What to say in an 18th birthday card

context

I met my current Girlfriend on a videogame several years ago. We were young and dated for a week maybe and i got overwhelmed by her clinginess and we eventually parted ways for a few years, only messaging a few times here and there. We didn't learn much about each other, so we were aquainted strangers for a while.
I isolated a lot due to covid but also anxiety of going back out into public. So i always had a lot of time to myself to think. I developed my thoughts and opinions as i stared out the window to the world. I matured a lot. And towards the end i refound my passion for philosophy, spirituality and got deeper into jungian psychology.
Over the past several months i felt very light, or golden. It almost felt like the life path ahead of me was an angelic one, im meant to do great for the sake of others. Maybe im just conceited or egotistical tho.

middle period

This girl though, decides to text me more. Happens to go through a breakup with a bad ex. And she came to me after she got back from the mental hospital. I happened to be there when she was very low. Over time i pulled her out of that bad state and got her over her ex.
We fall in love again.
Since i was always isolated i gave up on searching for relationships, i thought i should just focus on being the best i can so i can start on good footing when i got myself into a relationship. I felt as though i shouldn't force it regardless or seek it out too much. So i didn't. I trusted that it would figure itself out. And it did.
On this second time with her though, I've been able to learn much more about her. And I've realized that she is almost a mirror version of myself, just delt a worse hand in life.

Coincidences or synchronicities?

Now, nothing is super synchronous yet but its been really trippy the more we talk.
We think the exact same thoughts at the same time.
Almost everytime i open my phone shes texting me.
We know what each other are about to say pretty often
Similar tastes in food.
Same opinions and similar interests.
Exact same goals and aspirations.
Her mother and my mother have the same birthday.
We both have similarities in our appearance.
Both want kids, and both ideally want a boy and girl.
Both have had similar problems in childhood
Both have add/adhd ish
Both have siberian huskies
And many more
I also had a dream about her and she showed me something i saw in my dream

more thoughts

We are so very similar. And every time we interact i feel theres always something that happens that is so oddly specific and coincidental that they're not ordinary coincidences. This has never happened to me with anyone else before.
I felt like i was meant to be there for her when i was. I constantly feel like something put us here and like I'm supposed to be with her.
I constantly saw and still see messages that say "if you're meant to be you'll end up back with each other" or ideas similar. Like some kind of omen. These same things, even verses about love in the bible keep reappearing in random places.
Its all so strange but sweet at the same time. But I'm going to trust it.
Lemme know your thoughts! What kind of meaning might this have? Is it more normal than i think it is?

Am I the asshole for not wanting a relationship with my dad’s side of the family?
Me, 23F, have a pretty good relationship with my parents, but a point of conflict in our family ever since I was a child is my relationship with my dad’s side of the family.
My dad’s side of the family lives on another city so that automatically reduced the contact I had with them in comparison with the contact I had with my mom’s side of the family, most notably my grandma and my uncle.
My dad’s family has never really put into the effort to have a closer relationship. The most I would get from them were usually birthday and Christmas calls when I was a kid. Now, it’s, at best, a Christmas call from my grandmother and a DM from one of my aunts. At the same time, my grandparents often showed they cared more about my cousins than me. They would often be more affectionate towards them and give them rather expensive gifts and even help with paying for their eduction. One of them got a car recently and the other got help in affording their MBA.
I get it, they live closer to my grandparents so it’s understandable they’d be closer to them than to me, but these things weren’t as clear to me when I was about 6/7 I often wondered what I’d done to make them not like me.
My dad always insisted we visited them during summer break or other holidays when I was in school. I never felt like these people cared for me so I hated wasting my off time visiting them instead of spending time with my friends or doing other activities I enjoyed, especially given that I struggled with bullying in school so the summer break was always the time I had to just be left alone. Instead, almost every year I got dragged for a week or two to another city and forced to live under the same roof as my grandparents. They weren’t mean to me, but I often felt completely left out when I was there. My mom would often be the only one who tried to do something I’d enjoy.
Sometimes his family would come to visit and more than once he gave away some of my toys to my younger cousins. He’d hardly ask me in advance if it was okay, instead he’d ask in front of my cousins if they wanted it and if I was okay with giving it to them. I felt pressured to say yes, because I didn’t want to disappoint my dad nor upset my younger cousins.
His goal whenever he was with his family was to prove to them how successful he was. How he’d been the first to have higher education in the family and how he was a businessman when, in reality, my parents were somewhat struggling financially.
Over the years, I began to make my position more clear and tell my dad I didn’t want to visit them nor that I wanted them in our house. He often said I was being selfish and that I needed to put in the effort to be closer to his family. He also said I was close to my mom’s relatives and that it was unfair I didn’t have the same relationship with his family. It became an endless point of contention, including between my parents who’d often get into arguments over the situation. My mom always taking my side as she doesn’t really get along with them as well.
It also didn’t help that my grandmother and aunts seemed to dislike the way my parents were raising me and told my dad I was too spoiled. My dad told my mom about it and she told me about it once she felt I was old enough to know as she “didn’t want to hurt my feelings.”
Recently, things got worse. There was one person I liked in that family and that was my uncle, he too often felt left out by the family so we could relate in some ways. My family was actually pretty horrible to him as he struggled with mental health and they think that’s bs. He died during the COVID pandemic and now the family basically acts as if he’s never existed. I get it may be grief, but the way they never talk about him feels weird to me. He was the only person that made my family more tolerable and now he’s gone so there’s not much left.
More than that, my dad’s family is more on the conservative and religious side and I’m not. They post a bunch of fake news on their stories about the government (to the point one of my aunts often has her posts suspended) and supported a candidate who was openly lgbtphobic and I’m gay so you can imagine that did not land well with me. Still, I never tried to argue with them for the sake of my dad, but I would still post something about politics every now and then. In the end, one of aunts went into my DMs to say how stupid I was for supporting the other candidate. That escalated to a whole argument… my dad was not happy about it and said I should tone down on my posts.
More recently, my dad has begun to visit them on his own as my work schedule makes it harder to take me with him, but he keeps talking about how my grandparents are old and don’t have much time left and how the “whole family” should be there for them.
Still, I can’t bring myself to really care. I genuinely feel nothing for them. I expect nothing from them and I trust they expect nothing from me.
I do feel bad for my dad because it’s his parents and family so I don’t complain about them anymore, but I still don’t want any contact with them.
Am I the asshole?

As per my last post, I asked about doing it the old school way (mail fan letters to networks to pick up the show). You guys are great and replied with sending postcards. Go read it here to see where we're at https://www.reddit.com/SohelpmeTodd/comments/1ctze8e/to_save_this_show_should_we_do_it_old_school/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I did some googling and found the addresses of their studios and addresses. I went to my walgreens and bought a stack of postcards (they were cheap so i grabbed a bunch). And going to send it after dinner. I'll post the pictures of the actual written cards later. But i got super excited so i'm posting the addresses here first, then posting an update later.
Here are the addresses:
Peacock TV: 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 0112
Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution: 500 S. Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521
NBC Universal: 30 Rockefeller Plaza. New York, NY 10112
FOX Entertainment Group: 1211 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036
FOX Entertainment: 10201 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles CA 90064
Roku (Physical Address): 1173 Coleman Avenue San Jose, CA 95110
Roku (Mailing address): 1701 Junction Court, Suite 100 San Jose, CA 95112
(What i didn't know is that NBC owns peacock, so they are in the same building. And Fox has 2 addresses, one studio in CA and a headquarter in NY). Something else interesting i've found is that the Ceo of fox left and is now at roku. Not really related but just wanted to share.
For the debbie downers out there that will say there's no use in trying. Please don't kill my vibe and optimism. I'm just a fan trying to save a show. Thanks for reading!

My sister, 46, is having her first late-stage child this coming September, making me, a 43 year old male, a first time (and very excited) Uncle. Instead of buying a traditional baby shower gift, I want to open and fund some sort of a long-term, decent yield savings account that my niece/nephew will be able to access on hehis 18th birthday and pay for a decent amount (if not all) of their college tuition to hopefully earn a degree. My question is what type of account would be best set up in order to achieve this? I was thinking maybe a COD with an elongated maturity date? Or would a traditional savings account be best? I was planning on initially funding the account with about $2K, and would like to have the option to deposit additional funds on a yearly or semi-yearly basis for holidays and/or special occasions and the like. And again, to reiterate, none of the funds deposited in the account would need to be available for withdrawal for 18 years or so, so not worried about accounts that have early withdrawal penalties and what not. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, looking to get this done in the next month. Thanks for reading!

So I see people discussing AST a lot, and I find a lot of it strange. In SHB and EW, everyone hated the cards being homogenized into all being damage buffs.
So now imagine my shock, when they announce that they will sorta combine some previous AST systems, giving all cards unique effects, not making it random if you get damage cards, etc. and people here have an oddly negative attitude towards it.
What happened to wanting unique cards? What happened to using utility cards in the best way you can? That's how people used to defend SB AST. If you get The Bole instead of Balance, then good AST players would use it the best they can. Now people are talking about how useless the utility cards are, saying that you'll just play the damage card every minute and never bother with your other two utility cards, overwritting them the next minute, saying that it is a failure of job design.
Like jessus, can't yall just have some fun for once? There is absolutely zero reason not to play the utility cards. Not only would it be more fun, but it can save your, or other peoples resources, such as saving a Divine Bension, or a Rampart, or Second Wind, or Sprint/Swiftcast, etc. But no, it's not tied to damage so I guess we're going to be miserable and just not use them and say it's a failure of design.
And the RNG... I don't know how people are upset about the removal of the RNG we had. You either got the good damage buff, or the slightly less good damage buff. That's literally it. If you get the slightly bad damage buff, or sometimes a wrong seal, you just tap Redraw. That's it. You either get 2 seals for Astrodyne or 3, which is just a 5% damage buff for 15s on the weakest class in the game. And somehow people are up in arms about some crazy engaging mechanic being removed.
With the burst also being less busy now, it means we can also likely use Lightspeed for movement again, finally.
And sure, the difficulty of the class went slightly down, but in its place, is far more unique, interesting, and less homogenized gameplay.
Didn't I see a lot of people here say that they don't care how hard a class is, they just want it to be unique and fun? What happened to that?
What's more unique? Playing a damage card every 60s and dumping everything in burst, or playing a damage card every 60s and utilizing your unique utility in the best ways possible, in between your burst?
Giving tanks mitigation for tankbusters, increasing the damage of the appropriate DPS, granting movement speed to your black mage or somebody who is about to get hit by a mechanic or got unlucky with a mechanic and has to move far, and so on.
I would absolutely take less hard but more interesting and unique gameplay any day. Of course, it is impossible to please every AST main, and I am not saying everyone has to love this, or that it is perfectly designed. But some of the takes I have seen on here are negative enough that I wanted to make this post.

It really became a revelation to me that people kick out low levels players in unranked. I was playing on a new account and I couldn’t start a battle for 5 minutes because everyone was kicking me out of the team.
Is winning in unranked so important to them? Are they playing so badly that they can't win if one of their teammates is not 99lvl ace? Or is it just a huge ego?
Ik sometimes it’s annoying when those players die in first 10 seconds and disconnect, or take your ability cards that other teammate pinged for you but where do you expect them to play if you kick low levels out of both unranked and ranked??? Play CPU until they reach level 99 or what..??
When people with low levels join my team I never kick them out, it’s not such a big deal if we lose in unranked, and I personally feel like those are my kids and I should lead them to victory or at least make them feel comfortable and accepted and let them enjoy the game (sometimes I end up making the dumbest mistake and those lvl1 Deku and Dabi are saving my ass or reviving me and that’s precious lmao)
And instead of saying some trash about them I just give them tips when I see that they don’t understand how to do something and seeing how they learn something from a battle with you is a great feeling
But instead, people kick out such players or say trash about them in chat, creating an even more nervous atmosphere and pressure for them, which leads to them making even more mistakes. That sucks.

Hello fellow tutor aspirees, side hustlers, academic extraordinaires. I’m here to give you the scoop on the various tutoring platforms, how their services work, tutoring requirements, the types of students on each platform, and of course - how much you get paid for your time.
A little about me. I’ve tutored for a few months now on the following platforms: Varsity Tutors, Wyzant, and SuperProf. I’ve had a number of students on each platform, and it’s safe to say I’ve definitely realized the pros and cons of each one.
Wyzant
Money Info: You set your hourly rate. Wyzant takes 25% of it. If you set your rate to $20/hr you get paid $15/hr.
The Requirements: Each subject you tutor you have to take a 10–20 question multiple choice test on it. The test will be beginner to intermediate questions on the subject you’ve chosen. You only have one chance to pass the test.
The Pros:

• You set your own rate
• Tutors and students can freely schedule meetings on their own, rather than have someone assign you
• The user interface is better(mobile app, messaging system, teaching platform, etc)
• Students can largely vary(this can be a con too). You will get a wider range of students, who can be adults with various full time jobs.

The Cons:

• You are charged 25% of your hourly rate
• It’s very hard to get started as a new tutor. There are tons of tutors with a lot of reviews already.
• There are scammers(be cautious of people asking you to communicate off the platform)

Final Verdict
Wyzant is an easy to use platform that takes a while to build a student base. You’ll have to apply and reach out to students a lot at first before you start getting more consistent jobs. This can take a few months, so consider this before you start. The 25% fee is high, but certainly not unreasonable compared to other platforms.
Varsity Tutors
Money Info: Unless you’re tutoring GRE or LSATs, the flat rate is $15/hr, regardless of the subject. GRE and LSAT tutors make $28/hr. Varsity Tutors charges their students $50 - $75/hr.
Requirements: Most subjects do not require a test, however you do need to send in a video interview of yourself, mostly to confirm that you can speak eloquently.
The Pros:

• You are assigned students after declaring interest, so you can get started tutoring within a few days.
• Students are screened so you’ll mostly get students more prepared for lessons.

The Cons:

• A large amount of tutors will only make $15/hr, whereas they charge $50 - $75/hr per student. This can be a huge cut, and limit on pay, especially if you’re teaching harder subjects like programming, sciences, higher level math.
• The user interface is not as great. Basic functionality is there, but the overall platform is not aesthetic.
• You are legally not allowed to take students off the platform.

Final Verdict
Varsity Tutors definitely has the lowest pay amongst all the platforms. $15/hr to teach is what you can make at some retail jobs in the US. The platform can be better if you need to start making money immediately, or if you live in a country where the cost of living is lower. The amount you are paid is better for people who are teaching subjects that aren’t too difficult.
SuperProf
Money Info: You set your own rate, SuperProf takes 10%. The caveat, SuperProf charges students $39 a month to use the platform.
Pros:

• For tutors, SuperProf takes the least amount from your pay compared to other platforms.
• Students are generally more prepared because they are paying $39 a month to use the platform.
• The user interface is also pretty good.
• You can set your own cancellation policies

Cons:

• There are less students because of the monthly subscription fee.
• It’s very hard to get started as a new tutor. There are tons of tutors with a lot of reviews already.
• You have to teach your first two lessons free.

Final Verdict
SuperProf is very similar to Wyzant in that students and tutors can openly communicate and set up time with each other. The 10% fee is lower than the other platforms. But because it’s already hard to get started as a new tutor, and there are less students on the platform, it’s one of the harder platforms to build a student base.
Additional Notes
While all these platforms have their pros and cons. You can always consider tutoring independently. You do not need any licenses or business registration for tutoring in most places. Once you get a student base through Wyzant or SuperProf, you can take them off-platform and teach independently. The best part? You keep the money you work hard for.
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I have two best friends and I have a crush on one of them. I honestly don't even care if she doesn't want to be with me because I don't think she is bi and we each have boyfriends anyways (my bf knows I like her and doesn't care).
Best friend #1 knows I have a crush on best friend #2 and while I was hanging out with best friend #1 she was really drunk she was saying how "beautiful" and "top tear" best friend #2 is. I mistakenly asked if she thought I was also "top tear" as well, and she nonchalantly told me no, that best friend #2 is on a higher level. She didn't mean to hurt me, she just thought she was answering my question and that I wanted an honest answer. This was on my birthday too. I felt like she just stabbed me in the stomach. TBH I much prefer she stabbed me in the stomach. I asked two of my friends at my birthday party if they agreed and although I knew they would be nice and say that I was "top tear" too no matter what they thought. They started off with "oh, that girl! she was supppperrr cute, but yes you are cute too". Which just confirms what best friend #1 said to me.
To make matters worse, my own fucking boyfriend wants to sleep with her too. In the past, once he found out I like her he hinted at trying to get a threesome with her. I cannot handle the idea of my boyfriend getting hard for another girl especially a girl who more "top tear" than me.
Also, our entire friendship because I see guys check her out at the club a lot more than I see guys check me out.
This is sole crushing. Like this is an objectively hurtful thing for my friend to say, but I fucking hate myself so much and compare myself so terribly to people. So I basically feel like best friend #1 just told me I am better off dead and that I need to kill myself I want to die so badly.
I had a similar situation like this happen in the past with a different girl and feelings of attraction and envy getting mixed up with each other and now every time I hear her name I feel overwhelming thoughts of needing to die. I had to block her on everything and cut her out of my life like the toxic piece of garbage I am. Now I have no choice but to do this with best friend #2 because if I ever see her again I will kill myself.
I also don't have a therapist right now because I am on a waitlist and the DBT program people I can't get ahold of. I don't have a single skill to lessen the emotional agony I am in right now. And I know how god damn dramatic I am with this and it is humiliating.

I’m in a group of four friends. It’s super fun hanging out with them and stuff. Actually, the THOUGHT of hanging out with them is fun. Once we actually are together, I feel drained? I don’t know why.
We got really close junior year, but there is a duo in the group. For instance, they tag each other in tiktoks like “you are the chocolate to my vanilla”, somebody talking abt how they love their best friend, etc. Like yeah, they are closer, but is it wrong of me to be jealous? They have their own inside jokes that I don’t understand and I just kinda laugh it off when they avoid telling me what their jokes mean. I get because it’s something between them and it was probably about something that was only funny in the moment, but it just sucks not feeling included.
My other friend, outside of the duo, makes very offensive and strange comments towards my eating habits. I am embarrassed to eat in front of other people in public, so I usually eat a lot at home and little when we hang out. I am very open about this too. But if I ever reject food because I am either not hungry or don’t like it (I’m a picky eater) she ALWAYS butts into the conversation to say “she doesn’t eat anything anyways”. And if I talk about how I really liked a pizza (I had two slices) she goes “you barely ate it”. No matter what I say about any topic regarding food, she always has to bring me down in some way. The thing I find most odd about this is she barely eats in front of people either. Before school and during school she eats absolutely nothing. I have never said anything about it. And even the other day she bragged to me about how she “only ate a rice crispy today”. But I’m the one who doesn’t eat?
I love to crochet. I make crochet room decor and stuffed animals for my friends for their birthdays. I’m always really proud of it. However, I was recently talking to two of my friends how I want to crochet something for my other friend for her birthday, and they burst out laughing. They started telling me to stop crocheting stuff because nobody knows what to do with “dumb room decor and stuffed animals”. I just laughed but it actually really hurt. I thought they liked that stuff because for one, they all have a tower of stuffed animals in their room, and two, they have all have a pinterest board full of similar room decor. I put so much effort into crocheting that it was so hurtful to see that they don’t even care about what I made. I understand not everybody likes crochet stuff, and maybe I am sensitive, but I feel they were being a little harsh about it?
I feel like if I disappeared one day, the only thing different in their lives would be their grades. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even feel a difference. They always ask me for homework answers, which I usually give because I am a people pleaser. It’s just upsetting to see that when I ask for a favor in return, like maybe I just want them to send me the answer key for my homework so that I can check my work, they don’t help. They stop answering my texts and change the subject. Also to add on, I am only seen for my intelligence and not my personality. I don’t even talk about grades unless somebody asks me what I got on a test. I just want to be seen as a real person with real interests, and not just somebody who does well in school.
I’m always out of the loop. My friend keeps going back to her ex and then breaking up with him. It seems that all my friends know when they are back together but me. It’s always a surprise to me when I hear her say boyfriend instead of ex, but everybody else looks as if they already knew. I’m sitting there trying to process when she got back with him, while they continue the conversation as normal.
One of them constantly makes fun of me. She refuses to eat anything I eat, drink anything I drink, or wear anything I wear in fear of “turning into” me. I can never tell if it’s a joke or not. She always comments on my “grandma“ clothes and makes fun of them, when it’s literally just jeans and a graphic sweatshirt? This might sound really stupid, but she’ll drink out of ANYBODYS water. If they are sick, a stranger, whoever. But when she said “I’m soooo thirsty” and I offered her my water bottle she said “Ew I don’t want your water I’ll turn into you”. And she seriously refused my water. I’m sorry this probably sounds so dumb.
There’s a lot more, but am I sensitive or is there actually an issue?

Ok I have a friend let’s call her Tracy. I’ve known Tracy since Feb 2023 we met on an influencer group on a brand trip. Around Aug 2023 I moved to her city. We started hanging out a lot and I noticed She still had her moments where she’s very tit for tat about money. I never had a problem with it because I was good for it, but in Jan I was relieved from my main source of income. I started to struggle and was even homeless for a while. I asked if I could stay with her and offered to pay. Stayed with her for only a month and I noticed how self absorbed she is. When I would talk to Tracy, she would always make it about her, cut me off or try to see how she can get out of something for nothing. When I would show her something cool that I did or created she would ask me to do it for free knowing that something that I would want to charge for it.
There was a point where I was really struggling so I asked to borrow some money. I did what I needed to do for her for the first half but it took me about two months to pay her the rest of the money back because I was still working to survive. Fast forward a couple months… Her birthday is at the beginning of the month and she spent about over $5000 on her birthday activities. She didn’t come out of pocket because a few homeboys and boys she’s messing with sent her the money. The only thing that she wanted from her friends was a specific cake. I was searching for the cake and I was gonna see if me and all of her friends could split it. She told me that she ended up finding and buying the cake then told her other friends to send her a $50-$100 donation towards the event. Then she said for me to just send her $100 to go towards the cake. I didn't do it cuz I didn’t budget that into my expenses.
I ended up leaving her birthday event early because I had an allergic reaction to something and broke out in hives. I almost passed out and left because I didn’t wanna make a big deal on her birthday. When I got back, she was making jokes about how She wanted to “know what I had an allergic reaction to in case she ever wanted to kill me.” . Then the next day she kept trying to force me to do what I suspected gave me a bad reaction because it was her birthday. She kept “jokingly” calling me selfish for not doing so.
Recently Ive been better about my money. I would tell Tracy about it thinking she’d be happy for me. Her first reaction was “good now give me $100.” When I tell her to ask people who have it she would say “They paid for my birthday already I want YOUR money”. I said that I’ll take her out on a nice date as a joke, but I don’t even want to do that because she previously admitted that she orders a bunch of stuff… Stuff she doesn’t even really want if somebody else is paying.
Right now, I am more comfortable financially to be able to to pay her the hundred dollars, but I really don’t want to, so would I be the asshole if I don’t pay her?

So I’ve seen a lot of discussion on our team. People comment “four wins is something to be happy with” or “can we win six?” I thought I’d throw out my OVERLY optimistic thoughts here. Feel free to send me packing (or POUNDING?).
Format: ##/## (win chance): team in favor - general thoughts: #-# (record)
Breakdown: Week 1: Sept. 8 at New Orleans - 60/40: Saints - I think this is still a winnable game, and I would love to have this, but Carr over Young. 0-1
Week 2: Sept 15 vs. Los Angeles Chargers - 60/40: Chargers - Herbert is better than Young and Harbaugh is an established coach. I think that skews the odds against us, but I just like this game. It’s our first home game under “the alignment.” I like our chances. We steal it. 1-1
Week 3: Sept 22 at Las Vegas - 50/50: Two Second year QBs. Two new coaches. AOC vs BY. I’ll take BY (Still taking BY over Minshew). 2-1
Week 4: Sept. 29 vs. Cincinnati - really? take the L. 2-2
Week 5: Oct. 6 at Chicago - 55/45: Bears. They have more overall talent, but I think this win “means” more for us so we sneak it out anyway (yes chances are in their favor). 3-2
Week 6: Oct. 13 vs. Atlanta - 55/45: Falcons - but we are home and the hate runs deep! Steal another dub. 4-2
Week 7: Oct. 20 at Washington - 60/40: Commanders - Luvu and Chinn gonna mess up BY. SORRY. (Also Jayden Daniels is leading the RoY race at this point with CW in second. MHJ 3d, mini Mac in 4th, and Brooks & XL tied for 5th). 4-3
Week 8: Oct. 27 at Denver - 50/50: HoF head coach but… Wilson? Stidham? Nix? KEEP POUNDING. 5-3
Week 9: Nov. 3 vs. New Orleans - 50/50: REVENGE from week one 6-3
Week 10: Nov. 10 vs. N.Y. Giants (Munich, Germany) - 80/20: Panthers - I mean. Woody from Toy Story is their QB? They lost Barkley? 7-3
Week 11: Nov. 17 BYE - Media and prediction analysts are losing their minds saying “we knew all along the panthers would be here.” Or “they had the 3d weakest Strength of Schedule, it’s gonna fall apart.
Week 12: Nov. 24 vs. Kansas City - 100/0: Chiefs - WE HAVE NO SHOT. Everyone knows it. Why bother? What’s that??? T-Swift couldn’t make it?? Doesn’t matter either way, we’re fighting for something at this point and take the upset. 8-3 (OT win)
Week 13: Dec. 1 vs. Tampa Bay - 50/50: Bucs revenge for us stealing their staff? They know our scheme? Doesn’t matter. We’re on fire now baby! 9-3
Week 14: Dec 8 at Philadelphia - 90/10: Eagles - ever run full speed into a brick wall? Yea… it “Hurts”. 9-4
Week 15: Dec: 15 vs. Dallas - 80/20: Boys - damn. We’re skidding now. 9-5
Week 16: Dec. 22 vs. Arizona - 50/50: Can we recover? It’s toss up, who comes down with it, XL or MHJ? Going bold here. 9-5-1
Week 17: Dec. 29 at Tampa Bay - 60/40: Bucs - they gonna fight to keep us out. 9-6-1
Week 18: Jan. 4 or 5 at Atlanta* - 60/40: Falcons - Final nail in the coffin? Probably. 9-7-1
Is that enough to get us in? Idk. I’d have to run through the other NFC South schedules, but we’d likely be in some crazy wild card scheme where if the Packers tie, the Bucs win, and the Rams lose, we’re in.

I ordered the Citi AAdvantage business card on 5/8 and I got an email afterwards that said I would receive the card by 5/19, otherwise call them. Well I received an email saying my card has arrived so I called because I hadn't received it and wanting tracking information. They couldn't provide tracking but said it was delivered Thursday, 5/16. I've checked the mail every day since then and I know for sure I never got it. They said it was definitely lost so they'll have to issue a replacement. They told me today (Saturday) that the replacement should be here Monday or Tuesday.
How accurate would you say that is? I applied for the card because I'm installing a fence in my yard and it will hit the SUB but I will not be able to hit the SUB without it. I'm worried that the original card is just delayed but I know it won't work now that they issued a replacement. I have a virtual card number I received after applying but anything I've used it for the charge has been declined so it does not help me at all while I wait. I also have no history with Citi thus I cannot get into my account via the app or website without my card.
Does anyone also know what carrier Citi uses for their expedited replacement cards?

All I feel for my parents now is indifference. All I see in them is financial support.
I'm a 24-year-old man, happy on the face of it, with a good job, a great education and a great girlfriend. I thought everything was going well in my life. However, I realised that this wasn't the case. I had a breakthrough: I no longer feel anything for my parents. No love, no hate, no contempt, just nothing. As the title says, for me they're just a financial help.
I wasn't aware of this until a few months ago (well 6 months ago), but a discussion between friends made me realise it. It took me even longer to realise that I needed to talk about it, and today I've decided to talk about it on reddit, because it's weighing on me, and I don't know what to do.
To put it in context, today I'm with my girlfriend, quite a long way from my parents. I'm the eldest of 3 siblings. My parents divorced when I was 8-10 I think, and at first it was shared custody. As far as I remember, the divorce didn't affect me that much. It was a bit more complicated for the rest of my siblings, but nothing more. We alternated between my father and my mother on a regular basis, and everything was fine on the face of it.
However, my father is a violent person. He regularly lost his temper at the drop of a hat. He wasn't an alcoholic, he wasn't depressed, he was a normal person, but he sometimes lost his temper. And of course, we paid the price. I won't go into the details, but first it was my brother, who was almost sent to hospital, and then after an initial blow of pressure from my mother, he took it out on me. It was very violent. To tell you how angry he got over nothing, my beating was provoked by forgetting my notebook at school. That was it.
But apart from that, he was surprisingly a good father, who looked after us, organised activities... Even though I was still afraid of him. One day, I told him, and he said that was fine, that way I wouldn't do anything stupid.
Anyway, after his outburst against me, my mother took me to lodge a complaint against him. Then, of course, she got custody of the children. And that's when another ordeal began: life with my mother.
You'd think that with her everything would be fine, but it was horrible. I'd be tempted to say that with my mother it was worse, but that's probably because I spent longer with her (about ten years, before I left home).
So now you're probably wondering what it was like: well, she was violent in every way, both physically and psychologically. She's still a woman, so it wasn't as violent as with my father, but it was definitely more humiliating (pulling my hair, kicking me when I was on the floor, throwing herself at me to hit me, threatening me with a knife and saying she was going to kill me...). As with my father, she had violent outbursts (I strongly suspect she's bipolar, but she never wanted to admit it). On top of that, there was a lot of psychological violence, where I was belittled, humiliated, in short, the whole package. The worst was her mood swings, where one minute everything was fine, then the next minute I was being called names. I remember one memorable moment when I wanted to buy a $40 game, and I'd saved up half of it, and Mum told me she'd pay me half. So, all happy, we go to the shop, I get the game, I give her my $20 and she gives me her credit card so I can go and buy it. Only, I don't know what happened, but when I got to the checkout, she started calling me a thief, saying that I was ruining her, that I was a shit, that I was going to get us into trouble, that I was no better than my father, etc. I was so shocked that I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked that I didn't know what to do, and by the time I'd made up my mind, I'd bought the game... the next day was horrible. Or again: I was humiliated because I had put the pasta in the water before it boiled (my mother didn't want to cook, she was ‘lazy’). It may not sound like much, but it was a regular occurrence, mood swings and being insulted for no reason at all. Was she angry about a phone call? We took the blame. She spent all her time taking it out on us.
After a while, it started to take its toll, especially on me. I became unbearable with her. In fact, I was entering adolescence, the age when you start to rebel, and so I rebelled against her. But of course, she made me look like the big bad. One day, she even tried to make me look like a schizophrenic. Especially as, according to those close to her, she was very brave, because she was continuing with the divorce proceedings, continuing to ‘fight’ against our father, who had appealed against the sole custody decision. But she never gave up for several reasons: because she was simply lazy, because it would have been too complicated to abandon all the legal procedures, especially in relation to her family, and because this situation, which made her look like a poor, grieving mother, suited her anyway. In exchange, all she had to do was provide documents and go to the tribunal once a year on average. So, in terms of difficulty... Especially as everyone was supporting her, I was stuck. The only thing I can say in her defence is that she had a long depression, but I think that was mainly due to her poor mental health, which she never wanted to treat. But in my opinion, that in no way excuses her crises.
Fortunately, I was a surprisingly good student, so I never had to worry about getting into a good university. There were a few problems during my time at school, including of course bullying, mainly because my mother was so horrible that I shut myself off, had no friends... So obviously I became an easy target. But being away from all these family problems forced me to educate myself. I asserted myself, and the harassment stopped on its own. I even became friends with my former harassers.
Then the problems with my mother started to stop when I went away to boarding school. Then, after I graduated, I had to leave home to go to university, with a student loan. Even though my mother had other problematic behaviour with me, and with the rest of my siblings, I gradually distanced myself from her. I won't go into the details, but it had a lot to do with financial problems, where she demanded the money from my loan, or the money I was saving... And then recently I got back in touch with my father. It's complicated, because I haven't seen him or anyone else in his family for a long, long time. In fact, one point I haven't touched on is that my mother did everything she could to turn us against our father and his family, by telling us horrible things. It was typical parental alienation. So, on top of not having seen him for a long time, the fact that he beat me up, and his constant bouts of bloodshed (even if it's not physical), I'm finding it very hard to get back into a good relationship with him. Looking back, I know that a lot of the things my mother told me were false, or very exaggerated, but it's still complicated to sort out the truth from the falsehood.
Today, I can no longer call my father ‘Dad’ or my mother ‘Mum’. I find a way to avoid having to say these words. Or I force myself to use them when I need money, for example. I try to maintain a semblance of a relationship, but my parents realise that something's not right, especially my father. But for example, my mother has had serious health problems (several cancers...), and that hasn't affected me that much.
I've been able to take a lot of distance from everything my mother put us through. I realise what she put me through. But it's going to be a long time before I can tell her the 4 truths and move on. With my father, it's a bit easier, because there hasn't been as much damage. I think deep down there's still a bit of love left for them, but it's going to take a while for that to come back.
I hope I've made myself clear. Obviously, I haven't suffered nearly as much as some people, but it's weighing on me and I want to talk about it. I don't really know why I'm doing this, but I'm sure it's an outlet, because I can't really talk to anyone about this situation. I hope this will help a bit. Thanks in any case for reading all the way through.

Since new rulebooks dropped, it was only a matter of time before I went with a magnifying glass over these! Since I previously covered these errors in my larger list a couple years ago (Compilation of every erromistake/contradiction/etc., that I can find in the 'current' rulebooks. ), I will also compare and see what was fixed (in strikethrough), what is still there, and what is new (in bold). If there is an old error I missed the first time, there will be a * in front of it.
Base Game's 5-6 Player:

• Format error: At the bottom of page 4, is a heading titled "Starting settlements and resources". However this isn't discussed until the start of page 6. Heading needs to be moved closer to its topic.
• *Image error: Page 2. You need to squint to see it, but Illustration B is showing THREE 12 Tokens! Gone/covered now
• Image error: Page 2 Page 4. You need to squint to see it, but the 2nd image STILL has Frame Extension pieces ('3-3' and '5-5') in the wrong spots. The extra 3:1 and 2:1 Wool ports are accidently swapped. Pretty egregious when the first image of Page 4 (showing the "Starting Set-Up for new 5-6 Players") has the Frame Extensions in the correct spots. Just a copy-past job from the previous version.

5-6 Seafarers

• *Format error: Page 3: Just before the Wonder Cards is the heading titled "Scenarios". However this isn't discussed until the start of the next page, 4. Heading needs to be move to the top of the next page.
• Format error: The images for the Wonder Cards were shifted up on page 3. However, the big blue box on page 4 was NOT shifted up. So the top edges of the Wonder Cards are now aligned with the text "The scenario diagram provides the board set-up". So if you take a scissor and cut out these cards (as intended), you will cut this sentence in half, along the horizontal.
• *Format error: Page 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22: "Terrain & Tokens" at the is not bolded. It now is Bolded.
• Missing Robber: Why is there no Robber on the maps for Scenarios 2, 3, 4, and 8? All fixed! They even added the Pirate for Scenario 1 (which I missed 3 years ago). They also have the Robber on a 12-Hills now. Interesting change? Or new error?

1. For Scenario 2, regular Seafarers says to put the Robber on the 12 Token. However, in the extension, there are two to choose from (12-Fields and 12-Pasture). Which one? Apparently, the 2-Pasture hex
2. For Scenario 3, regular Seafarers says to put the Robber on the 12 Token. However, in the extension, the Desert is reintroduced. So should the Robber go there instead? Or 12-Mountain/12-Hills hex? Robber is on the Desert.
3. For Scenario 4 and 8, I suppose it doesn't matter which Desert the Robber starts on. Just odd there is no marker here, but there IS a Robber marked for Scenario 5. Inconsistent.

• Image error: Page 11 (Fog Islands map). The 3-Mountain hex looks weird. The mountains is misaligned with the hex, the internal image is rotated 30 degrees (I think) Twisted back into place!
• Image error: Page 13 (Through the Desert map). The instructions on page 12 indicate 11 Harbors are used, but the map only shows 10. Looking at the 4th Edition map, and Catan Universe's version today, the Harbor by the 12-Pasture somehow got dropped.
• Image error: Page 13 (Through the Desert map). The 'foreign area' are missing red outlines, like the 3-4 player version has. More liberties will need to be taken by the players, if they want to make a variable map.
• *Format error: Page 16: Harbors at the top isn't bolded.
• Incorrect component count or Image error: Page 16 or 17 (Cloth for Catan). The first page says there are 11 Harbors (like many other scenarios). However, the map on the other page shows 12 Harbors. A new harbor was added by the 8-Wheat hex, onto the lower-right frame. I am unsure which page is incorrect, since previous Editions didn't have a harbor there, but the current Extension includes an extra 2:1 Wool (as normal), and a 6th 3:1 port (for a total of 12 Harbors in Seafarers).
• *Typo: Page 18: The # 26, for describing how many Sea hexes, accidently has a bunch of dots in between 2 and 6
• Image Error: A Robber is erroneously added to the middle desert island. THERE IS NO ROBBER FOR THIS SCENARIO.
• Incorrect component count: Page 22. The count for the # tokens are off for multiple reasons:

1. Adding up all the tokens equals 40, when the total below says 39. Since there will be 39 resource producing hexes, there is an extra # token in the count above.
2. However, the Base Game's 5-6 extension only has 28 tokens, while Seafarers adds 10 more (total 38). This implies a # token should be taken from the Base Game, so the rulebook should make that clear
3. Related to that, it says there should be 5 copies of the 5-9 tokens. This is impossible, since Base 5-6 + SF should have 3 copies of 2 and 12, 4 of everything else. Again, implying more tokens from the Base Game need to be taken, but it never states this.

5-6 Cities & Knights: No mistakes! It is STILL clean!!!
5-6 Traders & Barbarians

• Image errors?: Page 3+4. The frame setup is completely different than normal. The frame extension pieces are also in different positions. Instead of the usual setup (from the top, clockwise):

1. '6-1'>'1-2'>'2-2'>'2-3'>'3-3'>'3-4'>'4-5'>'5-5'>'5-6'>'6-6'>; page 3 instead displays (from top-left, clockwise):
2. '6-1'>'2-2'>'1-2'>'3-3'>'3-4'>'2-3'>'6-6'>'4-5'>'5-5'>'5-6'>. If this is supposed to be intentional, the rulebook should either state this (or be more specific), or make the image bigger, since I had to squint to see the different layout.
3. Also, if the different frame setup is intentional, why not show T&B's version of the '5-6' frame piece (with the missing coast)?

• Formatting error: Top of Page 4. The line for the 'Additional Components' looks... off. Not lined up with the rest of the text below.
• Component List mistake: Page 5, the Castle Hex is incorrectly labeled as a Oasis hex!
• Image error?: Page 5+6. While the frame mostly follows the 'new' layout in pages 3+4, there is now a 2nd '4-5' frame, replacing the '2-3' frame in the bottom-right corner. While technically possible, since T&B does have its own version of '4-5' (with missing coastline), the image does not reflect the artwork, copying the base game's '4-5' piece twice. Again, the rulebook make no written mention of the new frame order.
• Image error?: Page 9 Page 10: While the rulebook finally gives some instruction regarding the frame, curious why the image doesn't show T&B's version of the '5-6' frame piece (with the missing coast)?
• Image errocontradiction: Page 10 Page 9. The instructions say the regular Quarry and Glassworks hexes may not have Settlements built on the corners that only border the frame (ocean), only the 4 intersections that border other hexes (the new Quarry and Glassworks from T&B's extension don't have this restriction). However, the image is showing possible Settlement locations on all 6 corners, for both the new and old trade hexes. Either the image is mistaken, or the instructions are.
• Contradiction/Inconsistency: Page 9 states that Player 2 may NOT use Gold Coins to purchases resources. This is in contrast with previous scenarios, which state you can. In addition, later in the rulebook, where the various Player 1/Player 2 actions are summarized, Page 12 says Player 2 CAN use Gold Coins to buy resources!
• Component List mistake: Page 11 Page 10, Card Deck Manifest. The total count for the 5th scenario's Development cards should say 12, not 26; and the total count for the Baggage Train cards should say 10, NOT 21. These incorrect totals are copied from regular T&B.

5-6 Explorers & Pirates

• *Image error: The image showing the "Catan 5-6 Player Extension Pieces" sorting tile is showing resource cards with 4th Edition graphics! (I doubt the real Sorting Tile has this error. I hope not)
• Missing words?: Page 2,3,4,5. The second sentence of each page says "The two hexes in the illustration marked 'Green Back' and 'Orange Back' must be taken...". Shouldn't it instead say "The two sets of hexes..."? It does now :)
• Component List mistake: Page 2. The hexes shown for the Orange Sun side are accidently copied over from the Green Moon side. To further explain:

1. The terrain hexes from regular E&P should show 2 Fields hexes, and 1 of everything else. Instead its showing 2 Mountain hexes (which is only correct for the Green Moon side)
2. The terrain hexes from E&P's extension should be Mountain-Pasture-Hills. Instead its showing Mountain-Forest-Fields (again, only correct for the Green Moon side)

• Missing rule?: Page 6. The Paired Players summary chart doesn't mention using Gold Coins to buy resources, for neither Player 1 or 2. I suppose you can infer both can use Gold Coins, I only bring this up since T&B bothers to mention Gold Coins.

So to summarize:

1. Base Game Extension: Originally 2 errors, 1 was fixed, 1 was added
2. Seafarers Extensions: Originally 12 errors. 9 were fixed, 2 were added
3. C&K Extension: Never had errors, none were added :)
4. T&B Extension: Originally 9 errors. 1 was fixed, and 1 was added >:(
5. E&P Extension: Originally 3 errors. 1 was fixed, 1 was added.

In the end, I'm a little disappointed. The only extension rulebook that saw any real improvement was SF. I wasn't planning on buying any Extensions until the rules were updated with the new Paired Players system. But... maybe I'll just have to wait for the 6th Edition, in 2030. :(
I shouldn't be so hard on them, as I missed several errors myself the first time around. Even some of my own errors in my original list (fixed now). But I'm just some bored shmuck doing this in my free time. I'd expect more from a corporation.

hi! i am not sure if i am posting in the right subreddit, but i could really use some advice. i’m struggling to understand him!
my bf was diagnosed with autism about 2.5 years ago. we have been together for a little over 1 year.
i never looked at his phone, but over christmas break, i was curious (as one usually is). i saw that he sent a d*ck pic to a prostitute while on a work trip in june (granted, i was ending my previous relationship at that time, but we were “dating”).
whatever, i moved past it, but he was texting his ex and other females (who were clearly flirting, but he did not think they were).
i lost trust in him and it continued to get worse. i wanted to see his phone and when i asked, he said he did not like me questioning his autism and making him feel like he did things wrong when he knows he didn’t. it got to the point that he broke his iphone to prevent me from going through it. he holds his phone in his hands at all times and i have no chance to see it.
we went to target and he sent a pic to a co worker of an inside joke and when i asked why he took a pic of some gift card, he said, “oh, i was sending it to you, but you’re right here”. he lied right to my face, but he did that to prevent a fight and being questioned.
a couple other instances happened where he lied and i caught him. when he asks the question, “what would happen if i don’t give you my phone”, i tell him i get horrible anxiety and paranoia. he says i control my feelings and that has to stop because he is not hurting me. when i ask him the question in return (what would happen if you do give me your phone) he freaks out and thinks that i am questioning his autism and i’m judging him.
he is right in the sense that he isn’t hurting me and i am safe and he loves me, but i cannot trust him. i can’t picture my life without him, but it’s been months since i have been having anxiety and constantly want to see his phone… i know that’s not healthy. i was in one abusive relationship and i told myself i wouldn’t do this again. please help!

i'm trying to buy an RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition Card that's fairly un-used in it's life span, what would you say is a fair price to pay for it?