Introduction
Muslims believe the Quran, the holy book of Islam itself is not just a religious book for guidance but also the literal word of god i.e. Allah itself. In everyday conversations, you will hear Muslims call it Kalamullah (Word of God), not in the Christian sense where the Word is Jesus and God but actual sayings, sentences, and words uttered by god himself and compiled into a single book by human hands. While Muslims are proud of their holy book being the literal words of god sent down to all of mankind, there are a few problems with that mainly concerning Islam's doctrinal theology and its core beliefs.
Disclaimer and Notes
Now, before I start, a disclaimer. The issue of the Quran being god's word or not has been one of the most pretentious and divided issues in the Muslim community. Because of this issue, multiple sects (considered deviant and heretical today) popped up in the early years of Islam's history leading to multiple debates, condemnations, and even inquisitions for those that were against the majority-held view in history. So to make it easy considering Islam has tons of historical sects, all of whom held widely different views than modern-day Islam when it comes to the Quran's states as the word of god (or not), this post is aimed at Ashari, Maturidi and Ahlul Hadith/Athari aqeedah sects who make up the majority of Muslims today, collectively considered to be under the umbrella of Ahlul Sunnah Wal Jema'ah (Literally meaning "The People of the Prophet's Tradition and Consensus" or to make it easier to understand "The Followers of the Prophet's Teachings and the Righteous Community"). This term is commonly understood in Islam as those who follow the true and righteous path in Islam which according to the hadiths, out of 73 deviant sects, only 1 (the above I already mention) will be on the correct spiritual path.
Why do I say this problem is akin to the Trinity problem in Christianity? Both are key problems that form the basis of the entire religion, not just for an individual believer but also for the scholars who dabble in religious sciences. Both the Quran and Trinity make up the core fundamental teachings upon which other teachings are established and expanded further. Without these key concepts, the entire premise of both religions (Islam and Christianity) would fall apart within a matter of seconds. Both issues are also hotly debated even to this day. As I mentioned before, the issue of the Quran's creation or non-creation was an important issue that occupied the minds of early-century Muslim scholars and thinkers, to the point schisms and breakaways from the main branch started to emerge. The same thing happened in Christianity with the Trinity which led to excommunication, the Arian controversy, and multiple individual distinct sects, all of whom have a different understanding of what the Trinity is.
Last, I would also like to mention that considering the Trinity has been severely criticized by non-Christians alike as proof of Christianity's falsehood and internal contradictions, then the same should be said with Islam's problem of the Quran's status. However, unlike in Islam, Christianity continued to debate up to the present day and even adopted Greek philosophical concepts to better explain away the Trinity and the relationship between each Divine Person of the Trinity. In Islam, the opposite occurred. Those who used Greek philosophy and rhetoric were condemned as either falling into falsehood or corrupting the religion by introducing pagan concepts. Ironically, the most condemned bunch of the Muslim sects I'll talk about below, the Mutazilites were the ones who most used philosophy which led to their rejection of the Quran's non-createdness.
Due to the decline of the Mutazilite sect, the rise of more conservative movements, and the criticism of Aristotelian philosophical ideas by Al-Ghazali (Note, he wasn't against philosophy, he was against philosophical ideas that went against Islam like the eternity of the world and denying bodily resurrection in the afterlife), theological discussions and debates surrounding the question faded away. Even now, most Muslims consider the issue "solved" and simply adopt one of the three main positions. Unsurprisingly, while the West and Christianity continued adopting new ideas, this means the Muslim positions lacked much substance and arguments seen in Christianity with Greek and Neo-Platonist ideas which in turn, means there are tons of problems with their positions, (which is the whole point of the post)
Now, with that out of the way, let's begin.
How Have Muslims Historically Responded to this Problem?
There are two answers to the question of the Quran's status. One, to affirm that it is the literal word of god from Allah Himself which existed with him since eternity or to affirm it is a created being just like every other creature and human planet earth. The second view doesn't mean that the Quran is simply the work of man, quite the opposite. Rather, it posits that the Quran still holds religious significance as Islam's holy book and is still the Word of God but it was created at a later time by God, not existing eternally with god before the creation of everything. In the second view, the Quran still holds religious significance for praying, guidance, and the basis for Islam, only that it is of a lower status than god himself, being a creation of god that was created at a certain time.
The second view is considered invalid and rejected by all major sects of Islam in the modern era (Ashari, Maturidi, Athari) as a heretical belief that the Mutazilites (The Withdrawers) held. I'm not going to go into who they are, what is their history, or what are their beliefs (you can google it yourself). Just know these are the guys who believe the Quran was a creation of god and were condemned by pretty much every Islamic group and sect from their beginning all the way up to the present modern day. This is one the only issues where every Islamic sect agrees with each other in condemning this belief, be it Ashari, Maturidi, or Athari. Thus, the second option then is 100% of the table for most Muslims, unless they want to affirm holding beliefs of a heretical group that died out 1000 years ago. I don't think any Muslim will dare to affirm Mutazilite beliefs for fear of ridicule and committing major sins, so there's much here to discuss. For the sake of brevity, I will address the second view since the one even Muslims will deny and reject. After that, I'll address the A
The Second View
But for the sake of argument, I'll assume some rare brave Mutazilite Muslim wants to give it a try. Now, here are some of my questions for you. If the Quran is a creation of god and not the literal Word of God before time immemorial, what is the Quran's relationship with god? You believe these are still words from Allah that help mankind to arrive at the truth and Islam yet at the same you also believe that these were created at a time later than god. How can something that is both speech from god and also created by god himself exist simultaneously at the same time? Anything that is created at a later time means it's a creation, a contingent object that depends on an external creator. It can't be part of god because god is eternal, atemporal, necessary, and independent of everything and anything. If it were god or contained some part of god inside of it, then this is no different than Jesus and the Son of God in Christianity where it contains both a human and godly nature, so does that mean you now believe the Quran to be both god and creation? Just like the Christians who you condemn as a false corrupted religion? This is the First Problem you must face, that be affirming it is both from god and not god, you are throwing yourself into the same pit as Christianity with a dual nature which is already a false religion. I like to call people who affirm this stance "Dualists".
The Second Problem "dualists" face is that this nullifies the Quran's honorific status in Islam, which goes against what the majority of the Muslim world believes in. For Dualists, what is the Quran's honorific and spiritual status in Islam now? We've all seen Muslim riots and protests against the burning or stepping on the Quran by non-Muslims around the world. A man burns or rips up the Quran and the entire Muslim world goes into a frenzy. In Islam, simply placing the Quran on the floor is considered disrespectful and sinful. In the majority of sects today, the Quran must be honored and respected 24/7 partly due to the fact Muslims believe it to be the literal Word. But for Dualists, what is your stance and reason for continuing to respect the Quran? Considering you no longer believe the Quran to be the actual Word, can non-Muslims now vandalize, rip apart, step on, or place the Quran on the floor?? Would you have any problem with it? It's no longer the Word itself but a creation of god. Sure, you might ask others to "respect other religions and beliefs" but aside from this, what else do you have?? Is simply putting a religious book on the floor disrespecting other religions? What makes your holy book now any different from the Jewish and Christian perspectives on their religious books? They don't go into a frenzy every time Bibles are burned or disrespected. Will you do the same thing?
The Third Problem since it's a created thing, wouldn't this also mean that at some point in the future, the Quran no longer exists? That the Quran is finite and will at some point cease to exist? Wouldn't this mean at some point, Islam itself becomes useless because the number one source for everything, the Quran no longer exists? The Quran will cease to exist if it were created, when it happens, will the meaning of the verses and Muslim understanding built up over the centuries also cease to exist? Tafsirs, Fiqh, and Tajwid all suddenly become useless and void of any meaning because the backbone of Islam, the Quran no longer exists. What about the Muslim understanding of what Allah is? Isn't that detrimental should the Quran cease to exist? The best outcome is that Muslims still retain the knowledge but Islam becomes spineless without a religious book and the worst outcome is the complete disintegration of Islam as everything built upon the Quran, now becomes useless. It would mean the complete death of Islam as a major Abrahamic religion.
Next, what about during the Hour, when everything in the heavens and on the Earth will be destroyed and no longer exist? Muslims believe that when the Hour arrives, everything will be destroyed. Every human, child, animal, plant, planet, universe, devil, and angel will die inevitably. Only god remains. Due to this, according to Dualists, will the Quran experience the same fate? All of its verses and Surahs destroyed by god himself. Now I know Muslims, even those of other sects believe the Quran will disappear bit by bit before the Hour as a sign of the impending doom and apocalypse. However, other Muslims believe that yes, the Quran will disappear but the verses themselves remain preserved with god i.e. Allah since these are the literal words of god himself. In a sense, the verses suddenly don't exist, they return back to god.
TLDR, the Dualist Mutazilite view implies a contradiction where the Quran is both God and not God at the same time, it nullifies the Quran's holy status and the divine meaning of the verses, and last, it means the Quran is finite and will cease to exist at some point in the future.
Now, onto the Ashari, Maturidi and Athari sects,
The First View (The Majority)
These three are the most prominent and widely held doctrinal sects in the current Muslim population. I will be splitting the next sections into two sections, Ashari-Maturidi (since both are quite similar and considered a single unified school of thought by Muslim scholars) and the Athari school.
Ashari-Maturidi
The Asharis and Maturidis believe the Quran and its verses to be the literal Word of God itself, with Allah since eternity before time however they believe the book form of the Quran (mushaf), the one which every Muslim holds and reads is of man-made origin. In other words, the verses, sentences, letters, and meaning of the text are from god himself while the cover, paper, ink, writing, and publishing are from mankind. The Ash'ari creed makes a point of difference between the content of the Quran and the physical manifestation of it (in speech or as pages in a book).
The Main Problem with this argument as said by Atharis and Mutazilites is that this strips the Quran of its spiritual and holy essence in Islam. If the real divine aspect of the Quran that came from god itself are the verses and meaning of it only, then should we burn every last Quran in the world, it wouldn't be a problem. After all, the divine part still exists as it is from and with god himself, only the earthly worldly portions of it get destroyed. Why's that a problem? I mean what is the problem spiritually concerning Islam's doctrinal theology itself? What's the problem with destroying the cover or vandalizing the writing of it? It's not from god, it's man-made. The effect of this would be enormous.
This means now non-Muslims and Islamaphobes can now burn, rip, tear apart, step on, vandalize, and desecrate the Quran because they are only destroying the part that is not divine. Would Asharis or Maturidis agree to this? Is now destroying the Quran not a major sin but actually allowed? The true essence of the Quran i.e. the part that is truly divine remains preserved and exists since humans were created and will continue to exist long after everything has died and withered away. The vandalization and desecration of it does not affect the Quran because the true divine verses and meaning remain preserved. This problem is similar to the Second Problem with the Mutazilite belief, it nullifies and strips away the Quran's holy status and honorific place among the Muslim community. If it isn't truly god's divine word, what's the problem if it gets destroyed, wet, or burned?
Heck, I've heard this same argument from other sects, claiming and accusing the Ashari are just Mutazilites in disguise because their main stance of the Quran's identity revolves back to the Mutazilite position where the Quran is a creation of god. One of the main accusations against the Ashari sect is that it's just a rehash version of Mutazilite or Jahmiyyah theology (I don't have time to explain what this is right now, better if you look it up yourselves) due to similarities in doctrine and also because Imam Ashari, the founder was once a Mutazilite himself (not helping the Ashari case) but Asharis claim he renounced all Mutazilite theology and returned back to the true correct path. In this case, should the objection above against the Ashari-Maturidi position succeed, then it would help critics a lot against Asharism.
The Second Problem with holding the Ashari position is that this resembles the idolatry of Hinduism and Paganism or at least, is slipping into idolatry practice. If they claim the Speech of God is contained within the letters, pages, and ink of the Mushaf (the Quran's Uthmanic standardized codex), then how dare they believe the actions of humans can absorb and physicalize the Sacred Divine Speech of God, for Muslims believe god can never be limited by His creatures. This would also mean they believe the ink written on the Quran's pages is a physical intermediary, designed to encapsulate the Speech of God into a physical form, no different than the idols of Hindus and Pagans who believe their idols to be an intermediary or a worldly representation of the True Divine Nature.
Hindus don't claim they worship idols, rather they believe them to be ways to spiritually connect with the divine as a locus for prayer just like how Muslims consider the Kaaba as the direction for prayer, not an idol for worship or as a reminder for believers of the faith similar to how a photo of a spiritual leader is a sign of respect and a daily reminder every-day when you wake up. How is this different than believing the ink inside the Quran holds the truth or emulates the Divine Nature from the Ashari claim? Ashari Muslims affirm the Quran is still the Word of God just represented through a physical form, so how is this not idolatry? Believing that a physical human-made physical manifestation holds the Divine Speech so that followers of Islam can get closer to god?
This would be even worse than the Mutazilites, for committing idolatry whether intentionally or not is a major grave sin in Islam, to the point those that who commit it and do not repent back are considered as Kafir (infidels). If even they aren't committing idolatry and shirk (polytheism), another major sin in Islam, then at the very least, they believe that a divine part of God can be captured inside the ink and pen of writers as if they the Speech of God and the ink become one and the same, another reference to the Christian belief of God having both a Divine and Human Nature. Of course, Muslims and Ashari Muslims consider this to be heretical and blasphemous, but what's the difference between believing the Quran is both man-made and divine versus the Christological belief of Jesus being both God and Man?
The Third Problem with the Ashari answer that the Quran itself is created while the Speech of God isn't is where is the Speech of God then? Asharis can't answer that it is still in heaven for they also believe the Mushaf or Quran contains the Word and Speech of God. If they believe that it is still in heaven with god and not on earth, then what are they even reading every day? Clearly not the Speech of God if they claim it isn't with us now, perhaps an imperfect human copy of the divine Speech of God but that would mean the Quran is imperfect and the work of man, which would be affirming the Mutazilite position. So they can't claim it is both in the heavens and on the earth nor claim it is either in the heavens only or on the earth with mankind only.
I already explained they also can't say the Speech of God is contained inside the ink and letters of the Quran for that means the Divine Speech has become limited because of it. God in Islam can never be limited, nor can His creatures limit god. So if isn't option A, B, or C, where is the Holy Sacred Speech of God then? The Speech which is supposed to be the principle guiding force for all of mankind especially, Muslims. How can Asharis then claim they believe in the Quran as the revelation and Word of God sent down to Muhammad if they can't tell us where in their holy book, is the Speech of God itself? At worst, this means the Ashari belief entails the Quran isn't holy or divine thus eliminating Islam's entire main source and one of the 6 pillars of Iman (faith), and at best, reading the Quran isn't a holy act nor can be used as a book for guidance, for Muslims aren't reading the Word of God then. They are reading an imperfect fallible man-made copy of the Speech of God, not the true Divine Inspiration from Allah.
TLDR, the Ashari-Maturidi middle path that the Quran was uncreated and eternal, yet its ink and paper, individual letters and words were created strips the Quran has multiple problems, some may even go against what Islam stands for. It strips the Quran of its Divine Sacred Essence as the Word of God, at worse it may lead to shirk and idolatry akin to the Hindus and Pagans, and at best, Asharis can't point to us where the Word and Speech of God is in the Quran.
Athari/Ahlul Hadith
Now for the Atharis, they are strict literalists who believe the Quran and Allah's Speech both are uncreated unlike the Asharis/Maturidis who adopt a middle path, or the Mutazilite who outright claim the Quran was created, the extreme position.
The First Problem with the Athari position is pretty clear, if the Quran is the literal Word of God completely, then does that mean what Muslims are holding is a literal piece of God here on earth in the moral realm? Does that mean god is with us all the time? How can god, who Muslims consider as being transcendent be here on earth with mankind? If the Quran is the literal physical Speech of God and not just metaphorically or analogically, then does this mean the Speech of God exists on Earth? How can god be here on Earth? The Atharis believe literally that the Quran is the Speech of God, so unless they claim the Speech of God suddenly transformed into a physical object (which I'll address below), the Quran would be a god or at least have a piece of the divine essence of Allah.
This is no different than the Christian position where there exists a God in heaven and a God on Earth at the same time. As I already mentioned, Muslims consider the Christian position of a god on earth unacceptable yet when we look at their own views, we find (in the Athari case) a piece of god exists on earth. Allah still exists in the heavens, yet the Speech of God exists here in the Quran. Let's not even get into the issue of a transcendent god existing in the mortal physical realm, where the laws of physics govern meaning god would be limited in some capacity (which most Muslims would see as ridiculous)
The Second Problem is the relationship between the Quran (God's Speech) and God himself. Considering the Quran was revealed to Muhammad and sent down by Gabriel, how should we understand the Speech of God is here now? Do Atharis believe that the Speech of God suddenly separated from the main body when the Quran was revealed and sent down to earth? Or do Atharis believe the Quran is still the undivided Speech of God, in which case a part of god is literally on earth?
Or what about when the Quran was compiled in book form starting with Abu Bakr's reign and ending with Uthman's standardization? Should we take this to mean now not only does the Speech of God literally exist on earth but the Speech of God now has taken shape, molded into letters and words while compiled into a book equipped with paper pages and covers from front to back? If they want to deny these are from god i.e. the physical cover is man-made, then they would be subscribing to the Ashari-Maturidi doctrine of the middle path (which I already showed also has problems). If they want to take the other path and claim the Quran we have now is not the Word of God literally, then they would be subscribing to the heretical Mutazilite position which also, has tons of religious and doctrinal problems.
TLDR, the Athari literalist position invites more harm than good when it comes to answering the question of the Quran's uncreated nature. It would mean god is literally on earth, or a piece of god's divine essence is. Affirming that a piece of the Divine Essence exists here on earth with mankind would be something similar to the Christian belief that god exists both in the heavens and on earth (Father and Son). Other than that, it would also complicate the relationship between the Quran and God even more. If the Quran is the literal Word and Speech of God, how do Atharis explain the Quran's standardization into a single written book with ink, paper, and covers? Does it mean the Speech of God underwent a physical transformation?
Conclusion
All the responses and viewpoints of the major Islamic sects fail to answer the question, of whether the Quran is created or not. They tried to square a circle by trying to find a balance between affirming the Quran is the divine Word of God while at the same time not falling into a literalist interpretation where god is on Earth (as the Atharis do). However, all responses so far have failed to properly find the right solution, all either fall into extremities at both ends of the spectrum (Mutazilite and Athari) or tried to strike a balance, but only managed to kick the can down the road even further.
If Christianity has the Problem of the Trinity, a major fundamental question that still has philosophers and theologians scratching their heads trying to find an answer, then the Problem of the Quran's Nature is the Islamic version of it. The difference is while Christians continue to debate and argue about the Trinity's true nature, Muslim and Islamic scholars have relatively abandoned the debate, choosing to hold either one of the three major schools of thought. My personal opinion is this is an unfortunate situation, ever since the decline of philosophy in Islamic thought, Kalam and Falsafah (Islamic philosophy) have gained a bad reputation amongst Muslims as being a "gateway to blasphemy". Rarely you will find Muslim scholars in the modern era debate about this, let alone teach laymen Muslims about these topics.
At the very least, I hope my post can inspire future Muslims to look into this topic further, creating new fascinating answers and arguments that contribute to the Muslim and non-Muslim understanding of what Allah is in Islam.

Hey everyone!
I was wondering how y’all went about getting letters of recommendation (my school doesn’t do a committee letter). Right now, I just finished my sophomore year and was thinking about storing LORs from physicians I’ve shadowed on inter folio. I’m a bit conflicted on if I’m asking for it way too early, I just feel as if writing an LOR would be much better if the experience is still fresh in that physician’s mind as opposed to asking them two years later when they might have forgotten some details. I’m curious to see what y’all think?

I will be a first time renter with my partner in England later this year. We are coming from abroad and are trying hard to figure out all the things we need to get in order to minimize any down time.
Ideally we would like to find a place and make a contract while we are still here, and then fly over, land, and move into a furnished place.
One thing that worries us is the reference letter system that seems to be prevalent in the UK. What exactly would constitute an acceptable reference letter? How many do land owners usually require?
Our only experience living in the UK is my partner who stayed on campus accommodation for 1 year. Could we ask the university to write a letter as a reference? She did have a monthly obligation to pay the monthly fee. And her deposit was returned in full, showing that there was no damage done to the rented room.
We also rented a room in a couple's house via SpareRoom. We stayed with them for about 5 out of 7 days of the week for a total of 2 months. Despite the short duration, could I ask them for a letter of reference that might be accepted?
If those two are not acceptable, are there any other options that we might have? For example, are there estate agents that specialise in working with people with no references or no history of income in the UK? The income thing might be a problem too but my partner will be able to prove that she will be receiving full funding that can support her living costs for the entire period she intends to stay there. But for references, we only have those two options.

***** I am mainly sending this because I want my evidence back and because I’m pissed that the police department allowed this to happen with next to 0 consequences. Names and identifying info redacted. Let me know if I should change anything, I genuinely am thinking about sending this to whoever I can find emails for at my local PD.
To Whomever This May Concern,
My name is *. I am 21 years old and am a recent graduate of the University *. I have made the difficult decision to write this letter because I am truly disgusted and horrified by the manner in which ** County, the ***** Police Department, and the Child Advocacy Center of *****, NY handled my allegations of rape, sexual assault, and stalking that were filed in 2019. I have allowed myself to move on and grow from this atrocious act that has significantly impacted my life, but my development as a functional, healthy adult has been drastically hindered due to the treatment and negligent investigation into this case.
I would like to describe my story in order to fully convey my frustrations. When I was fifteen years old in late July of 2018, just after my freshman year of high school, I began babysitting the child of a thirty-six-year-old man who my family and I knew quite well and had considered a family friend since I can remember. The premise of the childcare was to assist this man with daily tasks regarding his three-year-old daughter. The man in question was unemployed, but had a difficult time caring for his autistic child alone due to his anger issues, as recognized by the Department of Social Services.
When I began working for this family, the man in question, ****** (*) was in the home at all times in which I was present in the home. The events that led up to the detrimental and life-changing abuse that I experienced are too difficult to describe in one email. To summarize, this man groomed me, sexually assaulted me, and raped me on several occasions in his home over the course of six months. ** sexually abused me in his home, at my home, and in a vehicle. He bragged to his close friends, and specifically, his neighbor ***** and friend ****** about the things he had done to me. These witnesses were willing to comply with any investigation at the time of these events, but were not ever asked to answer questions. In addition, this man isolated me from family and friends, threatened to murder my entire family, and stalked me for a year after I ceased contact with him, which included 5+ drives by my home daily, waiting outside of my place of employment, and cyberstalking. This man used hard drugs in front of me and forced me to participate in and witness several illegal acts. I cannot convey with strong enough language, the impact that these events had on me as a naïve and innocent teenager. He genuinely ruined my life and I deal with the effects every single day.
These events have seriously impacted my development into an adult, and hindered my growth on levels that the recipient of this email may not comprehend. During the end of my relationship with this individual, I had realized that this situation was extremely unsafe and had attempted to break contact. He threatened suicide as a punishment if I left him, so I agreed to meet with him at ******** high school in the mornings after I had gotten off the bus, as I was not yet old enough to drive myself. He forced me to remain in his vehicle from 8am until 9:30am during school hours for multiple days in a row. Several times during these meetings, in the parking lot of the school, he sexually abused me and at other times, drove at dangerous speeds with me in the vehicle on Route 8 in *******. School officials and police officers were well aware of these events after my whereabouts during several of these mornings had been discovered. This individual was then arrested on charges of endangering the welfare of a child but was released on bond the very next day. After much difficulty and explaining, I was granted with a temporary restraining order, which did not stop his advances. To this day, when I return to my hometown to visit family, I am afraid for my safety as I have to see this man in public at a gas station or at a local restaurant.
After a few months, in 2019, I had realized that I wanted to tell my story and that I wanted this man to be held accountable for what he had put me through. At just 16 years old, I went through a series of interviews held at the Child Advocacy Center in ***, NY, which only further traumatized me. A female officer involved with my case made me feel as if I had brought this onto myself due to the sympathy I felt for my abuser and the guilt that I felt about everything that had occurred. To clarify, I was a victim of abuse as a child and did not fully comprehend the extent of said abuse. The female officer was unwilling to recognize that I was a vulnerable, disadvantaged child who did not have the means to advocate for myself. Another male officer, Detective **** collected evidence from me, including an expensive necklace given to me by my abuser with, to my knowledge, a value of $3,000, as well as a letter from him where he confessed his love and relationship with me. He looked me in the eye and promised that I would receive justice. This officer never contacted me again after the interview. If nothing is going to be done about this rage-filled, aggressive, and dangerous pedophile, I would like the necklace and letter back that was entered into evidence in 2019.
I will never understand how a person can be subjected to such atrocious and vile acts, and nothing will be done about it. I am not a religious person, but I wake up every single morning praying that he has not found another victim to control and destroy. I pray for his family, especially his child, and I pray for those who have to encounter him. I pray for myself and my family, as my case has been dismissed and invalidated time and time again by the ***** police department. I pray that no other girl or woman has to experience the things I did, nor has to grow up so quickly the way I did. The treatment of this case taught me that I cannot rely on law enforcement, or on those who are supposed to protect me. I hope that my statements throughout this email encourages more thorough investigations into cases like mine. Women and girls need to be protected fiercely, strongly, and wholeheartedly. I was not provided with further resources to assist with my mental health during this time. The town I have grown up in and have always loved is forever tainted as the place where my life was ruined.
Today, as a strong, accomplished, and college-educated woman, I am extremely disappointed with the way my trauma and physical safety was dismissed by the ***** police department, ***** County as a whole, and the Child Advocacy Center of ******, NY. I will no longer be silenced by fear. I will say his name, as the guilt and shame I have experienced is not mine to bear. I am not looking for retribution, I am simply asking that you dedicate resources to believing victimized women and offering bare minimum, necessary support to women like me in the future.
Thank you for your time,

I keep thinking about my experience in academia (Ph.D. and postdoc), an unsuccessful attempt to escape and how I dug my grave with my own hands.
I keep reading about recent developments in US biotech industry and its has been absolutely disheartening. The job market right now is awful and it has not bottomed out.
I cannot help, but thinking how did I arrive at this point and what could I have done to save myself???
I am speaking here about my experience in life sciences. I hope that the situation is better in other areas, but life sciences are absolutely over-saturated, over-flowing and under-paid area of STEM, probably along with chemistry.
Long time ago, after 1 year into the Ph.D. program, I got a weird feeling. I quietly approached people in the lab, with whom I was on friendly terms and they confirmed my worst expectations. Essentially, the unspoken (and un-communicated!!!) assumption was that after a year or so a Ph.D. student should show to the PI outstanding results, worthy of publication in "Nature", "Science" etc. Obviously, with no help, no guidance, no support. The PI did not want to tarnish his academic CV with publications in low- or medium-impact journals! So, if you could not show a potential for a publication in "Nature" (or similar journal), the PI would simply lose interest in you and "dis-own" you. This meant no support of any kind, no interest in your defense and no recommendation letter. Nothing! I saw this done to several people in our group. The PI tried (in some cases very successfully) to sabotage careers of his subordinates.
Remainder of my Ph.D. was absolute mental torture. I knew that without support of the PI I had not a single chance for academic career. Basically, academic career was dead for me. Every day I experienced a mental torture of senseless work. I knew that it was absolutely pointless to continue my Ph.D. The project was going nowhere. The PI lost all interest. By then I knew very well, how competitive and cutthroat was academia. I could have just sat in my office, collected stipend for another year or more and walked away. There was no point of doing anything. It was like digging a hole in the ground and then filling it back with same soil. Again and again and again! Every day! Coming to the lab, doing senseless work, knowing that it was all meaningless and continue doing it over and over -- just to have something to put in the thesis. This experience crippled me to the point that now I absolutely cannot stand any meaningless work.
I defended my Ph.D. and somehow got a postdoc in a shitty lab. 3 years of my postdoctoral experience could be described by one word: abuse! Constant lies, gaslighting, micromanagement, disrespect, threats, being underpaid, being overworked. I clearly remember that I cried because I did not have a courage to commit suicide.
I tried to seek on-line, on various forums advice on how to get out of this situation. To put it short, I was "trolled" and bullied by academics to the point of mental meltdown.
Recently I tried to find a career coach / mentor. Needless to say, my search was unsuccessful. There is no help out there! Sure, there are people that gladly will take your money in return to sugarcoated fluff. But that's it!
I have been thinking a lot about career coaching / career guidance. You know what? Absence of good advice / a lot of bad advice was, probably, a final "death blow" to my aspirations.
First of all, I did not understand how hiring works and no one explained it to me. It is not that there is a great mystery about hiring, it is that no one ever explained it to me. Secondly, I falsely believed that I could capitalize on Ph.D. itself and a set of so called "transferable skills". Lie! No one hires based on transferrable skills! Transferable skills == soft skills. If you have only transferable skills = soft skills, you can get a job of an admin assistant. Because you need good communication skills and critical thinking when scheduling meetings and taking minutes. But! If you have transferable skills and a Ph.D., you will NOT get a job of admin assistant, because you are "over-qualified".
I always knew that my Ph.D. in molecular biology was completely worthless! Yes, I had to learn every single method and protocol myself, without any help! Yes, I worked 60 hr and 80 hr weeks. But you cannot put this on resume and hope that HR will value it. Even today, years after I completed my Ph.D., I can explain every single methods and every single experiment that I did. Because I did everything on my own, without any help!!! I should be proud of myself, but I actually hate myself -- because I cannot sell it. Because market values "rock-stars", because market values what's trendy and what's in demand!
I was led astray by all this trash advice about "customizing your resume" and "highlighting transferrable skills". I have missed an opportunity of a lifetime!!! 5 or 6 years ago people, who attended coding bootcamps, could actually get a job as a programmer!!! Yes, not too long ago employers were actually scooping people, who completed coding bootcamps!!! That would have been my chance of getting the hell out of academia. I had a gut feeling that my Ph.D. was a complete waste of time, I suspected that I need to write-off Ph.D. as a loss and re-educate myself completely to have a chance! And I have missed an opportunity of a lifetime to learn how to code, to get into bootcamp, to get an entry-level coding job and move on from there. Now there are ongoing layoffs in tech and job market is flooded with junior coders. The gates are closed.
Instead, I wasted my time tinkering / customizing my resume and thinking how to sell "transferrable skills". Wrong, wrong, wrong! I do not think that anything like it will ever come again. When you can teach yourself, when you can get through the bootcamp and get into a field with good pay and career growth!!!
To all people out there: I cannot stress enough, watch out for bad advice!!! Look for a good advice -- its worth it's weight in gold!

Apologies if I am breaking any subreddit rules here. I'm trying to identify if SN could be a good fit for us. I'd also be open to anyone who wishes to DM about this topic or give me a demo of their SN setup. I know this subreddit will be biased but I wanted to hear from those who actually work with the product before I talk to any sales reps.
I am one of about a dozen developers on a team that's specialized in the Hyland OnBase WorkView case/document management platform. We've been using it for over a decade and have built a lot of successful client projects with it, but the drawbacks have reached a point where we are looking for a replacement. Ideally the new platform is something that our team of developers can learn and become proficient with relatively quickly. We'd also be open to hiring some people with SN experience, and/or bringing in a professional services group to get us on track.
A typical client project for our team is to build a case management system that a state government office of 25-50 case workers would use to enroll applicants in a program to receive some type of assistance. Case workers would perform a series of checklist and document reviews on the applicants' cases and move their case through a variety of steps from intake to closeout. Third party users may also log in to this system and perform their own reviews of cases. Users might be grouped into teams and can only see cases assigned to their team.
Not all our projects follow this model, it's just become a common one for us. I've only spent a couple hours reading about SN, skimming through some of the videos on their website, so I still need to do more research, but I wanted to lay out some info about our current platform below. I would love to hear feedback from the SN crowd here about how it compares relative to the pros/cons listed below, and anything in particular you love/hate about it, things you wish you knew about it before you started, etc.
The good:

• Easy to build a data model -- intuitive for developers to define classes, fields, relationships between classes, and even extension classes where appropriate.
• Easy to use the screen designer to throw together an interface for users to enter data into your fields (more on this in the "cons" section).
• Easy to create working filters/queues so staff that use the system can track what's pending their review.
• Easy to set up user groups and control who can see what.
• Document management is built-in, easy to import documents and automatically tag them with keywords based on the record/screen they're being uploaded to. Also easy to query for all documents of a certain type, with certain keyword values, uploaded in a custom date range, etc.
• Transaction history on every record makes it easy to audit who changed what and when.
• Document templates -- the ability to generate a Word/PDF document with dynamic text on demand is very useful for clients that need their staff to print and mail letters.
• Ability to write C# code to do anything we want, even if we could do it with a native component. Our client's business logic often becomes so complex (and changes so often) that it's easier to manage with code libraries that fire when buttons are pressed, rather than with the built-in "no code" workflow design steps.
• Ability to build external applications that interface with/manipulate OnBase data using the OnBase DLL. We have some C# console applications that run on Windows Task Scheduler every night, for example "connect to this FTP instance and import whatever files have been imported in the last 24 hours, turn them all into data objects in OnBase, and send us a summary email".

The bad:

• The look and feel of the client is clunky and outdated, looks like it's from the 90s. It's a Windows application. There is a web client but it lacks some key functionality and also has the same outdated look. The screen designer itself is just a bare bones HTML page you can add rows and columns to and drag/drop your fields on it. We've added some CSS to improve it somewhat and I'm sure if we brought in some designers they could push that further, but we shouldn't have to work so hard to make the default product not look bad. And don't bother trying to use it on your phone or tablet.
• Migrating changes from DEV/QA/PROD is a nightmare. Our WorkView instance has apparently reached the level of complexity at which the tool for exporting your data to be imported into another instance simply crashes and doesn't work anymore. Even when it does work on a fresh instance, it's a confusing experience of mapping all the fields and objects between the two environments and making decisions about whether to keep or overwrite each one. It's reached the point where we have no choice but to build in PROD, and test changes with internal users before we modify permissions so that they are visible to all users. Our TEST and DEV instances are therefore always outdated and not useful as a result. You can imagine how painful this has become.
• Performance is slow. We've never gotten a clear answer from our support calls about why it can take 15+ seconds for a record to load. I suspect this product was simply never intended to be pushed to the limits that we seem to have reached after so many years. From what I can tell, most Hyland customers use OnBase for document management/workflow, and if they have any WorkView/case management projects they use a small number of classes, with a small number of fields. We are 100% WorkView. I would guess our instance has 500 classes (tables), 1000 designed screens, 5000 filters/queues, and 2000 buttons that launch C# scripts. It takes 3 minutes for the OnBase studio/designer IDE to finish logging in/loading our instance before we can begin making any changes to it.
• Licensing is expensive and confusing. You can buy concurrent licenses that are shared between all users (expensive) or named licenses (less expensive) that are assigned on a per-user basis. We host a lot of different client projects on our instance, and it's not a good look when we reach the license limit and users start complaining that they can't log in. Our users have no idea what licenses are and shouldn't have to see error messages they don't understand. Of course this is a problem we can solve with more money but I am curious to learn how SN handles this.
• The built in reporting module leaves a lot to be desired. Very limited customization/styling, and no ability to set up a report to be emailed on a schedule. We instead rely on other modules like PowerBI and Tableau.
• I mentioned in the "good" section that we can build external applications in Visual Studio to create/modify OnBase data, but this is really a response to the poor IDE built into OnBase Studio which lacks so many features, it's easier to just import the OnBase DLL into a Visual Studio solution and build it there, so you have access to breakpoint debugging, logging, Nuget packages, etc. If I'm writing code in the platform IDE, it shouldn't be a miserable experience.
• Very limited developer resources. You won't find any resources on Stackoverflow, Reddit, or anywhere public. If you run into a problem, you can check the Hyland Community forums (good luck, the search functionality is broken) or send an email to support. Likely a result of the OnBase product just not being very well known/popular. Makes me a bit jealous of the more well known platforms like Salesforce and... maybe ServiceNow?? It was refreshing to find an active subreddit, at the very least!

Hi all UPN/Pre-Nursing people! I just wanted to write out some tips on how to look best on your NursingCAS applications for your goal starting semester. This is a pretty detailed guide with some good calculations to determine other scores beyond just the basic impaction score. This also provides some resources for your TEAs that I found most useful. This guide is directed towards those applying to SJSU especially those on the Pre-Nursing Track at SJSU.
Don't flop your first semester: It is true that the first semester of college has a learning curve, but it is still important that you stay focused and maintain a high GPA. For many this is the easiest semester, but don't be fooled English 1A or Chem30A/BIOL65 will bite you in the butt last second.
Aim for a high GPA not solely TEAs: As much as people brag about their TEAs scores a GPA at SJSU is much more important! If you have a 4.0 GPA and score lower on your TEAs you will have a way better shot at getting in. Take this for example: a person got 2 A- in 3 unit courses out of the big 8. This makes their cumulative GPA a 3.94 GPA. If this person applied to nursing against a person with a 4.0 this score is then doubled, for impaction. 8 compared to a 7.88. With 2 A-'s you now need to do better than 3.5% of whatever teas score the kid with a 4.0 got. Also keep in mind that SJSU already requires a 84% to even apply leaving a 16% playing field. If you get a 4.0 and a 84% a person with 3.94 needs to get a 87.5% on their teas!

• BE ADVISED EVERY SINGLE POINT COUNTS!
• Realistically you are okay and should not flip out with a 3.94 GPA to this is just being used as a clear example. Just remember that if you keep a high GPA that you are saving yourself a mental breakdown before taking a TEAs.
  • Be sure to get the extra points as well if you know you don't have perfect stats. This will greatly improve your odds at getting in, especially for Fall applicants.

Don't rely on comparing stats to AllNurses: This is a hot take, but hear me out; 60 kids get into SJSUs nursing program and maybe 10 people post their stats on AllNurses. I am throwing no shade saying this, but these are the people that are for the most part going to get in. Some claim to have 4.0 GPAs, 98 TEAs, 2000hrs of Healthcare experience, and co-reqs done too. Obviously they are going to get in but, that spot is now taken from a person bringing it down to 59 others. It is nice to have a comparison to, but unless more people post on it people are going to have skewed to the right opinions. There are tons of applicants and there are different groups of people apply. The overachievers, the average, and the prayers. Most people are average and do not have the crazy stats these people have. There are some people that do post stats that are more relevant to compare to such as a 4.0 with an 88% or something like that. Again this is highballing and it is important to really dig deep into who got accepted when using this platform. A 92% TEAs is what even the pre-nursing advisors and these guys want you to drop the major. Do realize that if you have a lower GPA you will need a higher TEAs. Doing this calculation [20(4-(current GPA))*3] will tell you what you need in comparison to a 4.0 GPA.

• Here is an example with a 3.8GPA [20(4-3.8)*3] = [20(.2)*3] = 4*3 = 12, this means (excluding extra points), you need to score at least a 96% if a kid with a 4.0 got a 84% on their TEAs.
  • For understanding the 20 comes from the calculation 10 (to make the solution a whole number) multiplied by 2 (because the GPA is multiplied by two in the impaction score calculation) and the 3 comes from the fact each .1 of a GPA equates to 3% of a persons TEAs score (1/30 = .033333*3 = .1). The 20 contains the multiplication factor of 2 already so we don't need to multiply 3 by 2 as well.

The minimum GPA and TEAs: Yes it is true that if you do have a pretty poor GPA (3.3-3.4) and don't have the TEAs to make up for it then it is probably unlikely you will get into the program. But, at this campus the stats are never posted for who gets in and during which semester. Recently SJSU raised their TEAs from a 78% all the way up to a required 84% which to me is crazy high! I assume this is to cut down the amount of applicants and in turn this makes the TEAs pretty irrelevant to the total stats. With only a 16% max gap, now any person who is able to apply to nursing must have at least that score making the GPA that much more important. If you have a 3.9 GPA and a 94 on your teas, a person with a 3.8 will still get outcompeted regardless of TEAs score. This is most likely why the GPA was lowered for nursing and is now a 3.3 instead the previous 3.4 because some kids may have done well in the GPA aspect and messed up their TEAs. Aim for a higher GPA but do realize that a lot of kids do manage to get really good GPAs that correlate with good TEAs scores. Get a good GPA, 3.8 and above is pretty good, a 3.9+ is quality work for both Fall and Spring semesters, and make sure to aim for higher than the TEAs threshold.Nursing advisors deter people from applying but, it is accurate that as of Fall 2024 that you have to be at the top to get in. Keep in mind that there are 500+ applicants and only 60 get in that is only 12% of the applicant pool. You need to aim for the 80th percentile at the minimum to be on the waitlist first round (beating 400 other applicants)
TEAs Test: Now I know I have talked a lot about the importance of the GPA, but regardless you still do want to do well on the TEAs. Your TEAs score, like I talked about above, is directly related to your GPA. If you got a lower GPA you need a high TEAs and if you got a high GPA you can slack on the TEAs score. If you have a low GPA this will make or break the odds of getting in and every 3% on the test you get a .1 point increase. Going against what I think everyone I have ever talked to has said, for me personally I say take the TEAs online, if that is still an option. Not only can you take the test literally whatever day you want, you can also take it at whatever time of that day you selected as long as a proctor is available. Some argue that the they test better when in a school environment and this is valid, but I also test better in those environments and I bombed my first TEAs due to nerves. When I took it online the only stressors were if the test were to crash or the proctor flagged my exam for no reason, but neither of those happened not even close. The low stress of being at home and taking the test when I wanted to allowed for much better results and comfort. You get to finish the sections when you want. If you think you are done and don't want to triple check your answers to save the brainpower for later sections you get that option. Take the test where you think you will test best though and take these words with a grain of salt. I just wanted to say that the TEAs online is the same content as it is in person and at the leisure of your home. Not many people talk about how the TEAs online is positive for some people!
Get the extra points if you can: The extra points are pretty easy to get at SJSU especially as commuters. Of course nobody can make themselves a first generation student, but if you are that is easy free points and congrats. No one has a clue what SJSU gives as a "bump" to an applicants score and it is honestly only there because everyones stats are so similar so they need more tie breakers. Granted, you will most likely want to win the tie breaker and in order to do you have to at least have all the co-reqs done. I want to be straight up and say I think the vast majority of students have these all completed prior to applying for the Fall because you have an extra semester (maybe not Spring idk). So make sure to have these all completed so you are not left behind and waste an attempt in the SJSU applicant pool(unless you have great stats t or have healthcare hrs instead then just apply). You only have 2 attempts at applying to nursing at SJSU so make them count. If you can, there is also the healthcare hours bump. This is a bump isn't achieved by all applicants and could help if you have lower stats. Keep in mind that this usually involves volunteer work once a week for 4hr shifts so you will be wherever you choose to stay for about 6 months (decent time commitment with school). I've heard that the healthcare hrs are pretty lenient about what exactly you did as long as it is part of the healthcare field and you can get it signed. Of course if you already have had a health job within 3 years this is a free point bump too!
Spring semester isn't as easy to get into as it once was: SJSU changed this policy. In 2023 only transfer students can apply for SJSU fall semester cohorts, no longer accepting post-bacs. Whereas spring semester cohorts will accept post-bacs and no longer accept transfer students. This means that Fall semester likely is getting more difficult to get into as all transfer students have to apply for the same cohort. It is believed that the School accepts a bunch of SJSU students and after the initial acceptance everyone on the waitlist is combined meaning more transfers will get in from the waitlist process as they may not have made the original cut with the SJSU students bump. This would also mean there are less opportunities for SJSU students to get in during the spring cohort as they battle against stronger transfer candidates. As for transfers, in Fall there are more opportunities to get in as more are accepted initally and through the waitlist process. For post-bacs the same process is in place but, since the top UPN students (because they were following the exact track) were picked out for Fall stats could be a little lower. Regardless, Fall semester cohorts I would assume have slightly higher impaction scores from all areas that are applying as most students took their time throughout all the courses and UPN program students are all expected to apply for Fall semester. Take this all with a grain of salt since again there are no exact numbers of all that get accepted as transfers and post-bacs and if these numbers have increased because of this change.
Remember your overall GPA prior to applying does matter: Your overall GPA does matter when applying for nursing at SJSU! When it comes to tiebreakers if everything is the same - the gpa, the teas, and the extra points - the school will look at overall GPAs to decide who gets in. So make sure to get good grades in that moral issues class freshman year because it will come back to haunt you if you don't get in because of it.
Don't Break down!: It is easy to read all of this and think that you are screwed, but it is important to remember that many people are in the exact same situation. We are not all getting 4.0s and 92s on our teas like our advisors tell us we need. Expect A-'s and a B+. No stats are published and nobody knows for sure what you need but the advisors say people get "mostly a's". Aim for the highest impaction score that you can get and don't slack on it because literally that is what is determining if you get in or not.

• As a SJSU student you have 2 opportunities to get in, once in Fall (a little more difficult as most SJSU students are on track so there are more of you) and Spring (a little easier just because there are less Pre-Nursing majors applying). So if you don't get in for the Fall and your stats are good, you have a great chance in the Spring
  • PS if you do get declined for the Fall get all the extra bumps you can and if you still have one more TEAs opportunity, TAKE IT AGAIN! If you get waitlisted for Fall there is a really good chance you will get in for Spring as the people you were originally going against are gone.

Waitlist: If you get waitlisted it really is not the end of the world. Most schools send out acceptance letters in two waves one at the beginning/mid of April and at the end of April where people accept of decline their schools. SJSU keeps a long waitlist because a lot of people drop the school for more local schools/bigger name schools so never lose hope. I've heard stories of people being #70 on the waitlist and still getting in. (FYI you have to contact someone to check if you were waitlisted you will not get any notice of what is taking so long for your acceptance. only when you are on the waitlist can you contact staff about your placement. Staff will not tell you where you are if you are not emailed by Nursing that you are on the waitlist.)

• If you are immediately declined from the school, that means that currently they were unable to offer you a seat. However, this does not mean that you are out yet. The school has an original waitlist and if that gets ran though they create another backup waitlist in case more students drop in the summer. This contains around 12 more students and you could be apart of this group.

EXTRA Info:

• Nursing Apps open January 17th for Fall and August 17th for Spring and they both close on the 15th the following month
• If you are a current SJSU student you do not need to apply for SJSU again prior to applying
• However many units a course is will impact your GPA differently (more units means more of your GPA)
• You get about One Week to accept SJSU. SJSU is one of the latest schools to send out acceptance letters so be prepared to wait. 8 Weeks after the deadline is when acceptance letter should begin to roll out.
• Acceptances are sent out around April 10th for Fall and November 10th for Spring.

TEAs Studying TIPs:

• DM me if you want a google doc with TEAs information (it won't let me put it here) it provides, in my opinion, the best ways to study for the TEAs. For me personally I only received a 93.3 but, if I had realized how vital one of the sources before I took the test the next day, I would have performed even better! Please give this a look. If you dont want you I'll put the order of importance here without links
  • 1 Quizlets, #2 the ATI website, #3 Miscellaneous Prep Tests (I provide links in the doc), #4 PocketPrep

Application Assistance:

• Submit all documents separate from each other
• The application pool is Not Rolling meaning you can apply at any time before the deadline and still not be penalized
• Whatever work experience you have will not change the size of the score bump i.e a hospital volunteer will get the same size bump as a person with a CNA.
  • You also do not need any letters of recommendation and don't need to fill out any extra information on the NursingCAS website for SJSU specifically. They will not read any paragraphs that are not relevant to you getting accepted.
• AP credit does not affect the GPA it is solely for credit. If the AP course is not listed on your transcript then you must submit a form proving you passed the exam in the "other" section.
  • Make sure that all your documents that need to be there are there and they will be seen and accounted for. Regardless of where you put the documents the will show up on the application.
• Download you application prior to submitting your application (they will let you do this after you finished all the documents uploading and are preparing to finalize). Look over everything to ensure it's all correct.

I know this whole process is stressful and pretty terrifying, but everyone has a chance. This is just what I have learned throughout the whole process and hopefully it will help others that have 0 clue what is going on. Although some of this may make it seem like you need to have crazy high stats I am just trying to say do your best. If SJSU ever posts the stats for accepted applicants this would a be a different story. This is a CSU so unfortunately this application does follow the "a single number means everything" this means your impaction score is who you are; not necessarily how well rounded you may be. Good luck to all future nursing applicants and congrats.
"Congratulations! This email is to inform you of your provisional acceptance to The Valley Foundation School of Nursing at San José State University" Fall
You can DM if you have any questions.

TL;DR. Tried stimulant medication for ADHD a few months ago, an evaluator not giving me the ADHD diagnosis but said I could try meds to see how I reacted. I felt it improved my focus and mental function, but had to discontinue after three days due to anxiety side effect, and a side effect of forgetting about my dogs and being surprised to see them. Wanting to know if the three days would be enough to be confident of my brain being ADHD because non-stimulant options don’t seem strong enough to be able to get a job and then do well in a job. I am thinking about trying stimulants again but want to stop stressing about whether I will react horribly to the meds if I don’t have ADHD.
A few months ago, my PA said that I could try a stimulant (I will name the med if asked but I am not sure if it is allowed to openly share; I didn’t see in the rules but I want to be safe). The evaluator I saw said that I could try stimulants to see how I react and if I basically did stuff like stare at the hairs on my arm for hours then I am not ADHD (now realizing it was not a complete evaluation because it was a conversational interview that only lasted for two hours and the reasons I wasn’t diagnosed with Autism and ADHD came down to the evaluator’s bias). I ended up having to go off of the stimulant because it increased my anxiety and I wasn’t on a good anxiety med to handle it, but for three days I took it and I felt like it did improve my mental function a bit until it wore off, and then the anxiety just crashed in. It did also have a secondary side effect where I seemed to forget about my dogs, and then I would see them and be surprised by seeing them.
But, the part I am not sure about is that my PA told me that I would know pretty quickly how I would react (whether it is within the realm of ADHD response or not). But then my therapist at the time told me a week, and then a month to be sure. It was also a trial to see if I had a psychotic disorder or bipolar, which I was diagnosed with by a previous PA but ADHD started seeming like a better explanation, so that was additionally stressful. So, I don’t know if those three days would be enough to know.
I am asking because I have started on a Strattera and Welbutrin combo since January / February (Welbutrin as a part of Auvelity, which is a combo med with Dextromethorphan) and been on them for a few months and now pretty stable. They work well together for my anxiety and depression, as well as some of my executive function. But I am currently unemployed and know that I am not at the point where I would be able to focus in a job very easily.
I struggled in school because I would always need to be doing something engaging (like be on my computer, usually not taking notes) to be able to sit still in lectures and even discussion classes. I always felt like I was running a marathon and constantly losing track of everything. I often did work that felt half-assed, and I could not keep up with readings. And my tutoring job where I sat in on the classes I was tutoring for always ended with me being on my computer working on my creative writing until I could help out in class.
So, even with the non-stimulant medication, I am pretty certain I will struggle in the same ways in any job I get, no matter how hard I try. Even now, I need to wait for my brain to feel it’s the “right time” to write cover letters and apply for jobs. Otherwise, it feels like that course of action is completely blocked off and I haven’t yet found a modality that gets me to being able to do more applications quicker. I don’t think this is Demand Avoidance, but more that my brain just isn’t in the right place to be able to talk about myself and find the right words to put on paper and the page is hard to stare at and think of words, if that makes sense. Even when I have a basic template.
It just feels like my only option is to try stimulants again while I have the non-stimulants on board, but I am not even confident the Strattera would be enough to handle the increase in anxiety, because it was a lot. Like the valve broke and the anxiety got all over the floor in my brain and started flooding, figuratively. So, I am just a little stressed to try that again, but I feel it would be good to know if the three days were enough to be sure of an ADHD brain because then maybe I could not stress about trying a different stimulant so much and being worried I would zone out looking at the hairs on my arm for hours.

Dear Michael. Nah man,just kidding. How’s Cali?Got any hot ass girls on her knees yet;) Shit,it’s been what,2 years now?It’s not the same without you man,Ik it’s corny af to say but I miss you. I’m sorry that I didn’t write back to you earlier,but I’ve been busy,I can’t really write letters when a girl is bouncing on ma yk yk;)Jokes aside,my mom’s health got worse..And now,she’s looking up at me..
Anyway,I heard from Luce that you’re coming back in 2 weeks right?So I was thinking if you have time over when you’re here then maybe we could go to that old bunker with the fuckin sacrifice temple shit in it? And just so you know..Elia is..Dead.
You probably knew that already but after what happened to your sister…I just couldn’t allow you back here without knowing that Elia is dead. V3Nghttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis 1137< Well,I hope you get this in time and once again sorry I haven’t answered before..The girls are swooning over me;) //Your fucking friend,Victor:)
Holy fuck,Victor. You finally answered after 3 months?!Man I mean the girls must have been all over you,haha! I’m sorry to hear about your mother..Although I must ask,why the fuck is she looking UP at you? Did she beat yo ass that often?
Anyway I wrote to Lucy that I was coming back first because I knew you wouldn’t answer,so I thought maybe if you hear that I’m coming back you would get your fat ass up from the couch and write back!Seems I was right after all;) I would absolutely fucking love to explore that place again!I will be seeing you the first day I get there alright?I miss Italy so much man,the USA sucks.
But for the LAST FUCKING TIME,it’s not a sacrificial temple altar shit in the bunker,it’s a shrine dedicated to Nemesis for fucks sake! I guess you Germans don’t know that;)Not that I’m definitely not a German too..;)
And..Yes,I knew about Elia..That bitch deserved it to be honest.I know that she and your brother was close but come one,you both hated her! Matt didn’t deserve to get dragged into their drama like that,Elia started it all that day.. Anyway I guess we shouldn’t hold grudges:) I’ll see ya soon though!
P.s what happened to your auto correct?Why you dragging Mythology into this man?;) //Your (definitely not German) friend:)
2003/02/6 Thursday 14:15 Session 6 -Audio Log Translate-
“It’s been..Though..I-I”
“It’s alright Michael,we’re only recording for safety measures okay?”
“Yeah-I-I know..”
“Take a deep breath,like we practiced”
-Inaudible-
“You ready?”
“Yes,I think so..”
“Alright,Michael,for the recording could you just introduce yourself?”
“Yeah-My name is Michael..I’m 18 and I live in -REDACTED-“
“Thank you,Michael.Now..Could you tell me about what happened that day?”
“What-What day?”
“On September 4th,2002?Do you remember that day?”
“Yeah..Yes,I do.”
“Good,now let’s see..What do you feel comfortable talking about,when it comes to the incident?”
“Well…It wasn’t late at night..I had arrived at Rome just 2 days before..”
“Go on,Michael.”
“We went to visit…The place.”
“Do you mean the -REDACTED-https://web.archive.org/web/20161014192447/http://www.panoramio.com/map/#lt=45.419224&ln=10.302933&z=4&k=2”
“NO-NO DONT SAY-“
“Okay,calm down M-“
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”
“Michael you’ll-“
-Sounds of voices-
“Get off me!Please!She’ll come for us!She knows!FROM HER THERES IS NO ESCAPE!”
“Michael,calm down!”
“NO,YOU DONT-“
“Okay-He needs to rest,take him to his room.”
“No!Please!You fucker!!You don’t know what you’ve done!”
2003/02/6 Thursday 14:34 Session 6 -NOTES- •Patient showed signs of Paranoia/Delusions and extremely violent behaviour. •Patient is unwilling to engage in deep conversation •Hallucinations and anxiety are present in patient •Patient has verbal triggers Comment
•I suggest that we test for schizophrenia,anxiety and I will be continuing to monitor the patient.HES showing obvious signs of PTSD.Based on his experiences this is not something that has taken me by surprise. Trial is still ongoing,patient had a deep relationship with -REDACTED-.
He seems to be having so called “Messiah” delusions,he thinks that a god/goddess/higher power is after him/he is a god or a messiah. Will be under monitoring for now on. //Dr.1van
111.555(68^{^}
2/0/0/3/0/2/6/4/1/4/3/4 ^N3m1XssIz7* From her,there is no escape. GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY E*71AGtgg6 V1,C67O M-22ichk33 GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY From her,there is no escape. Ex ea non est effugium Ex ea non est effugium Reus Reus Reus Aut Vincere Aut Mori Reus Mori

I have seen most of the Superman movies. But all those movies do the same thing. A villain comes who overpowers Superman and then at the end Superman overpowers them and wins and its over.
But where are his ideals. Remember the Captain America movies, they show how strong Steve Rogers has become after taking the Super Soldier Serum and his fighting skills but they also showed Steve Rogers is not just his physical strength but his ideals too.
Even before he got his power, he would always stand up even if he was outclassed. He choose to make the sacrificial play in at the end of the first movie. He did not fight back at the end of the second movie against Bucky, he decided to protect his friend in the third movie and he understood he has hurt Tony, so he gives up on the shield and even writes a letter to Tony. And lastly when he found himself against a whole army, he did not give up and decided to face them.
But in case of Superman the only movies that showed his strong ideals were Man of Steel and Superman 2006. Yes, Superman 2006, even though the whole movie was not great, he took an entire kryptonite island and threw it in space even though he knew he might not survive that and Man of Steel has so many instances of that especially that last part where he has to choose between Zod and a family.
But after that he just fell off in the next movies.
I just want a movie where there is a perfect balance of Superman's Power and his ideals like Captain America.
Imagine if a movie has a dialogue like-"For the first time in his life he had to struggle against an opponent, for the first time in his life Superman doubted his strength in battle as Doomsday was overpowering him but he did not falter. He knew he was the only thing that was between this monster and his world, he is only hope this world has against this monster and he cannot give up as this is the point he has to push past his limits, he has to win no matter what and he cannot afford to lose" something like that and he gets up.
Just like how they write Batman's stories. Because mental strength is not a Batman exclusive thing but it is what is inside all the heros, which makes them heros in the first place.
That is the kind of movie I want to see. A movie where we get to see that its not his strength and his heritage that makes him superman but his ideals.

I hate to make really long posts, but i think without context, the weight of my questions will not make sense. If you don't want to read the whole thing, I understand, but PLEASE don't comment if you are only going to read the last 4 sentences...
Pre 2008, She was kind of a gothic girl, attempting to recover from some questionable teenage choices. Was forced to go to Catholic school and mass until she was in HS, at which point she went to a public school and got pretty crazy. She had vaguely religious beliefs and morels (for the most part) but was 100% non practicing.
I was NOT religious growing up "at all". My dad was a brutal SOB, that was verbally and occasionally physically abusive to everything in his path. I did spend 6 months living with my sister and we went to "super church bible study service" on Saturdays. As I got older I started to have a non denominational blind faith.
We meet in 2005. By 2008 marriage was on the table and even though we had been 100% non practicing, she insisted that we get married in the catholic church. I had no issues with it. We did the classes, attended mass, and got married. Almost immediately after the honeymoon... she decided that she didn't really like going to a catholic church and after a little church shopping, we stopped going to any church.
Early 15 - 6 years married, IMO, everything in our lives up to this point has been going well. Of course we had some bumps in the road, but nothing major and no lasting issues. Now, she is pregnant and about to pop with out first child.
After my son is born she got very weird. For one... she stopped wanting to have sex, and previously that was a very common way for us to bond. I thought she may be having some PPDepression and thought nothing much of it. She took to parenting a baby really well, no issues there. Around the one year mark she started going out with "work friends", not coming home till midnight or 2am. She had NEVER done anything like this before, and I my mind started to wonder and wander....
2016, She came home drunk after a night of hanging out with "work friends". Now, keep in mind, usually she would come home half intoxicated and either jump into the shower or go straight to bed... but this night she came home and wanted to have sex (with protection).
And she is pregnant again.
Sex again goes full stop and she did not manage this pregnancy as good as the first. With our son or the unborn, but our relationship was a dumpster fire.... I change jobs so to could work normal hours and be more available for my son and her. Baby girl is born.
Despite a near immaculate conception, I was hoping a second child would make her happier... It didn't. It made it worse. Everything in our relationship is still BAD. She was so distant that I questioned if the girl was even mine. All the circumstances combined... secretly did a paternity test and the girl was/is mine. That put my mind somewhat at ease, but things were still rough... but about to get worse.
2017, Even though our marriage didn't feel like a marriage anymore, we were not outright fighting a lot. She was just very distant and had this "ora" of hate towards me. This was beginning of the inevitable end. She tells me that she can't stand sleeping in the same bed as me anymore.... considering she was only like 4 months post birth, and still nursing, it was stupid for here to go downstairs and sleep on the couch. So being the nice guy... I did.
Days turned into weeks, and I was really starting to struggle with the situation as a whole. But I kept giving her space... talking with her when she felt up to it. Weeks turned into months. The couch turned into a bed... in the basement. Months turned into years... but i don't want to get ahead of myself.
Over 17/18 she started getting very dark. Like I could see that she was having a psychotic break. I talked with her parents and they said she was diagnosed bipolar as a tween. I tried to be supportive. I tried getting her to go to counseling, with me, without me, anywhere, anyhow... she refused. We were still having regular conversations after the kids went to bed... where she mostly went over everything I had ever done wrong... beating me into the ground... I would apologize over and over. Sometimes it was "leaving the seat up that morning"... sometimes it was for some stupid thing I did 5 years prior.
Note, during our marriage, I never drank, did drugs, gambled, cheated, etc. I wasn't abusive in any way; quite the opposite actually, I was and in some ways still am very passive and let people walk all over me because I am so viscerally opposed to turning into my dad, that I tend to tolerate being mis treated rather than reacting to it.
SO over time, these discussions became less frequent but more toxic. They were more of an opportunity for her to verbally attack me for all kinds of things.. even things that were not real... or did not happen the way she remembers. She told me she didn't ever really love me, and that she lied, and she should have never married me, etc... Like really hateful stuff. I was seeing a counselor at this point because this was destroying me. I started thinking about divorce, but I kept hoping she would pull through. The conversations eventually stopped and we were just two disconnected people living in the same house.
As the kids started to grow into toddlers, she started to show anger towards them. Not like in daily life, but anytime they did something wrong. Now, admittedly, I am HYPER sensitive to this because of my childhood. She was becoming verbally abusive to them. Maybe not with the words chosen, but she would outright SCREAM at them... like "loose her shit, scream at them" for 5 minutes. It got to the point I was recording it.
After about 5 HUGE screaming fights with me about it... (I was threatening to call CPS on her and divorce her), she broke down and accepted that she was doing wrong.
Over the next few months, she started wanting to got to church. She was screaming at the kids less. While me and her were still just room mates, she seemed to be healing. As months turned into years, she continued to treat the kids better, and at this point we were going to church fairly regularly as a family. You would think this is where things get better... and you'd be wrong.
By 2021, she had dove 1000% into religion. And only practices the most extreme parts of almost every Christian based religion. No Pork, kosher only, All holidays are pagan. Mothers day, fathers day, birthdays, pagan. Christmas and easter are not guaranteed correct dates, pagan. Speaking in tongues... like anything that you can think of that a non Christian would call crazy... she does that.
Meanwhile she has become more and more toxic towards me. From not letting me spend time with the kids alone; to yelling at me, calling me a liar, evil, toxic, etc... even in front of our kids.
About 6 months ago her delusions skyrocketed. Behind closed doors, she believes that she is a prophetess. And she is blaming me for things that never happened. One example, she came running into the room, yelling at me "because I just called him stupid".... me and my son looked at each other, like what the heck is she talking about? I never called him stupid. We were talking about something silly he saw in a video. I told him "that's kinda stupid, don't ever do anything like that". A specific example... tonight I am tucking my daughter in... after out hugs and kisses, I am walking out and stumbling over things on the floor... I say to her "honey, you should focus on cleaning in here this weekend, the mess is getting a bit ridiculous". She smiles, throws me the "i love you sign" and says, "I know dad, I will".... and before my daughter could even finish her words, my wife is yelling from another room "how dare you call her ridiculous?". She comes trudging into the room, and shake my head and retreat back to my basement... she follows me the entire way, yelling at me for being rede and disrespectful to her daughter. Telling me that she will stand up for her daughter.... the entire way back to the basement.. , for something that didn't even happen.
But I digress, this kind of stuff has been happening more regularly. About 3 months ago, I put cameras up in the common areas of our house, because I am honestly scared that she is going to accuse me of doing or saying something that never happened. Something that she could scream from the roof tops. Something she could say in front to a police officer or a judge to get a divorce and full custody. I have used these cameras and recordings to prove to her, on several occasions, that she is wrong about a specific situation or downright delusional with others. And while she initially seemed receptive to "being called out", anymore she finds any proven inaccuracies to simply be an attack on her.
I am getting verbally assaulted over something that didn't happen... Shortly later, I pull the video and PROVE that she is wrong about it, and she STILL denies it or downplays it... I get angry... then that turns into her claiming that I am being verbally abusive TO HER!
This week, I told her that I am actively filing for divorce - not as a threat, but because I am actively working with an attorney, gathering the paperwork, and I am divorcing her.
Expecting her to attempt to reconcile, she leaves me a one page letter that has me question her sanity. I write her a 5 page letter in response, I clipped the last page, it is all text but NSFW.
I am using an imgur link of the letter and response, as posting pics is questionable in the rules. https://imgur.com/a/n6pJOBv
I guess my main question is: WHAT THE HECK am I doing, is she doing, are we doing... ? Am I okay or justified in getting a divorce? Should I feel bad about wanting to get full custody? Could her issues be a mental disorder or should I just "chalk it up" to religious freedom? I am questioning MY faith completely because of her actions justified by her faith. - How am I supposed to get past this?
Honestly, I am not even sure what to ask... I think I am just looking for approval or understanding... I would appreciate any constructive input.

The Canadian English Language Proficiency Index (CELPIP) is a vital gateway for immigration, citizenship, and professional opportunities in Canada. Acing this computer-based test requires focused preparation, and a well-structured CELPIP prep course can be your game-changer.
Why Choose a CELPIP Prep Course?
While self-study is an option, enrolling in a celpip preparation course offers a multitude of advantages:

• Structured Learning: Prep courses provide a clear roadmap to CELPIP success. They break down the test format, task types, and scoring criteria into easy-to-understand modules, ensuring you target all areas effectively.
• Expert Guidance: Benefit from the knowledge of experienced instructors who possess CELPIP expertise. They can identify your strengths and weaknesses, offering personalized feedback and tailored strategies to maximize your score.
• Practice Makes Perfect: Courses provide a wealth of practice materials, including mock tests that mirror the actual exam environment. This hones your test-taking skills, builds time management expertise, and boosts your confidence on test day.
• Vocabulary & Grammar Expansion: Many courses include targeted vocabulary-building exercises and grammar drills specifically aligned with CELPIP requirements. This refines your fluency and ensures your writing and speaking meet the expected standards.
• Personalized Feedback: Some courses offer one-on-one sessions or small group settings. Here, you can receive invaluable feedback on your writing and speaking samples, allowing you to pinpoint areas for improvement and tailor your approach for optimal results.

What to Expect from a CELPIP Prep Course:
The exact structure and content can vary depending on the provider and format (online vs in-person). However, you can generally expect the following:

1. Comprehensive Test Overview:

This initial stage lays the foundation for your CELPIP success. A good prep course will provide a thorough breakdown of the following:

• Test Format: You'll gain a crystal-clear understanding of the CELPIP structure, including the number of sections, time allocation for each, and the types of tasks you'll encounter.
• Task Types: Each CELPIP section (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking) involves specific task formats. The course will meticulously explain what each task entails, what skills are assessed, and how to approach each one effectively.
• Scoring Criteria: Understanding how your test is scored is vital. The course will demystify the scoring rubrics, highlighting what examiners look for in each section and how to maximize your points in every task.
• Essential Test-Taking Strategies: There are proven strategies to approach the CELPIP that can significantly improve your performance. The course will equip you with time management techniques, active listening skills, effective reading comprehension approaches, and valuable writing and speaking frameworks – all designed to help you excel on test day.

1. Targeted Skills Development:

Acing the CELPIP isn't just about memorizing facts. It's about honing the specific skills required for each section. Here's how a prep course helps you achieve that:

• Listening: Sharpen your listening comprehension by focusing on identifying key points, understanding accents, and following the flow of conversations and lectures.
• Reading: Develop effective reading strategies to tackle various text types, improve your reading speed and comprehension, and strengthen your ability to analyze and infer information from the passages.
• Writing: The course will guide you in crafting clear, concise, and grammatically sound essays and letters that meet the specific CELPIP writing requirements. You'll learn effective vocabulary building techniques and practice writing under timed conditions.
• Speaking: Gain confidence in your spoken English! The course will provide opportunities to practice speaking on various topics, refine your fluency and pronunciation, and develop the ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself clearly and coherently.

1. Practice & Mock Tests:

Practice truly makes perfect when it comes to the CELPIP. A good prep course offers a wealth of practice materials to solidify your learning:

• Practice Questions: Test your understanding with a variety of practice questions that closely mirror the format and difficulty level of the actual CELPIP exam.
• Full-Length Mock Exams: Simulate the real test environment by taking full-length mock exams under timed conditions. This allows you to identify areas that need further work, get comfortable with the exam format, and develop effective time management strategies.
• Personalized Feedback: Some courses provide opportunities to receive feedback on your practice writing and speaking tasks. This invaluable feedback helps you identify and rectify any shortcomings before the actual test.

Choosing the Right CELPIP Prep Course:
With a plethora of courses available, selecting the perfect fit is crucial. Consider these factors:

• Learning Style: Do you prefer online flexibility or the structure of an in-person class? Choose a format that aligns with your learning preferences.
• Course Content: Ensure the course covers all aspects of the CELPIP and offers the level of detail you require.
• Budget: Prep course costs can vary. Determine your budget and find a course that delivers value for your investment.
• Student Reviews: Read testimonials from past students to gauge the course's effectiveness and instructor quality.

Invest in Your Success: Enroll in a CELPIP Prep Course Today.
Taking the CELPIP can feel daunting, but with a strategic prep course by your side, you'll be well-equipped to conquer the test and achieve your Canadian aspirations.

Background

I've been working with an all-in-one command project for the past few years and I believe I have fully perfected my format for using all in one commands. The goal of an all-in-one format is to accomplish many commands as wanted, in one command, hence the name. Command blocks have a character limit of 32,500 (this limit only applies in its gui: if you can source a command block with more than that by modded sources other than direct copy/paste, this limit is not applied). It seems like plenty, but it fills up pretty fast even with more optimizations than I ever thought possible. So I made more optimizations to the base way I even use an all-in-one.
It accomplishes a working all-in-one with 451 characters, and uses an additional 39 characters per additional command before actually caring about how many characters the command itself uses. This is, by far, the best I have found, and it's fairly simple too, with a bunch of neat tricks.

Other formats

Most of the time, I see some kinda format with a dying armor stand to separate the falling blocks. No offense to whoever made that, but... what were you thinking? The armor stand doesn't even have predetermined death time nbt??? So you are already committed to waiting a full second before it can even think about running??? When I see an all-in-one these days, it's usually this one which I don't know where it originated from.
There's also mrgarretto - Sure, it's nice if you wanted ye olde style all-in-one-command box, but it's generally not that efficient. It doesn't even work in modern versions, the activator rail falls through the redstone block and doesn't get placed. I'll pretend that's not a problem for now. Once again, it's nice if you want something simple and fast, and it even optimizes the command block layout for you, but that's just about it. Heck it even uses two commands just to get its command blocks activated, like.. WHY. YOU COULD HAVE JUST PUT THE AUTO AND COMMAND DATA IN THE SETBLOCK COMMAND. There's also a random STONE block in the base of the structure, and then it puts the command block to delete it, that's right, off to the side? The most reasonable thing is that it setblocks a redstone block next to the command that removes the all in one structure, in order to delay it a tick, but that's not even necessary as of one of the 1.19 versions (this is why it's somewhat reasonable), and now you can just set a command block as auto by default and it'll still have the delay. Even then, it could have used a different command to data merge it to auto, but instead it used a redstone block, which is only reasonable if it already doesn't care about space. All of this makes somewhat sense though, as it hasn't been deliberately updated to work nicely in modern versions.
Anyways that was my rant about other formats w/web generators. Moving on.

My format

As I'm sure some people will ask, is it a generator? Short answer, no. I have no intention of making it into a generator and nor do I recommend it, half of this is because I don't know html, the other half is because it is simply too limited unless you already make use of a million possible configurations. Sure, it's easy to input a few commands and let it do the work for you, but by the time you care enough to get into specifics and more advanced command, you might as well already be familiar enough with the nbt to just do it manually. This is how I do it and it just makes the most practical sense in terms of a long-term project: it's not even that much more effort. The hardest part about working without a generator is getting into the habit of removing all of the line-return characters before copying the command, to make use of as many possible characters as you can. This of course assumes you already separate command by line, which, you really should. Personally, I work with my all-in-one's in vscode for minecraft-specific text highlighting and easy multi-line editing with middle click.
Anyways, getting to the point, this is my all-in-one:

summon falling_block ~ ~1.8 ~ {BlockState:{Name:redstone_block},Motion:[.0,-2.0],Passengers:[{id:falling_block,BlockState:{Name:activator_rail},Passengers:[{id:command_block_minecart,Command:"gamerule commandBlockOutput false"},{id:command_block_minecart,Command:"setblock ~ ~-2 ~ repeating_command_block{auto:1,Command:'fill ~ ~ ~ ~ ~2 ~ air'}"}, {id:command_block_minecart,Command:"say Efficient All In One Format! Made by Lizard16."}, {id:command_block_minecart,Command:"execute align xz run kill [type=command_block_minecart,dy=0]"}]}]} 

Three parts, the start, the content, and the end. This runs as fast as possible: on the 4th tick after it was placed. This is due to a limitation in the way command block minecart delay must have been coded: they physically cannot run until the 4th tick of their life. Then on the 5th tick, the command block is activated that destroys the structure due to necessary delay due to command execution order. It works by summoning a falling block, the redstone block to power the command block minecarts, with its a passenger of the activator rail. Because the redstone block lands immediately, the activator rail stays in place where it was when summoned. The command block minecarts are then passengers of the activator rail, and the activator rail lands on its 4th tick: this does 2 things: make it impossible to move the minecarts with a player hitbox before they are ready to activate, and remove the completely quiet sound that minecarts make when landing for some reason that takes up the sound cap for some reason. The kill command is run as an execute command to do two things: to make it only kill the command block minecarts part of the structure, and to make it work on servers with the essentials plugin. It also turns off command block output every time: which is needed the first time, but can be skipped in future times, but there's no reason to not include it. Generally I respect people's gamerule choices: this is not one of them, there is literally no useful reason for command block output to be on, other than potentially debugging, but even then, just look at the command's last output instead of chat.
To use it, just copy the middle line, paste on a new line, and write the next command in the string. The commands are completely deterministic and they are run in the precise order they are as passengers.
The only "problem" with it is that it doesn't bother to check if the space above it is empty before summoning, because that'll use more characters for a mostly useless function. Everyone who has ever seen any kind of all-in-one should know they use vertical space, and I won't be concerning myself with this issue. However, I once again take pride in the fact that mine requires the least amount of empty space that I've seen, at a whole three blocks: the command block to run the command, the redstone block, and the activator rail.
If you already have the commands for a desired all-in-one, then any text editor that allows you to edit multiple lines separately will be easy to apply this to, I use vscode. Something else I like to do is align the lines such that the command is at the beginning, and at the end of that command, the formatting for the next command block minecart starts and ends there, which means most of the formatting for a command lies in the line above it. It's a bit weird to get used to but I think it's somewhat nicer to edit with.
Overall, it's nothing fancy: just the base format for making an all-in-one work, and to my knowledge, the optimizations I have made have made it the smallest one there is, which is useful to people like me who have a hard time fitting what they want in the character limit even with an insane amount of optimization: every character helps.
If I forgot anything or there's anything I aut to add, let me know!

The Canadian English Language Proficiency Index (CELPIP) is a vital gateway for immigration, citizenship, and professional opportunities in Canada. Acing this computer-based test requires focused preparation, and a well-structured CELPIP prep course can be your game-changer.
Why Choose a CELPIP Prep Course?
While self-study is an option, enrolling in a celpip preparation course offers a multitude of advantages:

• Structured Learning: Prep courses provide a clear roadmap to CELPIP success. They break down the test format, task types, and scoring criteria into easy-to-understand modules, ensuring you target all areas effectively.
• Expert Guidance: Benefit from the knowledge of experienced instructors who possess CELPIP expertise. They can identify your strengths and weaknesses, offering personalized feedback and tailored strategies to maximize your score.
• Practice Makes Perfect: Courses provide a wealth of practice materials, including mock tests that mirror the actual exam environment. This hones your test-taking skills, builds time management expertise, and boosts your confidence on test day.
• Vocabulary & Grammar Expansion: Many courses include targeted vocabulary-building exercises and grammar drills specifically aligned with CELPIP requirements. This refines your fluency and ensures your writing and speaking meet the expected standards.
• Personalized Feedback: Some courses offer one-on-one sessions or small group settings. Here, you can receive invaluable feedback on your writing and speaking samples, allowing you to pinpoint areas for improvement and tailor your approach for optimal results.

What to Expect from a CELPIP Prep Course:
The exact structure and content can vary depending on the provider and format (online vs in-person). However, you can generally expect the following:

1. Comprehensive Test Overview:

This initial stage lays the foundation for your CELPIP success. A good prep course will provide a thorough breakdown of the following:

• Test Format: You'll gain a crystal-clear understanding of the CELPIP structure, including the number of sections, time allocation for each, and the types of tasks you'll encounter.
• Task Types: Each CELPIP section (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking) involves specific task formats. The course will meticulously explain what each task entails, what skills are assessed, and how to approach each one effectively.
• Scoring Criteria: Understanding how your test is scored is vital. The course will demystify the scoring rubrics, highlighting what examiners look for in each section and how to maximize your points in every task.
• Essential Test-Taking Strategies: There are proven strategies to approach the CELPIP that can significantly improve your performance. The course will equip you with time management techniques, active listening skills, effective reading comprehension approaches, and valuable writing and speaking frameworks – all designed to help you excel on test day.

1. Targeted Skills Development:

Acing the CELPIP isn't just about memorizing facts. It's about honing the specific skills required for each section. Here's how a prep course helps you achieve that:

• Listening: Sharpen your listening comprehension by focusing on identifying key points, understanding accents, and following the flow of conversations and lectures.
• Reading: Develop effective reading strategies to tackle various text types, improve your reading speed and comprehension, and strengthen your ability to analyze and infer information from the passages.
• Writing: The course will guide you in crafting clear, concise, and grammatically sound essays and letters that meet the specific CELPIP writing requirements. You'll learn effective vocabulary building techniques and practice writing under timed conditions.
• Speaking: Gain confidence in your spoken English! The course will provide opportunities to practice speaking on various topics, refine your fluency and pronunciation, and develop the ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself clearly and coherently.

1. Practice & Mock Tests:

Practice truly makes perfect when it comes to the CELPIP. A good prep course offers a wealth of practice materials to solidify your learning:

• Practice Questions: Test your understanding with a variety of practice questions that closely mirror the format and difficulty level of the actual CELPIP exam.
• Full-Length Mock Exams: Simulate the real test environment by taking full-length mock exams under timed conditions. This allows you to identify areas that need further work, get comfortable with the exam format, and develop effective time management strategies.
• Personalized Feedback: Some courses provide opportunities to receive feedback on your practice writing and speaking tasks. This invaluable feedback helps you identify and rectify any shortcomings before the actual test.

Choosing the Right CELPIP Prep Course:
With a plethora of courses available, selecting the perfect fit is crucial. Consider these factors:

• Learning Style: Do you prefer online flexibility or the structure of an in-person class? Choose a format that aligns with your learning preferences.
• Course Content: Ensure the course covers all aspects of the CELPIP and offers the level of detail you require.
• Budget: Prep course costs can vary. Determine your budget and find a course that delivers value for your investment.
• Student Reviews: Read testimonials from past students to gauge the course's effectiveness and instructor quality.

Invest in Your Success: Enroll in a CELPIP Prep Course Today.
Taking the CELPIP can feel daunting, but with a strategic prep course by your side, you'll be well-equipped to conquer the test and achieve your Canadian aspirations.

Hi everyone!
I‘ll be making a grapefruit cheesecake for my sister tonight and I would like to try and make some lettering on the cake, since the occasion is her hen night (something like her name or Team Bride, also open to your ideas). I have never done this before and am unsure, how to do it. On one hand, I was thinking to make it out of chocolate, so I could write on baking paper and then place it on the cake. But I‘m scared that from the humidity of the cake the chocolate might turn gross? On the other hand I also thought about icing, but I feel like it might be difficult to get the right consistency and also you get 1 shot on the cake.
What are your experiences and suggestions? Thanks a lot in advance!

And they disabled my receiving account. Does anyone has similar experiences?
By the way, I've been a Payoneer customer for over 10 years and an indie software developer in the shareware market for over 20 years. There is no fraud or someone trying to behave fraudulently in this whole story. It's just unnecessary.
Yesterday, I received a payment from PayPro Global, and Payonner asked me to provide two documents to verify the transaction. One is the invoice, and the other is the proof of delivery. I have never dealt with this kind of situation because I always use a third-party payment processor to handle my software orders and have never had to prove this. I have been using this Payoneer account for over 10 years, but it's the first time I use the ACH account. I know I can connect Payoneer to PayPro Global. I was just curious if my receiving accounts really work, so I tried to use them.
I immediately contacted PayPro Global, and they quickly responded with the required documents. All I need to do is upload them to Payoneer's verification submit forms.
I submitted the documents and waited for only 5 minutes. Then, I got two rejection messages from Payoneer saying that my documents did not meet the requirements.
Payoneer asked me for two documents: the invoice, which requires my name, client name and country, goods, price, quantity, and amount on it, and the proof of delivery, which requires either a custom declaration form, proof of delivery, or proof of communication with the customer regarding the delivery.
I submitted two documents (and I couldn't submit more or less as they request):

1. An acceptance letter with all the required information on it. I submitted it as the invoice. The rejection reason was it did not sufficiently describe the nature of the services I provided;
2. My reseller agreement with PayPro Global. I submitted it as the proof of communication. The reason for the rejection was that it did not show email correspondence or a chat transcript with my client.

After Payoneer rejected the documents, I continued communicating with PayPro Global's staff, and they said I may have chosen the wrong categories for the documents. So, I re-submitted the documents, but this time, I carefully selected the document categories for these documents under PayPro Global's assistance.
I don't understand why they needed the document to be specified in different categories before their verification. If you need proof of my transaction, this is the proof, does it really matter which category it should be in? Anyway, I re-submitted the documents. This time, they didn't reject it in 5 minutes.
They disabled my receiving account in 10 hours instead. The reason they said was: I violates the TOS. Nothing else.
So which TOS did I violate? I submitted the documents you wanted, and because I gave you what you asked for, I violated your terms?
I'm just feeling uncomfortable with this experience. Does anyone else have a similar situation? If so, I would like to know how or what you did in this situation.
And I do think the documents I got from PayPro Global should meet the requirements. The information on the documents is straightforward. They paid me and provided me an acceptance letter with my name, their name, the payment amount, the date, why they paid me, the date of fulfillment, and parties having no claims against each other, and everything else needed in this kind of document. More importantly, they are not a new payment processor, and they should have assisted many developers like me handled this kind of document many times; I don't think there should be any difficulty in proving a payment from the payment processor. This is not a crime.
And then disable my receiving account for this?
Before you ask why I didn't contact Payoneer, it was not during their support's work time when I was having this problem and writing this. And TBH, it takes effort to find their human contact entrance.

hello. I'm Rosa Pennitt, a 33-year-old computer engineer from the UK, currently working in London, and I've come to realise that there are many students living the dream I've always dreamed of, in a country far away from London, called South Korea.Having been to South Korea, it's been an amazing experience and I have nothing but praise for the country.Growing up, my family didn't have much money. I had to take out student loans until I graduated from university, and I managed to graduate by applying for jobs on campus, working part-time at the library, and getting some government funding. If I was very good, I could get a scholarship, but I wasn't that good, and I was accepted to the school I applied to first, so the scholarship was very hard to get.
I've been working in the field of computer engineering since then, and I've had a variety of careers, and I'm currently working for a company that works as a team. We build and maintain software and hardware, such as developing new programming and building a server room for a project, and I'm working on the hardware side of things.
Recently, a project with a large company in the UK was successfully completed, and all employees were given time off, and we were all given generous holiday pay, so everyone was encouraged to go abroad.I always like to go to new cultures and experience new things, and this was a pretty big project, and we completed it ahead of schedule, so we were given a long holiday and generous holiday pay.
I have a friend named Lily, who I've been hanging out with in my neighbourhood since I was a kid, who is now settled in Korea and working as a lecturer at a university there.
When I told Lily that I was going to take a long leave of absence and was considering staying abroad, she asked me to come to Korea at this time. She always talked about how much she liked Korea, and I was curious about Korea, so I said yes.
After finishing the project, during the few days when I had to go back to work to complete various paperwork at the company, my colleagues had all made travel plans to different places, and I mentioned that I was going to go to Korea this time.
I was taking a break from work, grabbing a cup of coffee from the vending machine and relaxing in the waiting area when he approached me and asked me, "Are you travelling to Korea this time? How many days are you going to be there?" I wondered why he was so interested, given his negative comments about Korea.
"I'm going to Korea for about two weeks, and my best friend from childhood is a professor there, so I'm thinking of getting her help."For some unknown reason, Richard, who had been talking negatively about Korea, didn't let my story go.
"Korea is just a subset of Japan, its culture is not as good, its development is not as advanced as Japan's," he said in one short sentence, which was very offensive to me.I didn't stand still either. Lily, who lives in Korea, has told me many good things about Korea and how it is better than the UK, and her examples were specific and she didn't seem to be lying, so I had a positive opinion of Korea, and even though I haven't been to Korea yet, I found Richard's comment very rude.
"My friend Lily has been living in Korea for four years, she knows so many good things about Korea, and she often tells me about the excellence of Korean culture, so Richard, on what basis do you talk about denigrating other countries?" Richard seemed confused by my unexpectedly strong words.
He hesitated, then said, "I don't know because I haven't experienced it myself, but I find it hard to believe that Korea is good, because I'm going to Japan next time, and I'm sure I'll have a better experience there than in Korea." I didn't want to get into another argument with Richard, so I just walked away.
I thought he was just a low-level person who was talking bullshit and tried to move on, but his words kept coming back to me.No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't understand what he was saying, and I regretted coming back to him without giving him a proper response.I should have just stood my ground and shut him up! But I felt that going back and arguing with Richard now would only give him an excuse to fight me and put me in a worse position, so I had to suck it up and let it go.Of course, during my trip to Korea, Richard paid a heavy price for his remorse, but I'll tell you about that in a moment.
I had to get over the offence, and the day finally arrived to board the plane to Korea.Before I left Korea, I had come to think of it as a minor disagreement.Getting on the plane to Korea was exciting and anticipated in itself.Meeting Lily at the airport, reuniting with her after so many years, and welcoming her to Korea, I could see her relaxed and content with life in Korea.
With her guidance, we began our tour of Korea, a truly exotic country, a whole different world, and I could see why she raved about it.
The roads were clean and well-maintained, the public toilets were almost always clean everywhere you went, the food was delicious, and there were plenty of experience zones where you could experience the amazing cultural industries that Korea has to offer. I also visited several of the country's large shopping malls, which were all beautifully designed and built with an eye for aesthetics.
On my tenth day in Korea, I had fully adjusted to the time difference and was soaking up the Korean atmosphere that I was hoping that time would pass more slowly.
Lily insisted that we go to Gwangjang Market, which is one of the most popular spots for foreigners, but she said that even if you don't go there, you can find all the food sold at Gwangjang Market in other places, and to be honest, vendors who charge foreigners unfairly have been in the news recently, and when I saw the news, I thought that I had been victimised many times.
Lily didn't want me to go to Gwangjang Market because she said that it was the place where even Koreans are unfairly charged. However, the atmosphere of Gwangjang Market was very different, so I convinced her to go to Gwangjang Market after promising her that I wouldn't buy anything at Gwangjang Market, but just watch.
As expected, there were quite a few foreigners at the entrance of Gwangjang Market, including many Europeans and Americans, but also many people from other Asian countries besides Korea. Lily was disappointed because she said that in Korea, most of the prices are scouted and 99% of the stores are transparent, but there are some merchants who take unfair advantage of the market and ruin the image of Korea.
I was surprised to hear Lily's story because unlike other European countries, Korea is a country where foreigners don't have to pay more for goods and food, and where prices are set, so I was surprised to hear that there are places in Korea where people who do this kind of dirty business.
From a foreigner's point of view, Korea is a country where people are not perfect and there will be people who behave badly, but from a foreigner's point of view, Korea is a country that has been transparent in its consumption, where you have to eat expensive food at the gwangjang market, where you are treated unfairly, but where you have paid very honestly everywhere else. If it weren't for Lily, I would have been a victim of such a scam here, and I felt that such injustices shouldn't happen anymore.
Although I didn't buy anything or eat anything here, I felt that the atmosphere of the Korean market was different and there was a lot to see. Lily also wanted to buy things and eat food here, but she emphasised many times that we should be satisfied with just looking around.
After walking slowly, we walked back towards the entrance of the market and saw a familiar figure in front of us, which I almost recognised as Richard, who hadn't shaved in a while, had a scruffy beard, and was dressed in a plain outfit, standing still on the side of the road, looking at his mobile phone.
Actually, Lily knew about Richard, because when I was in Korea, a colleague of mine, Richard, told me that there was a person who said that Korea was just a subordinate country of Japan, that it was culturally and economically backward, and Lily was very upset about that, and she asked him if he had ever been to Korea or Japan, and she was very upset to hear Richard's bullshit. She made me understand from the very beginning that what Richard was saying was complete bullshit, that the United States was a subsidiary of the United Kingdom.
I told her that there was Richard, the characterless man I had told her about.I was surprised, and she was very surprised.If he was going to Japan, why is he here? I approached him cautiously.I looked at his face and silhouette several times to make sure it was him, and then I was sure it was him.Dear Richard, are you lost? Can I help you? I didn't ask him in an aggressive way, but in a friendly way, because you have to be careful and friendly to get what you want.
Richard was very surprised and smiled at me, very happy to see me. I introduced him to Lily, who was next to me, as a friend of mine who lives in Korea, and although Lily had already heard about Richard, this was her first introduction to Richard.
Richard arrived in Korea this morning and said that it was his first time here and that he couldn't get used to the different atmosphere from Japan. I asked him if he hadn't just been living in Japan and was going back to England, and he made an unrecognisable fat face. I knew something was up right away. I suggested to him that if we hadn't already eaten, we should join him for a meal, saying that it was a great coincidence to meet a colleague in Korea and that we must have a lot to talk about.
I wanted to take my time to hear Richard's story about why he came to Korea.I didn't want him to give away the fact that he had hostile feelings towards Korea, that Lily and I knew, and that he thought very badly of it.Slowly, as I listened to his story, he relaxed and began to tell me that he had actually had an unfortunate experience in Japan.
He said that he was walking down a busy street in Osaka, and he wanted to go to a bar by himself, but he didn't know much about Japan, so he was wandering the streets, wondering which bar to go to, when he was approached by a Japanese man who was smiling at him. At first, he didn't realise he was a tout, because he didn't look like a typical tout, he wasn't dressed in fancy clothes, he just looked like an ordinary office worker.
Richard said he was looking for a pub nearby, and the tout said he knew of one, and led him to it, where he drank contentedly by himself. He said he enjoyed the quiet atmosphere, the lack of people but himself, and the small Japanese-style bar where he drank at his leisure.He said he drank as much as he was satisfied with, and when he asked for the bill to pay and leave the bar, he realised that he had been charged a ridiculously high amount of money.8 The bill was for about 10,000 yen, and it was very expensive, including the tax, and it even included the drinks and snacks that I didn't drink.
He said that he could never pay, but they wouldn't let him leave because they didn't understand him or didn't speak English.
When Richard insisted that he couldn't pay, and shouted that he was going to call the police, they started to bring more empty glasses to the table where he was sitting, and even brought some dirty plates as if he had already eaten the appetisers, and threatened him.
Richard said that he was able to get out of the situation after settling the bill for 50,000 won. After being scammed in Japan, Richard quickly lost interest in travelling, and the next day he went to another place, but there was nothing in sight, and he said that he couldn't bear to think about what happened yesterday.
He said he came to Korea not because he liked Korea, but because he just wanted to get out of Japan, and I came to think that it was a very good thing that we didn't let him enter Gwangjang Market.
Lily and I comforted him, and then I took him around Seoul with me for the rest of the next few days, showing him the conscientious, clean, and friendly side of Korea that I had seen, but also the incredibly developed side of Korea.
Starbucks in Korea is like a place where a lot of people are working on their laptops, doing their work, a little bit like a school library, and it's very quiet, and then Richard and I saw two Korean students, who were programming and coding, and they were struggling with something.
Richard and I, who have already endured a long period of bumps in the road in our careers, could tell that they were trying to solve a task set by the school, and at the same time, we were curious about what they were building and what they were doing.Richard first said to the Korean students, "I'm actually a working programmer, and I'm here to help you because you seem to be stuck and not making progress.
I sat down with the two Korean students, and we had a chance to talk about things.They were freshmen in college, and I didn't have much to offer them programmatically, but I could tell that they had a really great vision and were working very hard.It's kind of creepy to talk about the conversation with them, so I won't go into details, but I felt like I was seeing myself in the past, because I was in a very similar position as a college student, struggling financially and having to study.
I talked to them about the programming industry and gave them a good vision of what they could do if they tried hard enough, and I also remember giving them a dessert to end the meeting.
It was very meaningful to have the opportunity to interact with these students and not just go back to Korea as a tourist.
After a few days of enjoying Korea, he even arranged for me to fly back to the UK with him, as he had been travelling alone in Japan and had been victimised by a scam, so he was very emotionally distressed and relied on me as a colleague.
So at the end of our time in Korea, I said goodbye to Lily, and he said goodbye to Lily, and we were sitting next to each other on the plane, and we were heading back to the UK.
And I asked him a question, do you realise now that before I went to Korea, you said that Korea was a subordinate country of Japan, that it was a very flippant thing to say, and that it could have hurt a lot of people?" I said sharply and firmly.He said he had nothing to say, that he thought he had been punished for what he had said, and that he had been thinking about what he had said the whole trip, and that he was grateful that he had said it now.
Richard acknowledged that his comments were very flippant, saying that he had never been to Korea and had never been to Japan, but that there was no reason for him to think that way."I was very quick to judge Korea, and after travelling around with you and experiencing it firsthand, I realised that I was wrong. Richard's sincere apology softened my feelings towards him, and I actually thought he felt the same way, because when the three of us were travelling around Korea with Lily, he would often say things like, "I really like Korea," "Korea is amazing," and "I didn't know that before, why didn't I know that before?
Richard's flippant remarks were very wrong, but I also felt that he was not a very human being when he reflected on his experiences in Korea and Japan. If he doesn't make flippant remarks again, I think he would be a good colleague to work with.
After returning to the UK, the project team came together again, each with their own wonderful experiences, and talking about them was like travelling the world indirectly for a few days, and I heard a variety of stories, and Richard was the loudest, and it was funny to see how loudly he said he loved Korea.
He promised not to say anything rude, so he didn't tell me about his scam in Japan, but I don't know if it was because he was ashamed of what happened to him, or if he decided not to say anything bad about other countries.This was my travelogue about Korea, and I would like to write about it again if I go to Korea again in the future.

I love shopping on Etsy & I love handmade. I'm pretty good at spotting the real handmade from fake. There are unfortunately Fakes. It seems I found one that I'm pretty sure if Fake. But I want to know if it's possible to Investigate.
1) The seller has the same name on Amazon & it appears to be one of those Fake Chinese factory types. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS & Random Letters which don't make sense. Like SAJDFIANS.
2) She keeps saying "HandMade in USA" but I am doubtful. The way she writes. She spelled Christmas "Charismas". She writes: "these thin hoop earrings make you a clean and minimalism looking".
3) I'm guessing this person ships from a Chinese factory & then maybe she sends it out herself from CA?
How do we find out? Should I contact Etsy

[Vast Listen, head curator of the “Heretic Collection” here! Today, while our “Heroes” and Maxwell are doing their thing, and currently it’s just boring travel, I thought we would take a look at the goings-on of the rest of the world.]

Smithson’s Family Forge
El Gato, god king of all he surveyed, sat on his favorite spot and watched the newest kittens play under the old Pando tree that had grown in the courtyard. He had “watered” the tree yesterday, and it now had a new branch growing that he could hardly wait to lounge on in a few weeks when it had grown strong enough. He smiled slightly, then yawned and repositioned himself for his midmorning nap.
The spirit of the tree climbed up next to him and lay back, giving him scritches behind the ears, “This really is the best place to catch the sun when I’m not home.”
“Of course it is.” El Gato replied, “It is my spot after all.”
The pair watched the newest batch of students as they came and went. Especially one student who hadn’t gotten the announcement that you didn’t “mess with the cats”. The student had had to learn the hard way what “FAFO” means, and would have scars on his left cheek for the rest of his life.
El Gato and the tree curled up on the sundrenched statue of The Heretic, the ever-living patron saint of the school, and dozed.

The Elven Kingdom
The young king stood on the throne yelling at his servants. “No! That’s not how that happened!” He sighed. “The Heretic gave his big speech, then the shield came up; not the other way around!” Armatures! I will have to send to the School of Rio for the full play. “Alright, set the scene and try again!”

The Undermountain Dwarven Kingdoms
Bjorn sat on the Throne of Stone in the great cathedral as his bishops, priests, and the rest sat in orderly rows before him. “No, Bishop Glod, songs about digging holes in the mine are NOT acceptable hymns to me; they are hymns to my grandfather!” The bishop shrank back.
“I don’t mind the hymns being sung in my temples, but they are for him, not me, and I don’t want to take what is his domain.” Bjorn tried to explain. “I am the god of crafting, not of mining and stone and such. Please don’t confuse the two of us.”
The assembled clergy began speaking in hushed tones that became louder and louder. Eventually the noise reached such a crescendo that Bjorn had to use his “god” voice to silence the thousands in attendance. “I know, I know. The Heretic. Look, Maxwell is by Friend; nothing more, nothing less! He is not my disciple; not my next of kin; not my prophet; and decidedly NOT my lover!”
The crowd became silent again, “And on that note, allow me to introduce my Actual lover, the small goddess…”

Fates
The three sides of fate sat at their tapestry. The Crone sat cross-legged on the ground of the cave, building a small tower of stones. The Mother sat on a comfortable chair, nursing a forgotten child. The Maiden was running another thread across the tapestry of life when she opened her mouth to end the silence.
“Don’t you dare.” The Crone snapped, pulling her eyes from the tower she was constructing. “We don’t want to stir that pot again, not for another thousand years.”
“But—” The Maiden started.
“Were you not listening when that man stopped by for a chat last century?” The Mother asked as she placed the baby over her shoulder and gave it a pat on the back, causing it to burp. “He had a very stern warning for us not to interfere with the Heretic.”
“He even threatened ~US~ with a stern letter.” The Crone added. “That is the last thing we need.”
The Maiden harumphed. “I still want to know who allowed the potion to work on him.”
“That makes three of us.” The Crone replied. “If I ever find out who was responsible for that, I will stick a finger in their ribs, and twist their soul.”
Meanwhile, in the celestial realm, Kocha, god of chaos, felt a spike of ice drive itself through his soul. He looked around, then went back to reading the Beta Material for the Humans and High-rises game.

The Celestial Realm, again…
Esmeralda, the goddess of Wisdom, sat at her desk, writing a stern letter to Brother Proof for going missing in the stacks; again; when she felt an uncomfortable twinge. “Oh my, it seems that one of my clerics has been killed. I wonder where?” She looked at a ball sitting on a tall stand next to her desk, and it rolled around until a “chain” of three islands was facing her. “Oh, the southern most of the…Heretic Isles…”

Original - First - Previous - Next
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It's been a minute.
I was going to stream this weekend. It's not going to happen. I'm way over my head trying to figure it out, and I lack the brain. I wonder if I'm just getting to old for this shit. Doesn't help that for reasons I'm late as hell getting this out.
Life sucks.
Take care, y'all.

So if you do a weekly drop of X how long does it it take to play for that amount of rewards? I’ve just started and am trying to gage how many hours a week I want to invest in this. I have enough time to write about 100 letters a week. How long could I expect to play the games for that amount of letters. Is the most time consuming part writing letters? That’s fine I just want to know to expect once I start getting my rewards after the 8/12 week wait! Thanks!

Hello everyone. I'm not really sure how to start this post, so I'll just go for it.
I feel as though every relationship I've had so far has been disappointment after disappointment. I don't know if my personal standards are too high, or if it's just that this world doesn't love the way I love. For context, every relationship I've had has ended due to the other party not reciprocating. This usually happens after we've already met and have been dating for over a month. I feel like I just keep getting led on. I'm a person who also isn't really interested in bedroom intimacy until later on in a relationship, and as of late, it feels like I'm only being led on for people to get into my pants and then leave. When they either get what they want, or lately, grow too frustrated because they didn't get what they want, they leave. I like to talk, and have deep conversations, and generally just ramble about random things. If I really like the person I'm with, I'll draw them and like to write them letters or notes. I like to take candid pictures of people, as well as pictures of sunsets or the sky in general to share with them because it's beautiful.
I'm not really sure where I'm actually going with this post, but as of late, it feels like I'm the only one giving out love. It's getting harder and harder to lately because I just end up in heartbreak. I know I should be happy with myself, and for the most part, I am; however, I just feel lonely as of late. I just want to fall asleep next to someone. To hold and be held by someone that has the same ideas and love that I do. I'm not asking for a carbon-copy of myself, just some love in return. I want someone to look at me and feel the same way for once. I'm tired of not being the first, second, or even third choice. I'm tired of being alone.

Hey everyone, I just could not go without writing something for you all tonight. I am working on the article I have promised you. I plan on working hard on it over the weekend so I can get it out as soon as possible. I am still gathering some data and trying to keep with the demands of life, but its a priority. I know alot of you are curious where I stand on the topic of space weather affecting earth, our magnetic field, the future, and what I see. Be patient with me.
In the mean time. I wrote this for you. It is a personal open letter written to each of you here, and the ones still yet to come. I want to tell you why I am here and why I started this.
I am touched at how space weather has impacted all of you and share your sentiments. When I go at a topic, I go all in. I consume everything I can. I gobble up information and want more. This topic just happens to be an unconquered frontier. I knew next to nothing about space weather 3 years ago. I have always been intellectual and have a broad knowledge of many things. I never expected myself to fall in love with space again. I figured if I was going to do so, it would have happened a long time ago. I certainly missed my window to make a career out of it the conventional way, but passion is blind.
I am not quite sure what it is. The mystery, the power, the uncertain and undefined nature, and most of all the majesty. Friday night was one of the most majestic experiences of my life. It felt like a psychedelic themed world in a video game. It is just the latest in a long list of celestial events that burned a deep impression in my soul. Now, even though I was not trying to find a specialty in space weather, I was always observing. I would like to recall just one experience for you.
The only thing more finicky to predict on our solar system than the sun is the behavior comets. There may be some examples I am not thinking of, but Carl Sagan once said that if you are going to bet on horses or comets, to choose the horses. While there are comets we know which are called periodic because we have calculated and confirmed their orbit, and we know they visit us every so often depending on the comet. Some comets just pass through. Our cometary data base is a tiny fraction of what is out there. So every now and then a big beautiful comet comes out of nowhere and puts on a display for the ages. The so called Great Comet.
I was born in 86' which was the same year as Halleys Comets last visit, which visits us every 75 ish years. As a result, I obviously did not see it. I was confused as a young boy in 1996 or 97 when people began to talk about a new comet that would be making an appearance called Hale Bopp. I have a cousin named Haley, and my dad would call her Hale Bopp comet. Of course all of these comets have numerals, but we will use their common term. My young mind did not know how comets were named, and I was trying to get a read on why they liked using Hale or Haley so much. I had never seen a comet before, but I was told I would.
My dad recognized that there was a passion there. Something about a comet captivated me. The entire idea of it. He built me a small little observatory in our yard with wood and plexiglass. He just used what we had lying around and did not want to use real glass. He did not want to use anything and just leave it open, but me dying to have the whole experience really wanted a see thru panel to observe the comet from. As you probably know, plexiglass is not the most transparent. At all. It is the thought that counts, he was doing his best to accomodate me. He took the cover off at my request and there it was, my first observatory and first event.
I do not remember when exactly Hale Bopp showed up. I do not recall if I saw it at the earliest possible time. Those details are blank in my memory. However, the blank space completely eclipsed by the feeling I got when I saw it for the first time. If you remember Hale Bopp, than you know what I am talking about. She stretched out in the sky like a shimmering windsock blowing in the breeze across the sky. It looked so bright, so peaceful and serene, as if it was the most graceful thing I had ever seen. Bright, blue, and prominent. You could not miss it. I left the experience with the impression that all comets are naked eye visible, especially if they have a name sounding like my cousin Haley. Not only that, but C/1995 O1 Hale Bopp stayed around for months. MOnths and months. 18 to be exact. It was not naked eye visible around the world for this entire window, but to this day holds the record over the next closest contender at 9 months. I remember car trips and leaning up against our Ford Windstar minivan window and just staring at it. It is not fair to say I took it for granted because I looked at it every chance I could get. It was my companion. However, when it was no longer gracing my skies, I missed it greatly and wished I would have observed it more.
I left this entire experience deeply moved. I had also seen an annular eclipse approaching totality, not quite, in 1994 over my home in Ohio. I was sent to school with welding goggles to observe it. Something in the young me was compelled to view these sights and events. Nobody else in our school got to go outside to see it. There were not cheap eclipse glasses on every corner. The teachers let me though, and I could not believe how dark it got. I know it wasnt dark like night, but in my memory it was. I just could not wait until the next comet or eclipse!
Little did I know how rare these events are. Yes, you can travel to see an eclipse just about every year. Comets come and go, but most are not naked eye visible, and if they are, its only under optimal viewing conditions or with viewing aids. As a result, many people have never experienced them. The wonder. The beauty. The Power. The Majesty. I am yet to have seen another naked eye visible comet in my life, although that is because I missed the few and brief opportunies there were. Me being impatient, impulsive, and a fast mover, I was already on to the next. Forgotten and replaced by various this or thats. But the mark was made. It was burned into me, even if forgotten temporarily, it was always there.
It was reignited in 2017 when the US experienced a total solar eclipse. I saw eclipse, nationwide, and got very excited. Little did I know how it actually worked. I was disappointed in the experience after the lofty bar set in my childhood. It was neat, but it did not change my life. However, I began asking myself questions. I found myself wanting to understand. Understand I did. And that brings us to now.
I am here to bring my passion to you. I picked 2024 as the year to follow this dream and follow this path for a reason. I did not know if it would pan out when I started it, but I knew 2 BIG things were happening. I knew it would bring the people the same wonder as it did me, no matter what stage of life, background, or knowledge level. So far, it has been a banner year for celestial sights. I do believe in the power of manifestation as I have proven it to myself many times. I believed that this year would in fact be a banner year. While I would never be so presumptuous to think that the cosmos would ever bend to my will in the slightest bit, I am left to conclude that I am in fact connected to it. That it was calling me then and it is calling me now. I am here to bring this to you. Not knowledge, as I am still seeking it myself. But passion, a place, a community. I do believe the best is yet to come. So far this year I have seen a total solar eclipse from center path totality in my back yard, and not just an eclipse, but a beautiful and powerful prominence waving to me. I have seen the northern lights in my back yard with a phone full of new wall paper. I have met all of you wonderful people. And yet I still can sit here and say the best is yet to come. 2024 has not played its last card, not even close. No less than 2 once in a lifetime events yet remain on the calendar. Those are just the ones we know about. I invite you all personally to take this journey with me into tomorrow, whatever it may bring, with eyes in the skies
With light and love,
AcA