I’ve started working this new job where it’s full time overnight. Now I just want to say my job and the schedule isn’t even the problem, it’s not even the full reason for my anger but rather the shit that comes after once I’m done with work.
I love my job and find it pretty nice however it does cause some problems since I’m still adjusting to it I kinda end up messing up on some things, I haven’t been eating a lot mainly just small meals like fruits and a dunking donuts sandwich so I’m kinda starving when I get out and since I leave in the early morning of work so nothing is open for me to get a quick bite. So that’s a minor problem but it’s no big deal since I can come home and eat anyway. That’s the thing for some fucking reason there is no fucking dinner for some reason my family hasn’t made dinner at all and I won’t get angry at them but when there is food it’s small fucking portions. 2 minor problems having no food and basically starving this past week.
However yet a fucking again there is a problem, every time I take the train to get home (I live 30 min away from work) the train decide to fuck me over to, all the fucking time there’s a train delay the train is moving so fucking slow or there is train delay and it gets even fucking worse there some maintenance so all local train go express fucking great so now my travel from home basically take 20 more minutes since I have to wait maybe 10-20 min for the local to get here or take the fucking bus both options fucking suck. So not only have I been starving I’ve basically had my return home extended. This shit is a daily occurrence for me.
To make shit worse when I do get home I barley have fucking time to relax since for some reason this entire fucking week has been fucking busy even on my days off, I’ve had to travel to Brooklyn to take my sister to some rehearsal thing, then once I get how I basically have to sleep for the remaining few hours which is at most 4 hours get up go to work and repeat that process again, pick up something from my brothers house, take my dog out for a walk(she is a husky so I have to take her out longer), I had to go clothes shopping for an upcoming event, I have to go to some fucking dinner too on my day off so nope can’t even get a day to myself, and if I’m not busy suddenly something comes up gets in my way and I have to leave home basically I only get one day off then work the rest of the 5 days.
On top of that I usually like to smoke carts but haven’t been able to for the past 2 weeks since the smoke shop I go to and the only one available to me hasn’t had shit stocked up and every time they say “oh well have it by this time” they never fucking do which pisses me the fuck off since they basically been saying this shit for the past 2 week and every time I come check they go oh we’re out, which just fucking pisses me off even more since I came there for nothing. On the few days off I have I can’t even get a chance to smoke and relax.
Like I said this entire fucking week has been seriously pissing me off so much I’ve even started to question God as to why he or whoever decided to fuck me over constantly this entire week for no reason, for everyday of this week its just a new problem to deal with with after another zero time to have to myself to the point where I just want to bash my head against a wall.
My rants basically over really the only thing I want is for this entire fucking week to be over I am literally just praying to God that he or whoever or whatever reason can just fucking be over already I just want this entire fucking week to be done and praying that the next week isn’t just another bullshit fest for me to deal with. This post may sound whiny but still I’ve just been so fucking pissed off at this dumb fucking week.

Dear Kolkata,
TLDR: How do you order food cheaply from irctc in train with pantry car.
I have been outside the country for a very long time and have only travelled rajdhani in 2023, where the catering was included in ticket price. I chose that option and several meals were timely sent to our seat.
I am going on coromandel express in the next few months but i am not seeing any option for "catering" in our ticket. I see there is a pantry car in the train setup. Does someone come from there and you can pay for a package of meals or do you have to repeatedly order meals (lunch, dinner, breakfast; not tea/coffees).
I also see some external non IRCTC apps but they offer single meals but are quite expensive.
Please let me know how you order food on trains. I see people getting veg/non veg casseroles brought to their seats and the menu says its quite cheap but how do you do it?
I have severe shyness so i would request that it is something not requiring to call people on the phone and negotiate for long.....
thanks in advance

Hello friends,
I’m just curious if anyone else has ever dealt with this?
I was diagnosed with complicated diverticulitis with a perforated colon in January. After years of what I know now was undiagnosed flares, I started to have a familiar pain in fall of 2023. My stomach was swelling but I wrote it off as weight gain and wrote the pain off as just another joy of being a woman who is beginning to age.
In early January after a visit to my parents where I couldn’t sleep at all due to this pelvic pain, I did a frantic telehealth urgent care appointment at 3am for what I thought was a bad UTI. After a few days of meds it was clear to myself and my husband that I needed to go to ER. I was hospitalized for 4 days on iv antibiotics for infection and the beginning stages of septic shock. Due to the location of the hole, they were unable to operate because it would have make a bad situation worse.
I was sent home on 10 days of antibiotics only to come back again 2 weeks later again in early stages of septic shock, now with an abscess. Another 4/5 days in the hospital on iv antibiotics and unable to operate because of the location. It was clear then that I would without a doubt need surgery so I found an excellent surgeron after meeting with a few and got on his schedule.
After two additional hospitalizations and a few months of healing enough to have surgery, I am now three weeks post op and with a foot less of my Colon. Slowly healing and feel grateful to be alive but there is so much guilt that consumes me. Not about any one thing in particular but just everything.
For example, my husband and I had tickets to two concerts we wanted to see this year and We missed out both because of my illness.
My grandma called and I didn’t want to talk and wanted to get her off the phone.
My cousin is having a party tonight and I usually feel worse in the afternoon so I said no and we have said no a lot of other times so now I feel terrible.
My friend helped with my dog but we haven’t hung out alot lately while I was healing and I feel like that’s not fair even though I watch her dog all the time.
I should be working even tho I have approved short term disability but ugh, I feel okay enough to sit out in the sun, I should be good enough to work.
My garden looks bad, my hair looks bad, my husband and I haven’t be touchy feely lately because of my Soreness.
Everything I make for food is centered around what I can eat, what about my husband.
My dog needs daily walks and my husband works 50-60 hours a week so I usually do it but I can’t right now so I feel terrible that he’s not getting the exercise he deserves
I’m working on my MBA in a self paced plan but I’m On my last class and moving SO slow. I want to be done by June but I doubt I will be.
The worst part is, no one is making me feel like this. It’s just me and my brain. But I so worry I am burden to everyone around me and it just feels awful.
I am safe, I have no plans or desired to harm myself but the guilt and depression from the last few months is just hitting me so hard lately and really, I was quite positive through the whole experience so I don’t know why I’m Feeling this now?
Anyways, I would love to know if others have experienced this..thank you all so much.

Mastering CompTIA Certifications: A Comprehensive Guide to Study Resources and Exam Preparation

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CompTIA certifications are a gold standard in the IT industry, offering a versatile range of certifications for IT professionals. With so many options, it's crucial to have a clear understanding of the study resources and exam preparation strategies to succeed. In this detailed guide, we'll delve into the world of CompTIA certifications, exploring the best study resources, exam formats, and expert tips to help you achieve your certification goals.
CompTIA Certification Overview:
CompTIA offers a tiered certification structure, comprising:

1. Core Certifications: Entry-level certifications covering IT fundamentals (A+, Network+, Security+).
2. Specialty Certifications: Mid-level certifications focusing on specific areas (CySA+, PenTest+, Cloud+).
3. Professional Certifications: Advanced certifications for experienced professionals (CASP+, CTT+).

Study Resources:

Official CompTIA Resources:

1. CompTIA Learning and Training: Download practice questions, exam objectives, and study guides.
2. Certification Study Guides and Books: CompTIA offers study guides in both ebook and print formats.
3. Online Learning Platform: Interactive online courses and study materials.
4. CompTIA Instructor Network: Find certified instructors for in-person training.

Free Study Resources:

1. CompTIA Free Practice Tests: Get free practice test questions for CompTIA certification exams.
2. Reddit Study Groups: Join online communities, like , to connect with others studying for the exam.
3. YouTube Study Channels: Channels like Professor Messer and CompTIA offer video study materials.
4. Open-source Study Guides: Community-created study guides and resources.

Paid Study Resources:

1. Udemy Courses: Comprehensive online courses covering various CompTIA certifications.
2. Pluralsight: Interactive online courses and study materials.
3. Study Guides and Books: Third-party study guides and books from publishers like Wiley and Sybex.
4. Online Training Providers: Companies like CBT Nuggets and ITProTV offer video training courses.

Exam Preparation Strategies:

1. Understand the Exam Format: Familiarize yourself with the exam format, question types, and time limits.
2. Create a Study Plan: Set aside dedicated time to study and review material.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice: The more you practice, the more confident you'll feel on exam day.
4. Use Flashcards: Flashcards can help you memorize key terms and concepts.
5. Join Online Communities: Connect with others studying for the exam to stay motivated and get help when needed.
6. Take Practice Exams: Assess your knowledge and identify areas for improvement.
7. Stay Up-to-Date: CompTIA certifications require renewal; stay current with industry developments.

CompTIA certifications are a valuable asset for IT professionals, and with the right study resources and exam preparation strategies, you can achieve your certification goals. Remember to stay focused, practice regularly, and join online communities for support. Good luck on your exam!
Additional Resources:

• CompTIA Certification Website
• CompTIA Study Guides
• CompTIA Free Practice Tests
• CompTIA Instructor Network
• Udemy Courses
• Pluralsight

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Join this community to stay updated!

I'm not saying that America is bad (there are even American things that I would like to have here in Europe) but there are things that I believe Americans should see.

1. Soccer matches: with their atmosphere, pyrotechnics and ambience, something we've never seen in America. Here in Portugal, when a team wins the league, the most important square in the city becomes a party that lasts all night.
   
2. Walking instead of using the car: a luxury that is not only healthy but also an opportunity to observe flowers, plants or other beautiful things, I walk 40 minutes to get home from school and it's much better than the car.
   
3. Antiquity: The churches that have existed for more than a millennium, the villages that are older than the Roman Empire and the existence of a vast history and culture, but I have to say that it's not America's fault that it doesn't have antiquity since it was colonized in recent times.
   
4. Transportation: America, as big as it is, should have trains that connect one end to the other, or at least use more of them because it's cheaper and because it reduces traffic problems.
   
5. Less addiction to money: I always read stories about people who go to Las Vegas believing that they're going to be rich, and I honestly believe that there should be more interest in activities that don't put people's lives at risk.
   

Is there anything here that should be included?
Thank you.

I'm not saying that America is bad (there are even American things that I would like to have here in Europe) but there are things that I believe Americans should see.

1. Soccer matches: with their atmosphere, pyrotechnics and ambience, something we've never seen in America. Here in Portugal, when a team wins the league, the most important square in the city becomes a party that lasts all night.
2. Walking instead of using the car: a luxury that is not only healthy but also an opportunity to observe flowers, plants or other beautiful things, I walk 40 minutes to get home from school and it's much better than the car.
3. Antiquity: The churches that have existed for more than a millennium, the villages that are older than the Roman Empire and the existence of a vast history and culture, but I have to say that it's not America's fault that it doesn't have antiquity since it was colonized in recent times.
4. Transportation: America, as big as it is, should have trains that connect one end to the other, or at least use more of them because it's cheaper and because it reduces traffic problems.
5. Less addiction to money: I always read stories about people who go to Las Vegas believing that they're going to be rich, and I honestly believe that there should be more interest in activities that don't put people's lives at risk.

Is there anything here that should be included?
Thank you.

I remember when I was a little girl I would look in the mirror and just be so disappointed, in my mind, I was ugly, stupid, and poor, and it broke me completely. I would get bullied heavily in elementary school not only because I was poor but because I was chubby, while I ate lunch kids would stand by my desk and make pig sounds at me, oinking and calling me butterball. They told me I had meth head teeth. The only thing I liked about myself was my freckles but that brief feeling of liking myself soon disappeared when one boy told me it looked like I had shit splattered on my face.
I was eleven when I began to diet, whiten my teeth, and wear makeup. My teeth naturally straightened out on their own and I shed the weight with the help of heavy restriction, not without developing an obsession over how I looked. When I was twelve, boys began to notice me, I broke my nose and in doing so had to get it straightened out so I could breathe properly, no longer did I have my father's Roman nose which I so despised. I wanted desperately to be like the girls who ignored me and to be liked by the boys who bullied me for a little baby fat.
Because of this obsession, I didn't believe people when they told me I was pretty. Compliments always felt ingenuine and I naturally assumed boys were asking me out as a joke so I turned every single one down out of fear of humiliation. Deep inside me something seethed, I wasn't satisfied with the weight I had lost and begged and cried until my mom shared her Ozempic with me. I was thirteen.
Still, I could describe in detail the way I picked apart every flaw, the way I had autopsies on past conversations, searching for a new insecurity. One day I went into my dad's toolbox and stole his roll of duck tape and wrapped it around my waist. I was amazed by how beautiful I looked, my waist was the smallest of all the girls at my school and this felt like a victory. I tailored my favourite sundress on my mom's sewing machine to fit my brand-new waist and wore it to the first day back from summer break.
Everyone turned their heads to look at me, I thought that only happened in the movies until I strolled into English class with a waist the size of a tangerine. I shoved lies through my teeth about a gym and diet plan I had done over the summer to make myself look so small, my friends listened with eager ears and wide eyes trained on my midriff. The attention was more addictive than any substance I've put into my body. My friend had told me how the boys were talking about me and how they planned to ask me out, that's when I made up my mind.
It felt like a poison I happily drank, knowing all of the risks. Every Sunday after church I walked to the Dollar General by my house and bought five rolls of duct tape, two dollars each for one week of classes, ten dollars in total. The same woman was always there and she always smiled at me, asking what I did with all of the tape, my face would split into a sickly sweet smile as I told her a new falsehood every time.
My mother would comment on how she didn't want me to go anywhere by myself because I was too pretty to do so, this was like pouring gasoline onto my forest fire. In the morning when everyone was sleeping, I wrapped one roll of duct tape around my waist so no one could hear the sound; I took it off before my showers at night, water running as pain pushed tears from my eyes and bit the inside of my cheek until I could taste iron flood my gums. I was left with cuts and tears in my skin, flesh tender with torture, still, I mummified my body every morning with duct tape. Sometimes I would do my thighs if I wore leggings or skinny jeans so people would comment on my impressive thigh gap.
After a year of doing this, my midriff looked like a piece of raw steak beaten with a meat tenderizer until it was almost torn apart entirely. I wouldn't even let people touch me in fear that they could feel through my attempt at perfection. I started skipping church. Every weekend I shut myself inside so I could breathe at full capacity while I shut my blinds and stared at my ceiling, my mind went numb with the impending doom that I would suffocate myself with that dreadful silver tape when the bell rang. My whole life I had heard that beauty is pain and that's all I thought this was, I thought that models did similar things and it was just something I had to accept to be beautiful.
Essentially, I had turned into a zombie; my breathing was shallow, and I became pale, clammy, shaking, and nauseous. I couldn't stomach meals. Every night I would wake up around midnight and cough up my guts but I hadn't eaten any food so there was nothing left in me to vomit but bile and eventually blood. I stopped talking to people, I thought it better for them just to look at my pretty long lashes and my tiny little waist than to listen to me tell them I was fine through shaky breaths. My dad was so scared for me, he kept bringing food into my bedroom and would come to collect the uneaten dish when he dropped off the next. He couldn't look at me without crying. It was just his drowsy gaze piercing into my vacant skull while we both swallowed back what we wanted to say, the words dying in our throats, never to be heard.
Everything hurt all of the time, it didn't matter anymore whether I had the duct tape on or not. I almost preferred the feeling of it on so the stinging of the cuts and the soreness of my ribs was shielded by something. One day in PE the teacher asked me to sit out so I did. I tried my best to keep my vision straight and my head up while I watched the other kids play California kickball. It was okay until there was a suffocating feeling, like something was consuming everything in my body like tiny creatures with razor-sharp teeth were cutting their way up my organs. My body began to convulse as I coughed until I fell to my hands and knees, coughing up this invisible force in my throat. The game stopped abruptly and every pair of beady eyes turned to watch me writhe in pain on the dusty gym floor while I clawed at my chest and throat, eager to tear the skin off completely.
Mr. Duke jogged over to me, crouching down to my level and putting a hand on my back. With furrowed eyebrows, he asked what was happening and with nothing more than Ozempic running through my system, I screamed at him to get away from me. That final wave came like a million little hands of wind pushing at the back of my throat until I heaved up the very last of what was left in me. Hands flew over mouths while some gagged at the sickness once inside of me. On that floor was a pile of what looked to be red coffee grounds in a little puddle of cherry wine. I was as terrified as anyone else in the gym, I screamed between heavy sobs while scuttling away from the mess I had made.
I knew that this was the end of me, that I would be taken to a hospital and everyone would know what I had done. I didn't even need to go to the hospital for everyone to know what I had done. Once I had collected myself and began talking frantically in a hushed circle of my friends while we waited for the ambulance, one boy on the hockey team caught a glimpse of shimmering silver beneath my gym strip and snuck up behind me, pulling my shirt up and revealing the secret I carried like a cross I had to bear.
My back laden with strips of duct tape like it was armour was on display to my entire class, my shame shown to what I had perceived to be the entire world. The girls didn't find this so funny but the boys came up with the name of Tape-Face. I remember rushing to the locker room with my friends following close behind, I grabbed scissors from my pencil case and began to cut it off myself, ripping it away madly along with little segments of flesh. My friends watched in horror, they just stood like it was a game of wax museum and I was the security guard there to punish whichever moved first.
In the hospital, I couldn't face my parents, not even the doctor, I kept my eyes locked on my lap. I couldn't see their stares but I could certainly feel them digging into me like a frog on a dissection table. My mom was utterly speechless and my dad spoke only through voice cracks and subtle sobs while he brought me soggy sandwiches from the cafe on the first floor.
I took another week off school because I could predict the painfully true rumours and when I finally set foot back into the school, it was worse than I anticipated. I felt hideous, like a pig that had been chugging back lard in my t-shirt, sweatpants, and perfectly average body. My friends were hesitant to eat around me and tiptoed around the incident like it had never happened which almost felt worse than bringing it up. Others were not so kind. A group of kids, guys and girls all mixed together, the kind that stole cigarettes from their parents had waited until I came back to sneak away from class and cover my locker in duct tape. Over top of the tape they scribbled on a dictionary of names they would call me in the hallway "Tape-Face" "Fraud" "Botched" "Duct tape Barbie". One of the girls sat behind me in math and had cut little squares of duct tape to stick them into my hair, I called my mom in the principal's office and cried while the secretary had to cut it out of my hair.
My dad made the decision to pull me out of school, so I started homeschooling but that didn't stop the harassment. We lived close to the school and during lunch and after school kids would throw duct tape wallets and wads of tape onto the porch. My dad's final straw was when someone dropped off a Barbie whose waist and thighs had been wrapped in duct tape in our mailbox. He had contacted not only the school but the parents of the kids several times with no avail to the torment ending anytime soon. He moved us to a new town where I could go to class without anyone knowing the pain I subjected myself to for two years.
I'm in college now and I've never told anyone this. I've cut contact with everyone from that school. One of the bullies tried to reach out and apologize, blaming her behaviour on mental illness but that felt like she had shattered a plate and said sorry, thinking that it would put the plate back together. I told her I didn't forgive her and blocked her. A boy from the hockey team also messaged me, the one who flipped my shirt up. He said he just had a daughter he couldn't imagine her going through what I went through and that he's sorry for what he did. All I had to say was that I hope she doesn't have to go through what he put me through either.
​
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Consumer behavior is the cornerstone of economic demand. This demand-type microeconomic comportment shapes the basic economic system that exists in the contemporary world. Consumption goods constitute a substantial proportion of economic activity. Therefore, it is important for businesses to understand the fundamental drivers in order to support the creation of a sustainable economy naturally, free of state tax substitutes and mandates from supernational entities.

For the last decades, the economies of many industrialised countries have been characterised by a combination of continuously high resource consumption with related high waste volumes, of rising public debt often accompanied by persistent unemployment and slow economic growth. Performance economies are built on sustainability by allowing the efficient use of existing resources and embracing product-use extension over the fast replacement of products. The natural resources are finite while the demand is increasing. The trajectory has spearheaded a move to the service economy, guided by a paradigm shift from industrialization and manufacturing to services. The role of technology, especially artificial intelligence and blockchain, is critical in providing improved security, increased efficiency, enhanced transparency, better traceability, and reduced cost. The modern economy is characterized by the shift from quantity and price sensitivity into servicisation, product quality, sustainability, and product ownership, which guides any country’s success.

Performance Economy

The current performance economies rely on blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, sock market, and Q & Q stocks to drive servicisation and the natural economy. Markets are growing beyond the material economy and consumption-driven concept. Therefore, it is essential to shift from industry-driven and material consumption and embrace sustainability. The shift can be successfully executed through the creation of products that last for a long time. Besides, capital owners should maintain ownership while the returns on capital ownership ought to be adjusted to realize sustainable economies. Achieving economic growth naturally needs a critical adherence to sustainability practices that revolve around re-use, recycle, and reduce (Gelbmann and Hammerl 52). Particularly, the concept of clean water, sustainable energy, and sanitation play an important role in the process.

Contribution of Circular Economy to Performance Economy

Contribution of Circular Economy to Performance Economy
The circular market economy creates an avenue for the capitalist system of the economy to thrive. Consequently, it achieved significant success for a few capitalists but with little regard for the general welfare. Under a circular capitalist system and open market, where little intervention on production is involved, the value of ecosystem and biodiversity is consistently undervalued. However, generational equity is hardly achieved where minerals, water, and the ecosystem are exploited for the short-term benefit without compensation for future sustainability (Staheel 2). Performance economy is built on resource use efficiency and policy frameworks that promote labor as a resource, personal sustainability in the process, and the general will of key sector players in building a sustainable economy (Nygård 7). Geissdoerfer et al. provide the approaches that private sector players in the circular economy should embrace to promote sustainability through business models that are guided by principles of re-use, repair, recycle and remanufacture as opposed to replace (759). Labour, as human capital, is a critical element in the new business models that seek to promote sustainability. For instance, technological advancement, including the expertise use of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and smart assistance, are critical aspects in improving efficiency. Businesses train their employees on new technology of production, how to remain environmentally efficient, and the effectiveness of converting resources into profit for the realization of short-term and long-term sustainability (Huang and Rice 479). At a time when the production and businesses environment is dynamic, the role of human resources is paramount to achieving the needed sustainable productivity. Imparting new skills to employees improves their efficiency and reduces wasteful production.
A circular economy seeks to achieve stock optimization and profit maximization. The three loops of production and the service-life extension result in significant benefits to companies and organizations. Stock optimization and service economy have gained further popularity over value-added production because capital owners have an opportunity to create value by extending the useful life of the capital asset rather than increasing the assets through use and replacement. Therefore, the utilization value replaces the product and exchange value as the cost of input in the latter is higher, but it takes a relatively long time to depreciate (Cooper 33). The shift to the extension of the useful life is backed by a sustainable society, mainly because the world’s resources are becoming progressively finite (Moreno et al. 78). Moreover, the increasing role of private sector developers with the new business model based on the 3R principles of re-use, recycle, and remanufacture has proved vital to the current economy. The move has enabled manufacturers to realize more utility from extended use of resources and stock optimization than they would receive in low-quality products. The new business model is important for sustainability because the useful life of a product determines its replacement speed and the rate of use of the resources (Stahel 5). The level of consumption of natural resources is directly proportional to the amount of waste production. Therefore, extending the useful life of means of production promotes sustainability and reduces waste. Therefore, the current performance economy seeks to naturally support the economy through product-life extension rather in place of a fast replacement approach. Product life extension increases wealth. On the other hand, shortening the life cycle upsurges the demand for replacement escalates the rate of natural resource utilization, and leads to increased waste (Kjaer 22). The growing importance of the new business model based on circular economy finds innumerable opportunities in every sector’s activities such as repair, re-use, recycle, and reconditioning. It is applicable mainly in manufacturing, finance, and research and development.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology

The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology
Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are instrumental in improving the resilience of the world economies in the face of pandemics and resource depletion. The shift towards a service economy and stock optimization is expected to propagate with the support from new technology. Particularly, blockchain and artificial intelligence can increase the speed of access to new markets new ways of production and stimulate productivity. The contribution of blockchain technology in keeping data secure in the service economy is paramount. The financial segment and stock market sector advance when private sector players are assured of the security of their investment. Blockchain and artificial intelligence provide security through authentication and facial identification (Ramadoss et al. 57). In addition, blockchain has enabled financial inclusion by reducing the cost of transactions and improving the speed with which many players in the economy access financial services. The era of new and advanced technology is necessary for natural economy performance based on the service economy to grow. Therefore, blockchain and artificial intelligence are critical in enabling the shift from the fast-replacement production to the new product- life extension and service economy, which is more sustainable than the traditional system due to the finite nature of natural resources.
Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are instrumental in improving the resilience of the world economies in the face of pandemics and resource depletion. The shift towards a service economy and stock optimization is expected to propagate with the support from new technology. Particularly, blockchain and artificial intelligence can increase the speed of access to new markets new ways of production and stimulate productivity. The contribution of blockchain technology in keeping data secure in the service economy is paramount. The financial segment and stock market sector advance when private sector players are assured of the security of their investment. Blockchain and artificial intelligence provide security through authentication and facial identification (Ramadoss et al. 57). In addition, blockchain has enabled financial inclusion by reducing the cost of transactions and improving the speed with which many players in the economy access financial services. The era of new and advanced technology is necessary for natural economy performance based on the service economy to grow. Therefore, blockchain and artificial intelligence are critical in enabling the shift from the fast-replacement production to the new product- life extension and service economy, which is more sustainable than the traditional system due to the finite nature of natural resources.
As the world marks a significant economic paradigm shift, blockchain and artificial intelligence offer solutions to existing problems. The advantages of these new technologies cannot be overlooked if an economy is to achieve a complete change towards a service economy, extended life products, and stock optimization. Specifically, blockchain technology offers improved security, increased efficiency, greater transparency, traceability, and reduced costs (Swan 125). Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology combine to effectively provide economical solutions and upgrade supply chain, financial inclusion, health records, and even medical royalties critical in the service economy (Marwala and Xing 25). Artificial intelligence specifically supports blockchain by facilitating decentralized blockchain infrastructure and verifying authenticity. Thus, artificial intelligence and blockchain work collaboratively to enable the service economy to perform naturally, guarantee sustainability, and promote economic viability for future generations.
The blockchain economy is taking over fiat and monetary systems. The technology facilitates exchange between distant players guided by equality of ownership shared governance among members. Blockchain and artificial intelligence are the centers of the new performance economies. They break border barriers and allow transactions between people in different countries at low costs and a fast rate. Artificial intelligence promotes trust by providing authenticity to transactions and eradicating the involvement of third parties in international trade and transactions.
The use of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and smart assistance has changed the way nations seek to promote natural growth. Furthermore, globalization and the growth of an open market economy have reduced the international boundaries in trade and what countries do to gain the balance of trade. As such, nations are finding it increasingly difficult to grow by themselves, especially given the rise in the international supply chain. Competitive advantage in production plays a significant role in what countries produce and how they balance their foreign exchange. The cutthroat competition and globalization have led to a new concept of sustainability that economies embrace to remain competitive in the going concern. For instance, a significant paradigm shift from industrialization to the service economy seeks to promote stock management over asset ownership to reduce the preference of quantity products over quality, which can last for long and guarantee a return on investment to the capital owners.

Conclusion

Performance economies seek to promote sustainability by allowing the efficient use of present resources. The product-life extension of fast-product replacement is encouraged as it leads to a lower rate of resource utilization and relatively low waste during production. Therefore, traditional means of production, where resources such as land, labor, and minerals were made for short-term use, are being replaced with products that take reasonably long to wear out or replace. The concept of stock optimization has evolved over time. Besides, the role of technology and the contribution of research and development in the performance economy cannot be overstated. The technology gained from research and development may not benefit the economy in the short term, but it contributes to economic growth in the long run. Research into new production methods, better products, and waste management play a key role in promoting sustainability, given the limited resources. Blockchain and artificial technology are now at the center of the service economy. Overall, they offer improved security, increased efficiency, greater transparency, better traceability, and reduced costs.

References

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Authors

Paul Lalovich

Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy Execution Practice

Tesha Teshanovich

Hi. My bf and I are high school sweethearts. We’re 24 and have been together since we were 18. Always been extremely close. He joined the Army and got stationed in Korea. He’s been there for a year. Around the same time he left for basic training i moved states for a job. That job didn’t last for me and it was not an easy move for me at all and i dealt with a lot of loneliness, pain, missing him, and financial issues. I got to see him at graduation and it was amazing, we both missed each other so much. Since he’s been in Korea we have obviously been in contact frequently but he seemed to prioritize his friends and new connections and going out and partying until 8am or later. I would rarely go out ever and was honestly just by myself majority of the time. But still we were making it work, distance puts stress on a relationship regardless. I shared my location with him, gave him my instagram password without having either one of his. I did it to make him feel better about my situation as he expressed that he didn’t like i was living in a new state out of my moms house. I understood even though it wasn’t necessarily fair, but i love him to death and just wanted to make him feel better about it. It hasn’t been easy being away from him but i knew he would be coming back to the states and we could be together. I unfortunately wasn’t in the financial place to be able to go over there as i was looking for a new job. (i regret that move with all of me). We talked about marriage lots but he sometimes seemed unsure about it. Fast forward to about a week or so ago. He messaged this guy on my instagram that randomly shared a reel with me of a funny video. Unfortunately, i shared some dirty messages with this person (the lives across the country in another state). Not nudes or anything but that doesn’t make it any better and i will fully 100% admit that (cringe, i know). I never had any intentions of going to visit the guy or do anything with him physically. but i technically still cheated by engaging in something like that. I didn’t message the guy back again after that conversation whenever he would text me, i wouldn’t answer. But the damage has still been done. I don’t know, i feel like a fucking idiot. I know i fucked up and i genuinely feel horrible for what I did. So my bf pretended to be me, responded to the guy and somehow got him to send screenshots of the messages. I don’t know what all was said between them because he deleted the instagram dm thread. I wake up in the morning to my bf sending me a screenshot of one portion of the dms where the other guy sent the screenshot of the messages. He said nothing else just that alone. I obviously explained to him that i have never done anything with the guy and never would, that i was genuinely sorry and understood that i hurt him by doing that. We argued and argued and he told me that we should just probably not be together. Then he proceeded to tell me that he’s been talking to someone that he likes but kept it very vague and didn’t give me much more information than that when i asked. He said that i’m worried about the wrong thing. So i’m not exactly sure what their relationship consists of.. if they’re sleeping together, dating, etc i don’t know but i was the one in the wrong because he saw proof and i didn’t and had no idea he was involved with someone else. Anyways we ended up getting back to a decent place, not great he was still understandably angry. This was all happening as i was in the middle of packing up my apartment and driving my cat and i halfway across the country to move back home. I was super stressed and got sick in the middle of the move so our communication wasn’t great but i have always been the one to make more of an effort communicating and be patient as i know he’s busy. But he always has time to go out and get shit faced with his friends. This is long as fuck i’m sorry but basically moral of the story, now he blocked me on imessage, unfollowed me on snap and instagram, and won’t answer any of my messages on whatsapp. he answered like twice in the last week or so -ish and told me to shut the fuck up. I’m just so sad and don’t know how to go about handling this. He was basically my only and best friend so now i’m just grieving that loss but i know im at major fault. I’ve always been pretty codependent on him and now i just don’t know what to do. i don’t really need advice because i know i was wrong i just feel like i lost a major part of myself and i can’t stop thinking about what he’s doing, who this other girl is, if he’s going to just go be in a relationship with her and forget about me, and if he will ever talk to me again. It’s also just confusing because i messed up but he’s not exactly right either for hiding this new girl he’s been involved with from me. I don’t want the relationship to be over. Oh and also he’s still been logging into my instagram so it’s just all really confusing. Just sucks because i’m sure he’s having a wonderful time over there while i’m alone and depressed. Send help :(

Scott Masterson had first met Scarlett at a rooftop party in downtown Dallas. Their age and the time of year were both in late springtime, them in their mid twenties and the date in early May. He had on a sharp yet breezy blazer and she astonished in a thigh length sleeveless blue dress.
“Oh hey Scott I don’t believe you two have met…” his then happily married friend had remarked with a slow swinging open hand toward her.
“Scott Masterson…reluctant friend to this knucklehead” he said with a tight lipped grin, trying not to be so obvious with his instant rapture.
“Scarlett…a pleasure…”
Her hand was so delicate to Scott’s touch. They locked eyes. It was like looking back through centuries of connection, endless days of laying in the sun next to the Seine River, or rising to Hollywood fame in the 1940’s and only having each other who would understand the glory and the pain of it all, or generations of quiet, simple country love that would bear such beautiful, happy children that would go on to raise beautiful, happy children, all with their dark blue eyes. Yes, the memories of every love story since the beginning of time was swirling right there in Scarlett’s irises. Scott had to catch himself before he stared embarrassingly too long.
“Sorry Scottie here doesn’t get out often” his friend quipped, which Scott appreciated actually, it helped him snap back to professionalism.
“Well I don’t either…at least I prefer not to.” Scarlett’s words flowed through the air like a flock of rose petals.
“Hey, kindred spirits.” Scott was really sensing a rising energy out of her, they had barely broken eye contact.
“Well, I’ll let you two have at it, I got a wife around here somewhere. Hey…Scott and Scarlett…not bad, not bad.” His friend exited stage right with a sly chuckle.
“Nice guy…so…what are you drinking, Scarlett?” Scott looked around for the emptiest corner of the rooftop bar, hoping to find a nice place for them to be able to hear each other. This night had just become something.
“That depends, Scott…what do you like?”
Oh man.
Well, as you can expect, the evening blossomed into a beautiful, long winded conversation that etched a long list of similarities between the two. They both lived in the city, had never married, and had dreamed of stable, simpler lives far away from tall buildings and busy streets. The next morning Scott awoke in her arms, which warmed much deeper than just his skin. He could feel her soothing his very identity, his future, everything. Her arms were tailor made to fit his very soul, and he had never felt more safe and at home.
“Mmm…you can stay right here…” she whispered, eyes still closed.
“I will…I will”
They both fell back asleep, into a dream that wouldn’t end upon waking.
Two years passed and suddenly they lived that simple backwoods life, way out where acres of land far out-populated the few and far between people. They took a lovely home, which happily looked over a long backyard, right up to a lively yet mostly undisturbed river. Their only neighbor within a mile was an older ranch worker named Charles, who rarely made himself perceivable. Days were spent way on into town where they both had offices. They didn’t mind the commute. Nights were spent mostly like this night, cuddled outside near a lovely little fire, with a slowly shrinking amount of wine sitting between them. Enjoying their Kingdom. Tonight, however, would prove to be a special night, for many reasons, all unexpected.
“Honey, I’ve been thinking…” Scott began, sitting up and opening his hands to the warmth of the fire.
“Oh?” Scarlett also sat up, eyes widening.
“So look, Scarlett, the last two years have been the best of my life. An absolute dream…”
She held her breath, her focus darting between his eyes and mouth.
“Yeah?”
“We have everything we ever want out here. But…what if there’s more?”
“More?” She had envisioned this very conversation hundreds of times.
“Our dreams have come true, but what if we…made some new dreams?” Scott turned and embedded his eyes into hers. He burst into a big smile.
“Scott…I thought…”
“Nevermind what I said” he cut her off, which he always made a point to never do, but this was a good exception.
“I’m ready, Scarlett…let’s have a family.”
“Ohhhh Scott, oh Scott”
They hugged tight enough to where it hurt.
“Well, in that case, we may need to open another bottle.” She said playfully, bouncing her eyebrows twice.
“Excellent. I’ll be right up. I’ll put this fire out and then start yours up.”
“Oh stop!” She bounded away girlishly, up the snowy back steps and into the house.
Scott let out a big sigh that he could see in the cold air and sat back in his chair, taking in his decision. He really was ready. He had secretly been keeping a long list of names that he liked and that he thought would work in front of Masterson. Especially little girl names. He stared into the campfire flames, getting lost imagining the three of them sitting right here, a little girl resting securely in Scarlett’s arms, as Scott had found himself, and stayed within these past two years.
Suddenly his trance was broken when, from the road in front of their house, came the sound of a vehicle approaching at high speed. Scott snapped his head back toward the house to get a better listen. He could see, around the house and through the trees, a large truck barreling down the country road, its headlights racing and bouncing with intensity. In an instant, it had passed up the road and out of sight.
“Huh?”
Soon, after a moment of silence, another sound echoed into the night. This sound rattled Scott to the bone and tore all that was right in his world into pieces. A sharp, bellowing squeal. His eyes shot over to his neighbors house, which was about a tenth of a mile to his right but still had a couple dim lights on that he could see. The shriek seemed to come from there.
Then, more squeals. It was hellish. More than animal but not quite human. Scott stood up. He heard crashing and tearing and further destruction coming from Charles’ house.
“Scarlett!! Scarlett!” He yelled toward his house, where he looked and could see her silhouette behind the curtains at the kitchen window. She didn’t seem to hear him.
He turned back toward his neighbors. The chaos had gone quiet. Not a half a moment after, though, he heard something big barreling through the trees as fast as that truck had been sprinting. Running, running furiously between the two houses. Searching, hunting. Scott was taken aback so hard that his heel had caught the edge of the fire pit, throwing him down only inches away from severe burns. He had knocked his head in the whiplash, making him groan and take a moment to regain his bearings.
“SCARLETT!!!!”
He screamed out toward his home as he sat up, rubbing a quickly rising bump on the back of his head. He heard a loud breaching on the side of his house. The patio door. No. No. Then, all hell broke loose. Scarlett started wailing and crying and he could hear crashes of plates and glasses and deep guttural roars coming from the kitchen inside. Shadows danced in a frenzy from the curtained windows. Sounds of instinctual survival seemed to be thrown from Scarlett inside. Sounds of defeat. Sounds of agony. Sounds of insanity. Scott sprang to his feet, his equilibrium being more damaged than he realized after his fall. He had to catch his hand on a chair to stabilize himself. Scarlett’s symphony of pain had gone quiet. Soon after something burst back out the patio door again and off in the same direction as that truck before.
Scott struggled back up to the house, slowly climbing the wintered, crunching stairs that led to the patio. He no longer yelled for Scarlett. In fact, the only thing that came to his senses was the sound of his own heavy breathing. Everything else had been turned off, save for a heavy and sudden dread that he had prayed he would never feel. He came to the side of his house where indeed the patio door had been busted and forced open. It laid inside the kitchen, its hinges snapped like toothpicks. Scott, with eyes wide and twitching, slowly entered his home and looked into the kitchen.
He didn’t scream. He didn’t even change his breathing. He didn’t blink. He just got a good long look at what laid before him.
Everything was broken. The fridge was on its side, the door hanging open and food and drink scattered all over the floor. The table was upended, its legs to the ceiling. A chair was resting on the counter, possibly having been thrown in defense. And Scarlett. Oh Scarlett. She…was…everywhere. She was all over the floor. She was sprayed against the walls. She was stuck to the window. She was in the sink.
Scott gently walked through the carnal mess and sabotage of his world. Long ago he had known exactly what he would do if something anywhere near this bad were to happen to him. He politely stumbled through the kitchen, down the hall, and into the bedroom. He opened his closet door and lowered a fire safe from the top rack. He unlocked it with a passcode. 511, after that warm May date when he had first met Scarlett. In the safe was a Sig Sauer P320 handgun. Scott took it out, along with a box of bullets, loaded one into the gun, put the safe back on its rack, and walked out of the closet, sitting on his bed. Their bed. Where they should’ve been laying right at this very moment, working toward a happy future. Where he would’ve kissed her forehead and put a hand on her growing midsection. Where they would have awoken on Christmas morning to the sound of children who were way too excited to remain asleep. Where they would’ve grown old. Where they would’ve smiled at each other through wrinkles, satisfied with all the love they shared and passed on to the next generations. Where they would’ve held each other in deep peace as they finally fell asleep to this world.
“I will…I will”
In one quick motion Scott pulled back the hammer and stuck the barrel of that pistol right up against his Governor and blew himself away, far away, right back into Scarlett’s loving arms.
Jeremy “Smallmouth” Bassett quickly yet stealthily made his way back to his Uncle’s house. He hugged the sides of the dark country road, keeping his eyes and ears wide open as to notice any sounds pertaining to the event that he had just witnessed there in the field next to the huge blaze. His only thought was Uncle Chuck. His house was right on the warpath of that horrible thing and Smallmouth had to go to him and make sure he was safe. He dared not go back to his truck, which would bring a lot of unwanted attention. No, Smallmouth walked and walked and finally saw the lights of his Uncle’s house. He carefully approached the front door from the shadowed driveway. Suddenly it occurred to Smallmouth that something was very wrong here. The door was busted in, having been plowed through by something very large and very strong.
“No…no…no”
Smallmouth slowly entered the house. The kitchen and living room were a disaster, chairs and tables and bottles strewn about and shattered. Bloody hoof-prints covered the floors, each of them the size of dinner plates. Smallmouth heard no noise. He felt himself well with tears, his nose a faucet that he began to sniff up as he worked his way through to his Uncle’s room, the door there also being broken in. A small whine growing in his throat, Smallmouth peaked into his uncles bedroom.
It was all in tatters. The bed had been attacked and shredded, the mattress being ripped up and thrown about as if it were made of cotton candy. More bloody hoof-prints were painted all over the brown carpet. Smallmouth trembled and put a hand up to his wet face. He didn’t see a way that his Uncle was anywhere near alive, knowing what he knew about the monster that had been in this house.
Smallmouth slowly walked to the living room, to the only little table that had been untouched in the attack. It was almost as if the bottle of whiskey teleported into his hand from the overturned cabinet, unopened. He fixed that real quick.
Soon he was several pulls deep of the only thing in the world that he knew would make him feel better, even if only for a few hours. He found his pack of cigarettes in his coat pocket and lit one up, although he was indoors. What did it matter? He sat in a chair that he had turned right side up and set the bottle on the table and looked out the back window into the pitch black. He cried for his Uncle and he cried for the world. He cried for himself. He cried for broken promises and his own weakness. He drank and drank until his vision shook from right to left everywhere he looked. At first he didn’t even notice the figures on the back porch. Then his vibrating focus did pick up on them, but by then it was too late. It was so dark out there but in their outlines he could see they wore long robes and hoods.
“HA!! COME AND GET ME! HAHA!! YOU COME AND YOU GET ME!!” Smallmouth boasted with a delusional amount of courage.
A creak escaped from the kitchen and he drunkenly slung his head over toward it. Three more figures stood there. Or was it just one? Smallmouth was none the wiser. All at once the hooded intruders from both inside and outside began to chant a strange, twisted rhyme in strikingly low and dissonant harmony:
“A sliver…of liver…goes down…with a shiver… …and gives…your gullet…to gall… …but drink…the Cider…that drowns…the Spider… …and you…will be free…of it all… …so tighten the grip…that loosens your lips… …O raise…the bottle…of brown… …and wake tomorrow…to find…in sorrow… …ANOTHER…SPIDER…TO…DROWN”
Smallmouth groaned at them in dissatisfaction and turned his bottle up again and began to chug the whiskey. As he did they repeated the chant except this time it was louder and closer. By the time Smallmouth had finished his bottle he was quickly losing consciousness. This wasn’t just whiskey. As he closed his eyes he felt hands grabbing him from all sides.
Smallmouth pulled open his sticky eyelids. His head felt like someone had bowled a strike into it. Wind froze his face. The smell of sickly, wet iron stung his nostrils. His vantage was higher than usual. Way higher. He was looking out into another field, but from easily ten feet up. He saw an old church, formerly painted white but now a flaky pale-beige. He heard the friction of a quick pull of rope below him, matched with a slight, tight pain at his feet. He looked down. A red-robed figure was fastening him against a wooden structure of some kind. His feet sat on a small flat platform perpendicular to a post that went from the ground up past smallmouths head. He couldn’t move his arms, so he quickly shot his eyes side to side. They were also tied to another horizontal post. A cross. He was being tied to a crude wooden cross. His shirt had been removed, exposing a hairy, overweight belly. Smallmouth tried to speak, but all that came out was a slow, unintelligible grumble. He was still drunk. No, this was more than that. He was under the influence of something strong and absolutely inhibitive. He wallowed again, and took in a deep breath. The smell of iron once again hit his nose. He looked down at himself. He was covered in a thick, red liquid. That wasn’t just the smell of iron. He had been splashed full body with blood.
“Now now, young servant…” the figure at his feet had finished his task and took a couple of steps out to admire his own handiwork.
“Ahh…perfect. The picture of martyrdom. Yes, you will always be remembered, Brother Bassett. You are to be the first Saint of The New Bible.” He opened his arms in his declaration.
Smallmouth looked up into the cold night sky. The moon shown down, giving everything a midnight spotlight. It was a gorgeous waxing gibbous, big and bright but not quite full. Yes, he was in a great big snowy field that housed an old worn down church. From the windows of the church he saw candles glowing, showing dark heads and shoulders looking out to him, also covered in loose hoods, hiding faces. He was hanging on a cross about one hundred feet from the old church. In front of the cross was a partially covered pit, a couple of two by fours supporting double armfuls of branches and dead leaves.
The figure at the base of the cross put his arms back to his side. He was still looking right at the drugged Smallmouth’s dumbstruck face. Even with a veiled mouth you could hear the twisted smile in his voice.
“Tonight you will help us finally defeat this legion, Smallmouth. You see, it may have the evil spirits within it, but at its core, it is still an owned animal. An animal that knows its Master very well. An animal that will remember the smell of its Master. You, my friend, are covered in its Master right now. And you are hanging on a cross, the symbol of this brute’s most hated enemy. But take heart, young Brother. Before you is our pit of spears. Yes you will attract the beast, but our Divine plan will intercept it and the beast will fall and be pierced. And then, oh dear brother, you will forever be immortalized. You will be purified in fire by the hands of your church brethren. Out of your screams and into the smoke the iniquities of all will be released. We will go on to preach your good example and your sainthood forever and ever.”
Smallmouth began to drool and hum pathetically. He could hear and understand the words of the robed man but he couldn’t fight back. His body was useless, limp inside its rope confines. All he could do now is think, and watch, and wait, and dread his fate.
The figure turned away from him, walking over near the pit and gathering up a bundle of brambles and throwing them over the last open area, covering it completely. He then crunched through the snow over to the front door of the old church, groaning open the door. He stood at the dark doorway for a few seconds in silence, and then began to make a noise. An over exaggerated pig squealing noise, high pitched and infuriating. Soon after other voices from inside the church began to do the same, their wailing echoing out of the building and all across the field, loudly signaling, calling out. It may as well have been a dinner bell. Not a half minute after they began the distress signal it was loudly answered by a distant squall. A furious squall.
This was it. Either way it happened Smallmouth was about to die. Experience terror, and then die, and not even have the ability to put up any kind of defense. It wasn’t fair. He just slowly lifted up his head and watched out far into the moonlit, white field. He then raised his heavy head further and took a good gander at the moon and stars for the last time.
“God,” he thought to himself, still having full inner monologue yet no outer motor function, “I am so sorry. I am so sorry for being what I am. I am so sorry for ending up in this place. It’s only my own fault. If it wasn’t for me being so stupid and messy and drunk and terrible then this wouldnt be happening to me.”
He began to shed tears that washed lines into the blood on his face.
“Please forgive me God. Please, please, please forgive me for all of my sins. This is it. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!!” He yelled inside his own mind, hoping and trying to send his silent words as far up into heaven as they could go.
He lowered his eyes back to the ground. He looked over at the church again. The windows were empty, the candles were extinguished. Those hooded cowards were hiding from their own handmade sacrificial service. All was quiet for a long pause until a much louder, closer bleating began at the edge of the forest not even three hundred feet away from Smallmouth’s glazed over eyes. It was time, and it was too late for a miracle.
Out of the woods, slowly and heavily, stomped the massive hog. As it marched closer and closer Smallmouth could see its white, boiled over eyes and black-burnt skin. Its jaws were flying open and snapping its sharp, pocket knife-sized teeth together in an intimidating “clack”. It was now less than a hundred feet away, the dark old church to its right shoulder. It stopped, its pale glowing eyes fixed right on Smallmouth on the crude cross. It truly was a monster. It stood as tall as a man and as long as a canoe. Around its murderous mouth were stains of red, the remnants of all that it had taken from the world on this unholy night. In its clanging jaws were bits of flesh. It snorted and scowled.
Then, in a fury, it wailed that horrible squeal and started off into a dead sprint. It galloped and galloped toward Smallmouth at a high, blistering speed. It kept yawping and howling as it cut the distance from the cross down to fifty feet, forty feet, thirty, twenty. All at once it passed over the covered pit and plunged in. In his doomed, dead eyed stupor Smallmouth could hear what sounded like paint being dumped from a rooftop onto concrete. Trails of black liquid squirted and splashed up from the pit, which had been uncovered in the fall of the beast. Unbelieving, Smallmouth saw dozens of steel spear tips standing up from the dug-in ground. Right in the middle of them the beast was stuck. The sheer weight of the animal had caused the spears to pierce through its tough skin, sticking out of its back, soaked in black blood. One spear had stabbed right under the hogs chin, passing up through its jaws and out its black snout. It made agonized sounds. It roared and roared and shook the spears inside it, beginning furiously, then growing weaker and weaker within seconds. Finally, it let out one last weak little squeal, before it went still and quiet.
Smallmouth was frozen both physically by drugs and constraints and mentally by shock. His mouth hung open toward the pit of spears, his vision blurry. He took in a deep, troubled breath and let out a moan of disbelief and relief. The old church doors sprang open, and the sound of jubilation within flowed out into the night. The red robed figures flocked out of the building toward the pit, arms raised in celebration. They surrounded the hole, getting a good look at their success and their enemies defeat. Some held additional spears and began further stabbing the dead animal, causing more black blood to be shed up at them. They all yelled loudly and triumphantly. Some danced around the pit. Some skipped over to Smallmouth on the cross and danced around him, slapping his legs and spinning in circles.
Smallmouth looked on at the raucous celebration, both in utter disbelief of their trap actually working and also in turmoil. How long now until they fully execute their plan.
A taller robed man, whose voice matched the same one who spoke to Smallmouth as he tied his feet, spoke up, sounding almost happily intoxicated.
“Ahh yes my Brothers!! It is done!! We have won!!!”
They all whooped and cheered.
“Brother Norman, go into the church and bring me the small tank of fuel. Let us send our dear Saint Bassett to the Holy lands, where he will be adored for all eternity!”
They all clapped and hollered. One figure began childishly skipping away from the pit and over toward the front door of the church.
Then, it happened.
From the pit all of a sudden a great blaze erupted instantly. It stood as tall as the cross, and it burned a furious red and blue. It raged and raged, blinding Smallmouth and making him clumsily turn his face away from the heat.
All of the figures panicked, screaming and scattering away toward the church. They didn’t get far. Up from the fiery pit, dozens of long, long, black arms, adorned with six hooking claws emerged and stretched out of the flames and latched on to the legs of those trying to escape. Smallmouth heard crying and wailing from the men as the black, razor clawed-hands of the legion grabbed them and began pulling them back, into the blazes. One by one the red robed people were dragged into the flames, their clothes catching instantly. Smallmouth could see violently shaking bodies in the evil furnace. Oh, the screams. Above the tortured howling, the sound of laughing broke out. Deep, menacing laughter, hundreds of voices, echoed up into the air from the burning hole. Then, in one extinguishing squeeze, the ground swallowed the entirety of the fiery pit, leaving it completely covered in dirt, still and quiet. Soon after, and just like the pit of spears, the old church building caught in an instant and raging fire, quickly toppling the walls and dropping the steeple into its ruins. The smoke towered high in the night sky, which had just began to hint at a pale morning blue. Smallmouth hung on his cross in utter horror and surprise.
As the late evening hours glowed into early morning the smoke eventually tapered off, as Smallmouth’s drugs finally began to wear off as well. The fires of the church did garner long distance attention, though. Just as Smallmouth was able to regain control of his muscles and voice he heard emergency sirens call out into the cold morning air. Not long after, two fire trucks, an ambulance and a sheriffs truck tore into the field and toward Smallmouth on the cross. Not long after Smallmouth could feel the tied ropes being cut loose by firemen, their uniforms easily the best red clothes he had seen all night.
“What on God’s green Earth happened here son?” A bearded man with a dark hat and brown shirt and pants asked Smallmouth once he had been lowered down from the cross and sat on the ground with a shock blanket around his shoulders. The Sheriff, no doubt.
“God’s green Earth. It really is God’s, isn’t it?” Smallmouth whispered, staring out across the cold field. Then, at the very place he was staring, an old, familiar truck came barreling out of the gravel road in the woods and through the field in the steadily growing morning light. It was Uncle Chuck’s truck. It hurried over toward the other emergency vehicles, parked, the driver’s side door burst open, and Uncle Chuck came bounding out over to Smallmouth, his eyes wide and his mouth a wonderfully shocked “O”.
“JEREMY! JEREMY!!!” He basically fell on Smallmouth in a tight, warm hug. Smallmouth was caught off guard by Chuck using his real name.
His Uncle held him for several seconds and then let up, but kept his hands on Smallmouth’s shoulders.
“I thought you were dead.” Both of them said at almost the exact same time.
“I came back and your house was a mess and there was blood everywhere. I thought you were dead.” Smallmouth weakly spat out.
“Well, I woke up and you were gone, son, so I walked to the ranch to get my truck. I was worried bout ya son. I came back home and the whole place had been turned upside down. Blood on the carpet. I just thought the worst. Then I tried my neighbors house. Buddy, they’re dead. Looks like some wacko murder-suicide if I ever saw one. Scott probably tried to come kill us too and wrecked the place when he found it empty. I don’t know. But what I DO know is that you are right here! You are okay Jeremy!! Ahhh Praise Jesus!!”
“It’s not that, Uncle. That isn’t what happened out here. It’s..it was a..a, uh…”
Smallmouth’s fried brain couldn’t even comprehend what he had witnessed over the past few hours. It was all a violent blur.
“Dont worry bout it son, you can tell me everything on the way to the hospital. We gotta go get you checked out and cleaned up. C’mon.” He helped Smallmouth up and they walked over to the ambulance, his Uncle’s arm thrown around his shoulder.
Smallmouth would be sent home later that afternoon. It would take him and his Uncle a long time to sort through the chaos of that deadly night and rebuild their lives. But life kept on. Smallmouth would remain living with his Uncle, and would begin a job working with him down at the ranch. Together they started to attend a local church. Smallmouth never touched a drink or a drug or even a cigarette ever again, and remained steadfast in his newly revitalized faith.

Well, I’m almost 11 months in and about 42# down. I’m 5’9”, SW 209 CW 168. Goal… 155-160-ish? Have gone from a tight 16/XXL to a comfortable 12/L.
I have been a slow loser compared to many, but I feel like that’s totally fine. I exercise with weight training about twice a week and cardio/walking/hiking when I can.
Not sure how much longer I’ll have on the medication because unfortunately, my employer’s insurance has a lifetime cap of 20k for paying for weight loss medications. Wegovy burns through that pretty damn fast. to be honest, I really don’t wanna ever go off it because it’s the first time I feel like my relationship with food is normal.

I filled out an application in Downtown Dallas and the next day the manager called and said he wants to hire me for a different restaurant next door. I passed for personal reasons.

1. A company was food poisoned while having their Xmas party there.
2. Total different caliber of restaurant. One is a steakhouse, the other is Tex-Mex.

I know I want to call the other restaurant in Ft.Worth and ask them what is their relation to this restaurant, that their Dallas location passed my application off to. If they have no relation, I understand why they are hiring new management. I will apply again once new management is hired.

Good afternoon all
My daughter is graduating from high school and wants her friend, who is Muslim, to come to her party. My family and I are not Muslim so there will be food around that is Haram and most won't be strictly halal, so we just want to know how separated the Haram food needs to be from food that we will ensure is halal (we will take the extra steps to make sure the meat is halal and cooked appropriately) to keep it from being unclean. I know that some Jews are OK with meats and dairy being separated by another food dish or table decoration to maintain kosher, but we want to make sure before making assumptions.
My daughter is going to ask him directly, but he may say not to worry about it, he won't eat. For us it's a simple thing to do just in case so on the chance he does want to eat, he can enjoy the foods like everyone else. .
Thank you all for any advice!

Hi everyone,
Due to the burnout/lack of content in EW, our static broke up since several of them simply aren't interested in raiding in FF anymore. So, myself and two friends are looking to either join a pre-existing group for Dawntrail or bring people in to fill out a roster for the 7.01/2 savage as well as the Eden Ultimate. Planned raid times are 3-4 hours each on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, with start and end times being negotiable once we have the full group together. Here are our logs and Tomestone.ggs
- Reaper: https://www.fflogs.com/charactena/leviathan/zero%20kurokami , https://tomestone.gg/characte29980237/zero-kurokami
- Picto/Omnicaster: https://www.fflogs.com/charactena/leviathan/altaire%20q%27orani , https://tomestone.gg/characte30661841/altaire-qorani
- PLD/Omnitank: https://www.fflogs.com/charactena/jenova/hen%20ro# , https://tomestone.gg/characte18178328/hen-ro
- DRK: https://www.fflogs.com/characteid/4543805#
- Phys Ranged: https://www.fflogs.com/charactena/ultros/valandil%20leralonde
- DRG: https://www.fflogs.com/charactena/siren/alyosha%20kara
- SGE: https://www.fflogs.com/charactena/leviathan/bankey%20dewberry
The reaper and caster are quadra-legends with the PLD being in phase 6 of DSR as of the posting of this message. We have midcore hours with a semi-hardcore mindset, being that we fully believe that raid members should take the initiative to come prepared to clear and, if they're having difficulty, take the time and effort to run simulators, hit up party finder, pull vods, or otherwise do whatever's needed aside from the usual courtesies of showing up on time with food/pots/etc. It's mostly that we're looking for a skilled group that isn't necessarily planning on spending every other night raiding for the sake of maintaining irl relationships. This isn't to say that we don't plan on enjoying ourselves and screwing around a bit, but making sure that the group has the same goals and approximate skill level is pretty important.
The reaper and caster cleared Anabaseios early week 5, so that's the target goal for the first raid tier of DT. Given that the first raid tier is usually easier than the others, it's likely that we'll clear sooner than that. Once savage is done, we plan on looking at the Eden Ultimate. Afterward, keeping the group together for subsequent tiers would be great, along with hangouts, mount farms, and such. Streamers are welcome for either vod recording or entertainment.
If interested, hit up Altaire Q'orani on Leviathan, DMs, or Discord at qorani

Swordlances and Shield Bros (that actually attack) have gotten a lot of criticism in the BB community, but how bad are they really?
I wanted to find out, so I did a run where I banned most of the meta builds, as well as throwing weapons and close range two handers. I also banned gunners, qatal duelists, mace duelists and cleaver duelists. I also banned berserk and killing frenzy as I wanted to experience the stamina system without relying on berserk recover.
Reach weapons were allowed as their damage is more in line with other weapons. Possibly a mistake though, as they circumvent the weirdness of the stamina system.
Standard pure defense tank builds and normal banner builds were allowed, in order to keep the test focused on the performance of the other builds. Sword duelists were allowed as a filler option for bros without the stamina to do anything else, flail duelists were allowed for guys with bad melee skill.
This started off as a challenge run but it turned into more of a build testing experiment as the off meta builds turned out to be strong enough that it wasn't really much harder than a normal run (until the end). So I fought certain battles multiple times for testing purposes, but still let bros die normally.
Team composition:
4 Attacking Shield Bros, 4-6 frontline Swordlances, 1 Normal Banner, 1 Normal Tank, rest filler in the form of sword duelists & flail duelists. One Shield Bro was also a spearman. Two Swordlances were semi ranged units with around 46 ranged skill and carried crossbows so enemy parties with weak ranged would advance normally. Exact builds in pics.
Team Part 1
.
Team Part 2
Results:
This team actually had a relatively easy time with most fights, getting in ~215 fights by day 149 and finding / buying 33 famed items while only finding a few champions and only buying a few good items. Core bros from early in the game hit level 15. I am not a speed runner or super high fight density player, so that's a decent result for me, which indicates the team was actually surprisingly strong.
Builds:
Frontline Swordlance:
This made up the bulk of my damage. While swordlance has gotten a lot of criticism, frontline swordlance just seems like a good tempo build for most of the game. Aside from gunners, it's simply the easiest way to AOE without requiring high stats or good armor. You can use a daytaler with mediocre starting stats for swordlance, while AOEing with a two hander requires a much better recruit who can survive a fair amount of enemy contact.
Winning against large numbers of humanoid enemies in early high tier camps is largely based on morale checks and getting fearsome procs. Using AOE abilities is a good way to get fearsome procs. Obviously it clears out weaker enemies and that lowers the morale of stronger enemies. But the damage doesn't really fall off too badly until you get to the most heavily armored enemies. It's even fine vs Chosen as you can use the increased reach and mobility to focus fire and get in multiple AOEs and stay out of trouble. Maybe vs later Chosen camps past day 150 that would become more difficult.
In general, with pathfinder + polearm you almost always get at least one attack in and you can focus fire very easily, while keeping your damage bros safe, which goes a long way in terms of tempo compared to other builds that have more dead turns.
Swordlance is also good against beasts like Lindwurms as many beast fights seems to favor the strategy of walk forward, hit with reach weapon, walk out of attack range. You can just AOE the lindwurms down while your damage bros are perfectly safe.
Is it better than Javelins? Probably not, javelins are OP, but it uses a much easier to obtain recruit type and it does have advantages in some fights compared to javelins, as in many of the more risky mid game camps the enemy likely has more range than you, forcing you to advance. Swordlance can simply walk right up to the walls and reap away, while throwers have trouble setting up throwing lanes and one range attackers get clogged up and can't attack.
Swordlance can also invest in a full set of defenses and survivability perks. (That's why it's "Frontline Swordlance".) It doesn't have to waste a scarce backline spot but can safely take contact from even Chosen temporarily, as long as it's not getting swarmed by them. So the more relevant comparison is Swordlance vs Dodge Quickhands. In that comparison Swordlance seems to have a lot of advantages while the disadvantages are minor (especially since in a normal run you can just keep a two handed axe as backup.)
Swordlance damage only really became a problem vs masses of uncontrolled, heavy armor enemies, like if you fight all the Ancient Undead at the same time in Monolith (more on that later). However, in normal fights Ancient Honor Guards aren't challenging due to predictable AI and by day 150 Orc Warriors are still in relatively small numbers and are easily controlled and their morale is easily broken. I guess if you played super late swordlance might start to struggle in some larger camps.
Swordlance build: Poleshield:
Stole this build from this subreddit, thanks! Most of the time he plays as a normal swordlance, but he has the option to swap to a heater shield when he gets stuck in melee and needs the defense. Start with swordlance out, swing (5 ap), swap to shield (4 ap). End turn. Next turn, wait with relentless as shield stays out, swap to swordlance at the end and swing (4 ap + 5 ap). Next turn you will go before slower enemies so you can swing again and put your shield up for the rest of the turn. Most swings hit while shield is up. For most of the game this wasn't needed very often and he instead used a 4 ap weapon as a sidearm so he could dump his stamina into damage as quickly as possible. He tries to stay out of trouble so he doesn't need the shield. However on Monolith or in dangerous situations the shield option did come in handy. One polearm swing per turn isn't great damage, but with AOE it's not horrible and the shield does a lot to keep them alive until they can get out of trouble (can reach 50 defense with dodge). It's also helpful to have the shield out when you use recover.
Swordlance build: Fake Ranged Tempo Poleshield:
If you aren't going to build ranged units, you probably want a couple of fake ranged units, otherwise enemies with minor ranged abilities (like orc young with javelins) won't walk up to you as they normally do. Just take a mediocre ranged recruit with high based ranged skill and get him up to 46 ranged skill, then put the rest of the stats in melee. Start the fight with a crossbow in hand so it's loaded. The AI treats it as a normal ranged unit and will advance normally. You still have to advance if they have a lot of ranged so it's the same as normal runs. He can actually hit quite often with his crossbow vs certain enemies. Bags and belts performed great on these guys but duelist was for a specific weapon and probably shouldn't be taken normally. One died but he had similar stats.
Shield Bros:
While four shield bros that attack plus a tank and a tank banner (who usually just stands there holding the banner) is overkill (or uhh underkill) in terms of low damage defensive units, the shield bros performed surprisingly well in terms of tempo, even though I was never able to find an ideal candidate for a battleforged hammer + shield bro.
In a normal run it often takes a quite a long time to find candidates who can hit a stat line like 85/35 at level 11 to qualify as fatigue neutrals, which means that you can end up with a team full of nimble damage dealers with few defense bros aside from the tanks. That delays your ability to shift to optimal tactics, where the front line is made up of high defense high armor bros who take most of the enemy attacks, while the damage dealers stand in safer positions and try to only get attacked by one enemy at a time.
A unit who wouldn't quite measure up as a fatigue neutral can be made into a Shield Bro instead and he'll have plenty of defense to fill a front line spot and stand up against 3 enemies or more, while still contributing some damage over time.
Probably the most desirable attacking shield bro is a battleforged hammer shield bro, but that only works with high fatigue backgrounds, I didn't get the right recruits for that so I was forced to compromise on my shield bro builds.
Shield Bro Build: Fatigue Neutral Iron Lungs:
Stamina management is a huge problem without access to two handed weapons. Getting attacked by a lot of enemies quickly uses up a lot of stamina and only a small percentage of recruits can have enough stamina to tank in battleforged armor and still swing two times per turn. I never really found many skilled recruits with a high stamina pool like that.
Battleforged is still essential though. Bros with iron lungs can be fatigue neutral and swing certain weapons twice per turn, every turn. Normally that's limited to cleavers and swords, but if you get famed weapons you can expand the list of one handed fatigue neutral weapons. I was lucky enough to get famed weapons for these two, although they were not great ones.
Defensively, these guys performed better than the numbers indicate as they didn't take any bleeds, injuries or fearsome checks. And while their defense is only in the mid 50s with shield, that still makes them significantly tankier than a normal fatigue neutral. Their damage is pretty bad but it adds up in the course of long fights, so I think you'd lose tempo in most fights if you substituted pure defensive tanks. In Monolith they could survive for many rounds tanking up to 7 ancient undead at a time, which nimble or nimbleforged bros could not handle.
With recruiter retinue it makes sense to check a lot of guys for traits anyway and this can be a high impact way to use some guys with iron lungs and mediocre stats. It's a bit niche but I would consider using this build in a normal run, especially if I got an appropriate famed weapon and didn't need a duelist. One of these guys started as a 55*/2* Iron Lungs Daytaler, his performance as a damage sponge + damage over time was solid in this build, but as a duelist he'd have been mediocre and used up a lot of tools. In this run more damage was needed, but in a normal run there is usually a shortage of high defense forged units.
Shield Bro Build: Hammer Shield
One handed Hammer still performs well even without double grip or duelist. Destroy armor still does a lot of armor damage on the appropriate enemies and the regular attack will always proc fearsome, which often means he can simply walk up to an orc warrior or chosen and rout him with a couple hits, while having 60 defense.
This run didn't really maximize the strengths of the hammer shield bro, ideally he'd be a high stamina background in forged armor and he'd be paired with high damage teammates like a barbarian two handed axe that just need a little armor softening.
Nimble and nimbleforged are definitely fine for large camps at 150 days of scaling and earlier but if the late game camps scale to the point where he has no choice but to be focus fired by many high damage enemies, then you'd want a forged bro instead. Mine started to run out of steam when fighting both undead groups at once in Monolith. Still, this is a build I would routinely consider adding to the line up. Another great reason to build this is that Nimble Hammer Shield combines well with Spear + Shield, which is great for mid game tempo.
Shield Bro Build: Spear Specialist
Spear specialist performs a similar role to the indomitable tank, but becomes available earlier. Due to the way the AI works he can often hold off as many as 4-6 enemies for several turns. The spear specialization perk is very valuable as you can continue to refresh spearwall even while tanking another enemy, often you can arrange it so the only available spot for an enemy to attack is next to the spearman, causing several enemies to waste their turns trying to move in. Two handed enemies like chosen and berserkers are particularly crippled as they can only move one tile and attack, so you either force them to waste their turn by moving, or if they walk into spearwall they lose their turn if the spearman hits even once. The spearman singlehandedly increases the number of camps that will be profitable for your team. Spear combines well with shield and hammer in the classic Spear Hammer Shield Build from early BB, giving you something to do when you are done spearwalling. Will build again.
Weaknesses and Monolith:
I did multiple Black Monolith fights for testing purposes.
https://preview.redd.it/tgvvrj14881d1.png?width=1779&format=png&auto=webp&s=a58156df46337efd136bccea6564799c81e2abf2
I'm aware of two strategies for Monolith, with one being significantly easier than the other.
The "Speedrun" strategy (seen in Shringshring's video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayh35O9mLUw&t=8429s) involves splitting the undead into two groups by running the tank to the top left corner of the map, while the rest of the team retreats towards the bottom left corner of the map. The fight plays out as two separate fights with a break in between. It is reliable if you move like he does, the necrosavants may attack if your team spreads out too much though. Even if you only move a little bit though, it's enough to split the undead as long as the tank makes it to the corner.
The other strategy is the "Normal" or "Hard Mode" strategy for Monolith, where the tank runs approximately 4 hexes towards the top of the map and the team retreats approximately two hexes to the left. The fight starts sooner and it is possible for the tank to die relatively quickly. You need either a good tank to last a long time or a good amount of damage, otherwise you can end up facing both undead groups at the same time. This is the more difficult strategy but high damage late game teams with good tanks can handle it fine.
The Shield Bro + Swordlance team doesn't have any problem with Monolith with the speedrun strategy. It's true that the swordlances feel a bit weak against the ancient honor guards, but there isn't excessive pressure on the team so it can take the time to set up good AOEs with swordlances, weaken armor with hammer bros and focus fire. It plays out like two normal fights back to back.
However, when trying to brute force both Ancient Dead groups with the "Hard Mode" strategy, the team finally starts to show its weakness. The team takes 20 to 21 rounds to beat Monolith using this strategy. That's much slower than normal for Monolith. The Battleforged fatigue neutral shield bros performed well, surviving for many rounds while getting hit by up to 7 ancient honor guards at a time, but having the fight take so long leaves more time for things to go wrong and win rate on Monolith was probably only about 60% with this strategy, as there was a risk of the tank going down early. This could have been reduced with a better tank and/or more potions. Fighting both undead groups + necrosavants all at once was too much for the team to overcome reliably. Swordlances ran out of stamina and got stuck in non optimal positions for AOE, hammers were not able to eliminate Honor Guards quickly enough on their own. It may also have been a mistake to go from 5-6 Swordlances in most normal fights to only 4 in the Monolith, by benching the faked ranged for newly trained high defense bros, as there was a real lack of damage for the "Hard Mode" strategy.
While there isn't much reason to do the "Hard Mode" strategy instead of the "Speedrun" strategy, this still hints at a weakness that might show up in certain extremely highly scaled camps late in the game, like very late sea of tents. Just not enough damage vs armor, plus tons and tons of armored enemies pushing in too fast, getting in contact with vulnerable nimble units. However the amount of orc warriors that spawned in early game Sea of Tents were no problem at all, swordlance guys could just keep a tier 2 hammer in the pocket and easily rout them with fearsome after routing the young and berserkers.
Finally, fighting both undead groups at once illustrated some problems with the stamina system in this game as it relates to 4ap weapons. I left the sword duelist option available for filler bros with lower stamina who couldn't do anything else. Normally the build performed fine, however when there was an extremely high density of enemies and the sword duelist was getting attacked a lot he quickly ran out of stamina and could rarely regain enough to swing twice. He could either use recover, which was never needed in any other fight, or he could stand there and swing only once like an idiot. I gave them reach weapons for just this reason, but it was kind of a crutch to play around this imbalance of the stamina system, that's why two handed weapons are so good after all. In the Speedrun strategy when the undead were split into two groups, the sword duelists had no problems as they could take positions where only small numbers of enemies could swing at them.
Conclusion:
The meta builds exist for a reason of course, but the Devs generally did a great job balancing this game and you can definitely make a lot of non-meta builds work. Sometimes they even feel quite strong. However, when designing your non-meta builds keep in mind the imbalances with the stamina system. For a tanky character with a high stamina pool who uses high stamina cost moves, like the Hammer Shield Bro, taking a turn to recover doesn't feel too bad. But pathfinder based 4 ap builds that don't use much stamina in normal fights can find their offense shut down if they let a lot of enemies swing at them. That kind of limits the value of high defense and high durability on this kind of unit and makes me want to avoid putting 4 ap weapons on them, even though it seems more thematic than giant two handed weapons.

Hi guys, I’ve struggled with emetephobia my whole life and i just wanted to share things that I either tell myself when im panicking, or things i tell someone who is worried that they will get sick. I liketo use logical approaches when talking about emetophobia because they calm me down and make the most sense.

1. When you’re actually gonna throw up, you won’t have even 30 seconds to think about it. It will just happen the second you feel it. So, if you’re nauseous and it has been over5 min since the initial feeling, its just anxiety. Think of in movies when actors just throw up the second they say they feel super sick.
   
2. During emetephobia panic attacks, the best solution is to quite literally distract yourself in every way possible. Chew ice. Hot shower. Facetime a friend. Music. Podcast. Water. Make sure to care of the minimal anxiety as soon as possible before it turns into a panic attack, though.
   
3. Just a tip- Make your diet to be foods that are healthy and that don’t expire for a long time. I have done this and it allows me to actually be able to enjoy my food w out worrying about getting sick. I’m guessing most of us obsess over expirations date and raw foods. I’ve gotten to a point where I am able to eat sushi and other raw sea food. But years ago, it would scare me a lot. Little life hack is every time you eat a “scary” food (one that makes you worried about tu), the more times you eat it the more times you can tell yourself “Well i’ve ate this a million times before, so why would it make me sick this time?”. Hope that made sense
   
4. I don’t drink alcohol anymore because of my general anxiety , BUT if you do want to still enjoy alcohol, a life hack is to drink 1 water bottle in between drinks. I know, its extra but it works wonders. I did this back in highschool to be able to enjoy parties. Also, this way when you burp after drinking it wont taste nasty- It will be a watered down burp.
   
5. If somebody around you has a stomach virus, or just throws up from being drunk or smth, u literally cannot get it unless you drink or eat after them. Like sharing a drink or food. So in general just dont drink or eat after others. Simple but important.Oh and also if a child around u gets sick- they’re children, just remind yourself that their immune systems are weak and theyre more prone to tu.
   

Hope this was helpful.
Just know you are never alone. This is a completely rational fear. Don’t let anybody tell you that youre dramatic for fearing getting sick. I haven’t gotten sick (tu) since i was in 7th grade. My doctor told me your body wont let it happen after a certain amount of time if you fear it so much, thats another thing to consider i think. 🩷 I am here for any of you.

I Lucifer (?male, neutered cat) have been forced to find a new feeder. My last food giver has moved away and left me searching for my meals. I quickly found a giver of food, and came up with a ingenious plan! If I move in their house I won’t go hungry! They can’t disappear from me and my food bowl will never be empty! So one day after proper training the newest food givers into feeding me for two months I decided to take my rightful place in the house. I now come and go as I please.. which is 80% in the house and 20% outside. The food giver called me a cloaca for moving in when they already have 5 cats and two dogs. I say they now have 6 cats and there’s nothing they can do about it! This is the first time I’m playing house cat and it’s amazing so far!! Unfortunately I’m slowly learning to leave their food alone, odd how they don’t like my nose in their dinner plates. My nose should be in everyone’s dinner plate.. but I got off topic.. my apologies because… food. So AITC for moving in?

So I visited Japan for 2 weeks between the middle and end of April after consuming a bit too much of this channel, and of course I had to try a bunch of things that get recommended or memed on here.

1. Famichiki - Oh my god, I get it. I get it now. (Lawson's Karaage-kun is also pretty good)
   
2. CC Lemon - Out of all the sugary soft drinks I tried on this trip this was easily the most smooth and refreshing, carried me on a few sunnier days. Pocari Sweat Ion Water is a close second.
   
3. Crunky - Goofy name aside, decent but pretty unremarkable chocolate.
   
4. Energy Jelly - Tastes alright, feels a bit weird to be "drinking" jelly and there's not much of it. Sadly didn't summon Dr. Jelly to my location.
   
5. Izakayas/yakitori - Was a bit intimidated by izakayas at first, but seeing the good time (and good food!) Chris and co. has in them convinced me to seek them out on this trip, and I don't regret it. Munching on freshly grilled skewers with all the noise and smells surrounding you is one of the best vibes you can get in Japan, would recommend.
   
6. Kamakura - Recommended as a day trip from Tokyo in Chris' 14 days in Japan video, came here after Mt. Fuji didn't work out due to weather, and I'm glad I did. Nice major change of pace from Tokyo's hustle and bustle, and mixing in nearby Enoshima Island made it one of the highlights of the whole trip.
   
7. Ramune - Tried this in the same place that Chris did in the original JAJ, in Miyajima. Cool bottle opening gimmick, but after that it basically tastes like Sprite/7Up.
   
8. Sukiya Cheese Gyudon - Mentioned by Chris in the original JAJ as his training "reward". It's nice filling cheap junk food, not amazing but hits the spot after a long day when you're not in the mood for anything fancy or adventurous.
   
9. Calpis - Forgot where Chris mentioned this one, but he did bring it up at least once. After getting over the most unintentionally hilarious name for a dairy-based drink, I actually liked it! Pretty unique but delicious and refreshing.
   
10. Tokyo Tower - Pretty cool place, iconic and surrounded by some nice parks. I came here on April 14th, there was a bit of a commotion involving two loud British men and an even louder American. Don't know what that was about.
    

Curious if anyone else who's visited or lives in Japan has done things specifically because they got mentioned or featured on the channel, and what your experience was like!