So I’m reviewing everything and I pointed out the commission (1.8k) on the estimated sheet in the very beginning of walking into the dealership. The salesman says this is the only way he gets paid, otherwise he walks away with nothing and ZERO DOLLARS. So I’m like okay that’s strange, let’s continue. Then I get to the contract paperwork and I’m reading all the papers I need to sign and I get to the first one saying the commission is optional and it can be removed. I’m like hold up, what’s this and why wasn’t this explained properly? In addition, they added this “600 DARCARS assurance” which they told me was just on the contract but not in the total price. They said it was pro adjusted. So I’m over here doing the math and I’m like the 600 is there what are you talking about. Then he calls the manager and specifically says the new car price as if he knew what it was minus the 600. I asked what darcars is incase it’s something good. He told me I can come in to darcars and have it detailed once a year. Once a year? What kind of shit is that, no wonder you didn’t explain this in the beginning or even put it on the initial price sheet.
So now I’m sitting in finance with this guy scoffing at me and acting like a 5 year old. I spent 45 mins in the dealership and drove 4 hours to get here. I gave them no hassle, put 40k down as a trade in. Excellent credit no headache at all. Am I wrong for having them take off the commission and the darcars assurance?

Interviewing for an internship position tmrw as someone still in high school. I'm very nervous about this question.
Tell me about yourself

• Name: INSERT NAME HERE
• Senior that is graduating
• Will be a college freshman next september
• Going into either computer science or business
• Talk abt resume
• SCHOOL
• Took multiple AP classes (8)
• Took classes that aligned with computers (Foundations of IT (won award for this), Intro to programming, Cybersecurity)
• Member of multiple honor societies
• Participated in school clubs
  • Big one: INSERT CLUB HERE
    • Went to SCHOOLS and teached kids science
    • Furthered their understanding in the field
• EXTRACURRICULARS
  • INSERT NAME OF EXTRACURRICULAR
    • Videography and Programming
  • Karate
    • Earned Black Belt
    • Done for over 5 years
• PAST JOBS
• Did the PROGRAM NAME HERE last year
• Work experience in the City of NAME OF CITY HERE building
  • Transition paper system to online system
• ABOUT ME
• In my spare time:
  • Hanging out with friends
  • Going to the gym
  • Working on cars
  • Working on computers
    • Implementing new things
    • Ex. PiHole
    • During this I gained experience in various softwares (Google Suite, Microsoft Powerpoint, Word, Excel, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, Final Cut Pro)
    • Overall Passionate about computers

ANY help would be appreciated thanks!

You're probably aware that athletes, particularly NBA players, make a lot of money, but do you know who the world's NBA's Richest players are?
If your answer is no, you've arrived at the right place. We see these folks on holidays and on social media showcasing their newest cars or mansions.
As a result, it's natural for us to wonder how much money they make and how wealthy they are. NBA players have long had one of the most lucrative contracts in the sports entertainment industry.
Furthermore, unlike the NLF, MLB, or NHL, an NBA player's minimum pay is nearly twice that of any other league globally.
Nonetheless, based on what we've seen over the years, most of the richest NBA players do not rely solely on a pay as their primary source of revenue.
Many of the wealthiest players are financial wizards, and others are surrounded by a team of highly skilled financial consultants.
These groups of financial consultants frequently counsel them on which investments to make and which deals to avoid.
According to what we've observed over the years, Brand deals and sponsorships are essential for a professional player's financial success.
From Michael Jordan to LeBron James to Kevin Durant, these stars make a lot of money off the court. Let's look at the top ten NBA Richest players of all time.

1. Michael Jordan

Net Worth: $2.2 Billion
Michael Jordan is a former basketball player, team owner, product endorser, and entrepreneur from the United States. Furthermore, Michael made $93.7 million in compensation during his NBA career.
He was the first athlete in history to receive a salary of more than $30 million a year. He, however, earned $30.14 million in basic salary during the 1996-1997 season to reach this feat.
After adjusting for inflation, he made $33.14 million the following season, equivalent to $53.4 million today.
Michael earns $100 million every year from endorsements and other commercial enterprises, although he hasn't played basketball professionally in nearly two decades.
Please remember that this is more money in a single year than he made in 16 NBA seasons. Michael makes at least $60 million a year in royalties from the Nike/Jordan brand.
Michael's ownership stake in the Charlotte Hornets NBA franchise helped him become a millionaire. This investment will be discussed in greater depth later in this essay.
Furthermore, Jordan won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He has won the league MVP award five times. On September 112009, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the player with the best career scoring average of all time.

2. Junior Bridgeman

Net Worth: $600 Million
Junior Bridgeman is one of the NBA's richest players of all time. He has a net worth of $600 million as a retired professional basketball player and highly successful fast-food entrepreneur in the United States.
In addition, Junior Bridgeman had a 12-year NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers and was a somewhat successful player.
Besides, his biggest salary in a single season was $350,000. He put all of the money he earned into fast-food franchises, particularly Wendy's restaurants.
After retiring from professional athletics, he is now one of the wealthiest athletes in history and a role model for success.
East Chicago native Junior Bridgeman is a retired NBA player. Apart from the expanding number of Chili's restaurants with 118 locations and counting, he owns over 160 outlets. Bridgeman was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

3. Magic Johnson

Net Worth: $600 Million
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. has a net worth of $600 million and is a retired American basketball player and entrepreneur.
After winning high school and college basketball championships, he was chosen first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Additionally, for 13 seasons, he was the Lakers' point guard. He won the NBA Championship and the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his debut season. Johnson was the Lakers' previous president of basketball operations.
He founded the Magic Johnson Foundation to help fight HIV after revealing his diagnosis in November 1991.
Johnson has worked as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster, and care for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex.
However, his public declaration of his HIV-positive status in 1991 stunned the public. It helped to shatter the misconception that HIV was a "gay sickness" that heterosexuals didn't have to worry about at the time.

4. LeBron James

Net Worth: $500 Million
Next on our list of NBA's richest players is LeBron James. LeBron James is a professional basketball player and entrepreneur in the United States.
After igniting the high school basketball world, LeBron skipped college and was selected first overall in the 2003 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers' local team.
Additionally, from 2003 through 2010, LeBron James was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. From 2010 through 2014, he "took his talents" to Miami, where he played for the Heat.
In 2012 and 2013, he guided the Heat to two NBA championships. From 2014 to 2018, he was a member of the Cavaliers, winning a championship in 2016.
Additionally, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018. In 2020, he won a title with LA. In terms of compensation alone, LeBron James is the sixth highest-paid player in the NBA as of this writing.
His base compensation is $41.1 million per year. LeBron James is one of the world's highest-paid and most influential celebrities outside of sports.
Additionally, he has a $1 billion lifetime contract with Nike and makes more than $50 million each year in endorsements. However, his investments in many have turned his celebrity and riches into a veritable economic empire. \
He owns a stake in Liverpool F.C. LeBron James will be a billionaire in 2035 if he continues to earn and invest at his present rate.

5. Shaquille O'Neal

Net Worth: $400 Million
Shaquille O'Neal is a retired NBA player, entrepreneur, television host, and commercial endorser from the United States.
Shaq earned $292 million in salary alone throughout his NBA career. He made well over $200 million from endorsements during the same time.
Furthermore, Shaq still earns roughly $60 million per year from endorsements and numerous commercial ventures despite retiring for several years.
Like most the people on this list, Shaq O'Neal has shown to be a marketing and financial genius. O'Neal, a serial investor, and entrepreneur, owns several businesses and is a joint-owner in others.
Furthermore, Shaquille O'Neal owns more than 150 car washes in the United States, as well as more than 40 Auntie Anne's Pretzels restaurants and another 40 Fitness franchises across the country.
Shaquille O'Neal, one of the best centers of all time, was one of the most dominant players in the NBA during his prime. Shaquille O'Neal played for six different NBA clubs during his stellar 19-year NBA career, including Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.

6. Vinnie Johnson

Net Worth: $400 Million
Winnie Johnson is also one of the NBA's richest players of all time. As a former professional basketball player and entrepreneur, Vinnie Johnson has a $400 million net worth.
Meanwhile, Vinnie was a member of the Seattle SuperSonics, Detroit Pistons, and San Antonio Spurs throughout his NBA career. He won the NBA title with the Pistons in 1989 and 1990.
Additionally, Johnson gained the nickname "the Microwave" during his playing career for "heating the team's offensive" in a short amount of time.
After retiring, Vinnie started the Piston Group, an automobile company. In addition, he built the company into something of a behemoth with annual revenues in the billions.
Furthermore, Johnson is the chairman of the board of directors for the joint ventures JL Automotive and PASA Modules, among his other business interests.
He's also a member of the Detroit Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Minority Business Development Council.
Vinnie is now the Chairman and CEO of the company. The company employs over 200 employees and earns over $2 billion in revenue each year.
The company increased from $500 million in revenue in 2012 to be on track to surpass $3 billion shortly under Vinnie's leadership. The firm is one of the largest minority-owned firms in the world.

7. Hakeem Olajuwon

Net Worth: $300 Million
Hakeem Olajuwon has a $300 million net worth as a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player.
He was a member of the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors in the NBA, where he led the former to back-to-back NBA titles in the mid-90s.
In addition, he was a member of the 1996 Olympic gold-medal-winning US team. Olajuwon is the first non-American to be an All-Star and an NBA MVP. He is widely regarded as one of the best basketball players of all time.
Furthermore, Hakeem started on a tremendously successful entrepreneurial career following his retirement. He has bought and sold fundamental properties for more than $150 million in the last two decades.

8. Grant Hill

Net Worth: $250 Million
Grant Hill is also one of the NBA's richest Players. He has a net worth of $250 million as a retired basketball player from the United States.
Additionally, he is one of the highest-paid basketball players, having played 18 seasons in the NBA.
He has made around $120 million in endorsements and $140 million in salary during his long NBA career.
However, he was a member of the Detroit Pistons (1994-2000), Orlando Magic (2000-2007), Phoenix Suns (2007-2012), and Los Angeles Clippers (2007-2012). (2012-2013).
Hill has participated in several humanitarian endeavors. After graduating from Yale University to support local families, he gave money to his father's daycare business in New Haven, Connecticut, after graduating from Yale University to help local families.
Additionally, in 1999, he also served as Vice-Chairman of the Special Olympic World Summer Games Board of Directors in North Carolina.
Hill has been a prominent champion for MRSA awareness and prevention since 2003, when he contracted a life-threatening methicillin-resistant illness caused by Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
However, he has even appeared in public service advertisements for the non-profit organization Stop MRSA Now.

9. David Robinson

Net Worth: $200 Million
David Robinson, a retired professional basketball player from the United States, has $200 million. He spent his whole NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, from 1989 to 2003.
In addition, he was a 10-time NBA All-Star, a two-time NBA champion, and the NBA MVP in his 1995 career.
Robinson was also a member of the gold-medal-winning US national basketball teams in 1992 and 1996. Robinson's stint in the US Navy earned him the moniker "The Admiral."
Robinson built the private, non-profit Carver Academy in San Antonio to give possibilities for inner-city youngsters. In 2012, the school became a public charter school.
Furthermore, Robinson also co-founded Admiral Capital Group with Daniel Bassichis in 2008. The Carver Academy was founded by a private equity business to provide further financial support.
However, it has a $100 million portfolio that comprises upmarket hotels and office buildings across the country. Robinson also has a Jaguar Land Rover dealership in San Juan, Texas, which he co-owns.

10. Kevin Durant

Net Worth: $200 Million
Next on our list of the NBA's richest players is Kevin Durant. He is a professional basketball player in the United States.
Kevin is a high-paid player both on and off the court. He is one of the five highest-paid players in the NBA, with a $42 million salary.
He can earn tens of millions of dollars more each year because of his several lucrative endorsement deals.
Additionally, he earns $65 million from his numerous efforts between June 2019 and June 2020.
After three seasons with the Golden State Warriors, Kevin signed a four-year $164 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.
He is a tech investor who has made more than 40 early-stage investments. Additionally, Durant's personal life is mainly private, with little information publicly available.
He is believed to have dated Cassandra Anderson, a Bay Area real estate salesman, and was formerly engaged to Monica Wright, a former WNBA star, until 2014.

11. Luol Deng

Net Worth: $200 Million
Luol Deng, a professional basketball player from the United Kingdom, has a net worth of $200 million. He was born in Wau, Sudan, on April 161985. (now South Sudan).
He was just eight years old when he and his family fled Sudan to escape the country's civil conflict, eventually settling in Egypt and later London.
However, he had previously represented England as a member of the Brixton Basketball Club at the age of thirteen.
Additionally, he traveled to the United States at 14 to enhance his basketball skills at Blair Academy in New Jersey.
Luol Deng was regarded as the second most promising high school senior in America after LeBron James due to his obvious talent.

12. Dwyane Wade

Net Worth: $170 Million
Next on our list of the NBA's richest players is Dwyane Wade. Dwyane Wade is an NBA basketball player in the United States with a net worth of $170 million.
In addition, Dwyane Wade made $198 million in salary during his NBA career. Endorsements, especially shoe contracts, brought in tens of millions of dollars for him.
Dwyane WAs we just revealed, ade made $198 million in salary alone during his NBA career, as we e $2.6 million in his debut season. His income increased to $13 million per year after signing a significant contract extension before the 2007-2008 season.
In addition, the Chicago Bulls paid him $23.2 million during his peak season of 20016-2017. Converse was Dwyane Wade's first shoe sponsor.
The $400,000-per-year contract was for a period of six years. When compared to Carmelo Anthony's $21 million six-year deal signed around the same time, that was a pittance.
However, it was a drop in the bucket compared to LeBron's $90 million seven-year deal, which turned out to be $12.8 million per year. In just 11 days, LeBron earned Dwyane Wade's total annual shoe compensation.
The Converse Wade 1 was a tremendous global success by 2006, with over a million pairs sold.
Wade changed from Converse to Nike's Jordan brand in 2009. In his early years with Nike, Dwyane earned $5 million per year, eventually climbing to $10 million after milestone bonuses.

13. Russell Westbrook

Net Worth:$170 Million
Russell Westbrook is an NBA basketball player in the United States with a net worth of $170 million. In terms of both income and endorsements, he is one of the highest-paid athletes in the world.
Furthermore, Russell earned $250 million in compensation in his first decade in the NBA after joining the league in 2008. His base pay is $44 million as of this writing. Every year, he earns millions more through endorsements.
Westbrook signed the richest contract in Jordan Brand history (a 10-year agreement valued between $150 and $200 million) and NBA history (a 5-year, $205 million extensions) in September 2017.
Additionally, the Rockets absorbed Russell's contract when he was transferred from Oklahoma City to Houston in 2019. His annual salary will be $41 million.
In 2020, he was traded to the Washington Wizards. Then in 2021, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Until December 2020, when Giannis Antetokounmpo signed a five-year, $228.2 million contract, he held the record for the highest NBA contract. Between June 2018 and June 2019, Westbrook made $53 million in salary and sponsorships.

14. James Harden

Net Worth: $165 Million
James Harden is a professional basketball player from the United States with a net worth of $165 million.
After transferring from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets, Harden built a name for himself. In January 2021, he was dealt with the Brooklyn Nets.
Additionally, James is an eight-time NBA All-Star and has led the league in scoring three times. He has also won the MVP award. Today, James is regarded as one of the top players in the NBA and the best shooting guard.
Furthermore, Harden played collegiate basketball for the Arizona Sun Devils before entering the NBA. In 2012, James and the United States national basketball team earned an Olympic gold medal in the Summer Olympics.
In addition, James is one of the NBA's highest-paid players. His base income alone is around $44 million per year. Every year, he earns millions more through endorsements.

15. Carmelo Anthony

Net Worth: $160 Million
Last on our list of the NBA's richest players is Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo Anthony is a professional basketball player born in Brooklyn and had 160 million dollars.
He is likely most known for his time as a member of the New York Knicks. Anthony has been an NBA All-Star 10 times and a member of the All-NBA Team six times.
However, with the US National Basketball team, the 27-year-old American basketball pro has won gold in three Olympics in a row.
Carmelo Anthony, who currently plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, is without a doubt one of the best power forwards in the NBA.
In addition, Anthony has spent 16 years in the NBA and has been named to the All-Star team ten times.
In conclusion, That concludes the list of the top 15 NBA Richest players in history. Basketball is currently one of the most lucrative sports in the world.
Furthermore, the massive contracts these players sign with their numerous teams, as well as their enormously profitable endorsement portfolios, demonstrate this.

Hi everyone. I had a weird experience this morning and I wanted to ask if I should report this?
I took an Uber to work this morning. When I got in the car, my bag spilled a bit (usually it’s zipped before I get in but I was scrambling ngl) so after buckling in I bent down to put my things back together
A couple minutes later I look up and we’re still in my neighbourhood, on a different street, opposite to the direction we were supposed to be going. I ask the guy “where are you going?” and he’s like “sorry I forgot my keys I have to grab them”. I was like wtf but I didn’t know what to say. he pulls over and gets out of the car, runs to another car on the street, opens it up and grabs a set of keys from it. then he got back in and resumed the journey.
It seems like the keys were for the car we were driving (it had a button starter) so I can understand how that could have been a problem. I just wish the guy said something instead of going about it the way he did.
this made me late to work unfortunately, but what really bothered me is that it kind of seems like he took advantage of me not paying attention. I could be biased, however, I have noticed a correlation between times I was looking at my phone and times the driver has taken extra detours or different routes. That’s just speculation though. What gets me is that he didn’t say anything about the keys/detour until I noticed we were going the wrong way :/
he was apologetic so I feel bad for reporting it, I’m not trying to get anyone fired, but I also feel uncomfortable with the way the situation was handled, and bro made me late to work
what would you do?

I got hail damage on my car, so I took it to a shop that advertised “up to $500 of deductible on them, free rental, and free detail after repairs. I was approached by a salesman who noticed my car had damage and we worked out a day and time for the pickup of the car. He told me that they will call my insurance and get everything figured out for me. Cool. So I notice I have an open claim for the hail repair, and the insurance calls me. Everything was going well until she says “so let’s see what shops are available to you” I tell her my car is already in the shop and I have a rental. They tell me I must get my car immediately out of that shop, because apparently a USAA adjuster must adjust the damages, and apparently a USAA adjuster can’t get out there to the shop, which is literally 10 minutes away from my house, and also that my rental will not be covered because it’s only days that the car is in the shop. But I have full coverage. And they say they may not cover it. Ok. So I call the company that has my car ,and tell them everything the insurance just told me. They tell me not to “let them scare me, and that the insurance is going to pay for everything garunteed.” Those exact words. So I’m just kinda confused on what to do in this situation and honestly a little scared. They explained to me on the phone that “ there is lots of hail claims and the insurance can’t keep up with all them so they will force the insurance to come.

I got an Elite last weekend and am really enjoying it so far. For background, I've reserved and test-driven many EVs; and canceled orders on all of them after the test drive. For me, this is the one I finally liked. It reminds me of a balanced mix between the Cadillac Lyriq and my Subaru Outback. Refined practicality.
The Lyriq is too unreliable unless I'm willing to have an extra backup car, and that's just silly. I finally decided against it because the dealership was sort of jerky, declining to fix minor problems before I even bought it. This seemed to signal bad news for the future.
After I drove the Touring, I liked it, but I really need quicker acceleration due to a new living situation near a busy main road. The dealership had an Elite and it was a few thousand dollars more. Once I got in it, the seats were cushier. I like the increased power, the heated steering wheel, and the folding mirrors. The overall finish felt better. I do wish the Prologue had a frunk, and larger back windows, but I'll adapt.
I was surprised at how much I liked the Heads Up Display on the test drive. I like how the height, brightness, and information can be moved around and adjusted. I expected it to be distracting, but it's really helpful. One big drawback: it's hard to see when wearing sunglasses. At night I dim it.
On top of that, the dealership is nice and they were willing to deal. They discounted it to the point where there was only $2k difference between the Elite and Touring. They gave me the $7500k tax credit at the dealership, with 2.9% financing/ 48 months.
The salesman told me later that there are a LOT of these in California and there are two things going on; 1. Honda wants these on the road as advertising, and 2. the dealers don't want what happened to the EV6 (I think that's the one). It had a big anticipated buildup with excited reviews, so the dealers added a huge ADM. Then the shipments outpaced sales and the dealers were stuck with a huge glut of cars. Honda wants to move them.
As far as advertising, mine is silver (not blue), so not particularly eye catching. When I came out of the grocery store a couple of days ago, It had a small crowd standing around it . Of course I gave them a quick walk around tour before my ice cream melted :D.

How much time in a day is your long distance boyfriend or girlfriend required to make for you if they have a full-time job? My boyfriend has a full time job. He's a car salesman. He comes home then he has laundry to do and he needs to shower but most of the time the little time he has left he'd use to watch anime rather than talk to me a bit. When he comes home I always have to ask him if we could talk he wouldn't do it out if his own. I feel like we can't get to know each other and there isn't deep meaningful conversations. We know each other for almost 6 months now and in these months we didn't have a lot of deep, meaningful and emotional conversations. It was just sexual tension most of the time and us talking about my problems and if I needed advice and support in a bad situation. He would also not talk about his feelings or share what's going on in his life emotionally. During his work hours he takes hours to answer my messages which I understand he's busy. But eventually he answers. I really don't know what to do or to think. I don't know if I'm overreacting or over thinking.

Boil Water Advisory for South Arlington Ends

Residents and businesses in south Arlington can resume using water from the tap for all purposes
A series of rigorous tests have determined that the system is safe following a significant water main break early Friday, June 7, at S Walter Reed Drive and S Four Mile Run Drive.
Crews were able to restore water pressure within 90 minutes of the break. Because water pressure dropped drastically, the County issued a Boil Water Advisory for southern portions of the County out of an abundance of caution.
Water samples taken through the weekend, in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Health, have confirmed that the water meets all state and federal standards.
Arlington County appreciates the patience and understanding of its residents, businesses and their customers as staff followed procedures that place public health and safety as the highest priority.
Water customers are advised to run their taps for a few minutes to release any air and sediment that may have accumulated following the break.
More information can be found here.
All lanes are now reopened on S Walter Reed Drive. Crews will need to return in a few days for follow-up work on the roadway.
Follow @ArlingtonDES on X for additional updates

I recently went into a Toyota Dealership to purchase a ‘24 Taco TRD Sport Premium,. Dealership had a listing 3k below MSRP which was great UNTIL we sat down and talked numbers.
The salesman and finance guy gave me monthly numbers that totaled out to about $69-70k. I asked him where the $20k came from and all he could say was because of the fees and APR. From my understanding Taxes are 7% no more usually, shipping and title fees no more than 1-2k. How much did everybody else pay for a ‘24 Taco TRD Sport Premium?
I obviously didn’t buy the car since the salesman wouldn’t budge but I do want to go back and talk him down more. Just not without more info and tips.
Any help?

os - pop!_os
I have been using this OS as a dual boot. The mic sensitivity is very high compared to windows. The mic picks up road car sounds like crystal clear compared to Windows. I tried NoiseTorch but its not at all working at all and I saw "PipeWire support is in alpha quality" so its not fully supported in pipewire. I did `pactl info` it returned:

Server String: /run/use1000/pulse/native Library Protocol Version: 35 Server Protocol Version: 35 Is Local: yes Client Index: 776 Tile Size: 65472 User Name: rohit Host Name: pop-os Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 1.0.3) Server Version: 15.0.0 Default Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz Default Channel Map: front-left,front-right Default Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_06_00.6.analog-stereo Default Source: alsa_input.pci-0000_06_00.6.analog-stereo Cookie: 7af9:f9aa 

I tried to install pulseaudio as NoiseTorch is supported in it but pipewire is not letting me.

Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable distribution that some required packages have not yet been created or been moved out of Incoming. The following information may help to resolve the situation: The following packages have unmet dependencies: pop-pipewire : Depends: pipewire-alsa but it is not going to be installed Conflicts: pulseaudio Conflicts: pulseaudio:i386 E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages 

I manually kept the mic sensitivity low but it automatically increases and picks up every noise of my surrounding.
sorry for bad english. Comment for any clarify.

Article Text:
If there is one man in Britain who embodies the way our politics have changed, and continue to change after October 7, it is Akhmed Yakoob, the independent candidate for Birmingham Ladywood.
Yakoob is a 36-year-old defence solicitor who wears black Prada trainers, a glittering diamond watch, tinted gold-framed sunglasses and Gareth Southgate-like waistcoats. He has 195,000 followers on TikTok, a platform he understands more intuitively than 99 per cent of the politicians in this country. He speaks in clipped, brutal epigrams that sound like they are only ever a few seconds away from going viral on social media. He calls the Prophet Muhammad his biggest political influence. Offline he campaigns on the street, inside takeaways and from the cream leather seat of a shining black Mercedes S-Class Saloon. The word “genocide” is never far from Yakoob’s mouth.
This year, standing on a pro-Gaza, anti-Labour platform, he racked up almost 70,000 votes in the West Midlands mayoral election, mainly from deprived inner city wards in the Birmingham Ladywood constituency he is now trying to wrest from Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary. Labour’s Richard Parker narrowly won the mayoral election, taking 225,590 votes, 1,508 more than the Conservatives’ Andy Street. Yakoob’s presence in the race made it much closer. Though he came third, securing 20 per cent of the vote gave him substance and a political base. Yakoob is furious about the war in Gaza.
He prints “For Gaza” on all his leaflets. He says the war is why he entered politics. He knows it represents a key dividing line with Labour, even as the party prepares to make new commitments to a peace process, if not unilateral support for a Palestinian state, in its manifesto next week. But there is nothing Labour can say or promise to bring back some Muslim voters now.
The same fury Yakoob feels is the basis for other independent challenges to Labour across Birmingham. In Edgbaston, Dr Ammar Waraich, a neurologist and former Harvard Fulbright scholar, is trying to topple Preet Kaur Gill, the Labour candidate. Waraich says he quit the party, as many other Muslims did, when Sir Keir Starmer told LBC on October 11 that Israel “had the right” to withhold water and power from Gaza. In Selly Oak, Kamel Hawwash, a civil engineering professor at the University of Birmingham and a former head of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, is running against the shadow veterans minister Steve McCabe.
Both seats, like those in former mill towns (Rochdale, Blackburn) and inner city areas (Ilford North, Leicester East) across the country where independents believe they have a chance of embarrassing the Labour Party, have significant Muslim populations. At May’s local elections, an analysis by Sky News found that in areas with a Muslim population above 20 per cent Starmer’s party lost 17.9 points from their vote share.
A targeted Labour fightback in Muslim areas, including focus groups and internal polling, began in January. This week the LabourList site published a list of the party’s “battleground areas”: 250 constituencies into which the party is funnelling significant resources, part of a campaign to win a healthy parliamentary majority. But the party is also directing activists to 22 seats where the party already has a large majority. It looks like a rearguard action. Several of these areas have a higher-than-average Muslim population.
Muslims make up 43 per cent of the electorate in Birmingham Ladywood, according to the Muslim Vote, a group that is trying to cohere Muslim voters behind pro-Gaza candidates. Mahmood has been the MP here since 2010, taking the seat from Clare Short, the former New Labour minister who resigned two months after the Iraq war began in March 2003. Short, as Yakoob is today, was a persistent critic of Labour’s foreign policy in the Middle East.
After refusing to serve in the shadow cabinet under Jeremy Corbyn, Mahmood became an early backer of the influential Starmerite think tank Labour Together and a key figure in Starmer’s plans for government. Based on the results of the 2019 general election, when Mahmood won 79 per cent of the vote, Ladywood should be one of the safest Labour seats in the country.
Boundary changes introduced this year complicate that picture. Alum Rock, an inner-city area that has a 93.6 per cent ethnic minority population, will become part of Ladywood. When you spend a day canvassing with Yakoob you begin to see why this might be a much trickier contest for Labour than anyone would have predicted a year ago. Ladywood is now one of the party’s “battleground areas”. Yakoob’s team believes that activists are being brought into the constituency because locals are refusing to campaign for Mahmood because of her abstention on a motion calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war last November. Labour call this claim “absolute nonsense”. The independent candidates share ideas and strategies. They often campaign together.
“Everybody was saying to me ‘Labour machinery this, Labour machinery that,’” Yakoob says from the front seat of the Mercedes, which is being tailed by a pair of black German sedans filled with his volunteers, mostly young men wearing Asos suits.
“So what? I don’t really care about the machinery. Can they buy the love of people? No.” Yakoob smiles broadly. He jabs a hand out, as if he were standing at a podium addressing the entire city.
“They can spend millions but they can’t take the love of the people for me out of their hearts. That’s what they can’t take.”
His family are from Azad Kashmir, a region in the disputed territory controlled by Pakistan. His father came to Britain in the 1970s, worked as a milk salesman, then retired to Pakistan. Yakoob was born in the City Hospital on Dudley Road in 1988. He has four brothers, four sisters and four children. He tells his life story and gritty legal anecdotes on podcasts and through his 30-second, self-consciously aspirational social media videos.
Rags to riches is the vibe. He used to own a fleet of supercars, including a Rolls-Royce and a Lamborghini. The cars have since been jettisoned; Yakoob says he has “grown out of them”. Politics is taking over his life. His flashy, brash populist style makes Yakoob the closest thing politically adrift British Muslims have to Nigel Farage. He has been endorsed by George Galloway.
Yakoob is under investigation from the Solicitors Regulation Authority after he used social media to promote a false claim of racism against a teacher last month. Yakoob later deleted the posts and issued a statement saying that he would not make any comment until the outcome of the investigation.
Yakoob disrupts things wherever he goes. Handing out leaflets near a primary school on Wednesday afternoon, crowds swirl around him. Women in hijabs tell him they love him. Countless pictures are taken. People practically throw their children at him. Yakoob switches between Urdu patter and his drawling, lispy Brummie English. “Inshallah,” he says whenever these parents tell him “next time you will win”.
The afternoon before, Yakoob was campaigning at the gates of the nearby Rockwood Academy. It used to be known as Park View School. In 2014, Park View was at the heart of an inquiry into discredited allegations of a plot to oust some Birmingham head teachers and make their schools adhere to more conservative Islamic principles. The so-called Trojan Horse scandal remains a sore issue locally. By campaigning outside the school, Yakoob is picking at a scab.
“I don’t know why he does it,” said one teacher who didn’t want to be named. “Why kids?” When Yakoob appeared outside the school, hundreds of children tried to take selfies with him. That evening at a packed meeting at a Bangladeshi restaurant, Yakoob calls for a public inquiry into the Trojan Horse affair. The room shakes with applause.
Along Green Lane, a squeezed road on a dumpy street where cars are parked at every angle and Palestinian flags are tied to the lamp posts, Yakoob literally stops traffic. Drivers slow down to yell and shout their support at him. He runs haphazardly towards them brandishing leaflets coloured with the black, green and red of the Palestinian flag. It’s a total macho circus act, pure street politics. “Everyone knows me,” he says.
A little girl walks up to Yakoob with her mother, who does not speak English very well. “Give us a good reason to vote for you.” Yakoob gets down on his haunches. He is face to face with the girl. He calls her “little sister”.
“None of our MPs spoke about Gaza.” He says this very slowly and patiently, so she can understand him. “There was a vote in the House of Commons and our MP for Ladywood … she actually abstained from voting.” The girl is satisfied with this. She leads her mother away, taking a leaflet to go.
There are local issues here. The roads sweat with traffic and pollution. Uncollected rubbish, stinking in the mild June weather, is piled up near abandoned, shattered pubs. People complain about potholes and rat infestations. More than half the children in the constituency, 54.6 per cent, are living in poverty, according to End Child Poverty — the highest rate of any constituency in the country.
Later one man, an elderly solicitor, tells me Alum Rock is a ghetto, and Mahmood should be ashamed of it. Yakoob’s team claims Mahmood cannot campaign there, such is the anger towards her. They also say a senior figure from one of Mahmood’s previous campaigns has defected to Yakoob. Both claims are, again, “absolute nonsense”, a Labour spokesperson says.
Mahmood says she is “delighted” to be Labour’s candidate in Birmingham Ladywood, “the city my family has called home since my parents first arrived from rural Kashmir”.
When we visit the 20-tent pro-Gaza encampment that sprouts from the ground in the middle of Aston University with Yakoob, one student, a bearded 20-year-old who did not wish to be named, was unequivocal: “Power must be taken away from the Labour Party.”
That evening, senior figures from the Bengali community gather to address Yakoob in the upstairs room of a Bangladeshi restaurant on Coventry Road. The room looks like it has been decorated for a wedding reception — which is somewhat eerie, because no women are present.
A succession of bigwigs are introduced. This brother runs a printing business. That brother is a mufti, an Islamic jurist. They are serious men, and they feel deeply betrayed by the Labour Party that their families have voted for since they came to Britain.
One man recalls his father’s friendship with Lord Hattersley, who was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook from 1964 to 1997. He says he will never vote for Labour again after Gaza. “They have hurt us so much.” His voice is grave. I watch as speaker after speaker effectively pledges allegiance to Yakoob. These men are planning for the long term.
“We are all here until we die,” says one. “So we need to make sure we make a playing field for our next generation.”
Is Yakoob that next generation? Victory over Mahmood would probably be the biggest shock of this election. It remains unlikely, but it is not unthinkable. His campaign is more fascinating for what it represents than what it might achieve. It is amateurish, not professional, and built on charisma not data. He wants the approval of TikTok, not the BBC. Akhmed Yakoob might just be a curiosity. Or he could be the first sign of a truly new sectarian politics in Britain.

I am a cash buyer, anyone have a feel for how dealers are behaving selling 2024 Titans, with this being the last year? Are they discounting them heavily now? Do you think they will further negotiate? I have a 2008 and back then, I shopped several brands including the Titan. I don't recall their offer being anything special at all when I visited their lot. Seems like they and other brand trucks were around $24k as the discounted price from list. I didn't bite and a week later, the salesman called me asked what would it take to make a deal? I said, "Sensational. Or I'm not going to buy it because I don't have to have it, my other truck is running fine." He said, "How about $18,500?" I said, "I'll be there in one hour, it's a deal." I was shocked to tell the truth. FWIW, the list on it was $31,500.
I don't know anything about car markups but that seemed below their cost. I had never heard of such a big discount. Mind you, this was fall of 2008 and the economy was in a major tailspin and I recall that trucks were piled up on dealer lots, people just weren't buying. So, wondering what you guys think about now in 2024 with it being the last year.
My truck's main concerns, engine and drive train have been perfect and I've never owned any vehicle in my life for 16 years! It has 245k miles. The only problems have been pretty minor stuff. I will say that the cloth upholstery sucks, it's all buggered up. Also, the power windows suck, three have failed and it wasn't cheap, it was like $400 to replace each by a local mechanic and I think he bought after market motors. Anyway, overall, a good truck and I *love* the size of the 1st gen Titans. So much so, even if I buy a new one, I am keeping my eye out for a 4wd 1st gen in great condition with low miles as my 2nd vehicle, and I'll sell this 2008. I despise the huge size of modern trucks, even the 2024 Titan is too dang big but that's the way it is. The smaller trucks, like Frontier, are too small for my liking.
Just hoping to get a feel for how badly dealers want to move product. And do you think they would make a decent deal if you order one, or only ones that are in inventory? I want 4wd, and pretty loaded will be fine, it might be last truck at my age. Again... FWIW, I will not finance, I will pay cash. (So, zero interest is of no interest to me, only a discount is!)

I posted this as a comment in another sub and someone DM’d me, said y’all would like to hear the story. I hope it fits here. TL:DR at the bottom.
I have a very good friend who maliciously complied her way into getting paid for essentially doing absolutely nothing for 19 months.
It was a government job, no surprise there. She and her colleague worked in a state office that kept track of plague cases among prairie dog towns. They were super busy trapping and testing all summer but once winter comes, prairie dogs hibernate so they ran out of work. They told their boss via email there was no more to do for the season that first autumn and their boss responded by telling them to stand by for reassignment. So… they did. For months.
They didn’t want to be accused of theft by just clocking in and out and leaving so in the very beginning, they organized some storage spaces (very slowly), cleaned their office several times, organized paperwork and that sort of thing. When they ran out of shit to do, they started sleeping, doing school work, sudoku, what have you. Initially, they slept in turns so someone was always available if anyone came to check in on them but when it became obvious no one was coming, they stopped bothering.
By summer the following year when the prairie dogs came out of hibernation and she thought her work might resume, the whole office (all the employees, in every department) received an email from someone high up informing everyone that particular department had been cut. Don’t know if it was unfunded, or they got all the data necessary the previous summer, or that particular pet project of some politician was forgotten about, but somewhere along the line, the state fish and game axed the project for whatever reason.
Nothing was mentioned in the email about her job status so her and her coworker continued to go in and do nothing.
She’d tell me about making a giant binder rubber band chain and roping two office chairs together facing eachother to sleep in the seats (she’s only 5ft tall so she fit relatively well), making a “nest” under her desk, and moving the large-ish copy machine out of its cabinet and sleeping inside.
They made sure the security people saw them periodically throughout the day and they were on camera, anyone above them paying attention would have noticed but no one ever took the time. They dodged folks in the other departments for fear they’d get told on and just minded their own business (they rarely had much interaction with other employees anyway).
Eventually, she ran into her “boss” at a show and she asked my friend where she had found new work. My friend didn’t lie and said she still worked there. Where? Where you left them. She said you should have seen her face when the lady put the pieces together and realized what was going on.
The jig was up and she and her colleague were let go that following morning via email before they went in. Because they had technically worked there for so long (I think two years was the threshold), they both got a little severance package.
In case you’re wondering, they got to keep their pay since: 1. they had proof they informed their boss they had no work and she clearly saw the email and responded, 2. they still showed up, 3. they did exactly what they were told, and 4. it wasn’t their job to make sure they actually had work to do. They both qualified for unemployment to boot.
Neither of them used the unemployment since they had both been feeling like the gravy train was sure to derail any day so they had new jobs lined up.
TL;DR: My friend’s job became obsolete. When she informed her boss she and her colleague had no more work to do, she was told to stand by for reassignment. My friend “stood by” for 19 months and got paid to do nothing until she ran into her boss at a show and her boss finally figured out what was happening. My friend and her coworker were quietly let go with a little severance package.
•Edited to add: thank you all for your stories! I had no idea it was so common to “misplace” employees that continue to get paid. Y’all are opening my eyes. Keep ‘em coming!
The quote from Independence Day comes to mind as I read your comments:
“You didn't think they actually spent ten thousand dollars for a hammer, thirty thousand for a toilet seat, did you?”
It’s not Area 51 all that money is going to, it’s forgotten and redundant government employees!
•Edit strikes back: I got my friend’s permission to tell her story of course, and she asked me to include some more things they did with their time while “standing by” (she doesn’t Reddit):
-One autumn, he and her colleague decorated the shared nap hiding spot (a walk-in storage closet) with miniature Halloween decorations and then re-enacted scenes from Hocus Pocus.
-She spent a whole lot of time editing Wikipedia for grammar.
-She learned to knit. Then she learned she doesn’t like knitting.
-Her colleague downloaded plans from the internet on how to make a personal flying device (think: jet pack) and tried to make it with office supplies at 1/16th scale. They knew it wouldn’t fly, they just wanted to see if they could build what it would look like.
-During Christmas, they wrote all new jingles about how bored they were. There were 14 completed songs in total and they recorded them on a little mini tape recorder she still has.
-Her colleague went to night school (evening school, really) and did his homework during the day. By the time they were finally let go, he was just shy of becoming a paralegal. He did finish school and went pretty much straight into a job and all these years later, he’s now a real estate attorney. Good for him!
-“We invented Uber and Lyft.” That is, they worked out a solid plan for a non-taxi ride service that would work based on ordering a car via the internet (this was before smartphones).
-She wrote a bunch of serial killers in prison and told them how disappointed she was in them. She never received a reply.
Thanks again for sharing your stories! Y’all are outstanding humans and you have a fantastic day. :)

Last year, when my ten year prison "stint" was finally up, and I re-entered society, I encountered some... obstacles.
Obstacles like.. Lack of upward mobility. Prejudices and stigmas. Wages and earnings lower than the general population. Undesirable and oftentimes dangerous jobs. And lack of protection from wrongful termination.
Not to mention, an already tough job market, and the fact that my parole required that I maintain steady employment, or face re-incarceration.
Which is why, when I finally got a job offer, after six months of aggressive job hunting, I jumped at the opportunity, giving absolutely no fucks as to how I was actually making ends meet.
"Ever operate a freight elevator before?" Mr. Winfred, the manager of "The Cornelius" and my new boss, asked me my first day on the job.
"No, sir." I replied honestly, as I ran my fingers along the doors of the antiquated contraption, the only remaining evidence of the recently renovated luxury building's ancient past.
"Normally these old things aren't used for passengers, but the building's pretentious designers thought it might add a certain charm to its otherwise sterile decor. Which is where you come in." He continued, as I heard him slide open the freight elevator's outside doors...
SLAM!
...Followed by its scissored metal inside doors.
SCREEEECH!
I heard Mr. Winfred step inside and, using my cane, scanned the interior of the rather large elevator, which must have been eight feet by eight feet, and followed him in.
Instantly, my nose was hit with an overpowering, musty scent, like the kind you'd smell in a basement, combined with your grandmother's attic.
He then closed both doors behind us.
SLAM!
SCREEEECH!
"Now this here." Mr Winfred added, taking my hand and placing it on the handle of a lever, "Is how you move the elevator from floor to floor. Up for up. Down for down. You'll hear a click when you reach each floor, which will be helpful for someone like yourself." He said, clearly calling attention to the fact that I'm blind.
Someone like myself? I scoffed internally. You ignorant, entitled piece of shit.
Truth is, I've always had a bit of a short fuse. Which I guess, looking back on it, is what got me into prison in the first place.
But in my ten years of incarceration, I was given tools to combat my anger issues. Tools like reminding myself that it was nothing new. Assholes like him were always dropping unintentional microaggressions. It had been something I'd grown used to, and given my probation, wasn't a battle worth fighting.
"Yes sir." I replied through my teeth, as I begrudgingly swallowed my pride.
"Now, why don't you spend today practicing. Our first residents don't move in until tomorrow."
—
In just a matter of a week or so, as the doors of "The Cornelius" opened to its new tenants, I learned pretty much everything I needed to know about the job.
Said tenants were rich. Very rich. And most of them acted as such. Entitled. Obnoxious. Holier than thou. Especially given my own social class. But a few of them weren't so bad, and tipped well.
Mr. Winfred's assistant, Jane, was a lovely human being. Patient, kind, thoughtful, understanding. Especially when compared to both the building's uptight residents, and Mr. Winfred himself. It had been years since I had dated, and the very thought of meeting a partner stressed me out to no end, but if I was to find someone, I hoped she'd be like Jane.
The elevator didn't open on the basement level. As I'd learned countless times, it was possible to go there, but the doors simply wouldn't open.
The old freight itself was finicky as fuck. Stop the lever one second too early, or one second too late, and when the doors open, you're halfway between a floor. But eventually, I got used to it, to the point where most of the building's tenants assumed the role of freight operator had always been my job. And when you're good at your service job, and do it with a smile on your face, the tips start flowing.
And so, all was well for the first couple weeks on the job...
...A seemingly refreshing return to normalcy, after ten long years...
...Until...
...The disappearances started happening.
—
I was just arriving to work one day, when I heard about the first disappearance.
"Have you seen - I mean, have you been in contact with Elizabeth Davis? From room 401?" Mr. Winfred asked, after correcting himself. Something he did often, which continued to annoy me.
"Um." I replied, unsure of where he was going with the question. "Not since yesterday. She got back from work, and I brought her up to the fourth floor. But come to think of it, I don't think she rode the elevator down this morning. Like she usually does."
"Interesting." My boss replied, before continuing. "She disappeared yesterday."
"Disappeared?" I asked.
"Yeah, husband said she never came home last night."
"Hmm. Well I know for certain that I brought her to the fourth floor. Did you check the hallway surveillance footage?"
"Not yet. Unfortunately the building inspector's in today, and I won't have time until tomorrow. Let's hope she just went somewhere, or got lost. In the meantime, keep an eye out - I mean - just, let me know if you hear of anything suspicious."
"Yes sir," I replied, once again resisting the urge to snap on him, before heading for the elevator, where I started the day's shift.
SLAM!
SCREEEECH!
That day, I did my best to do as Mr. Winfred had asked, and listened carefully for any signs of mischief.
But the day went on, business as usual and by the end of the day, I hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary...
...Except... The only thing of note was a difference in Mr. Lawrence's demeanor. The tenant of room 805, he was a salesman, and acted like one. When I say the man could talk, the man could talk. To a point where whenever he was a passenger in the old freight elevator, despite the long ride from floor one to floor eight, I'd rarely have a chance to get a word in.
But this time... was different. This time, Mr. Lawrence entered the elevator chatting away, just as he always did. But about halfway up, he just... stopped talking. And the thing about my job is, if someone chooses to talk or not talk, it's their decision, and none of my business. So I left him alone, and when we reached the eighth floor, I simply said goodnight. To which, he didn't reply.
Must be going through something. I thought to myself, having been unable to truly get a sense of his composure, without being able to see him, before closing the double doors and heading off to help the next passenger.
SLAM!
SCREEEECH!
—
Later that night, Mr. Winfred called me into his office, and asked me to take a seat beside his assistant, Jane.
"Mr. Owens. Are you aware of the situation that's going on in the building?" He asked, in an interrogating tone.
"Um... yes, you told me about it yesterday. The disappearance, sir." I replied.
"Disappearances now. Plural." He said sternly.
"But... who else?" I asked.
"Mr. Lawrence."
"What happened to him?"
"Well, to be honest, I was hoping you could tell me. Cause much like Ms.Davis, the last place he was seen was going into your elevator."
"What about the cameras in the hallways?"
"I'm afraid that after reviewing the tapes, after stepping into your elevator, neither Ms. Davis, or Mr Lawrence, ever stepped out."
"But that's... not... possible."
"Mr. Owens. I'm going to give you an opportunity. Is there anything you want to tell me? I know you have a sordid past."
"Mr. Winfred!" Jane interjected, clearly offended by his words, and implications.
"Quiet, Jane." He scolded, before continuing. "Answer the question, Mr. Owens."
I didn't know what to say. I was so shocked, so flustered, by what he was implying, that I simply froze.
"Mr. Owens!" He screamed.
"I... I... don't know!" I cried out, as I heard Jane squirm in her seat. "I'm telling you, the last time I heard from either of them, I took them up to their floors. But I'm-"
"You're what! Blind?"
"Well, yes sir. I don't see what goes on inside the elevator. I just let them on and off."
"Mr. Owens. If they got on your elevator, and never got off, where could they possibly have gone?"
"I... don't... know." I replied, at this point, wanting to grab him by force, demand that he never speak to me that way again, and scream out my innocence. But my next parole appointment was the following week, so once again, all I could do was just bite my tongue.
Mr. Winfred paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and regained his composure.
"Mr. Owens, I could go to the police now. And that would be very bad for someone like you."
Fuck. He's right. I thought to myself, realizing, that if he went to the police, and I was even remotely suspected of what was going on in the building, it was back to prison for me.
"But lucky for you," He continued, "There are things going on in the building that I wouldn't want to bring unwanted attention to. And for that reason, I have decided not to go to the police... yet. But consider this a warning. And know, that I have a repairman coming first thing tomorrow morning to install a security camera inside the freight elevator, so I can see what exactly it is that you're doing in there."
I had know idea how to react to Mr. Winfred's continued accusations. So I simply remained silent.
"Now get out of here and go home! We'll reconvene on this tomorrow." He said dismissively, before Jane walked me out of the room, down the hall, and outside the building, where I planned to return home for the night.
—
Fifteen minutes later, we were at a bar down the street, where Jane apparently frequented.
"But where could they possibly have gone?" I asked her, my hands trembling at both the thought of people disappearing in the elevator, and that it was happening under my watch.
"Thing is," Jane said, as she finished her beer. "There's something you should know about the building."
""The Cornelius"?"
"No, from before it was called that. It used to be a factory of some kind."
"Is that what Mr. Winfred was talking about when he said that there were things going on in the building? That he didn't want to bring unwanted attention to?"
"Well, yes and no. Yes, in a sense, that Mr. Winfred cut some corners, and rather than fully renovate the entire warehouse, he simply walled off entire sections of the old structure. Like the basement."
"And no?"
"No, in a sense, that even Mr. Winfred doesn't know what's really going on in the elevator. Sure, it'd be easy to pin it on you, especially with your criminal record - no offense... but even he knows that it's probably something... else."
"Something else?"
"See, that's where things get hazy. Because no one knows what exactly went on at the factory, before it became "The Cornelius." But rumors have it... it was laboratory of some kind, and some fucked up shit went on inside there."
"Like what?"
"That, my friend. I don't know. But what I do know is... I better be getting to bed."
"Fair enough. Well, thanks for the drink, and the support." I said with a smile, as we made our way out of the bar.
"Yeah, don't let Mr. Winfred get to you. And try not to worry too much."
—
Contrary to Jane's suggestion, that night I worried... a lot. About the disappearances, what might be causing them, whatever may have gone on in the factory, and most importantly, about everything getting pinned on me.
I couldn't fall asleep, tossing and turning in bed as my mind raced. And each time I finally passed out, I'd wake up in a panic attack, my heart pounding, short of breath and in a cold sweat.
But it didn't stop there. The uncomfortable feeling of terror and fear, accompanied by the vibrating sensation of adrenaline pumping through my body, remained well into the next morning, when I stepped back into the elevator, terrified by what might be going on inside there.
Please don't leave me alone in this fucking thing. I thought to myself.
And within a matter of minutes, my prayers were answered.
"How goes it?" The surveillance installation worker called out, his cheery disposition contrary to mine.
"Um... not too bad." I replied, lying through my teeth, as he stepped inside.
But after a minute or two of sharing the elevator with him, my fears lessened and my body relaxed, comforted by the positive conversation, and the metallic, clinking sounds of the installation.
Everything's okay. The doors are open. And he's talking. I thought to myself.
But eventually, the man finished installing the camera, and began wrapping up the job.
"Well, that's it! Camera's all installed and running now." He called out. "Let's just take the elevator for a spin and make sure we don't lose the signal."
"Yes, of course." I replied, before reaching for the double doors...
SLAM!
SCREEEECH!
..And moving the lever up.
We started moving.
"Fascinating job, I must say, elevator operator. But I suppose you could say the same for mine."
"Pays the bills." I replied, feigning a chuckle.
If he's here, and he's talking, then I'm safe. I continued to reassure myself.
But a few minutes into our ascent, just like Mr. Lawrence... the man... suddenly stopped talking.
"Alright, looks like it's working fine. We can head back down and-"
SILENCE.
"Hello?" I asked.
But he didn't respond.
Fuck. I thought to myself, realizing that whatever caused Ms. Davis, and Mr. Lawrence, and seemingly now the repairman to disappear, could still be in the elevator with me.
Standing there, shaking, sweat rolling down my brow, I backed myself into the corner of the elevator, as I reached for the lever, pressed it down, and the elevator began to make its descent back to the ground floor.
When I finally reached the lobby...
DING!
I scrambled to open the doors...
SLAM!
SCREEEECH!
...And darted out, gasping for air, expecting to find a safe haven.
But instead, all I heard was the sound of Mr. Winfred's voice. "Where is the repairman?"
—
A few minutes later, I was once again sitting in Mr. Winfred's office, next to Jane, this time attempting to explain what had happened.
"...And then he stopped talking! Just like Mr. Lawrence."
"You know what, Mr. Owens. I'm tired of your excuses. And now that we have a working camera in the elevator, it's time to find out what's really going on inside there." He threatened, as I heard him clicking away on his computer, clearly reviewing the footage.
"Please do!" I cried out, "I'm telling you, it's not me."
That's when... Mr. Winfred, and Jane, both went silent.
"Hello?" I called out, unable to see what was really going on. Given the fact that my passengers had recently been going silent, the thought crossed my mind that they too had disappeared, but I could still hear their breathing in the room. Breathing, that sounded like it was increasing rapidly...
...Until they broke the silence.
"Oh... my..." Jane said, struggling to catch her breath.
"That can't be. Let me rewind the tape." Mr. Winfred mumbled, the most scared I had ever heard him.
"What is it?" I asked, as they seemingly played back the video.
I would later find out from Jane that the footage would show myself and the repairman in the elevator, as a slithering, grotesque, humanoid figure, suddenly climbed down from the roof of the elevator, wrapped it's slimy arms around the repairman, then somehow hopped back out of the elevator, and pulled the man up with it. Leaving me standing there, completely unaware of what had just happened.
But in that moment, Mr. Winfred must have realized the... complications associated with reporting such a bizarre phenomenon, and instead decided to finally pin it on me.
"Mr. Owens, you shouldn't have done that!" He cried out.
"Mr. Winfred, what are you talking about?" Jane asked, "You and I just watched the same footage."
That's when I heard him drag a file to his computer's trash and delete it.
CRUNCH.
"Stay out of this, Jane. This man has killed three people in the elevator. I knew I shouldn't have hired an ex con!"
"But sir, I didn't-" I tried to reply, before he interrupted.
"Mr. Owens, I'm picking up the phone, and calling the police. I'd suggest you just stay put."
"But Mr. Winfred, I'm telling you, I didn't do anything!"
"Yes, is this 911? I'm the manager of "The Cornelius" and I'd like to report three murders in my building."
"We'd better go." I heard Jane say, as I felt her place her hand on my shoulder.
"And yes, I have reason to believe the killer is our elevator operator, an ex convict, who is sitting right in front of me."
"Come on, let's go!" Jane screamed, as she tugged at my shirt, I hopped up from my seat, and she led me out of the office, down the hall, and into... of all places... the old freight elevator, as she explained to me what she had seen on the surveillance tape.
—
SLAM!
SCREEEECH!
"Take us to the basement!" Jane called out.
"But the basement is walled off." I replied.
"Just do it!" She insisted, before I moved the lever down and the elevator began to move.
I spent the ride catching my breath, until we finally reached the basement level.
DING!
"Now what?" I asked.
But Jane didn't reply.
"Jane?"
Oh fuck. I thought to myself. The monster.
That's when I turned to the center of the freight elevator, where Jane had been standing, reached out into the unknown...
...And sure enough, felt the cold, slimy, skin of the creature, wrapped around Jane's face, preventing her from making a sound.
Not knowing what else to do, I gripped its disgusting appendages with both hands, and slowly pried it off Jane, as she let out a...
...SCREAM..
...And the monster's arm quickly slithered away, back up through the roof of the freight.
Jane dropped to the ground, coughing violently.
"You okay?" I asked her.
But rather than responding, she simply handed me something...
....I opened my fist, to find a pair of keys.
"The lock above the lever. Unlock it." She instructed, still coughing, as I felt around the lever, found the lock, inserted the key, and unlocked it.
CLICK.
"The doors. They should open now." Jane said, as she stood up, having finally caught her breath.
SCREEEECH!
SLAM!
—
We arrived in the dark basement to smell the same, musty odor from the freight elevator.
After her eyes adjusted and she scanned our surroundings, Jane informed me that this floor looked nothing like the other eight, newly renovated floors, with their modern feel and minimalistic designs.
Instead, the basement was a window into the building's former self, when it had been a factory. Its walls brick and crumbling, its floors concrete and cracked.
And scattered everywhere, were the dusty remnants of laboratory equipment. Devices, machines, tanks, most of which were destroyed, or disconnected, or both.
"What went on down here?" I asked.
"From the looks of it, something inhumane," Jane said, after she picked up a few tattered pieces of paper from one of the lab stations, and told me what was on it.
"The first page looks like some sort of a diagram, of a man being pumped with chemicals from tanks. And the second, a drawing... of the creature from the elevator. In pencil beside it, someone appears to have labeled it "The Silencer.""
Silencer. I thought to myself, before remembering that the creature seemed to always silence the sounds of its victims, and to have been repulsed by Jane's scream. At the same time, it had never bothered me in the elevator, as I tended to stand there in silence.
But before I could dwell too much on the thought, Jane interrupted.
"If you don't mind my asking. What did you go to prison for in the first place?" She asked.
"It's okay," I said, surprised she had waited this long to ask, before contemplating the best way to explain what had happened. "’Cause of my temper. Some guy was being a dick on the train platform. We got into a scuffle, and he accidentally fell into the tracks."
"Over what? Did he insult you? Your blindness?"
"No, I'm afraid not." I replied, "We were drunk... and arguing over... a basketball game, of all things. He was... my friend."
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay."
Jane put her hand on my shoulder, and we stood there in silence for a moment...
...Until suddenly, we heard the sound of Mr. Winfred, and the police approaching, as they ran down what must have been a hidden set of stairs from the ground level to the basement.
"Come on, follow me!" Jane called out, as she took me by the hand and led me into what I'd soon discover was a labyrinthian network of old passages, while the police and Mr. Winfred both called out to us.
"This is the police! Put your hands on your head, and turn yourself in!"
"You're trapped, Mr. Owens! Just confess your crimes, and you'll simply go back to jail!"
We continued to run deeper and deeper into the passages, as our pursuers began to close in on us, their footsteps getting closer... and closer... and closer...
...Until suddenly, the sound of their footsteps was replaced by that of...
...SCREAMING...
...And they suddenly went...
...SILENT.
"What the?" Jane whispered.
"The creature." I whispered. "It must be down here."
That's when we hatched a plan.
—
Having found our way out of the labyrinth and back to the entrance of the laboratory, where we had arrived in the old freight elevator, I found myself standing alone, waiting, as I nervously tapped my cane on the basement floor, Jane having gone off on her own.
That's when I heard Mr. Winfred emerge from the passages, alone, and call out to me.
"Mr. Owens! There's nowhere to run! Even your beloved elevator is gone. You're cornered." He taunted, as I backed towards the elevator and tapped at it with my cane, its doors open, its shaft empty.
"What did you say?" I asked, encouraging him to talk louder.
"What are you, deaf now too?" The ignorant old man snapped back. "I said, you have nowhere to run!"
"I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me," I said sarcastically, pointing to my ears. "Can you repeat that again?"
That's when Mr. Winfred began approaching and screamed, "You worthless, ex con! I knew I shouldn't have hired you in the first place! And now, you'll go back to where you belong!"
But suddenly...
...Mr. Winfred went SILENT...
...As the creature must have wrapped its slimy tentacles around his face.
That's when I seized the opportunity, ran over to Mr. Winfred, gripped the cold body of the creature, which was indeed wrapped around him, turned, and flung them both behind me, into the hollow elevator shaft...
SLAM!
...Before hitting the "Up" button on the wall, and calling the freight elevator down.
Suddenly, the gears of the elevator above could be heard turning away, and the machine began its quick descent down.
"Mr. Owens, no!" Mr. Winfred cried out, clearly now separated from the creature.
I froze for a moment, as my mind raced back to the night of the tragic accident, when my friend called out to me from the train tracks, and I was unable to save him in time...
....Until I eventually snapped myself out of it, and willed myself to save Mr. Winfred, no matter how evil the asshole's intentions may have been, reaching out my hand out, and pulling him up and out of the elevator, just as the freight car came crash down to the basement level.
SLAM!
CRUNCH!
"RAAAAAAAARRRRR!" The slimy beast cried out, as it was crushed under the old elevator's weight.
DING!
The basement fell SILENT for a moment, until...
SCREEEECH!
SLAM!
...Jane stepped out and said, "Going up?"
But the joke was met was silence. I simply stood there, shaking, as Mr. Winfred did the same, clearly shocked by the events that had just occurred.
—
A few weeks later, after the authorities had done a full sweep of the basement, and cleared out all traces of the building' old laboratory, I found myself once again back in the manager's office.
"Mr. Owens. This is the last time I'm gonna tell you this!" Jane joked, as I heard her recline back in what was once Mr. Winfred's chair, having been named interim manager since her boss's recent and... ironic... prison sentencing.
"Who's the convict now?" I said with a smile, before making my way out of the office.
"Wait." Jane said, stopping me at the door. "You sure you want to go back to operating the elevator? After all that's happened? Like I said, the doorman job is yours if you want it."
"What's the worst that could happen?" I replied with a smile. "There's another one of those creatures in the building somewhere?"

I will do my best to summarize. I have tried posting here before but it’s difficult for me to write everything out. I was in a car accident about 5 months ago. Other driver’s fault. At time of accident I was on a day off from work, employed as a hospital Audio Visual technician. I am a career musician and teacher but Covid made all of that very difficult. Up until Covid I had been running my own music school, teaching full time and working as a creative musician. When Covid hit I switched to remote teaching and taught over 3,000 remote lessons before I realized it wasn’t sustainable in this new world. I worked a couple hard jobs In warehouses and landscaping prior to finding work in a hospital. I’m grateful for this job as I was able to have insurance. The car accident left me with my right thumb badly torn at the base, a bad concussion, whiplash and a knee injury I’m about to have surgery for, torn meniscus. I’ve been limping this whole time and can’t walk without a brace. I’ve had over 70 therapy appointments since accident(hand,speech, vision, behavioral, PT, OT).
My brain injury has left me with impaired vision which I am awaiting prism glasses for. I have had therapy for hand, speech, vision, neck, back , etc. My nausea and headaches remain. I quit drinking alcohol about 2 1/2 years ago but since accident I feel hungover every morning. I go to bed by 9:30pm every night. I hardly have any motivation or interest in music now. It’s like every passion I had for art has dissipated and replaced with confusion and grief for my former self. I can barely handle household sounds when my wife is home and bright light is still very hard to tolerate. I’m about to get switched to Cobra and I don’t think I have much time left before my job security expires. Fortunately I hired a personal injury attorney. My attorney has had to hold off until my medical care was complete. I had to have an IME for insurance last week.
At this point it’s hard to wrap my head around returning to my AV hospital job in any capacity. I have been practicing some instruments like flute and piano but it’s hard to enjoy my main instruments like electric guitar and other instruments I used to play loud. A couple days after my accident I was contacted by a very well known artist who wanted to hire me for electric guitar recording sessions. I told him about my recent injury and that was it. He probably thinks I’m unavailable period now. I might not have another opportunity like that now.
When I make any music now it feels 100% for me. It feels unnecessary to even release my finished productions now. I used to be so excited to release a song or album and share with the world. Now I just don’t care. I definitely cannot teach music anymore and the idea of playing gigs doesn’t even make sense. I used to play jazz and experimental gigs every week and lived in Chicago and NYC. My teachers had been in bands with Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. My friends are all full time musicians. I have a hard time relating to them now.
I could go on and on. It’s very challenging to stay positive. I spend a lot of time sitting and thinking in silence. It’s been 5 months though. Prior to accident my wife and I planned a two week trip to Ireland. We are going at the end of June. I am looking forward to it and am grateful for my wife and her positivity and patience. When I return I will have knee surgery and will resume rebuilding my life as best I can. I am accepting that I am a new person now and the past is gone. I am lucky to still be here. I have a new outlook now and do not associate my entire identity with being a musician or artist. These are just things I enjoyed before and spent so much time with they became a part of me. In some ways they feel more a part of me now than before my brain injury. Now I do not feel any desire at all to perform or show anyone that I possess these skills. It used to be my whole life and now it feels like how I used to play basketball in middle school.
I feel so nauseous now I might not leave the house today. People who don’t struggle with TBI don’t understand how difficult it is to just appear positive in general. “Try to have a good day and enjoy the nice weather.” I get this sort of advice a lot and I have just started to ignore it. People think they are being helpful but a lot of times it comes off sounding like the annoying man asking the pretty lady why she doesn’t smile more.
I don’t know what else to say. Thank you for reading. Everyone’s posts have been helping me a lot lately. You’re not alone.

My weirdest was… around 1996, we had a 91 RX7 that the owner had taken in on trade from one of his wife’s friends, and we were into it for way too much. It was on the lot for almost two years. I was out behind the store on a late night, and an Amish kid rides up on a bike, and asks me if I’m a salesman. I ask what I can help him with, he wants to drive the RX7. So I ask for his license, which he remarkably has. I take it, grab the keys, we test drive it (pretty good driver actually), he asks what we want for it, I grab the owner, and the owner asks for the kids best offer, which is $8000 cash. Owner says fine. The Amish kid asks for a favor, he wants to come get the car on Fridays, leave his bike, and then leave the car on the lot during week. Deal. He brings cash the next day, we get him a plate.
For two years, he’d show up about 4:00 on a Friday, use the service bathroom to change into “American” clothes, do his hair and he’d be gone, his bike would sit behind the dumpster all weekend. Then one Monday I came in, and the bike and the car were both gone. I know more about the Amish community now, so I assume he was on Rumspringa, but I always wondered if he chose to leave the Amish, or got rid of the car and stayed.

Hello everyone
I (31F) and my husband (37M) have a 5yo son who is non-verbal autistic. Yesterday was my son's birthday and we decided to arrange a cookout with my SIL, which I absolutely adore, and her girlfriend. It's not the first time we got together, we've been doing this for two years now. The only difference was that my SIL's girlfriend brought the kid she is raising (6M) for the first time, I'll call him Simon.
She is not his biological mother. When Simon was 2yo he was taken away from his parents because his father was a dr*g addict and his mother a pr*stitute and the environment he was growing up in wasn't safe. As next of kin my SIL's girlfriend took him in, and has been caring for him since then.
Every time we would meet she would leave him at grandma's house but this time it was not possible. She told me that she explained to Simon that my son wasn't very good about sharing his toys and to behave in other people's houses.
All good for me, I put various toys in the living room and we went to the kitchen to prep the cake and the meat for the cookout. I was checking my son from time to time to see if he was okay and in the beginning, it was fine. Simon was playing with the toys and my son was watching cartoons unbothered.
Things just went downhill from there.
We caught Simon throwing toys at my son, with not enough force to hurt but enough to the point my son was getting annoyed. His "mother" told him to stop, and he did for a whole five minutes than when he thought we weren't looking he resumed. My son turned off the TV and retreated to another part of the living room, further from Simon.
Then Simon started going through drawers and boxes, I didn't get bothered because I figured a kid was probably going to look for more toys although there were enough already out. Then he tried to purposefully break my son's toys by trying to rip out the wheels and doors of the cars, and stomping on other toys. He got scolded and stopped.
My son's juice bottle fell onto the floor and spilled a little, Simon came to me to tattle on my son and suggest I should punish my son, I cleaned it but didn't punish my son and I could see the frustration on Simon's face. He tried to do this a few more times, with different things but I didn't punish my son (of course) and I could see the frustration growing on Simon's face.
Then it came the time to start cooking on the grill, we all went to the backyard and right away Simon asked to take my son's pedal tractor out of the little garage my husband built, I replied that it wasn't a good idea as we were cooking and going back and forth and it wouldn't have the space. He seemed to accept it until he was caught taking the tractor out of the garage, and when he was scolded for it he just tried to blame my son, that my son had told him to take the tractor out, my non-verbal son.
We gave him other toys to play with and it was all good, for a while. They played together for a good amount until my son went into the house to get other toys and Simon was putting a few toys on the step, I thought it was odd since he was further away from the step but when my son got out of the house I understood, the moment my son put his foot on the step he immediately slipped and fell.
At this point I was getting annoyed with Simon's behavior and so was my son, so much so that my son signaled he wanted to take a bath, I figured he wanted distance from Simon. I remember my SIL mentioning that Simon hates water and screams bloody murder every time he takes a bath.
I went to the bathroom and bathed my son but left a little water for him to play before getting out. I went real quick to the backyard to check on things and that's when I saw Simon sneak into the house. I went after him only to find him near the tub watching my son bathe. At this point, I felt really creeped out. I asked Simon to go to the backyard and closed the bathroom door staying with my son. Two minutes later the door opened, I thought it could be my SIL or her girlfriend to ask to use the bathroom or something but no, it was Simon, asking me to watch my son bathe, I said no and asked him to go to the backyard. He left but did it two more times.
I took my son out of the bath, dressed him, and left him to play in the living room while trying to contain Simon in the backyard. That's when my husband arrived home from work. We went inside, the food was ready and after a few minutes he went to kiss our son, that's when Simon grabbed my husband's hand and dragged him away to show him something in the kitchen (which ended up being nothing, and he met my husband two minutes before) just to get him away from our son.
My son has a piano that he doesn't share under any circumstance and it is stored in another room, my son went to play (smash random keys, I'm still trying to teach the little I know) and I followed him, not long after Simon was there too. My son was playing and Simon inserted himself, trying to play the piano. My son pushed him not enough for him to fall just so Simon couldn't reach the piano, and here comes the performance worthy of an Oscar, Simon started making some throat noises and saying in a chocked voice "he's chocking me" when I could clearly see my son's hand on his chest.
At this point, I was beyond annoyed and just turned off the piano and motioned for us to go into the kitchen. We ate and SIL's girlfriend was commenting on how little Simon had ate (he had been dismissed already and we were still eating). He comes back and asks in a demanding tone "When are we eating the cake? I'm hungry"
SIL's girlfriend felt embarrassed and apologized but I said it was okay, from this point on we just quickly lit up the candles and sang happy birthday, and then my husband who was at this point also getting annoyed at Simon's attitude just made up plans on the spot for us to take a walk after "such a big meal" and SIL started to grab her things to go home.
SIL's girlfriend came to talk to me and apologize for Simon's behavior, she told me that every day she is called to the school because of his behavior, for one thing or another. I suggested to her to get him a psychologist and she said he had regular appointments and she is now waiting for a psychiatrist appointment to get him assessed. I said it wasn't her fault, the feeling I had was that she is at her wit's end. We said goodbye and went our separate ways.
I don't want to put my son through all of this stress again but on the other hand, I don't want to stop inviting my SILs and girlfriend over for the things we used to do. How do I proceed from here? How do I ask SIL's girlfriend to stop bringing Simon? Should I even ask that? I feel I'm being unfair by asking this of her. Any advice?
Sorry for the long post!

Should I leave my low paying job with great benefits?
There’s no other job yet, but I am actively looking. I’m only applying to jobs that pay what I make or more (about $20/hr or so) and offer fully remote options. The reason why I’m looking for fully remote work is because whenever one of my children is sick, they cannot go to daycare. That leaves me to have to call out and because I’ve exceeded my sick time/pto, I now get my pay docked for the absences. Plus they’re holding the fact I call out for my children being sick against me for the fully remote position my job offers, which I’ve applied to 2 times and been rejected both times due to the attendance. Even when I explained the attendance issue would stop if I was remote. The remote job also comes with a $1,000/month raise. In addition, I am salaried and paid on the 11th and 26th of each month, which means there are times I go 2.5-3 weeks between paychecks. That’s very hard to do when you’re living paycheck to paycheck. I’d prefer a standard biweekly pay period.
My pre-tax income is $1,776 2x monthly. After taxes, pension, deferred income, health insurance, and union dues I take home $1,222.26 per paycheck. Once again, this is sometimes supposed to last me 3 weeks. I own my car outright, but the lowest insurance I could find was $102/mo. I pay $1,275/mo in rent and that’s the cheapest in the county. Electric is my only utility at about $100/mo. I pay about $200/gas per month depending on cost ($3.85 /gal currently). My car also has issues which I take care of monthly. Currently, it’s the alignment and ball joint (quoted $210). The way I see it, a remote job paying the same would minimize the cost of gas as well as allow me more time to save up for my car’s mechanical issues without simultaneously adding to the wear and tear. However, I’m afraid to lose my super affordable and high quality health insurance. I only pay $410/mo for dental, medical, and vision for myself and my kids. At my last job it would’ve been $1,600 for the same plan!
I haven’t had much luck on my job hunt, but I’m still going at it. Would it be better to just give up and learn to deal with where I am at? I have the option to email the head of where I work, should I email them and see if that’ll help me get the remote job? It’s open currently and I did apply only to be told I’m not qualified (when my last application with an identical resume scored me as over qualified) and my job counselor for my position has ghosted me. I’m a single mom trying to do right.
Any advice appreciated.