I'm looking at houses on List.am and I'm wondering about a few things that i don't understand. And I am trying to get some insite in these matters.
There are many ongoing unfinished projects for sale, assume this common in Armenië butt in Europe (Holland) this is not. Why is this? I understand that when you run out of funds you cut your loses. Butt normally ones gets the capital before builinding. Finished houses bring more money I would think.
Is the building off your own house a risky endeavour in Armenië or are the prices of materials not stable. Or are the contractors not trustworthy and need to checked constantly 🤔.
How is de building quality? Wondering mostly about the electrical installations. Is a earthfault measurement common and is the standard as in Europe. Looking at some older houses there was no earthfault safety only short circuit breakers. Are the electrical wire in the walls tubbed so they can be replaced or improved.
This worries us a lott we rented a flat near the opera for a while and down stairs the electrics was on fire. The fire department was called butt the building was not evacuated. Strange feeling seeing two fire truck in the street and most people in the building where looking at the fire from the building😪
The term Urgent is mentioned quite often at these advertisements and was wondering why. In my opinion this undermines you your position during negotiations.
Sometimes you see houses with a broken down pool and all is in a bad shape. Butt looking at the prices they still ask for a premium. Are these price real evaluation of a realtors or just wet finger guessing. And why place unflattering pictures if you no they are not helping to sell. I know if you have lott of land or a good location its worth a bundle, butt a shaggy hut with 1000 m2 in the middle of nowhere for 300k seems excessive.

Let’s start with I was told Saturdays would be easy. I get in early before scheduled and realized right away I had maybe 3x more packages/mail compared to any of the days I was training on over the past couple weeks. To be exact think I had 4 tubs of DPS, 5 tubs of advertising flats, tons of first class, handful of certified/restricted mail, scheduled pickups and so on. Didn’t complain or anything just got right to work cause I knew immediately it was going to be a long day.
The ENTIRE time I was trying to focus and case mail it seems everyone in the office stepped into my space to tell me what I’m doing wrong or just trying to start up conversation. I know many of them were just trying to help but when you have a ton of people telling you how to do things in a lot of different ways it’s started to stress me out a bit. I didn’t want to be the guy to say leave me alone and let me figure this out on my own but man I really wanted to.
My supervisor then sees the way I am casing mail. I was casing the mail exactly how I was told in academy and the organized way my OJI showed me for the most part. First thing she really said to me was “stop trying to do things ur own way. I fired the last person who tried that.” I was pretty shocked at this point and just said ok. Continuing on she then sends people into my case while I’m trying to work all morning long to help. I can barely move around in the case alone but with 2 people in there it was almost impossible. Just reaching over and breathing down each others necks for hours. I appreciate the help don’t get me wrong but yikes. We have a huge office with very little space to work with as is.
Later on she (the supervisor) just essentially tells me to throw the rest of everything in the truck without casing and marking packages and to figure it out from there. Starting to really stress now. The mail/packages that were marked or cased were worked on by 4-5 different people all of which organized it differently from one another so now I have to be the one to figure that out on the road.
Once I hit the road it immediately starts to poor which continued all day. Supervisor made me take the metris for my first time ever which is a bit different in the ways you have to organize and mainly have to get out every time you have a large or small package. Maybe a quarter into my route I get cut off by a bunch of fire trucks and ambulances on a one way street and literally can’t go anywhere for about 20 minutes. Didn’t even bother telling my supervisors this cause I don’t want them to either think I’m lying or complaining in a way. Little later on it is showing I should I have a package at a house but is no where to be found in the truck. No idea if this is my fault or not as again others were throwing around my packages all morning and some ended up throwing some in their own trucks to help out. I know if it’s not delivered though I’m going to be the one to take blame or marked up or whatever. Nice feeling.
During the last half of my route I was constantly getting called on my phone and getting yelled at for taking too long and to hurry up. I was just trying to accurately deliver mail and packages but they don’t seem to care about that just how much they are going to have to pay me as if it were coming out of their own wallets or something. I also want to deliver accurately to not screw over my OJI who has been nothing but nice to me since starting.
Towards the end of the route they made someone come out and help deliver the rest of the packages making me feel like shit. Guy was understanding about it but definitely seemed annoyed which I totally get as it was a Saturday night. I finally got back to the office and just felt completely defeated. Honestly don’t know if I have 90 days of this sort of treatment from supervisors in me. I have a college degree and wanted to try something different to the 8-5 computer screen job I’ve been doing for years but man idk. I do know I have A LOT more respect for USPS workers though.
Also don’t expect people to fully read this just needed to vent. Maybe I’ll come back to this in the future and laugh about it if I do stick around a bit.

I was driving home going south on the 12th ave bridge 20 minutes ago and got stuck behind the 36 which was blocked from completing its route by what seemed like an entire fleet of cops, a couple fire trucks and ambulances. One ambulence pulled out with its sirens on. That section of road was closed for at least 2 blocks

So your probably wondering about the title. I own a rwd coupe DD that Ive taken through winter twice now. So far it's tore through snow by divine luck but I don't wish to test my luck further. I'm looking at buying a Chevy S10 early 2000 or older for a all around beater car. Ive always loved them I don't know why call me crazy. It'll be my crasher, my hauler (nothing heavy and no trailer except bike maybe) and snow eater. I've heard mixed reviews they are amazing in snow with weight or they are garbo in snow. Would a Chevy S10 be a reliable winter vehicle? What should I look out for when buying one? What's the best way to handle snow in a S10? And here's where the resilience idea comes in. How bad of an idea (future reference) is it to drop a ls motor in? Probably could get a smaller motor and it would be more reliable in the winter (if so please let me know) but you can't tell me your not curious.
I haven't pulled the trigger on one so I'm open to suggestions for good small trucks
I'm probably gonna get smoked in the comments but if it helps me go ahead make me a house fire.

This is a long one. If you can stick with it, I’d really like your opinion.
Backstory: Over the last 10 years my mother and I became estranged, mostly due to her husband and I not getting along. He said horrible things to and about me, would get upset with her if she answered the phone when I called, she stopped calling all together. The only time we spoke for the last 6 years was when I reached out to her.
In October of 2022, my 23 yr old son died in a motorcycle accident. I called her the morning after he died, devastated. She said “oh geez, I’m sorry. That’s horrible, but I have to go roll cigarettes.” And she got off the phone with me. The conversation lasted less than 5 minutes. I did not hear from her again for 5 months, when I reached out to her.
At this time she informed me that her husband had prostate cancer, but they had at least a year and they were treating it. Over the next two months I repeatedly checked in and offered my support, and she kept telling me they were ok, that he was responding well to treatment and they were optimistic.
In June of 2023 I received a call from my mother. He had taken a turn for the worse and was being put on hospice care, it could be two months or it could be two days until he passed. I immediately began attempting to make arrangements for her after he passed away. She would not be able to stay in their house due to unpaid taxes.
Over the next week my husband and I pulled money out of our savings, began making arrangements to drive from Texas to New York, find childcare for 6 kids, handle our jobs etc. During this time I was receiving calls messages from family asking me when I would be up there to take care of him. This man told anyone who would listen that I was the most horrible person he has ever met, that he “wouldn’t p*** on [me] if I was on fire,” and alienated my mother from all of her children and grandchildren, but particularly me. I was expected to drop everything - at my expense, to go take care of him while he was dying. He passed away about 8 days after I found out he was terminal.
Not one person in my family offered to help with anything. She had no one else to turn to.
It is important that you know she is a hoarder, and that they knew for three years that he was terminal. They made no plans for her, there was no insurance, nothing in place to protect her, and they deliberately kept it from me until they needed me, because nobody else would help her.
I offered to bring her and her dog, her most important things and anything we could fit in two vehicles. We offered to put her other things that were salvageable into pod storage, and when she was settled we would have it moved here- all at my expense.
She wanted us to rent a 26ft box truck and fill it with her hoard, then drive it to Texas, and put it in my house. That was an expense we simply could not afford with such little notice. This was not good enough for her. We offered her a private room and bathroom, she did not have to worry about paying rent or utilities, buying food or necessities. We asked her for nothing. My husband set three rules: no smoking in our house, she would have to see a Dr and get more active, and be involved with her grandchildren.
She spent the next 24 hours telling my siblings and I that she had nothing to live for, that her stuff was all she had left and that if she couldn’t bring everything she just didn’t want to live anymore. She kept yelling at me that she didn’t want to leave any of her stuff behind. That is when she finally broke me.
Mom: “I can’t leave everything behind. It’s all I have left of (John).” Me: “Mom, I’m really trying here. Nobody is helping me.” Mom: yells at me “I know, I’ve been abandoned!” Me: “I’m right here trying to help you. I’m trying to be really patient with you, but you aren’t compromising on anything.” Mom: yells at me again “Well don’t!” Me: “Fine, I won’t.” I hung up the phone.
I spent the next two hours sobbing.
She told my aunt and cousins that I told her she could not bring anything with her, that I was going to force her to be around people she doesn’t know, and that I was going to make her walk every day. That I was trying to control “even the way [she] breathes.”
Those people she doesn’t know are her grandchildren. The seeing a doctor and walking was to help with her Parkinson’s.
At this point my husband decided that she was no longer welcome in our home. For the next three days I was attacked by my family as “selfish,” “abandoning” my mother, and all kinds of other things. Finally, my aunt and two cousins suddenly were able to go get her. Her stuff stayed in NY.
I went no contact for a year. My children also chose to go no contact, it was their choice.
About a month ago my mother was brought to the hospital. Her pancreas had a mass blocking the bile duct and she was jaundiced. After a biopsy it was determined that she does have pancreatic cancer. She likely has a less than 3% chance of surviving for a year. She is dying.
My brother told me she had told him she missed her grandchildren and wished she could talk to them. After talking to my family, and an insane amount of tears, I reached out to my mother.
I told her that I am aware of her condition. I took accountability for my part in the issues we have. I apologized for anything that I said or did that hurt her. I explained to her that in order for her to be able to have a relationship with my family, we needed her to do the same and be open to moving forward toward healing as a family. I just wanted my kids to remember something about her that wasn’t her making their mom cry. She did not respond.
Instead, she showed my cousin and aunt the text message. My cousin posted photos she took of the messages and screenshots from my social media of posts involving my children. My aunt, cousin and several of her friends have spent two days attacking my teenage children and attacking me. My cousin even tried to use escaping a domestic violence situation against me. They kept saying that they had so much “proof” of what I’d done to my mother and that I’m a liar, I’m looking for attention, etc. I posted a Google folder with screenshots of EVERYTHING- even the stuff where I was the a**hole. Then suddenly it became ”She’s sick, you should just let it go.” “She is your mother, you shouldn’t be asking her to apologize.”
Am I the a**hole for asking her to take accountability for what she said and did to hurt me and my kids, apologize for her actions, and be willing to move forward toward healing with her family?

Hello. I was working in the middle of nowhere, a bush camp. It was for tree planters. I was working as a sous chef and slipped on overly muddy steps and broke my ankle. Less than 24 hours after surgery they forced me to leave the hotel, it an attempt to go back to camp. I asked my regional manager and site crew manager if I could stay to heal, and they told me to get in the 7 foot high truck, for a 3 hour drive, only for me to need to go to the hospital again(that was in the small town we got driven to,) and then check me into a shittier motel. This is the town that is closest to the bush camp. My foot is on fire, I’m away from any delivery drivers now as it’s a small, small town. I’m waiting for Monday for workers comp to open. I’m looking for advice on how to stay calm, how to bring all of this to the attention to workers comp, and if I can sue-(yes, I’m pissed.) I’m very worried about my healing process now.

I went to Walmart yesterday. Parked in a spot fairly close to the entrance (couple spots down from the handicapped spaces in my row) and a Boomer Woman (we'll call her BW for short) is sitting alone in the passenger seat of the truck parked directly in front of me.
I was digging in my purse for something before I got out of the car to go inside. Suddenly, the truck's horn is blaring so I look up. Boomer Man (BM for short) has come out of the store and is back in the truck with BW, and it seems they're having trouble backing out of their parking space because an employee is gathering carts to take in.
Rather than being patient for 2 minutes until the guy is done, BM decided to lean on his damn horn for a whole 30 seconds, and when that didn't work, he and BW both got out of the truck to verbally accost this poor man who's just trying to do his job. This also didn't help, so then I hear BM yelling, "I'm going to talk to your manager and you are so fired!" He and BW proceed to angrily stomp to the entrance of the store.
I myself walked in a few minutes later, proceeded to do the business I had come to do, and went back to my car about fifteen minutes later. Boomer Truck was still there. Clearly these two were in no hurry at all, as they had plenty of time to ruin at least the manager's and the employee's day, when simply being patient for a couple of minutes would have gotten them wherever they were going quite a bit faster.

Hello, I am ordering a PCM/ECM for my 2013 RAM 1500 5.7 hemi. I just about got to checkout and decided to check another seller's prices and reviews between both. In the process I came across some people talking about having to re-program key fobs? Is this true? If so, is it something I can do myself, or am I going to have to pay an arm and a leg for it? The PCM I'm ordering is plug and play based on my VIN. If it something I can do can someone point me in the right direction of how? Will spend a bit of money to be able to.
FYI, I'm 99% sure its the PCM that's the issue. I tested the CAN system, the alternator and the battery, all with no issues. I have checked all grounds and just about every connector in the whole damn thing. The truck fires up fine, but with check engine light on and codes U0001, U0100, U0121 as well as all the EVAP issue P codes. As it drives, I get just about every service light you can think of, including the windshield wipers turning on, the entertainment system restarting, and recently I have had it where It drives, but wont let me accelerate and keeps RPM's around 1500. I have to go up a hill to get to my house and it just about doesn't make it. Wasn't like it was dying, just not enough GO to get me up there.

HELP! I am trying to remember what this segment of singalong song this show was called. I remember the VHS was a boy and a girl who jumps into a coloring book to bring color to the world. Green was frog people? Red was a fire truck family? And then blue was old men? At the end they sing together…please help me identify what this is called!

Steam Keys

1. 112 Operator x2
2. 911 Operator
3. American Truck Simulator
4. Amnesia: Rebirth x2
5. Amnesia: The Dark Descent + Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
6. AVICII INVECTOR
7. Book of Demons
8. Borderlands 2 VR
9. Broken Age
10. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
11. Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
12. Celeste
13. Corridor Z
14. Crusader Kings Complete
15. Crying Suns
16. Dagon: by H. P. Lovecraft - The Eldritch Box DLC
17. Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
18. Detached (VR)
19. Disciples Liberation
20. Draw Slasher
21. Drawful 2
22. Driftland: The Magic Revival
23. DV: Rings of Saturn
24. EarthX
25. Endless Space 2
26. Espire VR
27. Epic Chef
28. Expeditions: Viking
29. Fable Anniversary
30. Fury Unleashed
31. GameGuru
32. Go Home Dinosaurs
33. Going Under
34. Golf Gang
35. Greed Corp
36. Gremlins, Inc
37. Gumboy Tournament
38. Hexologic
39. Hitman: Absolution
40. Hoard Complete Pack
41. Incredipede
42. Inmost
43. Iron Danger
44. Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
45. Kerbal Space Program
46. Kingdom Two Crowns
47. Knights & Merchants
48. Lust for Darkness
49. Lust from Beyond: M Edition
50. Majesty 2 Collection
51. Metro Exodus
52. Monaco
53. Moon Hunters
54. Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
55. My Big Sister
56. NecroWorm
57. Neverout
58. Nex Machina
59. Niffelheim
60. Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
61. Old Man's Journey
62. Orbital Racer
63. Organ Trail: Directors Cut Steam Key
64. Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
65. Out of Space
66. Pathway
67. Pawnbarian
68. PGA Tour 2K21
69. Pikuniku
70. Pixplode
71. Popup Dungeon
72. Port Royale 4
73. Post Void
74. Puzzle Kingdoms
75. Race Injection
76. Radio Commander
77. Railroad Corporation
78. Razor2: Hidden Skies
79. Ring of Pain
80. Roarr! Jurassic Edition
81. RPG Maker VX
82. Rustler
83. Sairento VR
84. Say No! More
85. Shelter
86. Shing!
87. Skullgirls 2nd Encore
88. Slay the Spire
89. Slinger VR
90. Soulblight
91. Star Trek: Bridge Crew (VR)
92. Starbound
93. State of Mind
94. Sunset Overdrive
95. SUPERHOT
96. Supraland
97. Supreme Commander 2
98. Surgeon Simulator: Experience Reality (VR)
99. Swords of Gurrah
100. SYSTEM SHOCK: ENHANCED EDITION
101. Tacoma
102. Telefrag VR
103. The Amazing American Circus
104. The Long Dark
105. The USB Stick Found in the Grass
106. This War of Mine
107. Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove
108. Tooth and Tail
109. Treasure Hunter Simulator
110. UFO Extraterrestrials Gold
111. Vagante
112. Wandersong
113. Warfare
114. Wargroove
115. WARSAW
116. We Are Alright
117. We Were Here Too
118. West of Dead
119. Wizard of Legend
120. X-Morph: Defense + European Assault, Survival of the Fittest, and Last Bastion DLC
121. Yoku's Island Express
122. 8 Doors
123. Before We Leave
124. Between the Stars
125. Beyond the Wire
126. Bionic Commando
127. Black Book
128. Black Future 88
129. Borderlands 3
130. Borderlands 3: Director's Cut
131. BPM: Bullets Per Minute
132. Calico
133. Chivken Police Paint it Red!
134. Conglomerate 451
135. Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
136. Desperados III
137. Destroy All Humans!
138. Devil May Cry 5
139. Devil's Hunt
140. DmC: Devil May Cry
141. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
142. Driftland: The Magic Revival
143. Endzone - A World Apart
144. Evan's Remains
145. Everhood
146. Farmer's Dynasty
147. Fire:Ungh Quest
148. Fling to the Finish
149. Garage: Bad Trip
150. Ghostrunner
151. Greak: Memories of Azur
152. Guts and Glory
153. HiveSwap Friendsim
154. House Flipper
155. Iront Harvest
156. John Wick Hex
157. Journey of a Roach
158. Just Die Already
159. Katana Zero
160. Killsquad
161. Lacuna
162. Learn Japanese to Survive! Katakana War
163. Mafia: Definitive Edition
164. Maneater
165. Midnight Protocol
166. Mobius Front 83
167. Monster Hunter: World
168. Monster Sanctuary
169. Mordhau
170. Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Strikers
171. Nebuchadnezzar
172. Nickelodeon All-star brawl
173. Painkiller Hell & Damnation
174. Paradise Lost
175. Partisans 1941
176. Per Aspera
177. Police Stories
178. Project Wingman
179. Project Winter
180. Rebel Cops
181. Red Solstice 2: Survivors
182. Retrowave x2
183. Ring of Pain
184. Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos x2
185. Rustler
186. SimpleRockets 2
187. Street Fighter V
188. Strider
189. Suzerain
190. Syberia 3
191. The Henry Stickmin Collection
192. The Survivalists
193. The Textorcist: The story of Ray Bibbia
194. Timelie
195. Tohu
196. Tools UP!
197. Turnip Boy Commites Tax Evasion
198. Ultra Street Fighter IV
199. Voidigo
200. Wingspan
201. Wrath: Aeon of Ruin

Bundles

• 3 February 2020 Humble Choice Picks

GOG KEYS
Liberated
Wanderlust: Travel Stories
Rockstar Social Club
Max Payne 3

Anybody know what happened at Ellsworth Place? Was shopping in the 5Below about an hour ago when alarms went off, staff yelled to drop merchandise and leave and that it wasn’t a drill, but the Outback didn’t seem affected, and only an ambulance and fire truck showed at the scene. Wondering if there was really any danger or an overly-cautious 5Below staff.

Had my fourth shift today. My service does have an internship period where they put you as third person on an ambo and you perform under supervision to get used to local protocols etc. We had my first major trauma call today and I felt a little useless. It was a motorcycle accident and the only thing I could do was getting c-collar and back board from the truck to the patient and watch the paramedics do their work. I don’t know what I could have done, but I just did what my FTO told me to do and that was what described before. I just felt a little useless and wished I could have provided more. I’m an EMT-B, and we had with supervisors and fire I believe at least 5 paramedics on scene within minutes.

If you want, you can support me on my YouTube channel. @ SciFiTime The green-hulled ship descended from the clouds, circling slowly over the small rural town below. The Zol soldiers aboard scanned the primitive human settlement, analysing every movement and transmission with curiosity.
"Scans show basic agriculture and low-technology infrastructure, which is consistent with this stage of human civilization development," said Strok, the primary researcher. "There are no observable energy weapons or advanced defenses. The humans appear to be peaceful, with no hostile behavior."
Captain Khes of the Zol vessel, nodded slowly. "Good, our mission here is intelligence gathering, and soft conquest. Land the ships on the outskirts, and begin reconnaissance. These peaceful primates will pose little threat."
Three bulky landing crafts detached from the mothership with faint whirs of anti-gravity, swooping down through the cloud cover, toward open fields just beyond the town limits. As the landing crafts set down, booted feet stepped onto the dewy grass, each Zol warrior adorned in power armor, weapons holstered at their hips.
Without warning, a high-pitched alarm filled the air, echoing through the surrounding houses. The Zol translation matrix failed to decipher the noise, but its meaning was clear. One of the humans had spotted them, and was sounding alarm.
Within moments, armed locals began pouring from the homes and barns, yelling angrily as they raised primitive projectile weapons. The Zol had expected easy submission, but instead saw only anger and fury in the humans' eyes.
Khes stepped forward to address the humans, hoping diplomacy could still prevail. A lone human did the same, clearly the leader of this community.
"We are the Zol," announced Khes in a booming voice, amplified by his exosuit. "We have just arrived in your solar system. We have never encountered species as primitive as your own, and we demand your unconditional surrender."
Khes continued, "Our fleet has shielded this area from detection by your planetary government. This part of your world, will be used as a staging ground, from which we will conquer the rest of Earth. Surrender now, and no harm will come to you, you will become our loyal vassals."
The human leader listened to Khes' demands in stony silence. When the Zol captain had finished speaking, the man simply spit on the ground and replied, "I am Buck, and you can kiss my ass, until it's blue like you."
Khes turned to his researcher Strok, confused by the response. "What does his words mean, is he welcoming us?"
Strok replied hesitantly, "No sir, I think he just insulted you. Told you to kiss his rectum, and rectum is."
"Shut up Strok, I know what a rectum is!" Khes yelled, his anger rising. Turning back to his soldiers, he bellowed, "These apes show no respect, for their betters. Teach them some manners, before we subjugate this whole planet!".
"Open fire!" ordered Khes through the communicator implants. "Subdue with stun beams only, we must study these specimens alive."
Bolts of searing light erupted from the Zol energy weapons, crackling through the air towards the gathered humans. Many beams found their mark, dropping twitching bodies to the ground. But others scrambled for cover, darting into houses, throwing themselves behind stone walls or sinking into ditches for protection.
Gunfire suddenly erupted in response as the humans returned fire with their primitive projectiles. "They're shooting at us!" Strok cried out in alarm. "Take cover, the apes are fighting back!"
The invasion which supposed to be easy, had spiraled into open conflict much quicker, than the Zol anticipated. An alarm blared aboard the ship as sensor readings showed casualties on the ground. Strok stared in stunned silence, analyzing impossible data. "Captain, our forces are taking heavy fire!
Down below, the situation deteriorated swiftly. More armed men and women swarmed into the fields on ATVs and trucks, raining gunfire from the vehicles. The Zol armor held against most blows, but within minutes, over half their expedition lay dead or dying.
"We must retreat to the landing site, and call for extraction," hissed Khes, only a third of their 50-strong scout party remained, the rest lay dead across the battlefield.
"These human vermin have bested us through trickery, and ambush, rather than honor or strength. They fight without rules."
Strok rummaged through a medical kit, bandaging a shoulder wound. "But we attacked them first," he protested. "They were defending their homes, and families. Is that not honorable?"
Khes whirled around, his eyes blazing with fury. "Shut your mouth Strok! I did not ask for your opinion. As the Zol prepared to fall back under cover of darkness, shouts rang out across the fields. Backlit by the burning ruins of homes and barns, dozens of angry humans swarmed into view, brandishing an assortment of lethal hand-held projectiles.
"Die, you blue assholes!" screamed one, loosing a 12-gauge buckshot blast that pulverized an Zol soldiers respirator. As humans resumed attack under cover of darkness.
The battle was rejoined with merciless ferocity. Green blood mingled with human gore, as laser fire lit the night, probing aimlessly through the clouds of smoke that billowed across the battleground.
Trapped in the open, the Zol switched tactics. One soldier activated the mining beam on his exosuit, carving a deep trench through the soil, to shield his remaining troops. They laid down a withering barrage of bullets, as others scrambled into the hole.
However, their reprieve was brief. Several deafening explosions rocked the ground nearby, flinging shattered Zol corpses through the air, on jets of dirt and gravel. The humans had surrounded their position under cover of darkness, and now were targeting their positions with homemade explosives.
Peering over the lip of the trench, Khes saw one human sprinting straight at their position, bandoliers of grenades slung across his chest, followed by a trail of liquid fire. With a guttural cry of "Freedom!", the man threw himself into the pit, igniting his payload in a blinding flash.
"Most of ground units are lost, no response on any channels," reported Khes. "Perhaps a heavy orbital strike is our only choice to salvage any victory here."
However, Khes fixed his gaze on the sensors, sensing something odd. "Wait. I'm detecting life sign clusters moving rapidly across the countryside, toward our landing zone. "Magnify the visual image now."
The main display flickered, enlarging blurry figures, racing over the grassy plains, in a convoy of primitive vehicles. Strok enhanced the image and gasped. "It's more humans, looks like reinforcement!" "They're launching a new assault."
A savage grin spread across Khes's faces. "Then we shall deny them that victory. Launch landing crafts, send rest of our troops down, target the pursuers' transports but do not kill, I want prisoners for interrogation."
Six arrowhead-shaped landing crafts peeled away, bolting toward the horizon at multiples of sound. Soldiers inside hungered for vengeance, after the humiliation on the surface. Below, the humans drove relentlessly, in jury-rigged ATVs and farm trucks, packed to the brim with screaming humans, brandishing every lethal object they could find.
Smoke from the burning town billowed across the early sky as the two forces collided in the bright wheat fields. The lead human vehicle exploded in a ball of flames as concentrated plasma sliced through its engine block, spiraling out of control. More vehicles maneuvered around the smoldering wreck, unleashing a barrage of small weapons fire on the landing craft.
For hours, a running battle raged across the countryside, with farmers transforming into soldiers and battling against Zols soldiers. Truck after truck arrived, all across the countryside and nearby towns.
Just as the Zol warriors began to take the initiative, with landing craft providing additional firepower, a shimmering distortion rippled through the air ahead. The landing craft exploded, hovering mere meters above the lush grass, bay doors flinging open. A squadron of A10 Warthogs has joined the action, tearing off Zol landing party as the tanks rolled in.
With a triumphant shout, the human driver slammed on the brakes, launching a rooster tail of dirt into the air.
Buck and three militia members leaned out of the truck, armed with pistols and shotguns. The destroyed landing site was ahead of them, and the few surviving Zol warriors huddled helplessly near the remaining intact landing ship.
With the hunter now the hunted, the humans had pursued their prey to the very end.
Khes could only watch in shock from the landing craft bridge as the human army commander emerged from the truck, wielding a rifle in salute.
Before firing, he growled one earth-shaking word in English, through clinched teeth: "Never."
The Zols received the message. As their landing craft blasted into the endless night, abandoning this world, they realized they had severely underestimated these primitive apes, who called themselves humans, and had paid the ultimate price for their arrogance. Earth was far more deadly, than anyone could have expected.

The green-hulled ship descended from the clouds, circling slowly over the small rural town below. The Zol soldiers aboard scanned the primitive human settlement, analysing every movement and transmission with curiosity.
"Scans show basic agriculture and low-technology infrastructure, which is consistent with this stage of human civilization development," said Strok, the primary researcher. "There are no observable energy weapons or advanced defenses. The humans appear to be peaceful, with no hostile behavior."
Captain Khes of the Zol vessel, nodded slowly. "Good, our mission here is intelligence gathering, and soft conquest. Land the ships on the outskirts, and begin reconnaissance. These peaceful primates will pose little threat."
Three bulky landing crafts detached from the mothership with faint whirs of anti-gravity, swooping down through the cloud cover, toward open fields just beyond the town limits. As the landing crafts set down, booted feet stepped onto the dewy grass, each Zol warrior adorned in power armor, weapons holstered at their hips.
Without warning, a high-pitched alarm filled the air, echoing through the surrounding houses. The Zol translation matrix failed to decipher the noise, but its meaning was clear. One of the humans had spotted them, and was sounding alarm.
Within moments, armed locals began pouring from the homes and barns, yelling angrily as they raised primitive projectile weapons. The Zol had expected easy submission, but instead saw only anger and fury in the humans' eyes.
Khes stepped forward to address the humans, hoping diplomacy could still prevail. A lone human did the same, clearly the leader of this community.
"We are the Zol," announced Khes in a booming voice, amplified by his exosuit. "We have just arrived in your solar system. We have never encountered species as primitive as your own, and we demand your unconditional surrender."
Khes continued, "Our fleet has shielded this area from detection by your planetary government. This part of your world, will be used as a staging ground, from which we will conquer the rest of Earth. Surrender now, and no harm will come to you, you will become our loyal vassals."
The human leader listened to Khes' demands in stony silence. When the Zol captain had finished speaking, the man simply spit on the ground and replied, "I am Buck, and you can kiss my ass, until it's blue like you."
Khes turned to his researcher Strok, confused by the response. "What does his words mean, is he welcoming us?"
Strok replied hesitantly, "No sir, I think he just insulted you. Told you to kiss his rectum, and rectum is."
"Shut up Strok, I know what a rectum is!" Khes yelled, his anger rising. Turning back to his soldiers, he bellowed, "These apes show no respect, for their betters. Teach them some manners, before we subjugate this whole planet!".
"Open fire!" ordered Khes through the communicator implants. "Subdue with stun beams only, we must study these specimens alive."
Bolts of searing light erupted from the Zol energy weapons, crackling through the air towards the gathered humans. Many beams found their mark, dropping twitching bodies to the ground. But others scrambled for cover, darting into houses, throwing themselves behind stone walls or sinking into ditches for protection.
Gunfire suddenly erupted in response as the humans returned fire with their primitive projectiles. "They're shooting at us!" Strok cried out in alarm. "Take cover, the apes are fighting back!"
The invasion which supposed to be easy, had spiraled into open conflict much quicker, than the Zol anticipated. An alarm blared aboard the ship as sensor readings showed casualties on the ground. Strok stared in stunned silence, analyzing impossible data. "Captain, our forces are taking heavy fire!
Down below, the situation deteriorated swiftly. More armed men and women swarmed into the fields on ATVs and trucks, raining gunfire from the vehicles. The Zol armor held against most blows, but within minutes, over half their expedition lay dead or dying.
"We must retreat to the landing site, and call for extraction," hissed Khes, only a third of their 50-strong scout party remained, the rest lay dead across the battlefield.
"These human vermin have bested us through trickery, and ambush, rather than honor or strength. They fight without rules."
Strok rummaged through a medical kit, bandaging a shoulder wound. "But we attacked them first," he protested. "They were defending their homes, and families. Is that not honorable?"
Khes whirled around, his eyes blazing with fury. "Shut your mouth Strok! I did not ask for your opinion. As the Zol prepared to fall back under cover of darkness, shouts rang out across the fields. Backlit by the burning ruins of homes and barns, dozens of angry humans swarmed into view, brandishing an assortment of lethal hand-held projectiles.
"Die, you blue assholes!" screamed one, loosing a 12-gauge buckshot blast that pulverized an Zol soldiers respirator. As humans resumed attack under cover of darkness.
The battle was rejoined with merciless ferocity. Green blood mingled with human gore, as laser fire lit the night, probing aimlessly through the clouds of smoke that billowed across the battleground.
Trapped in the open, the Zol switched tactics. One soldier activated the mining beam on his exosuit, carving a deep trench through the soil, to shield his remaining troops. They laid down a withering barrage of bullets, as others scrambled into the hole.
However, their reprieve was brief. Several deafening explosions rocked the ground nearby, flinging shattered Zol corpses through the air, on jets of dirt and gravel. The humans had surrounded their position under cover of darkness, and now were targeting their positions with homemade explosives.
Peering over the lip of the trench, Khes saw one human sprinting straight at their position, bandoliers of grenades slung across his chest, followed by a trail of liquid fire. With a guttural cry of "Freedom!", the man threw himself into the pit, igniting his payload in a blinding flash.
"Most of ground units are lost, no response on any channels," reported Khes. "Perhaps a heavy orbital strike is our only choice to salvage any victory here."
However, Khes fixed his gaze on the sensors, sensing something odd. "Wait. I'm detecting life sign clusters moving rapidly across the countryside, toward our landing zone. "Magnify the visual image now."
The main display flickered, enlarging blurry figures, racing over the grassy plains, in a convoy of primitive vehicles. Strok enhanced the image and gasped. "It's more humans, looks like reinforcement!" "They're launching a new assault."
A savage grin spread across Khes's faces. "Then we shall deny them that victory. Launch landing crafts, send rest of our troops down, target the pursuers' transports but do not kill, I want prisoners for interrogation."
Six arrowhead-shaped landing crafts peeled away, bolting toward the horizon at multiples of sound. Soldiers inside hungered for vengeance, after the humiliation on the surface. Below, the humans drove relentlessly, in jury-rigged ATVs and farm trucks, packed to the brim with screaming humans, brandishing every lethal object they could find.
Smoke from the burning town billowed across the early sky as the two forces collided in the bright wheat fields. The lead human vehicle exploded in a ball of flames as concentrated plasma sliced through its engine block, spiraling out of control. More vehicles maneuvered around the smoldering wreck, unleashing a barrage of small weapons fire on the landing craft.
For hours, a running battle raged across the countryside, with farmers transforming into soldiers and battling against Zols soldiers. Truck after truck arrived, all across the countryside and nearby towns.
Just as the Zol warriors began to take the initiative, with landing craft providing additional firepower, a shimmering distortion rippled through the air ahead. The landing craft exploded, hovering mere meters above the lush grass, bay doors flinging open. A squadron of A10 Warthogs has joined the action, tearing off Zol landing party as the tanks rolled in.
With a triumphant shout, the human driver slammed on the brakes, launching a rooster tail of dirt into the air.
Buck and three militia members leaned out of the truck, armed with pistols and shotguns. The destroyed landing site was ahead of them, and the few surviving Zol warriors huddled helplessly near the remaining intact landing ship.
With the hunter now the hunted, the humans had pursued their prey to the very end.
Khes could only watch in shock from the landing craft bridge as the human army commander emerged from the truck, wielding a rifle in salute.
Before firing, he growled one earth-shaking word in English, through clinched teeth: "Never."
The Zols received the message. As their landing craft blasted into the endless night, abandoning this world, they realized they had severely underestimated these primitive apes, who called themselves humans, and had paid the ultimate price for their arrogance. Earth was far more deadly, than anyone could have expected.

Hospital entrance was flooded with journos and satellite trucks. On top of that two protest mobs from opposite spectrums ready to rip each other a new one. Black-on-white violence is a prime cut after all.
MSNBC Reporter: "As you can see, masses have already gathered at the Inova Fairfax Hospital to express their disdain for violence that-"
Some two hundred mouths yapping total.
Black Protester: "You will turn this into a race war! Like you always do!" White Hooligan: "Shut the fuck up you no way inside, cops walled off the entrance for everyone other than ambulance. Which kinda didn't make sense, and I probably could go around to one of the many other doors, but... lack of drugs really fucks you up. Seriously, if you really gotta start, just stick to it.
CNN Reporter: "... led to a demise in just over forty-eight hours. It is a tragedy that has shaken the local community." FOX Reporter: "Our insider source states that the cause of death was not the gunshot itself, but a blood transmitted disease coming from one of the assailants.
This raises a very serious and important question: has the organized crime weaponized STD's against us?"
Nicole: "Excuse me, excuse me... goddammit! An actual injured here! I gotta get through!"
Drug withdrawal, seven hours on asphalt, and a cold fucked me all over. Didn't get a chance to look in the mirror so I can't imagine how I looked like. My steps couldn't be longer than a foot and it felt any random shove would break me in half.
White Hooligan: "... you're talking mad shit to someone whose gramps owned your gramps, monkey boy!"
My first obstacle: 5.6 blonde manlet (think Kylar with the physique of Crispin) in a leather jacket hiding a White Pride shirt, and a "STAY ON YOUR YARD" protest banner with a wooden bat serving as a pole.
N: "Dude, could you get out of my way? I'm sick!"
WH: "Fuck do you want!?"
N: "Get through!? I'm in a fucking emergency!"
WH: "Oh, so you with 'em? Race traitor, eh? You're supporting the dirty n-"
N: "-ice talking with such a... proud... uhh... warrior of our people. You must be... Heeeyyy~ that's a nice looking shirt under there!"
The moment I pointed at his chest, he hid himself like a prude bitch after losing her bikini.
WH: "Oh. Thanks, um..."
N: "I always liked the cross symbolism~"
WH: "Yeah, me too..."
N: "Makes you feel empowered by... God, y'know, the noble cause, the... the crusade... fight for your tribe...
WH: "T-totally man..."
N: "Hm, I think my photography teacher had one just li-"
Wh: "... listen babe, they're supposed to be an, uh, surprise. For when the ghetto boys start trouble, so uh..."
N: "No problem, man! I just have to-"

Cough Khef Sneeze

WH: "Yo. Girl. You good?"
N: "No, not really. I'm sick, this..."
Fake it until you make it.
N: "... this man was my friend's dad. I was there in the area when it happened, saw those gangsters driving away! I am the one who called the cops after shooting!"
Another Hooligan: "Oh man. I'm so sorry. It's such a tragedy to our people!"
I mean, I'm not taking much credit for it. It was like lying to a kindergartner.
N: "T-totally man! I was trying to pull him out of the car, got smeared all over with blood! And now I'm sick, I-"
WH: "Did you say blood?"
N: "Yeah? The black one? The one from the live-"
WH: "No way! He got you too!?"
N: "... he did?"
AH: "Shit! These motherfucking ███████! Afros! Fucking gator bait!"
And my lies got them riled up pretty good.
WH: "He splashed you with his black blood! It's got HIV and shit!"
N: "... black blood? Yeah, it pours from the li- wait, HIV?"
AH: "Didn't you hear? White guy kicked it because of the blood infection he got from the little █████ nailing the bigger █████ first!
Also, please stay away from me."
N: "... ah, yeah! Yes he did! I know! H-he totally got me! Look how pale I am! Shaking! That's why I gotta get to the hospital!"
So, like I hadn't just went through that before, I followed up. Amped them up so much...
WH: "First they're killing us, then our women!"
AH: "We gotta tell this to the boss!"
N: "... o-okay? Tell him? Yeah! Just do it quick, I gotta get in quick before that stuff kills me!
... wait, is that the fucking Mr. Whi-"

"GET THEM! ██████! FUCK 'EM UP!" "FUCKING █████ █████!" "██████ PICKING ██████!" "███████ WATERMELON █████ ██████!"

... that I may have started a small race war.

THROW CRASH SWING C R U N C H "Jesus Christ!" TACKLE

In some five seconds there was an all-out riot of people beating each other to a pulp.

PUSH

N: "Ugh... !"
I got away with only a light shoulder that sent me down to the pavement...

"EAT SHIT! STONE THE ███████!" "CHARGE!" "Wait-" RUMBLE RUMBLE "Hng... Kof!" KICK "Uhk...!" STOMP STOMP STOMP

... and while on the ground, I was nearly stomped to death like during a club fire. I just couldn't catch a break.

"Stop! Order!" "Dispatch! Shit just went FUBAR at Inova Fairfax! We need backup!" "Get off him! I warned you!" "STOP RESISTING!" "Taser. Taser! TASER!" PHOM TKTKTKTKTKTK "AAAAAAGHHH!"

But with cops busy and paparazzi scrambling, I could limp my way over to the doors like a rapper after taking eight shots to the back.

• • •

Inside same shit as everyday, except for the doctors barricading themselves or leaving through the back. It made the hysteric blondie at the reception even more obnoxious.
Jecka's Mom: "HOW IS IT A DANGEROUS ACTIVITY!? IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! WHAT PART OF THE POLICY IS THIS!?"
Like she hadn't looked terrible right when it happened two days ago, now she was sulking in a lobby corner two bad jokes away from throwing herself off the top floor.
N: "Jecka. Hey, I... heard the news."
Jecka: "Oh hi you look like shit.
You did? So did half of the US. Good job."
...
N: "Oh come on... I am trying here. So-"
J: "The 'news' is on all the cables and radios. Did you sleep under a rock or something?"
N: "What the fuck did you just say to me!?"

...

N: "I got kicked out of home three days after graduation and nearly froze to death IN JUNE!
The second thing I did after waking up on the asphalt is spend my last dollar to rush to some blondie cowtits to whom I have NO obligations for!"
J: "Bitch, you still owe me a nailjob and a bottle of Addie-"
N: "FUCK YOUR ADDIES! Me! The uncaring sociopath! Doing something out of nothing more than-"
J: "-you put such an emphasis on the 'I'm a good person' part that only a horny dude would fall for that. You can do better."
N: "And that's all you have to say!?"
J: "Okay, wow, participation reward. My dad died and you 'almost' did. You're special.
Unless you're still not out of the 'ki█ling yourself is cool' phase, because I sure as hell am back in it."
N: "To get in here I had to start a FUCKING RACE WAR and my brain was nearly CURBSTOMPED by a horde of charging skinheads!"
J: "The backdoor's open, duh? Like ten of them all over the hospital?"
...
Alright fine, I needed to take it out on someone and you're the second best thing that came up this morning."
N: "You know what? Eat a dick.
I hope that with him gone, your life's gonna get fucked all over."
...
...
...

creak s l i i i d e e e sit

...
N: "So what are you two up to now?"
...

sigh

J: "Mom's talking with our insurance company. They somehow found a way to withhold the money. She..."
N: "... amped up on something?"
J: "Heroin in the toilet. Got three hours of sleep for all I know."
N: "Nailed it."
J: "... she says we'll need a lawyer. Problem is, if this goes to court we'll take a setback on our mortgage."
N: "Oh I can feel that. But weren't you well off before?"
J: "Like what? Saving up? We spent everything we had to appear a class above than we actually are. All that was left they pumped into the house or my allowance."
N: "So what's your first fallback?"
J: "Sell dad's stuff I guess. Tons of tools in good shape. No one will buy his shot up Bronco either so it's getting scrapped.
Besides money, I think it'll make things... easier."
N: "Now that I think about it, I'm glad I didn't keep anything after mine."
J: "Not even some necklace, or... ?"
N: "For better or worse, it's best to not dwell on the past too much. Just pop pills daily, smoke, get shitfaced. It works at making you forget."

chuckle

J: "Says someone who's been clean for four days already. How's the experience?"
N: "Fucking awful. I considered dying under that lamp. Little NOVA Match Girl. Tried to make the news, y'know? Your pops beat me to it though."
J: "You're a horrible, desensitized, untactful sociopath, Nicole."
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
J: "That's... the nicest thing someone has ever done to me.
Thanks."
N: "Mhm. Praise me more."
J: "Ah get fucked, pff~"
...
... but what's your Plan B?"
N: "Yeah, about that-"

JUMP

N: "-what?"
J: "So you want something from me!?"
N: "Yeah?"
J: "I can't believe it! You're... ugh!"
N: "Relax, I only need a drive."
J: "I swear, you're a fucking snake-"
N: "You're the one who told me to keep it transactional? Nothing's free, duh?"

sit

J: "I can't even..."
N: "Listen, I'm the homeless one here. And you're getting, what, a five hundred grand? Wait no, that's for elderly... two hundred?"
J: "Just one. With a high-hazard workplace he was insured since 21, but now that he's gone just barely after 40..."
N: "I'm sure you'll get that payout in no time. If my hag kicks the bucket, which I'd love to see, I'll have to wait until I'm 35 for my trust fund."
J: "That's still better than getting screwed over by an army of lawyers when you can't get even one..."
...
...
...
N: "So we're going or not?"
J: "Bitch!? Did you forget I smashed my car while saving your sorry ass? Radiator, oil pump, everything's busted!"
N: "So take your mom's?"
J: "Fuck, she's gonna kill me..."
N: "You're doing her a favor. Not even I would risk the wheel on the hard stuff."
J: "You don't drive in the first place."
N: "Because I have you?"
...
...
...
J: "Ah fuck it.
I can't take this place anymore. She screams I have to sit here to help her but can't actually do anything. She's so cracked that after the kitchen incident I'm honestly... not trying. Made me a fucking Princess Peach.
...
Whatever, she'll burn that crackhead power on walking home."
N: "That's the spirit. Let's unwind you a little."
J: "Yeah. Where are we going?"
N: "Lake Royal."

• • •

J: "Just what exactly are you looking for?"
N: "A big ass tree with two coke cans nailed on a branch. I also took a photo but phone's dead, so.."
J: "Way to mark your treasure for some junkie, huh."
N: "Those are the cul-de-sacs, homeless are chased out harder than Mexicans crossing the border."
J: "And why the tire iron?"
N: "Because I need something to dig with and your mom doesn't have a shovel in her trunk like a normal person?"
J: "Why would an equivalent of a soccer mom need one anyway? Those tires never touched a gravel path, let alone gone off-road."
N: "Whatever... there! The cans are still up there!"

rustle rustle ... SWING chop chop crunch chop chop ... chop ... chop

N: "A little help here?"
J: "You do that shit. Clean it up like that flower pot."
N: "Now that's low. It was just some dirt, move on, like who cares-"
J: "Alright, unwinded, going back. Maybe mom won't even notice I took her wheels..."
N: "No wait! You at least gotta see this!"

crack chop stretch ... streeetch ... streeeeetch

N: "Payoff... is gonna be huge! Ngh!"
J: "Goddammit, not only are you flatter than me but you're also built like Jeffrey. Give me that."

STREEEEETCH "Nnnnnghh!" POP CRUNCH

N: "Oh yeah! I still don't know how I put it under that root. Box's still intact."

c r e a k

J: "So wa'cha got there? Retirement fund or-"
...
J: "You brought me here to dig up a COKE STASH!?!?"
N: "Shut it! Nobody has to hear this!"
J: "Yeah, no they shouldn't! We're in the middle of a 'white-moms-walking-dogs' park! There are people doing BBQ behind this treeline! This should be done in the middle of night in balaclavas or something!"
N: "If I brought you one and told what we're doing would you actually agree?"
J: "Fuck!"
N: "Shit got wet though, it's like a gooey dough... maybe I just need to run it with a hairdryer? Damn, can coke rot in the first place? "
J: "I don't care if coke can rot in the first place... fuck, fuck, FUCK! Haaa... aaah... !"
N: "Dude, you're hyperventilating. Chill out."
J: "How the FUCK am I supposed to chill out!? This is the same stuff you made me cook crack with!
Fuck, even the package is still the MS-13 one!"
N: "I know. Should've gotten it all into zip-bags but I was in a hurry... yeah it's a lost cause.
What a waste."
J: "This is LITERALLY our neighborhood! You don't shit where you eat! Even Breaking Bad got that part right!"
N: "That's for the actual deals. Hiding your rocks is like store robberies. Guys start out far away and then get bolder until the trail leads to their home. Flip it, and the cops lose their head.
J: "Where the fuck do you learn all of this stuff!?"
N: "I googled it? Like how to freebase in the first place?"
J: "... no, no, no, no... you are NOT getting me into another PG county drug deal! Ah shit!"
N: "There's nothing to make rocks on in the first place, so no... but there's this.
Cha-ching madafaka."

4100$

N: "Okay, let's bounce before anyone comes sniffing around."
J: "What about this then?"
...

grab step stepstepstepstepstepstep ... s w o o p ... ... ... S P L O O S H

J: "YOU THREW A POUND OF COKE INTO A FUCKING PARK LAKE!?"

N: "Louder! Call it by full name while you're at it!"

• • •

N: "It was like just a third anyway. Most was just moisture."

swipe swipe swipe swipe swipe swipe swipe swipe swipe swipe stack tap tap

J: "Two hundred for me and we're even."
N: "Oh come on, that's a terrorist level extortion!"
J: "Two. Hundred.
That or no car."
...
N: "Fine... so, two hundred... plus my wallet I got through bro, how unexpectedly kind of him."
J: "Except for that Dorito grease on his fingers.
I almost threw up."
N: "Mhm, plus whatever's on my account. Mom fucking cut the card in half and put it back in."
J: "That's bitchy."
N: "Minus...
... clonidine and methadone. Supply for two months."
J: "So you're going clean?"
...

sigh

N: "Like guys trying to stop jacking off, I'm lucky to get a four days streak. Might as well try to commit."
J: "So you get-"
N: "Forty hundred seventy two, and ninety two cents."
J: "Damn, you're broke as fuck."
N: "I can't imagine living on two grand with rent already paid and... aaagh, I'm fucked so bad.
... I should just sell myself on the internet."
J: "Listen, I'd be down for housing you. Like, a grand could do, but-"
N: "But... ?"
J: "Mom's still tripping on heroin! She sent me NINETEEN texts already and called SEVEN times before that!
Look at this shit!"

beep

...
N: "That is seriously fucked up."
J: "Yeah! And I don't think I'll survive picking her up and a ride back to the house!"
N: "I still need to come up with something for myself though..."
...
_ _ _ _ _
⚠️BRANCHING STORYLINE CHOICE ⚠️

1. Live in a gym full of steroid jocks.

2. Move to a black hood in PG county.

3. Wh*re yourself for a place to sleep.

• • •
Voting will happen in the following hours on a separate post and will be active for the next 48h. I will also take comments from both here and two (Official and Nicoleism) Discord servers into consideration.
edit: THE VOTE LINK
https://www.reddit.com/Classof09Game/comments/1dbf4bb/pipelined_nicole_goes_to_us_marines_story/

for the past few months since our staff has drastically become smaller, more responsibilities have been put on me and I've done them no problem. Since we opened (brand new store, i transferred hoping for a better atmosphere) at the end of August/beginning of October (2023) we started of smooth. I was just a recovery associate and most days I'd have another recovery associate with me to split the store, cleaning and go backs. Around February/March I started recovering, sweeping, mopping, cleaning bathrooms and breakrooms, and go backs all by myself while some days being a cashier on top of it especially all of the month of April and May. I was also doing freight shifts for truck nights and packing out at night and mornings as well due to having only 2 actual overnight associates and going through 3-4 overnight managers within our short time span of being open. From October-March I was just doing recovery, helping out with freight every once in awhile and maybe once in a blue moon I'd have to be the only employee with a manager in the store and try to be a back up cashier while recovering so the manager on duty could take their break, meal and time to do their paperwork or other responsibilities. Lately though in the last 2 months (April and May) I've been scheduled as the only closing associate with just a manager for the majority of my shifts or tricked with the promise of packing out freight in the morning just to be met with a till when I get there. I'm a recovery associate.. I understand being a cashier can be inevitable but most of my shifts for the last 2 months due to hours and lack of employees..bruh. At my old store we had 3-4 recocery ppl and always 2 on each shift to split the store AND a go backs person as back up cashier. I rarely ever went on register maybe 5 times a year if that. We helped the go backs person after our aisles if they weren't done on the off chance. 1 recovery person swept the store while the other cleaned the bathroom and the break room then we would split the mopping. I'm basically on my own doing all of that and being a cashier some nights. When we do have a cashier it's only 1 for closing so all of that still falls on me besides the stuff that can be put away on the registers. I got a text from an assistant store mamager asking if I could come in to close on 5/22/24 I replied to him how I couldn't but I also needed to speak to him about my shift on Saturday 5/25/24 because I saw the time of the shift (2pm-7pm) which led me to believe they were making me a midshift cashier for that day. I have NEVER been scheduled that time. I basically texted him and asked if I was going to be a cashier and if so to please get coverage because the only other workers who are doing every shift like i am (recovery/closing, freight (overnight), and morning pack outs) are managers and they've ignored THREE applications for the position of operational manager that I've sent in. So I didn't think it was fair. (Mind you they ended up promoting my store managers baby fathers niece who had only been there 3 months with no experience) ASM reassured me I was not a cashier and that I'd be packing out and not to worry on 5/22/24. On 5/25/24 I showed up for my shift to be met by the ASM avoiding me through the store and the store manager in the office asking me if I was going to leave if she made me a cashier and I replied yes. She said ok and said I could go. If it was truly such a big issue I don't get why i wasnt served a write up right then and there but whatever.. I also had 3 shifts coming up 5/28/24-5/29/24. I checked my schedule the day after "incident" on 5/27/24 and my shift for 5/29/24 was gone off compass. Then 2hrs before my shift on 5/27/24 I was told not to come in through text and to come in the next day(5/28/24) an hour before scheduled (mind you, that shift wasn't taken out of compass so I'm not getting paid now per ny state law since company policy says they have to edit it iff compass for payroll to pay me) I get there and I clock in and start collecting go backs and hear my name being called to the office and am then fired by the store manager. She told me she spoke to HR and she was told to terminate me due to insubordination. I have 0 write ups at this location since opening. I honestly don't think I've had a write up in the last year let alone.. I have already felt these actions were coming for the past 2-3 months due to every single employee i transferred with are all gone and the last 3 were fired. I contacted HR and they agreed yet said I was being fired for shift abandonment even though it could've been avoided and covered if they didn't set me up. I also asked HR about paying out my sick time and was told no even though associates don't earn pto or vacation pay so it's all we get.. it's just fucked what a company can do to your for finally standing up for yourself and asking for what I deserved after FIVE YEARS spent busting my ass.

I'm a rookie at a pretty small paid fire department in a gated community of 18,000. In our department everybody drives. Everyone. We all have to know how to drive every apparatus. Right now they're training me on our ladder truck. It's a cabover. It's long. Longest in the department. Wider than an orangutan's muffin top too. I was making what I thought was pretty good progress but yesterday on shift I really shit the bed on using my mirrors. I'm not used to it. I'm trying practicing it in my little ass personal vehicle but it's not even close to the same.
Any advice?