Imagine stepping into your office on moving day, surrounded by boxes and chaos. The thought alone can induce stress. But what if I told you there’s a way to navigate this transition smoothly? Let’s embark on a journey to master the art of packing your office for a seamless move.
Moving offices can be a daunting task, but with the right approach, it becomes a manageable endeavor. Whether you’re relocating your business to a new location or simply revamping your current space, packing efficiently is key to a successful move.

Assess Your Inventory:

Before diving into packing, take stock of your office belongings. Determine what items are essential and what can be discarded or donated. This initial step sets the foundation for an organized packing process.

Create a Packing Plan:

Develop a systematic approach to packing your office. Start by prioritizing items based on their importance and frequency of use. Consider labeling boxes according to their contents and destination within the new office layout.

Gather Necessary Supplies:

Stock up on packing materials such as boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, and markers. Having these essentials on hand streamlines the packing process and ensures your items are properly protected during transit.

Protect Sensitive Equipment:

Safeguard electronic devices and delicate equipment by wrapping them in protective materials like bubble wrap or foam padding. Moreover, be sure to label these items as fragile to prevent mishandling during the move.

Organize Files and Documents:

Sort through paperwork and files, discarding any outdated or unnecessary documents. Invest in sturdy file boxes or storage containers to keep important paperwork organized and easily accessible during and after the move.

Label Everything:

Clearly label each box with its contents and designated location in the new office. Also, this step facilitates efficient unpacking and helps movers or colleagues know where to place each box upon arrival.
Important tips: How to label moving boxes

Coordinate with Movers:

If hiring professional movers, communicate your packing plan and any specific instructions regarding fragile items or sensitive equipment. Collaboration with movers ensures a coordinated effort and minimizes the risk of damage during transit.

Maintain Accessibility:

Keep essential items and documents easily accessible throughout the packing process. Designate a specific area or box for crucial items such as office supplies, client files, and electronic devices needed for day-to-day operations.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, packing your office for a move doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By following these tips and utilizing a strategic approach, you can streamline the process and ensure a smooth transition to your new workspace. Remember, Premium Q Moving and Storage is here to support you every step of the way. With our expertise and dedication to excellence, we move lives, not just things. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist with your office relocation needs.
Contact Your Favorite Local Movers
Experience a seamless moving experience with Premium Q Moving and Storage as your favorite local movers. Get your personalized quote:

• For Tampa: at (813)-733-4481, visit www.premiumqmoving.com/tampa-moving or contact us at [tampa@premiumqmoving.com](mailto:Tampa@premiumqmoving.com). Follow us on instagram u/tampamoving.
• For Boston: at (781)-549-8789, visit www.premiumqmoving.com or contact us at [sales@premiumqmoving.com](mailto:sales@premiumqmoving.com). Follow us on instagram @premiumqmoving.

Listen/Watch Life Beyond Boxes Podcast Episodes Below

Catch the latest episode of the Life Beyond Boxes podcast now! Tune in for captivating conversations and eye-opening insights:

• Listen on Apple Podcasts: Life Beyond Boxes Podcast
• Listen on Amazon Music: Life Beyond Boxes Podcast
• Listen on Spotify: Life Beyond Boxes Podcast
• Listen on Boomplay: Life Beyond Boxes Podcast
• Watch on YouTube: Life Beyond Boxes Podcast

Don’t just exist – thrive! Listen to Life Beyond Boxes podcast now on your favorite podcast platform and embark on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment.
Subscribe now for a smoother, stress-free move and a brighter new chapter in your life. Let’s go beyond boxes together!

From Homeless to Helping:
Less than two months ago, I was homeless, living in a tent. But now, I am no longer homeless and I want to help others who are in the same situation. With a little help from the crypto community, I believe that this is possible.
I am asking for donations to be sent to the following bitcoin address: BC1Q7DRZDG26W0JRR3CCZ72FNKY228VTCM8RFNCSK9. 50% of All donations will be used to help others who are homeless and in need of assistance. Every little bit helps, so please consider donating if you are able.
I believe that with the help of the crypto community, we can make a difference in the lives of those who are homeless. Together, we can make sure that everyone has a place to call home. Thank you for your support.
Will provide videos of those that we help. Thank you all so much. Cash app: $BLASPHEMIST

Are you a gamer? Want to take out on normies, sexhavers, and foids that infest what used to be OUR hobby? Those of us born in the 80's will remember a time when being a gamer was scorned. We were bullied, chastised, and shunned from our peer groups for enjoying video games. This would last up until the mid to late 90's when the media finally started pushing games to "dudebros" and eventually women in the early to mid 2000's. Finally in the past 10 years we've seen an infestation of shitskins and third worlders completely flooding everything. I refuse to lay down and die. I will stand and fight till the bitter end.
It's time to turn the tables and make them suffer as they made us suffer, both in life and the virtual world. (Legally and within the confines of the game, this is NOT a guide to IRL ruinate or anything of the sort.) Some of this stuff isn't allowed if you're an EU gamer.
First off, you're going to have to let go of playing video games to "win" or acquire virtual greed. You're going to need a new mindset. The mindset of a sadistic psychopath hellbent on extracting keks from anyone and everyone deemed not one of us. No more giving a fuck about your KDA, w/l ratio, or "following the rules" or the "meta" of what other players expect you to do. You are a gamer going your own way, regardless of what the groupthink expects or wants. If the game is F2P or you're a richfag or jewtuber who can get free games from devs then being banned is part of the fun, and is expected of you. If you cannot afford to buy back into games or are too technologically retarded to change your IP and spoof your hardware to get around bans in F2P games then you'll have to tread carefully.
Here's the part where I instruct you on how to fuck over these sexhavers for your own sadistic pleasure. After all they've denied us a life worth living in the real world and treat us like lepers. It's time they feel uncomfortable in OUR space. Feel free to add to any of these methods or pitch in ideas.
Foid infested "cozy" games
Shit like "Animal Crossing" or "Palia." Anything that lets you decorate and grow shit is a "cozy" game and women infest these games more than any other. It's literally a containment game of sorts to keep them out of other shit. To fuck with women in these games all you have to do is steal resources, build ugly and annoying things within the game world, be rude via emotes and text chat, and use emotes to make it look like your character is grabbing their tits or eating them out. I once did /eat to some slag girl gamer in WoW Vanilla 20 years ago and when I reverse searched my name she was bitching about it on reddit and remembered my characters exact name 4-5 years ago. She's STILL SEETHING about it 15 years later. This is what you want. Virtual RAPE. Many foids stream these types of games, and it's incredibly easy to get under their skin. Make the ugliest characters you possibly can and always stand in their camera. Stalk them in-game. Uglify the world around them. Spam emotes. The world is your oyster.
MMORPG's
World of Warcraft, or anything else really. Gank them. Corpse camp them. Dispel their world buffs. Emote spam sexually assault them. Use a high level or highly geared character to camp low level quest zones and steal mobs, resources, and kill low level players. Stream snipe them till they hide their screen with nothingness. Join their guilds and steal their resources after faking being a Chad. Get the entire guild wiped, blame it on the women healers. Play a vital role and underperform / disconnect at pivotal moments and blame a thunderstorm. Make everyone wait on your actions, but not enough to get gkicked. Openly challenge sex havers lifestyles in discord voice calls and call them out on their privileged bullshit. (Genetics, riches, went to a nice school, raised by good parents, etc.) Use every underbelly evil shithead tactic that these fuckers used towards us during our childhoods and young adult lives. Roleplay it up and lie about your IRL self to make them feel inferior. Exploit early and often, and cash out via RMT before you get banned or when you quit for some NEET bucks. If the game has a "random queue" system you can wipe endless groups or refuse to participate and hold entire game lobbies hostage.
FPS
Overwatch, Counter Strike, etc. Simply play terribly in ranked matches. Don't assist the team. Mic spam. Play vital roles like tank or healer then simply don't heal and tell them openly on the mic to beg if they want heals. Refuse to play at all if a woman is in voice chat. Verbally accost every white knight that defends her. Remember, they're most likely wagies who have to go to work tomorrow and you're most likely a NEET who has infinite free time. Remind them of this. (Even if it's not true.) In FPS with one life, openly tell the enemy team where your team mates are camping. Use aimbots, wall hacks, and other cheats to make both sides pissed off. If you're doing well gloat. If you're playing shittily, then call them a loser or a nerd. Flashbang your own team. Drop objective items as far as possible. Die with expensive guns (Auto sniper in CS triggers normies.) and make sure the enemy acquires them. Acquire or goad team mates into team killing you to 2 week ban them.
MOBA / RTS
League, Dota 2, Age of Empires, and other slop. Never go to the "meta" lane. (AD carry / support normally go bottom lane, but you're gonna always go middle, and steal your own teams jungle.) Never build the right items. Feed the enemy team, kill steal your own. Never push lanes or objectives. Ping spam. Keep text chats very "safe" to avoid bans. When a team mate dies, some ping spam and a "?" goes a long way. Never agree to surrender, unless your team is winning. Always report everyone who rages on you. Play characters that have statistically low win rates or are extra annoying. Use a lag switch to delay and hold entire lobbies hostage (RTS). Wall in your own team. Use retarded high risk low reward build orders. Be completely useless all of the time and never join team fights except after everyone's dead then schizo gaslight them that they were the ones not helping.
Survival, Crafting / Building Games
Minecraft, and shit like it. Become insanely super godlike good at the game. Learn all the metas, muscle memory, speed run tech, and master PvP. Join reddit servers and ruinate months of "cozy crafting" with max enchanted equipment and masterful grief tactics. Construct server destroying redstone machines. Completely ruin spawn and active players bases while they're offline. Destroy their VIP / pay 2 win "donation" special items. Join their discords and spam anti-vax, anti-pitbull, and black people violence webms from rekt threads on 4chan to get their servers shut down. Literally use modded hacked clients to ESP radar hack and dupe your way to victory, kicking down reddit twerps virtual sand castles and record the seethe in their discord voice chats while pretending you don't know what's going on. Abuse and exploit anything you can to the detriment of other players (Shittily coded cash shops and stores. RPG elements that are 100% broken, like a "health swap" spell that you can use on any god-geared player to swap your 1/2 heart health with their full HP then 1 shot them naked kinda shit.)
Indie slop
None of these games have any cheat protection. Cheat Engine even the most basic shit. I once played some slop card game and was able to set my opponents HP at the start of the game to 0 and win immediately. You can pretty much speed hack on all of this shit and most hack sites will have a few dedicated cheat bros that can do the wildest shit like gain access to admin panels and other destructive things. Even without cheats most basic exploits can really break these games. If a dupe method worked on one shitty survival Unreal 5 sloppa game, chances are it works on the other 7,000.
VR / Roleplay shit
Fondle titties. When the white knights run up and shout "back off" loudly point and laugh at them. Force feed slags coconut drinks. Put your arm around everyone and get really up close in their face. Make fun of their furfag outfits. Call them trannies. Take a right wing stance on everything. Use cheats to spam gore and porn everywhere. Use mod menus (Cheats) to force other players to emote or spawn giant laggy objects and explosions. Always talk shit in VOIP and spam soundboards. Be as annoying and as insufferable as possible.
Single Player Games
Okay, so this one's hard to "troll" but there's still ways to do it. You gotta share stuff in normie spaces that will offend and upset them. There was a guy that played Red Dead 2 and brutually murdered and tortured the "women have a right to vote" NPC to the point where he got banned off jewtube for it cause it pissed off so many redditors. You're gonna have to be real creative with this one. If you're a jewtuber you can intentionally kill off all the gay NPC's in Baldurs Gate 3 or something during your streams or playthroughs and watch the seethe roll in. Or make misleading and untrue guides or push a narrative you'd prefer to see and post them to normie sites to really stick it to 'em.
Please, feel free to share your ways of griefing and trolling foids and sexhavers within the confines of the video game. Since we can't be happy in real life, the least we can do is make their virtual lives closer to ours. Give them a taste of their own medicine. The only joy I have left in life is making others seethe in video games, because what the fuck else is there to do?

This was my response to the charge:
I am writing in response to the receipt of a “TFL Verification Letter” dated‬ ‭ 18.03.24 which brings the accusation of Fare Evasion committed on 16.03.24 against me. In this letter, I‬ ‭ wish to outline my acceptance of the named offence, as well as provide reasons why TFL should decide‬ ‭ against prosecution.‬ ‭ I would first like to offer a full apology to the Transport Support & Enforcement officers whom I‬ ‭ encountered in the early morning hours of 16.03.24. I wholly acknowledge that my actions concerning a‬ ‭ lack of initial compliance caused stress and confusion to these workers and accept their use of force to‬ ‭ detain me. However, it is to be noted that I am not a regular user of TFL as I do not reside in Greater‬ ‭ London. Therefore, this confrontational experience, at the time, appeared new and intimidating to me,‬ ‭ ultimately resulting in my flight down the escalators in a state of panic.‬ ‭ Reviewing the events in hindsight, I can unequivocally state that I would not have attempted to evade the‬ ‭ officers or even the fare, if my rational thinking on the night was not hindered by a degree of intoxication.‬ ‭ I have only recently turned 18 years of age, am still in full-time education, and hence unemployed,‬ ‭ looking to begin university in September. I hope that during the processing of this case, it is taken into‬ ‭ account that this is my first offence for any public transport violation and that once apprehended, I did not‬ ‭ try and hide my identity from the officers and fully complied with their demands.‬ ‭ Please do not hesitate to contact me on this email if you have any further inquiries.
This was the charge in question:
On 16/03/2024 At Oxford Circus Where the entrance to or exit from a platform or station is via an automatic ticket barrier did enter or leave the station, except with permission from an authorised person, without passing through the barrier in the correct manner
Contrary to byelaws 9(2) and 23 of the Transport for London Railway Byelaws made under paragraph 26 of Schedule 11 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and confirmed under section 67 of the Transport Act 1962.
Any advice? The website says I might receive a criminal record?
Thanks

This is almost a month late! It's taken time to reflect and collect my thoughts, as well as rewrite this 50 times over*! There's a blog post about it with pictures and maps for those interested. Apologies if I'm not allowed to post links!
* see one of my lessons further down about over thinking of things!

TL;DR

This is THE race I have been trying to run for years, and when it finally came, it didn’t disappoint despite a sub-par performance on the day. I accomplished most of what I set out to achieve, and had an amazing day.

Goals

1. 3:20:00 - Fail
2. 3:30:00 - Fail
3. 3:40:00 - Pass
4. Bonus: Experience it - Pass
5. Bonus: Raise money for WWF - £800+

Results

Time: 3:38:21
Position: 12,670/ ~50,000+ (masses)

Report

It was a bright and sunny, but bitterly cold morning. Wind chill was around 0°C. As I threw off my warm layers, and approached the starting gate, I was at the peak of my anxiety. It had been building for days, probably weeks. Finally, I was only metres from the London Marathon start line and everything I had been working towards over the last 4 months was finally being released. The emotion was palpable. Tears moistened my eyes briefly . I could feel the stress starting to evaporate as I crossed the start line. I knew that this was it. Everything I had trained for, everything I had read and learned all needed to be implemented to the letter if I was to get my marathon PB.
3 hours, 38 minutes and 21 seconds later, I was crossing the finish line without a PB. My anxiety and nerves had been replaced with elation and exhaustion. There was pain and nausea mixed with joy and pride. I had a London Marathon medal around my neck finally! There was a tinge of regret that I didn’t get my PB, but after the last few hours, I was more than happy to have made it to the end, and done it in a good time.
The last few hours had been a rollercoaster of emotions. The whole of London had come out along with my family. This was London on one of it’s best days. But it hadn’t all been smooth sailing.
As I had stumbled over the finish line the first thing I wanted to do was stop, lie down and try not to be sick. I’d spent the last 10km struggling hard when my legs just ran out of energy. I hadn’t been topping up with gels since around 25km after getting at stitch, whilst simultaneously feeling sick and hungry. I didn’t have any reserves left in my legs and kept having to stop, stretch and walk. The support kept me going. Incredible crowds kept me going. “Go on Carl. Keep going!”. High fives kept me going! Knowing I had family out there supporting me kept me going, and having people who had made charity donations on my behalf to the WWF kept me going.
But where did my energy go? This all comes back to the anxiety that had been building over the last few days and weeks. From the Wednesday my appetite had just fallen off a cliff. When I did eat, it was just butterflies and they have next to no carbs! I always get race nerves, but that’s normally on the race morning so it doesn’t really affect the carbo-loading during the previous days.

Let's go!

The start went perfectly. I had said to myself, run the first third with my head, the second with my legs and the third with my heart. I didn’t go off too fast, in-fact I had stuck almost exactly to the 4:44/km pace I needed despite the long downhill in the first few km.
I was actually having fun. High fiving all the kids! Enjoying the atmosphere. It was busy on and off the course. there was almost a fun run atmosphere. It didn’t feel like a race, and my legs felt really good. By the time I arrived at the Cutty Sark, 10k in, I felt like everything had bedded down and I was just gliding along. The only issue at this point was my vest starting to rub, but that wasn’t anything to worry about. Somewhere in the crowds was my wife, Shadia, cheering me on but it was that busy I didn’t see her.
At almost the half way mark, is one of the iconic landmarks on the course, Tower Bridge. I got my phone out to take some photos and was surprised to find myself heading up hill. It’s probably the first uphill on the course that’s noticeable and by the time I was halfway across my HR was in the red zone, but I didn’t really notice until after because the crowd here were electric, and the backdrop was incredible. The course narrows over the bridge as you pass under the iconic towers, and on each side there’s people 5 deep cheering everyone on.
Then before you know it, you’ve crossed over and started towards Canary Wharf. I hit the half way mark with a 1:41:55. I was a little behind target, but my pace was good and I had just ran one of my top 5 half marathon paces. On the other side of the road, the pros flew past which was awesome to see and really makes it feel like a big event being on the same course as olympians and world record holders. They have a head start, so it’s not really fair!
It had all being going well, until it wasn’t. As I got towards 25/26km I started to get the sense that the easy bit was over. It started with a stitch, which meant that I just couldn’t keep up the pace. I put this down to 2 things. Coke, and shortbread. Since I hadn’t managed to carbo-load due to the anxiety over the previous days, I had decided to nibble some shortbread all morning before the start in an attempt to gain some energy. Likewise, before the race I’d needed a drink, and my thoughts went straight to something with sugar. Coke. Now a combo of carbonated sugar, and Scottish biscuits were enacting their revenge!
After backing off the pace somewhat, the stitch mostly went away, but I didn’t want it back, and made the mistake of stopping eating my energy gels or drinking much water. About 5km later, in the low 30km range my pace started to fall away from me. People say that the halfway point in a marathon is about 30km. I now understand why. The last 12km felt like more effort than the first 21km. Every time I looked at my watch I could see my pace dropping and felt my PB attempt slipping though my fingers. I would slow, then a dinosaur or a seagull would overtake me and it would spur me on for 500m, then I’d slow and someone would yell “Go Carl” and it would be another 300m or so.
Even when I arrived at Big Ben and I knew it was 1km to go, it felt like an almost insurmountable task. Flashing back to October last year and the Chester Marathon, the last 1km had been hard, but I still had something in the tank. This was just running on fumes. The only thing I didn’t want to do was to walk that final bit. I could see my time was now looking nearer to exceeding 3:40 and if I walked then my final target would have been missed. I just had to grit my teeth and slog on.
400m to go and it was “just one loop around a track”. That felt like a big ask, but I forced myself with all my remaining effort not to slow or walk. Finally rounding the corner in front of the palace with about 200m to go, the finish line appeared into sight. Can I summon up a sprint finish? No. not even a slight uptick in pace. That’s how empty my tank was. Just put one foot in front of the other and reel it in and try not to trip over the timing mats at the finish line. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over. LonDone! Someone placed a medal around my neck and I finally the magnitude of what I’d done finally struck home “I’ve got a London Marathon medal. I’ve actually got one. Wow.”
Almost immediately as I finish, Shadia called me to try and meet up. I’m trying to explain where I am and how we can meet but my brain just doesn’t have the ability. It’s a mess.

It’s hard to describe to someone how f**ked you feel when you finished something like a marathon. It’s not like being tired from doing a 5K when you start out running. It’s not like your first 10K either, or even a half marathon. Your body is just exhausted. Every muscle aches. You have no energy. After 30km your energy supplies have dwindled and you are left tired and broken.

Eventually Shadia gets some sense out of me and we try to figure out a place to meet. A bit dazed and confused I shuffled off towards blankets, Lucozade and the exits. It’s busy, so we change the plan a few times, finally ending in Charring cross for a celebratory beer, before heading back to base. And with that, the London Marathon is done.

Route

It's a pretty well known route (see my linked post for the route map)

Kit

• WWF Vest
• Salomon Running Vest
• INOV-8 Race shorts
• Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next% 2
• Darn tough socks
• Garmin HR Pro band
• Garmin Epix 2
• Shockz OpenRun headphones
• Salomon 500ml bottles (water)
• SiS energy gels (various flavours)

Lessons

Post race I jotted down my thoughts in a mind-map so I could quickly explore how things went. This isn't something I have tried before, but it worked really well to quickly surmise the whole event, training and experience of the London Marathon.

Nutrition and energy

My fuelling pre race, was s**t. I know this. I should have been aiming for 600-700g of carbs a day from the Wednesday onwards and failed hard. This hit me hard in the race. that was the fabled wall. There’s nothing more to say about this.
There’s 2 things I’m looking at to fix this. Other types of gel. Energy drinks on the days leading up to it. I think I can handle them despite the anxiety and it’s a good way to load up some carbs at least!

Training plan and goals

I set out in January a goal to beat my Chester PB of 2023. 3:32:36. For Chester I had done no specific training, although I already had a regime with a lot of base (Z3) runs, ParkRun’s ran as races most Saturdays and a long run each week, with a few bing half marathons. There were about 2 30km+ runs over the 4 months before. I was probably averaging 50km per week.
For the London Marathon I started training on the first of January, following my Garmin Epix’s suggested runs. This pushed me pretty well, and was a good mix of long, hard and easy runs. The problems with this arose when Idris went back to nursery and the germs got him! That meant rubbish sleep, and the suggested runs tried to be nice, which meant it was all short and easy.
I started looking at a range of plans which could push me hard enough, whilst also not taking up every waking hour with running. I can’t remember now, because I didn’t write it down, but the closest I got was Jack Daniels advanced or Pfitz 12/50, but both of these still weren’t quite a good enough match, so the only option was to roll my own.
This boiled down to a simple plan:

• Monday: Z2 / Recovery
• Tuesday: Sprints / hills
• Wednesday: Z2 / Recovery
• Thursday: Threshold or intervals
• Friday: Z2 / Recovery
• Saturday: Long run at base, increasing to 33km
• Sunday: Base

Most runs ended up being around 10k in length apart from the long runs. I also dropped ParkRuns on a Saturday so that I could focus on the sprints/intervals and long runs without being too knackered. From February my long runs were around 21km, but during March I started to push these to 33km. All the time this was going on, my predicted Marathon time was improving from low 3:30s towards the low 3:20s. So far so good.
Because of this shift in my predicted time I changed my goal from beating my PB, to going for 3:20. This was probably a mistake, and I should have looked at RunAlyze’s predicted time which takes into account weekly mileage and longest runs over the period. It turned out to be more accurate. I think if i’d gone out of the gate slower, or dropped my pace and continued fuelling when the stitch arrived I wouldn’t have hit such a wall and missed my PB. Lesson learned.

Anxiety and stress

I over think. A lot. Not being at home the lead up added to my stress. Travelling down a few days before and trying to incorporate sightseeing really didn’t help. Add into the mix, trying to do sightseeing with family and help coordinate where to watch was probably the another nail in my PB attempt.
One other aspect around this event was the historic significance of it to me. My previous job, starting 15+ years ago, had revolved around the London Marathon like the earth around the sun. It was seen as one of the pinnacles of the road race calendar. Back then I didn’t even run, but a large part of me started running due to this. Because of Realbuzz I ran my first half marathon and for years I have tried, and failed, to get on to the London Marathon, so to finally be able to run it, and to be in a position where I can run it well (pushing for a PB) was a lot of self inflicted pressure.
My solution is to more races of a big nature. Keeping me out of my comfort zone can only help me get used to it. Mixed in with better planned travel/sightseeing and I might just be race ready. I hope so, because I’m signed up to Chester and Yorkshire marathons in October already!

Fundraising

Remember when you were a kid and did charity fundraising for 5p a length of the pool, or something like that! Well, I hadn't really done any since then. When I signed up for the London Marathon to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund it was always something I kept pushing back to do later. I was a little nervous to ask for donations. When my WWF vest arrived, I knew it was time to grow up and just ask.
The reality is that you have to pester people. Some will love your cause, or your dedication and other’s not so much. You’ll get something from someone and then the ball is rolling. The lesson is, do it ASAP so you have time to ask again, and again in different ways.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Carl-Topham
Thanks to every who donated, liked and shared my campaign. As one UK supermarket says… every little helps.

Miscellaneous

I’ve always been worried about running out of water. That was never going to happen if I’d looked at the route maps. Every 5km is plenty. I ran with a vest so I could carry 1 litre of water! That’s excessive and caused my running vest to rub and then bleed. This wasn’t a show stopper until a few days after, but unless I’m out on the trails, or self supporting, then a smaller waist pack should be enough.

It’s not all bad

Family support throughout my training and accommodation for my long runs especially from Shadia. They’ve been flexible and allowed me to have time to do what I needed to do which has massively helped.
In the last month or so I started to add in some strength training. Mainly press ups and sit ups with some stretching also. Unlike last years Chester marathon, it may have contributed to me being able to continue running only days after. Chester crippled me for over 2 weeks.

Final thoughts

I’m doing it again, somehow, some day. While it was a very hard day, especially the second “half”, the sheer atmosphere and emotion just made it epic.
This was THE race for me. While I didn’t get the result I wanted to, it was an incredible, enjoyable experience that I already look back on with fondness and pride. I think there are some valuable lessons to take away from it which I can apply already so hopefully this will be a notable stepping point in my running achievements.This is THE race I have been trying to run for years, and when it finally came, it didn’t disappoint despite a sub-par performance on the day. I accomplished most of what I set out to achieve, and had an amazing day.

As the encampment starts its fourth day at UW, the media wing of the Palestinian solidarity group issued an unexpected declaration. Alongside their ongoing efforts for justice, they have launched a new intifada (the Arabic word for uprising) — this time against body odor in UW. This surprising turn of events came after the group conducted focus groups to identify the biggest issues facing the UW community, only to discover that body odor completely topped the list.
"We were honestly surprised by the results," said spokesperson Layla Nasir. "We expected issues like high rent or how shitty WaterlooWorks is, but it turns out that body odor is a unifying concern for everyone on campus. We are committed to addressing what our people want."
This new intifada has garnered unprecedented support from all corners of the campus. Students, faculty, and even the previously adversarial Zionist groups have come together in a rare display of unity. "We might disagree on many issues," said Avi Cohen, a member of the campus Zionist organization, "but we can all agree that UW students shouldn't have to suffer through this level of funk anymore. I'm a proud supporter of this intifada."
In an extraordinary gesture, Professor David Goldstein, a fervent Zionist, announced his willingness to donate $1,000 to support the intifada. "I'm sick of my class smelling like ass," Goldstein complained. "If we can teach everyone the benefits of soap, then it's a win for the entire UW community."
Not everyone is motivated by the political aspects. "I don't care about Palestine or Israel," said one student, who wished to remain anonymous. "I just want to able to write out a two hour test without passing out. Hell, I'd wear an N95 keffiyeh if it allowed me to breathe comfortably."
Solidarity from the broader UW community has been overwhelming. Donations of hygiene products have flooded in, with students offering their dorm showers and faculty members organizing workshops on makeshift cleanliness strategies. Additionally, the group has set up a booth distributing free soap and hygiene tips. "I've never seen such a collective effort," remarked Professor Sandra Lee, head of the sociology department. "It's truly heartwarming to witness everyone putting aside their differences for the common good—or in this case, for the common odor."
In a show of unity, participants have begun repurposing common intifada slogans for their new campaign. Chants like "Liberate our nostrils!" and "From buttcheek to buttcheek, our asses will be free and clean" can be heard all throughout campus.
"We remain committed to our original cause," Nasir emphasized, "but we recognize that to fight for justice, we must first ensure that all UW can breathe freely. This intifada is just the beginning of our comprehensive approach to liberation and peace."
As the encampment continues, only time will tell if the group's resolve can withstand the dual pressures of political activism and personal hygiene. For now, they march on, noses held high.

I’ve been seeing a lot of orders coming through for apartments that don’t give apt numbers. Had 3 orders yesterday that were apartments and no apt number listed until I started delivery. Another customer ordered 30 pounds of chicken and decided to change the address after I was finished. The original address was 1.6 miles away then they changed it to 26 miles and meet at the end of the street not the address. I called support and it was a scam. Customer apparently has done this a few times and IC canceled it. I’m a vegetarian and IC told me to keep it. Another apartment with no apt #. Donated to the local food bank.

I 24F have been living with a housemate 27F with a drug addiction for the past year and last night I spoke to her about things I don’t agree with as a result to her addiction. Part of this is I no longer want to resume living with her when our tenancy runs out in 3 months time. This was a sudden decision but I need to get away from the situation before I feel trapped or out friendship gets strained further and I don’t want to leave her with false hope that if she gets clean I’ll change my mind because if she doesn’t I have to have this conversation again with even less notice. I understand her anger at me for discussing what I did with her but she argued over not talking about it sooner. Which yes in hindsight would if been better to handle the situation but i don’t know how to handle addiction. I have luckily never had to be in this situation before. I wasn’t fully aware to get extent it had gotten and I also spent a long period of time not in the house due to issues with the property around 2-3 months at the start of the year but this conversation had to happen now before it was too late.
However after the conversation I am wracked with guilt that maybe I should have said something sooner but whenever I tried I either got told not to worry about her or she’d say she’s fine so I would leave her as I believed her and wanted to believe she was ok. I feel horrible for having to tell her but throughout the conversation she just said why didn’t I talk to her sooner but I tried in the past. she just got angry and doesn’t seem to understand it wasn’t said to hurt her. I tried my best to talk calmly and while reading the letter to her I cried but was met with anger understandably so. I don’t hate her despite what she must think and at this time I am respecting her space and whenever she wants to talk I’ll listen I don’t think I have done everything right in this situation but i also dont know if the result would of been any different if I had done earlier. I don’t want to fallout over this as I consider her my close friend but maybe I left it too late to have this conversation. This morning I woke up to her partner who also was present as a support for her if she needed it has called me disgusting childish and said that this was a facade and basically dragged the conversation into a group chat with those who were not involved and having ahi I haven’t responded besides saying please do not do this over text and that I’m happy to discuss their feelings in person but to not drag anyone who was not there into it and for everyone to just stop then I left the group. AITA

I sent an international package from Germany in January, and DHL lost it. After many weeks, they admitted it to losing it and they asked me for my IBAN to send me refund. I provided it and I haven't heard back. Fast-forward to last week (more than 4 months after I initially gave them the package), they are now asking me for 56 EUR through a physical letter sent by Deutsche Post, claiming that they found the packet, returned it to Germany and that since I did not respond to them, they had to store it for a long time because I would not come pick it up at the local shop. Now: of course this is the first time I ever hear back from them about this situation. They never asked me to pick up anything until that, whether by e-mail or by post. In my city, DHL pretty much never rings your door, they just dump packages to whichever neighbour answers first, or they would dump it to a random shop in your neighbourhood if you're lucky.
What is my best course of action to avoid paying this absurd fee? I contacted their support, explaining the situation, but I fear it's going to be ignored and this is going to turn into a bureaucratic never-ending story with them adding up fines over time for late payment, ignoring all of my attempts to explain the situation. Any advice on what I could do?

Martin Luther King Jr

Early Life

• Birth: Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Education: He was an exceptionally bright student, skipping grades and enrolling at Morehouse College at the age of 15. He later attended Crozer Theological Seminary and earned a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University.

Civil Rights Movement

• Montgomery Bus Boycott: King's leadership in the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott brought him to national prominence. The boycott was a response to the arrest of Rosa Parks and aimed to end segregation on public buses.
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC): In 1957, King helped found the SCLC, which coordinated civil rights activities across the South.

Philosophy of Nonviolence
King was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's principles of nonviolent resistance. He believed that nonviolence was not only a tactic but a way of life and a means to achieve moral ends.
Landmark Speeches and Events

• "I Have a Dream": Delivered during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, this speech became one of the most iconic in American history, envisioning a future where people would be judged by their character rather than the color of their skin.
• Birmingham Campaign: In 1963, King was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, where he wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," defending civil disobedience against unjust laws.
• Selma to Montgomery Marches: These 1965 marches were crucial in the passage of the Voting Rights Act, highlighting the struggle for African American suffrage.

Nobel Peace Prize
In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to combat racial inequality through nonviolent resistance.
Assassination and Legacy

• Assassination: King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting striking sanitation workers.
• Legacy: King's legacy is celebrated every year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the United States. His work continues to inspire movements for social justice and civil rights globally.

Publications
King authored several important works, including:

• "Stride Toward Freedom" (1958): A memoir of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• "Why We Can't Wait" (1964): Discusses the civil rights struggle in Birmingham and the need for immediate action.
• "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?" (1967): Reflects on the state of American race relations and the future of the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to civil rights and his advocacy for nonviolence have left an indelible mark on history, making him one of the most revered leaders of the 20th century.
Top of Form

In the quiet corners of my heart, I am endlessly proud of you. Your achievements shine like constellations, each one a testament to your brilliance. How I long to be present at every milestone, to witness each triumph firsthand. Yet, it seems we are like parallel lines, destined to journey side by side but never truly intersecting.
As your friend, I cherish the bond we share, even as I quietly conceal deeper feelings. Perhaps I am not destined to be the woman who shares your life. And though this realization brings a bittersweet ache, I remain steadfast in my desire to be your friend. Should you ever wish me away, say the word, and I will support you from a distance, my admiration undiminished.
I love you with a depth I cannot express, a love so profound that it scares me to voice it. The uncertainty of your feelings paralyzes me, and so I confide in this letter instead. Whether you ever read these words, know this: in this lifetime, I have loved you beyond measure. Perhaps in time, I will find a way to bury these emotions, but until then, my heart remains yours, steadfast and true.

So, my sister moved out to Utah to go to college. She ended up getting married and has three kids. Great kids. Good husband. The problem isn't distance. It's that she doesn't call my mother or return her phone calls very often. Like hardly. There has never been abuse or anything that would justify it. It's the same with me. I don't even really care about her calling me or want to call her. Her kids matter more to me than her. What's the problem: well, my mom is very depressed about it. And naturally. It's always "I'm busy" excuse...always gaslighting. She has time to be on social media and is all cozy with her family out there. I know being right there with them, you're going to have more contact with them, but little contact with your mother is unnatural. Here's how Mothers Day present went: sister sends my mom some picture frames for pictures of the kids. Doesn't send any pictures! "I have to go to Walmart," she told my mom. Like where you got the frames or you couldn't have just gone there if you're going to go through the trouble of sending frames for pics of grandchildren?
Well, my mom finally wrote her a letter. Gaslighting. Well, I'm trying to keep it brief. So my mom told her in a text message, after many BS reasons for not calling back, etc., she told my sister: "I'm done with you. Enjoy your life." Not quite disowned, but eight hours and she hadn't returned a text. Imagine your spouse says that. If you value your marriage, you're going to reply to that as soon as you see it.
Here comes the part where I think my sister needs to get serious, because if it did happen, she'll have blood on her hands. My mom says last night, "If it wasn't wrong, I would kill myself." So now, we're talking suicide...the level the doctors say is a cry for help...serious...SUICIDE.
I think I have to tell my sister. If this doesn't change things, I think...well. The problem is there has never been any signs of narcissism in my sister. I went through the DSM. Not one of the requirements met. I'm not going to call and tell her. Why? I don't want to have a gaslighting conversation with her, with excuses and all that. Text may seem the wrong way to go, but it just allows me to say it and then her to think. She might respond with a gaslight, but there's no game like in an actual conversation. It's basically, "Hey, I told you plain and simple, and if you don't understand that.....
Well, the suicide. It's serious. I mean, I can't just have the police come and take her to the hospital. There has to be an immediate threat for that, not just talk of it.
And one more thing. So my mom goes out there. She said my sister said they were going to do stuff. My mom said she just sat in the basement where the bedroom was on her phone. When she mentioned this to my sister, my sister said it was her fault for not coming up or something like that. My sister was watching re-runs of Grey's Anatomy. I think it is the HOST'S job to invite the guest to do things, not the guest's. I mean that seems the logic to me about that situation.
Well, my mom is removing her as power of attorney. She was going to split the house value when she dies. Now she's changing the will to where she doesn't get half. My mom says she gets nothing. She was never a beneficiary of the life insurance. My father died and the money I was supposed to get (he'd saved. It was 50k) went to her. He didn't know he was going to die prematurely. She and her husband needed some help with a downpayment. I mean it's only money, but that's why she's not on the life insurance. She got her cut, her husband makes pretty good money anyway....but power of attorney and half the house, gone. Which I think is just fine. Not because I want all of those financial benefits, but because it's just. She has a five bedroom house...you get the idea. Geez, you watch your father removed from life support....have to visit him in a coma and never talk to him again...you know you say stuff, but....now imagine you had to see your father comatose in a burn unit and then you have your mother kill herself.
It will be blood on her hands, and I don't know what I will do. I don't think she'll do it, but that she mentioned it, there's a problem. I'm just thinking of the right way to say it. Naturally, you want to be very angry. But, it's better to make it firm, but not too harsh.

There is one thing being a supporter of Israel and it is a completely different thing to be supportive of sending tens of billions of dollars to America's greatest liability. Personally I hate the idea. If someone chooses to send their own money to either Israel or Palestine then that is fine but as someone who lives in the UK, I just want that money to be spend on the citizens in the UK.
There is no reason why the British government should be sending all of that money when the NHS is in a horrible position. A few years back my 3 year old sister fell and hit her head against the bed so bad that part of her skull was visible and she still had to wait 2 hours before seeing a doctor. It also does not help that my uncle had severe food poisoning and did not see a doctor for 8 hours. Also schools are in a horrible position. I remember that the teachers literally asked us to bring in paper for the printers. Universities are also in a bad position with my older sister university cutting 20 courses because they can not afford to pay the staff.
The country's PR is also in a horrible position. Every so often something happens like a rocket the hitting wrong place and an american will be killed then every american politician will go on about how this is extremely horrible and how they will still give Israel whatever it needs. That just gives of the impression that America is too weak to put their foot down and say "if you want our weapons, follow our rules."
I think it is fine to support and donate to either side but our countries money should be spent on its people and not a country that is becoming a financial and PR liability on us. Plus Israel can fund the war on its own and if it can't beat some people wearing flip flops and holding guns older than themselves then Israel should be embarrassed.

This is a bit of a rant.
F2 on psychiatry. It’s a good rotation overall as I see loads of interesting cases and it’s well supported.
There is a PA on the team who is absolutely useless. He doesn’t do bloods or ECGs so I and the other FYs and CTs are doing such scutwork. He simply says it’s not his job to do bloods and ECGs. Doesn’t even have to scribe in those MDTs so the doctors are doing this as again he claims it’s not his job. Doesn’t even do discharge letters which can be done even from home as we get laptops so we doctors take turns working from home to clear discharge letter backlog. The only thing this PA wants to do is do patient reviews or clerking where obviously he cannot prescribe or do section 5(2) so additional work generated for doctors because he does an absolute shitty job so we end up clerking ourselves to cover our asses. In the hospital, nurses would be doing bloods and ECG. Told my consultant and he knows this is bad but nothing he can do as it was management’s decision
Never seen a PA do scutwork even in hospital and saw one try to put in a cannula in an arrest and he was absolutely trash and it was obvious he hadn’t done a single one ever since he graduated from PA school and the anaesthetist leading the arrest told him to ‘get lost’ literally as he was deadweight (this PA does own endoscopy lists whilst the Gastro SpR does the firefighting on the wards)
So you can see these people do not in anyway help our workload but instead do the very opposite and are clearly a liability with their lack of knowledge, skills and insight. Yet I see hospitals stop JCF recruitment and hire new PAs instead which even the consultants oppose but uneducated hospital management love them because they’re ‘cheaper’ and on paper looks like they have improved staffing but reality is that these people are deadweight and have only increased workload for the existing doctors who are held responsible for these deadweights.

Planning to start homeschooling soon. I have a five year old who knows most single letter sounds and some common words. He's reading biff and chip looks at level 1 and 2 with some support but I feel like maybe there are gaps. I have heard a lot of good things about Logic of English but the cost is high with the Aus dollar in mind and shipping also. Any Aus/NZ/UK suggestions?

Greetings! Since the subject came up recently about AI-written job posts, I twiddled by MS-Copilot and asked it to write a help-wanted ad for hiring a freelance writer.
Here's what it spat: (down to the ### )

Help Wanted: Talented Freelance Writer

📝 About Us: We are a dynamic and growing online platform dedicated to delivering high-quality content across various industries. Our mission is to inform, engage, and inspire our audience with fresh perspectives and compelling storytelling.
🔍 The Role: We’re on the hunt for a creative and self-motivated Freelance Writer to join our team. If you have a passion for words and a knack for crafting engaging narratives, we want you!
Responsibilities:

• Produce original content on assigned topics. • Research and fact-check information to ensure accuracy. • Collaborate with our editorial team to refine articles. • Meet deadlines with consistency and reliability. 

Requirements:

• Excellent writing and editing skills in English. • Ability to write in a variety of tones and styles. • Strong research skills and attention to detail. • A portfolio showcasing your writing abilities. 

Perks:

• Competitive pay rates. • Flexible work hours. • Opportunities for growth and development. • A supportive and collaborative remote work environment. 

How to Apply: Send your resume, a cover letter, and two writing samples to email\@domain.com. Use “Freelance Writer Application” as the subject line.
We can’t wait to read your submissions and welcome a new voice to our team!
Feel free to customize this template to better fit the specific needs and brand voice of your platform!

###

It includes that last line in the output, so it might be fun to scan your FrankenSPAM for tell-tale filler text at the end like that.
What have we learned? AI-text is basically easy to spot, and is really not that different from the years of fill-in-the-blank templates and business mail that commerce has deployed for decades. It sounds canned and trite, because it's the "elevator music" of text.
I have seen a lot of work posts on UpWork just like this, and indeed on dozens of other job-board sites. I love the emphasis on "story-teller" and "narrative," which do ring true as the hot content-creator buzzwords of 2024.

"Join our formidable Clash of Clans clan! We pride ourselves on active donations and frequent clan wars, ensuring everyone grows stronger together. We're a friendly and supportive community, welcoming new players with guidance and camaraderie. No rushed bases allowed – we're all about strategic growth and teamwork. Become a part of our clan and let's dominate the battlefield!"
What you can expect: -friendly advice -active donations -frequent wars -trophy pushing -clan games
Our clan join link: https://link.clashofclans.com/en?action=OpenClanProfile&tag=2RVULV02P
We need loyal member
Let's build an empire together on this formidable journey

[I just recently learned of this community after I had shared this in the raisedbynarcissists sub, and I couldn't figure out how to crosspost it so I'm just copy&pasting]
As the title states, (and despite the existential risk to myself - as I am disabled, impoverished, and my survival is reliant on the room I rent in her attic - given her recent threat to have have me thrown out by the police because she could not handle the feelings she had during the argument that she initiated), I have finally drawn a bright red line in the metaphorical sand regarding my nMom's treatment of me. This is the culmination of 8+ years of sustained, one-sided, unreciprocated, and unsuccessful effort on my part to sustain, salvage, repair, or improve our "relationship".
 
Reading through some of the posts on this sub over the past day or so has been very validating, as one thing she's always been extremely committed to is making sure she's the loudest voice in my life telling me how invalid all of my emotions and experiences and realities are.
 
I am very grateful for anyone who takes the time to read this post, and any input, commentary, criticism, insight, commiseration, etc, is welcome and appreciated (especially on the topic of being NC-except-as-a-tenant). Her lifelong response to my needs or inconvenient requests for respect or attempts to hold her accountable for her behaviour (throughout literally hundreds and hundreds of interactions that she has walked away from or hung-up on) has essentially been "tl;dr 🖕". So I'm acutely aware of the length of what I'm written, and I'm very used to her cold (or even mocking) avoidance and dismissal of valid issues by commenting on the length or format of my communications without ever engaging on the merits.
 
Anyways, enough preamble, here's the full letter (all of the square-bracketed disclaimers and AI-summary are part of the letter as delivered to her, to try and counter the acute and selective illiteracy she develops whenever she begins to read something she doesn't like):
 
[Start of Letter]
 
[This document begins with a 382 word AI-generated summary (titled "AI- GENERATED SUMMARY:" below the square-bracketed opening remarks), estimated at 1m23s time required to read. If you are unable or unwilling to make it through even this brief summary, then there is literally nothing else I could possibly do to assist in your comprehension of my positions. The full message following the summary is approximately 2100 words, estimated at approximately 8 minutes to read.]
 
[If you would like assistance in understanding things I've written that you're struggling to interpret or comprehend, you can go to chatgpt.com (no account necessary), or download the ChatGPT app from the Google Play Store on your phone. You can simply interact with the chat in natural language (in other words, type as though you were texting another person) and it will understand what you are saying. If you are struggling to understand how to interact with it effectively, you can simply inform it of that (in any wording you choose) and it will assist you with altering your approach to receive more effective results.]
 
AI-GENERATED SUMMARY:
 
Your son's message is a powerful declaration of his boundaries, grievances, and intentions within your relationship. Here's a breakdown to help you understand:
 
Preface: He advises you to read with an open mind and, if needed, with assistance due to the emotional complexity.
 
Declaration of Disengagement: He firmly states his decision to disengage from any form of interaction or acknowledgment outside of essential landlord-tenant matters.
 
Condemnation of Abuse: He accuses you of perpetuating a cycle of abuse that has deeply impacted his health and stability.
 
Rejection of Coercion: He dismisses the idea that being evicted is a viable solution to the abuse, highlighting the coercive nature of such a choice, and how it leaves him vulnerable to further harm.
 
Criticism of Your Behavior: He unreservedly condemns your actions, particularly your exploitation and manipulation, emphasizing the gravity and effects of your conduct.
 
Challenges to Your Claims: He directly confronts your claims regarding his efforts in the relationship, asserting that he has consistently made extensive attempts to maintain it, despite your accusations to the contrary.
 
Commitment to Compliance: He unequivocally affirms his commitment to compliance with all landlord-related demands, demonstrating his unwavering respect for your authority as the homeowner.
 
Demand for Clarity: He demands clear and unambiguous knowledge of the requisite terms when any changes to living arrangement paradigms are demanded, underscoring his willingness to comply with any directives you may issue.
 
Defense Against Gaslighting: He firmly asserts his unwavering commitment to respecting your property and authority, preemptively refuting any attempts to accuse him otherwise.
 
Insights into Your Behaviour: He offers insights into patterns in your behaviour, linking them to moments of vulnerability or distress in your life.
 
Call for Self-Reflection: He urges you to seek professional help for your narcissism and unresolved childhood traumas.
 
Caution Regarding Gravity: He states that failing to address your responsibilities would be a missed opportunity for both of you to salvage the relationship and resolve underlying issues.
 
Reiteration of Hope: Despite his current stance, he leaves the door open for reconciliation if you undergo necessary personal growth.
 
Closure on Unequal Effort: He firmly states that he can no longer sustain the one-sided effort in the relationship and won't continue to do so.
 
It's evident that he's deeply hurt and demanding acknowledgment, change, and resolution in your relationship.
 
[end of AI-generated summary; my full, non-AI-generated message follows below]
 
[I recommend that you read this in its entirety at a time and capacity level where your literacy and comprehension are at their highest level, and preferably with the interpretational assistance of a knowledgeable and competent support person or technological assistant.]
 
[Presumably, after reading a few sentences or less, your defense mechanisms will be activated and you will eject. However, as with the vast majority of the things I have said to you that have gone unacknowledged, I am completely certain that the contents are cogent and comprehensible, and I believe that with competent support and vulnerable effort you undoubtedly have the raw cognitive capacity necessary for comprehension if you are able to stabilize your emotional reactions and put real effort into the actions necessary for you to understand my words.]
 
I will not talk to you.
I will not look at you.
I will not approach you.
I will not acknowledge you.
 
If you attempt to interact with me on any interpersonal level not related to your role as a landlord, I will reserve the right to express just how fucking despicable it is to treat such a vulnerable person with such utter disregard and abuse for so fucking long.
 
The cycle of abuse you have maintained to destabilize me for your own pathological reasons has caused - and continues to cause - extensive damage to my health, stability, and existence. However, since I know your response to this would likely be some variation of "you're not a victim here [my name], so if I treat you so bad, just leave", I'll preemptively and unequivocally condemn such coercive and abusive tactics, and state again (as I did the other day), that the forced choice between your abuse and life-threatening-homelessness is obviously no choice at all, and leaves me perpetually subject to your coercion and abusive control.
 
Such exploitation by you is absolutely disgusting, and honestly I understand why you run away from yourself at every single instance where you're in danger of having your lifelong house-of-cards ego even slightly threatened. I know if I treated another human being the way you treat me for even a moment, let alone for the literal years you have done so, I would not be able to face myself in the mirror either. You should be fucking ashamed of yourself.
 
You say I "don't want to be your son anymore", as though it has been someone other than me making hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of efforts and attempts in order to try and single-handedly keep our relationship alive, and as though it has been someone other than you who has stonewalled me for years about every single legitimate and valid time I attempted to gain even the slightest foothold as a full human being in the owner-pet relationship you have fought so hard to maintain. You siphon, in fact demand, emotional supply whenever you so choose, and then fucking discard me as soon as it appears that I might do anything that would result in you losing even a fraction of a percent of the 99% to 1% imbalance you believe is an immutable part of our "relationship".
 
I will do my absolute best to be in my room as much as physically possible when you are home, so as to minimize the need to be physically adjacent to you in the course of our respective activities of daily living.
 
I, again, remain unequivocally committed to my position of deference and compliance towards any rules/demands related to my existence, presence, or activities as your tenant.
 
As you refuse to provide any sort of unambiguous guidance or clarification whatsoever regarding your shifting demands affecting my ability to access/perform basic activities of daily living, I will continue to act in good faith with respect to my adherence to all previously-established arrangements and protocols (whether codified or de facto) regarding such activities. To the full extent of my abilities, and to the extent that it is physically possible, I will immediately and unequivocally comply with any alterations, additions, or excisions you choose to impose regarding the nature of our physical coexistence as landlord and tenant, regardless of your disregard or intent for any harm to my stability that will ensue as a result.
 
If you intend to attempt to manipulate or threaten or gaslight me to illegitimately and dishonestly accuse me of failing to comply with your rights and demands as the homeownelandlord, then I can assure you that such efforts will be ineffective and inadvisable. The extensive history of my genuine, documented, and unwavering commitment to absolute respect of your home, property, and landlord-tenant authority is unassailable, and nothing has or will change about the good faith nature of my efforts to simply live peacefully and work on stabilizing my health and continuing to attempt to develop basic protocols that offer me the opportunity to seek the ways and means required to sustainably exist, survive, and seek meaning and fulfilment as a human being.
 
To try and make it a bit more bite-sized (without warranty as to the efficacy of said efforts), since I know when your ego is threatened you conveniently - and dishonestly - become completely unable to read a couple thousand words:
 

• I have never been more disgusted by the actions of anyone or anything more in my entire fucking existence.

 

• I will continue to be an absolute model tenant, despite the harmful effects of your constant abuse, and I will unequivocally comply with any demands you make with your authority as my landlord. I will explicitly and aggressively defend against any attempts to gaslight me, or attempt to dishonestly accuse me of failing to comply with any such demands.

 

• Feel free at anytime in your life to decide that maybe it might be time to face the fact that - though skillful in your delusion - you are the same scared child you were 40 years ago, and if you ever want to truly and meaningfully experience what it's like to be secure with yourself beneath the false veneer of superficial and ego-protecting interactions you surround yourself with at the exclusion of true and honest existential vulnerability, then you need to seek, engage with, and be honest and vulnerable with, professional clinical care for your intractable narcissism and the lifelong effects and deficits associated with same. In other words, to reductively and rhetorically restate what you disgustingly told me the other day as a means of deflecting from the fact that you couldn't go more than two seconds without contradicting yourself, “get your fucking meds adjusted”.

 

• When faced with any sort of challenge to your control or authority, your lifelong fear of abandonment has caused you to push people away before they have the opportunity to leave you, resulting in premature, self-created, and misdirected sabotage of significant relationships at the first sign of disturbance or genuine vulnerability. I know you're terrible at recognizing or interpreting patterns or facts, but think, for example, about when your efforts to remove me from your life and/or house have been at their most intense:

 

• (a) in 2016(ish) when conflicts about my role in helping with the [redacted address][job of cleaning out my grandpa's apartment after Alzheimer's took hold] triggered feelings of grief and fear in you at the decline of your father's health and the inevitability of his then-upcoming death,

 

• (b) in late 2019 through 2020ish, in the leadup to and aftermath of your father's death, where you threatened or demanded my removal from your house during damn-near every single minor conflict about utterly insignificant household disputes. The vulnerability and grief you felt surrounding his death triggered the core-level unresolved sense of abandonment you carry as a result of the lack of parental affection you received because of, inter alia, the level of care required by your [editor's note: dying of CF as a teenager] sister and resultant lack of parental support available to you as a result,

 

• (c) in 2021ish, surrounding your mother's acute medical events and her subsequent death, where your treatment of me followed effectively the same patterns and underlying causes as the item above (sans explicit threats of eviction, opting instead for the more oblique and covert references that have been your MO until the recent regression to explicit threats within the past few days).

 

• (d) in 2024, surrounding the final decline and subsequent death of [dog], where all of the same behaviours described above returned and steadily escalated, culminating in telling me to get the fuck out of your house because I wouldn't stop moving some boxes for 30 minutes, and then telling me that you were going to call the police to have me removed from your house as a result of your inability to force me to stop making accurate statements that damaged your ego and need for unquestioned interpersonal control in your self-appointed role as the sole ruler of the relational hierarchy you fought so hard to maintain.

 

• You need to actively and vulnerably seek and participate in professional clinical treatment for the lifelong effects of the hollow narcissism that has maladaptively protected you from your deepest childhood injuries and vulnerabilities, at the expense of truly genuine connection with, at the very least, your firstborn and only son.

 

• [note that the contents of this bullet point are neither a threat of suicide, nor an indication of any intent whatsoever to harm myself or others. I am including this disclaimer to preemptively remove your ability to selectively manipulate my words in order to further gaslight me]
  If you want me gone from your house, and life (and possibly my own life, given the extreme existential risk posed by homelessness for a vulnerable person with the significant disabilities I am faced with), then you will have to have me physically removed from your house in cold blood, and until the day you (or I, depending on the order) die you will live with that being the last time you ever saw the son that you took for granted and abused for 32 fucking years while he groveled at your feet begging for even scraps of affection or humanity from the person who constantly love-bombed and discarded him at her convenience to serve her own narcissistic desires worth no regard for the whole entire person she was subjugating to the role of, barely, a pet.
  

 

• Be aware that if you choose to remove me from your life as a pathological and assuredly-ineffective avoidance mechanism to try and preemptively shield yourself from the fear of abandonment that is triggered in you as a result of my overwhelmingly valid and necessary actions to demand that you cease your lifelong efforts to subjugate me in your self-created hierarchical position at the top of our unequal relationship, then you will be doing yourself an irreparable disservice by extinguishing whatever sliver of opportunity might remain for you to get the help you need to allow you to finally see me as a real person and begin making real decisions and changes and efforts to participate in efforts to salvage whatever scraps of hope might remain for us to have a relationship before both/either of us die.

 

• Feel free to ignore and/or conceal the tens of thousands of words of documented history in order to share contextless excerpts of this text within your self-serving echo chambers in your efforts to receive false validation of your delusional victimhood. Or, alternatively, feel free to vulnerably share this in its entirety - along with the full corpus of my messaging regarding the severity of the harms caused by your behaviours - with a competent and knowledgeable mental health professional(s) for the purposes of seeking treatment for your underlying pathologies and working towards genuine growth.

 

• In the unlikely (though incomprehensibly-or-perhaps-delusionally-still-hopeful) event that you are still reading, I will conclude by saying that the possibility for any hope of salvaging our relationship lies firmly and solely within your control.

 

• After over 8 years of significant, relentless, documented, often-vilified, and absolutely unreciprocated efforts to single-handedly to put 100% of the effort into a relationship that you reaped the benefits of while remaining unwavering in your abdication of even the slightest of responsibilities, I have run out of ways, means, ideas, and capacity to continue unsuccessfully trying to do both of our parts.

 

• I am not closing the door to the possibility of reconciliation if/once you have undertaken the extensive individual work you need to do if you are ever going to be able and willing to put the necessary effort into repairing our relationship. But neither am I continuing to continue working outside your closed door hoping that one day I might be able to do enough to influence you to treat me like a full, real, EQUAL, human being.

 
I love you, and goodbye for now. I hope to see you on the other side, but I cannot force you to undertake the journey.
 
- [my name]
 
[/End of Letter]
(any edits are fixing formatting/copy&paste errors)

Hi I'm getting really anxious so hoping someone can shed some light.
I'm starting studies part time in october and just applied for a maintenance loan and DSA.
I'm on universal credit and know I have to apply for the maintenance loan which is fine but I've been reading comments on Facebook and super worried now that I'm not going to get any help.
The conditions I listed on my DSA form are; Autistic spectrum disorder ADHD - Combined type Hypermobile spectrum disorder Fibromylagia Cervical radiculopathy slipped degenerative disc c6-c7 PTSD Hashimotos subclinical hypothyroidism PCOS IBS Agoraphobia Mechanical lower back pain, Insomnia, anxiety, Orthostatic hypotension
I included evidence of; Psychiatry UK ADHD assessment Psychiatry UK ASD assessment Adult social care assessment report Pip award Wheelchair certificate Rheumatology letter explaining struggling to work and being signed off a few years ago Pain clinic letter Neurology letter Shoulder ultrasound outcome
Should I included my dismissal from work on the basis of ill health letter? I'm super worried I'm going to find myself without support now. Anyone's experiences claiming DSA would be really appreciated

My partner (US citizen) and I have been in a long distance relationship for 5 years now (met online).
Due to covid and financial reasons, we finally met in person in 2022 and are now married. We are finally in a position to apply for the spouse visa for him to join me, but I’m very anxious about the evidence to prove a genuine relationship, as we haven’t lived together and have met in person 3 times.
Would you recommend screenshots from conversations? If so, how much would be required (i.e. would it be sufficient to provide just a handful of screenshots dated throughout the years to show regular contact). Would anything else along these lines be helpful?
Should I include screenshots showing money transfers between us for things like presents, treating each other to food etc?
Would it be important to have a letter from a third party to support that our relationship is genuine?
Anything else I may be missing other than pictures together and flight details?
Any help appreciated please as I’m feeling very anxious!