powershell.exe with the argument:
-executionpolicy Bypass -file "[insert path to script file here]"
Schedule to run as often as you would like to make a backup.
Change $user below to your PC user name (look at the directory if you don't know)

>

$SourcePath = "C:\Users\$user\Zomboid\Saves"
$BkupVolumeLabel = "Games"
$RetentionDays = 2

# I WILL TAKE IT FROM HERE!

$Date = Get-Date -Format "yyyy MMM dd hhmm tt"
$BackupDrives = (Get-Volume Where-Object {$_.FileSystemLabel -like "*$BkupVolumeLabel*"}).DriveLetter
ForEach ($Drive in $BackupDrives) {
$Letter = "$Drive" + ":\"
$Destination = "$Letter" + (Get-Item -Path $SourcePath).Parent.Name + "\" + (Get-Item -Path $SourcePath).Name
IF (-not (Test-Path -Path $Destination)) {
New-Item -Path $Destination -ItemType Directory
}
Copy-Item -Path $SourcePath -Destination "$Destination\$date" -Recurse
Get-ChildItem -Path $Destination Where-Object {$_.CreationTime -lt ((Get-Date).AddDays( - $RetentionDays))} Remove-Item -Force -Recurse
}

$Error > C:\users\public\desktop\BackupErrors.txt #Remove leading # if you need error information for failed backups.

I really just need to vent, I know it will all get done eventually but I'm so overwhelmed right now! I added a content warning just in case, since one of the things I'm venting about is how frustrating it is to have to say my deadname over and over and get misgendered on the phone even after explaining why I need to change my name. This is super long, I don't really expect anyone to read it but just needed to get it out.
My partner and I are both trans and we changed our names at the same time (last names too, since we have been married for over a year and wanted to have the same last name). We got through the legal process. Yay! Our state makes it pretty easy and I was so excited to have it done, finally! But now...
We got our names updated on our Social Security cards a few weeks after changing our names, it took a while because the name change hearings were over the phone and we were told the court would mail the certified name change orders but they just never came so we had to go in person to get copies. They are appointment only now but we also finally got appointments and went to the DMV to update our driver's licenses. Still waiting to get the real licenses in the mail, which is annoying since so many places want to see your new ID and we just have the paper ones right now, still, after about 2 weeks (I know, I know, it takes a while but I'm impatient). We could probably bring those in to banks along with the court order, but we also only have one day off together though to do everything we need to do for normal life along with name change stuff. And some things like PayPal make you upload pictures of front and back of ID. Which won't work with these stupid paper ones since they are literally just on regular printer paper.
I've been working on updating my own stuff (and some of my partner's) as much as I can on my other day off when they are at work, but it's just. So much. I feel like I'm getting a lot done and then I look at the list of what we have left to do and get so discouraged. My partner has tried to help a couple times but they get stressed out immediately and can't figure out what to do so I told them I would take care of it since, ya know, we are married and I love them.
I am very confused by the paperwork from the credit union where I have a car loan to update my name on the title, but at least they had an online portal to update the account name. I'm going to try to go in and ask for help with the papers for the title. And the DMV said I should update the title before I update the registration. It feels even more complicated because my dad is also on the title and registration, as he cosigned on the loan for me, but not only does he live in another state already but he is also moving next week to a different state. And he isn't very happy about me changing my name, but idk at least he's sort of trying (at least just so I won't stop talking to him and my mom). I'm really hoping this won't cause any other issues with the title update.
My other two banks (checking account for regular use and checking account I use for bills) gave a number to call but the customer support people (after asking "oh did you get married? congratulations ms. xyz" like yes but you're still incorrect stop it) said to go in person to show the new ID and name change documents. And the two credit cards my partner and I have (one in my name and they are an authorized user, the other vice versa) are stressing me out. One of them (Capital One) made me fax them information (who even faxes anymore???), no clue if they got it or not, or when that will be updated. The other, Synchrony Car Care, I need to call and figure out but I've been putting it off because I'm so so sick of being misgendered and deadnamed immediately as soon as they look up my account. Why can't they just have online portals to upload this stuff??
We have appointments for updating our birth certificates (another one where you either have to mail it in and just hope they get it or else go in person) but they just changed both our appointments to a different day when we have to work without asking if the new time would work. So I will have to cancel and reschedule those and they are so hard to get, and apparently they're still working on applications from February. I also want us to get passports, because we are going on a vacation in October that is easy driving distance to Canada and my partner has never been out of the U.S. and I haven't in a long time. So I thought that would be cool. But a) they are so expensive! even for the cards and b) we will need birth certificates for that. So I figured we can just apply for the passports with our uncorrected birth certificates and the name change orders, but I have no clue where my birth certificate is since we moved. So I will have to go get a copy of that before applying to correct it, apply for the passport, then try to correct the birth certificate.
Oh, and I found out once all the banks and credit cards are finally updated I will need to contact all three credit bureaus to make sure my record is updated correctly or I could lose all my credit history.
I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff too, I've done a lot but it just seems like it is never ending and all the major stuff is a pain to change. And so much of it has fees. Fees for new Driver Licenses, fees for correcting the birth certificates, fees for the car title thing (they want a check for $7.50, I don't even have a checkbook), lots and lots of fees for passports.
I need to do other things too, I'm supposed to call to schedule an appointment to talk about potentially getting ADHD meds (yeah gotta say that untreated ADHD is not helping this situation) and call the same place to schedule a different appointment to see a therapist about top surgery (since Kaiser Permanente requires a letter) and I haven't done either thing. I need to work on this apprenticeship thing I'm doing through work, because once it's done I'll get a kitchen manager certification which will be cool and it has been completely free, but I haven't worked on it in weeks. I want to play Zelda BOTW but haven't done that in weeks. I need to start cooking at home more because my partner and I are spending way too much on food but that means planning out meals and going grocery shopping or we end up leaving the store with just snacks. Every spare moment is spent on the name change stuff and/or having minor breakdowns about it and/or taking a nap to avoid dealing with it.
I know it'll be okay in a few more months, I know it will feel so good once everything is finally updated. But right now? I feel like I'm drowning in name change forms.