I am EXHAUSTED after my shift today, so here are a few of the gems of the day:
Boomer dude walks in and comes straight through the store to the pharmacy, says "HEY" loudly at me until I look up at him (I was counting), and then says, "Are there any heating pads in the heating pad aisle?" I just told him "I don't know? Go look?" Then I went back to counting while he stared daggers at the side of my head for a while, then he let out a HUGE sigh and went to look in the aisle himself.
Boomer lady on the phone talks over my greeting demanding her opioid. I start confirm her info and she interrupts me to demand my name (which she'd already have heard if she hadn't talked over me in the first place). I eventually get around to explaining that the doctor put a "do not fill before" date on it for tomorrow and she interrupts me yet again to say she KNOWS THAT but she wants to be SURE it'll be filled FIRST THING. I have to tell her like 3 times that I'll leave tomorrow's pharmacist a note because she's talking over me so much. I finally print out her info and give it to the pharmacist, and he gives me a puzzled look and holds up another copy of the same printout. She'd already called once to make the same demands.
Yet another Boomer lady is walking up to the gate one minute after we're supposed to close for lunch. Our pharmacist is checking out some other lady who spent the whole 15 minutes before we closed chatting to her friend right in front of the pharmacy and is only now getting around to picking up. I tell the new woman, "I'm sorry we're closed" as I clock out. She demands we serve her anyway, and I tell her she can come back in half an hour. She says "Well why can't you help me now?" Because I only get 30 minutes to eat, and I've already clocked out. She leans over her cart and YELLS at me, "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU NEED? YOU NEED TO LEARN SOME BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE!"
Had a toddler start to come into the pharmacy through the swing gate and I stepped in front of her and shooed her back, and her mom glared at me and said "It's fine if she goes through, she'll come out again when I call her." Uh... no?
Millennial guy who has had major attitude issues with me before called to demand his Trulicity because he needs it, and when I explained that there's unfortunately a shortage and no one within at least 20 miles has any, he started in with the kind of language that makes me feel perfectly justified in hanging up the phone. He was actually the second person today to hold me personally responsible for a backorder, so that's fun.
I also couldn't help but note today that every SINGLE person who asked me "How are you?" then immediately started in with telling me what they wanted without giving me a chance to answer. I don't care if you ask, but thanks for making it clear that you see me as an automaton!
Anyway, I had a super fun day full of absolutely exhausting humans. Hope your shifts went better!

Hello everyone. My boyfriend (M23) and I (F20) have been together for over 2 years. He is my first serious boyfriend, and he treats me so well. He has so many great qualities, and he is my exact type. We moved in together one year ago, and it’s been going well. We live in a very expensive area, which we are able to afford due to his well-paying job. He got me out of a bad situation with my family, where I wasn’t being fed properly and was emotionally abused daily. I have a better relationship with my parents now that I am out of that house, but I still need distance from them. My dad and I used to be extremely close, but now we rarely talk to one another. My mom and I talk weekly, so I’m glad I have that with her. My boyfriend has an amazing family. They are the family that I wish I was a part of while growing up. His parents are so sweet and supportive of us. His mom and I are like best friends, and I love talking to her. His dad is so helpful and always gives me good life advice.
My boyfriend introduced his uncle to me when we were one year into dating. I will call him Ned. I remember the first time I met Ned. I came over to say hello, and we made eye contact, and my heart was racing. I thought he was one of the most handsome men I had ever seen in my life. He and my boyfriend look so much alike. Ned has such a confident and attractive demeanor. He has a high-paying job and loves traveling and doing adventurous things. He has always been friendly to me, greeting me with hugs. He calls me cute and was making lots of eye contact the first time we met. Flash forward to a year later, and my boyfriend and I decided to move in together, and the area we live in is about an hour's drive away from Ned and his family. So when my boyfriend and I drove down with all our belongings in our cars, Ned offered for us to spend the weekend at his house and for me to meet his family. They live in a mansion and are very well off.
Ned has a pretty and cool wife, whom I believe is in her 30s, who is hardworking and has an amazing business. He also has two beautiful children under the age of ten that I adore. I hit it off with his family; they immediately reminded me of the family I want to have one day. The entire weekend, his uncle was making eye contact with me, calling me beautiful and cute. Flash forward to six months later. Ned visits my boyfriend and I at our place, where my boyfriend and I smoke with him and just relax and banter with one another. Ned kept going off about how much my boyfriend’s family loves me and how beautiful I am. Ned also brought up how big his thing is compared to my boyfriend, to which I gasped and looked over at my boyfriend, who was dying of laughter.
Flash forward to six months later. My boyfriend's entire family comes over to Ned’s house to have a boat day. Everyone was there except Ned's wife, and the entire time he was touching me by the shoulder and hand again, giving me alcohol, making lots of eye contact, and I even caught him looking at me, to which he looked away. He always comes up to me to start a conversation and get to know me better. He hands me glasses filled to the brim with wine and touches my hand so caressingly. I don’t think much of it, and while this happens, The morning of the boat ride, we get on the boat, and Ned introduces me to friends of his and once again gives me alcohol. My boyfriend is very close with his uncle, and they get along so well. Ned made a joke about how many fingers it takes to get inside a woman, to which my boyfriend just laughed.
I’m playing with his kids the entire time, and Ned comments that I would be an amazing mom and that I am so good with them. He took lots of pictures of me and the kids, as well as pictures of me when I wasn't looking. We get back to the house to eat, and I catch him constantly staring at me once again. My boyfriend and I then leave. A week later, Ned texted my boyfriend to go have sex with me so that he could use our streaming service to watch a game since we were using it, and this caught me by surprise. We went to visit Ned and his family a week later to watch a game, and Ned’s wife was there. Whenever she is around, Ned is not flirtatious with me at all and tries to cut conversations short. He still makes lots of eye contact with me, asks for my age, and gives me plenty of alcohol.
I think Ned’s wife notices him staring at me and laughing with me, to which she gives me dirty looks and makes rude remarks. I made an inside joke with my boyfriend, asking if he recognized some songs that were playing "in the streets," to which Ned's wife replied, saying I was trying to act "ghetto" and giving me dirty looks, which made me pause and go silent the rest of the night. We finally leave, and my boyfriend tells me that Ned was married three times and that his wife is not affectionate towards him and the kids that much, and she can’t relax. Ever since then, I can’t stop thinking about Ned. He is on my mind 24/7. He is twice my age, and I dream about him constantly and have sexual thoughts about him. I would never hurt my boyfriend and his family, whom I adore. But I can’t get Ned out of my head. What do I do?
TL;DR: I love my boyfriend, but I cannot stop thinking about his uncle, and I have a massive crush on him. What do I do?

Insomnia RP — https://discord.gg/mBTcpUgkny
NEW 18+ FiveM server. No whitelist application! A place with many opportunities for criminals, police, medical, civilians and car enthusiasts! We opened Friday, May 17th to a fresh start!
✨ Features 🎉 - We are newly developed, up to date, with a fresh start to all. Looking for Police, mechanics, and medics!
📊 - Launch day we averaged 20 people, little to no issues. Over 100 discord members within a month. We care, and will continue to grow.
🚗 - Affordable starter vehicles, and many opportunities for car enthusiasts like customizations, car shows, and the ability to one of one a vehicle.
📌 - Here in Insomnia we focus on quality of roleplay. We offer player owned businesses, Many MLO hangout locations, working arcades and trained emergency services.
🎭 - For criminal activity, we believe in interactions and roleplay before ending a scene in handcuffs and jail. Story and well thought plans deserve to be recognized. Our development team plans to expand criminal activities for many possibilities
🌳 - Cherry blossom trees, and large forest trees that makes a unique and beautiful city truly a see for your self experience.
Best GTA FiveM Servers, GTA Online Servers, GTA Roleplay, Grand Theft Auto Roleplay

insomniarp #gta5 #roleplay #fivem #gta6 #rockstargames #gtafivem #gta #gtaonline

Insomnia RP — https://discord.gg/mBTcpUgkny
NEW 18+ FiveM server. No whitelist application! A place with many opportunities for criminals, police, medical, civilians and car enthusiasts! We opened Friday, May 17th to a fresh start!
✨ Features 🎉 - We are newly developed, up to date, with a fresh start to all. Looking for Police, mechanics, and medics!
📊 - Launch day we averaged 20 people, little to no issues. Over 100 discord members within a month. We care, and will continue to grow.
🚗 - Affordable starter vehicles, and many opportunities for car enthusiasts like customizations, car shows, and the ability to one of one a vehicle.
📌 - Here in Insomnia we focus on quality of roleplay. We offer player owned businesses, Many MLO hangout locations, working arcades and trained emergency services.
🎭 - For criminal activity, we believe in interactions and roleplay before ending a scene in handcuffs and jail. Story and well thought plans deserve to be recognized. Our development team plans to expand criminal activities for many possibilities
🌳 - Cherry blossom trees, and large forest trees that makes a unique and beautiful city truly a see for your self experience.
Best GTA FiveM Servers, GTA Online Servers, GTA Roleplay, Grand Theft Auto Roleplay

insomniarp #gta5 #roleplay #fivem #gta6 #rockstargames #gtafivem #gta #gtaonline

Insomnia RP — https://discord.gg/mBTcpUgkny
NEW 18+ FiveM server. No whitelist application! A place with many opportunities for criminals, police, medical, civilians and car enthusiasts! We opened Friday, May 17th to a fresh start!
✨ Features 🎉 - We are newly developed, up to date, with a fresh start to all. Looking for Police, mechanics, and medics!
📊 - Launch day we averaged 20 people, little to no issues. Over 100 discord members within a month. We care, and will continue to grow.
🚗 - Affordable starter vehicles, and many opportunities for car enthusiasts like customizations, car shows, and the ability to one of one a vehicle.
📌 - Here in Insomnia we focus on quality of roleplay. We offer player owned businesses, Many MLO hangout locations, working arcades and trained emergency services.
🎭 - For criminal activity, we believe in interactions and roleplay before ending a scene in handcuffs and jail. Story and well thought plans deserve to be recognized. Our development team plans to expand criminal activities for many possibilities
🌳 - Cherry blossom trees, and large forest trees that makes a unique and beautiful city truly a see for your self experience.
Best GTA FiveM Servers, GTA Online Servers, GTA Roleplay, Grand Theft Auto Roleplay

insomniarp #gta5 #roleplay #fivem #gta6 #rockstargames #gtafivem #gta #gtaonline

Insomnia RP — https://discord.gg/mBTcpUgkny
NEW 18+ FiveM server. No whitelist application! A place with many opportunities for criminals, police, medical, civilians and car enthusiasts! We opened Friday, May 17th to a fresh start!
✨ Features 🎉 - We are newly developed, up to date, with a fresh start to all. Looking for Police, mechanics, and medics!
📊 - Launch day we averaged 20 people, little to no issues. Over 100 discord members within a month. We care, and will continue to grow.
🚗 - Affordable starter vehicles, and many opportunities for car enthusiasts like customizations, car shows, and the ability to one of one a vehicle.
📌 - Here in Insomnia we focus on quality of roleplay. We offer player owned businesses, Many MLO hangout locations, working arcades and trained emergency services.
🎭 - For criminal activity, we believe in interactions and roleplay before ending a scene in handcuffs and jail. Story and well thought plans deserve to be recognized. Our development team plans to expand criminal activities for many possibilities
🌳 - Cherry blossom trees, and large forest trees that makes a unique and beautiful city truly a see for your self experience.
Best GTA FiveM Servers, GTA Online Servers, GTA Roleplay, Grand Theft Auto Roleplay

insomniarp #gta5 #roleplay #fivem #gta6 #rockstargames #gtafivem #gta #gtaonline

Insomnia RP — https://discord.gg/mBTcpUgkny
NEW 18+ FiveM server. No whitelist application! A place with many opportunities for criminals, police, medical, civilians and car enthusiasts! We opened Friday, May 17th to a fresh start!
✨ Features 🎉 - We are newly developed, up to date, with a fresh start to all. Looking for Police, mechanics, and medics!
📊 - Launch day we averaged 20 people, little to no issues. Over 100 discord members within a month. We care, and will continue to grow.
🚗 - Affordable starter vehicles, and many opportunities for car enthusiasts like customizations, car shows, and the ability to one of one a vehicle.
📌 - Here in Insomnia we focus on quality of roleplay. We offer player owned businesses, Many MLO hangout locations, working arcades and trained emergency services.
🎭 - For criminal activity, we believe in interactions and roleplay before ending a scene in handcuffs and jail. Story and well thought plans deserve to be recognized. Our development team plans to expand criminal activities for many possibilities
🌳 - Cherry blossom trees, and large forest trees that makes a unique and beautiful city truly a see for your self experience.
Best GTA FiveM Servers, GTA Online Servers, GTA Roleplay, Grand Theft Auto Roleplay

insomniarp #gta5 #roleplay #fivem #gta6 #rockstargames #gtafivem #gta #gtaonline

I booked a wonder of the seas cruise ship months in advance for me and my friend. My friend couldn’t come because she had a medical emergency so I called the representative on the phone before the sail date if I would get a refund back in the 2nd person doesn’t arrive and they said yes, I would get a refund back after the cruise ship is over. Well today I went over to guest services to make sure that was going to happen and they told me I would only get taxes/port fees refunded back. I was a little shocked because I called them days in advance about it. I thought I would be getting refund back on everything the 2nd person paid for including the cruise fare fee. The rep told me I could have the 2nd person be a no show and I would get a full refunded amount. I asked guest service if they could provide me info showing that the cruise fare in non refundable. She said she couldn’t and that I would need to call rcl about that. Should I dispute the cruise fare charge with my credit card company or explain to rcl that my friend had a medical emergency? Please help…

I recently traveled with a cardboard bike box through Montreal Airport (YUL) with Air Canada. It was my first time doing so and I had a few doubts beforehand. So I thought I'd share my experience here in case it could help others looking for information, as I've seen people discussing this subject here.
Where to get the box?
Any bike shop: -possibly the cheapest but also the most unreliable and time consuming -might need to call multiple shops, sometimes inconveniently located
CL Cycle (35$) -two bike shops in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood, both about 1km away from a metro station -apparently sell cardboard bike boxes for 35$, sometimes show as out of stock online
Gare d’autocars de Montréal (17.25$) -Montreal’s bus station, situated downtown at Berri-UQAM metro station (easily reached by bike from central neighborhoods or by metro which accepts bikes outside of weekdays peak hours) -the option I went for as it's both affordable and convenient -sells bike boxes for 17.25$ through Expedibus shipping service -just ask for a bike box at the main bus ticket counter, no need to reserve in advance, they should pretty much always have them in stock, they also provide tape -I couldn't measure the box but it was not super long, I removed the front wheel and handlebar of my rigid 29er MTB (with an admittedly long wheelbase) and it just barely fit, some people may need to remove both wheels -there is one hole on each side to use as handle, but they're fragile, using them to lift the bike caused as significant tear in the cardboard that I had to patch -there’s usually plenty of space inside the bus station to work on your bike and pack it -while there are often colorful characters hanging around the bus station, Montreal is a safe place, but still keep an eye on your valuables -from the bus station there are regular city buses going to the airport (STM 747 line) which accept bikes and cost 11$
Montreal Airport - Safe Bag (70$) -two kiosks at the airport, opening hours from early morning to evening -over the phone they told me they sold cardboard bike boxes for 70$ each (which seems outrageous), and that they always have some available (no surprise) -while the airport is easily reachable by bike, it's a much longer bike ride than to the Gare d’autocars for people staying or living closer to downtown, a long bike ride that you might want to avoid before a long flight if the weather is rainy or super hot
How to get to the airport?
747 bus from the Gare d’autocars to the airport (11$) -costs 11$ which you can buy in person at the bus station counter when you buy your bike box, can also be bought anywhere else that sells STM tickets including the apps Chrono and Transit, can buy it as L’Occasionnelle which works as 24h day pass for public transit on Montreal Island including the airport bus -can pay cash in the bus with coins only and the bus driver does not provide change -the bus line runs 24h/7, multiple times per hour during the day and at least every hour at night -leaves directly from gate 15 inside the Gare d’autocars, and then makes a few stops downtown before taking the highway to the airport -should take 50min to an hour to get the airport depending on traffic, construction, and, more importantly, confused passengers not knowing how to pay their ticket -the bus accepts boxed bikes as explicitly cited by their website, but the racks are too small, you'll have to keep your box upright along the folding seats of the area reserved for handicapped people :( -see STM website for more up-to-date info
How to fly with a bike with Air Canada
Fixed 50$ fee no matter the destination -you do NOT need to have a checked baggage included in your fare (for example, you can buy the cheapest economy fare type without any checked baggage, you will only have to pay 50$ for the bike, and not 50$ + whatever is the price for one checked baggage) -before buying your flight you can call this number to see if there is room available for your bike box on a specific flight: 18882472262 -after buying your ticket, call the same number to tell them to reserve a place for your bike, if by bad luck there's no room you can always get a refund within 24h of buying your ticket -do your online check-in, available the day before your flight, indicate that you will be traveling with one bike and pay the 50$ fee -once at the airport go to an Air Canada self check-in kiosk, click on the baggage options (I think it was called “modify baggage” even if you won't be modifying it), it should show you’re traveling with a bike, click to continue and it’ll print stickers for your bike box -go to the oversized luggage area, they’ll ask you to open the box for them to check it and then they'll give you tape to close it
Open to hearing your experiences.
*All prices in Canadian dollars
TLDR: Simplest reliable and affordable way to travel with a cardboard bike box to YUL is imo: -bike/metro to Gare d’autocars -buy 17.25$ bike box there -take 11$ 747 bus to YUL -pay airline specific bike fee (50$ with Air Canada, no extra fee)

I'm a pre-op gay trans guy. A new guy who's around my age and also gay started at my job, and the tension is crazy. I catch him staring at me all the time, and he'll hold eye contact until I look away. I think he's really cute, but I get severe anxiety at the thought of flirting at all. Bc I still have this fear of being rejected bc I'm trans. Or worse, someone acting disgusted by the fact that I'm pre-op trans when I come out to them. I think part of it came from other gay men I knew growing up acting like vaginas are disgusting; obviously not all of them acted like that, but enough did that it stuck deep in my mind.
This guy IS a coworker so I wouldn't be likely to do anything anyway (although this is a dead end low wage service job that I intend to leave). But still. I'm still a virgin, and at this point I'm pretty sure it's not bc I'm 100% asexual bc I do feel attraction. I have dated before but they were sexless relationships. My doctor assured me that sex avoidance was common in his experience with transmasculine patients (he sees mostly transmasc people), but knowing that still doesn't make me feel better. I feel like I'm missing out on a good sex life in my 20s, since I'm almost 30.
I do have a "regular" therapist who knows a sex therapist that I can talk to if I want to. And I'll probably try that. I've just been thinking about this obsessively since this new guy started working. He will very likely learn that I'm trans, if he hasn't already, bc I am out at my job. I'm just not very open with talking about it with coworkers, especially since I pass basically all the time now. And even thinking about him hearing it from someone else gives me anxiety.

So, all the talk right now is FFIE, CRKN, and GWAV. I'm actually in all three and encourage you to stay in for AS LONG AS IT IS GOOD FOR YOU. But I want to talk about the importance of not going full port, and diamond-handing to a loss. There is ALWAYS a next FFIE. In all my years, I've seen so many I can't begin to estimate how many I've seen. As you play this game, you NEED to have stop losses set. You need to remember not to get greedy. Bank your profits, and be getting excited for your next play. Keeping an eye on what is coming up really helps keep you detached from the stock, so you don't get burned and left holding the bag.
Since what has brought most of you to these stocks is the thought of a MOASS, I’m gonna write up some other short stock opportunities. Full disclosure upfront: I’m heavy in two of these, and would love nothing more than 1/100th of the volume ya’ll have generated to come to those stocks.
This list is ranked top to bottom in percentage of short float, and ranked at the bottom in my interest level and my positions.
So, some of the most shorted stocks currently, and my thoughts on each:
Sunpower SPWR
On this list because it is the most shorted (non-penny) stock with 95% short interest. At sub $3 and only 45 million shares, this is as squeezable as it gets. Any sort of squeeze would have to be from meme value as the financials of this company aren’t great. They haven’t met expected earnings in the past 5 quarters, and have actually done worse quarter after quarter.
If this found volume and a rabid community I’d be in… but I’m not touching this thing otherwise. This is a real “all or nothing” stock.
MicroCloud Hologram HOLO
Spend anytime on squeeze forums and youre gonna see this one. Another stock with insane (75%) short interest This company has shown multiple times over that it is capable of a run. Part of that is that the product that they are making is quite intriguing… the other part is that this stock has left a lot of bagholders in its wake. If there were call options available, I’d be buying far dated OTMs hand over fist, because at some point, this thing will explode again.
Childrens Place PLCE
Okay, so this has some fundamentals that could be interesting to some. Heavily in debt, with historically bad gross margins, and a panic sell off when they announced they had breached debt covenants, this stock has gone from over $100 post-pandemic, to roughly $12 today.
Why could it be intriguing? Mithaq capital purchased 7 million shares recently. Backed by the Saudis, and capable of offering better terms on back debt, this could be a takeoveturnaround story. Purely speculative, and high risk, I don't see a squeeze happening here anytime soon, but if messageboard chatter picked up, I’d be grabbing a lot more calls… when this goes, it’ll go fast.
B. Riley Financial RILY
At 56% shorted this is one of my top picks (#2), the one most primed for a squeeze, and I'm heavily in it.
This is also the first company on this list that has a clear path to an increase in stock price. For me personally, this is what I look for in an investment. I love a good squeeze, as it accelerates my profits, but I like betting on companies that are going to get me there regardless of the squeeze.
This company has many facets and if you want backstory, there are several good write ups/DDs available on Reddit. As it stands, despite turning around their slow quarters, and doing better as a business, short sellers have ramped up their positions? Why? Because there is an actual villain in this story. Marc Cahodes. He is an infamous short seller, with a personal grudge against this company, and the short sellers are not running off a functioning thesis. This is about destroying a company to soothe a slighted ego. Soon, short sellers will unwind their position, as the stock has pretty much found its base. A short squeeze in the near future could send this stock up into the $90 range.
Trupanion TRUP
39% short sold, this pet insurance company has recently come under attack by…it’s Marc Cahodes again. Marc did his usual tactic, doxing and harassing supporters, and accusing everybody in the business (down to the janitor) of fraud. However, despite these attacks, the company itself has mostly “Buy” ratings. The share price has slumped, due to bad Q1 earnings and the short attacks, but there is a new CEO and she is intent on increasing profitability, and decent quarterly results could pop this back up to historic $60 levels (+100%).
Cutera CUTR
This company makes hardware for treating acne and other dermatologic issues. 39% shorted this should be on your radar in early JULY. Listening to their earnings call was a lot to be excited about, if you could stand to listen to their hopium bullshit. Clearing up inventory, and debt, they have a lot of potential to have a strong Q2 showing. At $2 a share, I’ve gone ahead and made a small position, as this is might be the bottom.
Immunity Bio IBRX
OH. MY. GOD. I LOVE THIS STOCK. By far my #1 right now. Sitting at 39% shorted, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Merck is behind the shorting; trying to keep the stock price down so they can buy it out. This is a life saving cancer treatment. With recent FDA approval, this company sold 400 million in product ITS FIRST WEEK. With trials ongoing for multiple other uses, and a meeting with the FDA scheduled in June to get it fast tracked as a treatment for lung cancer. I have a $20 price target set for July. $40 by September.
There is honestly so much to say about this company, that I will write up a separate, in depth DD.
Novavax NVAX
If you were paying attention, you just watched this thing pop (260%) Is it done? Actually, yeah, Probably. I’ve read a lot of chatter about how it has a historic high of $300 without people factoring in its 20:1 reverse split. Robinhood needs to fix the UI, because a lot of people are tossing out good money. That said, with 33% short interest, a mild squeeze may happen for a few bucks.
Lucid LCID
A DPAC luxury EV maker on the most shorted list? Who would have thought?! Ok, so, I’ve had a chance now to drive a couple of these… and HOLY SHIT. I want this company to survive. I want one of these cars.
That said, yeah, I’m not putting more money into this. I’m putting it on this list because sometimes, great products fail. This is a prime example. Since first being wow’d by this car, the stock price has fallen 80%. Truthfully, if the Saudis walk away from Lucid, they're done. Don't fall in love with a stock.
AST Spacemobile ASTS
The lowest short interest on this list (28.3% which is still high as fuck!!!) is my #3 pick. And I’m in this bigly. This tech is so good, it’s literally going to change your life. Imagine, no place on Earth being without cell service. Why is it shorted? Delays, and Delays, and Delays. Go on over to the subreddit, and feel the general relief that everyone feels as launch is FINALLY nearing. If you are thinking of getting into this stock, do so before early July, as it nears major catalysts.
There it is. My list.
I’m gonna order them now in the rank that I view them, with my positions.
IBRX (3000 shares and 402 call options)
RILY (2700 shares and 17 call options)
ASTS (5000 shares and 103 call options)
HOLO (1500 shares)
PLCE (25 shares and 10 call options)
CUTR (1000 shares and 20 call options)
TRUP (10 call options)
LCID (No position, sold off at a loss)
NVAX (no position, sold off at a loss)
SPWR (10 call options) - lowest position currently, but if chatter starts happening this goes to #4

Given the country demographic of Reddit as well as the primary banks offering large transferrable bonuses being in the US, most of the redemptions we discuss are focused on leaving from or return to the US. However, it's also interesting to discuss flights that don't touch the US for several reasons:

1. More availability
   1. First and foremost, availability is everything in the award space, luckily, most other countries are not as easily able to tap into the award space. Flights between the other continents are plentiful, I rarely have a hard time finding space between Asia, Europe, or even Oceania. There's usually many seats and many dates available, even when looking only a month or so out.
2. Different (Better?) experiences
   1. This is ofc subjective, but many East Asian airlines offer superior in-flight experience, whether it's the food, service, or simply the fact that they offer much more widebody flights on short hops, compared to the US being mostly narrowbody. You can experience widebody seats in Asia almost all the time, imagine flying SQ's business class on a 2 hour flight! Lounge access is plentiful and often higher quality as well.
3. Lower redemption costs
   1. This is the bread and butter of the award game and will the focus of this post. Simply put, everyone wants to milk the North American market and we're also super far away from everything, so we have some of the highest redemption costs out there. For example, you could fly from Dubai to Seoul via Singapore Airlines in J for only 80k Aeroplan miles! With an additional 5k for the stopover, you'd be able to experience 2 longhaul SQ flights in business class, that's pretty great value if you ask me.

But, you might say, ok but I don't live in Europe or Asia, I live in the US, so this doesn't even matter to me!
One of the reasons this can be practical is for extended trips or RTWs! You're already traveling to another continent, so why not explore for a few more days? With this in mind, let's talk about a few popular programs and what their sweet spots are for non-US redemptions. Feel free to share your own in the comments below.

• Delta SkyMiles
  • Starting with the most hated program out there, this is in fact one of the only existing sweet spots out there anymore for SkyMiles
  • Oceania to East Asia for 65k miles
  • Oceania to SE Asia for 70k miles
  • Oceania to Europe for 90k miles
  • East Asia to SE Asia for 40k miles
  • Europe to Middle East for 42.5k miles
  • Europe to India for 65k miles
  • Europe to East Asia and SE Asia for 80k miles
• Flying Blue
  • While Delta does technically cover the SkyTeam availability, I bring that up because SkyMiles have so few practical uses in the first place.
  • Flying Blue is mostly zone based, so you could do somthing like Europe to most of Asia for 70k miles. However, technically because of the zones, you're actually able to get it for even less when coupled w/ your North American leg. For example, LAX-CDG-HND would be 95k miles with a free stopover vs 50k for the LAX-CDG + 70k for the CDG-HND.
• Aeroplan
  • This one is all distance based, but you can get some pretty sick deals. For example, 45k miles for up to 5000 miles long or 60k miles for a 5001 to 7000 miles within the Pacific is pretty awesome. For example, most of East Asia to most of Oceania would only be 45k miles! So the key is play around with distances and see how it all pans out.
• Avianca Lifemiles
  • Lifemiles is region based so the award chart is a little bit different, I had a bit of a hard time researching this, weirdly they have an "others" region for Oceania that doesn't match the pricing for the opposite direction.
  • Oceania to East Asia for 50k miles in business class, 62.5k miles in first class vs East Asia to Oceania for 40k in business class, 50k in first class
  • Oceania to SE Asia for 50k miles in business class, 75k in first class vs SE Asia to Oceania for 40k miles in business class vs 60k in first class
  • Northern Europe to East Asia for 75k in business class, 115k in first class vs East Asia to Northern Europe
  • Northern Europe to SE Asia for 78k in business class, 102k in first class
  • So based on this, depending on where you go and which direction you fly it could be better or worse than Aeroplan
• AA
  • AA is zone based, but I have a hard time finding an actual award chart from them for non-US zones, so these are all based on surface level research
  • Oceania to East Asia for 40k in business, 60k in first class
  • Oceania to Europe for 85k miles
  • Middle East to Europe for 42.5k miles
  • East Asia to SE Asia for 30k miles in business, 40k in first class
  • East Asia to Middle East for 40k miles in business, 50k in first class
  • East Asia to Europe for 75k miles
  • This level of redemption pricing is really good and will not last. Imagine getting an almost 7 hour flight in JAL F from BKK to HND for 40k miles!
• AS
  • Alaska is now also a distance based program after the devaluation. In general, the key is to look for those routes that lie just under the max zone.
  • For me I enjoy the 15k miles spot for flights just under 1500 miles, which is perfect for regional Asia flights. Using their partner Starlux in TPE, many Asian destinations are available such as all of Japan, Korea, SGN/HAN/CEB. Unfortunately, going up one band to the 1501-3000 is 45k/50k miles for Europe/Asia, which is over 3x the cost, so definitely nowhere near as worth it.
  • The band right after though is quite good value, at 3001 to 5000 miles or 55k/60k miles, but still inferior to AA. You could do East Asia to Australia for 60k in business or 90k in first. This is 50% higher cost than AA, so AA is still preferrable.

With that, that just about covers most of the core, major alliance programs. I choose these as these are generally the better value programs, for example Aeroplan generally has lower costs than UA. And AA/AS are much cheaper than Avios.

Summary (or tl;dr)

In my opinion, the following are quite awesome.

• SkyTeam
  • The fact that you can even efficiently redeem Delta SkyMiles
  • Use the free Flying Blue stopover for combined segments rather than breaking your trip into two to save on points
• Star Alliance
  • Asia Pacific 45k Aeroplan for flights up to 5000 miles
  • Asia/Europe 60k Aeroplan for flights up 5000 miles
  • East Asia to Oceania for 40k LifeMiles in business class, 50k in first class
• Oneworld
  • Almost all of AAs are really good, in particular:
    • Oceania to East Asia for 40k in business, 60k in first class
    • East Asia to SE Asia for 30k miles in business, 40k in first class
    • East Asia to Middle East for 40k miles in business, 50k in first class
  • 15k AS miles for regional Asia flights under 1500 miles

So, you don't need to book an ANA RTW to experience all these other products. If you can escape the US, then try extending your trip with one of these sweet spots and get even more return on value.
Feel free to share other sweetspots you've found or ones with other programs.

NFS/NFT. Superocean Reference A17360. Inherited from my father who passed last year. He received brand new as a gift circa 2003.
It was in rough shape when I got it so took it to an authorized service center as I wanted to restore as close as possible to the day he first put it on.
Quite the laundry list of work done $1,700 later:

• Complete service
• Ultrasonic cleaning
• Water test
• New gasket
• New crown
• New dial
• New crystal
• New hands
• New bracelet pin
• Refinish case and bracelet
• New miscellaneous bezel screws

Some questions.

1. Bit annoyed there is a scratch and/or dust near the 11 hour indices on the dial. See last photo attached. Will be bringing it back to them to replace but worried it’ll take a long time as the dial was on back order for months before. Worth it, right?
2. Any suggestions on restoring the numbers on the rotating bezel? The black paint wore down and when they refinished and polished it and I’d prefer it painted again for legibility. Is my only option a new bezel? And if so, do I need to go direct?
3. Don’t have box or papers, however I don’t ever intend to sell or trade. If I decided I wanted to put together the complete set again, would Breitling offer replacements?
4. Serial number on case back is a bit worn but still legible. I’m sure I could confirm on the side of the case at 6 o’clock if I remove the bracelet. However, can anyone tell me more about manufacture date? Can’t find much online using lookups. Serial 61XXXX.
5. What type of straps do you recommend so I can switch it up off the bracelet? And what tool is needed to take case off existing bracelet?

https://imgur.com/a/pmg97CH/

For context my bf (21m) and I (22f) are together since 2021 when we started dating we made a rule that none of us will get jealous if the other one see somebody else and thinks "oh this person is attractive, or cute or beautiful" because the eyes were made to see and get mad for something like that is stupid, fast forward to November of last year I was in my fifth semester and I noticed a boy and I started to think that the boy was attractive nothing more than that I see him in all my classes but that feeling didn't go so I call my bf and I told him "Babe there's this boy in my class and I think that he is attractive I'm so sorry for feel this way but I needed to tell you" my bf didn't get mad, he feel horrible sad he cried so much and of course i was feeling bad for making he feel that way, since that moment he didn't trust me anymore he forgive me and I promise him that i would do anything to earn his trust again and that's what I'm still doing. In the same month we started to work in customer service I resigned a few weeks later because the things with the boss were really weird but my bf decided to stay a couple more weeks for the money, next week after this he came to my house and told me "I started to have feelings for this woman (32f) we are close I know that even when you were in the workplace I was always with her but when you resigned I feel alone and she makes me feel handsome again because i didn't feel loved or handsome since you told me that you started to think that a boy was attractive to you, I don't feel love for her, is more like sexual attraction because is prohibited, if you want to broke up with me I deserved it because I'm a piece of shit I'm the worst man I broke your trust and I feel disgusted with myself for that" I was absolutely broken and I couldn't stop crying, that woman can be his mother and he feel that way, I didn't broke up with him because he had the courage to tell me everything instead of cheat on me, he was also crying and I decided to give him another chance I ask him to be away of that woman and he agreed, spoiler he didn't. We were trying to fix our relationship a week after Christmas I checked his phone because we have the others password and it was never a problem and everything was right we have a movie night we went out with all of his friends and it was an amazing night but he seems mad so I ask him what was wrong and he said "you know what is wrong" we tried to be happy on Christmas Eve, I teach him a recipe with his family we all were so happy but sometimes I noticed him in his phone like hiding something next day we already agreed to broke after Christmas but we were trying to see if we can save something so in that moment i was still his gf so i took his phone for some photos that I needed and the woman was texting him he didn't want me to see the texts but i see them and that broke me more, all of those days together he was talking to her because i already checked his phone and they were making plans to see each other he was texting all night of Christmas Eve with her I get so mad and I give him his phone and he couldn't even say a word I was crying in his bathroom for a long time I couldn't go home because it was so late, we went to bed and talk about everything and we were crying and then we broke up I go home in the next morning i texted his mother to say thank you for everything and tell her that we were over but surprise in less than 24 hours he texted me that he cannot live without me and he made all kinds of promises so we were together in less than a week he told me that the day we broke up he didn't told anything to his mother but he see her crying when she got my message, now together again his mother tolds me to not let him play with my feelings and in new year we even dance under the stars that was so cute. We were so good fixing everything nothing could stop us but we started to have small discussions this week for my plans for the future and how this is not the same as his actually they are the same but in different order and suddenly he ask me if I was cheating on him, of course I'm not cheating on him and I reassured that to him I ask him the same and he is not cheating but he says that he started to think about that because he is still thinking about the boy of last year, how is that even possible? I forvige him for everything and he is still thinking about the boy that I used to think that was attractive, I don't know how to feel and what to do, I really need advice, he knows that I won't give him another chance if he broke up with me again in this moment he was so simple with me I asked if we were fine and he says no so I'm give him some space also we haven't seen each other since the last month for our finals of the university, so what should I do, I don't want to lose him, I love him with all of the things that happened but even if he assured me that he loves me both of us were doing everything to gain the trust of the other again and he did it, I don't doubt about him on anything but is just like of nothing he doesn't trust on me, I need help really.

Tomorrow I'm going on a hinge date with another trans guy and it's bringing up all kinds of anxiety. My voice is still so high pitched and I have this stupid tendency to pitch it way up (customer service voice) when I'm nervous where I sound like a girl. All my pants make my hips look so noticeable. Just my body, the way I talk, the way I move, everything. My dysphoria is suddenly out of control and Im nervous he wont be attracted to me because Im not "passing" enough. Im also nervous that all this nervous energy is what will ruin it.
Any advice on how to chill out and maybe bring dysphoria to manageable levels greatly appreciated.