I'm an engineering graduate student at a very famous university. She's a different kind of STEM grad student at the same university (mid-twenties). She has only been in America for a few years. Before everyone jumps and says "Chinese girls are just like American girls" the reason that I'm making this post is because i'm afraid that i'm missing some cultural norm or context, causing me to screw up the situation. Dating in America is fairly toxic, in my opinion. It seems as though it's often a contest of who can appear to be the least interested. My Chinese colleagues tell me that Chinese girls need to be chased a bit harder. That they're more pragmatic, so a guy who shows little interest would not be a good long term investment for a Chinese girl. Also, I realize that I'm anxious and insecure so there's no need to over-emphasize this in your response. Ultimately, I'm really sad for how this has turned out, but friends of mine tell me things are probably going as well as they could be. With that out of the way, I hope to hear your thoughts on my story.
Back up to a few months ago. I see this girl at the gym quite frequently. One day she asked how many sets I have on a machine. There are very few machines at the school gym so I get this question from girls quite frequently. Anyway, in between sets, I chatted her up, made little jokes "where did you do undergrad? ... well, no one's perfect" ... "I'm going to ask you five questions, and to win, you need to give me incorrect answers only"... she seemed to enjoy this, was smiling a lot, and when I'd see her from across the gym, she would smile and wave. Anyway, some weeks passed and I would see her at the gym occasionally. I would try to get her to play along with fantasies about robbing a bank together, but she didn't seem to follow, and would ask what I meant, perhaps because of the language barrier, perhaps because she's a STEM girl. I noticed that she actually cheated at the "wrong answers" game by changing one of her answers, so I called her out on it the next time I saw her. "how do I know I can trust you?" :)
I probably went too far the next time that I saw her. I was nervous but planning to get her number "has anyone ever told you that you're super cute, but super annoying?" She gave me a big embarrassed/confused smile and said "WHAT?!". I asked how we might continue the conversation, she suggested instagram, but I presented my phone number keypad. She looked around a bit embarrassed and reluctantly typed her number in. I didn't call her. I figured that was already too intense. I texted her and told her to save my name as "(My name) - such and such clever hot fantasy thing". She laughed let me know she saved it (!).
I saw her around campus a few days later, she smiled and waved to me. I figured that I hadn't screwed up too badly yet. A couple of days later I saw her at the gym, tried to make the joke about robbing a bank, again, but she asked what I meant. I guess that didn't go over well and I don't remember exactly how the conversation ended. I called her later that night and she didn't respond. I texted her and told her that I just had a quick question and she could call back if she would like, but that there was no pressure to do so. She responded with laughing emojis and asked if I wouldn't mind texting. I texted her an invite for coffee, but told her to hold the flowers and chocolates since we just met. She laughed, said thank you but she's too busy lately, and let me know that she would see me "at the gym sometime!". Fairly disappointed, I said "cool, shoot me a text or call sometime". She hearted the message (ouch). I thought this was a death knell, but friends of mine encouraged me to keep trying. "She's probably attracted to you, but not comfortable enough yet."
So the next time I saw her at the gym, I said "Hey!" gave her a Hi-five and kept going. She looked embarrassed, so I didn't want to stick around in case she needed space. A couple of days later, we were at the gym together, but I didn't want to come off as upset or needy, so I kept my head in my phone. I figured that maybe she had had enough. Anyway, this time, she actually said hello to me as she walked by. So of course, I smiled and said hi back. We would see each other about once per week, making small talk. I told her that she had a pretty voice. Rather than leaving the complement there (too much tension), I asked if she could sing, found out that we both like Karaoke, and told her we should start a rock band. This was a joke of course, it seems that the two of us have little time for a life outside of our research.
I texted her the next day, told her that I am curious about her thoughts on American vs. Chinese culture, and about why she was considering saying in the US after graduation. Told her that I enjoy our chats together, and was hoping that she would consider joining my American rock band (Laughing emoji). Try-outs to be held at the Karaoke lounge nearby. She didn't respond and I was quite disappointed again.
I happened to be walking on campus last week and we ran into each other (very unusual) so I asked if she had a minute to talk. She was on her way to a meeting, so I suggested that we meet up after that. She told me to text her. So naturally, I texted her, and this time she agreed to meet! (Last Tuesday) I was more excited that day than any time I can remember, at least for the past few years.
So we met up that afternoon and she suggested that we sit on the grass together. She smiled and asked me why we couldn't just continue talking at the gym together. I can't believe that she doesn't know why I was asking her out for a second time. She must have been looking for emotional reassurance or something like this. I told her it's hard to get to know someone if you only ever see them at the gym, smiled, and playfully said, "but maybe this is a one-sided relationship, don't worry, I'll just be crying myself to sleep, no big deal". I tried to say this in a light-hearted way so that it wasn't too intense. She was wearing large sunglasses this day (relevant later), I asked her to take them off but she refused, "OK, no problem". I then did a cold read routine on her, as an ice-breaker. She corrected me when I was wrong, and it sounded like she's a workaholic (not uncommon for our university) and that she had trouble not thinking about work. I thought it was a nice time, as we got to learn a bit more about each other. She told me that she would be away on an internship for the summer, but she would be back. I made a joke about how my heart broke for a second but was quickly mended. Our "date" didn't last very long, less than a half our, and she went back into her office building. She said goodbye to me, but only said the first syllable of my name (very cute). If she had been an American girl, I would have made an effort to at least touch her shoulder or hug goodbye, but my understanding is that this would be too much for a Chinese girl. My Chinese friend (Call him Tadashii, introduced again later) said that this was the right thing to do. I had previously dated a Chinese girl who wouldn't even hub me until I told her I wanted to date exclusively, several months into the relationship.
I was stoked for the rest of the day, so excited that I had finally been able to make plans to be with her alone, however short it was. I wanted to send a follow-up text, but held myself back and waited for about 42 hours (Thursday). I told her that I really enjoyed seeing her, I was happy that we had the opportunity to learn something about each other, and complimented her suggestion of sitting out on the grass together.
When she didn't respond, I was once again, fairly anxious and upset. I tried very much to keep it to myself.
The next day, I saw her at the gym again (Friday). This time, she seemed to be in a bad mood. She wasn't resting between sets and I got the feeling that she was avoiding me. Before I left, I approached her anyway (mistake?). I asked if we could exchange socials that are popular in her country, and she said "No, I don't add people on that". According to my Chinese friends, this was BS because everyone uses this app. She quickly shut down my attempts at conversation. I tried to go into a story about the school newspaper and she said "no, I don't want to hear about it" while perhaps forcing a smile. I realized that she was either in a bad mood, or really did not want to speak with, or both. So I said "ok, have a good night" and went home feeling very bad once again. Backing up a few steps, I noticed that she had a large pimple near her eye this day, which would explain why she hadn't wanted to take off her sunglasses while we were hanging out together on the grass. It could also suggest that she was too embarrassed for me to see her. She is an incredibly beautiful girl and clearly puts a lot of effort into her appearance so this could have easily been what caused her mood to shift so dramatically last week. I know what acne does to someone's self confidence, as i struggled with it frequently when I was younger. It must be ten times worse for women.
I guess this is a stressful time for the girl, and my advances haven't been making things easier on her. It would be quite tragic if I gave up simply because I had misread the circumstances. Of course, I don't know what she's thinking and I'm really worried about trying too hard. I'm used to girls responding to my follow-up text after a date with either enthusiasm, or by letting me know that a second date wasn't going to happen.
My Chinese colleague Tadashii, who seems to have good intuition on relationships with Chinese women gave me his input. He told me that Chinese women may very between chaos and order rapidly, like the Dao, in order to "test" men. They want to see that a man is actually dedicated. Further, a Chinese girl may have a stereotypical view of American men as "players" who only want to hook up. She is probably scared that I'm like this. He emphasized that this was only one data point in a series of mostly positive interactions. The 180-degree shift in demeanor could indicate a bad day or stressful period, but if a girl is truly disinterested, she would probably let me know at some point. His suggestion is to wait a month, until the girl is settled into her internship life. At that time, she would probably appreciate someone friendly reaching out to her to check in. In this way, we might have a text correspondence. This is something that I would never usually do, but he said it's typical for Chinese people to chat over apps or text while maintaining a long-distance friendship. He also mentioned that he's made girlfriends this way.
She will likely be away for two to three months. I haven't even found out where she was going. I usually try not to get girls thinking about work on dates, asking basic questions like "what do you do..." (no fun) but in this case, it was actually logistically relevant. oops. My plan is to follow Tadashii's advice. Maybe I'll see the girl at the gym again on Friday this week (38 hours from now). My American friends say that I should let her approach me this time. They also say that I should try to catch her again in the Fall when she returns. Tadashii says that waiting until the Fall is too long. This would send her the message that I was intimidated by her emotional response last week, or that I really was just an American player, and. not very serious about her.
So am I blown out, or should I hold on to the anxious pain of hope? Thanks in advance for your input.

Shortly before a final paper with pre-assigned topics was due for one of my last courses at Columbia University, our professor sent us an email telling us to forego the previous parameters of the essay, and to instead write about the events that had occurred not even forty-eight hours earlier, as well as our reflections on them, to be done in any manner we chose. Here is a very lightly revised version of what I submitted: read it, ignore it, upvote it, downvote it, hate it, love it.
I am prefacing this essay by stating that it is the culmination of several intense emotions that I have been dealing with over the last few weeks, more specifically, the last several days. It is a free-form expression of the many things occupying my mind, and, as such, it may seem overwhelming or disjointed. Nevertheless, I will do my best to convey my feelings into something representative of my beliefs, and my time at this institution.
My time at Columbia University has been bookended in an almost comically bad way; it started with Zoom classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it ends with Zoom final exams due to the lockdown of Columbia’s campus after protests regarding the Israel – Palestine conflict reached a fever pitch not just within Morningside Campus, but the international stage. My classmates and I missed in-person orientation, and now, given recent developments, we will not have a University Commencement, a fact I found out not from Columbia, but a New York Times alert, somehow lowering my opinion of this administration’s handling of recent events even more. While the circumstances around my time at Columbia have now both begun and finished in the same manner, I am proud to say that I have not. I do not mean that Columbia has simply made me a better writer, a more critical thinker, or more well read, although it certainly has done those things, sometimes forcing me to when I was not particularly in the mood to do so, but those improvements pale in comparison to the maturity and empathy my time at this university has given me.
When the decision to transition to remote learning during the Spring 2020 semester was made, occurring only a short time after I had received my acceptance letter (email), my first thought was how the pandemic would affect my transfer from community college to Columbia in September. Admittedly, this was a selfish perspective, considering the tremendous challenges that many would endure during the ensuing lockdowns and other upheavals of life. My concerns were solely focused on myself because I was on a simple track to graduate, place my degree on my resumé, and continue my trajectory of military service to college to employment, leaving little else to consideration, to include other people who were not in my immediate circle. Sitting here now, two weeks from graduation, with a job at a Fortune 500 company lined up, I should be happy, with the plans I had made years ago coming to fruition. Yet I cannot help feeling a sense of sadness and concern for the school I have spent years of my life at, and for the world as a whole.
James Hatch, a former member of the United States’s elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU, for short, more commonly known by its nickname, Seal Team Six, famous for its involvement in the killing of Osama Bin Laden and the rescue of the Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips from pirates, amongst other things, spent over twenty years in the military. After being wounded on a mission to rescue American serviceman sergeant Bowe Bergdahl from enemy forces, he was medically discharged, and would eventually attend Yale University. While there, he wrote a piece titled My Semester with the Snowflakes (please give this a read, it will help people who have never been in the military understand its culture, along with some of the challenges veterans face when transitioning to college), where he details his initial discomfort with being in a vastly different environment than the military, surrounded by individuals who possessed opinions and beliefs contrary to the ones he was accustomed to. He recalls witnessing a student protest the country he spent over two decades serving by coating her hand in red paint, and leaving a palm print on an American flag, and details his shock when a classmate of his explained to him what a “safe space” was, as well as his pride when he began to understand the nuances of life both inside and outside of the nation he dedicated twenty-six years to.
I can relate to Mr. Hatch, (despite my service paling in comparison to his, as well as the fact that Columbia is far superior to Yale), because, like his friends who make fun of him for attending college with a bunch of “snowflakes,” mine do the same. More significantly, however, his personal growth during his time at school is something that I have experienced myself. When I started at Columbia, I did not even know which major I would choose, and was largely lost in a world very different than the one I had come from. Despite this, I made the decision to avoid communities such as MilVets and the students who made it very clear that they came from a military background, with their style of dress and demeanor, not because those organizations and individuals are a detriment; I know for a fact that MilVets has helped countless students succeed at Columbia and beyond, and the veterans that I have relationships with are all phenomenal people, but because I wanted to pressure myself into being exposed to something different. I was uncomfortable at first, but this turned out to be the right decision. I learned as much from simply talking to people whom I would normally never converse with about topics and ideas that I had never encountered as I did during classes about great works of art, polar and Cartesian coordinates, literature, astronomy, the list goes on.
If the protests about the Israel – Palestine conflict had occurred when I first started at Columbia, I would have been frustrated by the students taking up space, forcing us to be funneled on to campus by restricted access points and identification checks. Likely irritated by the disturbance of the quiet during finals season, I would have agreed with the people who called for students to simply focus on their assignments and stop inconveniencing others by shouting about something occurring on the other side of the world. Instead, I decided to learn about the conflict, educating myself about both sides of a war that has roots extending back millennia. While Columbia University did not agree to the demands of the protestors, they achieved something else they surely desired, reaching a goal they did not state to President Shafik and her advisors: they brought attention to their cause by educating at least one additional person about it.
After reading, talking to people, listening to input from students within various classes, and understanding that things such as the intertwined nature of financial workings, as well as conflicts not just in the Middle East, but all over the world, are a level of complexity that baffles some of the most brilliant minds of ours and previous generations, I will leave my thoughts about Israel and Palestine separate from this paper. I recognize that it is important to choose a side, as remaining impartial helps no one. However, when every news agency, group and individual makes their voice heard, satirical sources such as The Onion make these kind of posts, or Adult Swim’s Rick, the nihilistic, narcissistic, psychopathic, misanthropic lead character from the series Rick and Morty, addresses the conflict in this manner, I feel that it is better to relegate myself to a much smaller part of this debate, namely the occurrences on Columbia University’s Morningside Campus.
During basic training for the United States Army, a sense of brotherhood and camaraderie is hammered into recruits’ identities. When you graduate and are assigned to a unit, one where you could be thousands of miles from home on the opposite side of the country, or even in a completely different country, serving on one of the international bases, approaching someone who you have never met before is easy. Talking to them about shared experiences and stories you have in common, and the bonding that occurs, is the product of an indoctrination process and lifestyle that has existed longer than any of us have been alive, and is proof of its effectiveness. This sense of familiarity tends to continue even when one leaves the military. The Veterans of Foreign Wars community is a place for prior servicemembers of all conflicts to share a drink, a laugh, and sometimes a tear. When I go to the Veterans Administration Hospital for periodic check-ups or the occasional injury, men and woman wearing hats commemorating their service during Vietnam waiting for their appointments greet me with a smile and a handshake, as if we have known each other for years. While working at a golf club’s greens department before I transferred to Columbia from community college, a coworker of mine who had served in the Gulf War had heard from our supervisor that I had been in the Army, and he introduced himself to me on my first day, before anyone else, telling me that if I needed anything, I only had to ask. This camaraderie has expanded to encompass not just veterans, but first responders such as firemen, EMT’s, and the police as well.
Underneath the picture on my driver’s license, the word “veteran” is emblazoned next to a star, written in bright red text and all capital letters. I know for a fact that this one-and-a-half-inch indicator has helped me during interactions with law enforcement on multiple occasions. Only earlier this semester, during Presidents’ Day weekend, I went upstate to spend time with my family. While driving back, in an effort to make the seven-hour trip at a reasonable time, I was stopped for going twenty miles-per-hour over the speed limit. The officer who pulled me over, initially reserved, became noticeably more friendly when I handed him my license and registration. Ultimately, he gave me what amounted to a parking ticket for my actions, rather than the point-incurring, heavily fined moving violation he could have charged me with.
The ‘Thin Blue Line,’ as it is known, is a reference to the idea that the police are the barrier between law abiding citizens and criminals, order and chaos. The most common representation of this concept is a black-and-white American flag, with a single blue line in the place where a red or white stripe would normally be. This style has been expanded to include numerous other colors representing other first-responders: green for the military, red and white no longer to be interpreted as the traditional stripes of the American flag, but instead meant to represent the fire department and paramedics, and even grey for corrections officers. Seeing the appropriation of one of the most iconic symbols in the world, one that flies above the White House, schools, homes, national and international events, and even the Moon, I can say, as someone who has been unwillingly entangled within that appropriation, is nothing short of terrifying.
The fact that these entities and their supporters have literally sewn themselves into the fabric of the symbol of our nation makes one think that there is little room for the countless other occupations, aspects and people that make up this country. The idea of the police being the sole protectors of our society is patently absurd, and all one must do is point out the many instances of police brutality occurring over the years to refute it. I find myself thinking of how much power the officer who stopped me just three months ago had over me. Initially, I was happy that I had received a slap on the wrist, but recently I have found myself wondering what if my license did not state that I was a veteran, would he have charged me with a ticket that would have had much more serious implications? What if he was simply having a bad day, and he decided he did not like the look of me, or the color of my car, and I was the one who he ultimately decided to vent his frustrations on? This traffic infraction, an incredibly small incident compared to all the turmoil in the world, one that involves two strangers, supposedly bonded by our professions, on the side of a quiet, New York highway, serves as a metaphor to me, reminding me of the power structures at play on a much larger scale.
On April 22^nd, 2024, I received this email, one of the many Clery Crime Alerts that students are automatically sent. An affiliate of Columbia University had their car stolen at gunpoint by two masked men on Claremont Avenue, not even a five-minute walk from campus. I skimmed the report, and almost immediately forgot about it, recognizing that crime is an inevitability in major cities, and that I needed to start my commute to school. Days later, on the night of April 30^th, 2024, I received another email from Columbia, containing one of the most ominous messages I had ever seen, one that put the kind of fear in my heart that not even the alert of an armed carjacking could. Columbia’s Emergency Management Operations Team, offering no explanations, specifications, or even a greeting or sign-off, wrote in bold letters these three sentences: “Shelter in place for your safety due to heightened activity on the Morningside campus. Non-compliance may result in disciplinary action. Avoid the area until further notice.” Due to the protests on campus during recent weeks, President Shafik testifying before Congress, Columbia’s role as one of the main catalysts for student protests around the country, and the occupation of Hamilton Hall occurring in the earlier hours of that day, it was not hard to figure out what the email was referencing. Over the next several hours, I followed news agencies, remained glued to the Columbia subreddit, and listened to WKCR, in awe of these eighteen- to twenty-two-year-old students putting themselves at risk to deliver on the ground, accurate, unbiased coverage of one of the most significant events in the school’s history.
While tracking the events from multiple perspectives, to include the social media accounts of those near and on campus live streaming them, I held out hope that the university would make good on their promise from several days earlier to not invite the NYPD back, but a frightening picture began to unfold, one that I was intimately familiar with. One WKCR reporter stated that 114^th street had so many officers on it that he could not see the asphalt of the road beneath them, and I knew that the staging area the NYPD had chosen was one of the best routes for moving towards what the military, and presumably law enforcement, would call an ‘objective.’ The officers cleared the smaller ‘objective,’ the largely unoccupied tents in front of Butler, and then moved towards Hamilton Hall, ordering even those not associated with its occupation to disperse, raising my stress levels and likely those of others, as it is rarely a good sign when police do not want their actions recorded and archived. After the initial entry to campus and clearing of areas and people in the immediate vicinity of Hamilton Hall, came the Long-Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, a device that makes a megaphone sound like a whisper, and one known for its crowd-control potential, capable of producing sounds loud enough to cause damage to ear-drums, nausea, and headaches, ordering individuals to clear away. The NYPD began its execution of tactics in a way that my fellow soldiers and I used to rehearse, tactics I never dreamed that I would witness outside of the military, and certainly not by police officers who vastly outnumbered unarmed students on their own campus. The NYPD created a perimeter, or a ‘second layer of security’ to both provide reinforcements for the officers entering the building, and to prevent the fleeing of what are called ‘squirters,’ or individuals who attempt to escape the building after the raid begins. While the ‘breach’ team moved towards the front doors, using tools from a ‘hooligan kit,’ such as bolt cutters, hand-held battering rams and crowbars, a siege machine was brought in to allow access from a window; when taking over a building, the idea is to overwhelm it from as many different directions as possible to better disorient and overwhelm its occupants. Flash-bang grenades, described as non-lethal, but known to have harmful effects, were thrown inside, presumably before entering any room, hallway, or otherwise enclosed area to minimize the resistance of anyone unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of what can only be described as an assault on the visual and auditory senses. According to the Manhattan District Attorney, one of the officers inside Hamilton Hall had what is called in the military a “negligent discharge,” meaning his firearm went off unintentionally. While no one was hurt, the question remains why at least one, and more likely, numerous other officers were carrying guns loaded with live ammunition in the first place, when they so drastically outmatched the protestors in numbers and equipment. Additionally, a negligent discharge is an act of incompetence that would result in an active-duty soldier facing serious consequences, and derision from his peers. So far, the officer remains defended by his coworkers, and unpunished by his superiors.
As all this unfolded, I communicated with my friends from the past and present. My friends from the military checked on me to ensure that I was okay, as did my friends from school. The difference in how they viewed these events highlights what I believe is the change in myself that I stated I am most proud of at the beginning of this paper. My friends from the military were commenting that the assertion of order and control by way of militarized tactics was necessary, not concerning themselves with the human toll and destruction of trust that came along with it. Conversely, my schoolmates lamented the brutality and overstepping of boundaries that the NYPD and Columbia’s administration committed, one that turned a place meant to be a beacon of free speech, expression, and ideas, into what is now a police-state with strict control over who enters it.
My education inside and outside the classroom at this institution has challenged, thrilled, and changed me. Sitting here now, at the end of this paper, the end of the semester, and the end of my time at Columbia University, I am left feeling confused and sad regarding recent events, but also hopeful for the future. I know from experience that the students, teachers, and culture of this school have the power to encourage critical thinking and initiate personal growth. If it did those things for me, surely it can do the same for others

Throwaway account for this one.
I moved to Japan recently and have a very high income. I've changed my tax residency to Japan and all that.
Anyways, I was told by my wife (JP) that ふるさと納税 is THE THING to do in Japan. I read up on it, and it seems that, basically you get equal amount of tax deduction based on your donation to a particular 自治体 minus 2000 yen.
Now, I did the math using Japanese online calculators, as well as 年収早見表, and it seems that the upper limit for contribution room is absurdly high.
For example, according to this chart, if you earn 25M / yr, then your upper limit is 85万円 https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000408217.pdf
For someone earning 50M / yr, then this calculator tells me it's about 220万円 :
https://furunavi.jp/deduction.aspx
For someone earning 100M / yr, then it's 430-450万円 ish as well.
That'll buy like 100kg of mangoes and 30kg of beef and 100kg of シャインマスカット from さとふる. You can essentially eat a whole year just on ふるさと納税..
Provided at that income level, you're paying almost 45-55% effective tax rate incl residence tax, but it's still a great deal.
Is this correct? Essentially I can get x00万円 worth of items for free? That's mad.
Thank you!

On one hand, I matured slightly. Unlike my first time at school a few years ago, I at least tried to keep up with the textbook reading, and study more. I made it through three closed book tests without asking a question every ten minutes. I wasn’t asking for an extension on assignments every week. I’m not some time management king with my day planned out on a flow chart, but I’m getting better.
On the other hand, I’m still a massive spendthrift, I can’t save money to save my life. After seeing the clutter in my room upon getting home, I may be reconsidering my buying habits though.
I’m also still not a good test taker in math related subjects, and my professor pointed out I panic a lot when I don’t see an easy solution to a problem.

Bold lines in the tables are new since the previous update.
Olympic Peninsula & Northwest Wash.
https://imgur.com/iZGkJzI

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Jefferson	PT	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 590%
Mason	Biobot	(4)	May-11	UP	+ 380%
Skagit	ANA	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 60%
Skagit	MV	(1)	May-09	DOWN	- 30%
Whatcom	LYN	(1)	May-09	DOWN	- 30%

North Puget Sound [1 of 2]
https://imgur.com/cDJ99FP

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Island	COUP	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 10%
Island	OH	(1)	May-10	DOWN	- 20%
Snohomish	APP	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 150%
Snohomish	ARL	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 60%
Snohomish	EVR	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 20%
Snohomish	STAN	(1)	May-08	DOWN	- 40%
Snohomish	256	(3)	May-10	UP	+ 100%

North Puget Sound [2 of 2]
https://imgur.com/bRLEzmt

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
King	BWT	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 30%
King	KCS	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 20%
King	WSPT	(1)	May-07	UP	+ 30%

South Puget Sound & Southwest
http:

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Clark	MRPK	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 30%
Clark	SNCK	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 110%
Clark	VWS	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 190%
Lewis	Biobot	(4)	May-04	DOWN	- 20%
Pierce	CC	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 60%
Pierce	PUY	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 320%
Thurston	LOTT	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 80%

North & South Central Wash.
https://imgur.com/PYK6D0q

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Benton	WRCH	(1)	May-07	DOWN	- 30%
Chelan	WEN	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 130%
Grant	EPH	(1)	May-08	DOWN	- 50%
Kittitas	ELL	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 260%
Okanogan	BRW	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 30%
Yakima	YAK	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 40%

Northeast & Southeast Wash.
https://imgur.com/91j9m3y

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Franklin	PAS	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 30%
Spokane	RP	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 90%
Spokane	SPK	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 60%
Walla Walla	WALLA	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 80%
Whitman	PLM	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 10%

Notes:

Solid lines on charts are generated from data provided either by the Washington State Department of Health (WADoH Ref. (1) ), WastewaterSCAN (Verily/WWS (Ref. (3) ), or Biobot (Ref. (4) ).
White diamond dots are from most recent CDC/NWSS (Ref. (2) ) data scaled to supplement missing or out-dated data when available.
Because each of these four agencies use different normalization methods, different smoothing methods, and different averaging/location identifiers, the concentration of virus is not comparable between locations. See reference links at the bottom of this post for more details.
There are 33 sewersheds distributed across 6 charts initially grouped by geographic region then alphabetized by county and sewershed. The data shown is a compilation from WADoH (1), NWSS (2), WWS (3), and Biobot (4). Tables include sewershed ID, Reference ID, Date last sampled, Trend (based on the change between the averages of the two most recent weeks), and 14-Day Change (approx. amount which the trend has increased or decreased).
All data presented are smoothed in some degree to even out inconsistent sampling dates and extreme highs and lows. Most sewersheds are sampled 1-3 times a week and are published within a week. Some locations are "late" reporting by 10 days or more so be sure to note your sewershed's "Date" in the table or graph. Locations that are more than two weeks old will have "n/a" listed under Trend to indicate there it is out of date.
For further information on the many variables that affect virus concentrations in WADoH generated data please refer to the "Learn More" link on the Washington State Department of Health Wastewater Dashboard.

References with links to details on y-axis units, normalization protocols, data limitations, and sampling methods:

• (1) WADoH and click "Learn More"
• (2) CDC/NWSS
• (3) Verily/WWS and here
• (4) Biobot

Bold lines in the tables are new since the previous update.
Olympic Peninsula & Northwest Wash.
https://imgur.com/iZGkJzI

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Jefferson	PT	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 590%
Mason	Biobot	(4)	May-11	UP	+ 380%
Skagit	ANA	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 60%
Skagit	MV	(1)	May-09	DOWN	- 30%
Whatcom	LYN	(1)	May-09	DOWN	- 30%

North Puget Sound [1 of 2]
https://imgur.com/cDJ99FP

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Island	COUP	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 10%
Island	OH	(1)	May-10	DOWN	- 20%
Snohomish	APP	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 150%
Snohomish	ARL	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 60%
Snohomish	EVR	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 20%
Snohomish	STAN	(1)	May-08	DOWN	- 40%
Snohomish	256	(3)	May-10	UP	+ 100%

North Puget Sound [2 of 2]
https://imgur.com/bRLEzmt

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
King	BWT	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 30%
King	KCS	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 20%
King	WSPT	(1)	May-07	UP	+ 30%

South Puget Sound & Southwest
http:

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Clark	MRPK	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 30%
Clark	SNCK	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 110%
Clark	VWS	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 190%
Lewis	Biobot	(4)	May-04	DOWN	- 20%
Pierce	CC	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 60%
Pierce	PUY	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 320%
Thurston	LOTT	(1)	May-08	UP	+ 80%

North & South Central Wash.
https://imgur.com/PYK6D0q

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Benton	WRCH	(1)	May-07	DOWN	- 30%
Chelan	WEN	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 130%
Grant	EPH	(1)	May-08	DOWN	- 50%
Kittitas	ELL	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 260%
Okanogan	BRW	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 30%
Yakima	YAK	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 40%

Northeast & Southeast Wash.
https://imgur.com/91j9m3y

County	ID	Ref.	Date	Trending	14-Day Change
Franklin	PAS	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 30%
Spokane	RP	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 90%
Spokane	SPK	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 60%
Walla Walla	WALLA	(1)	May-09	UP	+ 80%
Whitman	PLM	(1)	May-10	UP	+ 10%

Notes:

Solid lines on charts are generated from data provided either by the Washington State Department of Health (WADoH Ref. (1) ), WastewaterSCAN (Verily/WWS (Ref. (3) ), or Biobot (Ref. (4) ).
White diamond dots are from most recent CDC/NWSS (Ref. (2) ) data scaled to supplement missing or out-dated data when available.
Because each of these four agencies use different normalization methods, different smoothing methods, and different averaging/location identifiers, the concentration of virus is not comparable between locations. See reference links at the bottom of this post for more details.
There are 33 sewersheds distributed across 6 charts initially grouped by geographic region then alphabetized by county and sewershed. The data shown is a compilation from WADoH (1), NWSS (2), WWS (3), and Biobot (4). Tables include sewershed ID, Reference ID, Date last sampled, Trend (based on the change between the averages of the two most recent weeks), and 14-Day Change (approx. amount which the trend has increased or decreased).
All data presented are smoothed in some degree to even out inconsistent sampling dates and extreme highs and lows. Most sewersheds are sampled 1-3 times a week and are published within a week. Some locations are "late" reporting by 10 days or more so be sure to note your sewershed's "Date" in the table or graph. Locations that are more than two weeks old will have "n/a" listed under Trend to indicate there it is out of date.
For further information on the many variables that affect virus concentrations in WADoH generated data please refer to the "Learn More" link on the Washington State Department of Health Wastewater Dashboard.

References with links to details on y-axis units, normalization protocols, data limitations, and sampling methods:

• (1) WADoH and click "Learn More"
• (2) CDC/NWSS
• (3) Verily/WWS and here
• (4) Biobot

This will be my first time ever openly sharing about my addiction; from the root cause to the effects and struggles that having a porn addiction has impacted my life to this day -
So I just recently turned 21 and I'm beginning to look around and realize that for as long as I've acknowledged that I have a problem and need to quit, I keep feeding the addiction KNOWING that it's ruining my life. Im going to split this post into 3 sections explaining the following stages: The root causes/early development, Progression of my addiction to current day, Main struggles from my PA and how I go about everyday life to heal, and And I think that there are so many aspects of dealing w/ a PA that just makes me feel like, not hopeless but if I had to put the feeling into words its basically like waking up everyday feeling ashamed what I'm doing to myself but not even allowing myself to feel bad for myself because although I didn't understand during the development of my PA, I continue to let it ruin my life day after day.
The root causes/early development: So I believe that my PA manifested due to a few different reasons: Playing "doctor" with my sister as a child, early age porn exposure, and then using porn as a coping mechanism to deal with any negative emotions. So starting w/ "playing doctor", it first happened at a very young age, somewhere between elementary school to 6th grade. I think most people know what that is but to keep it short basically my sister who is a year older than me introduced my to basically role playing as doctor and patient. I wasn't sure if SHE even knew it was wrong but the point is, it happened. I don't remember the small details of exactly how it happened but what leads me to think this was a factor that contributed to my porn addiction is that I know now as an adult that it's wrong, however as we "played doctor" I only grew to enjoy it and occasionally we took things outside of "playing doctor" - which is why I don't know what to make of it... Long story short it went from "doctor" to us making up our own games like "spy" where we pretended to fight each other as spy's, getting "knocked out" unconscious while she'd touch... and I specifically remember wanting to play these games in hopes that it led to that. But even outside of playing games... I grew to wanting to touch her and act on perverted thoughts as a child that were NOT normal for my age at the time. And sometimes I would sneakily act on them - which as I'm reflecting on makes me think that me KNOWINGLY trying to be sneaky and act on perverted thoughts at that young of an age had to have carried on with me as I got older.. And then the last thing that I vividly remember was when I was probably 10-12 years old is when again we were actually kind of aggressively play fighting, somehow ended up with each other's hands DOWN THERE and we kept going on each other until she made me.... yeah. And that was the last memory I had of what started out as us "playing doctor". Fast forward to current date since that last memory and we've never spoken about those experiences (more on that later). Going onto the actual exposure of pornography and WATCHING porn, I was exposed to it somewhere in between the same timeframe as when I'd play doctor and the last memory of us playing (somewhere between the ages of 8-12). I can vividly remember the scene that played late at night on the tv that my parents had left on (I shared a room with them). And then moving forward from there, somewhere in between I would find videos on YouTube of this "prank" channel where he'd go up to paid actors, bet that if he beat them in rock paper scissors with them that they'd have to make out with them. And as a young kid at the time seeing a girl in a bikini making out with a guy as he grabbed on her ass just made me horny and I learned to masturbate from there. And I cant think of a stronger dopamine hit for a 8-12 year old little me at the time than seeing those videos and pleasuring myself. After this, I'd hit middle school where I was bullied a lot, all while lacking social skills necessary to make any genuine friends or deal with the emotional turmoil of being bullied. Fast forward a few months and I think I just progressively began to normalize using porn as a coping mechanism - All the way from whenever I just got mad while dying repetitively on the videogame, to avoiding the fact that I hated my life everyday that I went to school. I'd use porn to receive that "good feeling" whenever I could. And I think my sexual addiction got worse when I began touching myself in the shower almost everyday in middle school to the imagination of the pretty girls that were at my school, even though I had neverarely talked to some of them. It was just a thing for me where every night I took a shower, I closed my eyes and fantasized about doing stuff with them. And then the cycles of me normalizing these things continued and eventually I found out about REAL porn sites.
Progression of my addiction to current day: So shortly after finding the real porn sites I entirely opted to use those as much as possible as the cycle continued. So by my freshman year of high school I was already using porn sites regularly. I remember during summer and winter breaks, sometimes I'd sleep at my grandmas and stay up all night switching from porn completion, to watching my favorite youtuber and streamers, to going back to jerking off. It was a multiple times a day/night occurrence OFTEN. Sometimes even during the middle of the day I'd pretend to use the bathroom but really I had a porn video pulled up and I watched until I was done. And as time progressed one video didn't exactly cut it for me. I don't think its that I couldn't get off to the first video, but more so that I just had the urge to see more and didn't want to nut yet. I didn't even know if I was purposely edging or not. I did not even understand that edging was a concept yet. Its just something that occurred naturally for me. And during all of this, I am still somewhere in the age range of 13-15. Consistently ejaculating to pornography, further exploring the more basic categories of porn like anal and lesbian. I think a notable memory was one of the first times I watched porn in the middle of work during summer break (extended family owns a construction company so I worked over breaks). It's crazy because in construction all we have are porta-potties that are always hot and nasty and the urge just came over me one day to pretend like I was using the bathroom and get one off before I went back... I don't think I even realized at the time that I had an addiction because this was still early high school. It was just something I looked at as a good feeling and whenever the urges came to me I took any chance I got to fulfill them. Even if I was sharing a room with a family member, I'd be as slow and quit as I could, touch myself under the covers, finish in my underwear and then showechange the next morning like it was normal. Moving forward, this type of behavior continues all the way throughout high school and the feeling of ejaculating just is not as intense as it use to be, so I look up ways to spice it up and I tried shit all the way from sitting on my own hand til it goes sort or numb so it "feels like someone else is touching you", to doing it in more risky places like my backyard outside when I was home alone and had my pants pulled down all the way, to whatever else I could try. Reflecting back, I just look at all these actions as the progressions of a sexual/porn addiction that is still developing. And this is how I rationalize the way I developed a porn addiction. Now it wasn't AWFUL in high school but it was getting bad. I realized that I had actually had a bad addiction that needed to be addressed a few months after graduating high school. From that point forward It was something that I had acknowledged was an issue but nonetheless, continued to do out of habit and as a continued coping mechanism. Whether it was from the lack of relationships, to my current life situation/direction I was headed in, or just any negative emotion - I used porn to release. Sometimes I'd even just do it out of boredom, not even because I had a dying urge to get one off. And then after that point of realization, I sat in "depression" for a few months still going about my everyday life until one day my dad mentioned that I should try therapy. He knew nothing about the addiction but I did let him know I feel depressed and the many struggles that I faced - which I believe is due to my porn addiction. So long story short, I go to therapy for about 3 sessions and end up dropping it because it just wasn't something I felt was helping or enjoyed (more on that later). From there to current day, I've gone at MOST one week periods attempting to quit porn and every time I relapse. From the age of 18-curerent day 21 years old, the progression of the categories of porn that I watch has grown and a few different fetishes like face sitting, femdom, and role play has increased. I don't NEED to watch these specific categories to get off, however these are ones I've found myself most recently watching and edging to, sometimes for 1-3 hours at a time, usually at night on weekends or before I fall asleep. And to take it a step further, I had started putting money into camgirl sites, phone sex sites, only fans, etc.. I live with my parents still so it's not to the point that I'm broke and have no money, but still what the fuck am I doing putting my hard earned money into a porn addiction... (I'm a functioning adult on a pathway to financial freedom, more on this later).
Everyday life and dealing with my addiction: So I believe that the main struggles with my porn addiction consist of: the inability/struggle to create and maintain healthy relationships, low self esteem, poor social skills, lack of motivation, and the cognitive dissonance of continuing my addiction to porn even though morally I believe it is wrong to lust over. I believe all of these struggles that come with porn are connected to each other - minus the cognitive dissonance. But everything else kind of stacks on top of each other. So my thought process is that I already dealt w/ low self esteem and confidence from a very young age, and porn just completely enhanced those problems and made it even harder to fix/work on. If you're anything like me and have watched videos on the sciences of porn on your brain, and possible struggles that we deal with, I'm assuming you know how it goes for the most part. I'd say I show symptoms of all effects of being a porn addict, however I've learned to "act normal" to an extent. Like YES I struggle to make friends and hold conversations with people in general but I can make it happen. Sure it'll be a little awkward depending on who I'm speaking to, but I feel like I act normal enough to not be a total outcast and all out weirdo around people. But I just feel like every relationship I have with anyone is extremely surface level or unfulfilling. I feel like as a person I lack so much substance and personality due to the fact that I never really put myself out there and learned social skills when I was coming up. My mindset was molded into something like "keep your head down and stay out the way" in order to avoid conflict. So I never really put myself out there to develop any type of super crazy/interesting personality. I work, play videogames, go to the gym, watch anime. I feel like there's not much else - which might also be a side affect of my porn addiction.

Tier List: https://imgur.com/a/8uZCpGy
Oh boy, is this one gonna be a can of worms. Let's dive in headfirst!
"I'll school you in this battle of the baddest Bruce, with your He-Man haircut and your Daisy Dukes." It's an unremarkable line, but the rhythm here is pretty kickass, and I love the choregraphy of Jenner doing stretches in time with the beat, it's a really satisfying visual. "I hear you're good at running, you're just like the Flash. Especially in the 100-meter ditch-your-wife dash." Decent attack. They never fail to use someone getting divorced as material for a diss, do they? Banner looming over his beakers and microscope is a nice visual, and "You turned one gold medal to a lifetime of green; the most overrated athlete anyone's ever seen" is a competent enough attack. "You need to carry fatherhood across that finish line; kept up with the Kardashians but left some kids behind" is, again, a decent enough diss. A lot of material about Jenner's family here; I guess that's to be expected. There's still one or two much more obvious lines of attack to make, but I suppose Banner is just saving his best stuff for the end, right? He certainly wasn't saving it for the end of this verse, in which he just references the fact that he transforms when he gets pissed off without fashioning it into much of an attack or boast. The use of strings in the music here is a really nice touch, although I'd say the green screen effect with Bruce standing in front of those neurons or whatever ain't looking so hot.
Actually, the green screen effects for this battle broadly aren't the best. That stadium Jenner's standing in is looking pretty low-res. "I think you're in your element when you're behaving badly; honestly you're kind of boron when you're happy." It's a corny pun, but the sentiment is true enough. "I'll lap and pass your ass ten different ways. Decathlon athlete blast through you like some gamma rays." This is filler; it's fine, rhythm sounds pretty good, but it's just taking up space. "The truth is there's no truce between the Bruces, you're a drifter being useless, I'm a winner, no excuses!" That's a lot of playing on the same rhyme in a short period of time, and I dig that: truth/truce/Bruces/useless/excuses, hell yeah. I guess some of those aren't proper rhymes so much as, what's the word... assonance, maybe? It's good writing, is the point. The visuals panning in and out of this home gym is a nice touch too, and a nice parallel to Banner's sequence with his lab. "Beatiful women all up on my jock, I got a home gym, check me on the cereal box, Doc!" The rhythm Jenner's spitting here rules, this beat is low-key one of the better ones they've done. It's also a nice boast, and that Wheaties visual is pretty great. "You big green freak, don't try to flex; if it wasn't for your cousin, you'd never have sex!" Okay, this line goes super hard and I think it's one of the most underrated ones in ERB history. AND it's got one of the funniest visuals in the way Jenner pops in on that roller shouting "OHH!" while Banner suffers. That bit lives rent-free in my head. "You're so strong when you get mad, too bad you can't go back to protect your mom from your dad!" Holy fucking SHIT, this goes hard! The flow here kicks all kinds of ass, and we've got a 3x rhyme combo going on with mad/bad/dad; I LOVE odd numbers of rhymes! It's also just an extremely savage low blow. Another line that doesn't get enough credit. Jenner is kicking Banner's ass so far.
One questionable and inadvisable transformation sequence later, The Hulk comes in to spit a few bars. But only a few. "That painted face don't give you class; just one more thing Bruce do for cash!" Interesting argument. "Best thing you make? Kylie ass! She eighteen? Hulk SMASH!!" I do think this is a pretty funny way to reduce Jenner's legacy to Kardashian bullshit, and the Hulk SMASH joke always gets a strong reaction out of people.
Fully transitioned Caitlin Jenner comes in with "That's my teenage daughter, man, I have to forbid this; I'll put a javelin through your jolly green discus." Decent lines. Good way for Caitlin Jenner to brag about her athletic achievements while also throwing a Jolly Green Giant jab in. "Kylie not the kinda girl I'm gonna let you smash on; you'll get the medal without the decathlon!" I like the medeal/metal wordplay here, although Caitlin Jenner dual-wielding pistols and firing them at the Hulk feels extremely out of left field.
"Hulk is Hulk! No identify as man! Me thinks Cait might understand!" Pretty funny line, and Caitlin's reaction is also amusing. "No gender issue; this Jenner issue! Just you being you is enough to diss you!" So that's it, then? They're really not going to bring that one thing up, eh? I feel like that closing line would land a lot better if they did.
"Look I understand that you hate yourself; but you don't need to blame yourself." Oh, huh. That's different. Let's see where this therapy session goes. "You're a tiger, stop trying to tame yourself; you gotta be big enough to contain yourself." Well... I like that she's mixing things up by rhyming with the penultimate word instead of the last word, that's always something. They're clearly going for an angle of Caitlin relating to Bruce and trying to teach him to come to terms with his identity, which is kind of cute, I guess. "Be green, it ain't none of my business!" That line's pretty funny, as is the tea-sipping visual. "But if you think you're looking good in those torn-ass clothes; you're lying, which means you need a new wardrobe!" That's a reference to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which has absolutely nothing to do with this matchup. Feels out of place because of it. And it's not a very strong diss besides, feels like padding. Doubly strange to end her verse on it. "The visions of those shorts kinda scarred me; what'd you just rage at a Barney themed party?" Oh, there's more? Alright. This burn is really lame. Barney jokes? Come aaaaaaaahhhhhn, what are we doing here? That line should have definitely been left on the cutting room floor. "That's probably not something you seen as a child; not one day did you see your daddy smile!" Okay. She already established that Hulk's father was abusive in her first verse, and while it was a powerful blow there, here it feels much more toothless. "Hulk not strong enough to deal with denial! Laying you down easy; that's kitchen tile!" The first line is pretty amusing with how Caitlin imitates The Hulk's speech, but that second line... why? Pretty weaksauce way to finish her performance off, but whatever. Also not a fan of these visuals with the diamonds, feels like they wanted to add some visual flair but couldn't think of a good way to do it so they settled on Caitlin popping out of diamonds which is just odd. "Examine this under your microscope; you've got no neck, but you still fucking choked!" Oh. This verse is still going? Okay. Well, it's a good line. "After battling me, you're gonna always be pissed! So the Hulk will stay forever, neither Bruce will exist!" You know, that's actually a pretty strong closer, but I can't help but feel like it's undercut by just how long that verse was dragging on.
Okay, so. I feel it should be pointed out that there's a lot of people who were always going to hate this battle for making the decision not to attack Caitlin for being trans. Furthermore, the overwhelming sentiment has been that Banner won this; it bears keeping in mind that there's a lot of transphobes out there who were going to say the Hulk won no matter what happened simply because Caitlin is trans. So to that end, I think that a fair amount of the hate this battle gets, and the hate that Caitlin's performance gets, is bullshit. But there are still some big criticisms that need to be made.
So let's be honest: they threw the match for Caitlin. Or at least attempted to. You might still think the Hulk managed to win, but with that insanely long final verse it's pretty clear they tried to make Caitlin the 'canon' winner, as with Thomas Jefferson vs. Frederick Douglass. They did this presumably because it was pride month, and they wanted to say Trans Rights with a trans rapper that gets a positive portrayal. I can get behind that sentiment, but the execution is questionable to say the least.
Like... I'm not trans, but there's some shitty stuff going on here that's easy to see. For one, the cardinal rule that everybody knows is that you're not supposed to misgendedeadname a trans person, and the title of this battle is Bruce Banner vs. Bruce Jenner. So from the get-go, before the video even starts playing, we're getting some mixed signals here. Are we to take from this that they made the tactical decision to go ahead and deadname Caitlin for the sake of the matchup making intuitive sense(what with it obviously being a play on their similar names), and then try and do a hard pivot and make Caitlin win the battle to avoid criticism for that decision? Feels like maybe they could have just not gone with this matchup instead. The whole transformation element also seems dubious, but I could see someone reasonably landing either way on whether that's actually an issue or just silly fun, so I won't go into that.
Another issue to consider: Caitlin Jenner kind of sucks. Most people do not like her. Most TRANS people don't even like her. For one, despite the fact that she's trans, she is a Republican who has made anti-gay marriage comments in the past. The bizarre shittiness of a trans person being like that is a pretty ripe source of material for disses, yet this battle does not bring it up at all. And more notably than that, Caitlin Jenner was famously involved with a manslaughter case, where she was accused of getting someone killed due to negligent driving. It was ultimately determined that there wasn't enough evidence for manslaughter and so she wasn't found guilty(though it's widely believed that this decision was bullshit and she did commit manslaughter), but it's an extremely well-known and controversial factoid and it's insane they didn't have Banner bring up as a diss. If you're going to have a rapper make the case of "Just you being you is enough to diss you", seems like being a trans Republican and quite possibly committing vehicular manslaughter are the two strongest and most obvious points to go with. And yet... nothing. If your goal to make a battle that gives trans people positive representation, I feel like Caitlin Jenner seems like a pretty poor choice. I get that there aren't a lot of choices for a trans rep with name recognition or ample material to work with, but... the Wachowski sisters are right there.
Another thing is... why is it a moral imperative that Caitlin win this battle? Sure she's trans, and it's cool want to give trans people positive representation, but you didn't need to give her an absurdly long verse at the end to do that. You could just give her good writing, refrain from shitting on her just for being trans, and sure, let her have the final word. Then, yes, show the pride flag at the end to say Trans Rights. That's all you had to do. With something like Jefferson v. Douglass the scale-tipping made sense, because it was a slave-owner vs. a slave. Yeah, it's kind of hard for the slave-owner to win that match, and it makes sense to use it as a vehicle to take a firm stand against slavery. But it's not like this battle is Trans Person vs. Transphobe; Bruce Banner isn't some horrible person that must be morally condemned(there's a much stronger case for Caitlin herself), so... why have it play out like this? I think that ironically, by trying to hand the match to Caitlin they wound up getting more hate thrown towards the performance and more people voting against her in polls than there otherwise would have been if they'd just cut out all that excessive padding and given her a solid closing verse. As-is the verse isn't good, the overall quality is dragged down by just how much fluff there is.
In the end, my read on the situation is this: for whatever reason, they really liked the idea of this matchup and wanted to go through with it. They knew that going through with it would necessitate making it Bruce Banner vs. Bruce Jenner at the start, so they bit the bullet on the deadnaming and the conceit for the matchup and did everything they could to mitigate the potential backlash for that, going as soft on Caitlin as possible and giving her a verse that was ridiculously lengthy. People always say "but it's the Hulk, it makes sense he wouldn't say much!" and sure, I can buy that as an excuse as to why Caitlin's verse would be longER than his, but that still doesn't account for why it's as insanely long as it is. In any case... this paragraph is just speculation, I can't know their actual motivations, but I think this is likely what happened.
Anyway... despite all, this battle gets way too much hate. I think Jenner's first verse is really good, and the Hulk is also quite solid for as few lines as he gets. Bruce Banner is a little mediocre and Caitlin's last verse ends up just being a pain in the ass to sit through(could've been good if they cut all the fat and left in the handful of good lines) that's best skipped past on repeat listens. But still... there's some stuff here that is thoroughly enjoyable. I don't think this battle quite manages to be good, but it's got enough going for it that I think it manages to avoid being outright bad. I'm putting this in the top of C tier, because I genuinely think it's more enjoyable than all of the battles that are below it.
It's understandable to say that The Hulk beat Jenner's second verse, but I think her first verse was pretty fire and the highlight of the battle. I think she edges out a win, but a case could be made either way.
Let me end things off by saying this: I once watched this battle with an extremely transphobic relative, and he was pissed off by that "no gender issue, this Jenner issue" line. So even if this battle was a regrettable mistake, at least they did something right.

About me: - female, 27 y/o - Was 65 kilos and now down to 50 kilos - Got myself a nutritionist and gym coach for the past 2 years - I can share my knowledge and experience from them
Goal - help others who want to lose weight - share my knowledge while being budget friendly - gain experience in coaching
💜❤️🩷
100-200 php for 30min consulation - talk about your diet - make tweaks about diet - teach you how to count your macros - make a simple/starting workout routine
This is not for those who wants to lose weight fast. This is for those who want to have a lifestyle change and commitment. I have lost my weight with calorie deficit and it takes lots of commitment 🙂🙂

I'm looking to expand the *collective* of people I game with so hopefully I meet some neat people.
About me: I live in the east coast but work evenings right now so I don't get off work until 10PM but usually not home until after midnight due to going to the gym so people from other countries or other side of the country isn't really an issue for me. I work a lot but when I’m not working I’m online playing something. I tend to give people an honest shot to game with me but if I message someone on 3 separate days where they are online and get no response I’ll just end up removing them.
Games I play: I will play pretty much anything. I'm trying to grind up in League of Legends (I main Nasus top). I have been feeling Project Zomboid again so I would love to have someone to play that with either in a coop game or find a server together. I have really been wanting to also play GTA:O (preferably not RP but would do RP too). Other games I've downloaded recently are PUBG, Helldivers 2, ARK, and 7 Days to Die. I also have a ton of games on steam so if you want to play something else I’m usually down and I'm not opposed to buying something if we would actually play it. The only real type of games I don’t play are strategy games or racing games.
If you are interested in playing something or just talking hit me up either here or on discord. My discord is soulful

Been trying to hit the gym, but I never do. I have a gym membership. Through out the day I feel motivated. However, when I have the time, it's at the end of the day. My motivation is long gone by then. I just want to stay home. I'm the one who usually cooks dinner for my family. After dinner, I just want to relax. Working out is not on my mind.

For those of you who have taken an extended break from climbing (6+ months), what was the experience like for you? What was your reason for taking the break in the first place? Did you cross train or do other physical activities while on your break?
And, most importantly
What was it like getting back into climbing? How long did it take to reach your pre-break fitness/strength?
I’m starting vocational school in the fall and will be busy 9:00-5:00 every weekday. The nearest gym is 2.5 hours away, so I’m hoping to get out maybe 1-2 per month. I’m planning to bring my hangboard and maybe even whip up some small home wall, but that’s all tbd.
Anyway, any thoughts/opinions/experience welcome.
Cheers!

My now ex-boyfriend (21M) and I (21F) recently broke up because he tried changing the subject after I told him that I loved him. He and I were together for a year and a half. He was like my best friend; we always had a really good time whenever we’d hang out. We went to watch the Knicks game at a bar last Friday. Everything went well; we made jokes, laughed a lot, and even though they lost, the night was going well.
When it was time to go, we were both waiting for our trains to come (we both live in NYC and take the same train running in opposite directions). My train was arriving before his. Just before my train arrived, I wanted to tell him I loved him because he’d expressed doubts about our relationship (I’ll get into that more later) and because we’ve been having a great time lately (We had both recently gotten into rock climbing together) and were having so much fun, I wanted to express that my feelings for him were still strong. He immediately disregarded what I said and tried to change the subject by saying, 'You know I’m the first in my family to date someone who’s not white.' He’s white; I’m Latina.
I thought the comment he made was totally unnecessary and rude. I disregarded his comment and told him that I loved him again. His response was to mumble it and immediately bring back the topic of him being the first to date a non-white person. I was incredibly hurt. I didn’t really have much time to react since my train was already arriving, so I told him to go home and left. He sort of got defensive when he saw that I was upset, but I ignored it because I really wanted to go home.
My biggest mistake was letting my emotions get the best of me. As soon as I sat down on my train, I felt awful. It was clear that he did not love me, and because of the fights we’d had in the last few weeks, I was feeling insecure about where we stood in our relationship. My feelings turned into a mix of sadness and anger. I texted him a few minutes after we separated and told him that it was degrading to be in a relationship when one person wants to leave. I told him that he clearly wanted to leave and that he had no interest in us. Looking back, I should have kept my cool and had a conversation about it the next time I saw him in person. I feel so stupid. He gets avoidant whenever I react this way and ignored my texts.
I told him he was sick for just ignoring it, and he replied that he didn't understand what was going on. I told him that I didn’t understand why he was sticking around and that I was tired of chasing him for a necessary conversation. In late April, we had a conversation about where our relationship was going. It was productive, but we still needed to figure more stuff out. We agreed to leave it for another day, but whenever I brought it up, he’d ignore it.
To give some context to the history of our relationship, I’ve built up a lot of trust issues from our time together. We had a break from late April to mid-May of last year. When we were getting back together, I found out that he had been texting his ex during our break and even after we started dating again in mid-May. I was on a trip in Connecticut with him when I found out, and it broke me. This was the first time he really broke my trust because we were talking during that month. He said it was just to rehash things between them, as their breakup had been really bad (this was a high school relationship that ended his junior year in high school. We were both sophomores in college when this happened).
At first, I didn’t understand it and thought maybe he was lying about why they were talking, but after a while, I believed that it wasn’t that big of a deal and I shrugged it off. Later, I found out that they reconnected through the Tinder app (he lied saying that she kept his phone number saved and decided to randomly reach out), and I was furious because he was actively looking for other girls while we were getting back together. It took a lot for me to forgive him, and at times he got mad that I was upset about it. I know it shouldn’t have mattered since we were on a break, but it still hurt to know he was weighing out his options.
One time, he got so upset because I was still pretty upset about the whole thing, he ended up ignoring me for two weeks. When he asked me to hang out, I agreed in hopes he’d clarify a couple of things and put me at ease with the whole situation. However, when I brought it up, he said he didn’t want to talk about it and just wanted me to spend the night to sleep with me since he hadn’t seen me in two weeks. I stupidly let it happen even though I didn’t feel great about it. The next day, we hung out a little more, and then I went back home. A few weeks later, I went through his phone because I had doubts he was lying to me about certain things (I am not proud of it, and feel ashamed I resorted to that). I found out that the day after I had spent the night, he went to meet up with a girl he had hooked up with a year before.
I read the conversation on his phone where he was telling a friend that they had just spoken (This girl was a friend from his high school). The whole thing yet again really hurt me. He kept it a secret, which further broke my trust. He kept denying he ever met her. Eventually, he admitted to it and added that they were just talking and that he wasn’t interested in her. Because I saw the conversation he had with his friend and nothing really happened, I shrugged it off again.
We continued the relationship and broke up again for another two weeks in October (I won’t explain why incase he come across this post and for the sake of his privacy) but then got back together again. Fast forward two months later, I planned on taking a gap semester to travel, and he had planned to study abroad in Barcelona. He told me in November that I shouldn’t expect him to reach out to me much and that he wanted to explore. I thought the first part was a pretty douchey thing to say, but whatever. I respected that he wanted to do his own thing, even though it hurt my feelings a little. At least he communicated what he wanted.
A few days after he left, he expressed that he felt super alone and had huge culture shock upon arriving in Spain, which is understandable and what most people go through. He had a tough first few days, and his friend (who he planned to study abroad with) wasn’t going to come until the next week, so he was alone in a new country for a little. Even after a few weeks, he expressed that it was still hard for him, so since I planned on traveling, I suggested visiting him in Barcelona. He was excited about the idea and really wanted me to go, I thought it would be fun. We planned to go to London and Italy together, and I was super glad that I would spend my first time In Europe/U.k with him. I thought this was a pretty serious thing and one night, before I had traveled to Barcelona, he told me that he loved me. I was incredibly happy because he had finally reciprocated those feelings back to me.
Although we had a lot of fun and it was a great experience, it wasn’t always the best of times. Due to my passive-aggressiveness and his wrongdoings, he knew it would never work out. Plus, we’ve seen so much of each other in the two weeks I stayed with him, we really never had a chance to do our own thing for a day. His last straw was me being vocal about the state of our relationship.
He wanted to end things when he got back from Spain. He said that he wanted a change and had lost all feelings for me. He was bored, and it devastated me. I really didn’t want to let go of any of it. So he ended up staying for a month longer despite his lack of feelings for me because he did not want me to hate him. But after last Friday, he had absolutely no interest in staying with me.
And that’s that. We broke up a few days ago, and despite everything, I am still very hurt. As I go around the city, I constantly think about him, a lot of things remind me of him. I left some parts of the story out because it embarrasses me that I let so much of what he did slide. Part of me wants him to give me these harsh truths, like to tell me he wants to see other people and that he never built up strong feelings for me throughout our relationship, I thought that maybe hearing that from him would help me move on quicker. What’s worse is that we both have rock climbing memberships at the same gym and I know that I’ll run into him a lot in the next month.
I know I am a huge idiot. I have no self-respect. I still really love this person despite some of the things he did. This isn’t an entire depiction of who he is. He obviously is still a good person, and it hurts that I can no longer share a future with him. He suggested we be friends when we broke up, but I can’t stand the idea of him moving on to someone else and being amicable after all he’s done. I know that nothing will ever be the same. It’s hard to just move on, and I feel so incredibly lonely

Hey everyone,
So, here's the deal. I'm 27, and I've decided it's finally time to take charge of my health and fitness. I've never really been into the whole gym thing before, but I'm ready to make a change. Problem is, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and lost.
First off, I have no idea where to even start with exercise. I walk into the gym and feel like a lost puppy. I've tried googling beginner workouts, but there are so many different ones out there, and I'm not sure which one is right for me. Plus, I can't afford a personal trainer to guide me through it all. Any recommendations on beginner-friendly workouts or resources I can use to get started?
Secondly, I'm clueless when it comes to nutrition. I know that what you eat is just as important (if not more) than exercise when it comes to weight loss and overall health. But I have no idea what kinds of foods I should be eating, how much I should be eating, or even how to cook healthy meals. Are there any easy-to-follow meal plans or nutritional guides out there for beginners like me?
I'm really determined to make a change and get healthier, but I feel like I'm stumbling in the dark here. Any advice or words of wisdom from those who have been in my shoes would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

GameStop is back on the menu.
Shares of GME opened on Tuesday at $60.38, less than a month after trading around the $10-mark in mid April. Over the past two sessions, shares were up 141%. With a surge this dramatic, it’s hard not to be brought back to the heady days of GameStop in early 2021.
But 2021 was three years ago. We are no longer in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation has gripped the American economy and life feels very different than it did back then. So before explaining away the 2024 surge in GameStop GME, -18.87% as a repeat performance of 2021, it’s important to note that the investment landscape is fundamentally different than it was back then, both for the general public and the most faithful GameStop investors.
Retail traders are not just sitting at home with little to do aside from trade stocks. The Federal government has not just air dropped trillions of stimulus money. Yes, we’re sure that we will hear more about meme stocks in the weeks to come, but not with the same fervor as 3 years ago,” said Nicholas Colas, Co-founder of market analysis group DataTrek Research.
Although GameStop fervor reached its peak in early 2021, it had been months in the making. Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, had been posting about his bull theory for GameStop since the summer of 2020, and mentions of GME in the subreddit [REDACTED for automod but you know the sub ;)] started growing in the second half of 2020.
Part of the GameStop bull theory by Roaring Kitty in 2020 was that it was a potential short squeeze play. Short interest was over 100%, meaning that shares had been lent out, shorted and lent again until more shares had been shorted than the available number of shares. When the intense buying pressure for GME came in 2021, short sellers lost billions of dollars. As of May 9, short interest stood at only 24.1%—more than most other companies but not nearly as high as 2020 or 2021—so that same pressure isn’t there.
But as Colas mentions, other factors went into the memestock surge too. Over 10 million retail investors opened accounts in 2020, according to estimates. Collectively, retail investors accounted for around 19.5% of market activity in 2020. There was an appetite for trading that had taken hold of retail investors in 2020, and that helped set the scene for the memestock boom in the months to follow.
The 2024 GameStop bump hasn’t quite seen those levels of retail participation yet. The average retail share of GME turnover was roughly 7% for the past five trading days, according to Vanda Research, which is lower than it was in 2021. Vanda points out that quant and hedge funds are better positioned to take advantage of retail surges than they were in 2021, which is a key difference between now and then.
However, that’s not to say that retail investors have gone away. A key driver in GameStop’s explosion in 2021 was the buzz online, and since 2021 there have been online communities of retail investors solely dedicated to talking about GameStop. Subreddits like GME and SuperStonk have 398,000 and 950,000 members, respectively, and rank in the 1% of most subscribed to subreddits. There, talk about GameStop never stopped, and posts frequently get thousands of upvotes or end up on Reddit’s front page (all).
For further evidence of the influence that these online communities hold, just look at the DRS movement. GME’s most enthusiastic retail investors, self-dubbed “apes,” have coordinated efforts to directly register shares under their individual names instead of the names of their brokerages.
In today’s investment landscape, directly registering shares under an individual’s name is more often done by company insiders who own large portions of equity. But to the apes, DRS’ing GME is a sign of proud ownership. According to GameStop’s March 26 10-K filing, around 75.3 million shares have been directly registered, representing about 25% of the company’s shares outstanding.
Despite the stat that retail turnover registered roughly 7% in the past five trading days, *data shows that there have been a few recent episodes of elevated retail turnover in the past year, pre-dating this week’s boost *(see chart below).
Having this many retail investors waiting on the sidelines, primed to trade GME is something also fundamentally different from 2021. In 2024, GME already has the name brand recognition among retail traders, and many are willing to jump back in on the action—or maybe they never left.

Selling my Schott 530 "Waxed Natural Pebbled Cowhide Café Leather Jacket". Size small and purchased from Nordstrom. Smoke free/vape free, clean home
Link to pictures of the 530. $450 shipped.
Purchased from Nordstrom in 2019 when I had grand ideas of buying a cafe racer and living out my 1970's vintage motorcycle hipster dreams....Never bought the bike, wore it maybe 10 times. No longer fits due to gaining weight from gym.
Have confirmed sales and trades on Apple swap and Mushroom kingdom. Really nice jackets for someone interested in some classic Schott style.

Note: You've got questions? I've got answers: An Introduction To The Book That Is Me : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Note: All my other stuff: Masterlist for edgiscript : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Part 2: [FF4M] Mafia Dog - Part 2 of 7 [Listener Recovery - Physical Therapy] [Naming One Speaker Mommy] [Getting The Listener To Blush] [Naming Listener Puppy] : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Note: I said in part 1 that I don't expect anyone to do this series. Partly because of the fact that there are 2 speakers throughout. But partly because of chapters like this with explosions or other non-conducive-to-ASMR sounds. If you decide to do this series, it might help to keep the sfx muffled by treating the explosion as being pretty far away.

Part 3

(General car sounds as Carissa is driving with Ronnie.)
Carissa: Ronnie, what’s the ETA on those new firearms?
(Pause.)
Good. I want them prepped and ready by tomorrow morning. What about the ammunition?
(Pause.)
Don’t worry about it. It’s only a small hiccup. I’ll get Kent to push it through channels. Fortunately, we haven’t had any dustups or problems in a while so we still have plenty on hand if something goes wrong, but I want everyone training on the new weapons ASAP, so we’ll use much of our ammo pretty quickly.
(Pause.)
Yes, I said everyone.
(Pause.)
Of course, not Puppy. You know what I meant.
(Pause.)
What was that? Did you just say, “Yes, Mommy?”
(Pause.)
Ok, Ronnie, right or left?
(Pause.)
You heard me. Right or left? I want to know which testicle you’re ok with losing the next time you call me that.
(Pause.)
That’s what I thought. There’s the gym where Jane is working out with Puppy. Just pull up next to Jane’s car.
(Car comes to a stop.)
Stay in the car.
(Car door opens then closes.)
Ronnie, what did I tell you?
(Pause.)
I don’t care if you want to stretch your legs. I don’t feel like dealing with you hassling Puppy right now.
(Pause.)
Fine, you can come in, but play nice.
(Carissa and Ronnie enter the gym. Possible general gymnasium sounds such as weight-lifting equipment being used.)
There they are, at one of the punching bags.
Jane: (From a short distance.) Puppy, look. It’s Mom.
Carissa: Hey there, guys. How goes the… WHOA!
Jane: (Amused.) Wow. That is quite the hug.
Carissa: (Laughs.) Yeah, Puppy. It has been a few days. I’ve missed you too. How have your workouts with Jane been coming?
(Pause.)
That’s great to hear. You’re still my good boy, after all.
Jane: Puppy’s doing phenomenally. He’s already benching over two hundred.
(Pause.)
Yeah, yeah, Ronnie, we all know how much you can lift.
(Pause.)
Shut the hell up, Ronnie.
(Pause.)
Well, maybe if we starved and beat you daily for six months, you wouldn’t be so…
Carissa: Jane! Stop.
Jane: Asshole.
Carissa: Jane! Let it go.
(Pause.)
Ronnie, she’s right. Shut the hell up. Jane, I need to speak with you.
Jane: Can it wait? I was just about to run Puppy around the track to finish our session.
Carissa: It’s important. Puppy, I’m sorry. Do you mind circling the track on your own for a few minutes?
(Pause.)
What? Ronnie? You’ll run with him?
(Seriously, as if she’s really telling him to behave.) Are you sure?
(Pause.)
Well, it’s ok with me if it’s ok with Puppy.
Jane: Oh, Puppy would love that. Go ahead, boy. Go with Ronnie. Show him what you’ve got.
(Puppy and Ronnie walk away.)
Jane: Ok, Carissa, they’re gone. What’s up?
Carissa: Jane, how are you and Puppy doing?
Jane: Fantastic. He’s really come a long way. I think we just need to work on his endurance before…
Carissa: No, no, no, Jane. What I mean is how are you two doing… together? You and Puppy? Any… shall we say, interests there?
Jane: Carissa?
Carissa: Come on, Jane. Don’t “Carissa” me. I know you think he’s cute and I’ve seen the smiles he gives you as well. Have you two been… playing any one-on-one games.
Jane: I don’t think that’s any of your business.
Carissa: Typically, I’d agree. But come on, Jane, you understand the nature of our business and our organization. The longer he stays with us, the greater a liability he is.
Jane: Yeah, I know. But…
Carissa: No, buts. Kent wanted him gone already. Francine knows him and knows she can get what she wants out of him. The longer he’s with us, the more dangerous he is to us.
Jane: Damn, Carissa. I thought you had a heart.
Carissa: You know I love Puppy to death, but at some point we both know we’re going to have to let him go. Hanging on to him for too long puts him at risk too. You know that.
And the longer we keep him around the more difficult it will be on him when we do finally have to say goodbye. We need to set him up with someone or some people who will care for him and watch over him. We can still visit from time to time, but getting him away from us will protect the poor guy.
And… I couldn’t live with myself if he ever got hurt again.
Jane: Oh. Sorry for doubting you, Carissa. Boy, you really are his mom, aren’t you?
Carissa: It’s going to be tough to say goodbye, but I do want what’s best for Puppy.
Jane: Yeah, I know. But…
Carissa: But what? Jane? What are you thinking? What’s with that devilish look in your eye?
Jane: Carissa, what if Puppy stayed with us? For good. As a permanent member of our organization?
Carissa: Jane…
Jane: I know, I know, but hear me out. Everybody in the group loves him and he loves us. He’s loyal to a fault. You know as well as I do that he’d never betray us or give any of us up.
Carissa: If Francine got ahold of him again…
Jane: First of all, never gonna happen. We won’t let it happen. I won’t let it happen.
Second of all, in a worst-case scenario where it did, I honestly don’t think Puppy would give us up for anything.
Carissa: But you know what we do. Ok, let’s say I agree and he wouldn’t give us up. He’d still be dead or worse. We’d be putting him at risk if we kept him with us.
Jane: Yes, we would, but we’re all at risk. We chose to be here. What if Puppy chose too.
Carissa: You’ve already talked about this with him, haven’t you?
Jane: I’ve never given him any specifics. You know I would never do that, Carissa. But, yes, Puppy actually brought it up first. Carissa, he really wants to stay with us. He really does see you as his mom, and he loves you for that.
Carissa: And what does he see you as?
Jane: Oh… well… um…
Carissa: More importantly, how do you feel about him.
Jane: I… I don’t know. I mean, he is super cute, and he’s adorably sweet. And I admit it, I’ve always had a thing for the guy who needs help. I guess… yeah, I kind of like him. I mean, come on, what’s not to like? He’s just a super good guy.
Carissa: Jane, he’s damaged. Are you sure you’re not just feeling sorry for him.
Jane: Maybe, sure. But who’s not damaged? And I’m not saying I want to get married tomorrow. I’m just saying, that… yeah, maybe it is a relationship I want to consider.
Carissa: What about the physical aspect of what we do? We’d be asking a lot of Puppy.
Jane: Oh, my God, Carissa. He can more than handle it. Watch. I’ve been waiting for this.
Carissa: Watch what.
Jane: Look. Ronnie’s been jogging around the track with Puppy, but, as I knew he would, Ronnie’s been slowly picking up the pace. I knew Ronnie’s arrogance would get the better of him. He’s trying to show Puppy up. But watch.
(Pause.)
Carissa: Puppy’s kicking his ass.
Jane: Right? And he’s not at a hundred percent yet. I’m telling you, once Puppy’s at full strength, he could…
(Interrupted by a small explosion and a crash nearby.)
Carissa: What the? Puppy? Ronnie? Damn it! I don’t see either of them in the smoke.
Jane: I think the explosion caused part of that wall to collapse. Puppy was ahead of it when it happened, but Ronnie… Oh my God. Ronnie is trapped underneath the rubble.
Carissa: The ceiling’s losing its integrity. Puppy, there you are. Come here. Get away from the wreckage.
Jane: Puppy! No! What are you doing? Don’t run towards it. The ceiling’s about to fall.
Carissa: Look. He’s lifting that piece of cement so Ronnie can get out.
(Sound of more crumbling.)
Carissa: Oh, thank God. They both made it out.
Puppy, come here. Let me hold you. Good boy. Yes, you’re my brave good boy. You saved Ronnie’s life. That was amazing.
Jane: Ronnie’s gonna be ok. Maybe a concussion, but no wounds I can see.
Carissa: Damn it. This has got to be Francine. It was a targeted attack. Only question is was she after Ronnie, or Puppy?
Jane: You think Puppy might have some information Francine’s afraid of?
Carissa: I don’t know, but it’s worth looking into.
Jane: I’m gonna get Ronnie back to Suzanne. You’ll be ok, Ronnie. Just got the wind knocked out of you.
(Pause.)
What’s that?
(Pause.)
Puppy, Ronnie… is saying thank you for saving his life.
Carissa: What’s that, Puppy?
(Pause.)
Yes, you can go with them and make sure Ronnie’s ok. You be his guard dog. Ok?
(Pause.)
Good boy, Puppy. Jane, you’ve got them both. I’ll stay here and make sure no one else was hurt. Maybe I can find out something more about the blast.
Jane: Stay safe, Carissa.
Carissa: You too. Now go.
(Pause.)
Ok, bomb, talk to me. Show me what you’ve got.
Part 4 coming.

Hey guys, I’ve got a question for you all. Has anyone put together group workouts via Reddit at their local PF? I’m still relatively new to my area and my local PF, but I’d love to workout with some locals. The issue is, people at my PF (small town in NC), typically all know each other.m a they work out together and may not be necessarily open to a strange guy in a gym asking to start a workout group. Anyone in Monroe, NC that wants to workout together? I need some guidance, but also working is is more fun (for me at least) when doing it with someone. Please don’t make it weird. 😂😂

Hello, friends! I apologize for the length of this post. I truly value any advice or guidance you can provide ❤️
I've come to the realization that my self-confidence and trust in myself are severely lacking, and I still have a lot of work to do in order to fully heal. The past four years have felt like a complete blur, and the social anxiety I have as a result of it all is a nightmare.
Timeline Synopsis: •2010: At 18, desperate for relief, I sought therapy and was immediately prescribed 3 different controlled substances and various antidepressants. •2010 - 2013, I found myself in my first relationship, lasting 3.5 years. However, due to our youth and lack of understanding on how to cultivate a healthy bond with ourselves and each other, the relationship eventually imploded, causing my life to shatter into pieces. The aftermath left me feeling lost and emotionally wounded for a long time. •2015: Traumatized when I discovered my Grandma dead at home. In an attempt to cope with the overwhelming grief, I resorted to abusing my medications; taking extra, then running out. This affected my work performance. My poor attendance and decreased productivity on top of that subsequently led to me being let go. In search of help, I checked myself into inpatient treatment. •2016: My ex reached out to me, seeking a friend to share his recent schizophrenia diagnosis. We rekindled our friendship for a short period, but tragically, he took his own life a few months later. •2019: I fell into the wrong social circle and engaged in extensive experimentation with any & all drugs, binge eating, and drinking. •2020, the mounting anxieties triggered by the pandemic caused me to have a severe nervous breakdown. This led to a brief hospitalization, during which I concentrated on detox and recovery. Upon discharge, I worked the 12-step program. • 2021: My mother suffered a heart attack, and immediately went the hospital. She had emergency surgery and was then Intubated and restrained for her safety afterwards. Luckily, I was able to visit her since I was vaccinated. •2022: Arriving back home to find my Guinea Pig motionless and silent in his enclosure evoked a profound sense of sorrow, intensifying the emotional trauma I had previously experienced discovering my grandma. •2023: I experienced a pretty serious seizure while at work. 911 was called and I was brought to the hospital via ambulance. •2024: In January, my Papa passed away suddenly. During the commemoration of his life, my mother unexpectedly fainted and was promptly transported to the hospital via ambulance. Thankfully, after a brief medical assessment, she was given a clean bill of health.
Since then, I've been taking antidepressants and non-narcotic anxiety medication, which have been helpful. I've also been working with a therapist, and I feel like I've made progress in improving my overall mental health. I've made a conscious decision to no longer "mask" my quirks or “tone down” my personality for the sake of my own comfort and healing. I take pride in embracing my uniqueness and being considered "weird." It adds a sense of fun to life. Additionally, I've started swimming, eating better, losing weight, taking vitamins and supplements, and regularly visiting the doctor and dentist.
In 2020, I started dating someone whom I'm still with and deeply love. We've known each other and been part of the same friend circle for 10 years, so I feel comfortable around him. However, there have been instances where he has said things that have deeply affected me and have almost given me a complex. It's important to note that I have been diagnosed with BPD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression, so please consider this when giving advice.
Here are a few examples of his comments: - I'm a very animated and loud person, partially due to my struggle with hearing people, especially him. Despite telling him numerous times to speak louder, he never does. - I'm also sassy and opinionated, which is part of my Italian heritage. - While we were at the gym, I was expressing how something made me feel, which was not inappropriate, and he told me to "calm down." This is something he has done many times in different situations. - He often tells me not to make a scene, lower my voice, stop yelling (even when I'm speaking at a normal volume to him), and not be dense. - I also feel like he always needs to be right, has to have the last word, and often mansplains things to me. This makes me feel stupid and immature.
Whenever I try to have meaningful conversations with him to understand his values, he accuses me of trying to argue. He frequently claims that I sound extremely condescending, rude, and hateful, even though that is never my intention. I'm genuinely just trying to express myself.
When I attempt to explain how I feel or why I act a certain way due to my neurodivergence, he dismisses it by saying that "everyone is a little bit autistic" or "everybody has ADHD." He even goes as far as claiming he has these conditions, without understanding any of my symptoms and complaining about the behaviors that result from them.
I would greatly appreciate any advice, tips, or insights you may have. Thank you for taking the time to read my entire message.”

as mentioned, i was on a weightloss/toning journey but i gave up because i got too depressed to care.
but time goes on and i can make use of it or mope some more.
i'm 26f, 5'2, and weigh in at 139.5lbs. i'm not sure how to start my weightloss again and make it effective and efficient. i dont have a gym membership and frankly, i can't really find it in myself to join the gym but i do have 2lb, 10lb, 20lb dumbells and 45lb kettlebells from my dad's stash.
in my prior experience, i plateaued at 126lbs for about 4-5 months even though i added steps and at-home pilates and i was eating high protein but regulating my carbs/fats was a bit difficult.
any tips/help would be much appreciated!
(also to note: i have adhd, so i have to work around that mess too)

Background
Demographic: White, male, age 30, 5' 5", 175 +/- 5lbs.
Lifestyle: Active (workout 3-4x per week), Desk/Physical work split of 90/10%.
Complaint: Abdominal injury and pain (1 year and 8 months since injury), presently inconsistent pains levels between 3-5/10 and consistent lingering discomfort (1-2/10).
Medication: No consistent medications, no allergies.
Drug use: alcohol (1-3x per month), non-smoker.
History of the Injury
Late August of 2022, I hurt myself doing a kip on horizontal bar outdoors. Right after raising my feet to the bar and kicking my legs out I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. (I've done this and similar moves many times before through my 20s, while exercising)
Bar kip example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRPFWdelsDY
I couldn't stop slouching and crunching my abdomen. Stretching backwards and straightening my posture was very discomforting. The severe pain subsided in a day but in the following months I couldn't stretch my stomach and had to sleep on my back with pillows under my knees to keep a flexed/crunched posture. Sleeping on the side was discomforting, because the stomach would hang to the side, bringing up the pain.
In 3 months, I felt better. However, there were always some flare-ups of pain.
Pain Description: The pain always feels along "horizontal lines", on 1-3 locations at a time, around the belly button level, below, or above it, with varying intensity of pain. Through my personal touch/observation, these horizontal lines of pain are always along tendinous inscriptions of the ab structures. Sometimes I feel lower 1 or two lines in pain. Other times it’s one of the upper line(s).
Tendinous inscriptions image: https://test.usabcd.org/courses/lk-native-ld2-basic-ugra/lessons/lknative-rectus-sheath-block/topic/3-anatomy-the-rectus-abdominis-muscle/
Causes of Pain from Movement: Pain flare-ups happen when moving heavy objects rapidly (without prior prep), pulling something heavy from ground, rapidly stretching the abdominal area, or a day after the occasional exercise. Jumping and landing on ground from 1 ft. or above can make me brace my abdomen, leading to some pain as well. Twisting my torso side to side could also make pain worse, stretching one side of the abdomen, especially if twisting in my full range. Slight turns are okay.
Causes of Pain from Food: Flare-ups also happen immediately after eating specific foods, like sunflower seeds, nutty bars, and when a bit bloated from eating. Trigger of this pain doesn't need to be a substantial amount of food either. Sometimes just a bite or two gets the sensation going.
Pain Relief: Often immediately after having bowel movement there is some pain relief. If pain is not too intense, and more of a discomfort, bowel movement can sometimes end the discomfort
Medical History and Pain Progress Timeline

• September 2022, within a week of the injury, ruled out hernia at a clinic.
  
• 3+ months of slow pain relief, with flare ups. Mostly sedentary life and very little physical activity.
  
• Late December 2022 through early February 2023: Doctors visit, abdominal ultrasound, and physical exam. No specific conclusions on either physical injury or gastric issues. No diagnosis.
  
• February to June 2023:
  

Slow increase in physical activity and exercise. Some running. With a good warm up, stretching the abdominal area isn't too painful (though I did not stretch the area at this time)
Rare ab exercises can feel discomforting, and some pain returns the day after.
Jumping high or landing from high jumps/drops can bring about the pain or worsen it.
Bloated stomach, or consumption of some foods (as mentioned above) can feel discomforting or even painful along 1 or more " horizontal lines". Bowel movement often relieves discomfort and even pain.

• July 1st, 2023, MRI of abdomen. No diagnosis or findings. Quote from the report: "IMPRESSION: Normal noncontrast MRI of the abdomen. There is no abnormality to explain the patient's pain."
  
• August 2023, start of physical therapy. Therapist's hypothesis - myofascial layer causes pain. Prescribed exercises to do at home with light stretch and some balance/strengthening of abdomen.
  
• August 2023, start of journaling of my pain in 1-10 scale on daily basis, as I do the PT.
  
• September 26, 2023, endoscopy was done, no notable results. Results were normal
  
• August 2023 - March 2024, pain fluctuates with steady 2/10 (pain discomfort) with multiple flare ups of pain, one reaching up to 5/10 and lasting and others staying at 3/10 or higher for 2-3 days in a row.
  
• April 2024, colonoscopy revealed no remarkable results. 1 week post colonoscopy pain levels increased to an all time high or close to it (5-6/10). Mostly pain along tendinous intersections, in 3 locations, with some lower right and left abdomen pains, burning sensation around or above bladder, and other discomforts. No issues with bowel movements or peeing.
  

Post colonoscopy I did not return to physical activities and PT as the pain lingers on and is too consistent and limiting to do much in terms of consistent exercise.
Self-medication: On a few occasions, I tried to apply heat or cold, which didn’t help with pain much. But the cold helped numb things down. Heat helped to warm the abdomen and make some movements easier for a short time.
Rare/inconsistent instances of ibuprofen use (around 400-600 mg). Can't remember how effective pain relief is.
Massage/poking: Generally, I do it when I feel pain or discomfort along the horizontal lines. Massage, poking, deep massage does NOT reduce the pain for me. Sometimes even makes me feel the pain more. But mentally feels good to do and feel out where I feel it.
Present day condition (May 2024)
Some pain flare-ups with physical activities, infrequent feeling of discomfort after food (for both, often relieved through bowel movement).
Concern: While pain level has overall gone down since 1.5 years ago, I am not certain what I should and should not do, given there is no diagnosis or clear understanding of cause of pain. The occasional pain increases made me curious if someone had an experience with pain like this. Doctor's appointment all have lead to little to no improvement.
Additionally, I sense a lot of dismissiveness in all the doctors and specialist for this entire timeline described above, where with no results to show on diagnostic tests, I am sent home to "rest" without any hypothesis or brainstorming, and telling me "come back if pain gets worse". It gets worse and I run another round of catching doctors for, what feels like, waste of time with more tests, same questions and same story being told over and over to each new referred specialist I see.
Note: I asked the doctors on multiple occasions to review the MRI images or query a radiologist to do so as there are 100s of frames. I genuinely don't believe that initial look at it was done properly, with only 1 page report showing "unremarkable" for all metrics they looked at. I don't sense that my pain patterns (which I described extensively to every doctor and the radiologist) were accounted for when looking through any of the tests done.
Thanks in advance for any feedback!!!
[Previously posted on with no luck so far.]