We got into a random taxi at Busan airport (I should’ve called an Uber) and for the first few minutes the meter looked OK. After a few minutes though the meter was already at 20k and I realised it was jumping 200 won every 1 or 2 seconds.
We’ve been in Korea for more than two weeks and took quite a few Ubers and never paid this much. Especially not for such a short trip so I got suspicious and told the driver to drop us off at a parking lot. We ended up paying 22k for a 7-8 mins trip.
I took a photo of the license plate and reported it on 120.
Was this the right thing to do? Thanks

Foreshadowing and Clues:
1. The world is flooding, which has been hinted at since Water 7 arc, saying Aqua Laguna reaches higher every year. It has been flooding since forever. Wano had an entire kingdom submerged on the sea floor. The world is flooding now. The destruction of Lulusia raised the sea level by 1 meter. Who had been doing it? Imu. He explicitly stated that he/she wanted more Mother Flame (IRL counterpart: Nuclear Power), which was used to destroy Lulusia. This means that he wants to do it again. This also means that the world was much lower than it is now.
2. Since it has always been known that the world WILL flood since Joy Boy’s time, as the Ark, Noah, was entrusted to Fishmen of all people. Fishmen, who NEVER need any freaking ship. So if not for them to use, then for whom? For us. For all other races. And what is an Ark for if it’s not to rescue people? And as it had always been known Imu had been nuking places, Fishmen built Fishmen Island RIGHT UNDER Mary Geoise for exactly that reason. IT CANNOT BE NUKED FROM ABOVE. The Ancient Weapon Poseidon was used to control Sea Kings, and they had their own prophecy that they would carry Noah into the sun. It was all there.
3. Sanji’s dream of finding the All Blue seem like the least possible dream of the crew members. The ocean is clearly divided into four, or at least two that are totally disconnected by landmass. It is impossible to find a place that freely contains all ingredients from all four, all living sea creatures from every ocean, as that means all fishes have to at least cross the Red Line freely to make that one spot All Blue.
4. Oda confirmed in an interview with Momoko Sakura that the One Piece is not something abstract, but a physical reward.
5. Roger DID NOT take the One Piece with him. He FOUND the One Piece and discovered the truth of the world at Laugh Tale and laughed. He was there too soon. He could not use the truth or what he found. In ANY versions of his execution, he NEVER once said that he BURIED it there. At best, in any versions of his execution, he LEFT it there. Official Funimation version: he LEFT EVERYTHING THE WORLD HAD TO OFFER THERE. Could it be because the One Piece could not be taken anywhere? Could it because it was too big?
6. Joy Boy was the first pirate, as confirmed by Vegapunk (IRL counterpart: Einstein). Joy Boy, the first man who took to the sea and sailed for freedom. But if the world had always been dotted with islands, then that's impossible. If the world had always been dotted with islands, it means that people sailed and rode boat/ships like cars. Eventually, a number of them would’ve realized independently at the same time that if you sailed out and had no connection with anyone, you would answer to no one, AKA outlaw/pirate. It was just not possible for multiple of them not to realize that at once. It was therefore impossible to pinpoint anyone as the FIRST pirate. But Joy Boy WAS the first, and we know for sure. That means that sailing far out at sea was a big deal, and that he was the first means sailing out was SIMPLY NOT DONE BEFORE. But how was that possible? You sail out to go somewhere inaccessible by land. If you had never set sail before, does it mean that there had been NO OTHER LAND?
7. The castle where the Gorosei and Imu resides is called “Pangaea Castle.” In our world, it is the name of the continent that included all the landmass in the world at the beginning of Triassic. Its meaning? “Spanning the entire earth.”
8. Red Line is waaay too artificial to be natural. Grand Line has its real life equivalent: the equator, the hottest region where the ocean receives the most sun and have violent weather. Calm Belts? Horse Lattitudes, the region with almost no wind. But Red Line? A landmass that perfectly follows one straight longitude, stretching north to south and perfectly circling back around the world in one perfect loop? Doesn’t it sound too artificial? Reverse Mountain where water flows up? Really? What if it was constructed? What if it was erected by someone?
9. Imu, the Five Elders, and the Celestial Dragons have their own land, the Mary Geoise, placed atop of the world, and their method of destruction is to raise the sea level. This means they have always been certain they would escape somehow. I suspect they could create landmass. If they could create landmass and chose to fill up the ocean at the deepest areas, they would definitely displace a lot of water. We can flood our own world by melting the polar ice caps, meaning we add about continent-sized ice into the ocean. If they created the Red Line, which is a continent, it was bound to do the same to their world. That was most likely the cause of the first Flood that raised the sea level initially. The only suspect who could do this is Imu. The Gorosei called him the Creator of the World. If he was defeated, the Red Line itself might disappear. As foreshadowed by the examples of Poppy and Doflamingo’s powers.
10. One Piece has always been the story about friendship, forgiveness, unity, and co-existence. In pretty much every arc, Luffy finds oppressed people, fights the oppressor, but not before the oppressed unite, forgive each other, and put aside their differences, and fight for a common cause: against their oppressor. The most important lesson of all is this: forgive the wrongs; forget the differences; unite. Fishman Island arc, Otohime pointed out the path towards the sun is to stop hating human. The Sun Pirates’ ideal is to forgive humans and liberate the oppressed. If the world is flooding now, who is the least impacted people? The Fishmen. Who has the Ancient Weapon with the means to move the ark? The Fishmen. Who has the means to rescue everyone? The Fishmen. Everything in set up for them to do this. What other best way to make human change their mind about their prejudices against Fishmen? This. Their time has come now to be the ones with power. Everything is in place for them to extend an olive branch.
11. So we’ve pretty much concluded that the world will flood and the Fishmen will rescue everyone with the ark, this leads me to be very certain of what the One Piece is. If the entire world is going to flood, what is the most valuable treasure in the world right now?
12. And as the goal is to lower the sea level and bring back up the lands, what if there’s a piece of land down there where people can unite and live freely as one people, the landmass that spans the entire world, one single piece of land, what should that one piece of land be called?
13. If there’s only one piece of land in the world, does that mean there’s only one single ocean in the world also? What should that only one ocean in the world be called? Whose dreams are coming true?

Hi!
It's a lot of writing in a wonky English but it's been helping me mentally.
I started this Monday my removal journey with my B&W tattoo.
Everything went wrong this this tattoo. I drove a few hours to learn my tattoer was sick and nobody thought of calling me to cancel the appointment. I was quite angry and asked to get my deposit back as it was a poor behaviour from the tattoo parlor, and I didn't want any business with them anymore. The tattoo parlor offered me to get tattooed by someone else instead and I should never have accepted. The guy was a prick, he was annoyed to tattoo me and do extra hours so he hurt me really bad, did a poor job, and he tweaked the fine line tattoo I was supposed to have to this humongous atrocity without my consent. He did a gross and thick lineart on the ginko leaves as well. The ink spread really bad, my weight loss (~25lbs) fixed it a bit as my skin and thus the ink was more tightened, but it still looked awful and I'm heartbroken as the logo is from a franchise that has a lot of meaning to me.
So there we are. I wish like everyone else the result would be seen faster, the ink would look more faded but I think it's a good start. At least the girl at the clinic was really nice, I felt secure, a doctor was here too and there's an emergency line 24h/24h. Despite the lidocaine numbing cream not working I took it like a champ and did it in one go. It seems to have a smooth healing, the blisters already flattened on their own and the redness is mostly gone. The white ink didn't react nor oxidized.
Since I went to a clinic that offers the Q-switched technology and it has been enough for the B&W tattoo, I'm going to another one this afternoon that has a Discovery Pico laser, Nd:yag Pico laser and a ruby Q-switched laser to inquire for another tattoo that was done in watercolor style, so a lot of white and all the colors. (you can see it in Pic 1 and 5, it's on the inner of my arm holding the phone). I really like the first clinic I went to and I will finish the removal of the B&W tattoo with them, but they're not experienced in colors at all.
I know I'm still going to be disappointed as the chances to remove the colors it are slim and everything could go wrong with oxydation. The patch tests I did with the Q-switched laser look bad already, Pico might be better but I lost hope. I don't think I'm mentally ready to hear any more about this watercolor tattoo. I should feel happy with myself since I'm now at a good weight and I fixed a lot of insecurities I had of my body but these two tattoos are making me feel so miserable, especially the watercolor one. I miss my bare skin, and I know I'll probably never see it again.

TL;DR: No poo used to work for a year perfectly fine but I stopped, 2 years passed and now I am trying again. It's been 7-8 months and it's not working. But shampoo makes me brittle. Suggest something that would be inbetween complete no poo and shampoo? Would sulfate free shampoo be something that wouldn't fuck up the balance of the natural oils too much?
I don't know what happened because I did nopoo two years ago until I dyed it and got stuck on the shampooing cycle again until last fall when I started again. During the first time it looked smooth and healthy. The only things that changed were 1. I started with a buzzcut of like 4mm vs this time I shaved my head to almost 2 inches. And 2. The source of the water is different as I moved cities since (water hardness?).
My hair texture is straight, typical white european hair, but holds all kinds of shapes if it dries in an odd position. I have always hated the frizz, it makes it look dead since it's straight and gets thinner at the ends, if it is long. If it was wavy and thick all the way, I wouldn't mind a frizz.
But anyway I don't want to do no-poo anymore. Maybe a very close buzzcut again could be a worth a shot some day with the combination of no poo but I am sick of growing it out, it looks awkward and in any case I want long hair down to my back I don't want to keep it short. So for now I would rather change the way I wash it. No poo hair also feels kinda greasy and waxy even when it doesn't look like it, I don't like it much...
I don't want to use shampoos either, nor conditoners really. Everytime I use conditioner with shampoo my hair would get oilier faster than with just shampoo or no poo. Something about shampoo kills my hair. It's embarrassing to shed like crazy after a shower.
What would you say is between nopoo and shampoo? Sulfate free shampoo? I tried it on another attempt of no poo with long hair, it was alright, much better than nothing at all two weeks into nopoo. I get migraines from dry shampoos and I would rather not put egg yolk in my hair, if yall say it works I trust you but I hate the smell and texture, I can't.

Hi, I know this is mostly for couple relationships. But I don't know where else to post this. I can't post in aith as mostly foreigners are there
I'm 29M. I have some trouble in my family would be a major understatement. The situation is so worse that I can't explain to anyone in my real life. Situation became so dire, I left my house and staying away and my parents calling me failure and abandoner. Its a toxic household. My brother hits my parents and I end up leaving the house while my parents defend him.
3 weeks back my brother hit my father, my father started crying profusely and started to scream and saying he'll call police. I asked my brother to leave. He does but comes back and starts acting lunatically, saying he's ready to go to Jail and loose his job but he'll expose my father for what he is. They had an argument coz he's not marrying and he has a girlfriend from work living not less 200 m away in a separate society. Which has come to our house and met my parents as well. My father had a agreement with him to get married by March this year. But such a manipulator and liar he is that was another one of his delaying tactics. Or maybe he said one two many lies and this caught up to him. When my father out of anger said to him to leave the house, he shamelessly said he won't he also contributed to it. The reason behind his fearlessness was my mother as she supported it. She actually supported him hitting him and later tried to justified by saying it was a minor hit and it didn't break his bone or something.
My brother has a history, he broke my mother's hand when I was in school and he was in college first year. He wanted to stay in hostel and my parents didn't let him. I come back from tuition and witness that. Looking back at it, this fueled his shamelessness and fearlessness as all the relatives knew this and it didn't bother him later on.
My family quite disfunctional since very beginning. We have lived in major cities for most part, my father was working in government service and got transferred a lot. My elder brother (4 years elder) and I work both in metro city and lived with my family here. Father retired last year. Mother a housewife.
Now here's the issue part. My father has been a wifebeater and sole earner. Him and my mother had issues since beginning. And they generally didn't have any understanding is what I saw. Trust was less as well. Mother used to bitch about him which my elder brother took quite well and to certain extent me too, but I started to see through it few times and ramblings of a frustrated woman as my father used to like being reveled by relatives so she feared him being more involved there.
One other side of this also the relationship of my mother and elder brother, they both grew some sort of symbiotic relationship where they each were masking each other's shortcomings by excuses and became each other's support system.
So that was in past then as we grew up our father also matured a bit in past few years but not a lot.
Now, so far it seems like every other family's trouble. Here's the main issue, I started observing certain things since past few years which made me really irked and start to distrust my family.
I don't trust my elder brother since few years 6-7 to be precise. And he has a history of beating me as well. Something in him makes me tick. Like he's trying to treat us like he treats outsiders, for profit of his own. I don't consider him my elder brother either. While my parents always try to shame me by saying I hit him as he is my elder brother, while they themselves flaunt society's rules as they like.
Last few years, I saw some issues with myself and loneliness, one time parents asked me and my brother to come to my father's posted place as he was getting retired and help shift. When I reached I'm told they have planned(my brother and them) a trip and invited me. I hadn't taken any leaves and this was extreme short notice so I couldn't get leaves. They just thought it would be very easy for me to get it. Like I was really pissed. I stayed there alone for 1 week while taking care of their stuff.
When they came back I broke down, and cried and told about my struggles with depression, my mother at that time cried. I suggested them to start searching for a bride for me. Before all this, some stuff was already happening with regards to my brother's marriage since that past year and I wasn't on speaking terms with my brother. But I saw them berating him by saying if he doesn't get married, it will be issue for me. So I tried to calm them separately by telling them to start searching for me if he's not cooperating. Mind you I was settled financially and of age, only thing stopping them was my brother was unmarried then. I thought I had managed to make a breakthrough, and could get some support with my issues but no.
My brother had a girlfriend whom I had met and had visited my house met my parents. She ditched him for reasons only he knows and from then onwards I only saw his hippocrit facade like the way he manipulated lied to my parents about meeting with prospects and finding excuses to not get married. He wasn't interested, just kept delaying and this kept frustrating my parents. He also blamed his failed relationship on my father as he said something angrily along the lines of him hitting his girlfriend when he was angry as he witnessed his father do that all his life.
This caused fights too, sometime I got involved as well. Like he threw food plate at my mother and I intervened. I had to say some harsh stuff and fight ensued. Physical too. This has been an recurring phenomenon.
My parents are no saint either. My father last year beat my mother at age of 60 no less. Like I said very disfunctional family.
After my heart to heart with my parents, they completely forgot about it. They say they didn't but they did. They never mentioned one girl, didn't even make JS/Shaadi profile for me. Look the issue is not that marriage was biggest priority for me. But that it wasn't even a priority for them when I specifically said about it.
Now another tragedy happened. I got laid off. I didn't utter a word. Then in between 6 months later from that talk they stuck me with the most shameless question ever asked by them. They tell me they had it enough with my brother's bullshit and wanted to search for me. I was almost about to lose it. But at that point I was at very low coz of my job situation and was seriously doubting my luck. Still am. Been doubting since Covid. I made up some excuse to make them lose interest in it.
Then some months later in another fight I brought it up and gave them an earful.
During all this I tried leaving my house twice for good. One time I actually rented a place. One time I gave an ultimatum that he leaves or I leave but my parents somehow convinced me to stay. Toxicity was through the roof. Parents fighting often, quite on the edge of physicality, my mother doesn't hold bapck a bit if we are around. My father is I feel is semi bipolar always on ego trip. And my brother a lying manipulator angling for his gains.
This time I couldn't hold back and decided to leavd I won't come back at all. I offered to take my father too. I declared my mother's case hopeless as the way she behaved after my brother hit my father and proudly berated him shamelessly like she felt someone took revenge of all those years of beatings and shame she got. While I held my head in shame by looking at what was unfolding. I couldn't hold back and abused them for their behavior. These shameless people started coming at me.
I was irked at the fact that my brother had his girlfriend living in the neighborhood and she used to come and visit and my folks weren't least bit bothered as they thought these guys were getting married. When in fact my folks had not even talked with her parents. Only with her elder sister who was doing a love marriage inter caste after threatening to take poison. So my mother was like believe in love an all that crap and talk about social and family values too. I am not conservative I met his first girlfriend before anyone else in family. But this was too much, if you are such big into love and family values and keeping appearance in society then marry and end it. Apparently the girl wanted to marry only after elder sister marries, so society rules exist for her but not for my family.
All this combined I stated my discomfort shared an ultimatum that he should leave and stay separately till his matter is resolved. My mother and brother came at me. They called me failure and said I was jealous of him cause of my failures to secure a person in my life. So I realised my mother was with him
I know this is too much but coz of this I left and this time I thought I was leaving with my father's blessings, but I was wrong that was just momentary coz of his anger after getting beaten by my brother.
I have been living away now for few weeks just few km away. So that I can go back if required but now the tune of my parents have changed completely. They are calling me deserter coz I left house. How can I live in that toxic family household ? And a lot of other things, as I can't help but scream at their shamelessness.
I wish old age days come back coz then you could call few relatives to sort things out. Or atleast discuss who's wrong, here they justify their doings as everyone is doing it in society, everyone fights, everyone's a little shameless so its fine. While I can't just become ostrich and deal with things when it strictly affects me. My brother's actions deeply affected me. I was depressed and had to deal with it alone, coz my parents were too busy with his bullshit and then I saw their real self. Lots of stuff I haven't mentioned here. Like how my own father defended him getting beaten as his own fruits of his deeds to defend my brother. That broke the straw for me and made me realise he was the favorite son for both of them. No amount of his shameful deeds can change it. And they will bend backwards to justify it.
Worst part is which I can't shake off, I called them selfish, shameless, mental and stupid fools who got cheated by their own son. They are equating it with my brother's beatings. Saying I'm equally as deplorable as him, as its equal as beating. In which world ?
Am I the asshole ? Should I continue on my path. Discussions and talks with my parents result in screamings as I need a neutral party as they changed the rules of civil society to fit their narrative as society has changed so its fine as everyone does it. I told them if they can find even one person their age group who thinks I'm wrong I'll come back and apologise. They told me they have no interest in getting laughed at and this happens everywhere. And I am equally guilty for abusing them. I can't take it any more. Is staying in family means becoming like then ? Is that the rule ?
My family is saying to come back and stay there and my brother will leave after getting married, saying I'm equally guilty in this as I also said harsh stuff. How is happening in this shitty world ?
TLDR: Left toxic family where brother hits father. Has history of hitting me and mother too. Parents fight too physically and defend him and his actions. And asking me to stay in that environment.

I've been thinking of going Blueprint for a little while now. I've been comparing prices to my food and supplement stack now vs on Blueprint protocol and there are some things I've noticed.
NR: Before he took it 750mg 6/week, but now it's everyday. 300mg his Blueprint Essentials and 450mg NR or 500mg NMN w/dinner. It doesn't specify what band in the new stack but I could assume it's True Niagen for NR and Jinfiniti for NMN as that's what he used in his old stack. I think 750mg/day is too high.
NAC: First off, at what age should one start taking NAC? Dr. Brad Stanfield states that there is no need to take it before at around 45 years of age. And Bryan takes very high does. There are 1200mg in his Blueprint NAC + Ginger + Curcumin supplement. But he also takes an additional 1800mg from LE at dinner time. Is this too much, at least for a M31 like me?
Garlic: He also supplements with two types of garlic. 100mg of orderless garlic in his Blueprint Red Yeast Rice + odor free garlic and also 1,2g of aged garlic from Kyolic. There is also fresh garlic in his super veggie. So 3 types of garlic on the daily, why? Do they have different properties?
Magnesium: I'm glad to see there is added magnesium to the new stack, but why citrate? Why not L-Threonate? Too expensive? Glad to see he changed Zinc citrate to Bisglycinate though.
Collagen peptides: He uses a superb brand of collagen peptides with Fortigel®, Fortibone® and Verisol®. But idk if there is a typo or not. He uses it in his normal daily dose in the morning, but now it says that he also adds it to Nutty pudding, so two doeses each day? I though he normally just added pea protein to his Nutty pudding along with Nutty mix and EVOO.
Cocoa: Is says he uses 6g/day of his Cocoa powder. And on the product site it says Mix one scoop with (nut) milk, coffee, or Nutty Butter. Where does this come into his protocol? Super veggie uses chocolate and not cocoa powder, nutty pudding already has cocoa added. So how does he consume these 6 daily grams?
Pea protein: 29g/day it says. The Nutty pudding product already contains pea protein but if you make it yourself you are supposed to add 30-60 grams. So in his new stack he adds 29g pea protein alongside 12,5g collagen peptides to his Nutty pudding?
Iron: He uses Proferrin for his iron supplement. I was thinking of eating Super veggie, Nutty putting and taking the supplements. But also add 2 more meals each day that most likely would contain meat. Iron supplement shouldn't really be necessary then should it?
I've been using Möller's Tran for ages (Cod liver oil), it's the same Norwegian brand that also produces Carlson's omega-3 products. But with Vit D and E already in Blueprint Essentials I feel like it's overkill to still use Cold liver oil that also contains these vitamines.
Do you follow Bryan's protocol? What have you changed and adjusted? Feel any different? Happy with the results and the cost?

Hello Robin mains,
I've been more and more tempted to pull for Robin lately. When beta came out, I wasn't really interested in her since I don't play DoT or FuA but her cute design and action advance mechanic are making me sway a bit.
5☆ : JingYuan/DHIL/Blade/FuXuan/RuanMei/Sparkle + all standard and Ratio.
My account is heavily focused towards hypercarry and break teams. I enjoy DoT and FuA but don't have the funds to branch out currently (except maybe Kafka because she has synergy with Break)
My next goal is to get Boothill + his cone, then grab E1 Ruan Mei and Firefly. However I've been struggling a bit to clear the two lastest MoCs (especially Aventurine) because my teams are not flexible enough. Break teams don't work when you don't have elemental matchups (hello random Fire/Imaginary IPC fat guy) and every hypercarry wants Sparkle + Tingyun so it's difficult to play hyper on both sides. Not having a 2nd limited 5 star sustain is also tricky but I can manage for now until they release one I like.
All that to say, should I really pull for E1 Ruan Mei to increase the strength of my break teams, or is pulling Robin the better move here ? With her I should be able to play hypercarry on both sides because right now, all of them want Tingyun + Sparkle as their best team and Bronya just isn't doing it for anyone other than Blade anymore. I usually like to invest vertically, but Robin kinda feels like a cheat code to clear with her action advance and extra damage, especially since I don't have A SINGLE DANCE DANCE DANCE. Not even 1. Really.
I'm sorry this was a long one but I'm not really sure where to take my account. I appreciate every bit of advice ❤

I love the changes made to the shards; being made wearable with a timer to recharge is fantastic, I LOVE that there is a (slim) chance to nab them out and about in the world with PvP rather than having to go through a tedious raid.. but the systems put in place are still able to be 'gamed' to significantly reduce the amount of time they HAVE to be out in the world, particularly in any server over solo clan size. Solo you can't really do this unless you make friends.
player 1 can easily go and sweep an area clean of any mobs and bring the rift boss down to 1hp for the shard holder to quickly teleport in (from the safety of their castle) and finish it off, and teleport straight back out without any inventory, player 1 can mop that up. 30-45 seconds TOPS every 24 hours (on official).
Just remove them completely, don't even replace them (a cave from somewhere near Dracula's castle right into the middle of Silverlight City could be cool tho? It would still be a long and risky run to base). Hallowed Mountains and Cursed Forest already have teleporters close by, and Cursed Forest has the cave to Clive not much further away. Dunley already has the two teleporters in the centre and south east, and Cursed Forest has another teleporter on the other side.
Either that or make it so you can't teleport with the shard, but I can see why they didn't do that because everyone would just wait outside your castle to gank you.
This would increase the amount of time the shard needs to be in transit to at the very least, minutes. Right now; by the time I see the shard moving (I am constantly watching the map during incursions at this point in the game), I exit out of that and call it out in chat for others, get to a teleporter (sometimes I even wait right by my teleporter) and get on site they are already back home and on the holder.
Cheers for reading.

VAPE REGULATIONS 2024
Feeling uncertain about the 2024 vape laws and regulations? You’re not alone. We’re also navigating through some unclear aspects of the proposed regulations, but here’s what I know so far.
This post aims to provide you with the latest information on the 2024 vape regulations, along with articles for more details.We strive to keep you updated. If you’ve subscribed to my email list, I’ll notify you of any major changes to the store.
UNCHANGED REGULATIONS These regulations will remain the same: - You must be at least 18 to purchase any vape product. - A prescription is required to buy nicotine vaping products. - Selling pre-filled disposable vapes with nicotine is illegal in Australia except through pharmacies.
VAPE REGULATION CHANGES The proposed 2024 vaping regulations, introduced in late 2023, include the following changes (as I understand them).
FROM JANUARY 1: - Ban on importing disposable vapes (pre-filled and single-use). Individuals cannot import disposable vapes, but businesses can if they hold a license and permit from the Office of Drug Control (ODC). - We can continue selling nicotine-free disposable vapes we have in stock after January 1, but cannot import more. These vapes are always nicotine-free; safety reports are available upon request. - All doctors or nurse practitioners can now prescribe nicotine vaping products without needing approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). It's at their discretion to provide these prescriptions.
FROM MARCH 1:

• Ban on importing all vape products, including e-liquid (with or without nicotine) and hardware, by individuals, even with a prescription. Businesses will need a license and permit from ODC to import and must notify TGA of each product's compliance with their standards (see the current list of notified vapes).
  
• Vape stores can continue selling the nicotine-free vaping products they have in stock after March 1, but cannot import more without the necessary license/permit and TGA notification. It's uncertain how long this will be allowed.
  
• Imported vape products from March 1 must meet new device and e-liquid standards and only be sold in pharmacies with a prescription.
  
• All vape products will be classified as therapeutic products for smoking cessation or nicotine dependence management (formerly classified as smoke products under the same laws as cigarettes).
  
• The personal importation scheme will end, prohibiting individuals from ordering nicotine or nicotine vape products from overseas, even with a prescription.- New device and e-liquid standards set by TGA.
  
• Limits on flavours to mint, menthol, and tobacco for vape products imported after March 1.
  
• Existing vape businesses wishing to stay in the industry will need an import license and permit to supply pharmacies.
  

AFTER MARCH 1: The Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024, introduced to parliament on March 21 by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, needs to pass through Parliament to enforce the following:

• Retail vape sales ban starting July 1, prohibiting tobacconists, vape stores, and convenience stores from selling non-therapeutic vapes.
  
• Ban on importing, manufacturing, supplying, and commercially possessing disposable, single-use vapes and non-therapeutic vapes. If the bill passes, illegal vape manufacturers and suppliers could face fines up to $2.2 million and seven years of jail time.
  
• Additional penalties for importing, manufacturing, supplying, advertising, or possessing vaping products contrary to regulations/law, including fines and prison time.
  
• If this bill passes through Parliament, vape stores will have to close to the public from July 1.
  

BILL PROGRESS
The Vaping Reforms Bill was debated in Parliament on March 27, with many Ministers expressing support or opposition. The bill was referred to a Senate Committee of Inquiry to determine if Australia should proceed with the proposed bill and prescription-only model or move towards regulating vapes like cigarettes.
The committee received around 300 public submissions and held two public hearings, calling witnesses from those who submitted feedback.The Senate Inquiry Report was published on May 8:

• The majority recommended passing the bill.
  
• National Party Senators published a 'Dissenting Report,' opposing the bill and recommending regulation similar to tobacco products.
  
• The bill must now be voted on by Senators in the June parliamentary sessions.
  
• Dr. Colin Mendelsohn's recent blog post detailed each politcal party's positions on the bill and the next steps that will determine its future. The National party opposes it, the greens wish to amend it, some independents will vote against it and the labor party supports the bill. (Summarising his opinion: it's currently about 50/50 in support or opposition of the Reforms Bill. Also stating he is cautiously optimistic. This may be determined by political back door deals and then if not, the greens will likely decide the result).
  

I will update you with any further information as it presents.

This is a long-winded post, but please bear with me. Okay jumping in…..so, I have this friend. She's 28, totally gorgeous, kinda became successful at a very young age, transplanted to the U.S. from another country when she was 19 to start working more seriously, etc.
She had a serious boyfriend for 3½ years. It seemed like they were soulmates to the rest of us in their friendship circles. After a few months we were all pretty close-knit, since their two friend groups spilled into each other. We did everything together, all the time. Dinners at each other's' houses, going to bars/restaurants, concerts, road trips, etc. Pretty quickly into that relationship my friend basically adopted her boyfriend's passions of photography and hiking into being her own. Let me also say.. this dude was a blue-collar working guy in the same field as her, 7 years older than she, and she was far more “successful” than he was. Didn't matter, they were genuinely in love. Posting each other's photos on Instagram all the time, constantly bringing each other up in conversations, etc.
Things were going well, until 2 years ago. After my friend and her boyfriend went away on separate jobs for a month….. she came back to town in love with her new “coworker”. Totally left-field, and all of us who were mutual friends of the two were shocked by this. No one had any inkling of a problem between them. All we got when we asked what happened was a “well things change, but, we're still staying friends”. Obviously, to those of us who are their friends, something seemed shady about what went down and we couldn't put our finger on what it could be. Sure, people fall out of love, or things run their course, but this was far too random and the timing was so odd. Neither one is religious, neither cares about marriage, non-abusive, they're both liberal, etc. So there was literally no signs of any troubles on that front.
The guy my friend has been with for the past two years since is a great person. Very funny dude, and a sweetheart. Would give someone the shirt off of his back. He's also more successful than she is in her same field, and is only 4 years older. We friends all like him well enough, but the friendship group dynamics have shifted considerably, obviously. Within months of the shocking breakup two years ago, she immediately co-opted this new guy's friend circle as her own, and some of us were kinda left out in the cold for a little while. Gradually she started to include us into the new guy's group, and we all get along well…. But, there's also a weird tension now that wasn't there before. We all feel it.
When a handful of us friends from her group run into mutual friends of her ex, we always wonder amongst ourselves what happened with their relationship…. The ex, still an awesome dude in his own right, hasn't really gotten over the breakup. He says he's doing fine and all that, but we can tell he isn't the same. Granted it has been two years, but his photos of my friend are still on his instagram, along with all of his romantic comments to her from years ago. He throws himself into his job, travels, but when he is home, he just stays inside or goes on long hikes with one other person. My friend still follows him and she likes his posts sometimes, but from what I'm told from his own best friends is that when they've talked since the break-up it's very superficial…. Surface-level conversations with no real substance.
For a year after the breakup, my friend kept talking nostalgically about her past - like it was so distant. Age 19, with a great job, running around L.A. with new friends, etc. She would bring up that back then she felt like an “adult” and was sure of who she was….but since then, she's realized she has no clue who she is and wants to find herself. This kind of talking set off alarm bells with a few of us in her circle, and we sort of felt like maybe there is more to our friend than we realize. She really dove into the relationship with the guy she is with now, and I think it's fair to say the ex was discarded. At least that's the vibe a couple of us have post-breakup.
She doesn't post anything with the guy she's with now. Or, she does… but she doesn't tag him in the photos (and they're long shots from far away). She rarely posts him, and vice versa. The last time I think they posted each other was on their Instagram story on Valentine's Day months ago. Yet, oddly, since she's started dating him she's come out of her “shell” more and is behaving in a much more ambitious outgoing way than she was with the ex. Again, it is like she is adopting her boyfriend’s traits into her own.
I guess the discussion I'd like to have is… is my friend a usemanipulator with a mental illness? Is she capable of being “happy”, or is she bad news? Sure, millions of people have broken up for a multitude of reasons. Maybe she genuinely just wasn't into the ex anymore… but people don't just fall out of love at random and discard someone they say is their soulmate for another man within a month’s time. I'm talking all-in on the relationship with this newer guy, yet she doesn't post it publicly like the previous one, and she keeps us at arm’s length sometimes from him and his friends. One of our mutual buddies, who is more outspoken and is about to end their friendship with her, thinks she's just “recharging her batteries” and will end up discarding this guy as well in a year or two. We're thinking about talking to her about all of this soon.
She's always seemed like such a great friend and an empath. But, given her behavior over the past two years, some of us are wondering if we should continue being friends with her. Breaking up with someone you're “soulmates” with and getting someone new within a month and going 100% all-in… to me just screams emotional immaturity and that she probably has unrealistic expectations of what she wants in someone. Like she traded the ex dude for someone who had a piece of what she thinks she's looking for. Or do you redditors think she likely got bored, and longed for the early honeymoon period of sunshine and rainbows again with someone else (which is selfish/narcissistic)
Please be nice in your responses. Thanks. :)

Bear with me as I describe what amounts to an almost religious experience after finishing the game for the first time. SPOILERS and nigh-rambling. But I just have to share. I hope you'll stay a while a listen. :)
I tried playing Cyberpunk a couple months ago. Corpo Male, strong roleplaying. When the Johnny Silverhand stuff started, I got really frustrated and quit. I didn't like how the game saw fit to ramrod me into this extremely narrow story when I thought the experience was going to be more open than that. I wanted to play a character who tried to rise to the top of Night City's corporate world through double-dealing and backstabbery...and now all the sudden my character is dying and has this voice in his head.
I was not going to be able to tell the story I wanted to tell.
It was that ludonarrative dissonance thing, like in the Witcher 3, I always struggled to justify doing too many side missions, given that Geralt (as I was playing him) was very concerned about finding Ciri, so there just didn't seem to be time to get embroiled in all these other adventures.
But then I saw this randomly come across my YouTube feed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0gR_C0Pd1k&ab_channel=JekavacTV
Dude. I don't care how linear your story is...that's incredible. And dark.
I've been on hard times lately. While I was never serious about unaliving myself, it was a thought that bounced around in my head here and there at my lowest moments...and this clip just...it hit me. I always believed that self-deletion was deeply wrong, if only because of the harm it did to others who loved you. Whatever was on the table, that solution could never be entertained seriously. I just couldn't do it to my loved ones.
But I've also been struggling with who I am, who I'm supposed to be, what my purpose is. LOL big club I know.
But that video convinced me to give 2077 another try. If an ending could be that hardcore and meaningful...there must be something worthwhile in this game. So I rolled a Nomad Male, and began my love affair with this game. I didn't try to concoct a character so much as just try to play V as myself. I really related to his leaving the Bakkers, and going it alone. Also I moved around a lot as a kid, and my Dad was a hippie biker in his heyday, and a mechanic. So it felt true to form.
And then when you meet Jackie...I mean c'mon, who's more loveable than Jackie?
I really started to get into the game then. And it finally started to dawn on me what the game's story is trying to communicate.
I figured 2077 would devolve into a lot of cynicism, and exploit the violence and sex for cheap thrills. Or maybe it would lean on shock value and become doomeblackpill fodder. But CDPR ain't no slouches. Night City is an exaggerated snapshot of where we are now. And V's predicament is one many of us are facing: we want to make our mark on the world, but is it worth it to step on everyone along the way? Even if we're trying not to die? Or worse, just be erased. Many of us struggle with a voice in our head telling us we're fuckups. We're pussies. We're slaves. We're not worth the trouble.
At first I took Silverhand for an antagonist, essentially. A nasty SOB I had to keep at bay, given that my V was a mostly good guy who just wanted a family again. Especially after Jackie died...man his wake, and helping Misty sort through his things? That got to me.
And of course there's that lingering fear that, no matter how much Silverhand may begin to charm you or appear like he's on your side - he's going to take over. V is actually warned that eventually, Silverhand will just make a play to do just that.
So I was careful with him, but I wanted to know more, because he was such an intriguing character, and its easily one of Reeves' best performances. Period. So I invested in his conversations and eventually his sidequests. I also did what I could to help others in Night City who helped me. I was dying, so...it felt like a good time to be generous. Even if sometimes I had to off a bunch of gangoons with a shotgun. XD
Then as the story developed, I began to see that Silverhand wasn't quite the legend everyone thought. He was a man who had sorely, sorely screwed his life up - as well as the lives of many others. He even seemed to regret it.
I even told Silverhand I'd take a bullet for him, after receiving his dog tags. I never expected that kind of a scene between those two.
It became clear that Silverhand was a ghost, stuck between life and death, looking for absolution, trying to do something right for once. And V could help. So I did. We found Alt Cunningham. We took Rogue on a date. We got Samurai together for one last gig. We tried to track Adam Smasher down. I was putting trust in Johnny, and it was clear that he wasn't really wanting to kill V after all. But he had no choice.
I also met Panam, fell in love, and became a de-facto Aldecaldo. Was never sure about Saul, but Mitch and the others were just salt of the earth man. Great little storyline.
I helped Judy, all the way until she finally left Night City, and was glad of it. I do wish she was romanceable by dudes, but...she was still just too precious, I couldn't turn a blind eye to her problems, or her kindness. Her little story with the underwater town was so moving and unique...I just wanted to give that girl a hug man. What a sweetheart.
Then it all came to a head. V is on his last leg. That fateful scene where you make your big choice. Silverhand pushing me to just take the orange pill and let him do his thing, since he's almost in control anyway. Or I could testify against Yorinobu, and put my trust in Arasaka. OR, I could call on my new family in Panam and the Aldecaldos, but put them at risk.
This entire game I felt like every choice was vital. I felt like one slip up and I could mess up my chances of living, or even worse, do wrong by the people I cared about, just like Jackie. But I stuck to my guns, helped who I could...
Which is why I chose to lean on the Aldecaldos for help. Yes, I was putting them at risk. But even though I was beginning to trust Johnny, this wasn't his fight anymore. Much as Johnny might have a shot, I couldn't just give up now. And I certainly wasn't going to trust anyone at Arasaka.
The raid on Arasaka HQ with the clan was rough. Felt like all my choices had led here, and I worried that CDPR was going to punish me for my past choices, given that Night City takes no prisoners and few get out alive. I also knew that Adam Smasher was bound to appear. And having seen Edgerunners...I knew that wasn't going to be pretty. I saw how Johnny's story ended, for example.
There were rumblings about Saul and Panam still being at odds, and I figured the game was priming me for a betrayal or a horrific upset somehow. But I forged ahead anyway, because I was with my family. I didn't want power. I didn't even want to be a legend. I just wanted to live.
I watched Adam Smasher kill Saul horrifically, heard Panam scream in horror...and I zeroed that MFer. XD
Protip: even on Hard Diff, if you have the right perks and implants, you can be virtually unkillable. Only died once. Not sure if that's impressive, but it felt impressive. XD
My V wasn't sophisticated, but he was tough as nails and determined. I wasn't about to let everyone's sacrifice be in vain. Not Saul's. Not Jackie's. Not Goro's. Not Johnny's.
I informed Smasher of Johnny's resurrection just before blowing his brains out with Johnny's own signature gun. Even though Johnny was subdued by the bluepill, it felt like my last gift to him...even as I was moments from death.
Then the moment of truth...Mikoshi. I asked Panam for parting advice. She said "Just be yourself." Normally I'd roll my eyes at that advice but, something about it felt prophetic.
The final choice. Alt had used Soulkiller on me, in order to save me, but now it seemed I wasn't going to get my happy ending. I could go with her beyond the Blackwall, and finally let Johnny have my body - or I could return, but only have about six months, since the Relic had just caused too much damage.
It wasn't that hard of a choice. Leave everything and everyone I had grown to love behind for some bizarre virtual afterlife? Or let Johnny finally rest, and let V return to the world, Panam and the Aldecaldos? I chose life. As Johnny laid me down in the 'well', gently, he said "Goodbye V." And it felt like two friends parting ways. It felt like he'd made a change, and I helped him get there.
And boy was I rewarded. Even though I didn't have long, I had a chance to start again, and maybe even find another way to live. I had Panam, I had the Caldos, and I could finally leave Night City in the dust. "I have everything I need", V said.
This game absolutely SLAPS with hard choices. Over and over and over, you're reminded about how unfair the world is. But if you keep your head on, and ignore the power plays, stay true to your friends, and don't take no shit - you can get out alive. And not just you. The ones you love can too.
Of course, many of you already know all of this. So why did I bother posting?
All my life I've felt like maybe I've been too nice, or too careful, or too unwilling to take life by the balls. But one thing I've always been good at is helping people in need when I can, and always being available to my friends. But for some reason I always looked down on myself for it. I never felt like I was worth anything. I never felt like I was making a difference in the world. There were so many hard choices, and I felt like I never made the right ones. And that I'd just die one day, and be forgotten. Never having made my mark. Just like so many in Night City...
Some days I'd think "Maybe it'd just be better if I was never born." Because I was such a fuckup. A loser. A nobody.
But the person who helps people, who's there for others even when its inconvenient? That's the kind of person who can make a REAL difference. Fuck money. Fuck politics. Fuck fame. None of its worth a damn if you aren't doing right by others.
And that really came through in the end credits. I'm not ashamed to say I was in tears as all these people from my playthrough reminded me how much I meant to them. How much they cared, and that I mattered. All these people had happy endings because of me. I never let them down, not even when the grim reaper himself was breathing down my neck.
It was like all my IRL friends and family were speaking to me in those moments. And finally, FINALLY, I could see myself as they saw me: a man who cared and was trying to be there for them. A man that made a difference in their lives.
Yeah I didn't save the world, per se. But, really, that's how we save the world for real, lame as it may sound. The sheer contrast between the ending I had earned by just trying to do right by all the people in V's life, and that horrific ending I posted earlier was...stark. If you give up, then everyone suffers, not just you.
This game saw me, and reminded me who I was. It rewarded me for it, and I'll never forget it. For all its flaws, all its quirks and failings, I adored this game and all the effort that went into it. It's clear CDPR were trying to say something with this work of art, and boy was the message received on my end.
I can safely say I'm less likely to despair now because of it. I feel more alive because of it. I feel more prepared for the real world because of it. And I wanted to share my experience, if only to remind one person that:
We can all make a difference. Live for others, not yourself. It pays off. Even if it doesn't seem like it at the time. It's the only legacy worth leaving in this fallen world.

So yeah I've noticed something rather "odd". And I was curious if anyone else did too. Mind you they don't seem to be around 24/7, but when they do show up it's quite visible.
Basically recently, for around 3 days, when a CI post goes big, someone appears and they downvote newly send comments and/or focus certain users, and I happen to be one of those they have an issue with. The way I use reddit is that I periodically go into my profile to see if anyone has replied to my posts and comments(as I have all my notifications turned off due to disliking the red dot), I noticed that for those few days whenever I took part in CI post at first my comment reply had the standard 2 upvotes- most OPs do that to simply signal that they have seen someone's comment, but then hours later I'd hop onto the app again and see the same comment now with 1 points, while the second reply I'd sometimes add still stays at 2. And I ended up delating my replies in most cases because it felt like I'm not being very welcomed. I am including a screenshot of two other users from a recent CI discussion this has happened to, but they are not the only ones.
So I went through the specific posts I commented under in the span of 2-3days to remove my replies and I see a bunch of people with 0 upvotes- meaning someone deliberely downvoted them. I am not sure what that person tries to achieve but reducing someone's visibility is quite rude and, frankly, a b*tch boy behavior. I also THINK I have menaged to block that user, not gonna point fingers but will just say that they were quite sus due to a certain META post they have made recently.
I plan on keeping an eye on this for a while, though I don't think this person will show up again any time soon. Just wanted to share.

We have a lot of guys on the roster that carried over from Rivera where it's somewhat unclear if they're actually shitty players or if they just looked like that due to the circumstances they were surrounded by. I was wondering about some of them earlier:
Jamin Davis: We all know he was a reach, and we've been upset since he was drafted because there were better options and Ron Rivera is a moron. He has great physical traits though - he's huge for a LB and very fast/athletic. The question was always whether or not he could get properly coached up and "get it", which we assumed was happening because fucking Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio were linebackers, and Ron coached one of the best linebackers in recent memory down in Carolina. His first two seasons were rough, but the entire defense was dogshit last season and Jamin looked actually pretty decent in a lot of situations. He was smarter in coverage, smarter in run support, and actually got to showcase his athleticism on a handful of occasions. He's going to be playing next to Luvu who is the opposite of him - a guy without major physical gifts who managed to grind his way to being a good NFL starter with high motor plays and intelligent positioning, and a future hall of famer in Bobby Wagner. We didn't pick up his rookie contract options, and that was intentional to motivate him to show this new staff something. I think that he has a chance to actually be used as a disruptive player and get him into the backfield where he belongs, I think he will have a surprisingly good season this year.
Forbes: He's been sort of talked to death. Does he even have the size necessary to play on the outside at this level? Does he have the skill? Can we un-do whatever the fuck that high school DB coach "taught" him last season and put him into positions where he can succeed, preferably where he can ball hawk and not where he's matched up with a 230 pound physical monster of a WR who kicks his ass all over the field? I'm not so sure on this guy. I don't think there's really a place for him at this level or with what I expect our defensive staff to want to do in the secondary. He's not nearly good enough of a tackler to use him as a FS and let him ball hawk, he's not big enough to play man coverage. If I had to guess, I'd say he's probably going to have a rough year and be a rotational guy, but I'd be ecstatic to be proven wrong about that. Dan Quinn's defenses have always screamed "physical" in the secondary, and this guy is the opposite of that. I don't know if they're expecting to use him as the 2nd CB and put him in those outside situations opposite St-Juste, but I don't really envision that going particularly well if they do. I don't know who you go with if it's obvious in camp that he's not panning out. Sainristil is a tad on the small side to put on an island outside (though I think he'd handle it better than Forbes at least). Maybe they see Michael Davis doing that and will only use Forbes and Sainristil inside? I have no idea.
St-Juste: I think this guy could have a better upswing than anyone else in the secondary because of his size and the way he plays. He's the most physical corner we carried over, and I expect to see him put in a lot of situations close to the LOS in man coverage, which is how a guy like him should be used. I don't know if he can actually lock a #1 WR down consistently, but I think with his traits he has the potential to have a much better season than we've seen out of him in the previous 3.
Quan Martin: I expect him to really take a step at safety. I really liked what I saw out of him, but I also hated the idea of taking a guy who was a very solid college safety and trying to turn him into a CB. I see him as the deep cover safety who roams and supports over the top vs. Chinn who is clearly here to get in the box and hit. I see him in the Kam Chancellor role vs. Chinn's Earl Thomas mostly because he has a good nose for the ball. I think he has a chance to surprise a lot of people.
Jahan Dotson: He's an odd case. His rookie season where he caught 35 passes for 523 yards and 7 TDs was seen as excellent, which it should have been. He really ran crisp routes and looked awesome in space. We all understood that he was doing especially well considering he was catching balls from Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke. Then this past season he caught 49 for 518 and 4 TDs and it's seen as a catastrophe outside the fanbase. I think that most of us believe that something weird went on with him and Howell and Bieniemy. His production was pretty much the same, in fact, contrary to popular opinion that Sam Howell didn't look for him, or Bieniemy neglected to design plays for him, in 2022 we threw the ball 531 times, and he was targeted 61 of those times (11.4% of all passing coming his way). In 2023, we threw the ball 601 times, and he was targeted 83 of them (13.8% of all passing). His receptions went up, his yardage and TDs went down. Was this because of poor play design? Did Bieniemy send him on routes that just didn't make a lot of sense for the type of receiver he is? Did he have trouble getting open? When he was open, did Sam Howell hold on to the ball or have a hard time finding him? I can't really say. I want to believe that he's going to progress into an 800-900 yard deep threat and or YAC machine, because he looked like he was going to become that guy after his first two seasons. He could just be a single competent quarterback or OC away from a breakout year, or maybe he's just that 500 yards and 4-6 TD kind of guy and that's all he'll ever be. I really have no idea. My wishful thinking and hope says he's going to break out and Kingsbury will utilize him correctly. There isn't a great analogue to Jahan's situation from his time in Arizona.
That's just the stuff off the top of my head, feel free to add, disagree, or fill in some blanks. I know it's all just pointless speculation, but what else are we here for?

Basically I talked to a counsellor and since I can't really start properly transitioning until I move out hopefully next year (because of parents and stuff) she recommended that I do some research on HRT, maybe do some exercises to get my body in a way I was happy with, get a job etc. What I'm asking about here is the exercise part. I'm 6'1/6'2 (can't remember since I last measured) at 17 and quite stocky, I'm also... Tubbier than I want to be? So I really want to slim down and get my body way more feminine, ideally with exercises I can do in my room, and I have two small dumbbells with adjustable weight. Other than that I can go for walks, but that's basically the extent of the freedoms I have when it comes to working out. If you knew any links to workout guides or just general workout advise so I could prime(???) my body for when I am able to take HRT that would be 1000000000% appreciated.
Edit: And any advise on sticking to a workout routine because that's what I struggle with the most since it is a lot of effort and I've never stuck it out enough to see results and keep me motivated
P.S - If you have any links where I could learn more about HRT I would really appreciate that too since I don't really know much about it outside of "girl pill" haha. Tysm

Hi all,
I am getting a used Celestron CG3 manual equalitorial mount for cheap (around 40 USD) without the counterweight. I have two questions:

1. My plan is to get a dobsonian for observing, and a simple automated equitorial mount that I can hook my camera to while I observe on my dobsonian. I have never held an equatorial mount before, and I don't know what it takes to automate it, or how to even operate the knobs. But I have experience with arduino, motors, and general understanding of how to automate stuff. If I buy the mount now, after let's say a month or two when I have understood how it works, will I be able to rig it to a stepper motor or something to automate it? If yes, I would really love to hear any experiences doing that, or any resources that can help me. I found very little for this specific mount.
   
2. Can I DIY the counterweight myself, as they sell for a lot of money.
   

Hi all,
Maybe it's not the right subreddit for this question. But I am getting a used Celestron CG3 manual equalitorial mount for cheap (around 40 USD) without the counterweight. I have two questions:

1. My plan is to get a dobsonian for observing, and a simple automated equitorial mount that I can hook my camera to while I observe on my dobsonian. I have never held an equatorial mount before, and I don't know what it takes to automate it. But I have experience with arduino, motors, and general understanding of how to automate stuff. If I buy the mount now, will I be able to rig it to a stepper motor or something to automate it? If yes, I would really love to hear any experiences doing that, or any resources that can help me. I found very little for this specific mount.
   
2. Can I DIY the counterweight myself, as they sell for a lot of money.