Hearing loss and rocaltrol

Hello. I have autism and tinnitus caused by hearing loss and worsened by TMJ. It only became constant a few months ago. It is uncomfortable but bearable when I'm not overwhelmed.
But I struggle a lot with noise not even just loud noise but noise in general. So I used to wear headphones and ear defenders a lot and if I didn't have them I would cover my ears when it was too loud and it helped. But this has not helped to calm me down since the tinnitus started because then it's all I can hear and it's very high pitched and grating. I know it's not an actual sound but it hurts just as much.
I used to not have meltdowns often but I am having them more frequently and it is very distressing and painful. When I try to cover my ears in any way it doesn't help it just makes it worse because the sound hurts and makes me feel trapped in my overwhelmed state which makes a meltdown more likely I'm guessing. At that time I need silence and knowing I will never hear silence again is sad but mostly I just don't know how to cope with things I used to know how to cope with. It's bad enough at home but I especially am afraid to go out into the world now.
Is there anyone who knows any ways to help cope with sensory overload with tinnitus or just anyone who struggles with this too?
Thank you. :)

the seller said i returned the wrong item. they said the computer looks like one of theirs but its not.
i have been a heavy amazon buyer since ebay stopped answering their phones back around when the covid started.
i buy a lot of $300 to $1000 items every month and maybe lots of cheaper things every week. i did the math on my returns the last time i felt like they were harassing me about a return and found i only returned like 3% of the stuff i buy and maybe 5% of the money i spend. i tend to keep the $40 items that i should return due to the amount of hassle it is to do a return these days.
anyways, i reach out to amazon and they said i had to contact the seller. i contact the seller and they told me i send the wrong pc back. i did not send the wrong pc back. they say that the service tag doesnt match what they sent me. i am not budging on this.
amazon said they will refund me once 48 hrs has passed if they still havent given me the refund.
this stinks since i buy so much from them, but all the conviences of doing business with amazon is dwindeling. and i never once even looked into the books, streaming services that came with my prime membership
i anticipate amazon to take the sellers word over mine.
i feel they mislead me about the return, it says refunded but its not refunded, they only refunded .01 according to amazon, but according to my bank they didnt even refund that.
i maybe only paid $500 for this pc, but i am not taking a loss for what ever incompentence is going on there. i had to return it due to it constantly haveing bsod, i even bought a new ssd and ram for it out of my pocket but this made no change, so i put their parts back in and shipped it back.
this pc was for a small business and the owner was getting very upset with this ordeal and we just got another pc from some where else and chalked it up to too good of a deal and now we see why, so i sent it back
i am prepared to do this charge back thing i keep hearing about, but how does that work? are people lying to the bank acting like its fraud? like they didnt make the charges? i clearly made the charge, and they were supposed to do the the return and said they did but didnt. is this grounds for a charge back as far as the bank will be concerned?
will amazon block my account?
perhaps this situation will be the end of amazon for me, its been bad service for about 2 years now anyways.

I have people tell me constantly that I’m super lucky (including, obviously my parents). I’m trans and autistic and they help me with a lot of things financially. Initially they were very unsure of my transition but it was never anything super harsh. All of these notions, coupled with them helping with a lot of financial stuff and taking me and my brother on vacations a lot lead everyone around us to believe that we’re these super privileged people who need to be more fortunate, but you dig any deeper and it’s a shit show. My parents are extremely obsessed with outside image and hold my brother and I to unhealthy standards of how we should engage with other people, which has turned my brother into a people-pleasing alcoholic and myself into someone who has been manipulated and abused constantly throughout my life because I do not and have never been allowed to set boundaries. My mom consistently called me selfish throughout my childhood and never had anything positive to say about any accomplishment I made. It was always nitpicking and telling me how to fix myself. The worst of all is that my parents spend tons of money on vacations and gifts but refuse to help us with anything medical unless they deem it serious enough. Growing up, they would ignore our injuries or illnesses unless they were severe enough by their standards. I have atypical presentation of strep and every time I get it, it’s very different and not at all like other people’s experiences but despite this, it takes my parents an extremely ridiculous about of time to validate the need for me to go to the doctor. My dad has a rule that if we go to urgent care, unless it’s actually serious he will not help us with it. They constantly brag about taking us on these extravagant vacations, but I’ve been dealing with symptoms of potential hearing loss for months and I’m unable to afford serious testing without their help. I understand a lot of people don’t even have the possibility of support like that but it’s extremely insulting having parents with a 5 bedroom house and a pool who will dump money like it’s easy to go across the world not even bat an eye at the fact that you are going deaf. I’m so tired of being told I’m lucky when I have PTSD from severe emotional neglect

Hi, this is gonna be a bit long, but let me explain the entire situation so far: Going back about a year or so, I started noticing an elevated heart rate above what I usually would have. I have an apple watch that allows me to check my heart rate, and around this time I started to get notifications that my heart rate was above average (in the 120s to 130s range while resting as opposed to my normal 60-80 range). This happened a few times along with some very minor chest pain / tightness, however after laying down for a few hours / going to bed it would usually return to normal. Around the same time I got diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD and placed on an SSRI to help my anxiety after trying ADHD meds and not liking them. I never really had any incidents with high heart rate after that, so I had assumed it was just anxiety causing it (and that may still be the case). A few months went by and I ended up starting college and got myself a girlfriend. As I ended up finding out, SSRIs, while great, have the unfortunate side effect of erectile dysfunction, so I weaned off my meds so I could prioritize my love life. There were a few incidents after this where my heart rate was above average, but again I just chalked this up to anxiety, as it would usually go away on its own. At one point I went into my on campus doctor's office just to verify my heart was okay after an elevated heart rate the night before, and they gave me an EKG which came up clear. Months go by, and things are fine, besides a slight uptick in anxiety. Unfortunately however, my relationship began to crumble and my anxiety skyrocketed, and we eventually broke up, which led me to talking to my doctor and getting placed back on anxiety medication. However, I really didn't like how SSRI's impacted my libido, so after trying a few more SSRI's I was placed on Buspirone. I love Buspirone, and it's made a noticeable difference on my confidence / reducing anxiety. When I take my full dose at once (30 mg), I tend to get a bit dizzy / nauseous, however when split up into 10 mg taken at breakfast lunch and dinner I have no noticeable side effects. I will say (and I don't know if this is in any way important but I'm just naming everything possible), I have noticed that since stopping the SSRIs and starting Buspirone I tend to ejaculate VERY fast which is abnormal for me, and although I would like to fix that it is not my main concern. Moving on though, after about a month or two after being placed on Buspirone, we get to where my heart problems start. As someone who had never used any substances my entire life, leaving home and going to college gave me the freedom to try new things, and although I know it's not great, on weekends me and my friends will get together and drink or occasionally smoke weed / take an edible. I was worried at first about interactions with my medication, but after some research all anything online could tell me was that I may get drunk faster / more nauseous and dizzy, which wasn't too big of a deal for me. I had tried weed earlier in college and didn't like the way it made me feel, however after being placed on Buspirone I decided to try it again and actually enjoyed the feeling, so I started doing it more on the weekends as opposed to just drinking, which leads us to the incident. Me and some friends had just sat down to watch a movie, and all taken an edible. Time passed, and I started to notice that my heart rate was extremely elevated, way more than I was usually used to. I checked my heart rate, and found that my watch was displaying an average of 160 bpm. At first I thought I was just having a bad high and tried to calm myself. I laid on the floor and put some ice on my forehead, but nothing was helping. I checked my heart rate again and saw that my watch was displaying 190, which really freaked me out as that was way higher than I had ever seen before. I had my sober friend call Public Safety for me, and they came to my dorm room and did a basic check up on me. They said that I had a fever, and when they took my heart rate they got something in the 160s range. Their explanation was that my anxiety, when combined with being high and likely being sick made my heart rate elevated, which made sense at the time. I went into my college's health services to follow up the next day since my heart rate was still elevated (in the 120s-130s range), however they again told me it was probably just anxiety. A few days went by and my heart rate was STILL above average, so I decided to double check with my real doctor off campus. About a day before this I had also stopped taking my medication to see if it could be the cause for my elevated heart rate. The doctors took my vitals and immediately noticed that had very high blood pressure and an elevated heart rate, to the point where they sent in a second doctor to recheck my vitals and make sure it was correct. After talking to me and having me give a run down of my symptoms, they had me schedule an appointment with a cardiologist and told me that if I ever experience chest pain and a heart rate above 100 bpm that wouldn't go down to go to the hospital. I had also told them about how I stopped taking my medication and they told me that that was fine and to tell the cardiologist about it. About a week passes, and I have my cardiologist appointment in a few days. I had been up the night before working on my final exams, so I hadn't gotten much sleep, and besides a breakfast sandwich that I had for lunch I hadn't eaten much either. I had been experiencing chest pain all day, but I assumed it was being caused by my lack of sleep, so after classes I went and took a nap. After a few hours I woke up, and immediately noticed that I still had chest pain. I checked my apple watch, and my heart rate was displaying roughly 90-110 bpm while laying down, which on top of the chest pain made me worried since my doctor had told me that that was cause to go to the hospital. I called my parents to tell them about it, and they drove to the school and had me sit in the car and eat some food they had made to see if it would help at all. However, even after this, my heart rate was still above 100 bpm and I still had chest pain, so my mom made the call to bring me to the hospital. While on the way to the hospital, out of nowhere my heart rate increased to about 170-180 bpm, which freaked me out. We arrived at the hospital, and they immediately gave me an EKG to make sure I wasn't going to drop dead. During this time, I also was shaking a lot and couldn't make myself stop. Eventually they took me into a room and decided to run some tests on me. The tests they did are as follows: BASIC METABOLIC PANEL, CBC WITH DIFF, TROPONIN NH, D DIMER DEEP VEIN THROMB LEVEL, TSH REFLEX, X-RAY CHEST PA AND LATERAL, and ECG-12 LEAD. While I'm not a doctor, from what they told me and from what I can see, everything turned up pretty normal. My potassium was a smidge low, as well as my MCV and MPV, and my Monocyte (absolute) was a tad high, but generally nothing to worry about. The website where I'm viewing my test results display my ECG as abnormal and an attached document says I have left atrial enlargement as well as sinus tachycardia, but they only mentioned sinus tachycardia in the hospital so I assume that it was just the machine reading my test results and giving its own diagnosis. Long story short though, I left the hospital a few hours later, and although I still had a slightly elevated heart rate they said I was fine to go about life normally and to follow up with my cardiologist. Cut to the present, and I just met with my cardiologist a couple days ago. I gave him the general rundown of the above story (but didn't mention the edible as a precursor to the 190 bpm heartrate as my mom was in the next room over and the door was wide open), and after checking my vitals he told me that although I did have an elevated heart rate and high blood pressure, my chest pain probably wasn't a huge concern and that he wasn't too worried it was anything life threatening. He told me I could resume taking my meds (which I had temporarily replaced with ashwagandha supplements while I waited for the appointment and have since stopped taking), and had me wear a little device that monitored my heart rate for 24 hours, which I'm set to return in a couple days. He also told me that when I returned it he would check my results and give me an echocardiogram and go from there. So, with any luck, he should be able to figure things out then. However, I wanted to post this to see if anyone could help me get any ideas on what it could be that I could run by him to help speed things up. I also have a recent theory of my own that I want to hear advice on. I was doing research and discovered that Buspirone, when taken with other medication that increases serotonin, can cause serotonin syndrome. After another google search, I found out that weed can increase serotonin levels. The only hole in that theory is that I stopped taking Buspirone after the initial spike in heart rate / blood pressure but had no noticeable changes. Oh and one last thing, if you can't think of anything in regards to what could be causing my elevated heart rate, I actually would like to know why I'm ejaculating so fast so I can fix it because its gotten to the point where I can't even enjoy masturbating because of how fast I cum.
In case I missed anything, here's a list of my symptoms (although I have no idea if they're all correlated):

• High heart rate (anywhere from 90-190 bpm)
• High blood pressure
• Chest pain / tightness on my left side and does not hurt more when I breath in / out (every now and then pain extends to my neck and shoulder)
• Frequently tired
• Insomnia (could be correlated with the above symptom lol)
• Get out of breath faster than usual
• Anxiety (already had this though)
• Mild depression (probably from my breakup)
• Lack of motivation (probably from my ADHD)
• Very rare and random spasms in my neck
• About 10 pounds weight loss in the past few months
• Headaches (could be from the meds)
• Probably something minor that I'm forgetting but if I can't think of it it probably isn't important (will update this list if new symptoms arise)

TLDR: I have a high heart rate and blood pressure and can't figure out why

I hear time is supposed to help with loss but that hasn't been my experience with losing my mom. If anything, time has made my grief worse, not better. Some days are better than others but it all feels extremely random. My complaint is when someone else loses a loved one and everyone seems to forget my loss. I don't expect everyone to pity me every time someone else dies but some recognition would be nice. Seeing someone else go through the same loss of a parent is something I can really relate to. Perhaps we could even help each other, idk.

So I got 1 shot by Warmageddon through a 6B43 with the level 6 plates and level 3 aramid all over it. It was center torso and not pits. I've had some really weird encounters where I died to a single shot or 2 through level 5 - 6 armors so I said the heck with it and got the one that covers everything and still have gotten dropped a couple times via single or double shots to center torso with heavy armors that cover almost everything on you. . So I'm 100% sure now that it's a bug as I've seen some people online mentioning this. I'm not sure if this is also currently happening on the PVP side of the game, and usually I would hear about stuff from a couple streamers that I watch but the ones that do in depth bug checking etc like airwing etc don't have a care to play the PVE or at least don't have any content on it so I'm at a loss. Is this at least being talked about with BSG?

I’ll go first: I’m on my 3rd? reread of the series and I haven’t gotten this far yet but one of the last chapters in RoW “One Final Gift” makes me cry every time I listen to it. Eshonai fights so hard and wins her fight against Odiums influence, but losses her battle for survival, while swearing her first ideal. She has one of those rare moments of one heavily invested at the time of death and therefore, persists as a cognitive shadow for a few minutes after the end. Her short conversation with the stormfather is heart wrenching, he doesn’t lie to her but he does show her pity or maybe even mercy, and blesses her with the greatest gift she could’ve gotten, to see. To see it all in a rush as the storms do, ride across the land at the speed of the winds, becoming the winds. I’m happy her soul found peace before moving to the beyond. She deserved better than to die alone at the bottom of a chasm though, an honorable warrior and the great protector of the listeners, the great general who wanted nothing more than to see the next hill. I can cry right now thinking about it.
Bonus round: A few chapters before that I think, another moment that breaks me when I hear it, mostly thanks to Kate Readings voice. I love every time we get a scene with Lady Leshwi, and the moment Venli reveals herself to her, oh man it is a soul ripping one. The weight of the grief in her voice when she asks if the spren have come back to them, if they’ve truly been forgiven. Then she begs for knowledge of a dear spren she once knew and the sorrow in her voice struck me to the bone. Her whole world changes knowing there is a chance for an actual change, an end to the endless war and suffering. It’s everything I could ever want in a scene.
I’d love to hear some of your favorite moments and how they affected you! Even if they get talked about a lot!

Bit of a far fetched thing, but since I’ve started Vyvanse I’ve been getting hypothyroid symptoms and recently tested for normal levels besides one being in the subclinical range. Leading to the doctor to presume “subclinical-hypothyroidism”
Has anyone had this experience where the meds were messing with your thyroid production, it’s strange to me but I don’t believe I had any issues with my thyroid before especially given what the current side effects are.
It’s quite disheartening because Vyvanse has really helped me in other ways but would switching to any of the other stimulants have less of an effect on it messing with my thyroid? Or has anyone switched and had say Ritalin or dex IR stop the fluctuating thyroid levels?
It seems a bit rich that all of a sudden I’m having thyroid issues or it was already messed up previously because as I’m aware it’s never been a problem in the past prior to started treatment which leads me to suspect Vyvanse.
Symptoms; (common/uncommon side effects but as a whole point towards something else)

• dry course hair, alopecia, diffuse thinning and eyebrow hair loss (typically a sign of hypo)
  
• difficulty sleeping/nightmares (consistently)
  
• cold sensitivity (especially in the hands)
  
• no consistency day to day on meds (despite being strict w/ diet and supplementation)
  
• fatigue. Muscle/joint soreness (sporadically)
  
• tend to wake up w/ a puffy face/sinus pressure.
  

If anyone has had any experience with these issues, or your thyroid was messing up during ADHD treatment I’d love to hear from you!
Edit: (this is a repost here as I didn’t get any answers on another sub)
I started on 20mg and increased to 30mg at 1 month and have stayed there since.
I understand this isn’t a cure all, and it does come down to working on these things myself. But the main point is I believe it’s effecting my immune system, and 3 months in it’s gotten worse in those particular areas, like the focus of the post being thyroid TSH rising and was wondering if someone in here had experienced this or become diagnosed w/“subclinical-hypothyroidism”, or at least the same side effects that could mimic it. If it’s not common with anyone in the community I guess it shows it could be either a variable of the meds affecting me individually based on my own physiology or is unrelated entirely and is an underlying issue.

Hi everyone, I was born with severe hearing loss, got hearing aids at 10 y.o but stopped wearing them due to severe bullying (I now know how expensive these are and I've apologized to my parents). I picked them back up in '06.
Even having the top of the line Phonak (this is the brand that has helped me the most, better than Signa, which is what I had before), I still struggle in social situations. 😅 It is hard to follow several conversations at once, sometimes people talk to me, and I can not hear them very well and must ask them to repeat themselves. Some people think im being rude.
Even after asking them to speak up, things become awkward, and people tend to just stop talking to me.
Despite therapy work for it, I still struggle with feeling confident in such situations and often go into what my therapist refers to as selective mutism. Any pointers you can provide as to what has helped you be more comfortable in social situations, along with any reading material is welcome.
I am so ready to get a hang of this once and for all and be more actively involved in conversations,etc. Thanks in advance!

My boyfriend and I have been dating for over a year and a half. We had the conversation a while ago that I would only move in with someone if I was married to them. I’ve been in too many situations with past partners that have left me moving out after a breakup. We all know moving is never cheap and sometimes finding a place can be difficult. I wanted to make sure and protect myself this time around.
When things got serious, we started talking about our futures. I’ve had plenty of relationships that were not good/healthy… and being with him has been the complete opposite of anything I’ve ever had. I told him at that I knew and I was ready. We had been dating about 10 months at that point. He said he would like to date someone for at least a year and I understood.
Well, our one year anniversary was in October 2023. Then one day our conversation led to him saying he had proposed to his ex wife in December, so that month was out…. Fast forward to March 2024 and we were going on a 5 day trip to Vegas. Vegas was our first trip together as a couple back in 2024… so I thought just maybe… maybe he’ll ask! On the way to the airport, he says “just so that you know, I’m not planning on popping the question on this trip. I got my bonus just a couple of days ago and haven’t even been ring shopping.” Of course it’s not what I wanted to hear, but I understood. During the trip he pointed out several Tiffany stores we would pass by. By the 4th day, I started getting into a bad mood and went quiet. After thinking it over to myself, I eventually told him how I felt. I told him that from what I observed as his partner, when he wants to do something… he does it immediately. If he doesn’t, he beats around the bush and never gives a definite “no” answer. He said that even his friends get onto him about doing that.
So of course I said…. “It’s been a year. Over a year. Do you not want to marry me?” He said that wasn’t the case and it really was just waiting on his bonus. So then in a couple of weeks, he takes me to Tiffany’s and we pick out a ring, get it sized, and pick it up. Now I just wait.
My lease is up at the end of June so I had to go ahead and put in my 60 Day notice. We talked about it and we have both been excited. We bought bedroom furniture last weekend!
It’s been 2 months since he’s had the ring and still nothing. He knew how I felt about moving in together a while ago…. But still nothing. I feel like the conversation in Vegas pushed him to buy the ring. I almost feel as if I pushed him into furniture shopping (even though it was his idea, but just never pulled the trigger). Today, after work , I asked if he would like to do anything and even suggested some things. He came up with going to MicroCenter and then eating at Chuy’s afterwards so by then I knew it wasn’t going to happen again. 😔 So I got quiet. I told him never mind and that I wasn’t up for anything. I even later text him that I need some time to myself and even need to pause the moving in process.
I know this took him by surprise and he is very confused…. It hurts my heart but I don’t want to tell him about this because if he does propose soon, I will always think it’s because I pushed him to do it.
At this point I’m at a loss and don’t know how to navigate this.

First / Previous
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Suzanne thought it was absolutely brilliant of me to put books on a flash drive for Sun. She explained that Sun wasn’t as sophant (her word, not mine) as she might seem, more of a repository of information, but she was fairly intelligent. It was how she was able to connect Andrew being in pain to the fact that I was friends with Andrew, and that I would want to know that he was in trouble. Apparently some of Sun’s species had given some ‘wisdom’ to others in the past and it had made its way into mythology.
The key fact was that she was not smart enough to protect herself and her kind from the clever, organized poachers. With that information in mind, it was fascinating for me to think of how Sun took in and organized what she learned. It was almost as if she was a walking, talking library.
On the topic of tours, my first one went wonderfully, and I’m almost hoping Suzanne lets me do more of them. I know not all the tourists are going to be as awesome as these people were, but Suzanne gave me a lot of slack when it comes to dealing with them. She actually said that being a smartass is not grounds for dismissal, and that if I’m sarcastic or facetious to guests who are being ‘daft’ and they complain, she really doesn’t care. Is this the perfect job for me or what?
There were four guests in this party, two adults who were sisters and two children of one of the women, brothers aged thirteen and seventeen. The tour was a birthday gift for the older of the boys from his aunt, since apparently he was passionate about animal protection and conservation.
When they arrived at the front gate, I was sitting at Andrew’s desk, going over the booklet of information one last time. When the visitors pressed the button that sounded the alert buzzer, I tucked away in a drawer and let them in. I did have a cheat sheet with information about the animals on my phone just in case, a brief notation of each of them and which enclosure they were in, but I really didn’t need to use it.
Exiting through the front door, I saw them walk up the path toward me. “Hi, I’m Ripley,” I said, holding out a hand toward the woman closest to me.
She shook it firmly. “I’m Denise. This is my sister Carla and my nephews, Wesley and Jason,” she said, motioning to each of them in turn.
“I heard it’s your birthday,” I said to Wesley, giving him a smile. “You’re interested in animal conversation?”
“Back where we live, yeah,” he said, nodding. “The animals that you’ve got here are incredible. I can’t wait to see them.”
“Well, I can’t wait to show them to you,” I said. “Right this way.”
I led them on the path around the building, toward enclosure one. Despite the horrific memories of the animal killing Stanley’s friends, I knew it was just an animal, and I had to push past my feelings on what had happened. Keeping a small smile on my face, I motioned to the enclosure. “Fiercely territorial and amazing hunters, despite their large size, they’re arboreal and known to dart from tree to tree with barely a sound. This is one of only about two thousand left in existence.”
“Two thousand, three hundred and fifty six at last count,” spoke Wesley, his eyes on the trees.
I blinked, surprised and impressed. “Well that was fantastic. Do you plan on stealing my job when you graduate?”
Wesley looked at me with a grin. “Nah, everyone knows Suzanne only offers humans this gig. And I want to help animals like this one get off the endangered species list. The zoos are great for awareness and fundraising, but then the money has to go somewhere. I want to be doing the real work.”
“That’s really great,” I told him. “I wish you all the best in that career path.” At that, we saw the animal climb down from the tree, wandering a few yards from the tree line. This was because 90% of the time, when humans were at their enclosure and making noise, whether it was speaking to each other or calling out to the animal, it was someone bringing them prey to eat. Or, in my case, enrichment toys to play with.
“Whoa,” Wesley whispered.
“How close can we get?” spoke up Jason.
“The warding starts at the fence,” I told him with a small gesture. “So, just there.”
Both boys wandered closer and I glanced at their parents. It seemed that Suzanne’s zoo had a serious reputation for high quality invisible walls, because they didn’t look worried in the slightest about the boys being hurt or killed.
“They prefer dense forest as their home and have been known to make their nests in trees up to twenty meter in the air,” I continued. “And when hunting, they’ve been seen dropping eight meters straight down. They have incredibly dense yet flexible musculature, which allows them to tackle their prey without injuring themselves.”
There was more information about the animal that I continued to rattle off, though Wesley chimed in at certain points with the info I was about to convey. That was highly entertaining and very cool. When I’d been in school, I’d never met anyone who had my level of passion about endangered animals. I wondered if things were better where these folks came from, but realized that considering there were so few of these animals left, I guessed not.
The animal paced a little bit, seemingly waiting to see if we were the kind of humans that came bearing food, before deciding we weren’t and climbing back up into the trees as easily as I would climb some stairs.
As we moved onto enclosure two, Jason spoke up. “Are there any animals here we can touch or feed or something?”
I sighed inwardly before slowing to a stop. “Well, can you show me your hands?” Jason looked bemused, holding out his hands. “I mean…they both look like they’re in great shape. You can stand to lose one.”
The two women chuckled and Wesley smirked as Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. “Very funny.”
Grinning, I started walking again. “The animals here are all carnivores and all predators. You get to see them, but that’s it.”
“Alright.”
When we reached enclosure two, I started on my next spiel. “We’ve got three reanimated dead in this enclosure,” I spoke. They were just coming out from the trees as we arrived, presumably having heard our approach. “Marissa, Connor, and Bradley. They were donated by families who knew where they would be exhibited. Their next of kin, whoever they are, can’t stand the idea of putting them down. But we need to make sure they don’t have access to corpses, because one of them plus one corpse equals two of them.”
“They eat flesh though, don’t they?” Wesley asked.
I nodded. “Oh, yeah, but it’s from bodies that have already been dismembered. There’s no chance of them being affected by the transformation because it’s all parts.”
“Oh, got it.”
The creatures with blueish-white skin had superhuman strength, which is why they qualified for the security of Suzanne’s zoo. They also were likely the source of any Earth tales of people being brought back to life as zombies, specifically draugr, according to my research. They smelled like rotting flesh, so even as I kept talking about them and giving a background to the people they used to be, we were quick to move on once Wesley had gotten a good, long look at them.
“Enclosure four’s animal is a vampiric spirit. He’s a small, hairy humanoid creature with pointed ears. He wears a hat, and if he somehow loses it, he freaks out,” I said.
“They eat horses,” Wesley noted. “Also anything that gives them the chance to sit on it, usually catching them by surprise while they’re sleeping.”
The creature came out from the brush, giving us a suspicious look. He wasn’t in his humanoid form though; for some reason, he’d chosen to shapeshift to a dog.
I nodded. “Yep, indeed. Once the prey is dead, then he’ll eat it, and he has a voracious appetite. We have two wolves and two bears in the forest, which is one of the reasons I’ve got some self-defense items,” I said, patting my belt where my pepper spray (rated for bear) and my taser. “But the wards keep them out of this area of the zoo, so it’s really not much of a worry. It’s also a known shapeshifter, preferring the form of a dog, as you can see, as well as a cat, a snake, or even white butterflies, though the last one is rare.”
“The white butterflies are supposed to be a sign of good luck,” Wesley said, glancing to me. “Too bad we got the dog.”
“Yeah, otherwise you might be able to talk your mom into getting scratch-offs on your way home, huh?”
Wesley smirked at me.
The next enclosure was Spike, and he was waiting for us, dripping wet from having just emerged from the lake. I gave the introductory information about him, which included his propensity for eating animal eyes, nails, and teeth. “Recently, I’ve given him some enrichment activities, and I learned he likes artichokes, pecans, and hazelnuts,” I said, taking a bag out from my cargo shorts. “Wesley, do you want to toss this bag into the enclosure?”
The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded excitedly. He took a look into the paper bag before wrapping down the top to make sure nothing would fly out. Then he chucked it underhand past the fence. It landed a few yards from Spike, who waddled over to it quickly and tearing the bag open, spilling out the prizes inside. As the animal ate the pecans and hazelnuts, Wesley asked, “How’d you figure out he likes those?”
“It’s not all about taste,” I told him. “It’s mainly the difficulty of getting them out of the shells. He’s used to having to work for the parts of his prey he likes the most, so this mimics that activity, and he enjoys the process. I tried a bunch of different foods to find a few he liked.”
“Cool,” Wesley murmured, staring at him.
We watched Spike eat until he’d finished and then he went back into the woods, leaving us to move onto enclosure five. Japanese camellia were plentiful here, a type of pink flower, and that was because they grew anywhere near one of his species made their den. “This girl spends most of her time in the lake also,” I said, as the creature made its way toward the fence separating us from it. “But as you can see, she’s just as curious as the rest about what we’re doing here and whether we have food for her. She eats fish mostly, but she also regularly gets live prey.”
This creature was a spider-like monster, having six legs with long claws on each, and the head of an ox with two sharp horns. She was capable of shapeshifting to look like a human, but I guessed that she wasn’t fond of it, since I hadn’t yet seen her in that form.
“She prefers the easy way of catching prey, so to speak, by hiding in the lake and pouncing when something comes for a drink of water,” I explained. “Apparently humans are some of her favorite prey. She has an advantage of being able to spit poison, which often hits her prey in the eyes. But it’s usually used in defense rather than offense, since it secretes a limited amount.”
“What kind of animal would even go after something like this?” Jason asked, staring at her.
“Never discount one of its own species when you’re thinking about what might attack an animal,” I replied. “There are places that are breeding all of the animals here, but competition for mates is common. That means an advantage in a fight, like poison or venom, can make or break who the winner is.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“It can’t spit past the warding, right?” Carla suddenly asked.
“Oh, no,” I assured her. “We’re fine. The wards wouldn’t let anything cross over.” She nodded, appeased.
The animal in enclosure six was the ginormous seal-hippo, Fiona, and she was looking at us as if she was imagining sprinkling us with herbs and spices and stuffing us in an oven. “This girl is one animal I’m going to work on enrichment activities for next,” I told them. “She prefers to feed on crayfish, though she’s happy to eat any humans that wander into her territory. She’ll even make a sound like a baby crying to reel us in. I’ve heard it a bunch of times.”
“Can you get her to make the sound?” Jason asked, perking up.
I grinned. “Not on command, sorry.”
“What enrichment are you thinking of trying?” Wesley asked.
“Possibly food placed in puzzle feeders,” I told him, “since she has claws that are pretty dexterous. Maybe a piñata made out of newspaper with flour inside, or a scarecrow that mimics a human.”
“Awesome,” he muttered.
After a little more educational tidbits, we moved onto Yui’s enclosure. “What is that?” Wesley asked, smiling.
“I got Yui the closest thing I could to a ping-pong ball,” I replied. “She quite likes it.”
“That’s so funny,” he said as she came out of the trees in her spider form. “I mean, the idea of her being a bloodthirsty hunter who seduces men to their deaths and eats them alive, but then on the other hand, she likes playing with something like this.”
“It is a little funny,” I agreed. “But when it comes down to it, all the animals here enjoy activities besides hunting.”
“She can shapeshift to look human, right?” asked Jason, trying to be casual about knowing something factual like his nerdy brother.
I nodded. “She looks like a woman from a region of Earth called Japan. And she’ll use strategies like holding out a hand to shake to get you closer. She tried that on me when I first got here but, as you can see,” I said, holding up my hands and waving them, “I didn’t fall for it.”
The boys both laughed as they got closer to the fence, watching her slowly pace near the trees.
Next was Sun, but she didn’t make an appearance as I spoke about her species. “Well…unfortunately we can’t guarantee that every animal comes out to say hi,” I sighed. “But…oh wait, here she is.”
The green lion with several horns and many eyes along her flank came out from the forest. “Hello,” she spoke.
“Hi, Sun,” I replied. “We have visitors.”
“What’s that?” Wesley asked suddenly, pointing at the small plastic bag that was still where I’d left it.
“Oh! That is Sun’s enrichment,” I said with a smile. “I put dozens of books on a flash drive and found that she can read them just like she’d read a shelf of books.”
Wesley’s eyes widened. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve read about anyone trying that before. That’s really cool.”
“The books are new and interesting,” Sun spoke, drawing our attention. “I’m grateful for them.”
I nodded to her. “You’re quite welcome.”
The next animal, unfortunately, wasn’t there, and we waited around for ten minutes as we discussed him. He was large and reptile-like with red eyes, with its hind legs and tail making him look vaguely like a kangaroo. Then, enclosure ten was a terrifyingly disturbing creature, the not-a-centaur with no skin, that I’d only seen a few times while walking my route. It gave a good demonstration of its ferocity, showing its sharp teeth and snapping at us a few times.
“I’m thinking of trying salt licks and other horse enrichment like a big bouncy ball,” I told Wesley, whose eyebrows went up at that. “Maybe give him more things to forage like scattered grains or a box filled with pinecones and seeds. Foraging is a huge part of a horse’s life in the wild, and humans have to do a lot of activities like that to keep pet horses busy. Of course, he also loves the little salt-water lake that was built for him.”
We spent some time looking at the animal before moving past our last stop, the empty enclosure of the animal was stolen. Carla glanced at me with a sad smile, knowing what had happened, it seemed. I gave her a nod as we continued on our way, walking into the office. “So, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!” I said with a smile.
“That was the coolest birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” Wesley said, looking to Denise. “Thanks so much, seriously.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said with a nod. “I’d never been here before, and knew I’d find it fascinating. Thank you for the educational aspect,” Denise said, glancing at me. “I learned quite a lot.”
“Happy to hear it,” I said, returning the nod.
As I escorted the guests out of the zoo and locked the door behind them, I reflected on how much I’d changed. The first time I’d seen Yui’s tarantula form, I’d nearly passed out from fear. Now here I was, walking tourists around like it was no big deal. Humans really can adapt to anything, it seems.
That afternoon, Suzanne had texted me that she was coming by after my shift, and I met her in Andrew’s office, shutting the door to the security room behind me. “How’s Andrew?” I asked first thing.
“He’s doing well,” she said with a wide smile. “Back on non-hospital food. He’s allowed to order food on his phone, and to hear it from him, that’s the best news he’d received in a long time.”
I chuckled. “I guess some clichés are true for a reason.”
“Indeed.” She took a breath. “All right. Ripley…I would like to discuss something with you.”
My face went slack at the serious tone in her voice. “I’m not… Am I being fired?”
“What? No!” she exclaimed. Then she chuckled softly. “No, it’s nothing like that. Just, here, let’s have a seat.” Suzanne walked over to the couch and sat at one end, and I took the other. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve kept from you, that I wanted to keep from you until you found your sea legs here.”
“Well…I have,” I said with a nod. “So, what is it?”
Suzanne took a breath. “I knew your mother.”
The words hung in the air for a moment before making their way to my ears. It was a perfectly logical sentence, and yet it didn’t make any sense. “What?” I finally managed.
“When you graduated college, I decided to move the zoo from Italy to within driving distance of your home,” she said softly. “Near enough to your town that you’d see the advert. We ignored any other applicants and I hoped you’d apply. Actually, I expected you’d apply. Not just for the money, but considering the field you wanted to go into. As soon as I’d found out your major, I knew.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, holding up a hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How do you know Patricia?”
“She owned the zoo before I did,” Susan explained. “Fourteen years ago…she was working to track an injured animal that we could bring into the zoo and she was killed by poachers.”
My heart calcified in my chest and a lump lodged in my throat. As my breaths became shaky, I stared at her in shock. “She…she’s really dead?”
“You suspected?” she asked softly.
“It…” I swallowed hard. “We had her declared legally dead after…I don’t know, seven years I think. My dad wanted to go after her for child support, but the police said…they said they couldn’t find…” Tears came to my eyes and I blinked them back before I met Suzanne’s gaze. “She owned the zoo?”
Suzanne nodded. “It was her baby, you’d say. When Patricia passed, I inherited it, which we’d discussed beforehand, a legal just-in-case that I never expected her to need. I’m under the impression that you were told she went to Africa for her photography career, but she was in fact going to remote areas back in my home world almost every time.”
“But I-I saw the photos,” I said, my eyes narrowing. “You’re telling me she put on a show of getting pictures that someone else took for us to see every time she visited? Did my dad even know?”
“I suppose that’s an accurate way to put it, putting on a show. And no, your father was never told. It’s not the way of things to tell humans unless it’s necessary. I won’t bore you with the details, but us and humans, we’re distant relatives, so we can still have children. But it wasn’t planned. Your mother fell in love with your father despite herself; she hadn’t meant to find love. Then she became pregnant with you and…well, the rest is history.”
“I think she had a different definition of love than the one I have,” I said tightly. “You’d think she’d have put her survival as more of a priority. Put being with the man she ‘loved’ as a priority. Her kids needed her. I needed her. She signed up when she became a mom. She could’ve screwed up all the time but she couldn’t even manage that one job: be there. When I was in the hospital, I kept thinking, ‘Where is she?’ and now you’re telling me that she put these animals above being there for her kids, and this whole time she’s been dead.”
“The hospital?” she asked, furrowing her brows.
“Never mind,” I said tersely, averting my gaze.
Suzanne hesitated before she nodded slowly. “I’m sorry for your loss, and not just for her death, Ripley,” she told me. “Patricia was…well, a ‘free spirit’ would be putting it gently. She always assumed the world would be there for her whenever she needed it.”
Staring at her for a long moment, I shook my head. “Why? Why come here and hire me?”
“I thought that would be obvious,” she said, smiling. “Your mother was so passionate about this place and once I found out your college major, I figured you would be as well.”
“Did you know that I hate her?” At that, Suzanne’s expression froze on the edge of shock. “She…she left us,” I whispered. “Didn’t tell us who she was or what she really did for a living and gave us no closure. And even when she was here, it was just visiting. Her real home was her work. She could give me all the presents she wanted, but even when she was here, half the time she was still on her computer doing work. It’s not like that stereotype of never making it to my tennis practice or something; it’s that it always felt like she was only partially here, even when I was sitting next to her. I don’t even know if I appreciate her turning me into a wildlife fanatic because it…it…makes me feel like I’m close to her in a way that’s just infuriating. She loved the animals more than she loved us.”
“Oh, Ripley-”
“Don’t,” I said, shoving myself to my feet. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said quietly. I pursed my lips. “I was going to say that I’m sorry that was the case. Your mother was…flawed, just like any other person. She had two loves in this world: her family and her work. And often, her work overcame her, her zeal for environmentalism getting in the way of being a good mum. She left your father trying to fill the role of two parents, holding your family together. You and your brother and your father, you all deserved better than that.”
My lower lip quivered but I bit down on it hard. It would’ve been a lot easier for me if she’d been speaking from a place of clueless reassurance about all this. But everything she said was making sense and that meant I didn’t have someone in front of me to be angry with.
“Why didn’t you tell me when Andrew hired me?” I sighed, sitting back down on the couch.
“Well, like I said, I wanted you to find your sea legs,” she said with a small smile. “I didn’t want the truth affecting whether or not you wanted to work here, whether you wanted to stay here after finding out about what the animals are. It would’ve complicated things, the emotions you’ll have to work through now that you know the truth. Whether or not you decide to give another tour, you also know what they’re like. That’s the benchmark I wanted you to reach before you found out about who you are.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Who I-” My face went slack. “Wait.”
Suzanne nodded slowly. “You’re only half human. Your brother too.”
The room seemed to tilt on an axis for a moment. “That means I’m also half…what?”
“We call ourselves Eldritch, these days,” she replied.
My eyes bugged out. “What?” I exclaimed. “So you’re all, like, gods or something?”
Suzanne burst out laughing. “Oh no, goodness, no,” she chuckled. “It’s just a word. We live in a very different world from this one, and a few generations ago we discovered the word and it made its way into our lexicon. But it does mean you can see all the animals. Indeed you did, on the tour you gave.”
“Wait, no, I had the glasses that…” I stopped. “Did those glasses do anything?”
She gave a sly smile and shook her head. “Not a thing. You made incredibly quick progress, and then when it came time for the tour, all you needed was to expect to see the animals, and you did.”
Genetics. That’s what Andrew had said during our interview, that part of how many animals you could see was determined by genetics. I guess having a mother who was originally from the other dimension gave me all the genes I needed to see everything here. “Could I…visit your world?” I asked tentatively. “You said that my mom took photos of the animals there. Could I…” My voice trailed off, not even sure if or how I wanted to finish that sentence.
“Those who are half human, especially those who are raised on Earth, don’t come visit,” she said gently. “I could show you some photos of other animals, and I could loan you as many books as you’d like, but it’s simply not a place where you’d be safe.”
“Oh,” I said, leaning into the couch cushion as I pictured the animals in the zoo. “Yeah, actually that…makes sense.” I paused. “So, what now?”
“It’s up to you,” she said. “I wanted to wait until I was sure you were comfortable with your position here, and then put the ball in your court. And so it is. What do you want to do now?”
What did I want to do? It wasn’t that difficult a question, just a deep, serious one.
I wanted to thrive, as the animals did. This is my enrichment now, working at an incredible, wonderful, terrifying zoo. The experience so far hasn’t been perfect, and I know there are risks, but life isn’t about staying safe. It’s about learning new things and making a difference in the world. And, if you’re lucky, having a job that’s something really special.
​
THE END
​
First / Previous
***
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Hi all. Just found this sub. I was officially diagnosed last month when the MRI results came back. It all started for me after my TBI 8 years ago. I've been through many working theories of what this might be: vestibular migraines, inner ear infections (like the part that looks like a snail). Diagnosis wasn't easy as my hearing loss is already permanent (I was in a coma and awoke from that with a unilateral hearing loss, of course it was the side affected by Meniere's too), and all symptoms persist for upwards of a week at a time.
I'm on Betahistine for the dizziness, and it's amazingly effective. But has anyone found anything that helps the nausea or headache? Advil and gravol don't touch it

Oklahoma City, OK – Mrs. Lauren Peck-Weisenfels, the drama teacher at Classen School of Advanced Studies at North East High School, has come under scrutiny for allegations of bullying and discriminatory behavior towards autistic and physically disabled students. The claims have ignited concerns about the treatment of vulnerable students in the school’s drama department.
A Troubled Past
Four years ago, Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels was a teacher at Classen School of Advanced Studies Middle School. During a virtual class in 2020, she allegedly expressed disdain for teaching autistic and special education students, stating, "I hate teaching autistic & special Ed students!" This remark, reportedly overheard by the mothers of two seventh-grade students, prompted complaints to the school administration.
Despite these allegations, Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels was later transferred to the high school, where she continued to teach drama. Concerns about her behavior persisted as students from her middle school classes advanced to high school and found themselves once again under her instruction.
Current Allegations
This school year, a sophomore student who had previously encountered Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels in middle school was placed in her class due to limited elective options. According to the student and their mother, Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels continued to exhibit unkind and discriminatory behavior. The student, who is physically disabled, was allegedly ridiculed for their inability to keep up with costume-making tasks and was marginalized within the class.
In February 2024, Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels emailed the student's mother, stating her intention to fail the student for wearing headphones in class, even though the student was not being disruptive. The email hinted that Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels felt slighted by the student’s lack of engagement, which the mother attributes to previous verbal and emotional abuse.
The Role of Headphones for Autistic Students
Headphones are a critical tool for many autistic individuals, particularly teenagers, to manage sensory overload. Studies show that about 87% of autistic individuals experience sensory sensitivities. Headphones can help mitigate overwhelming sounds, enabling students to focus better and participate in classroom activities more comfortably.
Despite this, Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels reportedly expressed a desire to fail the student for wearing headphones in class. This attitude reflects a lack of understanding and accommodation for the needs of autistic students, who often use such tools to navigate their environment effectively.
May Incident and Unreported Bullying
In May 2024, tensions escalated further when Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels threatened to fail the student over a makeup project, despite the student attending their grandmother's funeral. This incident, while serious, was not formally reported at the time.
Additionally, another student, who uses a cane due to a physical disability, has been subjected to bullying by Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels and her entourage of students. The bullying has occurred behind the student's back and included mockery of their use of a cane and their social media activities, particularly on Tumblr. These actions were not reported until the evening of May 17, 2024, when the student with headphones informed their mother about the incidents.
The May 17 Incident
On May 17, 2024, Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels and a group of students allegedly taunted the aforementioned student in her office, calling them "lazy," "deaf," "ditzy," "slow," "stupid," and "a hindrance to the drama department." Believing the student couldn’t hear due to their headphones, the group reportedly yelled the student's name mockingly. The student, however, overheard everything but chose not to engage.
The same day, Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels reportedly threw a tantrum, slamming items around the classroom in an attempt to provoke a reaction from the student, who continued to ignore her.
Perpetuating Ableism and Discriminatory Rhetoric
Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels’ behavior is not only harmful to the targeted students but also perpetuates ableist and discriminatory rhetoric among her student entourage. By encouraging and participating in the mockery of disabled students, she is teaching her followers to normalize and perpetuate these harmful attitudes. According to psychological studies, teenagers are highly impressionable, and the behavior modeled by authority figures can significantly influence their beliefs and actions.
The Psychology of Living Vicariously Through Teenagers
Research indicates that some adults feel the need to live vicariously through teenagers, seeking approval and acting like them to fulfill unmet emotional needs or relive their own youth. This behavior can be particularly detrimental when exhibited by educators, as it blurs the boundaries between professional and personal interactions. Statistics show that about 30% of adults who exhibit this behavior struggle with identity issues and seek validation through younger individuals.
For teenagers, witnessing an adult, especially an educator, behave in such a manner can lead to confusion, loss of respect for authority, and the normalization of inappropriate behavior. This can contribute to a culture of bullying and exclusion, as students may mimic the adult's actions to gain favor or avoid becoming targets themselves.
The normalization of such discriminatory behavior can have lasting effects, contributing to a culture of intolerance and bullying. Studies indicate that witnessing or participating in bullying can lead to increased aggression, anxiety, and a distorted sense of empathy among youths. It is crucial to address these issues to prevent the spread of abusive behaviors and to promote a supportive and inclusive environment.
Parental Actions and School Response
Following these events, the student with the headphones relayed the incidents to their mother after school on May 17. The mother promptly contacted Kendall Stills with OKCPS via text message, though no response was received. That evening, the mother filed a formal TIPS report with Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS), detailing the history of bullying and including screenshots as evidence. She also contacted the parents of the student with the cane, encouraging them to email Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels and file a formal TIPS report. The mother included the names of the students in Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels' entourage and mentioned her own student in the report to help corroborate the incidents.
The parents involved are currently awaiting a response from OKCPS. Given that next week marks the last few days of the school year, it is uncertain when or if a resolution will be reached. The allegations against Mrs. Peck-Weisenfels highlight broader issues of inclusivity and respect for disabled students within the educational system.
Broader Implications
The situation at Classen School of Advanced Studies raises important questions about the responsibility of educators to create a supportive and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, particularly those with disabilities. As the community awaits the school district’s response, the case underscores the need for vigilance and advocacy to protect the rights and well-being of vulnerable students.

Let me Begin with "I LOVE YOU BESTIE! YOURE AWESOME AND I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU DO! KEEP IT UP GURL!". Now for my story:
So I just moved in to town (this was 2yrs ago) and immediately start to look for jobs...well I walked into a gas station one day thirsty after having 3 interviews all over town I see that they are also hiring so I took the risk and I asked for an application immediately on hearing that i wanted one the management coming racing out the office as if she was in desperate need to fill the position...we sat down in her office i told her about my previous experience and she asked when i could start and if i had my id and social on me...i stated that i can start asap and then proceeded to hand her my id and social she made copies and I got hired that day...so I come in for my 1st 3shifts with someone supposedly trying to train me but I already have knowledge of working gas stations before and I'm very familiar with everything so i pretty much showed her what i knew while she just sat back and watched me do everything including the paperwork without her trying to show how (yes this was 3 days in a row) once my training was over I was all by myself on my shift after that. Now I know when you want a day off you must at the very least do it 2wks in advanced I went through a tragedy the previous year with my older sister being MURDERED...i put in at the end of my shift and when I was about to leave my MG calls me into her office...She asked me "Why I wanted AUG 14th off?" I proceeded to explain to her "That I do not have to advise her as to why I need the day off but I will tell you anyway...last yr on Aug 14th my older sister was murdered so I know that I will not be able to conduct myself in a professional manner as I most likely will be very emotional...." IN COMES THE AUDACITY! she says to me "I don't understand why you want a day off to celebrate the death of your sister my parents dies recently and I still came into work" I snapped a little "I'm sorry for your loss but you can not compare my sisters MURDER to your parents NATURAL DEATH?...besides people greave differently and I like to do it ALONE!" and I walked away from and she continues talking but not directly to me but other employees coming into their shift that she doesn't understand why a death anniversary constitutes a day off...I walked out the building smoking a cigarette (which I had quit a yr previous but I couldn't handle that and wanted to punch her lights out but I know she carries a gun on her so I'm not doing that...) I QUIT THE NEXT DAY AND SHES STILL LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO WORK FOR HER 2YRS LATER...LMAO KARMA"S A BITCH KAREN (not her actual name).

This just happened and I'm unsure whether or not I'm the AH here.
I, 45M, just went ack to the dating scene recently after taking a 5 year break. I had been protecting my mental health during that time because of past traumas. After my last serious relationship ended terribly, I wasn't looking for anything serious this time around.
I joined Tinder to see if I could get some dates and I got a few matches. This is how I met Catherine (fake name, 42F). We chatted for a while in the app and we shared some interests. We decided to meet for coffee for a first date. It went well and coffee was extended in a small hike on Mount-Royal, a small mountain in our city. It was fun and we left it at that for the first date.
We had three more dates over the following months as we both wanted to take it slow. On that fourth date was when we first got physical and we had fun.
We had another date this Thursday. She came to my place and I cooked a vegan meal (she's vegan, I'm not). We had a nice meal. She called it a good effort and appreciated that I made the effort to cook something beyond pasta or making a salad. She spent the night at my place, so I thought everything was going great.
This brings us to today. She invited me to her place, saying she wanted to cook for me to return the favor. I accepted and I got to her place. She gives me the owner's tour and shows me her son's room. She had never mentioned him before on our dates, so I ask her questions about her son. We start prepping the meal together. Her phone rings and she goes to the living room to take the call.
I hear her gasp and ask "Is he okay?" I try not to eavesdrop, but the apartment is small. She hangs up and walks back in the kitchen, looking pale. Her son is feeling absolutely sick. He was at his father's as it was his week with him. But now that he's sick, his son is asking for his mother and her ex is bringing him over. She tells me that she's not comfortable introducing her son to me just yet as this is a big step.
Apparently, this is where I was the AH. I tell her I completely understand and we can take a raincheck on today and meet back at another time when he's feeling better. I have dated other mothers and I know their kid is the first priority. I tell her to take care of her kid and I understand. I kiss her goodbye, she hugs me and I leave.
I get home 30 minutes later. I send her a text asking her how her son is and hoping her kid feels better. She sends me this reply: "I knew you were an AH, you never really cared about me. As soon as you knew there was no sex for you tonight, you just bailed." I tell her that she told me to leave and I respected her decision, how can that be viewed as "bailing out". She says "If you don't know how fucked up it is that you left, maybe we shouldn't talk anymore." and she blocked me.
Was I really the AH for leaving? I'm honestly at a loss for words with this.

30 year fan, not some newbie here. Just something I never really thought about much before.
I mean, those little foam earplugs are well and good for fans 200 yards away from the track for 4 hours on a sunday, but they can't possibly be effective for long term use, right? Even more advanced protection seems outgunned by the sheer amount of time these guys are exposed to engine noise
Figure an average driver has 10 years experience when you factor in local racing, trucks/xfinity and cup.. that's tens of thousands of hours in the car for practices, testing, races etc.. you mean to tell me they don't have defective protection once in a while? Military veterans sued 3m over it and won a ton of money not too long ago, so it happens. Just something I don't see mentioned.

Hey all. Hoping the best & brightest that I know are here might be able to point me in the right direction of what's happening to me 🙏😭 I'm at my absolute wits end tonight mentally & just hoping to hear from anyone with suggestions on specialists or what factors might be at play.
More details below & about my LC in my post history (https://www.reddit.com/LongHaulersRecovery/s/e0qhGhz9vK) but started combo Birth Control (nylia) on 5/10 for an IVF cycle, last dose 5/14 & had extreme reaction.

• Current Symptoms that started 10 days ago: Anxiety, depression, increased temperature, diarrhea, increased BP (119/77 to 143/86) & RHR (68 to 74), stronger tinnitus, severe RLS at night only sleeping 1-2 hrs at a time, leg pains over veins, bulging veins in legs mainly but also hands, psoriasis flare and expansion on ankles and elbows, dry skin that felt on fire on my body, legs that felt like fire ants were crawling on them, dry mouth, headache, noticeable veins over whole body and insomnia.

About Me 36/F 5'5" 208lbs, PCOS, psoriasis, hypothyroid, reflux, Gastroparesis, dry eye, infertility and IDWA. On Nexium, synthroid, prenatal, CoQ10, D3, B12, omega 3s, and miralax 2x/day.
2021 infection after 3x moderna, tinnitus, pots, exertion intolerance, post viral Gastroparesis, dry eye, brain fog. 4 months post infection had GB removed, helped symptoms a lot. 2022 and 2023 boosters went totally fine, no issues. Modified diet, worked w/post covid clinic & by 2023 besides tinnitus & GP, felt great and was cleared by every specialist at age 35 to try for a baby.
2023 Conceived and lost 3 pregnacies in a row. First in Sept at 10w miscarriage, then had COVID 3 weeks later - took paxlovid and it helped tremendously, didn't feel like any symptoms worsened. Next was a chemical at 5 weeks Dec, and 3rd was at 8 weeks blighted ovum in Feb. D&c surgeries for 1 & 3. By the 2nd pregnancy I was severely iron deficient from my limited GP diet & pregnacy (ferritin 4, iron sat 21%, iron 30, abnormal mch/MCV) and I feel that contributed to the 2 later losses, first was random genetic. IV iron Infusions necessary bc didn't tolerate oral with GP, did 4 and just finished 4/30 - getting updated iron bloods Monday.
Now Stopped BC 4 days ago when it became unbearable & went to PCP, they're baffled as the extreme leg and vein stuff doesn't fit bc side effects. Sent me & no DVT on duplex US, told stop BC, wear compression socks, take magnesium, elevate, watch BP. I wake up at night with knee and below feeling hot, woke up shaking one night. BP and RhR 5 days out have started to stabilize 🙏 but even now I still experience side of neck tightening, yesterday and today had major sharp headaches when I never get headaches and one eye blurry - it went to my teeth and then my left eye felt a bit of pressure and now is slightly blurry despite my eye drops.
I'm suspecting CVI about the veins, and I was really just hoping that the worsened tinnitus, headache and temp issues are hormone related but a few hours is 6 days from stopping pills. I can't believe 4 fucking pills did this all to me.
Any help or suggestions of what to look into. extremely appreciated. 🙏

Apologize if this isn't the right place to ask, but I have a somewhat unusual question and wasn't sure where else to go. Recently, I've lost a significant amount of weight and even converted some fat into muscle. However, I've noticed that I can't hit some of the lower notes I used to reach. Could this be due to my weight loss? Is it possible that I'm still able to hit those notes but am hearing them differently now? I remember my parents talking about "Big Luther" vs. "Skinny Luther" (Lutherwas a bit before my time), and I wonder if there was truly a difference. Could my weight loss be affecting my voice in a similar way? I also been working out like mad and eating next to nothing if that plays a role in things.