In advance: I'm sorry if this makes no sense context wise and it gets long, but I'm pretty emotional writing this. I feel like I'm standing infront of the shambles of my life right now, at a point where I'm supposed to be happier than ever.
And truth be told, I am outwardly "ok" most of the time, which I'm not faking per se. But I am terrified of what's going on in my head.
I'm a young woman roughly in my early twenties, pregnant, together with my childhood boyfriend and love of my life, financially secure, working my dream job etc.. But on the other hand I'm also a survivor of childhood religious abuse and a veteran. I've been diagnosed with Autism in early childhood and with PTSD after those ordeals.
I asked to be pulled from my last deployment in a war zone (and later service at large) after I made an unsuccessful attempt on my life. When I got home my boyfriend, with whom I've been with since we were 12-13, was right there by my side the entire time. He's the reason I'm still here. He was the one who physically attacked my parents when they threw me to the ground and kicked me upon finding out that we were having sex at age 18. He, as an adult, took a slap across the face from my lunatic of a mother, because he, someone who isn't religious, took their precious daughter. That's the same mother who'd say that symptoms of my Autism were my Yetzer Hara (innate inclination to evil in Judaism) and so on. My mother was always the worst, but curiously enough, both my parents were actually rarely physical. They were just incredibly evil with words. My first bullies, basically. Despite all this, my boyfriend supports that I still hold contact to them for the sake of my little siblings, who I love dearly. But despite that love, I've found myself unable to interact with them recently. It is just so incredibly painful to see how different my parents are with them and how my little siblings, who are to young to know what was done to me, adore them without a single condition. The only truly good person in my family is my paternal grandfather. He basically adopted me and my partner as his own, taught us what Judaism is really supposed to be like and gifted my partner, who is incredibly respectful of my faith, an old Kippah of his. He's truly always been my partner in crime, united by the dislike for the rest of our family. He's also the only one who knows and will know about the baby. I am so ready for the family drama that will unfold when they find out that that me, my partner and our child will inherit everything and that I'm his sole medical and financial proxy should he ever be unable to do stuff himself anymore.
My pregnancy was unplanned, but it was a happy "surprise" (can you be surprised about the pill failing after two days of a stomach virus?). Unfortunately my second thought after the initial excitement of seeing the positive test was how this would burn every last bridge to my family. Again, my partner is nothing short of amazing and will be an awesome dad, but he's and his family are the only ones I have. I don't have my mom or any other female relatives. I love my defacto mother-in-law, who has always been more of a mother to me than my real mom, but having to talk to her about pregnancy stuff not always because I want to, but because she's the only one I got is incredibly sad. My family, except for my grandfather and possibly my siblings when they are adults, will never find out about this baby, ever. I am genuinely afraid of what lengths they would go to.
My partner, who has always been there for me, is in a very tough situation right now, so it obviously my turn to step up. He's a professional athlete, who's had two mayor injuries this season, one involving surgery on his shoulder. Issue being, he's also allergic to pretty much every single conventional painkiller out there and he's had to take painkillers continuously since October. Result being, stomach ulcers. Severe pain 24/7, nights spent awake with him vomiting blood. I, with a medical background, was a loss for what to do at times and thought I'd lose him more than once. Objectively speaking, I've seen much worse in the military, but it hits so different when it's a person you love more than anything. And he continues to play whenever even remotely possible with a stupid sense of grit and determination that I recognize from myself. He's slowly on the mend, but I've given him everything in me over the last few months. I feel empty.
Another factor in that is my work. I work for the club my boyfriend plays for. My primary jobs are in medical and coaching, but I also see it as sort of my duty that these guys turn not only as great athletes, but also as great humas. An aspect that often times gets lost in professional sports. I love my work, I love how much I can give and how I can be a positive factor in people's lives. But with everything else going to shits, I feel that what's happening at work is also affecting me more than it should. Particularly a guy that's been out with myocarditis for months now. It's always been a sad case, but as of recently I hold back tears every time I work with him. His mama found him unconcious in bed one morning, as a simple flu had turned significantly worse over night. She panicked, didn't remember where the hospital was, didn't think to call an ambulance and as such drove him to our medical centre. When I opened that car door - I've never seen a person that looked so sick ever before. He ended up having a heart attack, getting a pace maker and being in a coma for a week. Again, he's on the mend now, but seeing a 19 year old young athlete, who sees his entire career in jeopardy, struggle to get up from the breakfast table and walk the 5 steps over to the buffet is still beyond heartbreaking. He's been on my mind a lot lately, but what completely ended me were the last 2 days. Day before yesterday, in training. We hear a horrific sound, followed by a gutteral scream of shear pain and terror (have heard a few of these, never anything quite like that) and frantic shouts from other players. I grab my equipment and haul ass over to the other pitch and what I see there is easily the most horrific leg break possible. I am talking, the leg was nearly amputated. Tourniquet on, finding the next best thing to inject the player that would just knock him out, debating with my colleagues about if this is a case for a helicopter (it was), figuring out with the air ambulance crew how to stabilize the leg (anatomical physics project) etc.. The player who accidentally did this to him in a bad challenge was and still is inconsolable. There were multiple people who threw up at the sight. Today in training, another sound every pitch side worker dreads. A head clash, a proper one. One of them fine, just slightly dazed, the other one fully unconscious. I turn him on his side and see that there's blood running out of his mouth and one of his ears. Not ideal. When I got him awake he started vomiting, stated hearing/vision loss on one eadye, his face was drooping etc.. Perfect case of a basilar skull fracture. Another case for the air ambulance. While we were waiting on them, his mama came over and he didn't recognize her. I don't know what it was, but him not recognising his mother, his mother, fearing for her son's life, sobbing when he asked who she was...
Even though they're both doing well considering the circumstances, I've never had two incidents like this in two days. I'm rattled. And I hate myself for saying that, because it feels weak coming from someone who has seen war zones. I feel like I'm giving everything I have, I'm everyones shoulder to cry on and I'm just empty. I don't have anything left to give. Silly coming someone from someone who voluntarily signed up for all of this and still somehow loves it in a twisted way. Does this make me a masochist? I don't know. Fact is, I feel myself going down a very dark path (again) and I don't know what to do (again).

You guys know what an alpine coaster is? They are like a small roller coaster you find in the mountains. They are also called summer toboggans or mountain coasters and I think there’s some long German compound word they are called in parts of Europe. They are like a roller coaster, but with much smaller one or two person sleds you just sit on instead of multi-person cars you ride in, and instead of being built with like a scaffolding or a framework the tracks are just on the ground, using the elevation of the mountain. Basically it’s a coaster track on the side of a mountain where you ride a sled down.
They are pretty fun. Or at least I used to think so. They are more “personal” than roller coasters and although you get nowhere near the speed on them that you do on a good traditional roller coaster and they can’t do corkscrews or loops or anything like that the openness and simplicity of the ride gives an impression of a much greater speed. You’re just sitting there with nothing but a little plastic sled and the track between you and the ground as it goes zooming by. It’s like the difference between how fast a go-cart feels compared to how fast a sports car feels. You know the sports car goes faster but the open, simpleness of a go-cart feels a different kind of fast. There’s plenty of POV Youtube videos if you want to get the basic idea of what they are.
I used to love alpine coasters. Used to.
My family used to go to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and up and down the Smokey Mountains for vacations when I was a kid and they are common in that area and I’d always rode them every chance I got.
But as with so many things after I grew up and went to college they just became part of my childhood that slipped away. They aren’t exactly common once you get away from the mountains.
Until one cool spring afternoon in 2004. I was in my final year at college and I was driving back to campus in Tennessee after a short visit to my folks in North Carolina. It was only like a 4 or 5 hour drive via the most efficient route and I had no need to be back at campus early so instead of taking the freeway all the way I got off and took part of my trip through the mountains. The scenery was nicer and I admit I liked pushing my Camaro just a little faster than I should through the twisty mountain roads.
Just after lunchtime happened upon one of those little by-the-highway tourist towns deep somewhere in the Smoky Mountains near the Carolina/Tennessee border. Nothing fancy, a gas station/truck stop, a diner, a couple of places selling tourist merch nestled deep in the mountains. I pulled into the gas station. My tank was getting low and I needed to stretch my legs, maybe grab something to eat. It was still early and I only had another couple of hours. I could kill an hour or so and still make it back to campus at a decent hour.
I pulled into the gas station and was filling my tank when I happened to glance across the road and… well I’ll be damned. There it was. “The Blue Ridge Alpine Coaster.” Nestled on the side of the mountain was a building, a mockup of a red barn, where a single railed track that led up into the mountains, where it soon got lost in the greenery. Wooden hand painted standees of cartoon character bears dressed in stereotypical “Hillbilly” getup stood around, some of them holding signs showing the ride hours and ticket costs and other info. I had to admit, as silly as it was, it made me smile.I finished pumping my gas and, well, nostalgia is a helluva thing. I decided then and there I could waste a little time riding an Alpine Coaster again after all these years before getting back on the road.
I parked my car in a corner of the truck stop's parking lot, put my phone in the center console, this being the days before smart phones when people didn’t keep their phones with them 24/7 and I didn’t want my old Nokia brick phone to fall out during the ride, locked my car and walked across the mountain highway to the Alpine Coaster building.
Getting closer, the place was less inviting. The half hearted attempt at a whimsical faux-Americana kitsch was far less effective when it brushed up against the actual decaying, run down wooden building. Hell calling it a building was generous. It was a wood frame holding up a long roof that covered the area where you got on the sleds. The wood boards creaked under my footsteps.
The only real enclosed structure was a shack that held, what I assumed, was a ticket booth. A door on the side had both a single occupancy bathroom with an out of order sign on it. An old Pepsi machine buzzed and glowed next to it.
Still the place looked alive. Ahead of me a bored looking attendant was helping a mother and her young son into one of the sleds while in a bored monotone repeating the safety brief. A few people were waiting in line at the ticket booth. Up in the mountains the playful shouts of people on the ride echoed down. Fond memories of my own childhood rides flooded my mind.10 minutes and 15 dollars later I was settling into the hard plastic seat of a bright red sled sat atop a simple aluminum rail.
I couldn’t help but grin as the sled slowly climbed the track up the mountains, making click-clack ratcheting sounds that hit my nostalgia centers hard. I felt good. The air was cool and crisp and smelled of pine.Higher and higher in the mountains we went. I don’t know if this is my mind trying to make sense of it after the fact but when I remember these moments, the last good moments, I sometimes think I remember a very slight, very subtle pit of fear in my stomach. I honestly don’t know if I felt it at the time or not or it’s just how my mind tries to make sense of it looking back at.
But either way mostly I was enjoying myself. I smiled. I was a kid again. I could hear riders in front of me let out that initial yell of terrified glee you get at the first drop of any good ride.
It peaked. I glanced around. I could see for miles, rolling hills and mountains. I the sled tipped over and zoomed down the mountain and I let out the same happy yell I heard from the other passengers.The ride zoomed down the mountain, catching speed. The mountain forest floor zoomed past, only a few feet under me. Trees zoomed past. I gave out a happy whoop as the ride banked hard around a curve and then looped back under itself.Another dip, another curve. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the G-forces pulling me every which way.
There was no one exact single moment where things started to go “wrong.” The ride kept going. And going. At this point the first creeping thought entered my head.
The ride… was still going.
It just started to hit me… this ride was going on for a really long time. I had taken a dozen rides on various coasters of this type before that day and they topped out at about 5 minutes or so, and that was the long ones. Longer than a traditional roller coaster but not that long. This one had been going on for what felt like 10, maybe even 15 minutes.
I looked back over my shoulder and could only see trees, moving too fast to really get a bearing on where I was at in relation to anything.
I wasn't exactly really worried yet. Okay so I had found a particularly long alpine coaster. At the time I wasn’t 100% wasn't sure they didn’t exist or anything like that. I was a little… unnerved but nothing was happening that was impossible. Yet.
I was trying to talk myself back into just enjoying the ride and stop overthinking it, and halfway succeeded, when out of nowhere I suddenly banked hard, the track jutting out almost over a sheer cliffside. I gripped the sled more tightly as I was whipped around. The ride then dipped hard and picked up speed, barreling down the side of the mountain.
I was pushed back against the seat by the force of the drop. Jesus I didn’t remember them being this rough. I was feeling slightly nauseous. And where had this elevation drop come from I wondered? I was still in the foothills and I didn’t remember seeing anything but gentle rolling hills and light drops from looking at the ride’s route earlier. How the ride had managed such a long, steep drop in this area I didn’t know. . For the first time I hoped that the ride would be over soon. I had no idea then how much I would want that same hope to be true so much more as time went on.
With a whiplash motion I was whipped forward and then back as the ride leveled out on flat ground again, but by this point I was going fast, too fast. My neck hurt from the mild whiplash and I felt sour in my throat and for a moment the contents of my stomach threatened to come back up. For the first, but hardly the last time the ride felt unsafe. Alpine Coasters are tame affairs, much slower and gentler than full on roller coasters but this thing was throwing me around like no thrill ride I had ever been on.
I looked around. I mean I wasn’t that deep into the woods. I should have been able to see a glimpse of something; the highway, the gas station, the tourist shops, the Alpine Coaster office, something, anything. But nothing. Just trees.
I forced back some panic for the first time. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. The ride zoomed along. I counted to 60. I counted to 60 again. And again. Okay this was getting uncomfortably harder and harder to explain.
Suddenly I noticed that up ahead the track seemed to just end, for one brief, terrible moment I thought the track just ended but I was wrong. Almost without warning the track dipped in an almost vertical drop. I almost screamed as I plummeted for 20, maybe 30 seconds before flattening out again.
By this point the voice in my head that was telling me something was wrong was louder and I could no longer tell myself it was wrong. This ride could not have been this long. I tried to make sense of it, wondering if somehow I had gotten diverted onto some kind of maintenance track or, hell for one brief irrational moment even entertaining the idea that I had wound up on an actual train track somehow. But that was absurd. The rail below me was not a train track, it was still just the simple, aluminum rail of an alpine coaster and there had been no diversions or junctions in the track. I was still on the ride, as insane as that was starting to feel. Had the ride somehow looped? Again after having the thought I immediately dismissed it as crazy. There’s no way I could have missed the ride building where I got on. And what kind of ride loops over and over?
The sled zoomed through the forest, oddly never seeming to lose speed despite the relatively flat grade of the track. I cursed myself for leaving my phone in the car and not wearing a watch. I don’t know exactly how long I had been on the ride at that point but it felt like I had been on the ride for a half hour, maybe more. But time is a funny thing when you’re in a situation you’ve never been in. Could have been more, could have been less, at that point.
My pride finally failed me. I started to scream for help. I screamed out that the ride was broken, to stop it, that I needed help. I did that for about ten minutes or so I think. The ride kept going. Mostly flat, level track with occasional mild dips and turns. But the simple length of the ride grew more and more unnerving and unexplainable.
I thought about just bailing out. But the ride, impossibly, was still not slowing down and chunks of mountain rock and thick tree trunks were all around me. Bailing out without risking smashing into a rock or a tree seemed impossible.
The ride kept going.
Up ahead the forest was clearing out some, I could see the forest brightening, more sunlight making it through the canopy.
I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.
The trees stopped and I had just enough time to take in a flat, open area of rock maybe 40, 50 yards at most before another sheer cliff. The tracks twisted and turned and then shot straight down. But that wasn’t the worst of it. For a moment, a very short moment, I had a clear view for miles and the landscape was, to be blunt, totally impossible. Any possibility that I had just stumbled on some incredibly long ride was blasted out of my head. Barren, volcanic looking rock stretched for miles. Jagged, black rocky outcroppings as far as the eye could see. I was in the goddamn Smoky Mountains. They don’t look like that.
I had a few moments for the terror of that view to settle in before the cart plunged into another horrifying drop. I gripped the handles of the cheap plastic sled until my knuckles turned white. The drop felt completely vertical, like I was falling at terminal velocity. I screamed. My stomach dropped and turned. I imagined the sled coming away from the track and me just plummeting screaming to my death on the rocks below. But somehow the ride still functioned. I closed my eyes tightly and just waited for whatever was going to happen. Eventually after several what felt like a full minute of steep plunging the track again leveled out, and I opened my eyes to see myself moving at breakneck speed over that black, rocky landscape.
Now that I was moving on a more or less flat horizontal track again I took a few deep breaths. I looked over the edge of the track. Nothing but that black, jagged rock, almost looking like obsidian, zooming past. I had no idea how fast the sled was moving now. Fast. Faster than a gravity powered sled should be moving. And the track was higher off the ground now. Alpine slides usually stick pretty close to the ground, but I was 20 feet or so in the air, the track suspended in the air, a simple metal tube tower like a power pylon every few yards.
Without any immediate threat and the sled moving fast but steadily and level I was able to think about my situation again, for all the good that did me. Ahead of me the track just continued to the horizon, nothing but the same rocky landscape as far as I could see. I craned my neck to look back over my shoulder and looked back behind me and it looked the same. Even the mountains were but distant specs on the horizon behind me.
This was insane. There’s not a giant seemingly endless field of black jagged rock in the goddamn Smoky Mountains. There’s no cliff faces tall and steep enough for a multi-minute vertical drop. And alpine coasters were small affairs, not major engineering projects that span miles with pylons and vertical tracks. It made no sense.
Sadly it wasn’t going to start making any more sense anytime soon.
The ride kept going.
I was on this rocky landscape for several hours. I feel comfortable saying this because I could actually notice the sun getting lower in the sky. And the sled wasn’t slowing down despite the grade of the track being flat. I was getting cramped from sitting and stretched my legs and twisted my back as best I could. Didn’t do much help. My eyes were starting to get irritated from the constant wind in them. Worst of all it was starting to get chilly. I only had on a light jacket, a windbreaker, just something to keep the breeze off me, no real insulation. I was cold, my joints were stiff, I was hungry and thirsty. My eyes watered and my throat was so dry it was sore.
But none of that was as bad as just how little sense this all made. There’s nothing like this place anywhere near the Smoky Mountains. This was like some volcanic rock landscape. The more I thought about it the less sense it made.
The ride kept going.
My mind didn’t even try to process this. Whatever I was experiencing simply couldn’t be possible. I was crazy. I was dreaming. The CIA had kidnapped me and dosed me with some new version of LSD and I was in a straightjacket in a padded room at Area 51.
The sled kept zooming along as the sky turned to dusk. Soon the bridge disappeared from my view and I continued on along the endless, rocky, featureless landscape.
I sat back against the sled, mentally and physically numb. I was exhausted. I was thirsty. I was cramping up. I was hungry. I had to pee. I held it for as long as I could, then had no choice but just wet myself. I cried until I had no more tears left. Then I just sat there.
The ride kept going.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon my throat felt like sandpaper. I dug around in my jacket pockets hoping to find a stick of gum or piece of candy. Nothing. I checked again, having nothing else to do. Under a crumpled store receipt in the inner pocket of my jacket was a single old, forgotten cough drop. I unwrapped it from the paper and popped it in my mouth. Saliva flooded back into my mouth and I was overwhelmed by the methanol and medicine taste. It was something at least, although I knew it would be a brief and temporary fix at best.
I felt my eyes get heavy. It was getting colder. That mountain cold. That deep cold the mountains have even into the early spring when the sun goes down. That kind that just pulls the heat right out of you. I shivered. A terrible, horrible certainty came to me. I would ride until I passed out from exhaustion or the hypothermia set in. My body would tumble off the sled to fall and skip across the rocky ground like a stone skipping across a lake, my bones breaking as I tumbled until my body finally came to a stop. If I was lucky I would be killed and not have to lie for days, broken and bruised, on the ground until death took me.
The ride kept going. The ride kept going. The fucking ride kept going.
“Fuck you” I said to the ride, my voice a horse whisper. I pulled my jacket closer around me, for all the good it did. The cold wind was slowly but surely pulling my body heat away. My shivering got worse, crossing the line from a simple normal shiver into those deep, almost violent full body ones.. I wasn’t anything you could call an experienced outdoorsman, but I knew enough to know that wasn’t a good sign.
It was getting dark. There was a full moon at least so I wasn’t totally in the dark.
About then I noticed something. The landscape, what little I could see in the fading light, was changing. It was smoothing out, becoming less rocky and craggy. Up ahead an odd, shimmering light was starting to appear on the ground.
I was over it before I even realized what it was. The tracks were going over a smooth surface.
Water. It was a lake. The odd lights I had seen were the moon, reflected in ripples on the lake.
Within minutes I was out of the view of the land. After the nearly endless rocky landscape and everything else I had seen, it scared me how little I was shocked. I didn’t like how mentally numb I was getting. I leaned over. There was enough moonlight to see the water, 15 or 20 feet below the track. The pylons holding up the track went into the water, the light wasn’t good enough to even make a guess at how far they went down or how deep the water was.I leaned back in the sled. My eyes were red and bloodshot from the constant wind. I closed them. This was a mistake.I jerked awake. I don’t know if I dozed off for a split second or an hour. My weight had shifted and I caught myself as my center of gravity was in danger of sending me off the sled and into the water.
I screamed in anger. A deep primal scream. I hurt so bad. My joints felt like they were full of glass. My limbs were full of pins and needles. I glanced over at the water. For the first time on the very edges of my brain a tiny voice started to speak up, telling me that I could be all over if I just jumped. I shut the voice up, but it scared me still.
I sat there as the ride went on. It felt like hours. Eventually the lake ended in a rocky shore line. The damned ride. There was no safe place to bail out. If the ride slowed down, it was high in the air, if it moved toward the ground it sped up. Sharp rocks, big trees, nothing you could safely bail out into.
I kept having to force myself awake. I kept dozing off. Once I felt myself falling asleep and drove a vicious uppercut into my own nose to stave it off.
I seriously started to think about how much longer I could hang on. The voice came back again. This time I didn’t shut it up. I wasn’t admitting it to myself yet, but I was starting to think about the best way to land that would end it quickly if I needed to.
Something was ahead. The track seemed to dip into the ground. I was too tired, too beaten to even get scared. I was just resigned to whatever happened at this point.
With little warning the track took my sled into a tunnel in the ground. Everything went completely pitch black. After several moments even the dim moonlight was gone.
This was the worst part. The creepy forest, the immense rocky landscape, the eerie lake… those were bad. But this was just nothing. Nothing to look at, nothing to hear, nothing for reference or sense of where I was going. The walls of the tunnel felt like they were inches from me in every direction. The air felt thick, like there wasn’t enough oxygen.
With every moment I was in that tunnel I lost a little more hope. After a long, long time I made a decision. When I got out of this tunnel, I would jump. I didn’t care anymore. Hopefully there would be a spot where I could be certain the fall would instantly kill me. I was done. The ride had beaten me. I sat there, waiting for a chance to end this on my terms. That was all I had left.
Eventually up ahead, a tiny speck of light appeared. I gathered my strength, ready to end it. I sat up, getting my legs under me so I could jump as soon as we were clear. The sled burst out of the tunnel. The dim light of the full moon was enough to be momentarily blinding after the pitch black of the tunnel.. I gave my eyes a moment to adjust.
I was back in a normal looking Appalachian forest. Rolling hills, green trees. The air smelled of pine again. I heard an owl hoot off somewhere.
Slowly I lowered myself back into a setting position, in shock. At first I refused to believe it but the ride was slowing down. I held still, making sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, but no, the cheap plastic sled that had been my world for what felt like an eternity was slowing down.
Up ahead, a structure was visible, peeking out from among the trees in the dim lighting as the sled moved down the track.
It was the Alpine Slide building. The crappy fake red barn where I had boarded this cursed ride so long ago. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, sure it was either my mind or the cursed ride playing tricks with me. But the building stayed there.
It grew closer and closer. The track leveled completely out. The sled slowed down more. Before I had the time to really come to terms with it I arrived back at the building.
The sled slowed to a stop, gently pumping against another sled parked on the track. I sat there for a few moments, gasping in great big gulping fear breaths, trying to assure myself the ride didn’t have one last trick of its sleeve.
I looked around. The place was empty, deserted. The overhead lights were still on and the old Pepsi machine still glowed and buzzed, but the ticket booth was dark and empty, a metal gate pulled down over the ticket window.
Suddenly it hit me that I was free and I practically leapt out of the sled and onto the platform. I immediately collapsed. My legs were jelly and my head was spinning. I tried to stand up again and doubled over, dry heaving. Have you ever been out on a boat for a day and have that weird reverse motion sickness when you’re back on solid land? It was like that times a hundred. My inner ear was literally pounding, all the motion had really done a number on it.
I laid there for a few moments and eventually forced myself to stand up on my two wobbling legs. I looked around, a horrible certainty creeping into my mind that there would be no exit, no way off the platform but to my relief an exit turnstyle, one of those full height ones, was set into the fence that surrounded the ride property.
I went through it and found myself back on the main road. The truckstop was still there, still open but far less busy. My car sat in the same corner of the parking lot I had left it.
I allowed myself one look back, just one quick one. The metal skeleton of the Alpine Slide track sat there, dark and quiet but otherwise normal.
I stumbled-ran back to my car, dug the keys out of my pocket, and collapsed inside. When the door shut I let out a primal scream, the tons of fear and confusion and anger all fusing into a single, raw emotion. I screamed again and again.
After a few moments I felt like I was emotionally at least back to a place where I could act, although I wasn’t sure yet what to do next. Not really knowing what to do I cranked the car. The A/C had been on low when I shut off the car and it came roaring back to life and cold air blowing on me almost sent me back into a full on panic attack. I fumbled with the climate controls until the air stopped blowing directly on me, then calmed down enough to turn the heat on, helping to get the chill out of my bones. There was a half full bottle of water in the center console cup holder and I grabbed it and chugged it. Nothing ever tasted as good before or sense as that few ounces of water.
That was when I noticed the clock on the radio head unit. It was 4:17 in the morning. It had been about one, one thirty or so in the afternoon when I got on the accursed ride.
Over 15 hours. I had been on the goddamn ride for over 15 hours. Over half a day.
I just sat there. Warming up. Calming down. I was exhausted. I was dehydrated. I can’t even describe how my head felt. I probably had at least a minor case of hypothermia. I thought about going into the gas station and asking for help but what would I even say, and more than anything I just wanted to get away from this place. And I just wanted to get away. I wanted to be nowhere near that damn ride.
I put the Camaro in gear and pulled into the street and in panic I immediately slammed on the brakes. I was lucky there was no traffic on the road at that moment. The feeling of accelerating to just normal surface street speeds made me sick to my stomach. I gathered myself and very slowly accelerated the car I usually treated with a very heavy foot up to 30 miles an hour. Every time I tried to accelerate at a pace faster than “Old Lady Going to Church, Uphill” I would have a panic attack. I was okay once I was up to speed, but accelerating freaked me out after being on that ride.
I drove about 30 minutes, putting some arbitrary amount of distance between myself and the coaster. Eventually I made it back to where the twisty mountain road met back up with a major road that would eventually meet back up with the highway. After a few more minutes of driving I saw the onramp for the highway. There was one of those big truckstop travel plazas and pulled in, parking right up at the door. I smelled like pee and I can only imagine how I looked, but I didn’t care.
I kept a couple of emergency 20s in the back of my wallet and spent it on the biggest bottle of water the store had, an overpriced bottle of eye drops, and a huge travel mug of coffee. The clerk looked at me as if he was expecting me to either drop dead or rob him the entire time.
Back in my car I downed the coffee. I put a few eye drops in each of my eyes and sat there as the caffeine took effect until I felt like I could make it back to my apartment. The sun was just coming up when I finally pulled out of the truck stop and got on the freeway. I slowly, very slowly, accelerated up to highway speed, put the Camaro in cruise control, and let the miles start to drift away. I turned on the radio, I needed to hear human voices. Every time my mind went back to what had just happened I turned the radio up louder, eventually drowning it out with painful levels of rock music. I wasn’t ready to think about it yet. Yes looking back I know I was just in denial. I finally made it back to the crappy little apartment I had off campus, a little two story walk up studio. I let myself in and collapsed on the cheap couch. I was asleep before I even had the time to decide whether or not to do anything else. I woke up later that afternoon. I took a shower and ate a meal and didn’t think about the ride. I washed the pee stained filthy clothes I had been wearing and didn’t think about the ride. I went back to class and didn’t think about the ride. Every time I thought about the ride I forced it out of my head. I’m sure this wasn’t the most mentally healthy thing to do but what can you say?
I didn’t forget about it, don’t be silly. This isn’t the kind of thing you forget. One day while looking up something else in the university’s library my curiosity got the better of me and I looked up the Alpine Slide. No website but a few Google Map and Yelp mentions. None of them mentioned anything weird, certainly nothing even remotely like what I experienced. Near as I can tell it closed sometimes in the winter of 2012.
Life went on. I mean, that’s what it does. The next day was a little better. And the day after that a little better. And the day after that a little better still. I met a nice girl. Graduated. Got married. Got a nice house in the suburbs. Got a dog. Had a daughter. Spent a lot of time happy and not thinking about being trapped on an endless alpine coaster.And that was my life for many, many years after that.
Until a few weeks back when as a very different person I found myself driving a boring and safe mid sized family SUV through those same mountains. My wife Carol, 5 months pregnant, sat in the passenger seat, our 6 year old daughter Emily in a booster seat in the back, and Max our mixed breed mutt next to her. It had been a nice pleasant trip, driving back from visiting her folks.
I hadn’t thought about that fucking ride in so long I barely registered that I was in the same general area until it was too late. Suddenly I realized that little mountain tourist trap town was only a few minutes down the road. I swallowed hard and gripped the steering wheel hard. Carol was looking out the window at the scenery and Emily was deep into some kid’s Youtube video on an iPad. I forced myself to keep my breath steady as we rounded the corner.The town was still there, sorta. Time had not been kind to it. The gas station was still there, at some point it had been bought out by Shell. The tourist trap shops were still there. One of them was now a vape shop. The diner was closed, the building looking like it sat unused for a long time.
But of course that’s not what I cared about. A looked over at the site where the Alpine Coaster once stood. It was gone. The kitschy fake barn was gone. The site was just a bare concrete slab with a chainlink fence around it. Faded “no trespassing” and “for sale” signs hung off the fence. A pile of old, decaying lumber that might have once long ago been part of the structure covered part of the old lot. No sign of the track remained outside of some old concrete support posts dotting the side of the mountain.
I exhaled out a breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding in. Soon the little town disappeared in my rear view mirror.
About a half hour later we stopped for gas. I pulled up to a gas pump across from a massive motorhome. Max stuck his head out the window and started barking at a little white dog, a toy breed of some kind, in the window of the motorhome. Carol and Emily immediately headed into the store to restock on snacks while I fueled up.
I stood there, a half smile on my lips as Max barked and wagged his tail in an attempt to attract the attention of the other dog while I filled up the tank, said dog doing an admirable job of ignoring him.
Right about the time I finished fueling up and cleaning the bugs off the windshield Carol returned from inside the store, Emily in tow, arms filled with two full sized bags of Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips and what looked to be a half dozen individually wrapped pickles.
I raised an eyebrow at the collection of food but knew better than to question a pregnant woman's snack choices.
“Should we take Max for a quick walk?” Carol asked. The travel plaza had a nice little gated dog walking area off to the side.
“Yeah probably not a bad idea, he’s been cooped up in the car for a few hours.” I said. Max, upon hearing his name and the word “walk” , forgot about the other dog and upgraded from wagging his tail to wagging his entire body while making whining sounds and staring right at me.
About this time I became half aware that the big motor home next to us was pulling away. I didn’t think much of it, outside of doing a quick automatic mental check to make sure Emily was well clear of the moving vehicle, but she was safely between me and our SUV, well out of the way.
But that was when Emily looked behind me and cheerfully yelled “Daddy look a roller coaster! Can I ride the coaster?”
It’s cliche as fuck I know but my blood went cold.
I turned around slowly, certain in my knowledge that terrible old decrepit Alpine Coaster would be there, having just popped into existence to trap me again.
That.. is not what I saw. Sure enough there was a coaster there, one I hadn’t noticed earlier because it had mostly been blocked by the motor home, but there it was. It was even an Alpine Coaster.
But it was not the same coaster I had encountered those years ago. That was immediately obvious. It was a small but modern and newish looking setup with neon lights and a bunch of people. There was an actual building where you bought tickets and a little snack stand.
“Daddy! Can we go on the coaster!” Emily asked again.
My mouth made motions but no words came out. I glanced over at Carol, hoping she’d say we didn’t have time but to my horror she smiled and said “You know what? That does sound like fun. Daddy will take you while I take Max for a walk.”
My mind raced, trying to think of a way to get out of it. But Emily was already dragging me across the parking lot to the entrance.
I patted my pocket, making sure my phone was in it. Every fiber of my being was screaming to run away. I slept walked through the line and the ticket booth while Emily bounced happily.
We got into a two seat plastic sled. This one was actually a lot nicer than the one my mind wouldn’t stop thinking about. It had two nice cushioned seats, big grab handles, even a nice rollbar.
The sled started up the track. I fought back the panic. I swerved my head around, keeping the building in my view. I was terrified of losing sight of it. We made it to the top and Emily did a happy squeal as we started down the side of the mountain.
My heart raced. Any second, any second my mind told me we’d lose sight of the building and then the ride would never end. The ride sped down the mountain. My mind tortured me with thoughts of not only going through it again, but seeing Emily go through it. The ride went around a big, banking turn. Emily kept shouting happily. How long before Carol reported us missing I wondered? Could I keep Emily calm? What if it lasted even longer this time? What if this time it never ended?
And then we were back at the start of the ride. The same attendant who had helped us into the sled was helping Emily out. I stepped out. The attendant gave me a brief look but said nothing. I guess I looked a little wild eyed.
I was fine. Emily was fine. It had been a perfectly normal, fun ride.
“That was fun Daddy! Thank you!” Emily said. I forced a smile back. “It was fun.” I responded, hoping like I sounded like I meant it.
I took Emily’s hand and we walked back to the car. Max saw us coming and barked happily. Carol looked up from the pint of Ben and Jerry’s she had somehow acquired and added to her snack collection while we were gone and smiled at us.
“Did you have fun?” she asked.
“It was so fun Mommy!” Emily said.
Carol smiled down at her, but then looked at me and frowned. “Are you okay?” Carol could read my face a lot better than the attendant could. “You’re pale.”
I smiled and this time the smile felt real. “Ya know what. Yeah, I think I am okay.”
Carol looked a little puzzled, but didn’t press it. We loaded Emily back in her booster seat, stopped Max from trying desperately to eat half a discarded gas station hot dog off the ground and got him back in the car. Carol and her small collection of snack food took her place in the passenger seat and I got in the driver's seat.I smiled. I cranked the car. I put it in gear. I pulled out of the gas station and back on the road, this time accelerating just a little faster than I had in years.

Hello I was just driving down the grange southbound on whitemud when a 2024ish large SUV white Caddillac those big square expensive looking types approach me and this Arab guy rolls down his window and gets "comfy" with me. He says hello my friend how are you today. You are filipino ? Loving people Filipinos my wife is filipino.much respect for you. Hey is it possible you can help me? I need your help. My wife and kids are in the back i come from vancouver I need gas for my car i lost my wallet. I wasn't feeling like an asshole at the moment so I said ok I can pay for it. Then he says I will give u apple watch and brand new and air pods.(kind look like 1st generation or 2nd gen rear cover circled top description). I was guna do it for free but he added that so I was like ok. So we park at the shell beside safeway and boardwalk he comes up to me shakes my hand repeats his story to me nothing new just the "rundown" asks for 500CAD. I'm like bro I'm broke atm I owe money I have like -899.57 on draft in my chequing my other cards not lookin so good. Keeps asking then shows me the watch he wears its like something u see Takeshi 69 wearing red,yellow,orange and some other sapphire around the bezel s and the watch is gold looking. Says he comes from Dubai' hes a high official wants to feed his kid and wife and get gas. I still explain to him I gotta a overdraft that caps at 1000. Tries to give me his gold ring stays at 500 then later drops to 200.i feel like I'm haggling with the guy if that's the right word. He says please I need your help gives me all the stuff on my lap and walks to his SUV. I take a quick look at the stuff caue I know value and he gave me wasn't 2024 stuff and only a watch case not the watch like he said. Think it was apple watch 2 and 2nd gen pods apple. And this is shrink wrapped clear plastic cover. I left my car,Gave him all the stuff back and said I could give gas 100 bucks but thats it. He took the stuff back kinda mad and left.before this he rolled down his windows and it was a little girl and a I thought she was Arabian because she didn't sound or look Filipina girl 40ish age. Was a weird experience for me one hand he could ripped me off the free 100 for gas but he just left and the other hand he tried to take 500 for an apple 2 case for watch and a air pods might be 2nd gen. And the "gold" ring he throws in. Weird experience for me in a while. Is this the new scam or what is goin on here. #edmonton #yeg

Hi,
In the lead up to giving birth I was told you’ll KNOW when you’re in labour. Well… I didn’t! So here is my story to show how some symptoms can look/feel different.
My brith plan was for low intervention, but not against pain relief and medical inputs as required.
I had 2 x stretch and sweep, one at 39 weeks, and one at 40 weeks.
For my 40 week stretch and sweep my “spotting” was heavier than the 39 week one. Also the period like cramping was worse.
I didn’t think much of it, until 5 hours later the spotting got a bit heavier so I called the hospital for advice.
After a series of questions they suspected my waters had broken and I went in for a check. And yup - was my waters. For me it was only a trickle and pinkish.
I was given the option to go home so I did.
A few hours later I passed a small clot, so again went back to hospital for some monitoring. Baby was fine. Pre-labour surges were manageable. But we stayed overnight as it was 1am and we were too tired to drive home.
I put my TENS on and tried to get some sleep. I didn’t really sleep due to the strong surges, which I felt were about 30 mins apart.
In the morning I was told if my labour hadn’t progressed by midday I should consider and induction to avoid infection (nearing 24 hrs since waters broke). I agreed.
I went for a walk to get a tea at around 11am. I stopped a few times as it hurt and breathed through it.
I was disappointed at midday that nothing seemed to be happening. So we put in a low dose synthetic oxytocin drip and checked my cervix…..
Turns out I was 7cm dilated!!!!!!
After that my partner and I put on a movie to watch, but things moved quickly.
About 30 mins into the movie I was in active labour.
Around 2 hrs later we had a baby!!!!
All up from waters breaking to delivery was 25 hours.
Labour was manageable with TENS and gas. I had a great team around me and lots of support.
My partner played some music, and helped with massage and changing positions.
I managed only minimal tearing, no stitches.
We did do quite a bit of prep in terms of calm birthing type classes, breathing exercises, and perennial massage. I’d also done pre natal yoga.
I was very scared of the pain, but almost 2 weeks later it’s only a distant memory….!!!!
Anyway I just wanted to share this as I have heard so many negative brith stories, and I’m a very ordinary person with narrow hips, advanced maternal age, who wasn’t convinced I could do it!!!! But here we are!!!!!
Good luck ladies x

I guess I’m here to vent and share my story with others who get it.. because it’s hard for me to talk about with family or friends because no one understands and explaining things over and over just feels like losing more energy honestly. I’m welcoming all suggestions since you have been through it.
My baby is 16 weeks and has not had a “good day” since he’s been born. Over 100 days fighting for him and watching him struggle. We tried breastmilk, multiple formulas, and settled on Neocate syneo almost 3 months ago which cleared up a few of his more scary symptoms, but he still has most of them. So many visits doctors have told me his symptoms are normal, but didn’t take the time to really listen or watch what has been going on with him, which makes me feel like I’m being a overprotective mom, or that I’m crazy losing my mind, but things are clearly not right. Finally his ped sees that he’s truly struggling and sent a referral for GI since she had no knowledge on cmpa or what to do for him next and she said “I thought he would have outgrown it by now and the Pepcid isn’t helping” I have wanted to cry and scream at her at the same time because I feel like she truly neglected my baby while I have watched him suffer😢
He was unsettled since birth.. he was ready to eat right away, but struggled so much. We tried breastmilk, Bobbie, gentle ease, nutramigen, and Neocate syneo. Pepcid, increase dosage Pepcid, increase frequency Pepcid, gas drops, gripe water, changing bottles, probiotics, changing nipple flow, keeping upright. Literally everything.
I’m so lost and it hurts to watch my baby suffer.
Current symptoms: GI discomfort - Eating every 2-4 hours besides at night, 45 minutes up to 2 hours to eat 4oz.
Throwing up projectile. Coughing then forcefully vomit half or whole bottle.
Spit up constantly.
Arching back in pain when feeding and after screaming so loud.
Poop so very loose and mucousy since birth, and worsening over time. Yellow liquid or dark green with black streaks or green with yellow seeds. Has never been formed. Horrible sour smell like vinegar or rotten eggs. Clearly in pain when pushing or when he is struggling to go. Either can barely poop once a day or will go 5x a day.
He was eating 5-6 oz, eating less oz now 3-4 still taking an hour and screaming when seeing bottle close to him. Screaming when getting into feeding position.
Hard to settle and screaming loud until passing out. Not full enough to sleep long periods.
It’s been 2 weeks since increasing Pepcid but on it for 12 weeks and 12 weeks on amino acid formula - Neocate syneo.
Have to distract to eat - change position, sing, shh, takes 45-60+ minutes Unlatches quickly Crying in feeding position Arching back fussy
Since birth not 1 good happy feed without crying or pain. Has lessened over time but getting worse again
First 2 months couldn’t be put down, tummy time, bath, diaper, sleep unless held without absolutely screaming and losing it - sometimes these days can lay flat. First month awake 2-3 hours sleep 30 minutes
I was giving a time to see if it would get better, but it’s not getting better and some situations are getting worse. The things that have gotten better are not having an immediate reaction when eating - he had swollen eyelids, severe immediate rash and lingering eczema, and difficulty breathing. He will sleep now without being held. I’m thankful for the improvements, but I’m so heartbroken that things are not getting “normal” for him. It seemed like the Neocate syneo would be good for him but he’s not good.
It just seems like nothing is helping and it’s all trial and error. My baby is almost 4 months and it’s been a painful blur.
The “solutions” I have come up with through research - changing to Prevacid or Prilosec for the reflux. Changing to alfamino (but super scared since it has soy oil) since it doesn’t have coconut, or switching to rtf alitenium (but super scared since it has milk), or trying regular Neocate since some babies struggle with the pro/prebiotics in the syneo.. which feels like the safest option since he had such trouble with milk and soy. Or the fear of something else being completely wrong and causing his pain and mucous. I just feel defeated with how things are going. But also so scared to change things again.

So earlier there was an argument as we’re on holiday and my mum ‘f 43’ and her partner Jenna ‘f 37’ had a little argument over what we should do when I thought everything was already planned. That was that nothing major, but she ended up leaving for nearly two hours.
Me, my boyfriend and step brother (my mothers parters son) were sat around and Jenna started saying she’s had enough and not to repeat anything but she’s fed up of my mum being pissed off all the time. I thought that was going to be it but no… found out my mum takes all of Jenna’s money every time she gets paid and only gives her a TINY bit. My mum is always constantly buying things and everyone is always wondering how she has the money for it and turns out it’s hardly ever her money. Jenna has struggled and asked her own mother for help with gas and electric when they’ve ran out and her mum barely has anything herself when my mums had money and lied about it.
Jenna has started questioning where her moneys been going and as a joke picked up my mums phone and said she’s going to check her bank and my mum snatched her phone back and got pissed off but then tried to play it off as a joke. Jenna knew something was up and went to the ATM with my mums card and checked her bank and there was £800 in savings… definitely not my mums money, if any is then it’s barely any of hers.
She said my mum also came in a few weeks ago and dropped 1k in cash on the table, for bills I think. WHERE THE HELL DID SHE GET 1K?! But the thing is I’ve lent my mum HUNDREDS at a time to catch up on all her bills then I have to wait months for it to be paid back and then she’s back in grands of debt again with money that’s NOT hers and it’s not even HER paying it back it’s always 100% Jenna but I never knew this until today. She says she’s bought people things like on birthdays or Christmas but SHE hasn’t because it’s NOT HER money.
Jenna broke down crying saying that time they broke up for 5 days she had the time of her life by herself and said she doesn’t even want to marry her but im unsure if she’s still going ahead with the wedding. She said my mum controls every aspect of her life, I’ve witnessed today Jenna ask for permission to buy something. And she’s wanted food and my mum hasn’t got her it. My mum has bought takeaways for herself with JENNA’S MONEYA BUT NOTHING ACTUALLY FOR JENNA. I’ve heard Jenna say she wants this and that and my mum goes “with what money”. I think my mum gives her £40 a month out of £1.5k (ish).
I’m not even sure if that’s the worst bit but apparently my mum threatens suicide and forced Jenna to get back with her and one time not that king ago my mum said she’d taken quite a few tablets after an argument then later on emptied out another packed of tablets into the bin and acted like she had taken an overdose and after hysterics from Jenna she said she was joking and that sent Jenna over the edge.
I can’t even look at my mum the same. My mum says to Jenna she needs more money to spend on petrol for when I drive her places but guess what…? She never gives me the money she always says no and she never has any money. Fucking bold faced lie. I ask her for petrol and she says she doesn’t have it but Jenna’s constantly giving her petrol money for EVERY trip I take her on.
She controls Jenna’s house with her constant cleaning. No shoes, sure that’s fine, but Jenna doesn’t care. Wash your hands as soon as you walk in.. okay? Sure. But don’t touch certain things. She’s made Jenna stop smoking in her own house. Tells everyone not to vape even though Jenna doesn’t care but she says it’s Jenna when it’s actually her. She makes everyone constantly clean everything. After a trip to a hospital you have to strip off at the front door and shower head to toe and wash your hair. She makes Jenna clean everything when going out, like now, we’re on holiday and she made Jenna clean the place five times over in a row. Jenna said she doesn’t care and wouldn’t do any of this. I don’t think she knows how to leave because if the suicide threats and my mum showing up to her house early hours in the morning and not leaving when they have had a breakup. They’ve been together for about 11 years now.
I’m really truly at a loss as I thought my mum was one of the most lovely, nice, respectable woman, how do I go forward?
TLDR my mum is financially abusive by taking all of her partners money and not letting her buy anything and getting them grands and grands in debt, lying about savings and how much money she has and making suicidal threats when there’s an attempt to leave, her partner doesn’t know what to do and neither do I

Before you post a question to this subreddit, please read the following points. I know, it's a lot to read, but 99% of you will get answers to your questions here. These points contain verified, accurate FACTS as verified through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO).
1. Is this a bat bite?
Bat bites cannot be identified from a photo. No one, not even a doctor or a bat biologist, can identify a bat bite from a photo. If you think you might have bat bite, ask yourself: Have you seen a bat in your home? Did you sleep outdoors where a bat might have bitten you? Did you pick up a bat in your hand? If you answer no, it's HIGHLY UNLIKELY you were bitten by a bat. Again, bat bites cannot be identified from a photo.
2. Can I get rabies from interacting with an animal? Can I get rabies from touching something? What about if a drop of liquid falls on me? Can I get rabies from contaminated food or water? Can I get rabies from a person?
No. YOU CAN ONLY GET RABIES VIA DIRECT CONTACT WITH A RABID ANIMAL. This means being bitten or scratched by a rabid animal. Rabies is transmitted via the saliva of an infected animal in the late stages of the disease, when the virus is being shed in the saliva by the host animal. The rabies virus dies almost immediately once it’s outside the body. You can’t get rabies from touching something a rabid animal touched. You can’t get rabies from your pet meeting a rabid animal and then bringing it home to you. You can’t get rabies from touching roadkill. You can’t get rabies from something falling on you. You can’t get rabies from touching or kissing someone who has been vaccinated. You can’t get rabies from touching something wet. You can’t get rabies from touching any surface whatsoever, even if you have a cut on your body or you touch your eye/nose/mouth afterwards. Getting rabies from touching an animal and then touching your eye/nose/mouth is theoretically possible, but this has never happened to anyone in recorded history.
3. I found a suspicious mark on my body but I didn’t find a bat in my house. Did a bat sneak into my house and bite me without me noticing, and then sneak back out?
Bats are NOT invisible or ninjas. If you wake up in the morning with a mark on your body, it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY to be a bat bite unless you find a bat in your house. If a bat gets in your house, you will see it. They are not good at finding their way out on their own. It’s very unlikely that a sober, alert, adult human would not notice being bitten by a bat. Finding little marks on your body is not unusual and that is no reason to assume an invisible bat attacked you.
4. I saw a bat near me. Or I heard a bat. Or I saw something that might have been a bat, but it didn’t touch me. Did a bat bite me without me noticing?
Bats cannot fly past you and bite you in mid-flight. That is physically impossible. A bat must LAND on you, hold on to you with their tiny fingers, and then bite you. After biting you, they must then push off of you to take flight again. Bats can be small, but they're not invisible or imperceptible. If you would notice a big bug landing on you and biting you, then you would notice a bat doing it too. If a bat makes physical contact with you, there is a possibility that it may have scratched you, and rabies shots are recommended unless you are in a country free of bat rabies. If you find a bat in your house and you are not in a country free of bat rabies, you should catch it and submit it for rabies testing; if you can’t do that, you should get rabies shots; if you have small children, they should get rabies shots.
5. An animal touched me, licked me, or sneezed on me. Could I get rabies from this?
You cannot get rabies from a wound that doesn’t break the skin. Rabies can only get into your body through an opening in your body: a scratch or bite. If you are bitten or scratched by an animal, you should wash the area with soap and water for 5 minutes. If it does not bleed at all, you may not have broken the skin and could be in the clear. You can test this by putting alcohol on the abrasion to see if it stings.
6. Can I get rabies from an animal that has current rabies vaccinations? Can my pet get rabies if it has current rabies vaccinations?
No. You cannot get rabies from an animal that has current rabies shots. If you are bitten or scratched by someone’s pet, ask the owner for proof of rabies vaccination, like a rabies tag on the collar. Take a photo or copy of these records and call their vet to verify them. If the shots are current, you're not at risk of rabies infection. If the pet owner cannot provide this proof of vaccination, contact your animal control department or rabies management / health department to file a "Bite Report". If you are in the USA, you can find a list of those agencies here: https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/resources/contacts.html
7. Can I get rabies from my pet, or from a friend or neighbor’s pet?
You may not need to get rabies shots if you can observe the animal that attacked you for two weeks. If you are bitten or scratched by a pet that is not vaccinated for rabies, the standard protocol is to quarantine the animal in an animal shelter or veterinarian's office for 10-14 days. If you were attacked by someone else’s pet and that is not possible, you can observe the animal for 14 days. If it doesn’t get sick and/or die of rabies, then you are not at risk of rabies and do not need rabies shots. If the animal is healthy in 14 days, IT DOES NOT HAVE RABIES and neither do you. Since most animals in the late stages of rabies typically die in about 48 hours, this is a very cautious timeframe to observe.
8. Can I get rabies from a bug, bird, lizard, or frog? Can I get rabies from a possum, or a rat or mouse?
No. Only mammals (furry animals) can carry rabies. Reptiles, amphibians, insects, and birds can’t carry rabies. Bats are one of the most common rabies carriers in the US, although less than half of 1% of all bats will ever get rabies. In the USA, the next most common species are raccoons, skunks, and foxes. Outside of the USA, dogs, cats, and other animals have been known to spread the rabies virus. The least common mammals include Virginia opossums, rodents (rats and mice), rabbits or hares, and squirrels. Globally, the #1 risk of rabies is dog bites.
9. Is there a risk of rabies in my area? Can I get rabies in India, or the UK?
To learn about rabies statistics for your area, Google your state or country's name and the phrase 'current rabies statistics'. These websites will tell you how many rabid animals have been found in your area and what species. They should also tell you who to call to report a bite. Some parts of the world are rabies-free and there is no rabies or risk of rabies infection. The UK (and most of western Europe) is free of rabies in most animals except for bats, which is rare. India has a high rabies risk from dogs and other mammals, but rabies is very rare in bats in India and has only been found in bats in a couple areas in Nagaland.
10. I was vaccinated for rabies. Does that mean I am protected for life and will never need to worry about it again?
No. Previously vaccinated people still get boosters if they are re-exposed to rabies. Your rabies titer can be high for a few months or for many years, but it is assumed that you are protected for at least three months after getting your initial shots. If you are bitten by animal and it has been less than 90 days since your last shot, you don’t need to do anything. If it has been more than 90 days since your last shot, you would still need post-exposure booster shots IF you are directly exposed to an animal that could be rabid. You do not need to go through the entire series of shots again; you only need booster shots.
· For more information about rabies and rabies shots, see the CDC website here: https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/index.html
· If you are in the USA here is a link to the state and local rabies contacts. USA State & Local Rabies Contacts
11. I was vaccinated for rabies but I did not receive HRIG (Human Rabies Immunogloblin). Why? Is that OK?
HRIG is sometimes not given if there is no visible wound or if you were bitten/scratched in a location that is hard to inject. For instance, it would be hard to inject HRIG into your ear. If you have no visible wound, then there is no way to tell where HRIG should be injected. If you have more questions about this, ASK YOUR DOCTOR.
12. I got rabies shots but I have questions about the specific medical care I received. Why did the doctor give me the care I received? I’m immunocompromised; do I need extra shots? Will my medication interact with the vaccine?
Ask your doctor questions about the specific medical care you received. People on the internet cannot answer those questions. A doctor’s job is to treat patients and explain their care to them so it is OK to ask follow-up questions even after you leave the office.
13. I am in a country that is not the US, or I am traveling. Why did doctors in my country give me a different schedule of shots than the ones recommended by the CDC or the WHO? Why did doctors in two different countries tell me two different shot schedules? Will the shots work?
Yess. Rabies protocols vary by country. The CDC guidance is specific to the USA, and the WHO guidance is a recommendation for all countries. Some countries give different numbers of shots on different days. That is OK. The schedules all work as long as you stick to them and finish the series. To find more information about a country’s rabies shot schedule, google the name of the country + rabies vaccination + regimen or protocol or schedule.
14. I waited a long time before I got rabies shots. Or I drank a beer after I got vaccinated, or I took an aspirin. Or a doctor gave me tetanus shots at the same time. Will the rabies shots still work?
Yes. Rabies vaccines are 100% effective if you get them before the virus reaches your brain and symptoms start, which usually takes 3 weeks to one year. For more info about symptoms, see FAQ #17. If you have more questions about your medical treatment, ASK YOUR DOCTOR.
15. I think I have health anxiety and I can’t stop thinking about rabies all the time. How can I get help for this?
See this link. The automod can be summoned to share this information with a comment that includes the word “helpbot."
16. Someone is asking questions in the sub that I think are super dumb. Should I tell them that?
No. Please do not be rude or impatient. There is a real difference between a legitimate rabies scare and Persistent Health Anxiety (PHA), a subset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD and anxiety are real diseases that can have physical symptoms, and there are treatments for them that many people don’t know how to access. Both conditions are terrifying and life-altering, and both conditions deserve support. In this group, we support people who ask for help and we applaud them for finding the courage to do so. We will be kind, patient, respectful, and do our best to provide emotional support to anyone who seeks help here. I will be posting a separate FAQ to address the health anxiety issue. All posts and/or replies that are in any way unkind, impatient, or rude will be immediately removed and the author may be temporarily or permanently banned from this group. Be nice!!
17. I feel sick. Do I have rabies?
If you feel sick, see a doctor. You may have another disease, including anxiety, which can have physical symptoms. We cannot diagnose you over the internet. See a doctor.
The rabies virus generally has an incubation period of 3 weeks to 1 year from the date of exposure. If you believe you are experiencing symptoms before 3 weeks after exposure, that is not rabies. If you think you are experiencing symptoms more than 1 year after exposure, it is almost certainly not rabies. if you have not been exposed to a rabid animal and you believe you are experiencing rabies symptoms, you are not infected and are most likely experiencing anxiety. the prodromal stage lasts for a few days to a month and the acute neurologic stage lasts for a few days to a week; if you have symptoms that last longer than this, you do not have rabies.
Rabies symptoms only begin when the virus reaches the brain. It MUST reach the brain and produce SEVERE NEUROLOGICAL symptoms before it reaches the throat and salivary glands. This means that your sore throat is NOT caused by rabies unless you also have a severe fever, are experiencing loss of consciousness, paralysis, and seizures.
Also, rabies symptoms do not go away until death. You don't have a fever and then the fever goes away for the next symptoms. Every symptom stacks on top of the other symptoms. If you are experiencing 1 out 10 symptoms, it's NOT RABIES. Rabies is not mild. It's SEVERE in every way. If you are experiencing rabies symptoms you will need to be hospitalized within the first 8 hours of symptoms.
IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO GET VACCINATED UNTIL SYMPTOMS START, but only get vaccinated if you were attacked by a rabid animal. Waking up with a mystery scratch is not a rabies exposure.
Rabies symptoms are as follows, IN THIS ORDER:
Prodromal Stage:
• Extreme Fever
• Extreme Headache
Acute neurologic phase:
• Visual Disturbances, Hallucinations
• Delirium, Confusion
• Tremors, Seizures, Repetitive Uncontrollable Movements
• Fading In and Out of Consciousness
• Light Sensitivity, Sensitivity to Wind / Moving Air
• Partial Paralysis of Extremities, Paralysis of One or Both Legs or Arms
• Excessive Salivation, combined with the inability to swallow AT ALL, not even your own saliva which causes excessive drooling
• Inability to Swallow - NOT SORE THROAT - Inability to eat or drink, or swallow your own saliva production
• Extreme Aversion to sight or sound of water, food, or drink, AKA hydrophobia
• Coma
Without extreme medical intervention, which usually is an induced coma, these symptoms will progress to death very rapidly. Most patients who reach the point of excessive salivation and hydrophobia die within 12-24 hours without intervention.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING THESE SYMPTOMS, CALL 911 AND GET TO A HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU CAN REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE, YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCING RABIES SYMPTOMS. PEOPLE WITH ACTIVE RABIES INFECTIONS CANNOT TYPE, TALK, OR DEBATE WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE SICK. IF YOU CAN READ THIS AND REPLY, IT'S NOT RABIES.

I (41F) was diagnosed with IBS-D six months ago. It all started with a terrible explosive diarrhea and endless flatulence, and eventually my husband (45M) took me to a doctor. After examinations and tests, I was diagnosed with IBS-D.
My life turned into a nightmare afterwards. Pills and a diet prepared by a nutritionist was good enough, but other than that there is frequent stomachaches -especially during period- , diarrhea, flatulence and farting almost every minute... I am eating much and accordingly to my diet, so I didn't lose any weight. I am still 125 lbs. With recommended food and pills my stomach feels better sometimes, but other than that my life turned into a nightmare as I said. I have two kids (13F and 9M). Of course their life is heavily affected by my sickness, I can't do my mom duties for them and I'm not doing anything other than disgusting them.
My husband was supportive at the beginning, but after realizing he will need to bear my farts, diarrhea and other stomach problems for life I could clearly see his decreasing care for our marriage. He continued to tell he loves me. But you know, when you feel what they're thinking in their mind?
The first standoff about it was when we went to take my MIL and DIL. Kids were at school, so we took them with our SUV from their house. They were going to stay at us for dinner. The problem was, there were already some gas building up inside and my doctor told me to fart whenever it comes. But of course I couldn't let it out when they were in the vehicle. I was already very uncomfortable when we were about to arrive at our house and while trying to readjust my place on the seat for better, I accidentally farted. It was loud and yes it echoed inside the car, I was so ashamed that I didn't even turn to look at their faces. Laterly they said there is no problem, but after the ride my husband came to me and said that was not really good when his parents were with us in the SUV. I told him that it was an accident and I suffered enough trying to hold, but he cut off the conversation.
There were many other incidents like that. We were having a walk around the park nearby, when diarrhea attacked again. The park was wide and unfortunately the only public toilet there was broken -and its still broken- So as it was my last chance, I went to the bushes and pooped there. My husband was making sure noone is nearby, but I heard him gagging a few times because of my sounds. I know this is disgusting but, I literally shared a life with him for years. I won't do this to him if he was in the same situation.
The breaking point was when I tried to fart while watching a TV show with him on the couch. I am slowly getting used to IBS, and never trust a fart if you have the disease. And yes, I had an accident and pooped myself on the couch. I tried to get up and go to the toilet but it was all in my underwear and pajamas already, I don't want to give much details but it was also going down my feet on the carpet. Couch was also messed too. He literally screamed and reprimanded me, he also didn't care our kids seeing the mess I did and that's something I will never forgive. I threw away that underwear and pajamas, took a shower. He also threw away the carpet and a few days after he sold the couch for destruction. Of course maybe he was right and I was a disgusting woman, but I swear that was something out ot my control. He slept in the guest room that day and I didn't have any sleep until morning, crying all
His attitude went worse and worse. And two weeks ago he filed a divorce. We did a prenup, I never cared about his money and assets so I will never care about them in the future. We will split assets gained during the marriage 50/50. The custody of our kids is still a question mark but he said he will try to take them since I'm not capable of being a mother at this point.
I know I'm disgusting, I wouldn't like a lady walking around bloated, farting all the day and pooping diarrhea. But after a marriage of 15 years, being a housewife and caring for them all, always approach him with proper love... I don't think this is the 'thank you' I deserve. He may be disgusted but why judge me? I wouldn't do that to him if he was the sick one. It's something out of my control and it found me. And now, the only thing I want is taking custody of my son and my daughter.

Over a year ago I had been on Mounjaro for 9 months, I went from 420 lbs to 350 lbs and let me tell you… it was life changing. I could no longer pay out of pocket for it since insurance wouldn’t cover it. After 5 months of fighting with my insurance to try and have them cover the medication that was clearly working… Mounjaro was approved by the FDA and rebranded as ZepBound. I thought for sure my insurance would then allow it. Then November 2023 I started a new fight with my insurance to try and get on ZepBound. Unfortunately; I fought with my insurance for another 5 and a half months and after having a 20 lb backslide, just as I was giving up, I tried one last Hail Mary by getting a prescription of Orlistat which was one of the other “preferred medications” that none of my doctors wanted me on but my insurance insisted that I try. Did that for a week and my doc contacted insurance and pled my case one last time, I finally got the approval to be on ZepBound.
In preparation to be on the medication, last week, I focused solely on a protein forward diet with little to no carbs to try and keep side effects to a minimum after my (second) Day 1 of taking this injectible medication. Just like last time, I select my inject day to be Friday which gives me the weekend to handle whatever side effects I may experience.
Weighing myself yesterday, I am at 360.8 lbs and here I start again. The evening of the first day, I started to get the gassy-ness of the burps and fortunately I had my gas-ex and papaya extract tablets handy. But this afternoon, I’m feeling a little like I got body slammed. I don’t remember this feeling the first time around but I’m actually wondering if it’s a lack of hydration that is causing this muscle ache.
Either way… those of you on the journey as well… may it be one with success and few side effects. See you in the threads.

Based on the premise that ore veins can be fracked and never run out, Olumite is the only resource that one must explored for, to find new sources, in perpetuity. One can use solar power and batteries, and ultimately derive an unlimited amount of resources from the ore veins, when supplied with the Fracking Liquid (which also required Olumite).
Now, Firmalite bars are also unlimited and require no exploration. To obtain Firmalite you can get 5 bars per Maintenance Drone, or 40 bars net for each Service Robot. There are of course other differences between the 2 options, like electric demands and real estate footprint, but they are all moot given the above premise, and that real estate is unlimited too.
Give the above situation, I found it useful to work out, just how much Crude Olumite it would take to get a Firmalite Bar, while ignoring every other factor.
I'll copy/paste the details below, but the results:
While producing Maintenance Drones, each Firmalite Bar requires 5.5 Crude Olumite.
While producing unpainted Service Robots, each Firmalite Bar requires 5.8125 Crude Olumite.
If they require painting robots, then each bar requires 8.4513889 Crude Olumite
************** Work **************
Recipes, with olumite derived products listed.
100 Crude Olumite = 75 Liquid Polymer
5 Liquid Polymer = 1 Polymer Board
1 Polymer Board = 1 Circuit Board
2 Polymer Board = 2 Robot Parts
100 Crude Olumite = 90 Olumite Gas
75 Olumite Gas = 40 Olumic Acid
60 Olumic Acid = 6 Energy Cells
2 Polymer Board + 80 Olumic Acid = 8 CPU
100 Crude Olumite = 100 Low Density Olumite
30 Low Density Olumite = 1 Hydraulic Piston
Maintenance Drone breakdown and algebra.
*** 1 Maintenance Drone = 5 Firmalite Bars
1 Circuit Board + 1 Energy Cell = 1 Maintenance Drone
1 Polymer Board + 10 Olumic Acid = 5 Firmalite Bars
5 Liquid Polymer + 18.75 Olumite Gas = 5 Firmalite Bars
6.667 Crude Olumite + 20.8333 Crude Olumite = 5 Firmalite Bars
27.5 Crude Olumite = 5 Firmalite Bars
1 Firmalite Bar = 5.5 Crude Olumite
1 Maintenance Drone is 5.5 Crude Olumite per Firmalite Bar.
*****
Service Robot breakdown and algebra.
1 Robot Parts + 1 Circuit Board + 1 Energy Cell = 1 Robot Torso
1 Robot Parts + 2 CPU = 1 Robot Head
1 Robot Parts + 1 Hydraulic Piston = 1 Robot Arm
1 Robot Parts + 1 Hydraulic Piston = 1 Robot Leg
*** 1 Service Robot = Net 40 Firmalite Bars (200-160)
1 Robot Torso + 1 Robot Head + 2 Robot Arms + 2 Robot Legs = 40 Firmalite Bars
(1 Robot Parts + 1 Circuit Board + 1 Energy Cell) + (1 Robot Parts + 2 CPU) + (2 Robot Parts + 2 Hydraulic Pistons) + (2 Robot Parts + 2 Hydraulic Pistons) = 40 Firmalite Bars
6 Robot Parts + 1 Circuit Board + 1 Energy Cell + 2 CPU + 4 Hydraulic Pistons = 40 Firmalite Bars
6 Polymer Board + 1 Polymer Board + 10 Olumic Acid + (0.5 Polymer Board + 20 Olumic Acid) + 120 Low Density Olumite = 40 Firmalite Bars
7.5 Polymer Board + 30 Olumic ACid + 120 Low Density Olumite = 40 Firmalite Bars
37.5 Liquid Polymer + 56.25 Olumite Gas + 120 Crude Olumite = 40 Firmalite Bars
50 Crude Olumite + 62.5 Crude Olumite + 120 Crude Olumite = 40 Firmalite Bars
232.5 Crude Olumite = 40 Firmalite Bars
1 Firmalite Bar = 5.8125 Crude Olumite
1 Service Robot without Paint is 5.8125 Crude Olumite per Firmalite Bar
**\*
100 Paint = 50 Low Density Olumite + 50 Olumite Gas = 40 Firmalite Bars (added to the above costs)
100 Paint = 50 Crude Olumite + 55.556 Crude Olumite = 40 Firmalite Bars
100 Paint = 105.556 Crude Olumite = 40 Firmalite Bars
1 Firmatelite Bar = 2.5 Paint = 2.638888889 Crue Olumite additional for paint.
So 1 Service Robot with Paint is 8.451388889 Crude Olumite per Firmalite Bar if they end up requiring paint.

Backed by Community Request, our Spring event is live! Details here. Participation is optional.

For all the great traders out there, thank you!
Thank you to those that share our posts, you are true guardians of Airsoft!
This is a mega post from a group of 40+ airsoft collectors'/players'.
Reddit chat sucks so we've added an Alternate Contact on Discord: cdnciti
Only trade of interest is a Inokatsu MK46.
Guns will only be sold to adults.
'PD' means Pending Deal. Crossed off items are sold.
All negotiations are done prior to pickup.
Pick up available in Markham, Yorkdale, Fairview Mall(Toronto) or STC.
Traders must agree in writing to the price and payment method before meeting up.
For shipped items, if payment is not received within 24 hours the trade is off.
EMT for shipped items or cash for pick ups.
If you are not comfortable trading in person in a public parking lot with security cameras and plate scanners then shipping is recommended.
+SHIPPING $$ means shipping cost is not included in the price. All trades are final.
All rifles include shipping/delivery costs.

Freebies donated by our group

Add one of these items to your trade when it's conditions are met. Spend amount is on a per trade basis. No holds on Freebies.
Only users who comment and proceed with a trade will receive the requested item.

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
Rpro	Propane Adaptor	FREE with any item	pics
Valken	NiMH Charger	FREE with any item	pics
Valken	Echo Googles	FREE with any item	pics
Rpro	Sight Protector	FREE with $70+	pics
EF	0.20 Tracers	FREE with $100+	pics
AI	Gungas Kit	FREE with $130+	pics
Valken	Kilo Sling	FREE with $150+	pics
Rpro	Reflex	FREE with $180+	pics
Rpro	M600	FREE with $200+	pics
Rpro	APL	FREE with $200+	pics
FMA	PEQ15	FREE with $220+	pics
KWC	PT99	FREE with $250+	pics
Element	M300	FREE with $250+	pics
Valken	RDA20	FREE with $280+	pics
KWC	PT99	FREE with $280+	pics
HFC	Launcher	FREE with $300+	pics
KWC	PT99	FREE with $300+	pics
KWC	1911	FREE with $320+	pics
KWC	SW40	FREE with $340+	pics
KWC	M17	FREE with $400+	pics
XCORTECH	X3200MK3	FREE with $420+	pics
KWC	Deagle	FREE with $440+	pics
Madbull	XM203	FREE with $500+	pics
KJW	P09	FREE with $620+	pics
WE	xDm	FREE with $620+	pics
WE	1911SV	FREE with $650+	pics
VFC	M&P9	FREE with $720+	pics
KJW	SP01ACCU	FREE with $850+	pics
TM	PX4	FREE with $980+	pics

Collectors Pieces/Wall Hangers

Items in this section were not fielded. Tested and working.
GAS RIFLES

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
WE	L85	$650	pics
-	MSK	$600	pics
-	CQBR Kit2	$550	pics
-	M416 Kit	$950	pics
-	M4 STRIKE	$580	pics
-	M4 MB DD 7" FDE	$500	pics
-	M4 SWS	$680	pics
-	M4 RIS kit	$650	pics
-	416	$500	pics
-	416 CQB PKG #1	$740	pics
-	416 CQB PKG #2	$650	pics
-	416 CQB	$600	pics
-	CQBR KIT	$650	pics
-	PDWL BK	$520	pics
-	SCARL Kit	$600	pics
-	SCARL BK	$540	pics
-	-	-	-
KWA	MP7 Kit	$630	pics
KWC	UZI	$270	pics
GHK	COLT M4RIS 14.5"(2019)	$1100	pics
G&G	SMC9 Kit	$700	pics

GAS PISTOLS(SHIPPED)

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
TM	M9A1#2	$250	pics
-	5.1	$360	pics
-	5.1 Kit	$500	pics
-	P226E2 2mags	$240	pics
-	M&P9	$340	pics
-	G17G3	$280	pics
-	M9 Chrome	$400	pics
-	MEU	$320	pics
-	1911 Series '70	$320	pics
-	USP	$420	pics
-	USPC Kit	$480	pics
-	USPC Kit2	$400	pics
-	5-7	$350	pics
-	xDm	$230	pics
-	PX4	$300	pics
-	G17 w/2mags	$400	pics
-	G17 Custom DE	$320	pics
-	G17 w/2mags	$300	pics
-	M9A1	$350	pics
-	M92F Military	$280	pics
-	XDM	$190	pics
-	-	-	-
WE	MEU DT	$250	pics
-	F226 Kit	$300	pics
-	G17G4 Kit	$300	pics
-	G27 Kit	$400	pics
-	Luger Kit	$300	pics
-	PX4 DT Kit	$350	pics
-	G17 Kit2	$330	pics
-	G17 Kit4	$300	pics
-	G17 Kit	$400	pics
-	G18C Kit	$400	pics
-	G18C G4	$300	pics
-	G18C	$220	pics
-	G19 Kit	$370	pics
-	G19 G4	$230	pics
-	G23 Kit	$360	pics
-	G23 G4 BK	$230	pics
-	G26C ADV Tan	$210	pics
-	G33ADV Kit	$300	pics
-	G35 BK/GD	$250	pics
-	G35DT Kit	$340	pics
-	G17 Dual	$360	pics
-	Luger w/SIL	$200	pics
-	Luger SV	$250	pics
-	P38 SV	$240	pics
-	F228 Kit	$290	pics
-	F229R Kit2	$300	pics
-	F229	$190	pics
-	F226 DT	$240	pics
-	F229 Kit	$320	pics
-	F226 TAN	$230	pics
-	M902	$260	pics
-	M9A1 w/SIL	$250	pics
-	M9 Navy TN/BK	$200	pics
-	1911 Kit	$300	pics
-	MEU BK w/SIL	$250	pics
-	MEU SV Kit	$300	pics
-	KIMBER Kit	$300	pics
-	KIMBER	$230	pics
-	1911DT Kit	$320	pics
-	M&P9 BK/GD Kit	$350	pics
-	M&P9DT	$200	pics
-	-	-	-
VFC	M&P9T Kit	$320	pics
-	M&P9C	$240	pics
-	M&P9DT	$250	pics
-	M&P9 w/case	$300	pics
-	G17G4 Kit2	$330	pics
-	G17G4	$250	pics
-	G17G4 Kit	$500	pics
-	G17G4 w/DOCTER	$300	pics
-	G17G4	$300	pics
-	G17G5	$300	pics
-	PPQ M2 w/2mags	$320	pics
-	FNX45B	$300	pics
-	FNX45DT Kit	$440	pics
-	FNX45B Silenced	$350	pics
-	-	-	-
KJW	P09UGSR Kit	$430	pics
-	KP06 2mags	$230	pics
-	1911 Kit	$300	pics
-	KP07 Kit	$400	pics
-	G23 Kit	$320	pics
-	M9 CO2	$160	pics
-	M9A1 Kit	$300	pics
-	M9 4mags	$280	pics
-	KP09 Kit	$250	pics
-	P09 BK	$170	pics
-	P09 Kit	$320	pics
-	P09 TAN	$200	pics
-	KP05	$190	pics
-	KP05 Kit	$260	pics
-	SP01 UGSR	$180	pics
-	SP01 ACCU Kit	$350	pics
-	KP01 Kit	$350	pics
-	KP01 Kit2	$290	pics
-	-	-	-
KWC	MAKAROV	$160	pics
-	SW40	$130	pics
-	1911 TAC DT 2mags	$180	pics
-	1911B	$170	pics
-	1911 L.E.	$200	pics
-	1911 w/3mags	$220	pics
-	1911	$160	pics
-	MEU	$180	pics
-	P08	$140	pics
-	24/7	$160	pics
-	DEAGLE BK	$130	pics
-	DEAGLE SV	$190	pics
-	KCB89	$150	pics
-	M712	$150	pics
-	SW40	$120	pics
-	M17	$180	pics
-	PT99	$120	pics
-	-	-	-
AW	NE3002	$250	pics
-	5.1 Custom	$280	pics
-	HX1005	$200	pics
-	HX1101 2mags	$280	pics
-	HX1102	$200	pics
-	HX1105	$180	pics
-	HX2003 Kit	$320	pics
-	NE2002	$230	pics
-	HX2302	$250	pics
-	HX2402	$250	pics
-	HX2601	$290	pics
-	VX0111	$250	pics
-	-	-	-
EMG	STI/ TTI JW3	$400	pics
-	SAI 4.3 BK	$260	pics
-	SAI 5.1 SV	$280	pics
-	SAI BLU	$300	pics
-	SAI 5.1 BK	$250	pics
-	-	-	-
KSC	Auto9	$340	pics
Marushin	FN 5-7	$250	pics
KWA	MK23	$320	pics
-	USP MATCH	$390	pics
-	MK23 Kit	$450	pics
-	HK45 w/2mags	$340	pics
G&G	GTP9 TAN	$210	pics
-	GPM92 Kit	$450	pics
Umarex	SAA Antique	$390	pics

AEGS (Collectors Pieces/Wall Hangers)

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
G&G	AR15 SBR8	$630	pics
-	M14 EBR-L	$700	pics
-	TR-418	$630	pics
-	Wildhog 9"	$330	pics
-	SRL TAN	$330	pics
-	GC Predator BK	$450	pics
-	-	-	-
VFC	HK416	$750	pics
-	HK416 Kit	$900	pics
-	HK417 Kit	$800	pics
-	416CQB Kit	$600	pics
-	HK416 Calibur	$650	pics
-	MK18	$630	pics
-	VR16 RISII	$630	pics
-	SABER MOD1 Kit	$600	pics
-	Avalon Calibur DT Kit	$780	pics
-	Calibur CQC	$440	pics
-	AVALON Calibur CQC	$560	pics
-	Calibur Carbine Kit	$500	pics
-	VR16 Kit #2	$360	pics
-	MK12 MOD1(SPR)	$670	pics
-	Fighter MK2 Kit2	$460	pics
-	Fighter MK2 Kit3	$500	pics
-	VR16 Saber CQB	$380	pics
-	VR16 RIS	$330	pics
-	M4A1	$330	pics
-	M4 SOPMOD	$440	pics
-	XCR-C Metal	$400	pics
-	SCAR-H CQC	$600	pics
-	SCAR-L	$550	pics
-	SCAR-L TAN	$560	pics
-	-	-	-
Krytac	PDW FG Kit	$600	pics
-	SPR BK	$300	pics
-	Vector LE	$1050	pics
-	LVOA-S BK Kit	$600	pics
-	VECTOR BK Kit	$1200	pics
-	LVOA-C CG	$600	pics
-	LMG PDW	$1100	pics
-	PDW Kit	$420	pics
-	SPR-M FDE	$620	pics
-	Vector DT Kit	$1100	pics
-	LVOA SBR DT	$500	pics
-	SPR MK2 FG	$550	pics
-	PDW FDE Kit	$580	pics
-	SPPDW	$500	pics
-	TR47	$600	pics
-	REC7 BK	$630	pics
-	LVOA-S BK PKG	$600	pics
-	LVOA-S FG	$560	pics
-	LVOA-S FDE	$600	pics
-	LMG-E	$850	pics
-	-	-	-
G&P	Sentry DE	$600	pics
-	TMR 10"	$450	pics
-	Rapid Fire	$600	pics
-	Defender	$580	pics
-	M4 Ball Medium	$400	pics
-	QRF	$480	pics
-	MOE Carbine	$570	pics
-	-	-	-
ASG	Scorpion Evo 3A1	$600	pics
-	-	-	-
KWA	SR10 Kit	$520	pics
-	KR12	$300	pics
-	KM4 RIS	$400	pics
-	SR12	$500	pics
-	SR10	$500	pics
-	-	-	-
KA	COLT MK18	$400	pics
-	B.R.O. 15"	$500	pics
-	M7	$400	pics
-	CAA M4	$400	pics
-	-	-	-
ARES	M4 DMR Kit	$500	pics
-	AM014 Kit	$500	pics
-	OCTAARMS KM03	$430	pics
-	AM014 BK	$420	pics
Magpul PTS	PDR-C	$1300	pics

USED Guns

The guns below are used. They are tested for functionality and leaks.
GAS Rifles

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
WE	416 Kit	$550	pics
-	SCARL Kit	$480	pics
-	M4A1 RIS Kit	$720	pics
-	M4 LVOA w/4mags	$560	pics

GAS Pistols(+SHIPPING $$)

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
TM+KWC	G17+PT99 Kit	$560	pics
-	-	-	-
TM	G17G3 Kit2	$300	pics
-	G18C Kit	$520	pics
-	PX4 w/2 mags	$330	pics
-	P226E2 w/2 mags	$250	pics
-	G17G3	$280	pics
-	G17G3 4mags	$460	pics
-	G17G3 Kit	$420	pics
-	-	-	-
WE	G18C Kit	$280	pics
-	G17G3 Kit3	$350	pics
-	G17G3 Kit2	$280	pics
-	G17G3 Kit	$380	pics
-	1911 BK Kit	$300	pics
-	MEU TAN kit	$250	pics
-	1911 7mags	$260	pics
-	F229 Kit	$250	pics
-	xDm Kit	$200	pics
-	xDm Comp 2mags	$230	pics
-	-	-	-
VFC	G17 Kit3	$250	pics
-	FNX45BK	$220	pics
-	G19G3 Kit	$270	pics
-	G17G4 Kit2	$250	pics
-	G17G4 Kit	$340	pics
-	G17G4 3mags	$300	pics
-	FNX45TAN	$325	pics
-	-	-	-
KJW	1911 OD w/2mags	$160	pics
-	M9	$150	pics
-	M9 Elite	$150	pics
-	KP-01	$130	pics
-	-	-	-
KWC	M&P9	$140	pics
-	PT99 3mags	$150	pics
-	PT99 w/2 lowers	$160	pics
-	1911 4mags	$200	pics
-	1911 4mags	$180	pics
-	1911 2mags	$100	pics
-	M92	$130	pics
-	M92 4mags #2	$200	pics
-	M92 4mags	$180	pics
-	Luger	$150	pics
-	Deagle 4mags	$200	pics
-	Deagle Kit	$270	pics
-	M17 2mags #2	$150	pics
-	M17	$130	pics
-	M&P9 Kit	$250	pics
-	SW40	$100	pics
-	-	-	-
AW	HX1004 Kit	$220	pics
-	HX2502 Kit	$350	pics
-	HX1002 Kit	$280	pics
-	HX1004 kit	$220	pics
-	-	-	-
KWA	HK45	$220	pics

AEGS

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
Krytac	LVOA-C	$330	pics
-	LVOA-S Kit	$550	pics
-	LVOA-C FG Kit	$520	pics
-	CRB MK2 Kit	$540	pics
-	SPR MK2 DT Kit	$450	pics
-	SPR MK2 Kit	$420	pics
-	Vector PKG	$950	pics
-	GPR CC	$500	pics
-	LMG	$750	pics
-	-	-	-
G&P	LMT Kit	$300	pics
VFC	VR16 TE1 Kit	$420	pics
-	XCR-C(Metal) Kit	$380	pics
KA	BRO 15" Kit	$350	pics
-	VIS CQB	$360	pics
G&G	SRL DST Kit	$340	pics
ARES	M4 15" KeyMod	$290	pics
-	OCTA ARMS KM15 Kit	$320	pics
E&C	EC106	$350	pics

Parts

(USED)(+SHIPPING $$)

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
AW	Hicapa Mount	$15	pics
GHK	G5 Bolt	$85	pics
-	G5 Barrel+Hop up	$60	pics
VFC	G17G4 Lower	$130	pics
-	G17G4 Externals	$150	pics
WE	G17BBU	$55	pics
-	Apache Mag	$30	pics
-	M4 Lower	$150	pics
-	SCAR-L Barrel+Sight	$45	pics
-	G18C Parts	$60	pics
-	G17 Slide/Barrel	$95	pics
-	1911 Silver Frame	$50	pics
TM	5.1 Midframe	$120	pics
-	G17 BBU w/Nozzle	$65	pics
-	-	-	-
AEG PARTS	-	-	-
ASG	Scorpion Internals	$60	pics
-	Scorpion GB	$65	pics
G&G	V2 GB	$60	pics
-	V2 GB#2	$50	pics
G&P	V2 GB	$65	pics
Krytac	PDW Upper CG	$100	pics
-	PDW FG Upper	$110	pics
-	5" Barrel	$40	pics

(NEW)(+SHIPPING $$)

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
AW	5.1 Lower	$120	pics
TNT	H.L.R. Bucking 60	$30	pics
SI	AR Enhanced Grip	$40	pics
DP	GhostRing2(TMG17)	$30	pics
SLR	2x VFC G17 EXT Baseplates	$100	pics
G&P	870 Piston Set 150%	$40	pics
SPEED	5.1 Comp Trigger Gold	$40	pics
AIP	G17 Spring Guide	$22	pics
WE	G17 Upper	$100	pics
-	G17 Lower	$85	pics
-	Apache Lower	$220	pics
-	G18C Slide	$50	pics
-	5.1 Parts	$40	pics
TM	G17 BBU	$50	pics
-	G19G3 Internals+Slide	$170	pics
Guarder	TM G17 Barrel	$65	pics
-	TM 5.1 Nozzle	$40	pics
9Ball	M92F Sights	$70	pics
-	PX4 Sights	$100	pics
-	XDM Sights	$90	pics
-	5.1 Sights	$120	pics
-	5.1 Inner	$50	pics
A1A	G17RB1 Kit	$330	pics
-	SAI G19 Slide/Barrel	$190	pics
-	G17 Parts	$45	pics
AM	1911 Hopup	$110	pics
AM	Edge BBU	$65	pics
AM	5.1 Hammer and Searset	$50	pics
AM	.45ACP 5.1 Gold	$170	pics
Cowcow	TM Buckings	$20	pics
-	5.1 Barrel BK	$120	pics
-	5.1 Tornado SV	$180	pics
-	4.3 Gold	$125	pics
-	-	-	-
AEG PARTS	-	-	-
Madbull	363mm Inner	$35	pics
A1A	M4 CNC Hopup	$25	pics
Airtech	PDW EXT	$35	pics
G&P	KAC AMBI Release	$60	pics
-	M4 Externals	$300	pics
-	STONER RAS	$170	pics
Laylax	Vector KeyMod(L)	$220	pics
MadBull	NSR 7"	$110	pics
-	MK18 RISII BK	$165	pics
-	Noveske 10A	$120	pics
VFC	VR16 Lower	$150	pics
-	VR16 Receiver Set	$250	pics
-	14.5" Outer	$70	pics
-	HK416 Stock	$65	pics
-	V2 GB	$100	pics
-	12" Quad Rail	$100	pics
-	QRS Stock	$65	pics
G&G	ETU 2.0	$75	pics
-	GOSV3 Tan Stock	$65	pics
Magpul	Paraclip	$30	pics
-	Rail Light Mount	$45	pics
Magpul PTS	MOE Pistol FDE	$40	pics
-	RSA Mount	$50	pics
-	CTR Black	$110	pics
KRYTAC	Vector Rail	$135	pics
-	LVOA-C Rail	$150	pics
-	M4 Receiver Set	$160	pics
-	PDW Stock	$120	pics
SHS	32:1	$25	pics
-	16:1	$40	pics
Prometheus	280mm Barrel	$75	pics
-	155mm Vector Barrel	$90	pics
G&P	M170 Devil	$65	pics
SIEGETEK	Cyclone 14.09 Ratio	$220	pics
-	10.78 GS	$220	pics
BTC	Chimera V3	$120	pics
-	Chimera V2	$120	pics

Accessories

(NEW)(+SHIPPING $$)

Type	Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
Sight	SIG	ROMEO5	$270	pics
-	Firefield	1x22	$100	pics
-	VORTEX	SPARCII	$300	pics
-	AIMSPORTS	2-7x32	$90	pics
-	-	1x20mm T1	$80	pics
-	-	4X ACOG	$90	pics
-	-	4x32	$55	pics
-	LANCER	3-9x32	$65	pics
-	NCSTAR	4x32 w/laser	$110	pics
-	-	4x32	$140	pics
-	-	4x30	$50	pics
-	G&P	T2 Tan	$90	pics
-	Rpro	XPS 2Z	$100	pics
-	Rpro	T1 Dual Mount	$75	pics
-	Rpro	LCO	$95	pics
-	Rpro	ACOG 4x	$150	pics
-	Rpro	3x Barlow	$70	pics
-	Rpro	MRO	$80	pics
-	Rpro	Doctor	$40	pics
-	Rpro	552+3X Magnifier	$150	pics
-	Rpro	Reflex w/Laser	$50	pics
-	Sniper	ACOG 4x	$110	pics
-	-	-	-
Tracer	Xcortech	XT301	$90	pics
-	-	X3300W	$150	pics
-	G&G	Midnight Hawk	$90	pics
-	-	Battleowl	$140	pics
-r	Acetech	Predator KAC	$200	pics
-	-	LighterS	$95	pics
-	-	-	-
FlashHider	6mmProShop	16mm+ 14mm-	$30	pics
-	6mmProShop	16mm+ Thread Pro	$30	pics
-	E&L	AK74U	$25	pics
-	Madbull	DNTC04 SV	$35	pics
-	-	-	-
Suppressor	CYMA	LaRue	$65	pics
-	Krytac	HPS4G	$100	pics
-	5KU	KAC QD	$85	pics
-	-	556Mini	$80	pics
-	-	MP7	$120	pics
-	-	556RC	$85	pics
-	WE	Makarov	$35	pics
-	Rpro	SF 556	$100	pics
-	G&G	Pistol 14mm -	$40	pics
-	-	SS100	$35	pics
-	Krytac	KRISS	$65	pics
-	G&P	Zombie QD 14mm +	$120	pics
-	Madbull	7"KAC 14CCW	$150	pics
-	-	Blackside	$65	pics
-	-	SWR 6"	$90	pics
-	-	7" K.A.C. 14mm +	$110	pics
-	-	Gemtech	$65	pics
-	-	-	-
Launcher	G&P	M203 Navy L	$270	pics
-	-	M203 MIL	$270	pics
-	MBull	XM203L OD	$170	pics
-	MBull	XM203S BK	$180	pics
-	SPIKE'S	HAVOC 12"	$250	pics
-	-	-	-
Light	TM	CQX Micro	$100	pics
-	Element	M600P	$50	pics
-	-	M600W	$90	pics
-	FMA	PEQ15 Tan w/IR	$60	pics
-	Rpro	X300U	$140	pics
-	Rpro	X400	$150	pics
-	Rpro	M720V	$140	pics
-	Rpro	SBAL-PL	$110	pics
-	G&P	GP800 w/switch	$180	pics
-	G&P	DBAL	$320	pics
-	-	-	-
Tool	XCORTECH	X3500	$110	pics
-	ACETECH	AC5000 Chrono	$75	pics
-	-	-	-
Grip	Rpro	SI Keymod	$25	pics
-	Rpro	Red Keymod	$30	pics
-	SI	Cobra	$35	pics
-	Rpro	PK2 Metal AK	$40	pics
-	UTG	Light	$50	pics
-	Rpro	MVG	$15	pics
Bipod	ATLAS	PSR	$120	pics
-	-	-	-
Mount	CYMA	M14	$30	pics
-	Rpro	MP5	$25	pics
Covers	SI	KeyMod FDE	$15	pics

(USED)(+SHIPPING $$)

Type	Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
Grip	Magpul PTS	AFG2	$10	pics
Silencer	Rpro	Navy Seals	$45	pics
-	Rpro	7" KAC	$60	pics
-	WE	Pistol	$10	pics
Launcher	ZOXNA	Shower	$50	pics
-	HFC	HG-138	$55	pics
-	Madbull	XM203L TAN	$100	pics
Light	Rpro	M910	$70	pics
-	OPSMEN	FAST501	$40	pics
-	Rpro	M600W	$55	pics
Sight	TM	Micro Pro	$70	pics

Magazines (N)ew or (U)sed (+SHIPPING $$)
GAS

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
TM	MEU(U)	$45	pics
-	2xG17(U)	$65	pics
-	2x5.1(U)	$80	pics
-	P226(U)	$40	pics
-	1911A1#2(U)	$40	pics
-	5.1(N)	$45	pics
-	M9(N)	$50	pics
-	5.1 EXT(U)	$65	pics
-	4.3 BK(U)	$30	pics
-	4.3 SV(N)	$40	pics
-	USP-C(U)	$35	pics
-	USP(Leaky)	$20	pics
-	1911A1(U)	$40	pics
-	PX4(U)	$45	pics
-	5.1 EXT(U)	$50	pics
-	2x4.3(U)	$75	pics
-	G19(U)	$40	pics
-	G17(U)	$35	pics
-	2xG17(N)	$55 Each	pics
-	2xG19(N)	$55 Each	pics
-	-	-	-
WE	4xMEU(N)	$120	pics
-	4xG17(U)	$110	pics
-	3xM4(U)	$150	pics
-	2xG17(U)#3	$40	pics
-	5.1(U)	$25	pics
-	F226(N)	$25	pics
-	3x1911(U)	$50	pics
-	SCARH(U)	$65	pics
-	3xG17(U)#2	$80	pics
-	3xG17(U)	$80	pics
-	G17(N)	$38 Each	pics
-	2xG17(U)	$55	pics
-	G17 EXT(N)	$60 Each	pics
-	3xG26(N)	$100	pics
-	3x5.1EXT(N)	$60 Each	pics
-	5.1(N)	$40 Each	pics
-	2x5.1(U)	$50	pics
-	2x5.1#2(U)	$55	pics
-	2x5.1CO2	$42 Each	pics
-	3x1911(U)	$60	pics
-	5x1911A1(U)	$140	pics
-	2xLuger(N)	$35 Each	pics
-	M&P9(N)	$35	pics
-	P-Virus(N)	$55 Each	pics
-	F226(N)	$35 Each	pics
-	3xM14(N)	$70 Each	pics
-	2xG39(N)	$140	pics
-	2xP90(N)	$70 Each	pics
-	SVD(N)	$95 Each	pics
-	PMC(N)	$85	pics
-	-	-	-
VFC	MP7(U)	$40	pics
-	MP7(U)#2	$65	pics
-	M&P9(U)	$35	pics
-	G19(U)	$40	pics
-	2xG17G5(N)	$70 Each	pics
-	G17G4(N)	$60 Each	pics
-	2xFNX45T(N)	$55 Each	pics
-	PPQ(U)	$40	pics
-	-	-	-
KJW	KP01 CO2(U)	$30	pics
-	KP06(N)	$40	pics
-	KP09(U)	$30	pics
-	2xKP09(N)	$40 Each	pics
-	2xP09(N)	$40 Each	pics
-	2xM4(U)	$65	pics
-	KP-01 Gas(N)	$35	pics
-	KC-02 Long(U)	$40	pics
-	3xKP-05 Gas(N)	$40 Each	pics
-	2xKC02(U)	$80	pics
-	-	-	-
KWC	2x1911(U)	$45	pics
-	2x1911 EXT(N)	$60 Each	pics
-	2xM17(U)	$50	pics
-	M17(N)	$40 Each	pics
-	M92 EXT(U)	$55	pics
-	1911 EXT(U)	$30	pics
-	M92(U)	$25	pics
-	-	-	-
AW	5.1 BK(N)	$40	pics
-	5.1 BK(U)	$30	pics
KWA	2xMP7(U)	$120	pics
-	HK45(U)	$50	pics
-	USP Match(U)	$45	pics
-	USP Match#2(U)	$40	pics
G&G	2xGTP9(N)	$45 Each	pics
-	SMC9(N)	$80 Each	pics
Marusen	FN57(N)	$50 Each	pics
GHK	Gmag(N)	$115	pics
-	-	-	-
AI	3xCyclone(U)	$110	pics
-	3x40Mike(U)	$200	pics
-	Burst(U)	$45	pics
-	2x40MIKE(U)	$140	pics
-	Cyclone Kit(U)	$110	pics
-	40MIKE(U) LEAKY	$50	pics
-	Burst XL(U)	$50	pics
-	MasterMike(U)	$75	pics
-	-	-	-
Zparts	2xERAZ OG(N)	$65 Each	pics
KIMERA	JR2(N)	$50	pics
SHS	2x40mm(U)	$70	pics
G&P	3x40mm Capped	$160	pics
Madbull	2xM433(N)	$100	pics
-	2xM381(U)	$160	pics
-	2x922A1(N)	$100 Each	pics

AEG

Brand	Product	Price	Pictures
Krytac	3xVector 40rd(N)	$40 Each	pics
Proarms	4xM4 Mids(N)	$65	pics
VFC	3xQRS Mids(N)	$95	pics
G&G	3xM4 Mids(N)	$70	pics
-	3xTinted M4(N)	$70	pics
-	2xG2H .308 Mids(N)	$40	pics
-	M4 Drum(N)	$170	pics
-	M4 Mids(N)	$20 Each	pics
CYMA	4xM4 Mids(U)	$35	pics
-	3xM4(U)	$20	pics
-	AK Mids(N)	$18 Each	pics
-	MP5 Mids	$25 Each	pics
-	3xP90 Mids(N)	$30 Each	pics
-	5xM4 Mids(N)	$14 Each	pics
Bluebox	4xM4(N)	$60	pics
-	M4 Black(N)	$15 Each	pics
-	AK-47 Mids(N)	$17 Each	pics
Madbull	5xAWM Tan Mids(N)	$95	pics
-	5xTROY Mids(N)	$100	pics
Dytac	4xCamo M4 Mids(U)	$50	pics
-	2xHEXMAG(U)	$30	pics
JG	2xP90 300rds(N)	$50	pics
Modify	2xXTC TAN(N)	$45	pics

Current cards:
Generic bank 1, $20,000 limit, 2009, no rewards
Generic bank 2, $8,000 limit, 2011, 1% on everything
Apple Card, $13,000 limit, 2019
Amex BCE, $18,000 limit, 2023
Citi CC, $7,00 limit, 2023
FICO Score: 848
Oldest account age: 15 years
Income: $80,000
​
Average monthly spend and categories:
dining $400
groceries: $400
gas: $400
all of my other spend categories are erratic
Average total monthly spend on cards: $2500
​
Open to Business Cards: not unless there's significant benefit
What's the purpose of your next card? Cashback
Do you have any cards you've been looking at? Venmo
Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card? I'm open to category spending
Greetings all. I was hoping to get some suggestions on what card(s) I should get. Last year, I picked up the Amex BCE and CCC. I use the Amex for gas and online shopping and the CCC for dining. The issue I'm currently having is not getting any rewards for Walmart or home improvement stores like Home Depot. Everything I have just rewards 1% for that. I can't even get 2% from the Apple Card contactless pay, since neither store accepts it.
I know I can get 3% from Walmart if I use the Walmart app, but the hassle of getting out the door makes me not use it. The self-check doesn't give a receipt without bugging the attendant, and I'm not going to hand the greeter my phone.
I saw the Venmo card, and was wondering if that's the best route to get some rewards from Walmart and home improvement stores. Is there a better option? Thanks in advance!
Thanks all for the suggestions!

Back in 2016, I was working at a roadside diner west of St. Cloud, Minnesota. Neat little place, had a bit of a 60’s vibe to it, but without the hairdo. On the slow hours of the day, or whenever we just had locals around, I’d be humming along with the chefs playing radio out of the kitchen. It wasn’t an exciting time, but it was nice to have a workplace that felt like a second home.
A couple of weekends a month, we had an all-night crew to serve passing truckers. You usually never had to do more than one shift though, and we got to make own schedules. Our boss was pretty hands-off. It was during one of those shifts, at the first week of early summer, that my life took a turn for the worse – and I didn’t even realize it.

We were used to having the occasional odd customer during those hours of the day. When this guy walked in, I didn’t know what to think. He was about 6’2, bald, and pale as chalk. He wore this worn-out t-shirt that looked like it’d been on fire. With every step, he dragged his feet, and collapsed in one of our booths, seemingly exhausted.
I looked back at the chef, and he just shrugged. Guy wasn’t hurting anyone, but he didn’t look like he was all there. But a job’s a job, so I went up to him.
“You alright there?” I asked.
He looked up at me like I was speaking a foreign language, then sunk his head back down, gently shaking it.
“Nah,” he said. “I, uh… I don’t think I am.”
He had this voice on the knife’s edge between a hysterical laugh and a howling cry. He was trembling.
“You need me to call someone?”
“Call?”
“Yeah, call someone.”
“How?”

I didn’t understand the question. I figured he was coming down from some kind of binge, and I wasn’t about to take any chances. I asked the chef to get me a side of bacon to keep the guy calm while I called the police.
As I slid the plate over to him, he sunk his face into his hands, sobbing.
“T-thank you,” he cried. “I-I’m… please…”
I sat down across from him, instinctively reaching out to grab his hand. He let me. Even at a light touch, I could feel the scars on his palm and fingertips. Whatever’d happened to him, it must’ve been awful.
“I can’t go back,” he sniffled. “Don’t make me go back. I can’t. Please, I can’t.”
“You’re not going anywhere. It’s okay,” I smiled. “You’re safe here.”
“Can you help me?” he asked. “Can you keep him out?”
“I’m sure we can figure it out,” I nodded. “Just eat up. It’s okay.”

His fingers trembled as he tentatively bit off a piece of bacon. His teeth were black, and he flinched.
“I need time,” he said. “I need time to run.”
“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “We’ve called for help.”
“I just… I just need time.”
We just sat there for a while. He calmed his breathing but kept staring out the window. I could tell he was looking for something – or someone. All I could see was a road and a handful of moths. We sat there for some time, in silence, as he carefully nibbled on the slices of maple bacon.
As two police officers entered the diner, he got up from his seat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bundle of scrunched-up trash. A couple of singles, a plastic card, dirt, and something resembling animal bones. He tried to straighten out the bills, pushing them into my hands along with the laminated card.
“Just… I need time. I’ll come back. Please.”
I didn’t understand. I just nodded and accepted it. Seconds later, the officers asked him to step outside and explain the situation. I got busy taking orders from a couple of passing truckers, watching glimpses of the scene through the window. A couple of minutes later, the strange man was taken away.

My shift ended at sunrise. I dragged myself to my car with a yawn, shuffling around my pockets for the keys. I hadn’t thought much about the items he’d handed me, but I took a closer look. I’d thrown away the animal bones and dirt, but there were a couple of dollar bills and that laminated card left. I checked the card first.
It looked like some kind of bookmark. On one side it was completely white, and on the other side there were dried blue flower petals arranged in a spiral. Kinda reminded me of a sunflower. And finally, there were the dollar bills.
I didn’t pay much attention to these at first. Just a couple of singles. But after a closer look, I noticed something unusual. There was a man on the bill that I didn’t recognize. It took me a couple of google searches to realize that this man was Walter Mondale – the man who’d lost to Ronald Reagan’s second run for president back in ’84. Why was this man on a one-dollar bill?

Before heading to bed, I put the items down on my nightstand. In a moment of silent wonder, I looked out the window. What had that man been looking for? What’d he been running from?
There was nothing out there.
Just a couple of moths.

Waking up the next morning, I had a full day off. I spent it cleaning my apartment, watching movies, having dinner with a couple of friends, and ending the night with a couple of drinks at the pub down on the corner. No binge or anything, just got a bit boozy. I was still gonna be in bed by midnight.
I took the scenic route home; a long walk. All the way down main street, past the lake. I took a shortcut through the park by the final stretch, speeding up a bit. That place was trouble.
As I hurried by the fountain, I spotted someone in the distance. A shrouded figure at the edge of the streetlights. I stopped to observe for a second, but as I did, the lights flickered. Coming back on, the figure was gone.
I chalked it up to imagination. I was a bit drunk, after all. Besides – it was small, like a child. What the hell would a kid be doing out at this hour?

A couple of days passed. I didn’t notice anything unusual, but I kept coming back to that distressing feeling of missing something important. Looking back at it now, I just feel dumb. He was there all along. Outside the supermarket. In the parking lot. Off the highway. Hell, he was outside my window at night sometimes, but just too short for me to spot.
I’m getting ahead of myself.
It wasn’t until one morning when I was driving to work that I got a clear view of him. I was crossing a four-way street, taking a sharp left turn, when I had to throw myself on the breaks. There was a kid in the middle of the street.
I hadn’t seen him that clearly before. He was probably around 6, maybe 7 years old. Wearing a plain black shirt and a pair of light blue canvas pants. Short black hair, dark eyes, and no shoes. That particular detail stuck with me. No shoes? Why?
I almost lost control, but I was lucky. There wasn’t much traffic, and I managed to stop further down the road. There were black lines in the pavement from my screeching tires swerving back and forth. Regaining my composure, I looked in the rear-view mirror.
The kid was gone.

But that was just the start.
I’d spot him every now and then. Looking out the window at work. At the gas station. A passing face in the crowd when shopping for groceries. Every now and then, something would pull on my attention, forcing me to whip my head around, looking for the source of that ill feeling crawling up my spine. Sometimes I saw him. And even worse – sometimes I didn’t.
I remember lying awake at night, hearing moths tap against my window. There was nothing else. Nothing outside. I patrolled my apartment six times, checking every window. I’d looked everywhere, and there was no reason for me to feel the way I did. I was growing paranoid.
And yet, in the morning, my front door was unlocked, and slightly open.

It all came to a head one afternoon when I was out on my smoke break. I’d barely slept for the past three nights, and you could kinda tell I was having a bad day. As I stood there, leaning against the side door of the diner, I see the kid again. This time just across the road, maybe 50 feet or so away. I’d had enough. This had to end.
I was furious. I stormed forward, calling him out with every slur and curse I could think of. I was psyching myself up. I was in the right, and I refused to be harassed anymore – kid or not. Didn’t matter. I crossed the road, barely dodging a speeding jeep, and met him face-to-face.
“What the hell do you want?!” I’d yell. “Why are you following me?!”
He was completely expressionless. He didn’t even flinch, no matter how much I pointed or screamed. I snapped my fingers in front of his eyes, and he didn’t even blink. He just stared at me, like a porcelain doll head on a swivel.

I wasn’t thinking about the bystanders though. A couple of middle-aged men stepped up, asking in no kind terms what the hell was wrong with me. I was held back and restrained. Someone called the police. Someone else called my manager – I’d forgotten to take off my apron, so they could see the diner logo. A couple of people filmed it. One of the videos got like 120k views in a day before it fell off the map. I still see it as a react gif sometimes.
It was a disaster. After a couple of officers came by to talk to me, he’d just disappeared into thin air. The officers took me down to the station – not to detain me, but to get me away from the heated crowd. That car ride downtown sobered me up to what the hell was going on. I was being stalked by this kid, but there wasn’t a living soul out there that would believe me.
Well, maybe one.
Maybe.

I was asked a couple of questions and released within about half an hour. They told me to go home and sleep this whole thing off. That wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t have a job to go back to anyway, according to the (many) texts I’d gotten. I had all the goddamn time in the world.
I was just about to leave when something came to mind. The two officers who’d picked me up were still waiting by their car when I turned back to them.
“Sorry, you picked up the guy I called in about at the diner, right?” I asked.
“Sure did.”
“You got any idea what happened to him?”
The two looked at one another for a moment, shrugged, and turned to me.
“Didn’t have any ID and gave a fake name. I think they took him to psych.”
“Psych?”
“Well, he was saying some, uh… strange things. There were interviews with a, uh…”
The two quieted down and flashed me a smile.
“There’s not that much we can say.”

Coming home, I decided to get to the root of this. It didn’t take me that long to find the place where the guy’d been taken; there aren’t a lot of mental health facilities in this part of the country. Especially facilities that accept involuntary subjects.
But my eyes kept drifting back to the strange dollar bills he’d given me, resting neatly on my nightstand. They were so detailed. A bit old, sure, but that only made them seem more genuine. What the hell was he doing with a handful of clearly fake dollar bills? Like, what’s the purpose? There had to be a purpose.
That unnerved me.

I managed to arrange a meeting. It wasn’t easy, and I think a lot of it boiled down to the police having no idea what could make this guy talk. For some reason, he kept providing them with false information. Maybe a familiar face, for one reason or another, might make him talk.
Just a couple of days later, I was putting my items in a metal bowl on the second floor at a mental health institute in the next town over. I asked one of the nurses if I could keep one of my dollar bills. Apparently, that was okay.
I was shuffled through a couple of locked doors and escorted to an off-white side-room. No décor, no locks. The guy was already there.

He’d been dressed down into these neutral eggshell-white garbs. It was strange seeing him in a lit-up room like this. I didn’t know what to expect.
Getting a closer look at him, he was probably in his 50’s. It’d been hard to tell earlier. I couldn’t get over just how pale he was; it was almost a complete lack of pigment. It looked sickly. His thin arms didn’t help – he looked malnourished. And yet, he was smiling.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hello to you too,” I smiled. “You doing okay?”
“I’m… I’m pretty good,” he nodded. “Thank you.”
I sat down across from him and took out the dollar bill he’d given me.
“I wanted to ask you about this.”
“For the bacon,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, was that not enough?”
“No, it’s…”
I took a moment to compose myself. I had too many questions.

He sighed, took the bill, and looked it over. Looking back at me, I could tell there was something painful stirring in his mind. His smile slowly faded.
“Sorry,” he said. “I try to forget sometimes. It’s easier than making sense of it.”
“Let’s start with something simple,” I nodded. “Like… your name. Where you’re from.”
“Those things are pretty far from simple.”
He was looking straight through me; his eyes sinking back to deeper, more uncomfortable thoughts.

His name was Samuel, and he was born around these parts in back in the 1970’s. He’d worked as a telecommunications specialist out of St. Cloud back in the 90's. He had a wife, three children, and a four-bedroom house.
“But it… that was all before, see?” he explained. “Then it all just…”
“Just what?” I asked. “What happened?”
He looked at me, opening and closing his mouth, looking for the right words to come out. Nothing happened. He shook his head, trying again.
“It started with the street preachers,” he said. “Hundreds of them, marching on every city. All saying the same doomsday shit as always. World was dying. All coming to an end.”
“I haven’t seen anything like that.”
“Then there were storms,” he continued without skipping a beat. “Some would last for weeks. Others longer. Entire cities would be flooded or torn apart. Earthquakes causing monster waves along the east coast, sending shockwaves all the way to mainland Europe. Then, Yellowstone.”
“Yellowstone?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Lights out.”

Samuel was painting this apocalyptic vision of a world undone. Catastrophe after catastrophe. Hooded people marching the streets, screaming for the mercy of a mad god. But there was more to it.
“Then things stopped making sense. It’s as if the rules changed,” he continued. “Roads would stop leading home. Trees would change color. People turned twisted and corrupted. Like… one of our neighbors couldn’t eat anything but gunpowder. There was a woman just down the street who tried to kill anyone wearing glasses. It was… pandemonium.”
I didn’t say anything. What he was saying didn’t make any sense, but he was trying his best to keep his rambling coherent.
“The plants died. Trees too. The only thing that could grow in that environment were these twisted blue things that popped up out of nowhere. But people… people are what got twisted the most.”
He told me of these towering 7-foot-tall humanoid creatures that roamed the forests. Black as night – not even reflecting light. Arms reaching all the way to their knees. Elongated, inhuman things that all used to be someone he knew.

“The doomsayers all said the same thing,” he continued. “That God was a scared little boy, and that he was dying. Everything that was happening was just an expression of that ceaseless, bottomless, existential grief.”
Samuel looked back and forth, finally burying his face in his hands.
“It all broke down. Roads stopped leading anywhere. No power. No water. Julie changed. Ollie changed. Tobie made himself a mask and wandered off into the woods. Ira just… disappeared. And for… years? Has it been years? It’s just been me.”
“But you’re here, now,” I said. “And what you’re describing, it… it didn’t happen.”
“It happened,” he insisted. “Just not… here. But here.”
He tapped his finger on the single dollar bill.
“Somewhere, somehow, I must’ve taken a wrong turn. I slipped through something broken, and now I’m here. And… and he’s coming to bring me back. He doesn’t want anyone to leave.”
“Who?”
“Just! Just…” he chuckled. “Just a sad little boy who’s been told he’s going to die.”
I didn’t know what to say. I just sat with him for a while, holding his hand.

Before I left, Samuel got up from his chair. He looked at me, forcing himself to smile.
“If I go back, I’ll try not to… to be like them. I’ll try. And… and I’ll be the one to say something.”
He let out a painful little laugh, shaking his head.
“Maybe just a… hello.”

I left that day with more questions than answers. I couldn’t picture the world he’d lived through. Then again, how could it be true? None of it had happened. But what was he gaining from lying about it?
That was the last time I saw Samuel. A few days later, he went missing, as if he’d disappeared into thin air. I didn’t know what to think of it. There was nothing on the cameras – no one entering or leaving the building. No quick escapes, no clever plans. He’d just walked into his room and disappeared. Nothing left but a couple of moths fluttering about.
And for a while, that was it. That was the end of the story. I got busy looking for a new job, and all the little items given to me by Samuel was put away into a little box in my glove compartment. Life soldiered on, and no matter how many questions I had, there was no one around to answer them. Even the strange kid that’d been following me was, seemingly, gone.

A couple of months later, I was driving home from a friend’s place. I stopped at a four-way street, waiting for a couple of trucks to pass, when there was a knock on the passenger side window. I almost choked on my own spit. Scared me half to death.
Looking out, I could see that kid again. I hadn’t seen him for some time, and I quickly bounced between curiosity and downright anger.
“What do you want?” I yelled out.
There was no response. Instead, the door just opened. It’d been locked. As he opened the door, he pointed to the glove box.
“You want his things?” I asked. “Is that it?”
He nodded. I wanted to lash out, but there was something telling me I shouldn’t. Instead, I reached over, opened the glove compartment, and pointed to the box.
“Just take it and leave me alone,” I said. “Get it over with.”

He reached in and grabbed the box. So much effort for a couple of mementos. I turned my head back to face the road. The kid backed out. But of course, I had to get the last word in.
“Not even a thank you, huh?”
That made him pause. He looked at me, tilting his head. As he opened his mouth to speak, a moth fluttered out. Then another. And another.
Then – darkness.

What happened next is hard to describe. My memory of it is fragmented. It’s like trying to watch a buffering video, where long stretches of it are just nothing – but you know something was supposed to happen in-between.
Blink. I was sitting in my car. There was a dark blue sky. No clouds, no stars. Figures in the distance. An open field with blue flowers bending to a howling wind. A powerful stench of ammonia stinging my nostrils. Something to my immediate left, ripping the car door straight off the hinges.
Blink. Running. Ruins of a town. It seemed familiar, but there was barely anything left. My leg was bleeding. I was being followed. No matter where I turned, or where I ran, I seemed to end up at the same intersection.
Blink. A three-story building, brimming with life. Glimpses of arm-long antennae through the broken windows. Clickety-clack of bursting wings tapping against crumbling concrete. A loud warning shriek as something rubs its legs together; a call for prey.
Blink. Hiding in a tipped-over trash container. The rain has stopped in mid-air. Raindrops held in indefinite suspension. I suck water drops out of the air to quench my thirst. My hands are shaking from the blood loss.

Countless little images. Some in order, some not. I have no idea how much time passed. In the moment, it must’ve been much longer than I can remember. Days. Weeks, even. There’s no way to tell.
Blink. Walking through a barren field. It feels like walking through a dead forest, but there are no trees. Only those willingly impaled and wailing.
Blink. An abandoned booth by a broken highway. A sign offers phone calls, in exchange for “real teeth”. There are six sizes of pliers hanging on a wall within. All are bloodied – even the small ones.
Blink. The church that had burned down the night before had reappeared. The people inside, too. They couldn’t leave. Tonight, they would burn again.

Somewhere in this nightmarish puzzle-pieced fragment of nothing, there was a constant drive in me to get away. To get out. I knew that if I’d gotten there, I could get back home again. I just had no idea how. Maybe finding the kid. Asking. Begging. Something.
The last fragment of memory from that space was being cornered in a cellar. They were banging on the door. I’d tipped over a wardrobe to keep them out, but they weren’t going to stop. They were never going to stop. I couldn’t let them kill me again – not like that.
One of the Changed ones were coming. I don’t know what that means, or how I know the name, but I knew of it. There was a mirror, and I could see the signs. It stepped out. Seven feet tall, black as night. Elongated arms and neck. Barely a body at all – just a void space vaguely shaped like the remnants of a person.
Except this one felt… familiar. It was the first one to speak.
“H E L L O.”

Blink. Running. A cold hand. If I squeezed too hard, my fingers went straight through it. I had to keep up. He was showing me something.
Blink. They were flooding over the school bus, tipping it by their sheer numbers. Eruptions from the sewer grates. They were famished.
Blink. An open field. Sunflowers facing me, no matter where I turn. It’s not far.
Blink. I look back, as I’m pushed over the edge. He looks just like the rest of them. They aren’t angered by his betrayal.
They feel nothing, as I fall.

In February of 2017, I was found by the side of the road. I’d been gone for months. My car was too. I came back with nothing but the clothes on my back and countless scars. I’ve been told that I didn’t make any sense at first; I was just rambling nonsense. Or maybe it just sounded like nonsense to these people.
Over time, I forgot more and more of these fragmented images. And the less I remember, the more I can move on. Still, I’ve written them down over time, and they paint an ugly, insane picture of what I’d been going through. Some of which I, myself, have a hard time believing. Then again, I know myself well enough to see that there’s no point in lying.

I haven’t seen Samuel, or that strange kid ever since. I think this is all over, for now. There’s nothing left for me to give.
But even now, years later, I still wake up to that feeling at night. That there’s something wrong, or that I’m forgetting something. That there’s something near that I’m looking straight through, or past.
And every now and then, I hear the flutter of a moth’s wing, tapping against my bedroom window.
And I think I know what it wants.
It wants me to go back.

My boyfriend and I have been planning a roadtrip to Canada for a few months now. We’re set to spend 5 days there and leave this Thursday for the long weekend. I’ve been saving up a bit of money so I decided to book and pay for our hotels in Quebec City and Montreal. I normally try to book hotels with free cancellation when traveling because you just never know- but this time I wanted us to be in a comfortable place that was within walking distance of places we wanted to see or visit so, I caved and booked them. Thursday morning my boyfriend gives me a call around 4am, which is when he normally goes into work (we don’t live together yet btw, but we’ve been together almost 4 years now) he’s in a panic saying that he thinks somebody stole his car! Of course, this woke me up instantly and I was in total disbelief but as he’s talking he goes on to mention that he missed 1 or two monthly payments and maybe they took his car… I thought 1-2 months behind was too little for the bank to repossess your car and he says oh well maybe it was more like 3-4 months behind and he kept stressing and worrying about where he was going to get the money to pay. He was a bit shaken up so I didn’t want to question him about any savings, tried to help him calm down and advised him to just wait, call his lender as soon as they opened & let me know what they said he could do to get his car back. At first Santander demanded that he pay the full 21k loan for his car outright if he wanted it back, then they decided to work with him and asked him to pay $3,500 to get the car back. His monthly payment is something around $600 so that would mean he probably owed somewhere around 4/5 months. Since he didn’t have the money, I gave it to him & I’m not expecting that money back. I’m now worried about the fact that we’ve never actually had a conversation about our finances and we were planning on moving together this year. He always seemed to be doing fine- sometimes he needed a little help to get by and I’d send him $100 to keep him afloat through the week until payday but, this is a bigger problem than what 100 little dollars can fix. I’m starting to wonder where his money is going and I don’t know how to approach that conversation. Especially because he makes more than I do and we both have around the same bills, from what I know. I also now have to reconsider this trip, I’m very excited about it since we’ve been planning for a while now but I’m worried about having to spend all of my savings over there.. Any advice on how I can talk to my boyfriend about all this without making him feel uncomfortable :/ and what should I do about Canada? The hotels are paid for so I’d be losing about $1000 if I don’t go, but can I afford a trip for two with around $2000? I’d have to factor in gas, activities and food, and we love food :( any thoughts/ideas would help greatly! I just don’t know what to do.

hey guys, no idea no, it’s been a while but I have a new idea and I would love to try it out with you but before we get into that, I have some rules very easy. No problem should be easy to follow, but let’s get into it.
rules:
1: dont ghost if you have a problem we can talk abt it! :)
2: no active representation of sa or sh in your replies you will be blocked
3:give me something to work with in your replies
4: please be at least semi lit bc that’s what i am and it’s really hard to work with someone who’s not
5: understand that i do have a life outside of this app
6: know that some parts of the rp will be less detailed as others bc of what’s going on
7: if you don’t plan on responding it’s fine just tell me do i’m not waiting and can find someone new
8: don’t ask me if i use discord i will not answer because i stopped using it due to personal reasons
9: don’t just say hi when texting me give me something interesting to read :)
that’s should be it and as you have all been waiting for let’s get onto the lore or background or this rp!
lore/background:
in 2030 the world was plunged into darkness by an infection known as the T-virus, the unknown origin of this disease lost scientists leaving them unable to understand it.
sometimes I still think about how it used to be. The sky was so blue so clear the air smelled of fresh flowers dirt and gasoline from the passing cars. Children running and jumping around in the grass and flower beds. The occasional butterfly you’d see on a good day you know?. The people walking on the streets on they’re phones; talking to they’re kids maybe going to a nice restaurant with they’re boyfriend or girlfriends. Or maybe the one Business man running to a meeting he’s late for. The honking of the cars on the street because people are impatient as always. always in a hurry to get somewhere.
but it was as quick as a drop of rain when the world was taken by the walkers, and the cities were taken back by nature and the government fell and we were forced to fight and learn to live in the new world that is now only ours.
let’s see where this goes! i’m open to script changes or building of a script together see you then! 18 to 30 please i’m 23!

hey guys, no idea no, it’s been a while but I have a new idea and I would love to try it out with you but before we get into that, I have some rules very easy. No problem should be easy to follow, but let’s get into it.
rules:
1: dont ghost if you have a problem we can talk abt it! :)
2: no active representation of sa or sh in your replies you will be blocked
3:give me something to work with in your replies
4: please be at least semi lit bc that’s what i am and it’s really hard to work with someone who’s not
5: understand that i do have a life outside of this app
6: know that some parts of the rp will be less detailed as others bc of what’s going on
7: if you don’t plan on responding it’s fine just tell me do i’m not waiting and can find someone new
8: don’t ask me if i use discord i will not answer because i stopped using it due to personal reasons
9: don’t just say hi when texting me give me something interesting to read :)
that’s should be it and as you have all been waiting for let’s get onto the lore or background or this rp!
lore/background:
in 2030 the world was plunged into darkness by an infection known as the T-virus, the unknown origin of this disease lost scientists leaving them unable to understand it.
sometimes I still think about how it used to be. The sky was so blue so clear the air smelled of fresh flowers dirt and gasoline from the passing cars. Children running and jumping around in the grass and flower beds. The occasional butterfly you’d see on a good day you know?. The people walking on the streets on they’re phones; talking to they’re kids maybe going to a nice restaurant with they’re boyfriend or girlfriends. Or maybe the one Business man running to a meeting he’s late for. The honking of the cars on the street because people are impatient as always. always in a hurry to get somewhere.
but it was as quick as a drop of rain when the world was taken by the walkers, and the cities were taken back by nature and the government fell and we were forced to fight and learn to live in the new world that is now only ours.
let’s see where this goes! i’m open to script changes or building of a script together see you then!

hey guys, no idea no, it’s been a while but I have a new idea and I would love to try it out with you but before we get into that, I have some rules very easy. No problem should be easy to follow, but let’s get into it.
rules:
1: dont ghost if you have a problem we can talk abt it! :)
2: no active representation of sa or sh in your replies you will be blocked
3:give me something to work with in your replies
4: please be at least semi lit bc that’s what i am and it’s really hard to work with someone who’s not
5: understand that i do have a life outside of this app
6: know that some parts of the rp will be less detailed as others bc of what’s going on
7: if you don’t plan on responding it’s fine just tell me do i’m not waiting and can find someone new
8: don’t ask me if i use discord i will not answer because i stopped using it due to personal reasons
9: don’t just say hi when texting me give me something interesting to read :)
that’s should be it and as you have all been waiting for let’s get onto the lore or background or this rp!
lore/background:
in 2030 the world was plunged into darkness by an infection known as the T-virus, the unknown origin of this disease lost scientists leaving them unable to understand it.
sometimes I still think about how it used to be. The sky was so blue so clear the air smelled of fresh flowers dirt and gasoline from the passing cars. Children running and jumping around in the grass and flower beds. The occasional butterfly you’d see on a good day you know?. The people walking on the streets on they’re phones; talking to they’re kids maybe going to a nice restaurant with they’re boyfriend or girlfriends. Or maybe the one Business man running to a meeting he’s late for. The honking of the cars on the street because people are impatient as always. always in a hurry to get somewhere.
but it was as quick as a drop of rain when the world was taken by the walkers, and the cities were taken back by nature and the government fell and we were forced to fight and learn to live in the new world that is now only ours.
let’s see where this goes! i’m open to script changes or building of a script together see you then!

hey guys, no idea no, it’s been a while but I have a new idea and I would love to try it out with you but before we get into that, I have some rules very easy. No problem should be easy to follow, but let’s get into it.
rules:
1: dont ghost if you have a problem we can talk abt it! :)
2: no active representation of sa or sh in your replies you will be blocked
3:give me something to work with in your replies
4: please be at least semi lit bc that’s what i am and it’s really hard to work with someone who’s not
5: understand that i do have a life outside of this app
6: know that some parts of the rp will be less detailed as others bc of what’s going on
7: if you don’t plan on responding it’s fine just tell me do i’m not waiting and can find someone new
8: don’t ask me if i use discord i will not answer because i stopped using it due to personal reasons
9: don’t just say hi when texting me give me something interesting to read :)
that’s should be it and as you have all been waiting for let’s get onto the lore or background or this rp!
lore/background:
in 2030 the world was plunged into darkness by an infection known as the T-virus, the unknown origin of this disease lost scientists leaving them unable to understand it.
sometimes I still think about how it used to be. The sky was so blue so clear the air smelled of fresh flowers dirt and gasoline from the passing cars. Children running and jumping around in the grass and flower beds. The occasional butterfly you’d see on a good day you know?. The people walking on the streets on they’re phones; talking to they’re kids maybe going to a nice restaurant with they’re boyfriend or girlfriends. Or maybe the one Business man running to a meeting he’s late for. The honking of the cars on the street because people are impatient as always. always in a hurry to get somewhere.
but it was as quick as a drop of rain when the world was taken by the walkers, and the cities were taken back by nature and the government fell and we were forced to fight and learn to live in the new world that is now only ours.
let’s see where this goes! i’m open to script changes or building of a script together see you then!

I'm pissed off at the so called justice system and need to rant and I figure plenty of other pod listeners have experienced what a bastard it is and might relate. Feel free to share your story in the comments and we can all commiserate and bitch together.
I work the front desk of a motel and I love it. The owner pays a living wage, and I'm not required to smile in the face of Karen nonsense.
For the most part, the property is safe and quiet, but we have been having issues with this one particular loiterer for a few years now. In general, we really don't want people who are not guests or here with guests to be hanging around the property. He did more than just hang around though. He actively bothered guests, trying to bum money, cigarettes, alcohol and rides off of people while stinking drunk. He'd bother anyone but women were his favorite. He'd hit on them and try to get their numbers, even staff members. It didn't matter how many times he was told to leave, he'd keep coming back. Usually this happened at night, but he'd show up stumbling drunk during the day as well.
He's not homeless. When we figured out his name, we were able to determine he lives in an apartment complex a stone's throw away. We learned his name after an employee saw his mugshot, and that he'd been charged with trespassing and indecent exposure at a nearby business. Looking up his past criminal history, he's no stranger to run ins with the police. Criminal Mischief, False Imprisonment Of Child Under 13 Yoa, Child Abuse, Battery, Possession Of Drug Paraphernalia, Disorderly Conduct, Trespass In Occupied Structure, Possession Of Cocaine all from one encounter with police. Others include another count of indecent exposure, assault on a female and breaking and entering.
When we learned all this, we realized he was more than just a nuisance and we needed to try harder to get him to stay the hell away before he hurt one of our guests or a member of staff. Then he ended up being gone for awhile anyway. Jail? Another state? We don't know and I'm not that good at reading court records.
But he came back with a vengeance toward the end of 2022 and started zeroing in on our night auditor who was a very pretty but naïve girl which I guess he took as an invitation. When we learned about this she was told to just call the police whenever he'd show up so we could finally get him trespassed. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to any of you that the police never showed up in time to get him on the property, so they kept saying they couldn't do anything about it. Months later the planets aligned and he was finally trespassed.
This kept him away briefly. The night auditor left and a new one was hired who was not aware of the loiterer. Unfortunately for her, he took an even bigger shine to her, escalating to very sexual comments. We hadn't seen him for a bit, so we foolishly thought having him trespassed would work and hadn't warned her about him. One day last summer she is telling me about a guy who keeps coming around on her shift, and she doesn't think he's a guest. As she's describing him I realize she's talking about the loiterer. I tell her next time he comes around, just call the police.
To make a long story short (too late), by November he'd been arrested on our property three times for trespassing. And one time for communicating threats when he came screaming at the night auditor demanding to know why the general manager was at the hotel in the middle of the night. Clearly having him trespassed was not a deterrent. We kept being told to just keep calling because it would build a stalking case against him. Private security options around here are a joke, so instead the night auditor's boyfriend was given a free room during her shifts because her stalker would stay away when her boyfriend was around. But he would watch the property from somewhere because if her boyfriend went to run an errand or was away from the desk long enough, guess who would come creeping?
Don't worry, we finally got stalking charges against him though. Early November I was working a 16 hour shift because I'm a workaholic and I like OT. I was also pet sitting for my parents so as my day drew to a close I was absolutely running on fumes. Guess who turns up on the property bothering our guests again? We do the same song and dance where I call the police and they don't show up on time. The night auditor he likes was working that night and she arrived without her boyfriend, long story but he couldn't be there.
I desperately needed to get out of there because I had to be back in 8 hours and also needed to take care of the dog, but I could not in good conscience leave her by herself when I knew her stalker was prowling around. Sure enough, as I'm about to leave we see him on the security cameras heading toward the desk. The lobby has big glass windows and he walked by them, presumably looking to see if she was alone, but he kept going because I was here.
Something in me snapped. If the law wasn't enough to deter him from coming around, we'd have to find alternative methods to discourage him. I grabbed the pepper spray we have because of him and went outside to confront him like a lunatic. I shouted "hey!" to get him to turn around and I pepper sprayed him in the face as he was eating a cheeseburger and then I did it again. I got his face and his cheeseburger and he was so drunk he kept eating it as he cursed me and called me a crazy bitch, which is a fair thing to call the crazy bitch who just pepper sprayed you even though you deserved it.
I had dialed 911 on the way out the door, so they got to hear me yelling at him and told me to stop following him and I lied and said I wasn't following him, I was just yelling at him. In reality I was doing both though I only followed him to the edge of the property. The reality of the situation hit me at that point because I absolutely just attacked him and called the police on myself. My biggest concern in the moment though was the fact that my parents were out of town and there was no one else to take care of their dog.
Anyway, cop shows up like ten minutes later to take our statements and whatever. My eyes are stinging because I'd walked through a cloud of pepper spray, so I recommend gel not spray because it apparently doesn't do that. Fortunately I did not get in trouble and the cop was like huh, if your reaction to seeing him is to just immediately pepper spray him, perhaps we have enough for stalking charges. Yay, finally. They didn't catch him that night though.
And it turns out pepper spray wasn't that good of a deterrent. He was back bothering people two days later. Fortunately his favorite target was off for a few days and the other NA was working and called the police. They showed up and talked to him AND DIDN'T ARREST HIM. They said they couldn't because he wasn't on property when they arrived, which is bullshit because all they need is proof he was here which we have because we have security cameras and he has been busted another time that way. They just didn't want to do their job.
I started bringing my gun to work at that point in case the stalker decided he wanted revenge for the pepper spray. But honestly his brain is so liquor cooked I'm not even sure he remembers I did that.
Over the next couple days we say him a few more times, learned he had a warrant out for his arrest on the stalking and trespassing charge, but the cops kept not showing up in time. Then we didn't see him for a few weeks. I'd check on the local arrest records to see if he'd been arrested, and he finally was about 6 weeks after the incident. He was bonded out a couple days later and bond conditions included staying away from the hotel as well as my coworker and I.
After that he stayed off the property, but would sometimes shout at the NA from the sidewalk out front, telling her he loved her and would never hurt her. He never stuck around long enough that she felt it was worth calling the police over.
He would still hang around the fast food restaurant parking lot next door and bother guests whose rooms faced that direction. There wasn't anything we could do about it and they weren't interested in doing anything about it. This changed at the end of March when he was arrested there for being drunk and disorderly. He bonded out on that charge as well. We didn't see him around after that but knew better than to celebrate.
End of April, he gets arrested again this time at the gas station across the road. Drunk and disorderly, indecent exposure, and resisting an officer. Bonds out again.
Just a couple days later, the other day shift person spots him hanging around the property though he didn't stay long. She warned night shift about him when she left that night. Sure enough, he turns up again IN THE FUCKING LOBBY. NA scares him off with the stun stick that was also purchased because of him and calls the police. As is tradition, they don't arrive in time. But we have proof of him violating bond, so we're hopeful that maybe he'll get locked up and give us a longer break.
But he wasn't done with his chaos for the night, the NA learned the next morning when the police came back to talk to her. He went to hang around the gas station where he'd just been arrested. He was loitering around with another guy, generally being suspicious and touching themselves. Then comes the escalation no one saw coming (/s). He and his creep buddy attempt to sexually assault a woman at the gas station. Fortunately they fail, unfortunately buddy gets away, fortunately stalker does not.
But you wouldn't know about any of that looking at his charges. All you would see is that he was trespassing at the gas station, had an open container of alcohol, damaged a police car, resisted an officer, did a disorderly conduct, and he pissed on an officer. Nothing about the sexual assault, or trespassing at the hotel and violating bond. Also apparently pissing on a cop is a felony.
On the bright side, his bail was set to $25k and I kept checking to see if he had posted bond and he hadn't. So we were enjoying a reprieve. I checked every couple of days for updates on that, and when doing so today I noticed the status of the stalking case had changed from pending to disposed.
I looked into that and discovered the stalking charge had been dismissed because the victims and officer had not shown up to court. Showing up to court is kind of difficult to do WHEN NO ONE TELLS YOU YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE. There was absolutely no communication with any of us regarding the stalking charge. Everything I did know I knew from arrest and court records which I barely know how to decipher.
We've done everything we were supposed to do, but fuck us I guess right? We're having to take our safety into our own hands because the justice system doesn't give a fuck. He's not getting whatever help he needs to not be a predator because it doesn't give a fuck.
I'm so fucking angry right now. We're going to call the DA on Monday, for all the good that is likely to do. Maybe the owner can band together with other business owners in the area and get something done about him since money talks. I don't fucking know.
I'm not scared of him for myself, I'm scared of what he might do to a guest or one of my coworkers. He wouldn't be the first pervert to attack a housekeeper, thinking they're an easy target. One guy flashed his dick at a housekeeper a couple years ago and the owner chased him down and held him at knife point until the cops showed up. At least that cop had the good nature to claim not to have heard the owner when he said he was going to cut the guy's dick off.
The cop the stalker pissed on probably deserved it.
How has the justice system fucked you over?

This is my in-depth notes while watching the full length dfv meme video compilation by roaring pika this morning.
https://x.com/roaringpika/status/1791834694704591155?s=46
It’s an hour long and way easier to understand all together like this.
These notes come from watching every ppshow this week and taking my favorite bits of tinfoil from the community into one fairly simple look into the story dfv is telling us without getting too deep on possible tinfoil, it’s just laid out plain and simple here.
Tldr; this is a very long post. I think it starts with dfv’s final yolo update (fine I’ll do it myself) and what’s been going on since then, how he’s been feeling, and all the battles over the last couple years for the first 30 minutes of the memes.
Then in the last half it switches to: I’ll fuckin do it again and full of straight confirmation foil that we’ve been right about the bear trap, bbby, Teddy, and baby all along. Then he says we’re all good, be zen and says goodbye for now.
Here goes:
Fine I’ll do it myself, Cat heartbeat, Wolverine mad. (I think this marks his Final yolo update and of course doubled as the hype to start this week off with a bang.)
I think the first half of the movies are all about the first squeeze and how he was both dfv and kitty, how they were talking trash about him, how we found out about the baskets “you move I move” the battle scenes were all about price action up and down, everything was green and red, and the running memes are about the stock running up and sad memes are when the stock goes down.
About 30 minutes in someone asks, “where you been”, he says “waiting”, what about getting caught? “All part of the plan.”
Then there’s usual suspects movie with the goofy meme “I’ll fuckin do it again”.
——
Jake texting Keith, hilarious (is this about our Jake2b and the story PP had about accidentally going to a gay bar around the first pulte event? So funny with the guy with 600 memes and basically joking that he became a full blown psycho with the memes.
Tell me where the freaks at - epic pump up music. (Psyched on us? Finding other freaks to vibe with.)
Guy looks out the window, then the Teddy in a chair (might have just been a response to Cramer being a smartass). Then Hank (Jim Carrey) starts to lose it as the stock price keeps going down, his alter ego comes out.
Truman show, he’s trying to escape, they say “he’ll turn back he’s too afraid”. They hit him with everything they’ve got but he knows it’s all fake. He says, “is that the best you can do??” (I think this is clearly about fake price movement, trying to keep us trapped in the illusion)
“Fury is a game where every boss fight feels like the final boss. They taunt you, they demand you get back in your prison cell, they pound you into a pulp and they even make you doubt the righteousness of your own quest towards freedom. But the soundtrack man, it keeps egging you on. To whoop some ass!” PP theme music drops. Holy shit.
(This one is obviously talking about us, I cried because I was so happy when I heard this one)
——
The Bullet one talking about time, cause and effect, “don’t try to understand it, just feel it”. “Instinct, got it.”
Morpheus teaching neo it’s all fake. Just before that scene he says, “you think that’s air you’re breathing?” … “Again!”
Alice says “But I don’t want to go among mad people.” The cat replies, “Most everyone’s mad here. You may have noticed I’m not all there myself.” Neo waking up again in the 4th movie.
Alice going down a rabbit hole into wonderland.. psychedelic music and dancing. (That’s us going down the rabbit hole thinking we’ve gone mad but loving every minute of it.)
Next scene guy running and falls over, music says “I lost myself.”
Shawshank, they find the tunnel he made. In 2021 Kitty escaped prison. All they found of him was some Reddit posts, tweets, and an old live stream. Investing is the study of pressure and time. That’s all it takes really, pressure and time. That and a keen goddamn activist.
A man will do anything to keep his mind busy in prison. Turns out kittys favorite activity was handing out memes, a handful at a time (the dirt for the tunnel and the tinfoil that’s helped us dig our way to freedom). Kitty did as he was told, buffed that financial education to a high mirror shine. (I think he’s been getting ready for something big and these memes are just a countdown.)
Bruce Willis. “No, THIS is the Kansas City shuffle.” (An advanced form of confidence trick where the mark is aware of being involved in a swindle and believes that he or she can outsmart the swindler; however, this is all part of the trick, and by attempting to retaliate, the mark unwittingly assists the con artist.) Hedge funds are the mark and dfv/rc are playing a con, the bear trap?
——
Pay attention to what I say, I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself. The cat looks at the camera.
Michael from the office - It’s Britney bitch. And I am back. Cut to Britney Spears - I must confess I still believe. When I’m not with you I lose my mind. Give me a sign (like how we’re always asking for a sign?? (with the alien g from signs all red like a gme logo giving birth). Hit me BABY one more time!
Goosebumps all the papers fly out of the briefcase right when we get like 200 new dockets clawing back money from 90 days before bbby bk. Bear beware… you’re in for a scare…
Then it’s Abbi from Broad city dancing all over the place and she’s obsessed with bed bath and beyond in the show. There’s also the scene where the other girl is dancing behind a colored blanket with the same logo as HBC and then the next scene she’s tied up. Then they’re dancing again.. and naked then then only in shorts. Naked shorts?
We’ll never survive unless we’re a little crazy. The modern investor unleashes the animal within to take on the big city - that’s gotta be us apes?
What kind of person are you? The kind that sees signs, sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Is it possible that there are no coincidences? The kid holds up a baby monitor. They find a crop circle and it’s two GameStop logos turned in different directions (maybe rc turned GameStop around) and then another one with a long line and a baby gme logo (is gme about to have a baby?!)
Why make something disposable like an investment thesis when you can make something that lasts forever, like a GameStop meme? (It says “Reality” at the bottom of this clip, lol)
Jack Nicholson in the shining (music playing it’s just a matter of time before I lose my mind it’s also a place in ready player one where they have to take the leap not taken, the leap of faith, a kiss). “Make a lot of memes today?” Lol
Can’t stop what’s coming. Kicks some ass.
——
I got both hands off the wheel, the cops are coming. I listen to the music with no fear, you can hear it too if you’re sincere. Cuz I’m a punk rocker yes I am. (song: punkrocker by the teddybears)
Rock ain’t about doing things prefect! Who can tell me what it’s really about? Sticking it to the man! If you wanna rock, you gotta break the rules.
Two cars racing, one plays chicken with a truck and then cut to bojack horseman talking on stage right before they almost crash (stalking horse? Looks just like he horse from 1, 2 switch that GameStop tweeted the minute the stalking horse deadline was up.)
Now you may only see a pile of boring forms and numbers, but I see a story (us going through the dd and maybe holly etlin talking about there’s a story here but it’s not mine to tell)
Listen to this song, it’ll change your life.
(Song is don’t fear the reaper - so don’t be afraid of death, funny because of the cowbell, maybe cowbell is involved in the tinfoil but at the end of the song lyrics not shown in the clip they say: don't be afraid, Come on, baby (and she had no fear) And she ran to him (then they started to fly) They looked backward and said goodbye)
Big Lebowski dude is investigating and finds the drawing of Jackie tree horn and it’s just a guy with a raging erection with the name cohen at the top of the paper. (I think this means rc is ready to fuck)
Jason borne is telling the run Lola run chick he can’t run with her, he has to be careful because people are after him. He says I gotta figure it out. She says well then figure it out. They drive into a parking garage through the wrong way (where it should say exit it says exit strategy and he enters through the exit, parks and walks away, as in “what’s an exit strategy”)
Then it looks like maybe him and rc just waiting and dealing with some bs.
Then there’s the Backstage roaring cat perhaps. The girl says ima stick beside him.
Not sure about everyone shooting each other but someone said maybe because he wrote it and manifested it?
——
Then the dress one “this is art, get it?” Was apparently two minutes after hey Ross and some others were talking about that dress on a space call.
I’m a United States gamestop memer. Aren’t those the guys that go crazy and come back with an arsenal of memes and blast everybody? Sometimes. Price action keeps coming and coming… and then it’s GameStop earnings week! (6/5 aftermarket)
Always sunny scene maybe like a peek into how crazy he’s been feeling not being able to talk to anyone for three years?
He can’t speak or he’ll get in trouble.
Alladin scene (alladin name of trading algo. He also says next time I’ll use a nom de plume - pen name) all I gotta do is jump! (The theme of taking a leap of faith again)
Dreyfus billionaire family (no idea but she’s dancing having a great time)
You can’t handle the truth (code red has to do with a worm/virus, maybe they’re about to unleash something that destroys several companies that are short? And it’s pretty funny)
Beavis and butthead sex for dummies (to me it says rc and dfv are ready to fuck but also cex means centralized exchanges which are also for dummies)
Oceans 11, (theme is a heist. We’re all looking at each other like what’s about to happen and then the last guy is just looking at boobs, seems to describe a group like us lol)
Bernard from westworld can’t see the bear thesis (because in the movie he’s programmed not to but irl it’s because there isn’t a thesis!)
“That’s not a thesis,” pulls out huge knife, “that’s a thesis.”
The gme galaxy on the cat collar says deepfuckingvalue so I think he’s saying it’s still deep value and we often made memes about the black hole of gme absorbing the rest of the market into it so maybe that’s it.
Whats in the box? What’s in the box??? (What’s the plan??? RC not telegraphing his plans)
Guy looks at all the memes - she asks “is it not good?” “It is miraculous.” (That’s us loving every second of this. Thank you dfv.)
And so.. you just RAN. Forest gump runnin’ (gme gonna just keep runnin’)
you go backwards but then you go forwards again… you go backwards… then he walks out of the woods.. (are we out of the woods now? Done going backwards?)
We’ll see. The Zen philosophy story - kid breaks leg, oh that’s bad, can’t go to war, oh now it’s good etc - (I think he’s saying to be zen, we’re gonna win, but this message goes deeper:
We don’t always know what is good or bad. Breaking your leg isn’t good or bad, those are just judgements in our mind. We don’t know what the future holds. Almost anything can be a good thing or a bad thing, all we can do is accept life and how things play out without judgement.)
We’ll see.
Then the boy is saying bye to ET, the music says I’ve really enjoyed my stay, but I must be movin on. (DFV going silent again until this all plays out.)
——
——
He’s saying “we fuckin won fellas! Be zen, and we’ll see this all play out soon enough.”
I think the heavy use of good movies and music and video games may also be hinting at gamestops nft marketplace May reopen to sell those 3 things as NFTs by partnering with blockbuster and some musicians.
LFG 🚀 I’ll see you regards on the moon.

I don't know the official name for this contraption so I will just name it the LOTD (Low Observable Technology Drone)
How it works: In the center of the LOTD's interior is 2 magnets constantly pushing away from each other because they are facing the opposing directions, the position of this magnetic opposition changes to create the needed force to go any direction at any moment with virtually no arrow dynamics because of how magnetics work and the spherical shape of the craft. These 2 primary magnets would be surrounded by a separated layer covering the surrounding interior of the sphere allowing it to levitate in the air, so in short, the primary magnets or "steering magnets" allow the sphere to steer into a given direction while the separate magnets or "levitation magnets" give the needed force allowing the sphere to levitate so the sphere isn't just rolling around on the ground.
Where can it be used?

• Air: Magnets work on the Earth's surface, if you don't believe me buy some magnets, this should be enough info.
• Space: Magnets will work in space without any extra help, as they don’t need gravity or air¹. Electro-magnets would also work the same way in outer space as they do on Earth
• Underwater: Magnets work well underwater, and their magnetic field exists underwater just like it does above water¹²³. The pull force of a magnet keeps almost all of its strength underwater¹. Water is almost completely non-magnetic, so magnets work underwater the same as they do in air or in a vacuum³. Note: The LOTD's outer shell gives protection towards any outside elements.

Weaponization: The LOTD could be used as a transportive EMP device that uses electrical waves to cut signals, vehicles, aircraft, GPS, communication, etc. If used correctly a single LOTD could be used to collapse a city in just a few days to a week, multiple of these could potentially shut down an entire state with the exception of rural areas being virtually untouched due to less reliance on technology.
Detection: Out of everything this I am most uncertain about, but I speculate a secondary layer beneath the outside shell could potentially use Plasma stealth to evade detection, the use of Plasma technology may also support glowing sphere encounters however this could be completely wrong. I am certain it will not appear on thermal cameras for a reason I will disclose soon, and this also means it will be extremely quiet simply because it won't have any exterior propulsion needed to cause significant sound.
Why is it being hidden? Mainly the power of magnetic transportation but the proposed mass EMP weaponization could also cause concern giving the creators of this invention a very good reason to hide this technology.
Energy Source: The LOTD likely relies exclusively on electrical energy being the reason it does not have propulsion exhaust from gas-based fuel.