Hello all,
A brief summary: I live in Maine and I've been going back and forth for months with my spouse's insurance (Aetna) on which I am covered in order to get preauthorization for a major surgical procedure. I am a graduate student and not currently working myself, but I now that I have finally secured the preauth and scheduled the surgery for July I am entering into interviews for a job I feel fairly confident I will be offered. My spouse's insurance policy is excellent, and I don't really have use for additional coverage, not to mention that accepting my employer-sponsored plan would probably throw my scheduled surgery into chaos. Are there any negative repercussions to declining an employer-sponsored plan in favor of my spouse's plan remaining my primary insurance? Would Aetna know that I had access to another plan and decline to cover me as a primary policy? I'm just scared that this very expensive procedure would not be covered just because I finally was able to work after two years in graduate school.
Thanks in advance for the help!

I run Atraxa food chain and obviously have thoracle as a primary win con, but I see lists running a loop with endurance, Bowmasters, and a culling ritual after food chain is active as a plan B. Can someone explain how this works. I don't want to run it unless I understand it.

I've played the long dark before but only on pilgrim, while i loved it, the amount of loot and toned down challenge i personally find a bit boring, so i stopped playing. having come back to playing I've been trying interloper instead and oh my its so much fun having all the odds stacked against you.
I've set myself the challenge of trying to reach 500 days in it, if that's possible? haha
I'm currently on run 30~ with most of my runs lasting less than a day (cant find matches or spawn in a spot that i don't know at a cold time of day)
However a few runs recently I've managed to get up on my feet and last a week or more, with my longest being 26 days as of recent (before dying of intestinal parasites and being stuck in a blizzard with no wood)
I'd like to share some of my learned lessons and get some feedback on improvements i could make to last longer.
My main start is making a plan once i spawn which goes something like:

• Identify where the nearest indoor shelter is (pref. where you've found matches prior or just wherever is closest)
  
• Collect all sticks on the way
  
• Collect a few mushrooms or rosehips to make teas
  
• Very minor detours to rabbit spawns, killing all rabbits i find
  
• Picking cattails from the waters edge for tinder and food
  
• Once inside i search for loot, if my warmth isn't maxed before i need to go the next location i sleep for an hour or gut the meat from rabbits to fill it back up
  
• I just hop from building to building normally heading inland (mystery lake trappers cabin as my main base) if I'm far out or i go to to Milton in Mountain town (good for Hacksaw/hammer) if I'm close to Mystery Lake
  
• Matches > Hacksaw > Hammer are the main items i go for in order, Hacksaw to cut down saplings for bow ASAP and Hammer so i can forge tools and arrows heads (in Forlorn Muskeg normally)
  
• I try to skin every dead deer i see on the way if I'm able to.
  

As for little tips I've learned that might help others are:

• I chop rabbit meat into 1kg Chunks and deer meat into 0.5kg as they both take 30mins to cook in which time i can craft for 0.5 hours at the bench next to the fire in trappers or skin/gut rabbits
  
• If i have to start a fire i normally do it in the morning so i can take a hot tea, and relay torches to future fires i might need during the day
  
• 1-2 pieces of coal on a campfire can keep you warm outside while you harvest animals or in a blizzard (life saver)
  
• dropping a lit torch and aiming a rock at a wolf causes them to charge and then flee, also aiming or hitting a feeding wolf will scare them away
  
• I always try to make journeys between midday and midnight for best warmth
  
• Always look under shelves and in tight spaces with a lot of crouching as in interloper stuff seems to be pretty sneakily hidden
  

Currently im in Trappers Cabin on Mystery Lake (day 7), waiting for all saplings to cure and hides for clothing, Im pushing deer into wolves and scaring them away inorder to stock up on food at the moment, to last until everything is cured. Then my next plan of action is to Kill 2 bears (for a coat) and a moose (for satchel) so i can start curing those, before i head out to Ash Canyon for the Backpack/Crampons (never made this journey on Interloper!)
Any advice on direction or better plans to help me in the long run or places i should visit would be greatly appreciated.
Some questions I have is:

• When to make animal clothing and how long each day to spend doing it?
  
• Should i stay put right now? given i have means to survive and plenty of matches (50~)
  
• Should i kill wolves to make a wolf coat to go with my bear one?
  
• Are there tasks i shouldn't waste my time doing?
  
• Safest way to kill a Bear?
  
• Safest way to kill a moose?
  
• Should i visit Airfield or Blackrock (glimmeTimberwolves) or avoid those zones?
  
• Should i summit Timberwolf Mountain?
  
• How to deal with Timberwolves
  
• Are snares or Fishing snares worth it? if so, when?
  

Sorry if this post is a little long winded or I'm asking too much :)
Cheers!

Weeks after winning a school board seat in her deeply red Texas county, Courtney Gore immersed herself in the district’s curriculum, spending her nights and weekends poring over hundreds of pages of lesson plans that she had fanned out on the coffee table in her living room and even across her bed. She was searching for evidence of the sweeping national movement she had warned on the campaign trail was indoctrinating schoolchildren.

I plan on doing ML, SWE, Statistical/Data Analysis, or maybe Cybersecurity. Im having a crisis picking. Anyways, do you guys think my degree would benefit from it? I would need to take MATH 2090 as well which I dont mind, but I am trying to use my elective space wisely.
Thanks!

My surgery is scheduled for June 21st. It will be my second reduction. My baby will be just shy of 8 months old. For anyone who has done this with a baby, what helped? How did you manage?
My husband is planning to be home basically as long as necessary but I am the primary caregiver. I am worried she will feel neglected and need me when I obviously will not be able to care for her for a little while?
Would very much appreciate any advice from people who have had this surgery with a baby.

One of the fascinating aspects of outsider reports and analysis is what they see. Given that at this point (1992) the internet was not yet widely available/accessible, this sort of thing would have been difficult to find. And of course SGI wasn't ever going to tell us the truth!
This will show you that SGI-USA (then called "NSA") was failing in recruiting far earlier than perhaps most of us in the US realized. SGI in the USA was basically a flash in the pan; it fizzled fast; and now it's just that rank stale smoke smell that lingers long after the fire's been put out.
This comes from Cults and Nonconventional Religious Groups: A Collection of Outstanding Dissertations and Monographs, "Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism and the Soka Gakkai in America: The Ethos of a New Religious Movement", Jane Hurst, 1992, pp. 150-151. Jane Hurst has some interesting research out there; while she tends toward being uncritically supportive of SGI, anyone who is making statistics available is a big help.

NSA members in the 1960s and 1970s were young (52% below age 30), more than half female (59%), and from a variety of occupations and social classes.

The Baby Boom generation were at most age 19 in, say, 1965 and at most age 24 in 1970.
This youthfulness is largely reflected in the early organization's origins in the American servicemen who returned from being stationed in Japan with their Japanese war-brides - those servicemen tended to be young and from a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds, as the draft was still in effect during that time period (ended March 1975). In addition, the first General Director of the US organization, Masayasu Sadanaga, initially targeted college campuses for recruitment by offering lectures on Buddhism. Sadanaga changed his name to George M. Williams in 1972, in obedience to the (short-lived) direction back then of Japanese leaders adopting American-sounding names (first AND last) in order to appeal more broadly to non-Japanese Americans.

The percentage of Oriental members steadily decreased as more and more white and black Americans joined NSA as seen in Figure 10, above.

Figure 10 (I'll get to that line in another post.)
Most of the original "Oriental members" were those Japanese war-brides, whose first efforts to recruit new SGI members were directed toward other Japanese individuals.

NSA members came from the major religious traditions of Protestantism (30%), Catholicism (30%), and Judaism (6%). At the time these 1971 statistics were compiled, all areas of American society. By 1983, the age span was even more broad, with 11% of the members age 50 and above, 62% ages 30-49, 24% ages 20-29, and 3% below age 19.

For reference, here are the age ranges for the existing generations in 1983:

• Greatest: Ages 59-82
• Silent: Ages 38-58
• Baby Boomers: Ages 19-37
• Generation X: Ages 4-18
• Generation Y (Millennials): Age 3 or younger.

While these 1983 statistics aren't broken down by generation, here's what is clear:

• 11% of the SGI-USA membership was MUCH OLDER than Baby Boomers
• 62% was either Baby Boom generation or older (though younger than that oldest group)
• 24% was Baby Boomers
• 3% was younger than Baby Boomers.

This means that 97% of the membership of SGI-USA was Baby Boom generation OR OLDER!

IN 1983!!

Notice how this affirms the demographic estimate from this other research: "Soka Gakkai in America": Little appeal/interest outside of Baby Boom generation

Take a look at Table 4.
Specifically, the Age cohort (%) category.
For the Converts, 26% are older than Baby Boomers; 61% are Baby Boomers. That makes 87% Boomer and older. Only 14% are younger than Boomers.
No wonder SGI-USA is aging and dying, with these kinds of numbers!
We are seeing, like, 90% Baby Boomers in the group photos we've looked at.
The pictures back this up.
Also, this comment by an SGI-USA leader a few years ago during Minoru Harada's visit (anyone know what year that was?):

They [top SGI-USA leaders] then went off on how when we create these big-ass meetings, we shouldn't have to look into the crowd and see, and I quote, "A bunch of old-ass motherfuckers" The words of my "superiors", not mine. I think this is when they brought up the idea of 50K to my co-leaders and me. Source

"Old-ass motherfuckers" is all they have. How 'bout showing a little of that appreciation and gratitude SGI bangs on about??
Worse, "old-ass motherfuckers" is all SGI-USA can get.
Further, again referring to Table 4, SGI-USA's membership is solidly 2/3 women. That means it's going to be very difficult for women in SGI-USA to find mates to marry, which means childlessness will be more of a norm than an exception. Child-free is a valid and respect-worthy decision, don't get me wrong, but a religion's most reliable source of younger members is its own membership's children. Since SGI-USA's female members don't feel any responsibility or obligation to bear multiple children (like those poor, stupid Mormon sheepwomen do), there won't be any next generation to take over.
There's a reason so many religions have traditionally exhorted their membership to have lots of babies, why they condemn birth control and abortion. A big part of it is to keep their own numbers up! Source

It's the same problem happening in Japan within the Soka Gakkai:

On the other hand, aging is relentless. In terms of the Soka Gakkai's membership demographics, the "volume zone" where most members fall is the baby boomer generation who joined by the 1960s. They are now late elderly. In the past, the management of centers in various places was handled by the "Gajokai" consisting of Young Men's Division members, but it is no longer possible to secure personnel. Instead, in 2009, the Soka Gakkai launched the "Ojokai'' consisting of "middle-aged divisions,'' scolding them as "young people in their 50s'' and rushing to mobilize them. Source

GOOD LUCK!

For perspective, note that SGI-USA was managing to recruit just "1,000 per YEAR" - including all ages - between 1991 and 1999. Eight years of only 1,000 members added per year, with no accounting for the deaths or defections. Were the years after that more successful, recruiting-wise? I doubt it.

[Then-SGI-USA's public-relations director for the East Coast Bill] Aiken says SGI-USA has attracted about 1000 new members per year for the past eight years. - from 1999. Only 1,000 new members - across the ENTIRE 360+ million-person strong USA - in an ENTIRE year. And this extremely low level of success for EIGHT YEARS IN A ROW!! Source

From 2018:

In recent years, the number of young Soka Gakkai members has been decreasing rapidly . Looking at the participants in the simultaneous broadcasts and roundtable discussions, the majority are of the grandparents' generation, with only a small number of young people in their 20s and 30s, and the number of teenage boys and girls is almost an endangered species .
Therefore, what I am interested in is the population of Soka Gakkai by age group. This time, I would like to estimate the current population of Soka Gakkai by age , based on information I have personally seen and heard and verification from others . Please note that this estimate is very rough.
First, the largest number of Soka Gakkai members are baby boomers (born between 1947 and 1949 [Japan's Baby Boom]). This seems almost certain considering the history of the development of Soka Gakkai .
Also, the total number of members has already been verified by many people, and is estimated to be around 3 to 5 million people. This time we assume about 4 million people .
And this is what I heard directly from a staff member at headquarters last year, who said , `` The number of activists decreases by about 1/3 with each generation.'' I think this is a reasonable rate of decline that can be felt by looking at participants in simultaneous broadcasts and roundtable discussions. It seems that members who have stopped being activists are less likely to have their children join, so this time we will use a value of 1/3 per generation as the member decline rate .
Also, regarding the number of years it takes for generational change, the average age for men and women to give birth to their first child is currently 30 years old. Considering that the average age of childbearing for both men and women when the baby boomer generation was born was 24 years old, and that there are cases where not only the first child but also the second and third children are born, the generational shift will take 30 years. Let's calculate it as if it would take a year . In that case, the annual membership attrition rate would be (1/3)^1/30 = 0.964, or 3.6% .
It is unclear when this trend of declining membership started, but this time we will assume that it started in the year following the baby boom generation (1950). Source

And "Soka Gakkai is like an old people's club":

Regarding the problem of a decline in Komeito votes, or in other words, a decline in active Soka Gakkai members, many people concerned point out that the primary cause is the aging of Soka Gakkai members. The enthusiastic members of the generation who supported the growth of the society along with charismatic Honorary President Daisaku Ikeda are now elderly across the board. Most of the current new members are second- or third-generation members who join because their parents are members of Soka Gakkai, and they are not very enthusiastic about Soka Gakkai's activities. Today, many of Soka Gakkai's daily events are even derided by insiders as "like an old people's party."

And a more recent report (this year):

Back about 20 years ago a good friend and good guy, now deceased, from ChiTown, was commissioned by SGI Central Command to survey every contactable member of SGI in every district in America. The number he came up with was 5% of the number of Gohonzon passed out since, I guess whenever Gohonzon started to be passed out. The total number was about a million give or take, 20 years ago. These were contactable people, not practicing members. I remember going through lists of people we had on the books and trying to see if they could be reached. So the number we came up with was reported. Hearing nothing about it, I happened to run into my friend at some event at Soka U. He mentioned that he did the survey, and gave me the results. I believe he told me the facts. (Not everyone who practiced was a lying asshole.) So about 20 years ago SGI had about 50,000 “contactable“ people who had received Gohonzon. My estimate that about half of that number had zero interest in SGI. Thus 20 years ago, SGI had about 25,000 members still interested in SGI in some capacity. I think it’s the same number today. (2500 districts x 10=25,000.) Like I said before I went to FNCC twice last year, and everyone, including me, were old zany seniors. Neither conference was for old people. Conclusion: SGI is a senior citizen support group. When I joined in1969, we were all hippie ish, rejecting all the old shit, looking for something new and hip. Now SGI looks like old shit. Source

And another (this year or last):

When I joined 50+ years ago the ratio of youth to MD and WD was about 80:20. Now it's the reverse. Our goal is to move steadily back to a youth focus again. Source

Except it's obvious that SGI-USA doesn't HAVE "20% youth":

Youth? They've got to be fooling themselves!!! When I was still with the SGI last February (2023), I went to the kosen-rufu gongyo meeting at the center in my area. Mind you, the state I live in closed its center in 2021 for undisclosed reasons. That aside, the one I went to was in another state, and at that meeting, they had no byakuren, Gajokai, or Soka Group in attendance. Additionally, the only youth at the meeting were a few small children. Source
I feel that SGI is out of touch with anyone who’s younger than 60. The leaders are retired, have a lot of time on their hands and completely disregard the fact that people may work or have families. For young people it’s the old people taking nonsense. Source

The PROBLEM was already evident in 1983 - and none of the SGI-USA's big "Recruit-Youth-A-Thons", like "Victory over Violence" and "Rock The Ego Era" and "50K Liars of Just-Us" (everybody wants to forget the epic fail that was the "Gandhi, King, Ikeda" exhibit), has made the slightest difference in this demographic disaster. In fact, preparing for the 2018 "50K" event, SGI-USA likely had only 2,451 members in the 12-35 (or perhaps 11-39) age group, just 9% of the most generous SGI-USA active membership total (~30,000).

Ikeda could have preserved a "youthful" Soka Gakkai by passing the Presidency to a younger candidate, but Ikeda refused, because Ikeda was too focused on and obsessed with HIMSELF - his power, his prestige, his wealth, his status, his fame, his renown, HIM becoming leader of the world, his PERMANENCY, and his legacy. He refused to let anyone else come anywhere CLOSE to the power and control - he greedily, selfishly clutched it all tightly to himself and refused to share.
THAT is why the Ikeda cult Soka Gakkai/SGI is aging and dying. It's ALL Ikeda's fault, Ikeda's responsibility. IKEDA DID THAT.
Some "mentor". Source

SGI-USA has never managed to recover from that demographic bottleneck that happened no later than 1983.

Let's do some quick math first. What are the profits of both Sony and Microsoft? According to figures Sony made about 88 Billion in 2023. Microsoft made 211 Billion. Ok we know there profits. But is this mostly from Gaming or from other avenues? Microsoft and Sony are big companies on there own. Well for Sony it's PlayStation. For Microsoft it's Office Programs and operating systems.
This right here is bad for PlayStation. Microsoft could realistically just set money on fire at Xbox and be fine. I feel like the money they make in gaming is meaningless to them. They just want to be in the space. It's like how for years YouTube was losing money for Google. They stayed tho because being in that space itself was great for them.
Sony tho is heavily dependent on there gaming division. It's where the majority of there profit comes from. And all it takes is lower sales on a few of these big budget Triple AAA games for them to be in deep trouble.
Microsoft on the other hand doesn't care. If Gamepass was losing them 10s of millions every year they'd keep it around anyway. It wouldn't effect there bottom line in the slightest. Every single new game they have planned could be cancelled tomorrow and they'd just laugh it off. Sony couldn't.
TLDR: Sony really needs there games to succeed. Microsoft has enough money to not care and lose millions every year. Sony can't compete with that

1. Make mind maps of your different subjects
   
2. State areas you’re interested in from each of your subjects mind maps
   
3. Determine what subject (If you know) what degree you want to do after year 13
   
4. Decide what subject would be the best for your project
   
5. Find a specific area you are most interested in from that subject (Has to not be something in the spec or coursework)
   
6. Determine a specific question name (This may need to be changed depending on mento supervisor requirements
   
7. Determine a suitable project mentor mentor
   
8. Think about potential research e.g. primary? books? government documents?
   
9. Repeat any steps if your mento supervisor doesn’t think the planning is good enough to reach high mark bands
   

edit: You should also determine what project outcome you want to choose

Would really appreciate any advice on how to best decide whether to apply to the engineering school or school of arts & sciences for a person planning to major in CS (and possibly math as well) in schools where the CS major is in both undergrad schools. Cornell, Columbia, UPenn, and NYU are of particulaprimary interest on this front (to the extent someone has specific thoughts for these schools).
It would be helpful to know if it is generally "harder" or "easier" to get into one vs. the other (all very hard, I assume, but are there any meaningful differences one can gather from stats), and whether the culture/opportunities/experience is meaningfully different depending on the undergrad school to the extent one is a CS major in either case. I understand that distribution requirements may be different, but all seem to allow taking a lot of CS/math/physics classes (which is the things he most enjoys), and otherwise "general engineering" vs. "more humanities" classes are equally "okay".

As I got to work today, DB was walking out the door and he said quickly as he was leaving that he had an idea that I should pick an activity to regularly do lessons on with their 20 month old daughter, “whether it’s singing or something else.” He didn’t elaborate more and I really did not know what he meant, and then NK and I walked with MB to her car and I asked for further clarification “Do you guys just want me to pick some type of hobby and start like regularly doing it with her?” And all she said was yes, that I should brainstorm what might be age appropriate and next week we can discuss which activity I will be giving her lessons in.
I feel that firstly, it is far too early to begin any type of formal lessons with her. She is not even two and in my experience as a nanny, daycare worker and preschool aide, two year olds learn the best through play, outings and activity hopping at their own discretion throughout the day, not scheduled lessons where you’re like “now it is time to sing” and instead just singing when NK feels like it. Secondly, I feel like my rate reflects that of a caregiver and not a teachetutor and if they want me to plan lessons I need to be paid more. Right now I watch NK solo two days a week for $18/hour, and two days a week I watch her as part of a nannyshare with their friends child, and I make $14/hour from both families so $28 total. I work for a separate family on Fridays only.
I’m all for educating NK throughout the day as we encounter things and explaining the world to her, but if they want me to plan out specific lessons and have them ready to go every day I want to be paid more. I’m looking for advice on how to approach this conversation with them, and suggestions on which hobby/activity I should suggest for NK should they agree to a rate increase?

First
While the first few weeks were pretty eventless, Mor had this bad feeling that the peace would not last. He excels at magic theory and can hold his own on applied beginner magic, still, he had a dower outlook as he was unable to make a single friend.
But when, after the lessons, he found a little letter slipped discreetly below the door of his dorm room, it changed his outlook in an instant. So as he opened the envelope slightly smelling of flowers, Mor read the elegantly written letter inside, a dopey smile growing on his face.
"I don´t know how to start this letter, but I admire your smarts and think you are really cute. I would like to meet you tomorrow after the lessons behind the training center where we could have a talk and get to know each other some more.
Zaletha Angelith"
As he went to class the next day, his head in the clouds, he finally felt that everything would be alright it was his popular phase now. While he dreamily sat through the lessons his imagination ran wild and sometimes threw a shy glance toward the girl who wrote him the letter. His heart fluttered a little as she noticed him and smiled brightly. Mor could not await the end of lessons and finally was released from his torment. He was almost rushing to the meeting spot not wanting to let this opportunity go, and he would not be made to wait long. A few minutes after he arrived at the meeting spot the sparkling form of Zaletha walked up to him smiling brightly and instantly going for a hug, which set Mor´s brain into a state of shock and exhilaration.
He was instantly thrown into a dreamy dopey state and did not notice the other visitors who intruded on the intimacy of the two to be lovebirds.
"Look at that, the princess and the peasant!" One of them exclaimed and the other two snickered.
"Maybe you should rather get yourself, someone of your status, like a little beggar girl. You magicless looser"
And while those words were hurtful to Mor he just ignored those idiots, but then his view fell onto the face of Zaletha. He saw her fear of those bullies and instantly a cold furry began to burn in his chest. Turning around furious he began to channel his magic, glowering at the three other boys
"Fuck off Ruby, and take your flunkies with you, or I will beat you up!" He shouted and all three just smiled at him. The leader called Ruby raised an eyebrow at Mor.
"You would attack someone from royalty? Know your place trash. I Ranbor Ruby, am the most talented flame caster of this school and can burn you to cinders if I wish!"
A slight bout of fear manifested inside of Mor´s conscience but as his view flickered to Zaletha clinging fearfully at his back it was quickly squashed. His rage reached new heights and he unleashed a bolt of pure arcane power which instantly was stopped by a magic barrier cast by one of the flunkies.
Mor was instantly caught in a whirling wall of fire, burning away his flesh, hurting like nothing ever hurt before, he would die, right here right now but at least he could protect Zaletha. Smiling like an idiot he embraced death, just as with the snip of fingers the flames disappeared, along with something, and a feminine giggle started behind him.
There he was standing looking like an idiot, his actions finally catching up with his brain and draining all color from his face. He slowly mechanically turned to look at Zaletha, but his admiration for her was completely gone, and she just laughed at him.
"He really fell for it, that lowly peasant thought he could have a chance with me!"
And now he understood, with his longing for friends, for someone to have social connections his hope for that letter to be real, Mor was caught in an illusion magic. Forming his thoughts, giving him fake feelings, and making him make a stupid mistake, as it is against school rules to use magic against another student. So here he stands four people laughing at his idiocy and he has no witness of his own to change the narrative, he was caught and would now be expelled.
"Well, well, well peasant. You are really in a sticky situation here, aren´t you?" Ranbor gloated.
"But don´t fear, we won´t tattle on you, but let's say for our understanding and silence you need to grant us a few small favors, nothing too bad, so don´t fear. How about you do our homework for today? That seems fair, for the scare you caused."
With that, Mor knew his bad feelings had been right and he would be at the mercy of those bullies. Because who would believe a low-born over the statement of a group of nobles? His school life of dread would really kick off now.
While his grades stayed good, as he would from this point on, always did the homework for 5 people, and secluded himself as often as possible in his room while they had free time so he could evade his tormentors, every time they would cross paths they would torment him with illusions if no teacher was nearby and be all buddy while a teacher was watching. It drained him and let his magic control waver, because of this his applied magic training got worse and worse.
Mor would often think to write a letter to his parents about his dismay, but could not bring himself to disappoint them, so he would lie about how he made a lot of friends and how great everything was. Sometimes he would try to trip up the lies of his bullies in front of a teacher, but his attempts were always seen as "friendly" rivalry between the generous nobles, who took on the peasant recluse and tried to get him to socialize against his will.
As soon as the teacher was out of sight, he would pay for his insolence with illusory pain, and anything to hurt him, that would not leave any marks. It was plain hell and as his thoughts went to quitting everything more and more, another desperate plan formed in his brain.
Maybe if he could be strong enough if he could get specialized magic he could fight back show those bullies he can not be taken lightly and finally break this abusive cycle.
He would do something forbidden, a once-in-a-lifetime ritual, designed to join the souls of two soul-kin together, a ritual designed as bonding with your soulmate and lifelong partner joining your magic pool and affinities together and enhancing both. In some children story´s a lone hero would often use this ritual to fuse his soul not with kin but a mighty elemental force and become far more powerful than any kin, with the cost of staying alone forever, never having a "true" soulbond.
In the deep night, Mor began to draw the required magic circles, using his blood and earth from the gardens as a medium for an earth elemental force and with a last bit of exertion he funneled all his magic into the ritual, falling unconscious at the same time.
In the same moment, fate called, or perhaps it was just chance, when a pick struck something that should never been rediscovered, and something was awakened that should have died in eternal slumber.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Second try because something went wrong.

Gold IRA vs. Traditional IRA: Which is Right for You?

When planning for retirement, choosing the right investment vehicle is crucial to ensure financial stability and growth over the years. Two popular options among investors are the Gold Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and the Traditional IRA. Each has its unique features, benefits, and considerations. In this article, we'll compare these two types of IRAs to help you decide which might be the right choice for your retirement savings.
Get Your Free Gold IRA Kit From Here

What is a Traditional IRA?

A Traditional IRA is a type of retirement account that allows individuals to make pre-tax contributions, meaning the contributions may be tax-deductible depending on your income and other factors. The investments in a Traditional IRA grow tax-deferred until withdrawals begin, which are then taxed as ordinary income. The primary benefits of a Traditional IRA include the immediate tax relief on contributions and the ability to invest in a wide range of securities like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

What is a Gold IRA?

A Gold IRA, on the other hand, is a special type of IRA that allows investors to hold physical precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, rather than paper-based assets. This type of IRA requires setting up a self-directed IRA account with a custodian that specializes in this area. The main appeal of a Gold IRA is the opportunity to diversify one’s retirement portfolio with a tangible asset that historically holds its value well, especially during times of economic uncertainty.
Click on this link to get your free Precious Metals IRA kit from Reagan Gold Group

Key Differences

1. Investment Type:
2. Tax Benefits:
3. Potential Returns and Risks:
4. Liquidity and Access:
5. Costs and Fees:

Which is Right for You?

Deciding between a Gold IRA and a Traditional IRA largely depends on your investment goals, risk tolerance, and financial planning needs:

• Diversification: If you are looking for a way to diversify your investment to protect against market volatility, a Gold IRA might be a compelling option.
• Risk Tolerance: If you prefer a potentially higher return and are comfortable with market fluctuations, a Traditional IRA might be more suitable.
• Economic Outlook: If you are concerned about economic instability or inflation, investing in a Gold IRA could provide a hedge against such issues.
• Investment Horizon: Consider your age and the time horizon until retirement. Younger investors might be able to take on more risk with paper assets, while those closer to retirement may appreciate the stability of gold.

Ultimately, the choice between a Gold IRA and a Traditional IRA should be made with a comprehensive understanding of your financial landscape and in consultation with a financial advisor. Combining both types of IRAs could also be a strategy to balance risk and reward effectively. Whatever your decision, the key to retirement planning is to stay informed and proactive in managing your investments.

Hi all,
I started diving at a really young age and was a divemaster by 16 or 17 (now 34), ccr mod 1 certified, adv nitrox/deco too.
I had a longish hiatus from all of that while I was starting my life as an adult with only occasional dives in between. After my last dive trip to cozumel this year (first time there since 2008), I got a little sad that my gear looked a bit outdated.
I use:
apeks tx100s and tx40s for my primary setup in shallow water and travel
Poseidon jetstreams for deep and cold
Also have a liquivision x1 on ebay I'm looking to sell if anyone wants it
I'm looking to streamline the gear I use for servicing sake and maybe flip it for newer stuff if needed. All my gear has been meticulously maintained and serviced and all currently work flawlessly.
The jetstreams I'd probably part with and grab my buddies tx100 set and use straight tx100s for all cold water, deep, and travel. I don't have any plans to get back into tech diving and sold my ccr a few years ago. So just looking to have 2 reg setups and a stage bottle settup for lake superior to the Carribbean.
What do you all think? Should I keep my current setup? Sell my poseidons and keep all tx100s? Sell it all and get newer apeks regs good for the next 20 years?
Appreciate everyone's time and input, Josh

i’m using LSAT Lab to study & i’m not sure whats the best way to learn & drill. right now i’m watching a lesson & then drilling that concept for about 2-3 hrs a day for a week. after that week, i move onto a new concept & i combine those drills from the previous concept & this new concept so i don’t forget the old. is a week too long to drill the same stuff? I’m planning on taking the LSAT in Aug so I have some time.
I learn best when i learn a concept then drill but do should i try and drill to master & then build on it? or move onto new concepts quicker? just don’t want to waste my time studying one way & then cram at the end.

Hello everyone,
As a moderator of this subreddit, I've noticed that activity here has been low, but that's not my main concern. The primary goal of this community is to build a digital space for resources, communication, and the preservation of the Mithila region's language and culture. Recently, a friend and I have launched the Mithila Cultural Archive, and we plan to continue this initiative.
Currently, I'm looking for volunteers. If anyone is familiar with Reddit tools and interested in helping us create a comprehensive wiki for this subreddit, please feel free to message me.
Thank you, u/alsipan

We will be bringing our kids (11 / 7) to NYC for the first time to celebrate my son and wife's birthday later this month. Son requested to see the Statue of Liberty and Starry Night (he has Lego sets of both.) We generally try to limit to one “major” activity a day as that is what works best for our kids. Kids are very into Lego and reading so we will plan to hit the Lego store on 5th and multiple bookstores. From a dining standpoint wife is Gluten Free, Kids are great eaters and have Sushi and Dumplings on the bucket list.
Here is our current itinerary with a few specific questions:

• Headlines about the Subway have been front and center over the past few months. I am not skittish but want to be reasonable about using the Subway with children – from a day-to-day standpoint is Subway travel as a family something you would be comfortable with or would you generally lean towards cabs and ride-share services?
• If using MTA how does fare-capping work when buying fares for multiple passengers? I know if you use the same card your fare is capped at $34 for a week but I am assuming this is per person.
• Any sushi recommendations in / around Theater District / UWS? It does not need to be a fancy Omakase experience. Solid Maki that the kids will enjoy is the focus here, carry out is fine.
• Any brunch recommendations in the Theater district?
• Any recommendations near Castle Clinton Monument in Lower Manhattan for an easy lunch?

Day 1:

• Fly into LGA
• Check-in to hotel (Hilton Midtown)
• Easy dinner (Los Tacos No. 1, Shake Shack, Twenty One Grains or similar)

Day 2:

• Breakfast / Brunch: Friedman’s (reservation made)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Dinner: Ci Siamo (reservation made)

Day 3:

• 5th Avenue Walk
• New York Public Library
• Bryant Park
• Harry Potter Store
• Possible Option: The Math Museum
• Lunch: Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao
• Afternoon / Evening TBD

Day 4: (Day 3/4 may be reversed depending on weather)

• Breakfast: Bread and Bagel
• American Museum of Natural History
• Afternoon in Central Park - simple lunch or eat take out in park
• Dinner: Senza Gluten (reservation made)

Day 5:

• Breakfast near hotel – Blue Bottle Coffee or similar
• Statue of Liberty (Crown) / Ellis Island (reservation made)
• Lunch: TBD in Lower Manhattan
• 9/11 Memorial Pools (Not Museum)
• Dinner: Keste or Simo for GF Pizza

Day 6: Wife / Son Birthday

• Lazy morning - donuts and coffee in room
• Open gifts
• Lego Store to shop for a Birthday present.
• Casual activities in / around Midtown
• Dinner: Osteria La Baia (reservation made)
• Wicked
• Post Theater cake or cupcake (Magnolia bakery or picked up before)

Day 7:

• Breakfast – TBD
• MoMA
• Afternoon / Evening (Parent Date Night)
• Dinner: Bird Dog (reservation made)
• Possibly Comedy Cellar if standby list is possible OR cocktails at Dead Rabbit or elsewhere.

Day 8:

• Sleep in
• Lunch at Chelsea Market
• Highline
• Little Island
• The Edge?
• Highline Hotel for cocktails / coffee
• Dinner: Shukette (reservation made)

Day 9:

• Head Home

Potential Activities as time allows:

• Brooklyn Bridge walk
• Top of the Rock (if we prefer to The Edge)

Hi all, this is my first post on Reddit, a little nervous. I am a Digital IC designer in Taiwan. Recently, I started studying Robotics by myself, but I've been frustrated by the math involved, including Euler angles, Quaternions, and DH models. They were just introduced in Chapter 1. I think the mathematics are too difficult for the average person to understand, and I wish there were a visualization website that could demonstrate the concepts of each transformation method or robotic modeling approach.
Consequently, I developed VisRo, a website focused on visualizing robotic learning. I wrote version 0.1.0 of the website this weekend. Currently, it features visualizations of:

• Translation and Rotation
• Euler Angles
• Quaternions
• Homogeneous Translation
• Classic DH Parameters
• Modified DH Parameters

I plan to add more visualization views, including inverse kinematics and dynamics, to help students learn robotics more efficiently. However, I'm not sure if what I've done is the best solution for learning robotics. I need your advice on what I can do on the website to help people learn robotics faster.
Feel free to check out the website and give me advice. Thanks very much for your advice.
https://reddit.com/link/1csppxz/video/t5e9cco6gm0d1/player

Dear Teachers - I just quit my job (I know the school year is almost over) because I just could not take it anymore. I really need YOUR advice! I worked at a multilingual school for almost ten years. Loved every minute of it until there was a change in admin and… when you know you know. It was time to go. I landed in this new school as a 4s and 5s teacher. Director wanted me to implement my Montessori philosophy and get the children ready for kindergarten. Fabulous! It is an all Chinese school. Meaning students do not speak English at all. Teachers don’t speak English at all. Everything is written and directed in Chinese. I was supposed to do English immersion and just go with the flow of the school year. The children’s independence skills were close to none. Five years old did not know how to dress themselves or put a jacket on. Language barrier was a big challenge.
With this in mind, the downfall was the following:

• Onboarding training was zero.
• Director wanted me to get the children fully speaking in English in ten months.
• I was asked to teach reading and writing by the end of the school year (Some of them did not know how to spell or pronounce their English name for starters, only their Chinese names)
• The goal for math was for them to learn the four operations.
• Parents expectations were high and their involvement in acquiring English for their children was zero.
• Lead teacher meetings were ALL Chinese, meaning I just sat there every week and write doodles in my notepad. Always lost, tired of asking “what was that?”
• It is a Christian school. Even though they knew I was not Christian I was asked to pray out loud in meetings every once in a while.
• As the only English speaking person in the whole system, the director criticized me based on what others told her about me. Never observing my class, never assessing the lessons.
• I was instructed to take daily pictures of every student and share it to parents. Write to parents the lesson plans daily, monthly and a newsletter plus what and how much they had for snack and lunch. Daily.
• The lack of inclusion was absorbing my mental health.
• With all of this, the last straw was that a teacher and a parent said that I was not teaching my students anything because when they assessed them, the students seemed lost.

I tried. I tried my hardest to fit in but there was no place for me. I must say most of my students are now English speakers (I’m Chilean by the way). They now know that this world is called Earth and has continents. Cycle of animals and plants. Food preparation. Tracing. Using scissors. Some of them are reading, all know their numbers and phonics and they are thriving as children instead of little adults with that pressure of academics but no life skills.
I feel like a failure. Parents will see it as the teacher who ditched a class instead of an employee who tried her hardest. I am afraid I will have the same level of criticism in my next school. I am afraid I was failure this whole time.
Need advice please. Thank you!

Hi all, first post here. I’ve been fully off of my antidepressants for about 3 weeks, before which I have had the same combo for about 3 years. I unfortunately couldn’t afford the doctor appointment required to get a refill and wasn’t able to taper off like you’re supposed to. I honestly wasn’t sure I felt any side effects/symptoms related to this but I’m curious if what I have noticed is something others have as well with quitting medication.

1. I think I’ve had moments of vertigo but they pass quickly enough I’m unsure of the cause.
   
   1. I’m an emotional person and feel things deeply but was much more quick to cry or laugh last week. And when I did cry it was small bursts but felt like I needed to let out more but couldn’t at the time. Maybe the meds numbed me a little and I didn’t notice?
   2. My appetite is back! I’m diagnosed with Arfid: “avoidant restrictive food intake disorder” and for the past 2-3 years have struggled more with appetite except now I’m wondering if the antidepressants had anything to do with that. I had issues as a child with arfid but nothing as bad as these last 3 years.

Oh and I also experienced a bit of apathy when on meds and all of the things I used to enjoy I no longer do. Though since being off I do feel more motivated so I’m hoping that keeps going.
I don’t have a primary care doctor (no insurance through my job so I have free nyc health insurance which isn’t great) but I do plan to bring this up with a doctor at some point. I’m really unsure if I want to go back on these meds at any point though. Having my appetite and a little libido back is a relief. And I sort of feel like I can feel my emotions more clearly in a good way? But that could turn out to be a problem eventually. Sigh. Any advice? Am I irresponsible for going off meds and only experiencing a placebo effect of feeling better?
Thanks yall. I understand no one can give medical advice but would love to hear others’ experiences :)

Per suggestion to be more abbreviated. Spouse and I worked for small company and was supposed to get a really large bonus after 3 years of for project completion after acquisition. Deal fell apart and now I'm likely to get nothing and loosing my job at the same time. Overspent and overextended in anticipation of this bonus but now I have no bonus, likely no job, and a lot of expenses I need to get rid of quickly.
We bought our current house 3yrs ago to help parent move in with us with medical issues in an emergency. Lost a lot of equity from previous house in the process. Her parent died a year later and now we have a house that is too big but could rent out portions to make ends meet.
I have a rental property that is worth about $200k net in equity that can net about $1.5k/mo. I could sell this but it might be nice to have this as a dire emergency fall-back home as it's almost paid off and the tax+ins per month is only like $400/mo where the current home is $1.2k/mo in tax+ins. I can't currently move into the rental because of my children but maybe in 3-4 years.
I am mid 40s, she is early 50s.
It may take me 6mo or more to get back into the local job market and learn the skills that are valuable to our area as I've been writing specialized code for almost a decade. I can ramp up quickly but could take an income hit in the short term just to get into someplace to learn this skill. So I need to reduce expenses quickly with in a couple months.
[Income]

• Net combined income: $11.5k/mo
• Potential rental property income: +$1.5k/mo
• Potential "mother in law suite" rental income: +$500/mo

[Debts]

• Mortgage (primary): $3.9k/mo ($450k payoff)
• Mortgage (rental): $700/mo ($50k payoff)
• Credit Cards: $1.2k/mo ($40k payoff, used to remodel rental)
• Vehicle 1: $1.9k/mo, ($90k payoff, underwater about $30k)
• Vehicle 2: $430/mo, lease ending in 6mo
• Student Loans: $120/mo ($4k)

[Expenses]

• Utilities: $1k/mo
• Food: $1500/mo
• Misc: $300/mo

[Investments / Savings] (I would prefer to try and max as many of these out as possible sans VUL)

• VUL: $1,700/mo ($20k/yr min REQUIRED)
• Roth: $1,170/mo ($585/mo x2 to max)
• HSA: $700/mo ($350/mo x2 to max)
• Life Insurance: $350/mo (already pre-paid this year: $4.1k/yr but will need to save for next year)
• Savings: $1-2k/mo

Assets:

• Cabin/property: $60-75k (paid off)
• Rental (house): $200k / $1.5k/mo ($50k payoff)
• Rental (room): $500/mo
• Quick-ish-selling physical assets: $50k
• Current home: $150k equity
• Vehicle 3: $30k (paid off, about 3yo)
• Vehicle 4: $6k (paid off, about 8yo)

[Investments]

• $225k in stocks/funds
• $65k is in 401k/Roth/SEP
• $40k in a VUL
• $20k in HSA
• $90k in MM / emergency account

[Help]

1. If I end up with any small payout ($50k-$100k) where should I put it first?
2. I plan to sell off Cabin + quick assets ASAP. That should net me $110-$125k. I plan to pay off high-interest credit cards first and may be left with $60-75k, where best to put this?
3. Should I sell the rental property to pay off my primary residence vs keeping it for rental income stream? (I believe I'd have to pay 15% cap gains on this.)
4. If I can't completely pay off the house, is it worthwhile to still do this and maybe just recast the loan to reduce monthly expenses?
5. Returning vehicle 2 at lease-end, but should I pay off the remaining vehicle to reduce monthly burn rate?
6. From what I understand my VUL is essentially worthless at this point. Should I move this to regular investments since it requires $20k/yr to maintain, or is this more of a financial planner question?
7. Literally any other suggestions.