I’m from England and have grown up there my entire life. I’ve always had acne problems and slight yellowing of teeth (only noticeable to me though). I recently came home from a 6 week trip across Europe, and the biggest thing I noticed was the water difference.
First of all, it felt “harsher”. I have coloured hair and despite english water not affecting it, all of a sudden the dye was literally coming out in the water when I showered, and my hair became instantly dull and less-coloured after 2 showers.
HOWEVER, it absolutely saved my skin and teeth. I stopped having breakouts, the redness of my skin cleared up, my pores were less visible and even though I have some scarring, I’d say my skin was almost “clear”!! that’s not happened since I was about 13. And I noticed my teeth were instantly less yellow. they almost felt clean and white all the time, even if I forgot to brush one night.
Now I’m back in the UK and already my skin is breaking out (despite keeping the same skincare routine) and my teeth have become slightly more yellow again.
The main countries I noticed a difference in was Belgium, Denmark and especially Sweden (which seemed to be the best).
My question is, what is different about what’s in English water vs Swedish water and can I replicate it with specific mineral tablets so that I can continue having good skin and teeth?

I stopped talking to a guy a few months ago I was ‘taking things slow’ with. When I met him he told me he wanted a relationship in the short future and I believed him and agreed on working towards things slowly. He asked me to travel across the country to go see him so I did, not for him but because I genuinely wanted to go and the area seemed interesting, I still don’t regret going. The entire time he called me beautiful and pet names like ‘baby’ etc.
When I came home I told him I missed him and he THEN told me that I was moving too fast for him and he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings because he isn’t ready for relationship and that he actually just wants to be friends. I was a bit surprised and confused but I agreed to be friends but on the terms that we DON’T have sexual relations. When I said this he went absolutely nuts on me and stopped talking to me shortly after.
I moved on and not too long back he began stalking my social media by liking all my selfies and watching my stories after 2 months of silence.
Now I’m on the other side I’ve realised this guy basically lied to me to get what he wanted from me and go. I don’t feel used but I’m quite shocked how people can feel little shame or remorse for lying and gaslighting others. Isn’t it exhausting wasting not only your OWN but someone else’s time by keeping false promises that’s only inevitably going to back fire
Has anybody else been anything like this? Hearing your story would really help me

Why is the player expectation that they need to know absolutely everything about a new setting?
When developing a LARP setting, I often get the feedback of: "This setting is too detailed, I don't want to read all this".
This is even after providing a shorter setting summary page to onboard new players on broad strokes of what people might know. I have even shopped the unfinished game wiki around, and gotten some worried comments from players that there's simply too much.
Has anybody else faced this problem, and how did they overcome it?
My Situation
I'm developing a political LARP, where details about the various cultures and locations in the setting are important to provide context and allow people to make more informed decisions. They then won't be surprised when something happens in a region due to their actions.
But when I offer people the wiki to look over, they say that there is just too much detail about the setting, the magic, the religions, the history, etc.
My expectation
I don't EXPECT people to read it all. I expect them to explore down that proverbial iceberg only where they find interest.
For example:
You want to be from the city-state of X, look up what's in there for your background!
There's a strange beast coming out of the Y Forests? Maybe check what you might be able to find out about it.
More Silverite coming out of Z country these days? Take a look at why that might be and how you can leverage that.
Possible solutions
Do I need to explicitly make a comparison with not needing to have read the 37k-page MCU Wiki to play a Marvel RPG? Or the 190k-page Wookieepedia to enjoy a Star Wars RPG? Or the 6k-page Lord of the Rings wiki to enjoy a LotR RPG?
Should I make an active effort to separate out the "Summary", "Rules" and "Setting" on the wiki where possible to avoid scaring people away?
Is there anything else I can do?
Any advice from veterans?

I’m two weeks away from my move to Fairbanks. I’m a truck driver and have a job lined up with an old buddy of mine who is an owner operator with 2 tractors. He’s been driving the Dalton highway for 30 years and does it safely. We will be teaming together for the summer while I learn the road and he teaches me the ropes. Then we will convoy together during the winter. I’m not fearful because I’m in good hands here. The money is going to be really good.
I’m a healthy mid 30s guy. Very fit and active. My wife and 2 kids are staying in the lower 48 until I make it through my first winter. I don’t want to uproot them, and my wife doesn’t want to be uprooted, until we know I can make it working in those conditions. My wife is a stay at home mom and homeschools our kids. We stay involved in our local church and do our best to be sociable. We’ve been raising our kids with very limited technology because we observed early on how too much screen time causes them to be emotionally disregulated. This means they spend a lot of time outside playing, or inside playing with legos and barbies.
I’m going to do everything in my power to make it through the winter. I’ve taken care to make sure i have no vitamin deficiencies. My vitamin D is good, and I supplement daily. I have some UV lights I will be using once the sun disappears. I keep weights in my truck and stay fit despite all the long days.
Our reasons for picking Alaska is mostly to do with their laws. My wife and I had a very bad time riding out the pandemic in an authoritarian third world country. After that experience we are keen to live somewhere that will leave us alone as much as possible. We are intimidated by the weather. All that being said, my salary will be large enough that we should be able to afford all the toys you need to truly experience what Alaska has to offer. We’ve talked about it at great length and would end up looking for a property in the hills outside fairbanks, high enough so its above the fairbanks inversion layer that makes life so miserable during the winter. Our current house is offgrid, so it isnt anything new. Just the climate is much harsher.
Any locals have any advice, or have any thoughts that jump out at you from my post?

For context, my girlfriend (25F) and I (30M) have been dating for 3 years now. We are both from a lower middle class family and grew up in a religious country that english is not our first language. She graduated from the university 2 years ago with a degree in Psychology and I have a stable job working in Finance. She is compassionate, smart and soft spoken. I honestly see my future with her. She is the most beautiful human being l've ever seen and she is purely good. All of my friends love her and my family adores her. The only problem is she's been having a hard time trying to start pursuing her dreams. She talks big about finding a job, pursuing all her dreams, buying a home and raising a family but I don't see her taking the necessarily steps to achieve it. I'm trying my best to support her by encouraging her to apply for jobs at any company just to get a feel on what will the interview be like, she refused. I also tried to help her draft interview questions and answers, she refused to let me see her drafted answers. I offered to do a mock interview with her but she refused saying that I will just make her laugh and she'll get distracted. I also tried by showing her, I applied for a promotion and she was with me when I did the online interview, got the promotion but sadly that didn't help motivate or boost her confidence. I tried showing her agair that there is nothing to be afraid in a job interview so l decide to apply for a job in an another company, I got accepted and went through all the new hire process, but sadly it didn't help her. It gotten to the point that whenever I try to ask her about this issue or basically ask her what can I do to help, we just end up fighting and not speaking for days. I really don't know what to do. I am running out of options. I can't ask my friends or family for advice, I don't want them thinking less of her. I know that she is in a lot of pressure and she might be overthinking everything causing her to have anxiety over the interview or job seeking process. I just want to know if there is any other ways to help her overcome this.

NETWORK PLANNING UPDATE

Making their return: Emirates is resuming flights to Nigeria, two years after a cash dispute caused the airline to suspend flights to the Lagos. In late 2022, Emirates claimed it had tens of millions of dollars in revenue that it could not get out of the country. At its peak, Emirates says more than $85 million was trapped in the country.

​

Jockeying for position: The FAA Reauthorization Act which was passed by both houses of Congress this week, created an additional 5 perimeter-exempt slots at DCA. Even though President Biden has yet to sign the bill, airlines are lining up to propose new routes. American wants to fly to San Antonio while Alaska wants to fly to San Diego. Slots like these rarely come open, so it's no surprise to see airlines already expressing interest.

​

🔌Pulling the plug: United will stop operating seasonal flights from LAX to Brisbane and Auckland. While many airlines have tried to pull ahead of the pack in LAX, none have yet to succeed for the most part.

​

FLEET UPDATE

🤞 Keeping faith: Singapore Airlines’ CEO said the airline still expects to take delivery of the 777-9 in late 2025 despite some in the industry anticipating further delays to the 777X program. The airline was originally supposed to take delivery of the aircraft in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

​

⛔ No more blame game: Qatar Airways’ CEO said Airbus and Boeing need to put more pressure on their suppliers in order to cut down on production delays both manufacturers are currently experiencing. This is not the first case of an airline CEO calling out these companies, and is unlikely to be the last.

​

LOOSE ENDS

🐕 Out of the doghouse: In March the FAA increased their oversight of United following several incidents and limited the airline from launching new routes and taking delivery of new aircraft. Most of those restrictions have now been lifted and the airline can now take delivery of new aircraft. It's not entirely clear what the nature of the FAA's oversight into United was, but evidently the airline managed to resolve the FAA's concerns in just a couple of short months.

​

Overcoming adversity: Copa reported Q1 2024 revenues of $893.5 million, a 3% increase YoY, driven by a rise in passenger traffic. The airline posted a net profit of $176 million, up $18 million from the previous year despite a $44 million negative impact from grounding 21 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in the wake of the Alaska Airlines' mid-air blowout.

​

🎧 Weekend Listening

The guys over at The Air Show Podcast discuss what’s next for Embraer. Definitely one of the best airline podcasts out there.

Thanks for making it to the end! If you liked what you read, please do me 3 small favors:
1️⃣ Give this post an upvote
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3️⃣ Share with a friend (or 2 🤪)
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Hi everyone,
I’m facing an issue with my IBKR account and hope someone here can help or provide some insights. I have the authorization for fractional trading activated on my account, but I am unable to purchase fractional shares of “SMH VANECK SEMICONDUCTOR ETF BVME.ETF”. For all other ETFs and stocks in my portfolio, everything works perfectly, and I can buy fractional shares without any problems.
However, this particular ETF is preventing me from making recurrent investments, which is significantly disrupting my investment strategy. Has anyone else encountered this issue or have any idea what the solution might be? Is there an alternative way to invest in this ETF?
Thanks in advance for your help!

you was, and ARE STILL RIGHT !!!! the MOASS thesis , is based on that the shorts NEVER closed, instead they doubled down and sent their minion media to DISTRACT and spread fake stuff, for example that the shorts all left .
im asking you , if ITS OVER THEN WHY DID THAT THING SHOOT IN 1 week from 10 to 80 ????
its because the shorts are SCARED !! thats just the beginning ! they hide their shorts , they are STILL convinced that they are going to win this !
the spike to 80 is NOTHING MORE THAN A PROOF , the thesis is VALID , they are still trapped here with you .
the slow walk down of the price has been predicted as a tactic to make you believe its all over !!!
you are going to win this . why should you ask for ANYTHING LESS ,than what they have paid ( 2500 usd for 1 share in darkpool 2021) its A FACT !
2500 usd was the price they were ready to pay to only sell them for 480 in lit market to PREVENT MOASS !!
the richest on the planet short that thing. with money they got from you for accepting their system they offer you ! those who controll big part of the media ! and got alot politicians in pocket .
their wealth only exist , because billions of people accept to believe it . what they are scared MOST is the group of people who knows the TRUTH !
the "freedom" they offer is fake , only a ILLUSION ! they want you to believe its over. they repeat it again and again, hoping you will give up ! they will tell you how bad other countrys are only to distract you from the slavery you have been born into !
are you TRUELY FREE if you ARENT ALLOWED to buy stocks of a USA traded company, ONLY BECAUSE those who bet against it will lose money ?
are they over the rules ? is this a OLIGARCHY ?
they see YOU AND ME as slaves who work for them and should accept their poor life ! BUT you are NOT THEIR SLAVE, YOU SET THE PRICE !!!
i will buy today 1000 more , just to appreciate their friendly offer !! im so sick of this fake freedom! this slavery hidden under the cloak of freedom and rights and democracy bla bla
WHATS 80 usd per share ??? such a LOWBALL OFFER FOR SAVING YOUR SYSTEM ! still no respect for GME shareholders. if they would RESPECT you , they would and they CAN offer a way higher offer !
by the way, the price is controlled too , so much about freedom of the market. they cannot drop it very low, they are afraid all shares get DRS causing MOASS. too high is margin call for them and MOASS ! the moment they cannot controll it they lost. that means , basically , not free market .
offer at least 10.000 usd for 1 share , then it would STILL BE LESS than the most valuable company on earth, to save your slavery and keep fooling people
THEY NEED YOUR SHARES , MAYBE SHOULD START RESPECT SOMEONE IF YOU NEED SOMETHING FROM HIM !!!
this stock is the cure of the illness

Honor Violence: And why nobody should demand respect

Honor violence is a sort of violence committed where the perpetrator's goal is to regain his tribe's honor, his family's honor, and his own honor. In most cases it’s planned by a family, and committed by one or more men of that family, to a woman of the family who has done or suspected to have done something against cultural or religious norms like rejecting an arranged marriage, or adopting a Western lifestyle. What's worse is that the family helps the perpetrators avoid justice by helping them flee the country. It’s a huge problem in Islamic communities[1], among others, and it’s something that doesn’t exist at all in so many other communities.
Now before I talk about the kind of thinking that is causing these behaviors, I want to clarify some things. First of all, Islam, at least according to the Quran, does not advocate honor violence. Second, honor violence is a tradition that existed in the deserts of today's Saudi Arabia long before Islam. Third, Arab Muslims spread Islam along with their traditions (including honor violence) to a huge proportion of the world (although, I don't doubt that other cultures already had the tradition of honor violence).
What kind of thinking causes a person to commit honor violence?
There are three flaws to discuss here. The main flaw is violent intolerance of dissenters -- the idea that it's best for a person to initiate violence on another person because he has dissenting ideas or actions. A second flaw is the idea that a person's social status is important and should be sought after and preserved. And a third flaw is that a person's social status should be, in any way, linked with his family's, and tribe's social status. An important thing to note here is that these flaws are connected. To clarify, I'm not talking about which flaw is more or less to blame for a person committing honor violence. What I'm talking about is that all of these flaws must be there, in order for a person to think it's best for him to commit honor violence (i.e. for him to want to commit honor violence).
The least bad of these flaws can be explained by answering the question, why do some people care about having respect from their peers? What's the point of it? What problem is it intended to solve? One way to approach this problem is to think about why some people get offended. Consider that when somebody perceives that he has been disrespected, he gets offended, and he may respond in a way to regain respect.
Fallibility and first impressions
One problem with thinking in terms of being respected, is that people are often wrong in their interpretations of other people’s actions and intentions. Often people perceive that they’ve been disrespected, when the person had no intention of disrespecting anybody. Most of the time it’s a case of jumping to conclusions. In other words, the person is not thinking terms of innocent until proven guilty. The thing is that we’re all fallible, meaning that it’s possible, and very common, that we are wrong about our ideas. But a lot of people are not familiar with the idea of checking for other possible interpretations and critically questioning them as a means of avoiding jumping to conclusions, as a means of finding the correct interpretation.
One common first interpretation that people make is that someone wants to hurt them, or to make them lose in some way. But this is a bad way to think about people’s actions because some people don’t want to hurt anyone or make anyone lose anything. So assuming that there is always malicious intent is a mistake because it ignores all the cases where there isn’t malicious intent. So it's not giving the person the benefit of the doubt.
This way of thinking, of always assuming that there is malicious intent, sees human interactions as win/lose. But this is a mistake. It’s entirely possible, and desirable, for human interactions to be win/win, for everybody to get what they want and nobody loses anything they want -- there is no law of nature preventing it from happening.[2] This is a special case of the idea that 'all problems are soluble'.[3]
So the better way to think about human interactions is that win/win situations are possible, where the people involved share the same primary goal of everybody winning, of everybody getting what they want. Now it is true that sometimes a person is trying to make you lose something, or otherwise hurt you, so it’s important to try to look out for this as a means of protecting yourself from harm.
One common misinterpretation people make is to treat a criticism of an idea or an action as a personal attack. But this is a mistake because a criticism is an explanation of a flaw in an idea, so criticizing the idea does not make the holder of the idea lose anything. In fact, criticism helps a person go from wrong to right. It helps him change his mind. It helps him find the truth, which is a great thing! So why perceive it as an attack? The person loses nothing. He only stands to gain (the truth!).
So consider a situation where you're presented with a criticism of your idea. If you agree with it, you stand to gain the truth, and if you disagree with it, you stand to lose nothing. So with criticism you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. So giving and receiving criticism is win/win.
Some common responses people make to criticism is to say "that hurts my feelings," "I'm offended by that," and "that's insulting!" These people respond in this way to communicate that the other person is wrong in some way. But that's not a valid argument -- it's not objective. A person's feelings can't be used as a standard for judging the truth. What's needed is an explanation, one that doesn't depend on a person's feelings. And on a related note, if your feelings are hurt by the truth, then what you can do is ignore the truth (not something I advise), or you can change your feelings about the truth. But what you shouldn't be doing is pressuring people to hide the truth.
Now some people mistake personal attacks for criticism. But calling somebody stupid because he believes an idea does not constitute a criticism. It’s not an explanation of a flaw in an idea. Instead it's an attack on the holder of the idea. And it’s designed for only one purpose, to hurt. People who make personal attacks instead of arguments see human interactions as win/lose. And this is where the idea of respect comes in. The personal attacks are about disrespecting the person. But why would anybody want to do that? What’s the point? What problem does it solve?
Truth-seeking vs Status-seeking
Something closely connected to the win/lose attitude is the status-seeking attitude. People with this attitude think in terms of people having social status, and getting more of it, or keeping the amount they currently have, is something they want. So if a person with the status-seeking attitude tries to disrespect another person, they perceive it as raising their own status while necessarily lowering the other person’s status, hence win/lose. The rest of us, who see human interaction as win/win, see the world in terms of truth. We are truth-seekers instead of status-seekers. We seek cooperative interactions instead of adversarial ones.
To get a better understanding of the difference between truth-seeking and status-seeking, let's consider how they differ in the way they work. Status-based thinking means judging ideas by figuring out how much status the ideas have. In contrast, truth-based thinking means judging ideas by their merit. As I explained in _Atheism: The faith of intellectuals?_, judging ideas by status means believing ideas by looking for confirmation, while judging by merit means believing ideas only after they have survived all known criticism.
As an example, imagine a guy hearing that somebody said something that he perceived as an insult to his parent, and he felt hurt by it. This means he's thinking with the status-seeking attitude instead of the truth-seeking attitude. So he is caring about having social status, and one extra flaw is that he thinks his social status is connected to the status of his parents. And so if he perceives that somebody has insulted his parent, he perceives this as a lowering of his parent’s status, which he also perceives as his own status being lowered. So he is hurt (feels disrespected) by this. He thinks that the "insulter" intentionally did it to try to hurt him, or otherwise make him lose something. But it's a mistake to make such an assumption because the "insulter" may have had no such intention -- maybe he was a truth-seeker not a status-seeker. The truth-seeking attitude does not cause this problem. A truth-seeker thinks like this: "Hmm. Somebody has said something bad about my mom. I wonder if the thing he said is truthful, or not. If it’s truthful, then my mom is bad, and I should talk to her about fixing her error so that she can improve, so I'm glad that he said it because it revealed an opportunity to improve, YAY!! And if it’s not truthful, then maybe this guy is a fool and I don't care what fools think, or maybe he's just mistaken so there's no reason to mind it because mistakes are common." So the truth-seeking attitude doesn’t produce the feeling of being insulted/disrespected. Only the status-seeking attitude does that.
The status-based attitude is one that is shared by many cultures. In gang culture, individuals each have an amount of status that they intend to keep. For this reason, if a gang member perceives that somebody has disrespected him, he sees this as his status being lowered while the other guy’s status being raised. And in an effort to regain his status, he may retaliate with physical violence. So here the gang member is committing two flaws -- demanding respect, and violent intolerance of dissenters.
There are lots of other examples of this. In tribal cultures, an individual’s status is partly determined by how much status his tribe has. For this reason, if a tribesman perceives that somebody has disrespected a member of his tribe, he sees this as his own status being lowered because he sees his tribe’s status being lowered. Now imagine a situation where somebody perceives that the king of his tribe (like Prophet Mohamed) has been disrespected. He would be very offended by this. And if he also has the violent-intolerant attitude too, and if the circumstances were opportune, then he would initiate violence in his misguided attempt to regain respect for his family, and by association, for himself.
Another example is honor violence within a family, or community. If a man thinks that his status is lowered if his daughter does something against his community’s religious norms, and if he also has the violent-intolerant attitude, then he may initiate violence if she commits such an act, as a means to preserve his family's status in the community, and by association, his own status. I should clarify that what usually happens is the family plans this together, where one person does the murder, and then the family helps him avoid the police, say by helping him leave the country.
What's interesting about the status-based idea is that it denies that respect should be earned. A person thinking like this may be in the wrong, and know it, and still demand to be treated as though he is in the right. Street thugs do it when they violently demand respect. Authoritative parents do it when they say 'Don't argue with me' to their kids. Some husbands do it when they expect their wives to side with them in social situations even when they are in the wrong. And some Muslim men do it when they commit honor violence.
The status-based attitude rears it’s ugly head in people’s politics too. These people align themselves politically by their tribal origin (status), rather than by their ideas (merit). It’s ugly because it’s not based on the truth, and because it means the person is unwilling to consider changing his mind about his politics -- because you can’t change your tribal origin. Judging ideas by status means that if you find out that you’re wrong, you’re going to deny it and claim that you’re right, and demand respect too. This way of thinking means no possibility of changing your political affiliation even if you were given devastating criticism of your political ideas. In contrast, judging ideas by merit means that you're willing to change your mind if you find out that you’re wrong. And this way of thinking means the possibility of changing your political affiliation.
Another way to describe the truth-seeking and status-seeking attitudes is like this. Truth-seeking means approaching problems as though the person does not yet have the truth, which is why he is seeking the truth. Status-seeking means approaching problems as though the person already has the truth, which is why he isn't seeking the truth, and instead he is seeking confirmation of what he already believes to be true. Note how the truth-seeking attitude accounts for the fact that it's possible one's ideas are in error, while the status-seeking attitude does not account for that fact. So somebody who is applying the status-seeking attitude is acting like he is infallible/omniscient. He's acting like he thinks he's God.
Rational people vs irrational people
Another way to describe the truth-seeking attitude is to describe the people who have it, rational people. As Elliot Temple explained [4]:

So a rational person sees criticism as win/win because it's part of his truth-seeking attitude. So when he gets criticism of his ideas, actions, or feelings, he doesn't interpret it as a personal attack (win/lose) and instead he tries to judge the criticism in order to try to extract value from it. He sees criticism as a good thing because he knows that criticism leads to further evolution of his knowledge. He sees criticism as necessary to improve himself, so he willingly seeks it out and enjoys thinking about it.
As I mentioned before, a common mistake people make is in how they interpret criticism of ideas. They see it as their person being criticized, rather than the idea alone being criticized. They misinterpret this because they consider some of their ideas to be static -- they are attached to them. They consider these ideas to be part of their identity -- something they refuse to even consider changing. And if you criticize one of these ideas they are attached to, since they consider that idea as part of their identify, they interpret your actions as an attack on their person. And in retaliation, they may call you out to be arrogant and condescending, or cuss you out, or initiate violence, as an attack back at you, in their misguided attempt at self-defense.
So the status-based attitude is what causes people to care about honor (i.e. social status). They have an intense desire for status, and it can pervade practically all of their thinking. Now in tribal cultures, another flaw they have aside from this status-seeking attitude, is that a person's social status should be linked to his family and tribe. And in some tribal cultures, especially the ones where Islam is dominant, they have a strong tradition linking their status with the women of their tribe. Now, combine this status-seeking attitude and these other flaws, together with the attitude that it's morally right to initiate violence in response to a dissenter, and what you have is somebody willing to commit honor violence (including honor killings) against his daughters, sisters, and other female members of his community, and on anybody who he perceives to be lowering his status/respect/honor.
On a final note, I should clarify something about the relationship between the individual and the community. It is true that a man who commits honor violence is being pressured by his family to commit the violence as a means of preserving their social status, but whether or not he acts on that pressure, or even feels that pressure, depends on his ideas. Will he care what his family and community thinks? Well, in those communities a lot of the opportunities for a man, like getting married or having a good job, depends on the status of his family and his tribe. So if a woman taints his family's status, and if he doesn't remove that taint by killing her, then he'll lose those opportunities. But so what? He could forego all of those "opportunities" by fleeing the country with his daughter. If he doesn't do that, it's because of his evil ideas. Pressure from society is not a defense! Individuals are responsible for their actions regardless of the "pressures" from their communities.
——————————————————————
[1] _Honor Killings Go Beyond Mere Homocide_, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Also see The AHA Foundation on Honor Violence.
[2] See _The Beginning of Infinity_, Chapter 9: Optimism, by David Deutsch.
[3] See _All problems are soluble_, by Elliot Temple. Also see [2].
[4] _Rational People_, by Elliot Temple.
^{Originally published in 2014}

Anyone having simillar symptoms?
Hi,
I was extremely adicted to porn and masturbation. I had OCD. Due to ocd many times I pushed myself to masturbate again right after ejaculation. As time gone i observed that I usually ejaculate with almost flacid penis. My sperm became watery and clear even after two week abstinating. My orgasm became less intense even after abstination. When I realised that i was really dumb I decided to stop masturbating. during first three months of abstination sexual drive really dropped. Almost no libido, no morning hard woods. I became attracted to anything nor porn nor human. Nothing turn me hard.
Now if i try to masturbate i never get arroused and spontaneous erection from it. I have to use my hand to get at least "somehow" erected. Iam able to ejaculate almost with flaccid penis after 20 seconds of masturbation. After ejaculation i feel really "soft" weak orgasm. Right after orgasm i feel really depressed, iam so down that i feel no reason to have sexual arrousal ever again. I can hardly say wether the orgasm was pleasurable or not. Has anyone sufferd from simillar problems? I have done myself complete blood test to check my hormones and everything is in range.
When i started abstination i can last unlimited time without sexual arrousal. I completely lost ability to feel some "tease" from sexual content/object. More i tried to abstinate it became worse and worse. If i tried masturbate the strange feeling of emptyness became, i feel really tired and unmotivated. I feel like having zero testosterone levels.
I started eating extremely healthy but almost first 7 month nothing changed.
As time gone some symptoms improved. I realised that sometimes i have at least some weak morning wood. I can feel some orgasm, my sperm is still little watery but got white colour. Despite the fact that I still do not observe spontaneous sexual arrousal with erection even if i abstinate whole year, I can have some orgasm or "arrousal". But i have to use hand. My penis became somehow erected but not instantly hard. If i stop stimulating it will became flaccid in 5 seconds. Tip of penis is usually more weaker than the root. Penis is somehow erected but is rather fragile than hard. Normally years ago when i ejaculated my penis was hard for at least 20 seconds right after ejaculation but now it is complete flaccid in 2 seconds. It sometimes became flaccid in trigger point the small moment before the sperm is released.
I still feel no tease or tendency. I can suddenly stop and nothing hold me to keep the erection or arrousal, i can anytime walk off during masturbation/sex and do anything without sexual content. Nothing pulls/keep me in the sexual arrousal/erection. But if i keep and ejaculate i can feel some orgasm. It is really frustrating.
I tried some natural remedies but nothing really helped. I have already overcome porn addiction. Problem is that i have lost the request for spontaneous arrousal. I can go whole year without masturbation, porn and touching my penis but i cant get spontaneous erected or arroused from the sexual content. Even that fact i can feel the orgasm that is pleasurable but nothing pulls me to keep me arroused or erected during the process of masturbation. And after ejaculation i feel extremely empty even if i abstinated for 3 month. Iam afraid that i can get UTI or prostate infection from not releasing.
Have nice day
Iam 20 years old.
Please dont judge me . Anyone can make mistake.
Does anyone suffering from simillar symptoms?
Does anything helped you?
I know that i should visit doctor in my country but before i do i want to try without him.
Sorry for my bad english iam not native english speaker.
Thank you for your help and advices

Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase:
€1000, Italy
Are you open to refurbs/used?
Yes but in pristine conditions and decent warranty
How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

1. Performance 2. Build quality 3. Form factor (ultrabook) 4. Battery life 

How important is weight and thinness to you?
Moderately important, as it needs to be portable for daily use. I like minimalist designs and don’t really like big dissipatore behind screen hinges
Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.
Between 15 and 16 inches
Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.
CPU-intensive calculations, possibly some gaming. I guess I should go for H series and not U or ultra CPUs, am I wrong?
If you’re gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?
Occasional gaming with low demands (Optional), settings and FPS not a priority
Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?
Reliable build quality, minimalistic design, no preference for touch-screen, would appreciate fingerprint reader
Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.
I prefer a laptop with expandable RAM (16 GB if expandable, 32 GB if soldered) and at least a 500 GB SSD. I’m open to both Intel and AMD options but need a CPU that can handle intensive tasks. My focus is on performance and quality without flashy gaming cheap led designs. Thank you!

OK so after over 100 hours in this game here is my (third) heavily edited review. I actually love this game, the graphics are great, and the game mechanics are actually overall pretty good. I am highly tempted to give this game a favourable review because I really, really do love it, but it's let down by a few big points that in the end just cripple the game a bit too much and I feel it's only fair to let people know the truth. But, actually don't let that stop you from enjoying the game. I would STRONGLY encourage you to buy this game and enjoy it anyway. First of all, the PROS:
(1) This games is gorgeous and looks great, and runs great/ fairly fast on my system.
(2) The artwork is stunning, and the world building is top notch. You will fall in love with this world.
(3) The story line is well developed and you can see that a lot of love and time and heart has been poured into this. So kudos to the development team.
(4) Abrill is a lovable character and her look and feel is just top notch. Her outfits and gorgeous and she feels and plays well and will appeal to all gamers. You will not resent the fact that you are limited to only one character choice (You cannot customise your character, but later on you will be able to customise her clothing).
(5) The depth and layers of the game are intricate and well woven, and you can see that the team have done a lot of research and background legwork to bring a depth to this game that is actually not seen in a lot of games.
(6) I also have to single out the map for special mention as it is really fun to explore the map and this must have taken hours to develop. The map is it's own character in this game. Really, well done on the depth of detail here.
But now here are the CONS that are unfortunately letting the game down.
(1) Firstly, when it comes to farming, a major complaint is the mouse sensitivity in the farming mechanic (I'm not actually sure how much you can adjust that through the interface). When you're trying to lay down your farming rows, and then plant your seed, your cursor jumps all over the place making it infuriatingly difficult to actually do your farming preparation. The farming mechanic is very clunky and unfriendly compared to say a game like Coral Island (which makes farming a breeze).
(2) Secondly, the cat (your familiar) is part of the story line of the game, and is supposed to appear at pivotal parts of the game to continue the discussion and advance the story line for you. But he just never appears when and where he is supposed to, and you are constantly running all over the place looking for him and trying to trigger his appearance so that you can advance the story line to the next level. Maybe the devs can look into this but there should be a way to trigger his appearance so that you can move the story along. This is why I cannot at this stage recommend the game until this is fixed. NEVERTHELESS, I was able to continue playing the game, despite this.
(3) Thirdly, in addition to the above comments players should be aware that the game is pleasant but a frustrating continuous grind to actually get anywhere. It is one long slog to get the resources you need to achieve anything in this game. And that is a tediously slow process. You may enjoy that and call it a lazy or relaxing game, but most games would find that frustrating and boring. There should be enough reward along the way for you to achieve significant progress during the day or at least have some good in game guidance as to what you are supposed to be doing and where you are supposed to be going. Now that's all well and good if that was coming from the Cat familiar who is supposed to be guiding you, but as mentioned above he is nowhere to be found. There is also no in game prompt to look up the compendium or to go and research spells or how to use recipes, etc. I found myself having to use youtube videos or websites to get guidance how to play the game, and of that there is very little good guidance. It should not be necessary to go to outside sources to play the game. I ended up using the WeMod cheat for help with this game, but to be honest it doesn't actually help that much with this game. It doesn't get you much further.
(4) Fourthly, some of the characters do look a bit strange or weird, I'm not sure if they were going for non-white character appearance to make the game more inclusive, but it just comes across as very strange in appearance, almost freakish as if they are glitching. Weird colour scheme.
(5) Fifth, there is no voice acting in this game, and I feel that is unfortunately a major let down for a game this gorgeous. I understand that it keeps the costs down, and this game is already really cheap, but in the end it just lets the game down. This just comes down to personal preference. I guess I was spoiled by games like My Time at Sandrock.
(6) Sixth, is kind of an extension of the grind complaint but when it comes to finding certain resources you will just search and search and never find the resources that you are looking for (some of which are only available in certain seasons), some of which don't appear to be available AT ALL in the game yet. Also it appears that if you mine certain resources too often, the game actually starts rewarding you less. I noticed this with the Astra realm, and with the Mineral resources. If you go back to them too often, you do not get the good stuff any more.
(7) The game still crashes fairly often and that is quite irritating. The game only saves when you go to sleep at the end of each day and that might be a bit off-putting to some people. Unfortunately, when that happens you lose all your progress for the day. And that can sometimes be quite a significant amount. I don't understand why these farming/cozy games have this weird save mechanic that only saves every so often instead of just allowing you to save whenever you want, in my opinion, it's really stupid and nonsensical. I checked my graphics drivers and system updates, but no luck. I actually had to stop playing the game on one particular PC because it just crashed every single day on that particular PC.
So if you are willing to put up with all of the above frustrations, then by all means you will definitely enjoy this game. it's cheap enough, so yes go ahead and buy it! If you stick with it, it is a fun game and you will derive enjoyment from it. My final advice is this. Do NOT avoid this game despite all of the above. Definitely check it out, because the price alone on steam makes it worth it. For all you Cozy Gamers in this thread, I feel like you will be missing out if you avoid this game.

A few weeks ago my mum purchased a 2nd hand car from a local dealership (has a few branches across the country but they're not big like Arnold Clark). She test drove the car, and I did too - it was nice to drive and there didn't seem to be any problems. She paid the deposit via credit card and the remaining balance in cash upon collection. The dealership had to put it through their garage to check everything so she got it 4 days after the deposit.
About 2 days after she bought it, the check engine light came on so she called the dealership and they took it back to check it over, few days later she gets a call to say they think they've fixed the problem and she could collect it. She does so and the mechanic said they were extending her warranty as a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience. She gets in the car, drove out the dealership and the check engine light returns, so she goes straight back to the mechanic who can't quite believe it's happened. He keeps the car. Few days after that, he calls to say they've replaced a part and that it's definitely fixed this time.
She collects it, but now the car is driving horribly, it's quite shaky, it has this weird noise until it gets over 1500rpm. The mechanic has said that that's how the car now is after this part has been replaced and there's nothing that can stop it. My mum hates the car now, she doesn't want to drive it. I've driven it after the fix and agree that it doesn't drive like how it did when we did the test drive. We're going to the dealership tomorrow to speak to the salesman, but does she have any options, where does she stand legally? She's not necessarily looking for her money back, but she'd happily swap it for another car.
Thanks for any advice. Edit - in Scotland

long post alert. sorry for the brain dump - I just need help saving my family.
I sincerely feel our problems started on reddit, so I feel it's only right to come back here to see if you can help me solve the mess we made. So a few years ago, my wife came to reddit for advice navigating a cultural clash - you can read her OG post here. In retrospect, the responses she got were awful, rude and many racist.
My wife is from Zimbabwe, I am Swiss and we met while at university in my country. I fell for her instantly. Truthfully, I'd never seen anyone so beautiful. She was kind, so incredibly intelligent and has this gravitational pull to her. We started off as friends, but we eventually began dating and got into a steady relationship. I wanted to marry straight away, but she had career ambitions she wanted to meet before she married. At the time of the reddit post - I was going through some stuff. In truth, I knew the expectation of roora was on anyone who would marry her, and I had been saving for that alongside her engagement ring for years. I had gotten into a fight with my brother before she asked me about setting a date for her roora - where he'd said some nasty things about me being with a black woman and how I was losing myself and my cultural identity due to the concessions I'd made to be with my wife. It's why I reacted the way I did when she asked me about it, something I deeply regret to this day.
After the shit show that was that post, we spent 3 months in couples' counselling. She repeatedly told me that she didn't want to force me to do anything I didn't want to do. She said that she deserved to be with someone who enthusiastically embraced all parts of her - and if any part of me took issue with her culture, she asked that I bow out before I tied us together for life. I confessed that I knew all along about the roora, and I had prepared for it, but the conversations with my brother are what led me to say what I did. She was mad - I'd allowed her to be mocked, ridiculed and bullied by strangers online because I couldn't communicate with her, but we worked through.
We had a beautiful traditional wedding in her country, then another one with my traditions in mine. Her family was kind and welcoming, making many concessions for me as they had done since I met them. We planned on starting a family soon after we married, but she'd always said she want to have her babies back in her country so she can have her family around her. We had agreed that this is what we'd do. It's important to note that my wife doesn't really like living here - she says she hates living here. We lived in Sweden for much of our relationship, and many will know the people are on the cold side. She hated the food, the weather, struggled with the cold people - her country's people are very warm and friendly - and for the last 2 years she had to go on antidepressants because it was all a bit much for her. She asked me when we were going to move, and I asked for us to hang on for a while so I can finish a project I'm leading at work. We'd fought about this in the past, but this time she just nodded at me so I thought she finally got it. That was over 18 months ago and we didn't end up moving as I got promoted and it became harder to walk away. Her grandma passed away so I attributed the low mood to that.
Our problems came when she asked me if I was having an affair with my colleague. This was when I got home late one evening and found her sitting in the dark. I'd forgotten she was making dinner for us to be honest because I had a lot going on at work and it just slipped my mind. I told her that colleague and I were working late and I forgot - sorry. She grew confrontational and told me I was spending a lot of time with colleague lately, and she's noticed her name on my phone more than a few times. She asked me if there was anything she ought to know. This is when I may have killed my marriage - I told her I didn't give her father a truck full of cattle for her to question me. This was my house, my wife and if I wanted to have something on the side that was nobody's business but mine. She looked like I'd slapped her and I could see her holding back tears. I don't know why I didn't drop to my knees and beg forgiveness, instead doubled down and told her to stop the theatrics. Here's the thing - I'm not having an affair of any kind with my colleague - we really were just heavily into this project we're both super excited about. I don't know why I couldn't just say that to my wife.
She didn't come to bed that night, and I left early in the morning the day after and came home when she was asleep. This continued for days where I avoided her because I couldn't face the guilt. On the Friday, came home to a gift box that contained a positive pregnancy test and I long letter from my wife. I won't share all of it - but she said she was going to tell me on the night I bailed on dinner, that I had hurt her beyond measure with what I said to her and that she was "no longer going to show her love for me through self sacrifice". She told me she doesn't consent to be in a polygamous relationship, and since it's what I want I should expect to receive divorce papers from her soon. She left her rings and house keys too.
I had a panic attacked. I was able to call for help before the worst of it came, but I spiralled. I had monumentally fucked up, and lost my wife and unborn child because of it. I tried to call her, but her phone was going straight voicemail. I called her brother, who was short with me but assured me she was fine. He wouldn't tell me more. I finally tracked her down after 2 weeks - she'd gone back to her parents in Zimbabwe.
I can't follow her just yet because the project I've worked on for so long now is near completion and I can't walk away. My friends told me I was racist to my wife in my actions, because I never would have tried that with a white man and tried to use her culture against her. The fact that I wasn't even serious make me more cruel apparently. She still won't speak to me - I have tried all avenues and she won't hear me out. I love her beyond measure and I don't know how to get her back. Please, help me.

First time poster, don't know the rules or etiquette so please bear with me.
It feels like my world has fallen apart. I found out last night that my (35f) husband (38M) and father of an almost 3 year old and soon to be 2nd (first trimester), has been cheating on my with men throughout almost our entire relationship (9 years together, 5 years married.) I went downstairs and startled him and he hid his phone very quickly. So I took it from him, demanded his password, and found his secret instagram accounts where he's been messaging with men some very explicit things.
I quickly realized he'd hooked up with one of the guys when he was out of the country last year. He further confessed that he's always been Bi and just never felt the courage to tell me before. That almost since the beginning of our relationship, he'd be meeting up with random guys on grindr to get sucked off or fuck. In "respect of me," he only met with guys. Everytime he was out of the country for a bachelor party, or traveling he'd met random guys to hookup. He even hooked up with a guy while on a trip with me and my family before we got married - I went to bed early one night and he found a guy on grindr to fuck at the same resort we were staying at. I sometimes went on work trips and he'd bring a guy back to our house (before we had a kid). Every once in awhile when he went partying with his friends and I didn't hear from him, that was probably the reason.
His hookups are very attractive, younger men. Like early 20s. I looked throughout his instagrams, and after I had him reinstall grindr, looked at his messages there. It was a lot, but not a lot. He said he often deletes messages. He also had a seperate snapchat, which he deleted in the middle of me investigating his phone. He said they mean nothing to him, that he uses protection, that he liked the attention and feeling like he was wanted.
I point blank asked if he was actually gay and he denied it. I believe him, because I once, caught him get hard while looking at photos of women on Instagram. He used to follow and like posts of scantily clothed female instagram models until I told him it bothered me and he stopped. I also saw him getting hard watching videos of girls giving blowjobs. He also has no issue getting hard for me when we have sex. However, no one in his life now, besides me knows he's not straight. He said his attraction is 50/50 between the men and women.
We have though had issues in the bedroom and a very low sex life... because of me. In the beginning I couldn't keep my hands off him and vice versa. I was a very sexual person. I liked to go like 5 times a night before I met him. But he could really only last 1 or maybe twice, due to an issue with his equipment that he was born with. It would physically hurt him to do more. Eventually, it petered off further as my sex drive took a dive after some of my own health issues. It would physically hurt me when we had sex. It started to get really uncomfortable for me which made me not really want to do it anymore unless I was drunk and it didn't hurt as much. I also have an aversion to giving head... so that didn't help. Eventually, we would go on increasingly long stints of not having sex.. like months. I guess that's when he started to find satisfaction elsewhere.
I (then 26) tested for STDs and nothing, so never found out why the sudden change. Retrospectively, i definitely should have pursued it further, but was shamed by my older female doctor- who said it was normal to gain 20lbs in a few months and to have a decrease in sex drive. "It's called getting older"..... but that's another story.
He asked me not to break up our family. He understands if i want to leave, but that he doesn't want me to, that he loves me and wants to make us work. He says he has an addiction. That if we went back to how often we had sex in the beginning, he wouldn't need to find it elsewhere. That he'll stop cold turkey, because we mean more to him. We've already scheduled for couples counseling, and individual counseling for him. We deleted his 2nd snapchat, grindr account, and one of the instagram accounts he used to chat with guys. I may ask him to delete his other snapchat and 3 of his remaining instagram accounts. But I didn't want to completely deprive him, since I wouldn't live with out my socials...
But what kills me is why he didn't just break up with me when i couldn't give him enough of what he needed. Why did he stay with me? Why did he marry me and start a family? He's actually the one that wanted to have kids. And now I feel stuck, because I still love him. He was the sweetest, kindest, funniest guy I ever went out with. He was a caring and considerate husband, and an absolutely amazing father to our toddler.
I love him, but I don't know how I could ever trust him again. I don't know how I could ever let him touch me and not think about all the betrayal, the lies, the gaslighting. If this is a sex addiction, will I and our family ever really be enough? I don't want to give up without trying, but I'm broken. I don't know how to move forward. I'm worried this shock and all the stress will affect my pregnancy. Even though we're hiding it from my toddler, I'm having a tough time not crying in front of them.
I turned to reddit to see if anyone else can relate, can provide advise, can help me see the light.

So I’m from a country called New Zealand and most of the western world has been grown up on American music/movies. There is a lot of bad stereo Types for the states (harvey Weinstein & other bad influences) but apart from That you guys have produced the greatest music and movies that has brought us all up, everyone shits on the states because of the government. But from what I can see the 1st amendment right is what’s needed today as it’s about to be stripped or trying to be. Strength in numbers

(Note, this is one of those long, loooong “I went to Greece and this is what I did” post)
I've wanted to go to Greece since I was young. I wrote in my diary when I was 17 that I would go one day and exactly 10 years later I would actually go. Took me 4 years to save up. So I'm very happy.
I have 9 days there, 27th APR to 5th MAY
I arrived very early on the first day which is the 27th with my one backpack and one daypack, and went to Keramikos right away. Had ice cream on the way because I craved sweets after 17 hours traveling. I really love it there and it, along with Delphi, are my most favorite places I visited. I really like how tranquil it is, and I really like the museum and also the tortoises too. I had a dream about tortoises that night. Then I stopped and ate a Greek salad. I learned how to compliment food in Greek and made the waiter laugh lol. The second place I went to is the Agora and the temple of Hephaestus. The whole area is very beautiful, but I accidentally fell asleep and didn’t realize I was sitting where I shouldn’t be sitting but luckily someone woke me up. Felt bad about it :/ Well, anyway, I looked at the museum in the agora too. I really like the big shield (I didn’t know it’s a shield at first. it’s huge.). I found that I get dehydrated so quickly, so I tried to drink as often as I can. I can see the temple of Hephaestus from the agora! It look like a painting. I walked around the place, I just want to convince myself that I’m actually here first before I go to see the temple of Hephaestus. The people back home’s not gonna believe this, the temple is so pristine, so wonderfully preserved. I get to look at the inside which is not often in the pictures. Then I walked past the Monastiraki square to go to my hotel, then came out to get gyro. I slept at a hotel that night because I accidentally booked it (I intend to stay the rest of the night in Athens in a cheaper apartment).
The next day was the 28th May, initially a day trip to Delphi but as I got there I found out my booking was cancelled due to some problem so I booked a new one on the next available day which is the 30th. Initially, the 30th was the day I intended to climb Acropolis because it’s weekday/less busy, but it’s ok! so, I left my baggage in a baggage store place, and walk to Acropolis! I was very excited, my heart beat very fast all the way up and not because I’m tired or anything. I just can't believe I’m actually here. It’s very slippery, and at one point I look and see a long walk up, so I was busy looking at the path and not looking up because I was afraid of slipping, so I get to look around only once I was at the top, and when I look down I finally saw the Herodion and it is bigger and higher up than I thought, and my hair stand up. The Acropolis was ok, but the Erechtheion have always interest me more, because again, it’s on more thing that’s bigger in real life than in pictures. The path down from Acropolis is even more slippery. There were so many musicians, it’s very lively. Met a really cool guy who dressed as Spartan warrior. I walked through the Acropolis museum. I got sad about the missing karyatid, because there were 5 of them displayed, but the vacant space they left for the 6th made me sad. I hope she will stand in that spot one day (I was already missing my sisters and family too… so it feels a little personal to me.) I got really tired then so I ate another salad but this time an Athenian salad. Then I climbed Philopapou! I noticed a tall monument from the top of the Acropolis and wanted to see what it is. On the way I visited the prison of Sokrates, and then this clearing called Pnyx, and it's windy there and got a lot of shade so I slept a while before going to the top of it. Well the monument is beautiful and tall. I can't believe that, compared to the rest of the places I visited before, this monument is considered new. I got lost a bit on the way down (I didn’t go down the way I came. there is a path from the monument and I wanna see where it goes). and um, something happen on the way down. A man asked me if I want to get a coffee with him. I politely declined but that’s the first time in my hideous person life that someone ‘flirt’ with me. People don’t do that, unless as a joke. So I feel weird I guess but not bad at all. Anyway I was so tired so I call taxi with the app Freenow. it’s decent price, I think. I goes to get my baggage and walk to the apartment I’ll be staying and I found a “super food market” on the way (near Temple of Olympian Zeus) and I got some energy bars there. I watched the Temple of Zeus from behind the gate (I didn’t pay to go inside) and see the statue of Alexander the Great on the way. I wash my cloth at the apartment and ate instant rice porridge I brought from home (I was on budget, I can’t eat out every meal).
On the 29th May I woke early so I can have breakfast and hot tea because I got a little sick last night. It’s usually 35 degree celsius in my country so I’m not used to the cold. The tour office is just a few minutes walk from my apartment. I get to sit in the front of the bus and see in front, not just on the side! I’m excited because the route is ancient route, like there are temples on the way, and pass by Eleusis (I really like the book “The King must Die” by Mary Renault and it’s a location for important part of the story about Theseus) After a brief stop where I get to walk to the bridge across the Corinth canal, I finally got to Epidaurus. The theatre there is so unreal. Climbed to the top and still hear the ‘clink!’ of someone dropping a coin on the orchestra below. Museum is pretty, and the fact that almost all the statues are missing their heads are kinda eerie. there are so many medical tools in the museum too. Really made me realized about the fact that people nowaday come to Epidaurus for the theatre but people long ago come here to be treated for their illness. Very difference purposes. The tour stopped at Nafplio for lunch. Had grilled dish and learned how to squeeze lemon on meats. Also went to pharmacy to get something for a sore throat and a face mask. An hour later I was in Mycenae archeological site! I really looked forward to see the Lion gate and it did not dissappoint. Bigger and taller than I imagined. 2 years ago I painted a picture of the Lion gate, and I tried walking around for an angle that fit the one in my painting. I took one, and when I put the pictures and the painting side by side, it’s almost the same angle, just different lighting! (It was morning in my painting, but mid day when I took the picture) It’s very intimidating and I imagine it must have been very scary to defeated enemies or captives, being brought into this city and looking up from their chains to see the lions. The tomb of Atreus is chilling. Both because it’s cold inside but also because it’s, well, a tomb. A large and important one. Overall, Argolis is a beautiful region, a lot of plains and very windy. Once again very tired when I got back to my apartment, but I get to wash my hair!
The 30th is my long-awaited Delphi day tour. Like I said, this was originally on the 28th but due to problem with, I think, the app I used to book it, it got cancelled without me knowing, and the tour company is very helpful and helped me book it for a very fair price, but I’ll just have to buy tickets myself. It’s a longer drive this time, but the sceneries is beautiful. I LOVE mountains, so the views interests me all the way there (even if I didn’t get to sit in the front, and the window is tinted so it’s a little dark) I really admire bus drivers in Greece. The mountain path is narrow in the village on the way, but they’re all very good drivers. It’s quite cold up there. There are caterpillar silk nest on the pine trees that look like cotton candies. Delphi is… um, it’s like it’s not in this world. It’s like it’s from another world, and maybe you could say that it is, it’s from the world in the past, or something. I felt as if I was in a dream. I can’t explain it, but it make the place all quiet and tranquil despite all the wind and the tourists. Like there are tourists, but it also feel as though they don’t exist, but it’s doesn’t feel vacant either, but instead there’s “presence” all around that doesn’t come from the tourists. I understand now why the people in the past believe that this is center of the world, or believe that gods were here. The tour guide said to meet at the museum in an hour and a half, and I really want to go see the small temple to Athena, just beyond the athletes area, but I was afraid I wouldn’t go to the tour guide in time so I didn’t go. Kinda regrets it. Anyway I fell in love at the museum in Delphi. The artifacts inside are gorgeous, I particularly love the sphynx and the charioteer (bought a postcard of it back home) but none as gorgeous as the statue of Antinous. He’s beautiful and I’ve never seen a boy more lovely than him, even the living ones. I seen the stone that contain a ‘sheet music’ and lyrics. I remember that melody, because I played a game called Assassin’s Creed Origin once and the musician NPCs sometimes plays this music. It’s good to finally see the ‘sheet music’ itself! Had a bit of a late lunch and had feta cheese salad, it’s delicious. Another long drive back, where I get to nap a bit.There’s a dessert place nearby where I tried some pastry and then a convenient store where I bought pudding from a freezer. Greece only have 3 Lays flavours that I’ve seen but a lot of bars of grains and cereal to choose from which I really enjoy (especially the ones with honey)
On the May day, I pack my things and checked out, again with my backpack on the back and daypack on the front. I called a taxi this time, before the strike happen, so I can go to the national archeological museum. I know the museum already have place to deposit backpacks. I walked around for about 4 hours. Everything is pretty even if I was still thinking about Antinous. Everything is amazing to me there. I like to be reminded of the fact that it’s really human’s nature to make pretty things. I visited the museum giftshop too. I travelled alone with little space so I know I shouldn’t buy lots of souvenirs, but I did get a lot of postcards because I like them, and allow myself one book. Had a heated gyros outside, just a quick bite, while I wait for a ‘break’ in the strike, then take the taxi to Spata, near the airport, because I have a very early flight tomorrow. I booked a room there that’s really huge (it’s a bit expansive, because there are flight change so I had to find new hotel.) Since I arrived in the early evening, I get to wash my cloths and see it dry before the night. It’s really really cold out here now. I get to rest the whole evening and eat the food I bought earlier. (I took a foldable tupperware with me. I use them to pack lunch for work but this trip I used it to pack leftovers from tavernas). I sleep early and was kinda nervous about the flight, but I woke early too.
on the 2nd of May, I booked a taxi on Freenow since the day before so by the time the taxi arrive, I was already standing outside waiting. Again, I shouldn't have gone out to wait early and should've stayed inside the building until the taxi arrived, because it's so cold, and I think this got me sich later. The flight went well and took me to Herakleion safely. I have a little problem finding which bus goes to the city but I found it and arrived safely to the center too. I took the bus number 2 to Knossos! I got very excited when I see the road sign that indicated that Knossos was just ahead. I ate first though. I had moussaka. I bought an audio guide because I want to try touring using an audio guide, and the direction was confusing, maybe because it's not updated. I ended up walking around and around trying to find the spot the tour was talking about. Knossos is as I expected. It was mostly reconstructed, but I still had a lot of fun imagining what it could look like, and thinking about the people that lived there. It means something to me because I've always been obsessed with the minotaur since I was little, since before knowing what country the story come from. So seeing something related to, or even potentially the origin of the tale, has been super exciting to me, and also because, as I mentioned, I really like Renault's “The King Must Die”. I really love it there. The review said it’s not authentic and I agree, but to me, it matters enough that I’m here, so I’m very happy with that. Unfortunately, I spent so much time in Knossos that I didn’t spent as much as I want in Herakleion musuem! Still feel bad about that. But I get to see the bull leap frescoes, and all the pots and vases and statues with bulls on it. There’s so many thing with bulls, like a statue and a really beautiful bull head vessel and a small statuettes with people grabbing on a bull’s horns. I really love them all. I get to see the real vase with octopus. I have a blanket with Minoan octopus on it, it’s good to see the real thing. I got a tiny bronze bull replica of the one in the museum. It’s small so it doesn’t weight much. Unfortunately, for the rest of my journey, I’d be sick. It start with sore throat that evening, which progress into symptoms of sinusitis. I had to visit the pharmacy again. Hot tea didn’t help this time, my nose was too dry for too long and I think I’ve been cold for too long as well.
The 3rd of May is holiday, I know this, so I pick this as the day to travel to Chania via bus and explore Chania. I woke up when I’m ready because I’m in no rush today. I ate all the supplies I had for dinner and breakfast to make my pack light, so I head out of the hotel and walk to the bus station. I waited a while, feeling myself getting more sick. It was about 3 hours to Chania with no bathroom break so I suffered a bit, but wow, the landscape of Crete is so much different from Attika. It’s less trees and more of large bushes. All the way, the right side is the sea, and the left is the mountain. It’s beautiful. I miss the cypress though, there are less cypress in Crete. On the way though! I saw a goat with a really big horns. I think it’s one of those Cretan wild goat, which I was excited to see at Samaria gorge. I had to use the bathroom real quick after I arrived. The bus stop is near my hotel, but it’s not time to check in yet, so I went and had lunch by the harbour. Look pretty just like in the pictures I’ve seen! I had calamari and sakanagi. It’s so delicious and refreshing. They have rice which is different from the one in my country, the rice is tiny and round and cuter than the white fluffy rice at my home. I was so full. I learned about how, after you asked for the bill, they’ll give you dessert first so I really look forward to it. I got a really good dessert too, and had to sit a while because I’m so full. I walked to the hotel, and there are two identical entrance. Luckily the staff was there and show me the right entrance. My room for the last 3 nights is small and cozy, really love it. I hope to eat out at dinner, but unfortunately, by that time, my sickness got so bad, I can only walk to the nearby supermarket and buy a salad and tea with honey. Tomorrow I was supposed to go hike the Samaria gorge. I’m a regular person, I wasn’t super fit, but I’m not a weakling either, and I have hiked in my country several times but it’s a different climate (hot and wet tropical jungle, not dry and cold) and I got Covid once which got my health down so bad that I had trouble even walking up stair but I bounced back since then. But this hike is a bit longer than my longest hike, so I trained myself for it for about 6 months and got fitter than I’ve ever been. I was so ready, sooooo ready. But that night, I had to emailed them to cancelled the hike because I got a bad fever, and my throat is all red. I just tried making myself feel comfortable all night. It’s a sad 4th of May, but I got better in the evening! When I’m sure I was well, I went out. Tomorrow everything will close again so this is my last chance to buy souvenirs. I got more postcards and, since I couldn’t go to Samaria to see the goats, I bought myself a little goat plushie that have “Love Crete” embroidered on his back. I would love if I could buy plushie from different countries I visited, of an important animals of that place (I got an emu from when I was in Australia) and for dinner, there’s this place called To Xani that I’ve read review of and wanted to try so I went. I have rabbit stifado because I’ve never tried rabbit. It’s like chicken but less fat and more sweet, to me. So far, that’s my favourite dish of all I’ve tried in Greece. That night, I planed to go to church and see how Christian celebrates Easter, but unfortunately, as the night gets late, I got sick again, so I went to sleep.
The 5th, my last day, is my relaxing day, which initially I want to use it to stroll around the city and chill. Instead I lay sick almost all day. I haven’t eaten the Cretan dish on my list yet, which is last one left on my list; Cretan pie. So I went out anyway during the evening and ordered a takeaway to eat at my hotel. At least I’m happy with that, especially because I stopped to watch the sun set for the last time before I leave tomorrow.
I pre-booked a taxi which take me to the airport. I flew from Chania to Athens, then I switched to another airline that take me home, with a 4 hours stop at Istanbul. during the longest leg of the flight, which is Istanbul to my home, I got more sick so rapidly (I think the cold and dry cabin air got me) I feel so guilty because I was afraid I might make other people sick too. (I wear mask all the time). 28 hours after I left my hotel in Chania, I got home safe with a new goat friend.
So, that’s my adventure! I’m not sure why I got that sick.It’s not covid though. I noticed that the dry climate made me thirsty very often and I think maybe I was dehydrated? Or is it simply the cold? Or maybe I caught something from Greek people because I noticed a lot of people were sneezing. Is it the season? I noticed some olive trees have flowers when it’s supposed to bloom in summer, so there’s an unusual weather and that make people sick and I caught something from them?
Next time I’ll bring some medicines of my own because medicines are expansive there. Next time, I’ll be better prepared. I want to go back again, because I haven’t seen everything yet. And especially have not hiked Samaria yet. Maybe next time, I’ll go when it’s warmer, but not in the middle of European people’s summer holiday, because I don’t like too many people.
Anyway, the trip may have ended badly, but over all it’s still a wonderful trip. I learned a lot about traveling, I become motivated to start another side hustle so I can make more money to travel, I learned about life outside my country. It’s also worth everything I have been doing to get here too. Overall, I’m very very happy, and can see myself going back there again.
Actually, during the time I prepare for this trip, one of the preparation is learning how to speak Greek. I learned on free online sources, and I’m proud that I get to speak Greek to Greek people (say things like "This food is delicious" "I like it" "the weather is cold" "I'm traveling for ten days")
I think people will ask because somehow some people can tell, so I’ll answer first, yes i have autism. I don’t expect many people to read to the end but thank you if you do. English is not my first language so I'm sorry for grammar mistakes that I made. Feel free to talk about your own experience too because I always love hearing about it. I’m from Thailand by the way.

I have been told that we want to move away from Active directory this summer. Our user accounts will be Azure and Google Managed, while we will require on-prem services like DNS and DHCP, Printers, Projectors, Door Access, Security Cameras, HVAC, and others.
Ultimately no more AD for user authentication.
I am told I have free reign on how to build this and I have an idea from testing in my homelab but I wanted additional insight about my plan.
Ultimately I know I can get all of the above done by either using workgroups or centralized management and such but I'm stuck at 2 points.

1. High availability clustering of main server location. I am debating if I should go no AD clustering with either hyperv or proxmox, or create a service only AD that no users are put in except service accounts, and give these accounts access to their own computers only.
   
2. Device imaging - we have Intune and SCCM. The SCCM side of things works great and we get remote support by default. Intune is more clunky and will require additional purchases for remote support. Can I build a SCCM service using the on-prem service AD and only have devices reach up to intune? I have done this before but when we were syncing in a hybrid environment with users and computers. Could I just do computers only to allow on-prem computer imaging and support while also having Entra ID users be the main login credentials used. The only services I would possibly pass to intune would be defender.
   

I think I know the answer to question 1 but I am open to words of wisdom.
Im worried about step 2 as I want fast deployments of computers when we get them and know intune deployments can have their days of being slower than what we want.
Thank you in advance.

If you attend this year's convention, please could you report how much pioneering is featured on the programme?
I see from Larch's new post that they have updated pioneer book.I have to admit, I'm surprised at this. I had a suspicion that they were quietly phasing out pioneering. It would be crazy for them to do it, but then they are crazy.
Here are my reasons for thinking this:
Pioneer school has been reduced from two weeks to one. Now often the school is conducted by a CO and a local pioneer elder, instead of two CO's In many places they have to bring their own lunch. It used to be a sit-down meal provided by the local congregation. The school used to be a big draw - "You only need to pioneer for 12 months, then you get invited to the school...". Now it is less special, it is less of a draw for new ones.
The reduction in pioneer hours makes it less significant as a role and naturally lowers its status. 12.5 hours a week is not such a feat of spirituality. If people stop thinking that pioneering is so special, they will be less likely to sacrifice college or career prospects to do it. Actually, now the hours are so low, it would be possible to attend college AND pioneer. For me, this is the biggest danger for the Borg. They have to offer a career path that keeps young people out of mainstream education and life. If they don't, this religion will surely sink once the boomers have left the scene.
No more foreign language groups. When I was pioneering (90's-2000s), the only thing that kept us going was the academic appeal of learning a new language and the time it used up trying to find people who spoke that language. If I was left in my home congregation (very white, middle-class suburbia) I would have gone nuts knocking on doors all day. Nobody in the English territory was interested or would listen for more than 20 seconds.
The fact that non-pioneers don't have to count time at all makes pioneering seem unnecessarily unfair. If I can be "in good standing" and knock off whenever I feel like it, why would I bind myself to pedantically counting my time? On the Borg videos, they have portrayed not counting time as a positive, an advancement to help us focus on people, not time. If so, why the hell would anyone pioneer?
So my theory is that they won't abolish the "privilege" of pioneering, they will just talk about it less and less.
Edit: This week's WT is "Keep Following Jesus After Baptism." There is a brief mention of "serving where there is greater need" and SKE but not a single word on pioneering. Usually, this type of article is about pioneering as the best way to live up to your dedication.
If you attend the convention, please report back on how pioneering is talked about on the programme. Is it the focus of the ministry, or just something you can do if you wish?
What do you think?

So I have an almost 2 years old cat. I got her when she was only 1 month old. I was in a group chat and one of the members mentioned that his friend is giving away kittens. I said that they’re too small to be given away in this age, but it’s not like the owner would change his mind. I was told that the mother already rejected them and they already know how to do everything. Since I was thinking of getting a cat, I decided to take my fiancé to go take a look at them. We weren’t planning to adopt anyone, it was more of “let’s see, why not go”. When we came to the place there were 4 little kittens. 2 of them looked healthy and they played with each other, but the owner said right away that they’re booked. The owner wasn’t very nice and somehow he didn’t speak the same language as us, so the guy from group chat just translated us few phrases and that’s all. Other two kittens were significantly smaller. One didn’t seem interested in us anyhow and the other was sleeping. It wasn’t a surprise the mother cat rejected them. She looked skinny and exhausted. She wouldn’t let kittens eat from her and she didn’t want to be near them. At this point we decided to go home and we felt somehow uncomfortable. And here’s the thing, we started getting asked “so which one do you take?”. They didn’t seem to take “we will think about”, “we’re not sure”, “we just came to take a look” for an answer. Basically, we were forced to take one. The one that was up was still trying to eat from his mama’s tits, so ofc I wouldn’t take this one and the other was still sleeping even tho we took her in our hands. We decided to take her. Owner got very happy, shoved the kitten in some box he found and sent us away. He said he took them to doctor previously and they’re flea-free. This guy from group chat was trying to hit on me all the way to our house in front of my fiancé (ofc, this is unimportant detail, but still unpleasant). The kitten has woken up to this time. We bought her food and litter with litter box in the nearby store. Luckily for us, she was willing to eat, even tho she had some diarrhea first days, then she got fully weened. She always knew how to use litter, so we were very proud. She seemed fine with us. She didn’t seem to miss her litter at all. Ofc we treated her the best we could. She wasn’t in fact healthy. She had a big ringworm that she passed to us. We took her to the vet and got all fixed (not the castration way hahah). The problems started pretty early. She was driving me crazy. She would bite and scratch, but we taught her not to do that. After all she was just a kitten. She seemed to be a very bold and not at all affectionate cat. She wouldn’t let us even hug her. She would run away from it like from fire. She was constantly knocking over her glass of water and her bowl of food. Almost every day. We got her a fountain and she destroyed it. She chewed up the cord and she would pull on it and knock over the fountain. Every time she ended up in the bathroom she would push toilet paper from the counter in the toilet. She genuinely didn’t seem to give a single f*** about me. I started getting breakdowns because of her that she didn’t care about either. I said a lot of times during it that I am going to give her away, that she’s going to a shelter. But every time I would calm down and take it back, bc I thought it’s cruel. And I was hoping that it’s just a teenage phase and she will get better with age. Also the reason I wanted a cat is because I was lonely. I lost my childhood cat few months before. I was grieving a lot. I was in another country and my fiancé was at work most of the time. My depression was at all time bad. I still was not over my childhood cat, but I thought that maybe getting another one would help me with my loneliness. But my new cat was nothing like her. My old cat was calm and cuddly and she would love me so much. I admit ofc not all cats like this. Everyone has different personality. That’s why I kept trying with my new cat. Despite Grippers (the new cat) being absolute asshole that was indifferent about us, we cared about her a lot and we would constantly think about how she feels. She would still drive me crazy occasionally and I would go on Reddit and read how this is normal and blablabla. Sometimes she would play with me. She also HATED any guests in our house. She would keep near them and bite them when they least expect. She wouldn’t let anyone except for us touch her. Through these two years she freaked out over nothing few times and I had to take her for her not to attack anyone else. My hands would be badly damaged afterwards. Then I went back to my country for few months and ofc I did everything to be able to take her with me. She hated it there. Then we moved places and she loves our new home. It has an outside and she loves going there. I tried training her to a leash when she was younger, but she hated all the sound and people of a big town, so that failed. She wouldn’t want to go even in the corridor of the building. But now she would run outside at every possibility. And she slowly stopped appearing at home for few hours a day. We were worried she might get pregnant, but apparently all the cats around were girls and she was awful to them too. She would scream at other cats and be very territorial. All other domestic cats were so much calmer than her, so that was embarrassing. Since we just moved we were low on money, but still trying to put some aside to spay her. We tried not letting her out, but she’s the type of cat that will drive you completely nuts until she gets what she wants. Also she would run away from the leash. Ofc I tried that again. Everything always felt that it’s either her way or she’s gonna meow until you lose your marbles. And then she got knocked up in our garden. Yup, she got pregnant! I was all for spaying her despite that, but my fiancé wasn’t so sure and spaying a pregnant cat costs double and we already didn’t have the money. My fiancé said that maybe she will get nicer if she has babies, so be it. And now she has 6 weeks old kittens. 4 of them. And they all are great! We love them and Grippers is an amazing mom. She gave birth on our bed and didn’t want to leave the bed for the first week they were born. We thought that’s how she shows us that she trusts us. Yet, she didn’t change. She still doesn’t care for us and only is meowing for food or water from the sink, even tho we bought a new better fountain. She meows a lot and she became even more demanding and she won’t let my fiancé sleep in the morning with her meowing. It really overwhelms him. I learned to detach from her, but the most common phrase in this household became “what do you want?!” directed at her. Sometimes she would meow for pets, but seems like even that should be done on her terms. I started joking that maybe we should find a home for her and not kittens. Suddenly I realized that she’s not a teenager anymore and that I’ve been thinking of her treating us like her slaves for all this time. I realized that there’s always some trouble with her (I know that she’s far from a “bad” or “hard” cat) and that the thought of spending all her life with her is very dreadful to me. Even thinking of ever doing smth for her seemed so lame, bc this cat literally doesn’t care. I had another breakdown that night, but this time I didn’t take my thoughts back. Thinking of her having a house where people can handle her and they won’t be as sensitive as me and my fiancé, a house where she will be loved and taken care of seemed nice. But what felt even better is a relief of not having to deal with her anymore. Rn I’m planning to wait till kittens are 10 weeks old and adoptable age and find her a home through asking shelters to put advertisement. I want to give her away with one of her kittens since she seemed to care about them so much and I don’t want her to be lonely. Rn I’m thinking if I should give away all of the kittens or should I keep some. I can clearly see which one of them are cuddlier and seem to care about me and the reason I wanted a cat was to feel someone’s presence while I’m alone at home (with grippers I don’t feel this way. Maximum she does is sit beside me across the bed or somewhere else). Keeping any also seems a bit of a risk, bc I’m so scared it’s gonna turn out just like with grippers. It’s a bit complicated, since I get attached to them and I care about them. I’m not sure if I’m being wrong here, so that’s why I’m asking Reddit. Should I keep or give away my cat? Should I keep any kittens? P.S. Please, refrain from telling me off for not spaying my cat, I know that’s bad.