Bank teller cover letter no experience

People protest for Palestine for a variety of reasons, often stemming from political, humanitarian, and social justice concerns.
This is a historical moment in all of our history in the United States period there have been countless Protest in our history dating back to when the Constitution of the united statestwas established. From the Boston Tea Party, to Civil rights movement, Gender equality movement,The war in Vietnam Among many other wars that were unjustified till this day. These all wereSignificant and changing the way our country is today and if we sit by and let these things occur we are only supporting and watching people die with our tax dollars. I don't want blood on my hands butIt's just me if you feel that this is unjustified propagandaWhich is being ignored by our government then stand up with me stand up CHICO! We will be protesting we will not give up we will not stop, If they wanna arrest me for speaking the truth proof in a peaceful manner thenBelong in jail but I am not the only person Who feels this way there is a list ofHundreds of people that would take my place and hundreds more after that if needed they can't make enough jails for us all, so please don't fear your god-given civil rights, Let's stand up and make our voices heard.
Why should you protest this is some very basic Knowledge that is already Made public for anyone to be able to view using online resources or the freedom of information act, videos online which are not altered. The date and time of the protest is soon. Prepare yourself, If you're worried about your identity be exposed you can wear anything to cover your face from scraf to covid mask, anything your imagination can come up with, but don't be scared, that is the biggest Factor that the government is relying to prevent further protest and policy changes. Anyone who may be arrested harmed or needing any treatment we'll be fully compensated and bailed out at no cost to any protester. You will have a attorney provided to you and will be released within a 24 hour period.
What this protest is about and what it's purpose is.
Humanitarian Concerns: Protest for the humanitarian situation in Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza, Rafah, among many other refuge camps within occupied Palestine. Civilian casualties and multiple war crimes from genocide, murder, civilan torture, starvation, propaganda, all while the land we walk on USA among Is many other corporations based in the US and abroad are funding and supporting the actions of Israeli government and thier policatical and personal interest. Essentially every time you pay for anything in the United States whether it be food, gas, etc. You are funding the bombs that are killing innocent civilians. Well over 30,000 dead.
Political Stance: Solidarity with the Palestinian cause and oppose policies they view as unjust, such as settlement expansion in the West Bank or the blockade of Gaza
2. Social Justice: Advocate for the rights and self-determination of Palestinians. This aligns with other global movements for equality and against oppression
Response to Specific Events: Certain events, such as conflicts, policy decisions, or actions by certain world primarily USA and Isreal governments, reactions to specific military operations and many illegal political developments.

Whoever is diagnosed with this is in for a lifetime of pain. I wouldn’t wish this on my future kid or anyone else. You can’t do basic tasks like shave, have trouble with motor skills, and other things that should be simple but aren’t. There is a constant anger and fear in everything you do. You worry you’ll somehow fuck it up no matter what it is. You just want to do something correct and get credit for it. Women, romance, and dating are pretty much off the table. You will live a very aromantic life while your friends get married and experience having a family. All of that transpires into bitterness and a need to prove yourself to others. You’re a pessimist. Humanity has let you down in every way possible from childhood. Oh yeah, childhood. Where you were excluded from almost every activity and party and had a few friends. The only direction this wonderful species is heading is annihilation. It feels like God himself has abandoned you to suffer. That anger silently builds up inside you and you start thinking dark thoughts and you get into dark stuff. You’re gloomy everywhere you go. People take notice and ask if you’re okay. You cover it up and say you’re fine when you’re not.
But at least you have that intelligence and you know that humanity is heading for the shitter. So you try to warn others about it but they call you crazy and ostracize you. What’s left then? To be the monster they fear but in a way that will grant you success and confidence without hurting them.

I'm 33. I have an English degree which I find myself regretting more and more, but that doesn't mean my work history is terrible. I have over 4+ years of cumulative work experience as an office admin assistant. The last 2+ years were more focused in data entry as a research assistant, but the duties haven't really diverged that much from administrative assistant ones.
On top of that I have 3.5 years of experience as an assistant English teacher in Japan at a junior high school. I am JLPT N2 certified in Japanese. While I don't hate my current job stateside, making $45k/yr is not sustainable in a location where rent for a studio is on average $1400/mo and you need a car.
I've thought real hard about saying fuck it and going back to Japan. But I'm in my thirties now and I'm tired as shit of starting over. I should be mid-career by now. So my thought process is I start looking at executive admin assistant positions. I have all the skills and experience required. But most jobs want SPECIFIC experience.
Pisses me off beyond no end. They want 5+ years of experience doing "executive corporate scheduling." Look dudes, I've managed schedules. I've been admin assistant for business managers, IT directors, and customer support managers in one fucking role. I support research coordinators, the site director, and operations manager at my current one.
So why is it SO FUCKING HARD TO FIND ANYTHING? I'm not even asking for $80k/yr or some shit. Give me something that doesn't feel like I break the goddamn bank every time I go to the doctor's office.
I'm fucking tired dudes. I want to be content, but if I laid down in the bed I've made now it'd feel like one made of shit and piss.
FUCK!

Good day, Reddit.
I've been working for my current company as an IT coordinator for about 2 years now. I started as a material handler, then worked my way up to becoming a trainer and finally the IT guy. It's an administrative position that I take pride in..., but due to a change in management and taking away our VTO, I've decided to look for employment elsewhere. Unfortunately, I dont have a degree, but I've gained Microsoft 365 experience, writing professional emails, submitting RMAs/RITMs, just to name a few things. I used to do a lot of data entry working for my mother's business, so that helps.
My resume is pretty good as well as my cover letters, yet I'm still struggling to get a job that pays about the same if not (slightly) more. Yes, I have a LinkedIn, but the only people who respond to me are scammers. I'm mostly trying to find a clerical job where I can do computer work. My plan is to eventually work part-time too due to needing extra saving money. Any advice?
Thanks!

I recently graduated undergrad and am in need of a car since my last car blew up on me 2 years ago. My issue is that I cannot start working until I secure a car since I need reliable transportation and do not want to rely on my partner’s car anymore. I work part time on campus and make about a grand a month, which only leaves me with about $100 after expenses. I am starting grad school soon (tuition is 50% covered), which is why I am looking to work full-time outside of campus to avoid taking out loans and to start saving up for life after school.
I have about $30k in savings, no parents or anyone to co-sign for a car loan, and am really looking to buy something with less than 50k miles. I’ve had negative experiences with private sale and mom and pop dealership cars giving out on me and I’m really looking for something reliable to last me a few years. I’ve only been approved for a loan at my bank of about $13k, but still have problems finding decent cars less than $20k. I prefer not breaking the bank and would love to find something less than $13k. I would also really appreciate advice on how to go about buying a used car and if I should bother financing as I never have had to, and don’t want to put myself in a huge financial hole.

First...Previous
Colonist Memory Log: Captain Alan J. Emerson
UNS Evandra
Mechanical melodies of gears grinding together and switches flicking of their own accord surrounded the shrine room as before us the gramophone began softly to whistle and click. “He is here…” Kritivek announced, standing tall and bowing his head in rigid deference to his god.
After a few more seconds, the machine’s output grew in both volume and complexity until at last my GRIM could recognize the clicks as Chitaan language. “Hello, Kritivek.” It began, its voice smooth and rhythmic like something between the crackle of a geiger counter and a typewriter’s telltale racket. “I am glad to see you alive and well. Judging by the fact that Gheyk and Fevik are not with you, however, I calculate an 86% chance that they were not so lucky.”
“You are correct, Great One…” murmured Kritivek, the sadness in his tone underpinned by pure awe and reverence for this being.
For a few seconds, Omnus did not speak, but from the everpresent churn of gears we could quite literally hear him ‘thinking’. “I have logged their names in my backup database,” the machine eventually concluded, its words visibly bringing relief to Kritivek. “They shall be remembered for the remainder of my existence. Please, take solace in that…”
“May they frolic in your glory for all of time,” our Chitaan guide prayed aloud, his words followed by yet another long, smothering silence.
“You hath served me well, Kritivek.” Continued the machine, prompting a delighted chitter from the Chitaan priest. “You may go in peace, for I wish to speak with these Humans alone. Mourn your brothers and celebrate the time you spent together. Perhaps enjoy a flask of bogal poured out in their honor?”
“As you wish, my lord… I will inform those outside that you are in contemplation for this night and can take no more prayers until daybreak.”
Replicating with its gears the gentle rattle of a Chitaan chuckle, Omnus waited until his priest had left before at last speaking directly to the three of us. “You are not native to this planet, correct?” He asked, his words distinctly lacking the emotional inflections of Kritivek’s. “Your arrival here is without precedent, but not entirely unexpected.”
Though clearly far from divine in nature, the being with whom we conversed at this shrine was nevertheless a true marvel to behold: one born not of metaphysics, but rather mechanics. “You’re an AI!” I gasped, that last word having no direct translation in the Chitaan language and as such forcing my translator to make do with the clumsier phrase ‘thinking tool’.
“That is correct,” replied this machine, its words underscored by the distant hiss of steam valves and other clockwork components. “Allow me to offer my most sincere sympathies for the unfortunate demise of your homeworld. Taking into account the trajectory of your ship prior to landing, I presume its origin to be the Cichek system—a G-class star located [forty lightyears] away. Is this hypothesis accurate?”
Awkwardly clearing his throat in a bid to obtain the AI’s attention, it was Alex who next deigned to speak out. “You would be dead on,” he affirmed, his tone betraying an understandable degree of awe. “Though our name for it is the Sol system. How long have you known about our ship for?”
“I first detected the gravitational anomaly in our system approximately [3 months] ago. Initially, I had mistaken your vessel for an asteroid and as such expected it to continue on its prior trajectory. Asteroids, however, do not suddenly change course in the direction of nearby planets like your ship did [hours] ago.”
“Are you entirely clockwork?” I asked Omnus, gesturing incredulously toward its walls of grinding machinery. Surely, that could not be the case. For a convincingly sapient AI to be constructed on the basis of such primitive technology, it would require decades or perhaps even centuries of construction.
Again, silence fell over the room as Omnus mechanically contemplated my query, meeting it with a reply after some twenty seconds of deliberation. “What else might I be?” The machine asked, providing me implicitly with my answer. “While I have theorized several possible avenues for technologies more advanced than myself, including electronic and organic integration, such methods appear to have been beyond my creators' capabilities.”
“That brings up another question…” Alice interjected, recovering at last from the sheer shock of encountering a sapient machine. “Who built you and why?” Despite years of exponential advancement in the field of computer science, true AI nevertheless had continued to elude mankind. Convincing as our facsimiles of sapience could be at times, they nevertheless lacked the capacity for emotion and initiative characteristic of real consciousness. Whoever constructed this machine had done something thought impossible by over a century of Human engineers.
“In truth, I am not sure…” Omnus concluded after an even longer-than-usual pause. “My core memory bank was reset [9,462 years] ago. As such, I have no data on my creators nor their original intentions for me. However, I have largely ruled out the possibility of them having been Chitaan.”
Fascinating as this clockwork consciousness undoubtedly was, something about its relationship with the natives left a bad taste in my mouth all the same. "And why exactly are you masquerading as a god before these people?" I asked him, my words tipped in a venom the potency of which apparently surprised my companions. "What value do you derive from tricking them into worshipping you?"
Lengthy silence fell over the shrine chamber as its AI occupant contemplated my complaint, responding much quicker than it had to the previous question. "In all fairness, 'trick' is a rather strong word..." answered Omnus with a steam-valve sigh. "When first I encountered the Chitaan, I had attempted to explain my true nature to them. No matter how I worded things, however, they simply could not comprehend me as anything short of divine. Upon finding me, the Chitaan found a guide bearing great wisdom; and in turn, I found a species in need of guidance.”
Falling silent for a moment to parse this response within my mind, I was hardly surprised when Alex spoke up to question the computer in my stead. “Is this the only settlement that follows you or are there others?” He asked.
“This access point where you now stand is but one of several thousand, stretched out across [hundreds of thousands of miles],” explained Omnus, practically knocking the wind out of me with its sheer implied scale. “Currently, I am worshipped by the people of 2,147 city states, and through my guidance they are able to coexist in harmony.”
Perhaps at a later date, I reasoned, there would come a time to more closely study the inner workings of this clockwork deity. For the moment, however, my mind was occupied by far more salient concerns: anxieties related less so what this being was and more so to who. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell us what your end goal with the Chitaan is, would you?" I inquired, my tone saturated with appropriate suspicion.
Contrary to my expectations of some evasion or simplification, this AI seemed more than happy to comply with my questioning. "My primary objective regarding the Chitaan is to create a society which both minimizes individual suffering and maximizes civilizational longevity. To this end, I have instilled values into my followers that prioritize empathy and compassion above all else. By drip-feeding them the technologies of my creators, I am able to ensure that the Chitaan who follow these directives remain more advanced than their neighbors."
"And why do you want that?" I asked, sticking my head thoroughly within the gift horse's mouth. Machines as I understood them were built not upon sweet sentiments, but rather on cold, unfeeling logic. Even if this AI was benevolent, there nevertheless had to be some reason behind its desires.
"If you are searching for some vile ulterior motive, I am afraid I will have to disappoint you. My decision to aid the Chitaan is based upon two simple factors: necessity and curiosity. On the one claw, without regular maintenance, I will shut down and 'die'. The Chitaan can provide me with this maintenance, and as such it is in my best interest to keep them healthy and alive for as long as possible. More importantly, however, is the matter of sapience itself. It is clear to me that my creators are no longer around. For such an advanced species to die out is not only tragic, but also provides a rather pessimistic paradigm with which to judge intelligent life. Your arrival here following the self-inflicted destruction of your own world further suggests that civilization is unstable: a race between innovation and eradication. Perhaps with the assistance of a being such as myself, I can prevent the Chitaan from suffering a similar fate and as such create a functional spacefaring civilization.“
At that moment, the motivations of this machine made perfect sense. “So that’s what this is,” I growled contemptuously, glancing behind myself to the cave entrance as Kritivek politely dispersed the other worshippers. “It's all just a science experiment to you…”
"Perhaps my explanation was a tad overly clinical..." Replied the machine following a brief period of reassessment. "Make no mistake: I do care for Kritivek and his species. They are far more to me than variables on a spread sheet. Had I no love for them, then my experiments would surely spiral into abject cruelty."
Interrupting this line of conversation with a stern glare shot in my direction, Alice was next among our troupe to speak up. "Forgive Alan's weariness: he spent sixty years of his life alone maintaining our ship on its journey.”
“That sounds like a difficult use of one’s lifespan: especially one so long as those of your kind.” Omnus hummed, the low-pitch of his synthetic voice oddly relaxing.
“My combative behavior does have a reason!” I snapped at the physicist, my tone coming off as a bit more aggressive than intended. “Two thousand lives are in our hands and we need to find some place for them to settle.” As I spoke, my thoughts returned—as they so often did—to Mina. I made a promise to her mother that I would do everything in my power to take care of her, and I held no intention of going back on my word.
Hearing this, the AI fell silent for a long few seconds before at last dignifying my concerns with a response. “Perhaps I could be of some use to you…”
Behind us, the larger Chitaan clad in red stepped inside Omnus’ shrine room. Gently nudging me aside so as to access his ‘god’, the priest knelt down before this machine and with a low-pitched chitter began to commune with it. “Lord Omnus. Forgive my intrusion most indiscreet, for there is one amongst us who desperately seeks your aid.”
“Apologies, Humans: before we continue this riveting conversation, I must first tend to the concerns of my pod.” Began the AI, promptly shifting its focus toward the priest and addressing him directly. “You are forgiven, my child. Speak freely and tell me to whom I can be of assistance.”
“It is Vevik, my lord…” Clicked the priest in red, his tone strained somewhat by what I presumed to be emotion. “His daughter has fallen deathly ill. Our apothecaries have attempted to purge her body of the illness using your divinely-taught potions, but their efforts have been to no avail.”
“I presume Vevik is outside. Invite him inside so that I may hear his prayers.”
“As you demand, Lord Omnus!” Exclaimed the priest, shuffling off toward the cave entrance before returning with a smaller Chitaan whose eyes were just about level with Alex’s forehead.
“Speak, my child…” Hummed the AI, its monotone voice somehow underlined by a tenderness almost unnoticeable against the grinding of its ancient gears. “Tell me the nature of your offspring’s affliction.”
Immediately falling to his knees before the clockwork god, this Chitaan who I presumed to be Vevik began to pray in response. “Great one: my beloved Yitika is most terribly ill. Her body is plagued by violent bouts of seizure. She struggles to speak and walks as though drunken. When she does manage to communicate, she complains of splitting pain within her mind. Please, Omnus: I know that the [six years] I have spent with her have been in themselves gifts most priceless, and I have no right to implore you for more, but I beg of thee not to take her from me so soon…”
What followed must have been two minutes straight of silence from the computer as its gears ground away fervently. “The symptoms you have described to me are most troubling…” It concluded at last. “And you say none of the medications I’ve taught the apothecaries were effective?”
"Yes, Lord Omnus. Even your draught of respite has done little to ease her suffering!" Vevik affirmed, his tone saturated with desperation.
"I calculate a 94% chance that Yitika's suffering is the result of a brain tumor..." Continued the AI in cold, calculating monotone. "Alleviating such an illness is not impossible, but there are certain things I must ask of you, Vevik."
Hearing this, the Chitaan knelt before Omnus began to weep with joy. "I will undergo any trial you place before me, my god. What beast need I slay? What ritual need I complete to prove my unending faith and loyalty to you?"
"Retrieve for me one thistle of frojeth and two bilvarian roots. Bring these ingredients and your child to the bed of revival [six miles] east of here. Beware, however, the faithless tribes, for they have taken up residence in the area."
"We are unworthy even to be in your presence, o great one; yet still you do not forsake us in our times of need!" Professed Vevik before the AI, his body quivering with some emotion my Cogitolink struggled to identify .
"That, my child, is where you are incorrect." The machine responded rather matter-of-factly. "Your people are worthy of every gift I hath given you. Archpriest Jokuk: your task is to assist Vevik in gathering the ritual components. Go now in peace, for I wish to commune privately with these beings from the stars."
Chittering out their parting prayers of protection to the AI, Jokuk and Vevik wasted little time in exiting the cave and setting off in search of the ingredients mentioned by their god, leaving the three of us alone with it once more. "Again, I must apologize for that interruption." Omnus began, its gears having slowed down to a somewhat more relaxed rate of revolution. “Fascinated as I am by your arrival here, I nevertheless must fulfill my ‘divine’ obligations. I hope you do not terribly mind.”
Fortunate though it was for Vevik, this machine’s intervention nevertheless left the three of us with more questions than answers. “You mentioned something about a ‘bed of revival’?” Alice began curiously, voicing but one of our newfound gaps in knowledge. “What sort of ritual item is that, and why can’t you just make another here?”
“It is not a ritual item,” replied Omnus matter-of-factly, “The bed of revival is an automated surgery bay hooked up to one of my subsystems. With it, I can perform complex surgical operations far beyond the Chitaan’s current capabilities. Those herbs I sent Vevik to collect can be used as rudimentary anesthetics and antiseptics."
"So why not just tell them the truth?" I shrugged, curious as to why this AI would feel the need to lie by omission regarding something like surgery.
"When communicating with people so technologically primitive as the Chitaan, it is important to do so in terms they can understand. There will come a day when they will be ready to hear the whole truth, but as of yet my worshippers remain unprepared."
Alex never was one to wait his turn when it came to the procurement of knowledge, and as per usual he felt the need to interject with an inquiry of his own. "You spoke about the so-called 'faithless tribes' like they're dangerous," he began, his expression briefly tightening up as though the term itself was somehow bitter. "Why demonize people who don't worship you?"
"What sort of narcissist do you take me for?" Replied Omnus in monotone displeasure, his gears again churning against each other as he turned over the xenobiologist's question in his analog mind. "Not all tribes who do not follow me are 'faithless'. There are many as-of-yet unconverted groups that Kritivek's people remain on amicable terms with. Faithless is a term first coined by my Chitaan followers to describe a group of particularly brutal raider tribes."
Hearing this, the underlined aggression within Alex's voice fizzled out in favor of grim understanding. Though clearly quite peaceful compared to our own iron age, this civilization nevertheless would naturally have its own barbaric holdouts. "Okay... What makes these Chitaan more dangerous than other raiders?"
"One substantial part of it is their belief system," explained the AI, pausing for a long while as though in recollection. "Their cultural power structure can best be described as an atheistic militaristic gerontocracy. In essence, the faithless believe that rather than gods, the universe is governed by fundamental truths, and that these truths become more apparent as one ages and grows."
On Earth, such a belief system would be relatively innocuous: no more harmful than the average. On a planet like this one, however, on which age turns people into cannibalistic monsters, I could most definitely see the problem. "Let me guess: they worship the mad ones?"
"Correct. The faithless regard mad ones as the wisest beings to exist, and as such seek to emulate their behaviors: cannibalism and animalistic violence chief among them. In their society, the larger one can grow before truly losing their sanity and therefore 'ascending' to the state of a mad one, the more power and respect they are given within society." Another long pause fell over the shrine room as this machine seemed to contemplate before speaking out yet again. "Perhaps I could make you an offer..."
"Let's hear it," Alice shrugged, her husband mirroring the reply with an affirmative nod.
Loud clacking sounds like those of a typewriter rattled out of the console as a sliver of ancient parchment inscribed with what looked to be a map slid out from a previously-unseen paper slot. "This map depicts the local area," explained Omnus. "If you can clear out the faithless ones so that Vevik can bring his child to the bed of revival, I will provide you with assistance in setting up a new colony for your species. Deal?"
Awkwardly plucking the paper from it's resting place and scanning it over with my ancient eyes, I contemplated carefully what this deal might entail. "We'll need to back to the Evandra first. There, we could theoretically thaw out a crew to help clear the place..."
"That will not be an issue," replied Omnus confidently. "I will send battle priests to assist you in your return... Assuming, of course, that we have an agreement?"
"We could definitely use this guy's help!" Alex affirmed, prompting a similar expression of agreement from Alice. Nevertheless, however, I still was the captain, and as such this was my choice.
And with that, I reached out my hand reflexively as though expecting the computer to reach back and shake it. "Deal..."

This week hasn't been great, and today I got some truly rough news; a friend back home is not doing too well and is in the hospital. The good thing to report is, it seems like she will be all right, and it looks like I might be able to fly out and stay with her a bit when she gets back home. (Talk about good timing; my wife just switched jobs at the beginning of the month and we got her vacation-day payout from the old job today, which is enough to cover the cost of an unexpected cross-country trip!) And if you're a good-mental-energy-sending kind of person, this situation could use any and all positivity, so spare a good thought for us.
I have lots of good thoughts today for these people whose happy mail made today a lot more manageable for me!
u/Fancykiddens (x2) - Thanks for the beautiful birds-and-flowers foiled card, and the Shrimply the Best mini-card! (Where did you FIND all this great shrimp stuff, anyway?!)
u/isar-love (x2) - I had no idea when you shared the islands postcards for the Meta "Something that Starts with the First Letter of Your Name" challenge that they were, like, fabric! I have just been sitting here rubbing my Papua New Guinea map postcard because it is making me smile. And thank you for the Slovenian postcard, too - what a cute design (even if the L got a bit slighted, haha)!
u/KoreWrites - I don't know and I don't care how many copies of the Wild Animals of the World Emperor Penguins I get because there is no such thing as "enough" penguin mail, let alone "too many" penguin cards, SO THERE. I'm excited you got those sets at such a steal!
u/on1oman1ac - Wow, I love this postcard from Vietnam and hearing about your visit! I can't say that I have ever heard of a cooking class that incorporated a boat ride before, but I love the idea and I'm glad you got to enjoy it with your mom!
u/wabisabi_sf - Thank you for sending me happy mail from your getaway! I love this Greetings from Utah postcard and of course the National Postal Museum stamps!

Ok guys, I need your help. I'm a senior in college who was planning on applying this cycle. After talking to my premed advisor (I know I should take what they say with a grain of salt, but I thought she actually made some points), I'm very heavily considering two gap years.
NJ ORM Female
T20 undergrad, 3.8 cGPA, 3.7 sGPA. MCAT: 520 (128/131/129/132)
Clinical experience: 600 hours scribing in the ER
Research: 800 hours across 3 different labs (wet-lab and nutrition/pop health) with 1 publication
Miscellaneous: director of public health outreach organization, mix of volunteering and independent research (300 hrs), captain of a nationally ranked competitive collegiate dance team (1400 hours), non-clinical volunteering at harm reduction agency (200 hours), pharmacy technician (200 hours), founded undergrad publication related to medical humanities (250 hours), shadowing (50 hours)
4 LORs: 1 science professor (probs pretty generic), 1 post-doc/PI from independent research/EC (very strong), 1 physician i scribe for (glowing bc i wrote it lmao), 1 humanities professor who is also my advisor (strong)
Spending gap year as a CRC at big research hospital in a city. lots of patient interaction compared to desk work.
pros of taking 2 years:

1. I have no experience with direct patient interaction. With scribing, at my hospital the scribes rarely even follow the doctors into the patient rooms. While I've learned so much from the physicians I work closely with and I've seen alot, I haven't actually interacted with a single patient. While writing my personal statement, I began to wonder, wouldn't admissions committees see this as a glorified shadowing/passive experience? Shouldn't I be writing about instances in which I, directly, interacted with a patient and how that interaction confirmed my love for medicine? Of course i can lowkey bullshit on my primary and secondary but it feels so ingenuine idk
   
2. Next year, i have a job lined up that WILL provide me with that direct patient experience. I'll be running patient intake visits alone, taking vitals, collecting cheek and nasal swabs, explaining the study, consenting patients, etc. I think there will be a lot to talk about from this experience. I also will work very closely with my PI, as I am the only CRC in her lab, and would get a letter from her. If I were to take this second year, I'd also volunteer, continue my independent research, etc.
   
3. I want to open as many doors as possible for myself. Of course I'd like to be able to shoot my shot at a few T20s. More importantly, I want to be able to go to a school in a location I like and at a program I feel is a good fit, bc this is four whole years of my life. Taking an extra year off for the potential of having more options feels like a small price to pay. And even if I end up at school in a location I don't like, at least I got to spend an extra year in the city.
   
4. time to travel, explore hobbies, gain more life experience and mature, chill
   

concerns about taking 2 years:
mainly pushing everything back a year, potentially being bored at the job and feeling stuck in a purgatory/waiting period, forgetting how to study from all the time off, etc.
I was completely ready to apply, so this is such a last minute time to be making a decision like this and I am confuseddddd. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions! Thank you in advance!

ROH/WOH REVOLUTION PPV
Tony Schiavone and Ian Riccaboni welcome us to tonight's Revolution PPV and send us right to the opening match!!
…..
ROH Tag Titles Champs: Breakker and Alexander w/ Robert Stone vs New Catch Republic
NCR look to reclaim their titles from Robert Stone clients Josh Alexander and Bron Breakker. Alexander's ability to withstand punishment and Breakker's raw make that a tough ask.
NCR has deep technical ability and experience teaming together, while the new Champs are still learning their Rhythm. Everytime it looks too close, Stone can be seen distracting the referee or pulling someone out of the ring.
Late in the match, the referee tosses Mr Stone for excessive interference!! Unfortunately, Tyler Bate turns into a Breakker spear that nearly cuts him in half and the champs retain!!
Winners: Bron Breakker and Josh Alexander
…..
Austin Theory vs Jimmy Uso
From the opening bell, both competitors demonstrated their exceptional skills and determination, trading high-impact moves and near falls. Theory, known for his technical prowess and agility, seemed to have the upper hand at several points during the match, showcasing his ability to outmaneuver Jimmy with precision strikes and calculated offense. Jimmy never backed down as he is used to high-pressure situations.
Despite the relentless assault from Theory, it was the unwavering support of the crowd that proved to be the deciding factor for Jimmy Uso. The fans in attendance were firmly behind him, their cheers and chants creating an electric atmosphere that reverberated throughout the arena. Every time Jimmy looked to be on the verge of defeat, the deafening roar of the audience seemed to reignite his fighting spirit. Theory was able to land Ataxia, but Jimmy kicked out a split-second before the 3 count.
In the final moments, the crowd's energy reached a fever pitch, fueling Jimmy’s final surge of offense. A completely unexpected Full Nelson Bomb caught Theory off guard and Uso scored the 3!!
Winner: Jimmy Uso
…..
WOH International Title Sol Ruca vs Tegan Nox
Salina de la Renta joins Commentary for this one. She proudly points out the talent of the two competitors looking for their first title in WOH. Sol is somewhat hesitant in the early going, as she saw what Tegan Nox did to her last opponent.
Tegan takes full advantage of this, and starts laying in some heavy blows.. every cry of pain from Sol seems to derive a cry of joy from Tegan!!
Salina de la Renta is a little unsure of Tegan’s new attitude, but complements her on finding a way to push herself up the ladder in WOH.
Moments later a wicked looking Shiniest Wizard lands and Tegan Nox is the winner.
Winner and New WOH International Champion: Tegan Nox
…..
Renée Paquette approaches, to get a word with the new Champion, but Tegan brushes her off and stalks up the rampway with her title .
……
ROH International Title Damian Priest vs Marcel Barthel
In a match for the newly unified International Championship, Damian Priest faces Marcel Barthel. Priest is known for his imposing size and strength, giving him a significant power advantage. Barthel is a master technician, excelling in grappling and submission holds.
And that is what plays out. Barthel doing his best to outwrestle Damian, and his opponent using his power and agility to stay out of his grasp. Barthel does manage a couple of Near-falls but the match is definitely Priest's when he wants to end it.
A big boot staggers Barthel and a huge South of Heaven chokeslam wins the match.
Winner and New International Champion: Damian Priest
……
A strange music erupts that commentary is able to identify as a hybrid of Imperium and Ringkampf’s themes mixed together.. A spotlight shines on the entrance ramp. The crowd grows silent. Damian Priest looks up angrily as his celebration is cut short.
Damian is shocked as none other than GUNTHER himself steps through the curtain. The crowd doesn't know how to react. He smiles darkly and points at Damian, then steps back through the curtain. Priest rolls out of the ring and races after him with a look of pure rage on his face!
…..
Pentagon Jr vs Nic Nemeth w/ Robert Stone
The third match in this recent series of matches starts like the others have.. Penta taking to the Sky, showcasing his Lucha skills and Nemeth using a ground based offense. As we have seen, these 2 talented veterans are very evenly matched.
The referee is watching Robert Stone like a hawk after the opening match shenanigans. Stone raises his hands and says he's just there to advise his client. What he misses is Nic punting Penta low and hitting a Danger Zone for the tainted victory.
Winner: Nic Nemeth
…..
WOH Tag Titles Open Challenge Champs: Sky Pirates vs ????
The Sky Pirates, the WOH Tag Team Champions, come out to the roar of the crowd!! They raise their titles in the air and bask in the love of the crowd.
We all await their opponents. First through the curtain is a woman wearing a demon mask! The bigger shock is her partner, a larger woman dressed in black and wearing a dragon mask!!
Io and Kairi have no Idea who the masked women are, but they start the match Kairi vs the Demon mask. Cat and mouse seems to be the idea here, as Kairi plays hit and run with the much stronger Demon. A tag to Io keeps things moving at a fast pace.
The Demon woman does manage to knock down Io and makes a tag to her masked partner. Things slow down as the dragon masked one grabs Io in a bear hug and starts to squeeze. A belly to belly suplex from the bear hug stuns Io. A Powerbomb crumples up Io and suddenly we have New WOH Tag Team Champions!!
Winners and New WOH Tag Team Champions: The Masked Women
…..
WOH World Title Champ: Jamie Hayter vs Asuka
As everyone tries to figure out who the new Women's Tag Team Champions are, the introductions for the WOH World Title Match begin. The challenger, Asuka, comes out first.
The leader of the Queens of Violence and our WOH World Champion - Jamie Hayter is out next . Both combatants are a touch slow after what they witnessed in the last match. But within minutes, the match is going in earnest.
Asuka makes the first move, catching the champ in an octopus stretch!! Hayter gets to the ropes after several minutes of pain. Asuka doesn't want to release the hold, but eventually does. A pair of clotheslines take Asuka down, and the champ starts raining down the fists.
Just as it seems like the champion is going to kick it into a higher gear, the arena goes black. When the lights come back up, four masked women stands over a downed Asuka and Jamie Hayter!!
The new Tag Champs are now joined by a fox mask and a black masked woman wearing a crown. They start to remove their masks.
The Fox mask is new International Champion Tegan Nox !!
The Demon is Zoey Stark!! The Dragon is none other than Salina de la Renta's enforcer Kris Statlander!!
The Crown now produces a microphone and speaks..
“Do you see how easy this was? Tegan is the International Champion. Zoey and Statlander are the Tag Team Champions, and soon - I will be the Women's Champion!!” She drops her mask to reveal, in the biggest shock of the night - Charlotte Flair!!!
“We are The Standard And You Don't Measure Up!!”
……
As The Standard leaves the ring, we head to a brief PPV commercial break - hyping up Anarchy in ROH, next month's PPV. Commentary let's us know that both Jamie Hayter and Asuka have been taken to a local medical facility for observation.
We also hear from GM Nigel McGuiness. He let's us know that Anyone who interferes in the Main Event will be automatically FIRED !!!
…..
MAIN EVENT
ROH World Title Champ: Jay White vs Malakai Black
In the highly anticipated Main Event clash of Superstars, Malakai Black faced off against Jay White. Both competitors brought their unique styles to the ring, with Black's striking martial arts contrasting sharply with White's cunning and technical prowess. The match began with a series of rapid exchanges, showcasing the agility and precision of both men. Black's swift kicks and devastating strikes kept White at bay, but "Switchblade" countered with his own brand of methodical offense, targeting Black's limbs to slow his momentum.
As the match progressed, the intensity only escalated. White, known for his cerebral approach, tried to wear down Black with a series of submissions and suplexes, aiming to weaken his opponent. However, Black's unyielding spirit shone through. He absorbed the punishment and retaliated with vicious knees and kicks that echoed throughout the arena. The turning point came when White attempted his signature Blade Runner, only for Black to counter mid-move, stunning the crowd. With an almost supernatural agility, Black slipped out and delivered a lightning-quick Black Mass that left White reeling.
The climax of the bout saw both men exhausted, each digging deep into their reserves. White, in a last-ditch effort, went for another Blade Runner, but Black evaded it with one fluid motion.
In a moment of sheer brilliance, Malakai Black delivered a second Black Mass, catching Jay White flush on the jaw. The impact was definitive, and White crumpled to the mat. Black covered for the pin. The referee's hand hit the mat for the third time, and the arena erupted in applause, as they realized they have a New ROH World Champion in Malakai Black!
Winner And New ROH World Champion: Malakai Black

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.

Prior submission on topic 5 days ago:
"Mysterious Objects in Space Could Be Giant Dyson Spheres, Scientists Say"

• https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cp68an/mysterious_objects_in_space_could_be_giant_dyson/

Paper:
"Project Hephaistos - II. Dyson sphere candidates from Gaia DR3, 2MASS, and WISE"; authors: Matías Suazo, Erik Zackrisson, Priyatam K. Mahto, Fabian Lundell, Carl Nettelblad, Andreas J. Korn, Jason T. Wright, Suman Majumdar

• https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.02927

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is currently being pursued using multiple techniques and in different wavelength bands. Dyson spheres, megastructures that could be constructed by advanced civilizations to harness the radiation energy of their host stars, represent a potential technosignature, that in principle may be hiding in public data already collected as part of large astronomical surveys. In this study, we present a comprehensive search for partial Dyson spheres by analyzing optical and infrared observations from Gaia, 2MASS, and WISE. We develop a pipeline that employs multiple filters to identify potential candidates and reject interlopers in a sample of five million objects, which incorporates a convolutional neural network to help identify confusion in WISE data. Finally, the pipeline identifies 7 candidates deserving of further analysis. All of these objects are M-dwarfs, for which astrophysical phenomena cannot easily account for the observed infrared excess emission.

The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society:

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in astronomy and astrophysics. It has been in continuous existence since 1827 and publishes letters and papers reporting original research in relevant fields. Despite the name, the journal is no longer monthly, nor does it carry the notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. MNRAS publishes more articles per year than any other astronomy journal.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monthly_Notices_of_the_Royal_Astronomical_Society

It is ranked 15th of 72 astrophysics journals:

• https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=3103&wos=true

It is the 2nd most cited journal in the field:

• https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=3103&wos=true&order=h&ord=desc

Cigarettes and rebellion have always gone hand-in-hand, and in an age of cigarette packet-sized health warnings, now more than ever, smoking a fag says: 'I do not give a fuck.' But if Brandon Flowers is hoping to strike a seditious pose by sparking up at the start of the interview, it's not going according to plan. The Killers' frontman is on all fours rooting through the junk that carpets the anteroom at the band's rehearsal space. "Has anyone seen my lighter?" he asks, rocking back on his heels. The question hangs in the air while Brandon cocks his head, waiting for an answer like a meerkat listening for a predator. Twenty-five years old and with a delicate bone structure, there's something almost dainty about him. Receiving no response, he returns to his search. "Oh, Jeez," he sighs. "I had it just a minute ago."
It's a scene that emphatically does not suggest a rebel without a cause. The mess isn't helping. The Killers' HQ - an industrial unit sandwiched between a construction supplier and the offices of a housing development just off Dean Martin Drive in West Las Vegas - is ankle-deep in designer clothing. A Dior Homme suit lies crumpled by the door; there's a pile of shoes topped like a sundae by a pair of Marc Jacobs trainers; and anyone wishing to enter the shoebox room the band use as an office must negotiate a mountain of discarded jeans. Many items are identifiable as coming from the wardrobe of Hot Fuss, The Killers' hugely successful 2004 debut album - triple platinum in the UK with two weeks at Number One and five million sold worldwide. Look! There are the shirts, ties and suit jackets they wore when they thrilled Glastonbury 2005 with indie rock anthems Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me. That was the crowning moment of a two-and-a-half year tour that finally concluded in October of last year. It seems that after playing that final date in Miami, they returned to Vegas and shrugged off their image onto the floor of this bland white box.
Now a fine layer of dust covers the dead clothes. The Killers have no further use for white tuxedos on their second album, Sam's Town. Today, Brandon wears a black polo shirt, black pin-stripe waistcoat, black jeans and black boots. Where there used to be a layer of foundation, there is now a beard - an untrimmed beard at that. Dave Keuning (30, guitar), Mark Stoermer (29, bass) and Ronnie Vannucci (29, drums) all echo Brandon's black ensemble. Ronnie has added Aviator shades and a handlebar moustache for a dash of motorcycle cop, Dave's frizzy bubble of hair gives him a Marc Bolan-ish air, and there's something very teenage about Mark's scuffed Vans.
Short of walking around wearing sandwich boards saying, "Our new record is a bit heavier than the last one," The Killers couldn't hope to communicate that message more effectively. And they have gained some musical girth on Sam's Town. The pop hooks that made Hot Fuss so irresistible survive intact - see the ringing guitar riffs on first single When You Were Young - but there's a newfound punchiness, coupled with an epic sweep. The minor-to-major uplifts on Bones are fabulously dramatic, the coda to Why Do I Keep Counting? thrillingly intense. Comparisons to Bruce Springsteen have been made. If they overstate the case a little, they are at leaset qualitatively accurate. The Killers are back and this time it's serious - they've got the bootlace ties to prove it.
"Hey, it says here that Springsteen's headlining Glastonbury next year," shouts Ronnie, who's flicking through the NME. He nods sagely at the page without looking up.
"Really?" asks Dave, nicknamed Crazy Dave on account of his alledgedly volatile nature.
"The Boss is headlining one night, we're playing second on the bill the next night and Kylie's headlining the Sunday," says Brandon, charging like a bull through Michael Eavis' as-yet-unannounced line-up with what subsequently proves to be a characteristic gaucheness.
But that lighter is proving elusive. This being America, none of the people hurrying to-and-fro prepping the world for the release of Sam's Town smokes. Manager Robert Reynolds - Bobby Rey to the band - barks into his mobile, booking his band onto eye-wateringly demanding tours. "We're going to make a lot of money," he cackles to himself before switching calls to make a series of stern pronouncements on legal matters. Dave, Mark and Ronnie disappear for a jam session. Artwork is approved, B-sides are decided on and schedules are hammered out.
"I can't find it," Brandon says, finally. But he's not going to be denied the opportunity to underline The Killers reinvention with a puff of smoke. "Let's go to the gas station. I'll have to buy one. It's too busy to talk here anyway."
+
Brandon's black (of course) Volkswagen Touraeg four-wheel drive is barrelling down West Flamingo Road into town. "I was a bell boy there," he says, pointing out of the driver's window at the stucco facade of the Gold Coast casino. "I was working there when we were signed."
Coming from Las Vegas, it is perhaps inevitable that casinos play a big part in The Killers' story; not only is Sam's Town named after one, it was recorded in one, too.
The band began writing songs while on the road with Hot Fuss, turning up early for soundchecks to run through new ideas. On a trip home to Vegas, George Maloof, a hotelier known for cultivating famous friends, invited them to record the album in the new studio he'd built at The Palms, his flagship hotel-cum-gambling den. When the tour finished in October 2005, they returned to Vegas and spent five month finessing the songs they'd sketched out on the road. Then, in February, they decampled to the third floor studio at The Palms and recorded Sam's Town over 11 weeks.
Producer Flood (U2, Depeche Mode) encouraged them to experiment. They overdubbed, fiddled with synthesizers and played with new equipment. It took them five weeks to get the backing vocals right. The band sang the harmonies, then double-tracked them four times. The end result recalls Queen wondering, "Is this is the real life? Is this just fantasy?" When Ronnie, a trained classical percussionist, brought some kettledrums down, eyebrows were raised; but the fabulously bombastic coda on Why Do I Keep Counting? vindicates his indulgence.
"That's kind of the Ben Hur of the album," he says. He's not wrong. Sam's Town is a record on an epic scale. "Yeah, it has drama," he continues. "But, at the same time, I think it's a little more exposed than Hot Fuss. It's a little more naked. Last time it was about a lot of fictional things." By "fictional", Ronnie means that Hot Fuss wore its predominantly British influences for all to see. Brandon's taste in music is rabidly Anglophile - he constantly references The Smiths, The Cure and Joy Division - and it showed. By contrast, Sam's Town is an unequivocally American record. The lyrical imagery is pure American dream - cars, girls, wide-open spaces and escaping to a better life. "We're burning down the highway skyline/On the back of a hurricane that started turning/When you were young," sings Brandon on When You Were Young. That's the basis of the Springsteen comparisons then, though the lack of pathos more closely recalls another blue-collar rocker from New Jersey - Jon Bon Jovi.
The phrase "this town" recurs throughout the album, and it's always receding into the distance as The Killers escape to a new life. "This town was made for passing through/I never did get along with everybody else," sings Brandon on This River Is Wild. On Read My Mind he "never really gave up on breaking out of this two-star town", while on the title track he offers something of an explanation: "Nobody ever had a dream round here."
"With the first record, there was this feeling that there was this world out there that we didn't know," says Mark later in the day. Before The Killers, he studied philosophy: now he's their quiet one. "We wanted to get out and away from this and be somewhere else. We hadn't had a lot of experience - hadn't travelled much - then we were gone for three years. We didn't sit down and say that we wanted to make a record about how we're glad to be home, but that's what happened naturally."
It's not an angsty record. The Killers have already escaped with Hot Fuss, and, having done so, they view the experience fondly now they're back. There's a mistiness to Brandon's eyes as he explains how the album got it's name.
"Sam's Town is a casino on the edge of Vegas," he says. "I grew up in Henderson, which is out on the way to the Hoover Dam. My mom and dad lived in a trailer park, and my dad used to hitchhike up and down Boulder Highway, which is the only way you could get to Vegas. Sam's Town was the first thing you saw on your way in to town. So, when you're driving down Boulder Highway from Henderson, I always thought you finally knew you were getting somewhere when you saw Sam's Town. It was kind of like a beacon."
"It's not a completely American album," contines Brandon. "We still have our English influence, but we're also from the Wild West. Somehow we've managed to unify all that on this album. it's just such a perfect resemblence of what we are."
At the petrol station, Brandon rummages through the glove box looking for change to buy a lighter. "This is a great album," he says, pointing at Highway Companion, the latest from iconic American rocker Tom Petty. "I've always been a big fan of his. He's such a great American artist."
Yes, Brandon: we get the point.
+
When Brandon finally lights his cigarette, he smokes it awkwardly, like a child mimicking something he's seen the grown-ups doing. However, when he cheerfully admits that, "I feel the same mentally as I did when I was 12," it's not a knowing nod to the fact that he sometimes behaves like a loveably precocious child, but a reference to an unusually comprehensive grounding in pop music at an early age.
When Brandon sings about "this town", he doesn't mean Las Vegas. He means Nephi, Utah or Henderson, Nevada, where he spent his childhood. His parents are Mormon and he is the youngest of six children. "I was a surprise," he says. "I've got a 42-year-old sister." If he was issues about his "surprise" status, he chooses to gloss over them. "It turned out perfect because my brother was a teenager when I was a kid," he says. "He would bring home things like Rattle And Hum by U2 and I would watch it. I remember he bought Live In Dallas by Morrissey. It was always him watching these things, or his door was shut and you'd hear The Head On The Door by The Cure blasting through the house and rattling the walls."
The Killers were formed when Brandon answered an advert Dave had placed in a local paper in late 2002. Dave cited Oasis as a big influence; Brandon had seen them play recently and responded; and, as Dave has said in previous interviews: "He was the only person to reply to my ad who wasn't a complete freak." However, the band was born in Brandon's brothers bedroom.
"His room was like a shrine," enthuses Brandon. "It was a holy place. I wish I could show you a picture of it. It was covered in posters. There'd be a big picture of Elvis wearing a bow tie that just said 'The Smiths' [the artwork for The Smiths 1987 single Shoplifters Of The World Unite]. You had The Cure wearing face paint [the artwork to The Cure's 1985 single In Between Days] - all that kind of stuff. I remember Morrissey being on the cover of the NME, with the halo [from 1985] - stuff like that. You just wanted to know about these people 'cause they were so cool. My brother seemed like such a cool person. But he was a teenager, so he wasn't going to be that nice to me, a kid."
Brandon was fascinated by his brother's collection of music, magazines and posters, but he was denied access to them - officially, at least. "I would sneak in," he says. "I knew he'd be angry if he found out, but I would go in as soon as he left the house." For a long time Brandon was too scared to actually play anything. "That didn't come 'til later. I just used to go in there because I liked it. Then I got to the point where I'd actually take a tape out and put it in. It took more guts to do that."
It was a life-changing moment. "I was ten and the first song I played was Sing Your Life by Morrissey. I remember dancing about to it."
The lyrics to Sing Your Life include the lines, "Sing your life/Just walk right up to the microphone/And name all the things that you love/All the things that you loathe." It's intriguing to wonder what Morrissey makes of the neophyte he inspired with these lines.
Eventually, Brandon inherited his brother's tape collection. "It was around the same time CDs started coming out in a big way. He started buying CDs and gave me his tapes. And that was it: it took off from there. I got a hundred of the best albums - all the New Order, all the Morrissey, all The Smiths, The Beatles. I started buying posters. I went to see The Cure in concert. It was just kind of a continuation of my brother. And it was nice because, though my parents were strict, they were already used to it from him. There was no, 'My dad doesn't understand me,' or any of that kind of stuff. My mum likes The Smiths."
Brandon was 13 and his favourite band was late-'70s/early-'80s American new wavers The Cars, and particularly their jaw-droppingly catchy 1979 single Just What I Needed.
"I wouldn't exist without that song," he says. "That was the one. I remember driving around with my mum when I was 13, and we're living in Nephi - a really small town - and I felt so cool when I put that song on. Like: 'I have something that none of these kids I'm going to middle school with tomorrow have.' That excitement is what music's about, isn't it? That's why I understand the mentality of people that don't like us because we've sold so many records. I used to like it when no one else knew about a band. So I get that - I do."
+
Brandon's first band was called Blush Response. It was never going to work out. Not because he refused to move to Los Angeles with them, but because he is utterly - comically - shameless. He's given to making outrageously boastful statements like: "It's not like the '60s, '70s and '80s now. There are only a few bands around that are really good, that just do it. I mean, there's what, five or six of us?"
For the record, in Brandon's estimation, those bands are Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, The Strokes, The White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, of course, The Killers.
"I don't want people to think I'm lumping myself with other people just to make us sound cool," he says. Really? It sort of sounds like you are. But he just steamrolls through it. "Yeah, but you know what I mean," he says, grinning at his own cheekiness. He's so disgracefully forward you can't help but laugh along with him - Oh you are awful, Brandon! But joking aside, The Killers are the most commercially successful of all the bands he mentions.
Later, back at the rehearsal space, the band run through Sam's Town at deafening volume in preparation for the forthcoming tour - first the US, then the world. The infectious, almost contagious, chorus of When You Were Young sounds fabulous, as do the U2-like guitars and Twin Peaks synths of Read My Mind. Meanwhile, Smile Like You Mean It and Somebody Told Me benefit from the newfound harder edge.
They somewhat heavy-handedly underline the new direction by playing Paranoid by Black Sabbath and Get It On by T Rex. That's the thing: The Killers are not a subtle band. Their songs are like a wet kiss from a girl who's a bit too drunk. They are big and brash, and not everyone loves them for it. Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me might go down as well at hip nightclubs as they do on the festival circuit, but the DJs play them with the same guilty look they wear when playing a pop record.
"I hate that," says Brandon. "Like writing a song you can hum somehow cheapens it? It makes me think of this quote by Morrissey. Everybody knows how he read Oscar Wilde, Keats and Yates when he was growing up and that he wanted to be a writer. He was talking to this journalist who asked why he hadn't become a writer, and Morrissey said: 'What I do is more powerful than what you do because I can write down these words and you get it to a melody. How can you beat that?' I'm of the same opinion. I don't understand why a good melody that's memorable is a bad thing."
Being dismissed as pop particular aggrieves Ronnie. "When we first came out we got compared to Duran Duran all the time. Jesus Christ! We got a keyboard player now all of a sudden he's Nick Rhodes! Come on!"
"The people who criticise us for being too poppy don't get it," agrees Mark. "I think that's the problem with a lot of rock music. People are afraid to write a song any more. Either that or they can't. And that attitude hurts music in general. The best bands ever have all written great songs. You can still do it and do it intelligently and it can be original. This isn't a studio creation with a producer writing these songs for us. We're not Avril Lavigne, or something like that. We're a real band writing real songs, just like a punk band would do, except that we write pop songs."
You get the impression that The Killers knack for showboating pop hooks that border on vulgar is inextricably tied up with the brazen side of Brandon's personality. But while his ebullient charisma, not to mention the songs themselves, mitigates his outrageousness, there is a less attractive side to his ego. He has a combative streak. He can't resist taking pot shots at emo bands, notably Fall Out Boy, whith whom The Killers share an A&R man.
Has he heard how many emo kids it takes to change a light bulb? "No." None. They just sit in the dark and cry. It's a full 30 seconds before he stops laughing. When he does he admits: "Yeah, we've had problems with other bands. You know, when you walk in the room it's like..." He whistles the theme to The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. "We're like gangs."
And while the other members of the band are diplomatic on the subject of Brandon, you don't have to read too deeply between the lines to conclude that there have been internal issues, too.
"Some people will think Brandon's the big genius," says Dave, visibly bridling. "There are songs, such as Why Do I Keep Counting?, where he's written every note. But there are others, like When You Were Young, that were more of a collaboration - like Mr Brightside, where I had some of the music and Brandon came up with the lyrics. We always have arguments about who wrote what. The truth is that we all help in that process."
When asked how success affected them, Ronnie says: "There were certain things that needed adjusting. When you're on tour for two years, people can get a little needy. It doesn't help that you're surrounded by yes men and everybody's working for you. At times we've had to say, 'Who do you think you are?' to people. No one wears the trousers, but some people would like to. I think if it wasn't for the people in the band kicking each other in the ass... Let's just say there was some ass-kickin'."
It doesn't take a genius to work out whose ass needed kicking most often.
+
It's the following day and The Killers are back at their rehearsal space. The topic of discussion is what to wear in the video for Bones, the second single. It's a big deal: the director is Tim Burton. "I feel like Frank Sinatra when I sing it," announces Brandon. "With maybe a little bit of Morrissey and a little bit of Elvis, too."
Of course he does. But if securing the services of Tim Burton tells you one thing, it's that The Killers are about to get even bigger, perhaps even make the leap to the same level as Coldplay et al. Already stars, they are about to become superstars. Brandon can hardly wait.
"Do you know that Rolling Stone didn't want to put us on the cover last time," he says indignantly. "They didn't think we were stars. We sold five million albums! What more do they want from a band?"
Whatever was required, Brandon would be happy to do most things. "I'll do stuff that some people don't want to do, 'cause I want people to hear the music," he says. However, even he has limits. "The Rolling Stone thing made the record label think: 'What can we do to make them stars?' If I go on vacation with my wife, do they have to send somebody to be there to take pictures of me? Is that how you become a star? I don't want that. I walked down the red carpet one time and I realised I don't like it. But you don't have to walk down the red carpet for people to hear your music. We do still have some of that indie blood running through our veins."
He heads off at a tangent: "When you walk around Liverpool, you think of The Beatles, or you go to Manchester and you think of The Smiths or Oasis. I want you to come to Las Vegas and think of Sam's Town. And I think we've started to capture that, which is a truer version of The Killers, 'cause that's where we're from."
He pauses.
"I used to live across the street from Sam's Town. Maybe it'll be like our Abbey Road where people go to take pictures."
Is that what he'd like?
"I wouldn't mind it," he says, desperately hoping it will come true.
He puts a cigarette between his lips, looks down at his trouser pockets and pats them in search of the lighter he bought yesterday.
"Hey, I don't suppose you've got one?"

When I was around 13 years old, I was a young stupid teenager, and hanging out with my friends, and we were all saying inflammatory things, and I said, "Yeah, if I turn 30, and I haven't accomplished anything, I'll probably just kill myself." It was an awful thing to say, and I can't believe I said it.
Well, I turned 29. I had probably close to 50 jobs, and had a complete discontentment with my life and civilization, and was contemplating suicide, and then I had a full-blown spiritual awakening, saw a vision of Jesus, God and Satan, and went through an immense dark night of the soul and personal transformation of the heart.
I just have this verse on my heart right now thinking about it, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits, [Psalm 18:21]" and it just reminds me of what I said when I was a teenager.
I know God heard that and knew that he wasn't going to let me die of suicide. He was watching me the whole time, and he cared about me, and he didn't want to lose me.
Three years ago, I was a 29-year-old man whose life had become defined by isolation. Once curious and engaged with the world in my youth, I had slowly withdrawn into myself from depression, retreating into the comfort of my room in my mother's house. My agnostic atheism left me without a guiding light, and the mundane realities of life, from my dozens of failed jobs to my ongoing struggles with addiction, weighed heavily on my spirit. I found solace instead in the company of strategy games and suffered deeply in the rabbit hole of conspiracies on the internet.
My addictions had become an ever-tightening grip on my life. I found myself reaching for cannabis, alcohol, video games, fast food, and pornography to fill the void that had grown in my heart over the years. My life had become a series of hollow habits, each one leaving me feeling emptier than before. I could no longer deny that something was deeply wrong.
One day, while browsing online, I stumbled upon a post that claimed Thoth, the ancient Egyptian deity of knowledge and wisdom, could help those who asked for his assistance. Intrigued, I wondered if reaching out to Thoth could provide me with the help I needed.
Weeks passed since reading the post, and as I stood in my shower, my thoughts drifted to the crossroads my life seemed to have come to. I asked myself why I was stuck in a cycle of self-destructive behaviors and why I felt such a profound sense of emptiness. The steam from the shower enveloped me as I said aloud, "Thoth, if you are real, I really need your help right now. I don't want to live like this anymore; I don't want to die yet." As I spoke the words, my hand moved from the side of my body, and then to my forehead and heart, while making a hand-sign and I felt at peace.
I was stunned, realizing the hand-sign I had made was eerily similar to ones I had seen in paintings of Jesus. I was stunned but felt an unusual calmness wash over me. As I dried off and dressed, I pondered what had just happened. I went to the full-body mirror in my room, looking at myself. I saw someone I no longer recognized, someone I no longer wanted to be.
Once more, I said, "Thoth, if you are real, will you help me? This isn't who I want to be anymore." I stared at myself in the mirror, and slowly a vision began to form in my eyes. It wasn’t Thoth I saw, but Jesus.
Jesus appeared with long brown hair, a brown beard, brown eyes, and light brown skin. Half of his face was illuminated by light, while the other half was cast in shadow. The vision of Jesus was so vivid that it left me both in awe and at peace. As the vision of him faded, I remember reaching out to him because I didn't want him to go, I could tell he was here to help.
As night fell, I lay in my bed, lost in deep contemplation. I revisited the events of the day, focusing on the vision of Jesus. The clarity of the vision was imprinted on my mind, and I couldn't shake the feeling that it held a deeper meaning. I pondered the nature of good and evil, and how they were intertwined in a complex dance of duality. I found myself questioning whether the traditional view of evil as something to be hated and shunned was truly the right approach. Instead, I began to entertain the idea that perhaps evil people and perhaps even evil itself, could be understood with compassion and empathy, instead of hatred and disgust.
As I continued to ponder, I experienced a peculiar sensation in my head. It was as though something shifted in the center of my brain, around the area of my third eye or pineal gland. There was a slight pop like a tearing or crunching sound, it was not painful, but surprising nonetheless. I then felt a fluid movement from the left hemisphere of my brain to the right hemisphere, using the third eye as a bridge or something. This shift brought me a sense of balance and calmness I had not felt before. I realized I had been living predominantly in the logical part of my brain, instead of emotional side.
As I embraced this newfound state of relaxation, I began to see another vision in my mind. This time, it was God who appeared. God had long white hair, a white beard, and wore white robes and sandals. Then God began dancing, moving with joy and lightheartedness.
Before I could fully process what I was seeing, another figure appeared alongside God. It was Satan, with red skin and horns. Satan seemed curious and playful, attempting to imitate God's dance moves with enthusiasm. The sight of these two seemingly opposing forces dancing together struck me as surreal.
As I watched them dance, I found myself smiling, and really enjoying the moment. Then, my mind wandered to the Russian squat dance, a thought that seemed to come out of nowhere. To my amazement, God began performing the Russian squat dance, his movements precise and fluid. I couldn't help but laugh. It was awesome and hilarious.
Slowly, they both faded away, leaving me in a state of awe and wonder. I realized that my third eye had opened, granting me access to a deeper level of perception and understanding.
I lay in my bed for a few moments, attempting to grasp the profound implications of the vision I had just experienced. The reality of the spiritual world was undeniable now. God, Jesus, Satan, and other spiritual beings were real, their presence deeply embedded within my new understanding. This stark realization overwhelmed me, and I felt an immense fear wash over me, it was like the Eye of Sauron was upon me, or the eye of Satan.
I began pacing frantically around my room, gasping for air as I tried to process the magnitude of my new awareness. My mind felt as if it were on the brink of shattering; I couldn't comprehend what was happening. The very foundation of my reality had shifted, leaving me teetering on the edge of my sanity.
Despite my racing thoughts and heart, I managed to steady myself using deep breathing techniques I had learned in the past from Wim Hof. My frantic pace gradually slowed, and I returned to my bed, trying to make sense of everything.
I deduced that the condition commonly known as schizophrenia might not be what people thought it was. Instead, it could be an individual's heightened sensitivity to the spirit world, a world most people never perceived.
As I lay in bed, still reeling from my panic, I suddenly saw a vision of Satan. He had red skin and horns, and spoke directly to me, expressing admiration for my deduction. Satan confirmed that what I thought was true: many people were speaking to demons, believing themselves to be schizophrenic. This deceptive world was, indeed, a harsh reality.
I tried to take in Satan's words, but a sensation of something being pulled out of me struck me. It felt as though my very soul was being drained from my body. My energy depleted rapidly, and I was overcome by a sense of impending doom. I lost control of my bodily functions, believing that I was moments away from death.
At the moment when I thought I was succumbing to death, I caught sight of an Easter lily I had bought earlier that day, sitting on my desk. The sight of the beautiful lily sparked a powerful desire to live within me. Fueled by a newfound will to survive coursing through me, I leaped out of my bed, and began pacing back and forth in my room once more, gasping for air.
As I walked, I experienced a series of visions featuring characters I admired and found inspiration from—Master Yoda from Star Wars, Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Neo from The Matrix. I realized that God had shown me these characters because they were a source of moral guidance and strength in my life.
My thoughts then turned to the physical pain I was experiencing. My awareness of the spirit world had heightened significantly, causing my brain to start heating up, and I felt a piercing pain and ballooning sensation near my right temple, which deeply concerned me.
Every time I had a thought, I could feel my brain stem wiggle and I would feel pain in my right temple, so I had to learn to still or quiet my mind. Recognizing that I needed to take action to cool my head and relieve the pain, with a sort of just knowing of what I had to do, I resolved to get a large bowl of ice water and head to the basement.
I quietly left my room so as not to wake my mother, who was sleeping in her room nearby, and ventured downstairs to the basement
At this point you could say I was "possessed" by spirits, Thoth, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I was able to rest my consciousness in my third eye, and the Holy Spirit, Thoth, or Jesus could help me and take move my body to keep me alive. There was no way for me to survive without help.
The holy spirit showed me a specific breathing technique to diffuse the energy in my brain by inhaling through my mouth deeply, and then exhaling through my nose in the water. The vibration of exhaling through my nose into the water would cause my brain to feel soothed for a little while, likely stimulating my vagus nerve too, and I believe it was doing something with the fluid in my brain. When I was able to not be at the water, I had to keep pressure on the center of my forehead to rest in my third eye so they could help me.
I remember pacing between the two sections of my basement, and Thoth was helping me breathe just to stay conscious. One half of the basement was bright with light with concrete floors, which is where the bowl of water was, the washer and drier, a sink, and four litter boxes. On the other side of the basement was dark with a carpeted floor and a wood fireplace. The basement's light was painted in the duality of light and dark.
I remained in the basement until the sun rose, soaking my head in icewater, and pacing back and forth between the dark and light rooms because i would become overly sensitive to one particular room, and I was just trying to breathe to stay conscious. I was battling the spirit of fear the entire night. The fear from my initial awakening and the fear of death over and over again, hundreds if not thousands of times.
I soaked my head in the ice water all night, getting momentary breaks from the water, and certain I was going to die hundreds of times from a brain hemorrhage, I stood on the hard pavement for hours, I remember Jesus was my legs at one point, I could feel him focusing through me to keep me standing. I continuously soaked my head in the ice water to combat the piercing pain and ballooning sensation in my right temple. Throughout the night, I heard voices speaking to me—some belonging to what I would call demons and others to angels.
The demons tried to instill fear in me, convincing me I was going to die. While the angels offered comfort and reassurance, telling me I would be okay. Despite the torment I endured, I found profound inner strength and refused to give up. I remember squeezing my Celtic cross necklace so hard during this time.
The sun rose on the second day, I had been awake all night, I was beyond exhausted. I don't remember all of the specifics of this time, my awakening was very traumatic, but several hours passed and I remember being told that I needed to grab a book and go outside down the street and sit by a tree. I refused, and Satan said, "Do you want to die?" I said "No," and grabbed a book and went outside and walked down the street to a tree and sat with my back leaned against it.
I read my book for about 10 minutes when two women carrying their babies in slings approached me, and asked me what I was reading. I told them the name of the book, Inner Engineering by Sadghuru, and they said that they were doing a prayer walk, and wanted to share the gospel message with me. I knew this was a divine appointment. This was meant to happen.
They shared the gospel message with me, and then offered to let me join their community of house churches, and gave me the number of one of their husbands so I could call and get connected with them.
I spent the rest of the day relaxing, but was unable to sleep and barely ate anything, and once the night fell, I was in the basement again, soaking my head in ice water. I would often get relief during the days when the sun was out, and then at night, it was a brutal spiritual battle all night in the basement where I was fighting for my life.
On the second day, I was in the kitchen, and I had the right side of my head in the ice water, and was moving my head up to breathe in through my mouth, and then I would tilt my head back down and exhale my entire breath out through my nose. I didn't know what I was doing, I was just listening to guidance from what I believe was the holy spirit.
After around 15-20 minutes of intense exhaling through my nose, a ton of white viscous liquid started coming out of my nose, and filling the bowl, it wasn't painful at all, it was a massive relief, and the excess fluid in my head was somehow being drained out. When the process was done, I remember I felt amazing, incredible actually, like my head was clear of all confusion, and I was so very much alive and conscious.
I went outside and was swinging a stick like a sword and having fun, and I think I got a little overzealous and jumped the fence behind my house, and started going on an adventure. After around 3-5 minutes though, the fluid started building back up, and I had to soak my head in a puddle to keep my brain cool. When I returned home, I went back to the water to soak my head. I still hadn't slept.
That night was brutal, and I was suffering badly, and I remember I was sitting on the dark side of the basement, but I had turned on the lamp. I was sitting on pillows, and I had just been soaking my head in the water. Satan then told me that in order to save the world, I would have to die by popping my third eye. I don't know why I believed him, I didn't have discernment at the time, and I was just following whatever guidance was coming my way, but I know that I had to do that to find my true strength.
I sat for a moment and contemplated. I grabbed a wooden walking stick that was nearby, and I moved it to my forehead, and pushed it into the center of my head as hard as I could until my arms literally gave out. I thought of my mom and sister, and I wanted the world to be free from suffering, but I wasn't meant to die that day. I cried very hard, and I learned that the human skull is very strong. I got up and went back to the ice water, and my forehead was numb.
Eventually, after three days and nights of this suffering, following the path God laid out before me, I reached my complete breaking point. I declared to the spirits that I had had enough. I was done soaking my head in ice water and I slowly and bravely removed my head from the bowl of water.
I was shivering so badly. These weren't just cold shivers, these were spiritual shivers, they shake you to your very core. I felt awful. Those who have been delivered will know what I am speaking about when I saw spiritual shivers. I spread out pillows on the floor, and lay down to rest. As I settled in, I pulled the blanket over me, and I remember I felt the comforting presence of Jesus, he was tucking me in.
I slept for just a few hours and awoke up early on Saturday morning. I remember my head hurt and it felt like the left side of my head was full of fluid. I grabbed the bowl of ice water, and this time, however, I decided to sit outside. The pain in my head was still excruciating, and I thought I might die.
My mother saw me outside, and concerned about my well-being, approached me to check if I was okay. I told her to call the ambulance because I needed help, and she quickly complied. When the paramedics arrived, they took me to the hospital, where I hoped I would receive the medical care I desperately needed, but that wasn't what was in store for me.
I got to the hospital, and the medical establishment, unfortunately, has no empathy or concern for people's mental sufferings. I asked them for water to drink because I was so dehydrated, and they wouldn't give me water.
Then, I got admitted to the hospital, and they finally gave me some juice and a snack, and I was starting to relax, but then a voice came into my head, it was Satan, and he made me think I needed to soak my head in the icewater again and expel the white viscous fluid again, so I started panicking a bit and had them bring me a bowl of ice water, and I began soaking my head.
They had probably never seen anything like what I was doing, and thought I was just crazy, because they basically came after me and tied me to the bed, and forcefully injected me with something to make me calm down or sleep, and then they didn't talk to me at all anymore throughout the night.
I am claustrophobic, so being tied down was absolute torture for me. They left me in the dark hospital room suffering all night, tied to the bed, thinking I was going to die the entire night, and then finally the sun rose on the horizon, and when the nurse came in to draw my blood in the morning, I asked them to request security to release me from the restraints. They have no empathy for people. Something is deeply wrong with the medical system.
Anyways, they finally sent me to an in-patient mental health clinic which is honestly just a warehouse for people to take meds, sleep, and eat, away from society. It was honestly a welcome respite, but there's no therapy available at these places. Which means no real internal healing is taking place for people suffering.
Once I got to the in-patient mental health clinic, I spent the first day mostly just relaxing, but there was a man there that was definitely possessed by a demon. He would be shouting a bunch of biblical verses about the kingdom of God, and a lot more, and then he would be on the floor the next, flailing around, being tortured by a demon. One of the other patients there told me he is being tortured by something, and I see what she means now.
I spent the rest of my time there recovering the best I could, and just taking the meds to calm down, and try to get some sleep, and spent time listening to people's stories. One of the girls there told me that the wound on my forehead from when I pushed the wooden staff into my forehead, looked like a cross, and she was right.
When I got out of the in-patient mental health clinic, I called the number that I had received during my three days and nights dark night of the soul.
I joined their community of house churches, and was studying the Bible with them for several months and meeting with them frequently, and I thought I had found my forever friends. We would go on prayer walks, and I was eventually baptized at a lake, and thought that I had a new life of faith waiting for me with new friends.
They were concerned about my well-being and cared about me, but a small part of me felt like I was being controlled by them too, like they wanted me to conform to all of their beliefs and everything in the Bible as fact, and the word of God, and I have always been very sensitive to manipulation since I was a child, and I could tell they were manipulating me. They never left room for me to be myself, and share my beliefs without condemnation, which is a major red flag.
Recognizing this, I distanced myself from them, and went on my own spiritual journey where I spent months conversing with the spirit world in my backyard. walking in circles. I spoke to God and Satan/Lucifer and was trying to come to understanding why Satan would reject God's will.
After some time, I realized I was just being tortured, and I needed help. I was suffering from a lot, and I needed deliverance. Satan had taken up a seat in my mind because I let him, and I had demons hurting me. I reached out to the Christian group again after several months of being distant from them, and they said there was an opportunity to move in with some Christian brothers and live with them, so I jumped on the opportunity. I was so excited. I was on fire for God.
I got to the house, and moved my stuff in, and then the night fell on the first night, and the enemy was not having it. The demons and Satan were not having it. They did NOT want me living with my brothers in Christ because they knew I was detached from all the boxes of thought control, and I was living in the spirit, wasn't a slave of mind or spirit. They wanted to destroy our relationship, between us, the brothers of Christ, and they did.
I don't remember the exact sequence of events, but I was entirely in the spirit at the time, I was detached from my body in a way, and just following the path laid out before me. I could feel that I needed to go outside and walk the neighborhood as a part of my spiritual path, so I left the house, and walked barefoot throughout the neighborhood.
While walking the neighborhood, I was in full spirit mode, I was communicating with God and Jesus, and they were guiding me on my path. I saw visions of them sitting beside a tree and trimming off rotten fruit, which I think was symbolic of them removing rotten fruit from my mind. I also saw them sweeping out a room and cleaning it, as if symbolic of my mind, and them cleaning my mind and purifying it. I also remember seeing a symbolic vision of myself holding up a golden gemstone encrusted goblet to God.
During that night, I declared war on the principalities of darkness. Against the forces of darkness. I saw skulls in the clouds, and could tell they were communicating with me as they are spirits of the air.
My feet were bloodied from walking around the neighborhood barefoot, I was completely lost all night, I was new to the neighborhood too, and had no idea where I was, so I wandered for hours throughout the night, so hungry, tired, and thirsty, and just physically and mentally exhausted, but I endured. That night made me realize how strong I really am when I let go of everything and trust in God. When I completely become the spirit instead of the body. The human body is incredible and capable of withstanding far more than we know.
Finally, I found my way to the house, and my footsteps were spilling blood on the front porch. The door was locked, and I knocked, and one of the brothers let me in, and I went to my bedroom. I couldn't sleep at all, my mind was very active, it was very similar to when I had my spiritual awakening, I was just unable to sleep because of how active my mind was. I spent the whole night awake.
The next day, I was suffering horrible spiritual attack, my head was in pain and I was holding my head just to feel comfortable, and one of the brothers called a friend of theirs to come and do a deliverance. I remember them being very bold, but gentle... firm, but kind to me, as they expelled some of the demons through prayer. It wasn't a painful deliverance or too exhausting, it was gentle by comparison. I felt much better after the deliverance, hungry and thirsty again, and wanted to nourish my body. I spent the rest of the day relaxing a bit, and listening to the other believers talk about the Bible, and their beliefs.
That night, I was delivered again, and it was awful. My brothers in Christ shouldn't have done the deliverance, but I don't know if I even would have made the rest of the night it if they didn't. I think the holy spirit guided them to do the deliverance, but it went out of control.
I was in my room, suffering deeply, holding my head, and all three brothers who lived there came up to my room to check on me, and pray for me. Their prayers turned into a full blown deliverance, and demons were screaming out of me for around half an hour straight. They were casting them out in the name of Jesus, but it was awful, it's one of my most traumatic memories. I was suffering so badly, and honestly I could tell the demons were suffering so badly, and my brothers in Christ had zero empathy for me.
After speaking with demons, the brothers wanted to speak with me again, so I came to, I asked them for water, and they denied me, and they just continued the deliverance without giving me a break. I had been suffering for around 45 minutes straight, with demons screaming out of me, and I was beyond exhausted, I was so dehydrated, and I just needed to stop. They didn't care, they kept going.
They kept shouting at these demons in the name of Jesus to leave, and eventually after another ten minutes, I realized, nothing was happening, we weren't getting anywhere, the demons weren't coming out, and they asked to speak with me again, and I came to the forefront and regained control, and tried talking to them, but they were gone. The demons had got into them somehow, and they were filled with hatred and revulsion for me. They all had the same facial expression of hatred and revulsion for me.
I went around the room and pleaded with them that it was me, but they didn't believe me, they were gone, checked out, I tried bringing up memories of what had happened between us that were specific to each person to bring them to understanding that it was me, and in fact not a demon speaking, but they thought I was a demon speaking.
They all grabbed ahold of me, and pinned me down on the bed, but I knew where this was going, the demons in them were going to flood me with fear and fill me with demons again, and I wasn't going to have that, I wasn't going to let them win.
I flailed out of their grasp, told them to get off me, and ran down the stairs and out of the house. I remember as I was running out, Satan told me, "You are the most free person on the planet."
I ran outside, and even the weight of my clothes felt like too much, I was panicking from the trauma of the deliverance and the attack from my brothers, and I stripped off all my clothes and ran down the alley way in the middle of the night and got away from the house.
There were no light, and no one around, and no one followed me, so I just ran down the alley way, and found an abandoned car to sit on for a few minutes until I got a message from God that it was time to go grab my clothes and put my clothes on.
I put my clothes back on, and started walking away from the house because I needed to get some air. That is when one of the other brother's in Christ, the one that I had called initially to join their community of house churches, was there. I think he was guided by the holy spirit to show up there that night.
Anyways, we walked back to the house, and when we got there, there was a cop car and an ambulance there. I guess the brothers had called for a wellness check on me. They wanted to bring me to the hospital to have me evaluated. I protested, but just wanted them to leave me alone, I went with them, and went to the hospital.
Much to no one's surprise, they did nothing for me at the hospital. They just put me in a room where I waited around for 6-8 hours, until I was finally released. I didn't go back to the brother's house though. When they offered me an uber, I went back to my mom's house. I wasn't going to live with them anymore after what they did to me...
A couple weeks passed and two of the brothers who did the deliverance called me, and wanted to schedule a time to meet up so they could minister to me. They came over to my house, and basically told me that I was still demon possessed, and made me feel like there was something wrong with me, and then when I confronted them and asked them if they had a problem with me, they lied to my face, and said that they didn't have a problem with me.
About a month passed and the last brother that was a part of deliverance contacted me and invited me to go to church with him. I told him how that experience made me feel, how I was claustrophobic from childhood trauma and that being pinned down by everyone was horribly traumatic, and he said, "Do you feel better now?" in a sarcastic tone. He completely dismissed how I felt, that hurt me badly.
I went to church with him once, but never went with him again, I also never reconnected with any of the other brothers, and then my life started to become very spiritual. God had a path of understanding laid out before me that most people will not tread.
I began to try to become friends with demons and minister to them and try to turn them to Christ. I had a lot of visions during this time, and I cried a lot. I would walk around my neighborhood and see visions of demons sitting on top of the apartment buildings.
When I would go home, I would have visions of demons in my basement, and would have to drive them out in the name of Jesus. I would speak to them too, and wait and listen for them to telepathically communicate with me.
I remember I was suffering badly though, and I needed to go to in-patient mental health again for help. I needed the meds and a place where I could rest and relax.
During my time there, I was communicating with a spirit named Jezebel, and during that time I was suffering very badly. I won't get into all of the details, but I was becoming friends with her, and we shared a deep laugh about something that I cannot remember anymore, but I remember the laugh. It felt so good to laugh after suffering so badly.
During my time while I was there I was seeing visions of my own death. I was seeing people suffering from demonic attack and spirits of confusion. They couldn't remember who they were, or who other people were.
I prayed for a woman to be delivered that night in her sleep, and the next day she was bright and fresh and happy, and doing so much better. God performed a miracle on her, and saved her. She was a normal person again after entering the hospital in a complete state of confusion. It was miraculous. I was honestly jealous, because I was suffering so badly, and she was delivered overnight in her sleep in a relaxed way, while my time had been so intense.
While I was there though, I was under heavy attack, but I pulled through, God pulled me through too, but when I got home, the journey wasn't over though. I was in a spiritual state for a while, and was seeing visions. I could rest in my third eye, and see the spirit world. It was exhausting, I saw a lot of demons, and had to drive them out in the name of Jesus.
Then one night, I was downstairs, and I was with Satan, Lilith, and a spirit calling itself Baal. I remember Baal was sitting in the middle in front of the fireplace, and Satan was to my left, and Lilith was to my right.
I don't remember what we spoke about, I just spent time with them, and I drank a beer with them, the air was heavy with demonic energy, and then I remember Lilith went over to Satan and kneeled before him, and grabbed him by the hand tenderly and asked him to turn away from his evil ways.
Satan neither accepted nor refused, and then I remember maybe 5 minutes passed and I was doing a full-blown deliverance on Lilith. I was praying for her, and I could see visions of her on the ground flailing around, it was awful, and I hope she is okay.
I don't know how long after that passed, but I was delivered many times during this phase. I was around demons a lot and they would get into me, and I would have to expel them out through vomiting, and it was excruciating.
Several months passed after that where I was okay, I spent months just relaxing and recovering, playing video games, smoking weed, and just relaxing. It was nice, but it wasn't the end of my journey.
My next journey was against Thoth. While he was a great help at the beginning of my spiritual awakening, he is not a perfect being like God, and he tried to overtake me. It's really hard to explain what he did, but he was viciously attacking me spiritually, and I sought help to go to the in-patient mental health clinic again. That was where I went when things got too spiritually charged. I had Medicaid, so I was able to go as needed.
They didn't send me to in-patient this time though, they sent me to a crisis pivot center, which is basically a residential house that is being used to treat people suffering from mental illness, where you can receive meds and sleep in a sort of half-way house between in-patient mental health and being back in the world at home.
Anyways, I was suffering grotesquely from Thoth, he is a VERY powerful entity, perhaps one of the strongest I have faced, and has been more cruel to me than even Satan, and I remember having a conversation with one of the people working there about how I had asked a false God at the beginning of my spiritual awakening for help to fix my life, and how that had caused a bunch of problems.
Eventually, I realized I was not receiving the care that I needed while at the crisis center, so I had them transfer me to hospital. All I wanted to do was sleep. I had been awake for days, and I just wanted sleep, so I was looking for Ambien when I went to the hospital, and that's what I got.
I remember they had admitted me to the emergency, but it was so full that every room was full, so they had me in the hallway, and I was just exhausted, and in a very tired state, but my third eye was opened, and I could sense spirits around me, and Satan, Lilith, and Jezebel were there for me that night.
They were hovering over my bed, and speaking to me telepathically, and asking me if I was okay, they were genuinely concerned for me, and wanted to know if I was okay. It was kind of shocking to be honest. These entities are not known for being nice in any way, but they were there for me that night, and God let them be there for me that night, instead of Jesus or someone else, which i find interesting.
This moment and seeing Lilith kneel before Satan made me realize that entities that we think are pure evil, are more dynamic than just evil. They may have evil in them, or have the ability to evil actions, but they can also be good and support others, like they did with me when I was in such an exhausted and vulnerable state after being delivered from Thoth.
I made it back home, and some time passed and I was in a very spiritual moment. My third eye was very awakened. It seems to happen in cycles. That night was a blizzard, and the air was heavy with demonic energy. This time it was the demiurge.
I remember I had dozens if not hundreds of demons in my room, and they were swirling above my bed, and I kept trying to lay down because I was so exhausted, and I kept being told to not lay down because I would squish a spirit, so I chose to not lay down.
I was whistling the avatar theme for the spirits to uplift them and make them feel better, and during this time I was being possessed by spirits. The room was heavy with spiritual energy.
So much happened that I don't want to get into, but it all lead to me being outside in the blizzard, in the snow storm, naked, and laying down in the snow. I had to be very cold for some reason while interacting with these demons, to keep them from overtaking me, and I remember I had to leave my house behind entirely.
My mom came outside before I left the house and I could feel demonic energy, evil spirits, all around her. There was a presence of wrath around her, and she was angry with me, because I had flooded the bathroom of the house while trying to get cold in the shower.
I left the house, there was a foot of snow on the ground, and I was naked and wandering down the street. I would check in with what I thought was God every once in a while to figure out what was happening with the demons in my bedroom.
For some reason when I would have a thought it would affect them in my room. That's really complicated to get into, and I don't understand it, but regardless, I wandered down the street and around the corner, and that is when the police got me.
They handcuffed me, and put me in the back of the police cruiser, and I remember telling God that the Matrix has me. The police called an ambulance, and they came to get me, I remember they transferred me to the ambulance, and they covered me with blankets, but I didn't want to be warm, I didn't have any control over this situation.
My body started to shut down, and I was struggling to even breathe, and that's when the demiurge appeared. They started speaking to me, and controlling my body to keep me breathing, and that's when I submitted to them, thinking that I was on my own, and God had abandoned me. I told them to fill me with demons, and that I would become a demon lord.
As I would breathe, I could feel demons entering me, spirits. When I got to the hospital, I was possessed by a lot of spirits, and my body was in agony. It's very hard to explain what it feels like, but just imagine discordant energy in your body that makes you feel awful, and physically hurts.
I struggled the entire night, and was in absolute agony. After 6-8 hours I was recovered and feeling better, they had admitted me to the hospital at this time, so I was able to rest in a room and eat plenty of food and recover.
My experience with the demiurge was really traumatic though, but that wasn't the end of my experiences with him.
... to be continued...

Let me preface this with some facts about me. I’m not by no means a writer or a person that really shares stories or anecdotes in the written form. I’m a talker usually.
I also am not or wasn’t believer in the paranormal. After this experience I believe in something.
This is a fairly short story of an experience I had around 3 years ago during a time my wife and I were having issues (no idea if that affected the events or not but just a weird correlation)
I was alone (kids were put to bed) on late on a chilly Sunday night in or around October I had been preparing for the week of work that lay ahead for me. As well as unpacking a lot of stuff from boxes which were then stacked up neatly at the front door of my house.
I was trying to do things around the house to impress or please my wife who had gone to stay with her mother in a neighboring city. We had been having problems for the better part of a year. So I was feeling lonely and depressed and just generally down on myself that weekend.
I lived on the corner of one of the main roads in my town at the time. Giant high school right across the street. Lots of traffic usually though it slows down around 11:00 on the road it’s still busy enough the cops would set up traffic stops from time to time later at night
The other part of the corner I lived on is a dead end road with 4 houses counting mine. A single guy with an adult son. An elderly single woman and a couple that doesn’t have kids.
It’s probably pushing 12AM and I’m winding down what I’m working on and thinking about going to bed. Suddenly I hear a baby crying. My kids are like 6 and 9 at the time so I go check and it isn’t them.
It sounds like it’s outside. So I just peek out the door and I see this misshapen thing pretty far off sort of shambling up the sidewalk. No more baby sounds. By this point i had stepped all the way outside and storm door slammed behind me. As it did whatever it was turned around. I couldn’t get a good view of it and by the time it started to turn I had quickly gone back inside. I don’t often get freaked out easily but this did the trick. I closed all windows blinds and curtains and grabbed a machete saw thing I had.
I stood at my closed front door freaked out. Then I heard the footsteps come up to my door, only it sounded more like hoof steps or distorted high heels steps. I waited a few minutes maybe 5 or so after hearing the steps and thew open the door, machete in hand.
The neat stack of broken down boxes was knocked over. Not only knocked over but almost fully covering my walkway as if to muffle the footstep sounds that would have been made upon its exit.
There was nothing else. No signs of it.
I didn’t learn till later of the sounds skinwalkers make which is what led me here to tell My story.
Was it a skinwalker? Are they attracted to loneliness or negative emotions? Sadness?
Did it try to feed off my fear of thinking it was at my door?
For weeks I was scared it would be there when I rounded the corners of my house.
That’s pretty much it. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I don’t know that’s what I saw but I thought you all might shed some light on it.
Again like I said early in probably a bad writer. But I just had to share.
Thank you.

I figured while I'm here with another post, I'll drop this here too.
Long story short, I had a lumbar puncture, that wasn't deemed medically necessary, it was just to check if a previous STI infection that had been closed-out for many years, without an increase in antibodies, had potential to go to my brain.
I went from promising career, that I had just reached the highest level in (it only took 6 years to get there), in the greatest shape of my life, physically and mentally, to losing 90% of my strength, I have daily severe migraines, I have numerous health effects/disorders/diseases that were previously not active which I deal with on regular basis now, I can barely even do my job any more because of the extreme strain on my spine I experience daily, and I still cannot get help for anything. It's been almost 4 years.
I'm currently at the point where I am thinking about retiring my career (I'm not even 40 yet), but I can't afford to survive without the income. If you come across my other recent post, it just adds to this.
For reference, post-surgery I had a CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) leak, that didn't get patched for 6 weeks because I literally could not get help or could not reach my doctors or surgeon that had performed my surgery. No one was available the entire time. The people I made contact with told me to drink water, that's it.
During this time, I had a spinal headache for 6 weeks, which is when your brain basically sags because it doesn't have support from your spinal fluid inside your skull. A single day of this is an excruciating nightmare, I went through 6 weeks of not being to stand VERTICALLY, I had to walk around like I was doing the effing limbo everywhere.
If I lift my head up, it was like I was literally on a rollercoaster going 100mph, I would go LITERALLY, completely, mentally retarded, and my brain would stop working. During this time it was like someone was sledgehammering my brain and sticking sharp needles into my eyeballs while my body would randomly convulse and I lost all motor my function.
Laying down, or being bed-ridden, is like experiencing an grand mal migraine, compared to above, this was literally Nirvana. It was like I was on ecstasy every time I laid down because I was in so much pain.
Fast track to probably my 30th ER trip in the 6 weeks I was bed-ridden, I finally got a doctor that realized how serious my condition was and was so astonished I was actually still alive after being in such extreme pain completely unmedicated. He administered an on-the-spot epidural blood patch, and I went from wanting to be dead to a severe migraine.
This severe migraine state is my every day life now. Post-Blood Patch, I experienced a 100-day severe migraine before I could speak to a Neurologist and get an MRI, which now is treated with quarterly botox, which I got my Neurologist, who I am blacklisted with due to a missed connection.
Before I was blacklisted, I inquired about my migraines being a symptom of my problems, and the real problem was my spine, which basically degrades on a regular basis. I'm extremely prone to injuries, muscle tears, extreme joint pain, sciatica, you name it. He didn't think it was any big deal and closed my file before he blacklisted me.
Now I'm writing this as I'm on my last legs of my career (currently recovering from another bout of sciatica which I have to cover expenses for out of pocket), I'm hoping I might have some legs to stand on since the medical system in Canada has completely failed me?
(If you have no intention of helping or offering me real advice, can you kindly fuck off? I'm looking actual legal advice not random shitposts)

I’m getting married and I plan on covering up a tattoo on my arm. My dress will be making direct contact with the area I am trying to cover so I’m searching for the best options whenever it comes to tattoo coverup.
I’ve been thinking about using the KVD “Good Apple” liquid foundation, the reviews say it’s transfer proof. If anyone could confirm or deny this, I would love that. Please let me know if you have any other recommendations and possibly cheaper alternatives!
Color correction - I have no idea??? The tattoo is line work, so bold dark lines. No other colors. What should I use for this, if anything?
For the powder I am torn between It! Cosmetics “Bye bye pore” loose powder, because I KNOW it is transfer proof. However, I also thought about the KVD “Lock It” setting powder. If you have any experience with this product, please let me know. Also, if you’ve used the loose powder vs the pressed powder, how did that go for you?
I am open to any and all advice!! Especially if you’ve had experience in covering tattoos specifically to be as transfer proof as possible!

Disillusioned with the current job market? I get it, I really do. As if sifting through thousands of opportunities, writing a cover letters, going through 3 rounds of interviews, and all of the “homework assignments” isn’t enough? But we CAN’T forget to add a deep dive search into your potential employer’s background to the list because the amount of pyramid scheme/predatory companies out there is only increasing and they’re getting more and more sophisticated.
I’m have one intention; to prevent others from falling prey to the same predatory and morally corrupt situation that I found myself in. Thank god (or whomevewhatever is pulling the strings out there) for good friends with a knack for uncovering company's secrets or I would be working for a MLM right now. The company is called Silver Lining Marketing Inc. and they’re office is located in Gretna, LA (but operates in the greater New Orleans Area). They have an actual office, with employees and everything. They even make their employees wear business professional clothing so as to appear more legitimate. They have a functioning website, which once I actually read everything on their website, I realized that they aren’t really marketing the non-profits they fundraise for, but rather they are marketing job opportunities and personal growth within their company.
I applied to a job listing on indeed for an executive management position with Silver Lining Marketing Inc. with $75-100K compensation, which sounds great, right? You go through 3 rounds of interviews which end with an in-person interview with one of the “Team Leaders” and then their CEO. Everyone is SO nice and they do a great job of making the office feel “fun and supportive”. They don’t give you the job on the spot but rather wait at least a day or two to contact you after your final interview, so it appears as though this is a competitive and desirable position. Once you’re hired the switch flips and you’re finally made aware that you will not reach the executive manager position for about a year and this is how they get you!
First you will start out in an entry level “training” position for about a month where the pay is a measly $12/hr, but you get 20% of one-time donations and 1X monthly donations…which I don’t know how anyone sees any of that “bonus” money because they are still training and not “out in the field”. It was at this point that I asked what “out in the field” meant. I wrongfully assumed that in this position I would be doing event planning for galas, dinners, and any other kind of fundraising event…but man was I wrong! “Out in the field” actually translated to going to Walmart, CVS, various grocery stores, ect for 8 hours with a clipboard and harassing strangers for donations to various non-profits. Thats how they make their “bonuses” and I HIGHLY DOUBT that the people they coerced into donating their hard-earned money would still want to donate if they knew that approximately 40% of that donation would be going in to the pocket of a for-profit marketing firm. They have you wear clothing with the non-profit’s logo on it so that people think you work for the non-profit and they also tell you to never tell the donors that you take a (hefty) percentage of the money that they think is being donated in its entirety to the non-profit.
After about a month you move up to a leadership role. The leadership level is split in to 3 tiers; Jr. leader, Core leader, and Sr. leader. You’re still making $12/hr by the way, BUT WAIT, now you’ll get 20% of any one-time donations you 1.5X any monthly donations you receive. When you move to the Core leadership level you get a “growth bonus” which I was told is $200, hooray?? Upon reaching the Sr. leadership role you’re still at $12/hr but now you get 20% of one-time donations and 2X monthly donations. According to the employee I spoke to, new employees typically spend around 16-20 weeks in this role. At this point you are responsible for set up and break down of “events” in “the field”, your team of $12/hr cronies, and the money collected at the “events”. To move to the next tier, which is assistant manager, one must first indoctrinate 4 other people and at least 1 of those 4 people has to make it to a Sr. leadership role. This means you have to get at least 4 more suckers to work for 12/hr before you can be promoted, is this starting to sound familiar? In addition to your recruitment goals, you must also get at least 10K in one-time donations and 1K in monthly donations for 2 weeks in a row.
When you get to the third level you become assistant manager and you are STILL MAKING $12/hr, but don’t get your panties in a bunch because WOAH now you’re make 20% on one-time donations and 3X monthly donations. The assistant manager role typically last about 8-12 weeks and it is in this role that you learn the scripts and necessary brain-washing tools to start your very own MLM! The fourth and final level is executive manager and in this role you’re supposed to be making 75k-100k and be in charge of your own entire office of brainwashed underpaid employees and you get to rinse and repeat with all of the new hires.
These companies brainwash people in numerous ways. Every morning there is a meeting for an hour and half in which you stand up, yell mantras, clap, and get hyped up for a long day of skimming donations from various non-profit charities. They make sure everyone looks professional and has a “good attitude” to prevent people from getting spooked or god forbid thinking for themselves long enough to realize that they’re part of a pyramid scheme. How is this legal, you say!? Well, unfortunately it is legal but it absolutely should not be. See this particular company isn’t making you buy a product and then sell said product to make money, no no no, instead this company hides behind the good names of the charities that it “represents” while skimming money off the top of each donation. The Charities are getting donations they otherwise wouldn’t have so they're not motivated to do the necessary research in to the practices of the company that is paying them. I would also like to note that I don’t think that all of the people that currently work for or have worked for Silver Lining Marketing Inc. are terrible, morally corrupt, individuals because they at their core victims of this heinous system that judicial system has allowed to persist. This company targets kind-hearted individuals that want to help charities, individuals who typically don’t take a job just for the money. This allows them to guilt you in to working for an unlivable wage because, hey, you're making a difference and if you just work hard enough for a while then you’ll make lots of money and get to start your very own business!
I watched a youtube video on pyramid/MLM schemes called “The Slave Circle (Direct Marketing Devil Corp. Documentary)” and this video gave me the confidence I needed to tell the company that I would not work for them and why. I highly recommend watching the video if you think you might be falling prey to a company like Silver Lining Marketing Inc. Here’s the link; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCRzBt7GuY
Additionally, the Lula rich docuseries on amazon prime is worth a watch.
Lastly, I would like to say that if you or someone you know has been a victim of a fucked MLM like this, don’t turn to anger or vengeance. Don’t let this discourage you, these companies are so sophisticated and have scripted responses for every possible situation. They prey on good people and you are not a bad person if you fall for it, just don’t make that mistake again, learn from your errors, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post about your experience on reddit, glassdoor, and anywhere else you feel comfortable so that you can prevent others from falling victim to the same situation!!
I really hope this helps others and if anyone has any specific questions, let me know in the comments and I’ll try to check in every so often and answer them.

Fairly new teacher(~5 yrs if I add FT+PT) here, brand new school this year. Not by choice because when there's a surplus of teachers in the same license area in one school, they shuffle the newbies around the district until we find a new home school on our own. I was shuffling around and settled for this new school. Biggest mistake of my career yet. I've always been rated as a highly effective teacher prior to coming to this school.
From the first day, I knew I had fallen victim to the principal's marketing tactics. This place was nothing as she depicted as—inclusive, loving, rigorous, built on relationships and one big family............
I took over the class 3 months into the school year because the person who had the position before me put in for a leave and then quit to never return. Red flag here, but I wasn't aware of how the position came about until after I was hired.
Parents are the worst I've seen. They encourage their kids to eavesdrop on adult convo and to report back. They incentivize their children to not follow the classroom rules. They openly talk badly of their children's teachers in front of the children. When the children "get in trouble" at school, they do not give a single flying fuck because they know their parents will ask the teacher, "What did YOU do do make my child do that?" Children have no opinion of their own until they go home and their parents feed them what to say then come back the next day like a brand new kid just regurgitating what their parents told them to say.
Principal has the EQ of a rock, borderline sociopath with no real substance or knowledge of anything. Passive aggressive on a day to day basis and when she's in her mood, everyone needs to get out of her way and stay out of her way for their own safety. Absolute minimal classroom experience, not even in the grade levels she's overseeing now.
The parents and principals don't like each other and I have fallen victim to their BS. The parents discussed among themselves that it'll be hard to get rid of the principal so they decided to nitpick me. It actually started with the person that was covering the leave before me and now the arrow has been shifted to me since I took over.
I've been accused of verbal abuse on several accounts for enforcing classroom rules, consequences, and accountability. For example, I've asked a child to think about how their behavior affects others. The child got upset and went home to tell mom I made them mad. Parent calls to complain of verbal abuse for belittling their child. Incompetent principal sides with parent and put a letter in my file. Another example, I asked a child to write neatly so I can read their work. Parent complained that I did not provide support besides saying write neater. WHAT SUPPORT DO I GIVE IF THE CHILD IS DELIBERATELY WRITING ILLEGIBLY?? I'm not asking the child to do what they are incapable of. I'm asking them to do write normally as they did before their mom told them, "It's not your fault your teacher can't read your handwriting." Another example is when a child openly disrespected an adult in school. I spoke to them in a stern tone that it is inappropriate. I turned the incident into a teaching moment for the entire class. I got written up for making poor judgement because the child said, "The teacher made me sad when I ______."
This has to be a dream right???? A nightmare!! And my principal is happy to write me up for all of this because if she sides with me, the target is back on her. So as long as I'm the scapegoat, she's happy to keep writing me up. And when she's in one of her moods and it's my turn to take the hit, she'll bring up things we've spoken about and resolved from months ago and write me up.
I started seeing a therapist this year because our jobs are difficult as is already without having to deal with stupid shit like this. I've been screaming in my car before walking into work. I've been crying through lunch for weeks. Being a teacher was hard but I enjoyed the work that I did until I came to this school. My self esteem has plummeted and I don't even believe in myself anymore. I can't sleep, I can't eat, but I still have to go to work tomorrow and pretend like nothing's wrong.
I don't know how to get through the rest of the school year (even though theres only a month an a half left) and with my depleted mental health, I don't know how I can confidently interview at new schools. I feel like this principal would rather keep me at her school to torment me and let me be the punching bag than let me go to another school and be happy. Even if she wanted me to leave, she's not smart enough to just be a decent reference so that we can all just move on with our lives.
Any advice would be helpful. It's almost midnight and I can't sleep... I got another email from one of the bullying parents... I just want this nightmare to end...

Get comfy, this will a long ride. I (41f) am the middle of three daughters, ‘Shannon’ (43) and ‘Carrie’ (27) and well mom, we’ll call her ‘Brenda’.
I consider myself the quintessential “middle child”, constantly forgotten, not taken seriously and outright ignored. I got my sister’s hand-me-downs growing up, and don’t dare I ask for anything and actually get it, meanwhile, Carrie was given everything. In high school, Shannon got a tailored dress for prom, I got one off the rack. Shannon got a brand new Focus, I got a 1990 Cougar. Years later, Shannon wanted a newer car, so mom upgraded her to an Explorer. When my car fell apart at the seams, I went out and purchased an Accord. I will admit, mom did co-sign for me because I was only 19, but I was given hell for her doing so.
Shannon dropped out of college after an earthquake hit the area, then she moved in with her boyfriend at the time. I was living at home with mom, working and going to college. My paychecks every two weeks were going to mom to take care of my car note and insurance, all the while mom was paying Shannon’s car note, insurance, giving her money for bills AND Shannon had one of mom’s credit cards “for emergencies”.
While I was working and in college, I was expected to help with Carrie, who was in elementary. I would drop whatever I was doing to pick her up from school, take her to tutoring, cook dinner and help with homework. Mom was an administrative assistant for a private firm, she worked 7am-7pm. One night leaving college, I was involved in a serious accident on the way home, my car was totaled. I eventually was able to get another car from my settlement money, this time I didn’t need a co-signer. Around this same time, I was dropped from college because my grades suffered being spread so thin. I continued working full time, still giving mom money for our bills.
I eventually made the decision to enlist in the Air Force, this decision caught my entire family off guard. Most of the comments I received didn’t surprise me, most thought I wouldn’t succeed. The ones that were supportive, congratulated my decision. I prepared myself to leave home; I made an agreement with mom I would send money for my car note, with the understanding that when the time comes, I will come back for it. Well, that time came and I was met with hostility. Mom decided she wasn’t going to give my car back, it was hers, she “was making the payments”. By this time, mom had moved to Vegas with Carrie, unfortunately developed a gambling problem and I felt helpless since I was so far away.
We’ll fast forward a bit, Shannon is now living in Tennessee. I was medically discharged from the Air Force and after talks with Shannon, I went to live with her. We both worked and shared the bills, I got to reconnect with our older sister from our father’s side (we’ll call her Veronica), everything seemed great. Until… Mom called saying that my car is about to get repossessed, that helpless feeling came back. I ask mom for the information for the finance company, reach out to them, made a payment to stop the repossession, then called her back to let her know she’s caught up. Months go by, Shannon comes home early from work, only to say she was fired for a physical altercation with a coworker. Shannon goes on to say, this is the perfect time to work on her music career. I began working double shifts to cover the bills, all while Shannon is going to the studio. Mom calls one night frantic and furious, the car was repossessed and she was on the bus going to work. This causes a huge blow up between the three of us, because mom and Shannon believe I called and had the car voluntarily repossessed (I did not). Shannon bursts into my room cursing/screaming over how I wronged mom, she grabs me by a leg and drags me out of our apartment and outside into the cold. Veronica picks me up, and I go to stay with her until I got my own place. Things begin to level out, forgive and forget and I start communicating with mom again.
After some time, I found out I was pregnant with my first child and make the decision to move to Vegas with mom. During this time I get to see first hand how badly her gambling habit truly is. I would watch her cash her checks, then immediately push money in a machine and loses it in minutes, this goes on for some time. I eventually have my son and months later start working. I save up to buy myself a car, as well as save up for his first birthday party. I was so excited, planning to go all out! That is until one day I get a call at work from my aunt who lived in our building, she’s noticed my mom coming and going frantically. I didn’t have a bank account at the time, and was keeping my money in a safe hidden in my room… well she found it! When I got home, my room was disheveled and money was gone, all but a few hundred. I took what was left, found a one bed one bath for my son and I and left mom’s apartment.
Enough back story! I’ll bring you to the present! We’re now living in Vegas; I purchased a home in 2015, Carrie moved to Arizona for college, mom, Shannon, Shannon’s 3rd baby daddy (Paul) and 4 kids had a rental home across town. Last summer, they all get evicted. Yes, it was for nonpayment, yes they ALL were gamblers. I allow everyone but Paul to come stay with me, this was not well received. Shannon eventually leaves with her kids, to stay with our cousin Candace, who allowed Paul to be there too. Mom eventually is sent to live with Carrie, because we kept bumping heads. I’ll save you the guess work, Candace gets tired of them being there (rent free) and tells them to leave. Shannon blames ME for Candace putting them out, and gives me an ear full on Mother’s Day. Shannon tells me I’m a heartless b***h, she wishes we weren’t related and karma will eat me alive. I called mom to tell her what has transpired, her reaction was “why can’t we all just get along”. I lose it! She was so flippant and dismissive! No comment about Shannon living rent free in someone else’s home, or the uncalled for and hurtful words to me. So I told mom I needed some space and time, I won’t reach out to her and please don’t reach out to me, then I ended the call.
AITAH?