Hi folks, I am looking for some tax advice, as well as recommended agencies to help with my situation. I'll try my best to explain, please bear with me.
I used to work in Shanghai, but couldn't return to China during Covid. I continued to work remotely for my employer, and they continued to pay my salary and deduct & declare my taxes in China.
For FY 21, my taxes in China were filed as a resident tax payer, since I was expected to return that year. However, due to entry restrictions, I was still unable to enter China, and ended up being non-resident for that year. I also resigned later that year.
I finally visited Shanghai last month, and the tax office was seemingly unaware about anything I needed to do. On probing further, it seems like I should refile FY 21 taxes as a non-resident, and will end up owing additional tax due to differences in the resident vs non-resident calculation method.
The issue is that I will also owe 3 years of interest on the additional tax due, and this is not a small amount for me. I would like to settle the taxes, if necessary, but avoid paying interest since it was China who closed borders during Covid, and it was not possible for me to return and clear this up.
Additionally, (and importantly!) I have also paid income tax on this income for FY 21 in my home country, after offsetting what was already deducted in China for FY 21, since we have tax treaties in place. Let's call this amount x. So, x = tax due in home country - tax already paid in China.
If more tax was due in China, I would have had to pay less or no income tax in my home country.
So, can amount x be used to offset the additional tax now due in China? If this is possible, then after refiling in China, no additional tax will need to be paid because x is greater than the additional tax that would be due. Hence, the question of interest won't even arise.
Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? Are there any recommended accountants/agencies to help me re-file my taxes and successfully explain the situation to avoid paying interest or offset the tax due?

I had a child awhile back. after I had the child I had a bunch of problems and they told me if I didn’t get a grip on some things I wouldn’t have more. We wanted the option of more, so I got on top of what they said. Medication, exercise, complete diet change, physical therapy, the list goes on. MONTHS of work. shortly after the progress was noticeably there, I ended up pregnant. I worked very hard just to even have this opportunity.
my SIL is having infertility issues. theirs no treatment (it has been recommended, she’s choosing not to do it) of the underlying conditions and a lot of mental warfare with everyone around that is pregnant. honestly- there’s no accountability at all with it. they told her what to do to increase the possibility, and she chooses not to.
i waited a significant amount of time to tell her I was having another child. i’m at the point where i have all day sickness and it’s noticeable i was pregnant. my mom told me since i can’t hide it anymore, and i was so sick, not to surprise her the day of. we had a family event this weekend, i had to tell her. i was kind, i expressed that i knew it was difficult conversation for her and I was empathetic for what she was going through. I told her I didn’t expect a response from her that day. She read it and didn’t respond, fair enough.
we go to our event- she won’t speak to me. she won’t look at me. she’s giving my husband super shitty looks. if my sibling talks to me she gives them shitty looks until they stop. my grandparents congratulate me and she glares and is super shitty to them. my parents both asked me what the deal was, i told them the truth, that i told her i was pregnant. my dad is a no bullshit kinda guy, he makes a comment about how this is awkward and the awkwardness needed to stop, loudly. so at that point i decide to un-invite myself from the family dinner that was happening after the event, and we just went home to our kids.
my dads upset we left. we do this dinner every year, and he looks forward to it. i explained to my dad that i was uncomfortable and i didn’t want to be around them. i removed myself from the situation so everyone else could enjoy themselves.
my sibiling is saying i just shouldn’t have told her and i’m an asshole for saying it. my mom & dad are saying that their infertility isn’t my fault, i worked hard to be in a position to have another child, it’s okay to be upset but not ruin an entire evening over it.
AITAH for telling her? for leaving on my dad like that? i’m hormonal and feel really, really guilty for even being pregnant at this point.

Starting a blog in 2024 is an exciting venture and can be accomplished with a few key steps. Here's a comprehensive guide to get you started from scratch:

1. Choose Your Blog's Niche

• Identify Your Passion and Expertise: Write about something you love and know well.
• Research Market Demand: Use tools like Google Trends or Keyword Planner to find popular topics within your niche.
• Analyze Competition: Check out other blogs in your niche to understand the competition and find your unique angle.

2. Define Your Audience

• Create Reader Personas: Think about who your ideal readers are – their demographics, interests, and problems.
• Tailor Content to Your Audience: Plan your content around what your audience needs and wants.

3. Choose a Blogging Platform

• WordPress.org: Highly recommended for its flexibility and control. Requires a separate hosting service.
• Blogger: Good for beginners, but limited in customization.
• Medium: Great for reaching an audience quickly, but less control over design and monetization.
• Wix or Squarespace: Easy-to-use website builders with blogging capabilities.

4. Pick a Domain Name and Hosting Service

• Domain Name: Choose a name that is easy to remember, relevant to your niche, and preferably a .com.
• Hosting Service: Popular options include Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator. Ensure the service offers good uptime, customer support, and scalability.

5. Set Up Your Blog

• Install WordPress: If you choose WordPress, most hosting services offer a one-click installation.
• Select a Theme: Pick a clean, responsive theme. Free and premium options are available on sites like ThemeForest or the WordPress theme directory.
• Install Essential Plugins: Some must-have plugins include Yoast SEO, Akismet (for spam protection), and Jetpack (for site stats and security).

6. Design Your Blog

• Customize Your Theme: Adjust colors, fonts, and layout to match your brand.
• Create Key Pages: Essential pages include About, Contact, Privacy Policy, and any other pages specific to your niche (e.g., Portfolio, Services).
• Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your blog looks good and works well on mobile devices.

7. Create Quality Content

• Plan Your Content: Use an editorial calendar to schedule posts. Aim for a mix of evergreen and trending topics.
• Write Engaging Posts: Craft compelling headlines, use images and multimedia, and write in a conversational tone.
• SEO Best Practices: Use keywords naturally, optimize meta descriptions, use header tags, and include internal and external links.

8. Promote Your Blog

• Social Media: Share your posts on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Email Marketing: Start building an email list from day one. Use tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
• Guest Posting: Write guest posts for other blogs in your niche to reach a wider audience.
• Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments, participate in online communities, and network with other bloggers.

9. Monetize Your Blog

• Affiliate Marketing: Promote products related to your niche and earn a commission for every sale made through your referral links.
• Advertising: Use Google AdSense or work directly with brands for sponsored content.
• Sell Products/Services: Offer your own products or services, such as eBooks, courses, or consulting.
• Membership/Subscription: Provide premium content for subscribers or members.

10. Analyze and Improve

• Use Analytics Tools: Google Analytics and other tools can help you track your blog’s performance.
• Monitor Key Metrics: Focus on traffic, bounce rate, session duration, and conversion rates.
• Continuous Improvement: Regularly update old posts, optimize for SEO, and adjust your strategy based on performance data.

Conclusion

Starting a blog in 2024 involves careful planning, consistent effort, and a willingness to adapt and learn. By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to creating a successful blog that resonates with your audience and achieves your goals. Happy blogging!
4oStarting a blog in 2024 is an exciting venture and can be accomplished with a few key steps. Here's a comprehensive guide to get you started from scratch:

1. Choose Your Blog's Niche

• Identify Your Passion and Expertise: Write about something you love and know well.
• Research Market Demand: Use tools like Google Trends or Keyword Planner to find popular topics within your niche.
• Analyze Competition: Check out other blogs in your niche to understand the competition and find your unique angle.

2. Define Your Audience

• Create Reader Personas: Think about who your ideal readers are – their demographics, interests, and problems.
• Tailor Content to Your Audience: Plan your content around what your audience needs and wants.

3. Choose a Blogging Platform

• WordPress.org: Highly recommended for its flexibility and control. Requires a separate hosting service.
• Blogger: Good for beginners, but limited in customization.
• Medium: Great for reaching an audience quickly, but less control over design and monetization.
• Wix or Squarespace: Easy-to-use website builders with blogging capabilities.

4. Pick a Domain Name and Hosting Service

• Domain Name: Choose a name that is easy to remember, relevant to your niche, and preferably a .com.
• Hosting Service: Popular options include Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator. Ensure the service offers good uptime, customer support, and scalability.

5. Set Up Your Blog

• Install WordPress: If you choose WordPress, most hosting services offer a one-click installation.
• Select a Theme: Pick a clean, responsive theme. Free and premium options are available on sites like ThemeForest or the WordPress theme directory.
• Install Essential Plugins: Some must-have plugins include Yoast SEO, Akismet (for spam protection), and Jetpack (for site stats and security).

6. Design Your Blog

• Customize Your Theme: Adjust colors, fonts, and layout to match your brand.
• Create Key Pages: Essential pages include About, Contact, Privacy Policy, and any other pages specific to your niche (e.g., Portfolio, Services).
• Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your blog looks good and works well on mobile devices.

7. Create Quality Content

• Plan Your Content: Use an editorial calendar to schedule posts. Aim for a mix of evergreen and trending topics.
• Write Engaging Posts: Craft compelling headlines, use images and multimedia, and write in a conversational tone.
• SEO Best Practices: Use keywords naturally, optimize meta descriptions, use header tags, and include internal and external links.

8. Promote Your Blog

• Social Media: Share your posts on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Email Marketing: Start building an email list from day one. Use tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
• Guest Posting: Write guest posts for other blogs in your niche to reach a wider audience.
• Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments, participate in online communities, and network with other bloggers.

9. Monetize Your Blog

• Affiliate Marketing: Promote products related to your niche and earn a commission for every sale made through your referral links.
• Advertising: Use Google AdSense or work directly with brands for sponsored content.
• Sell Products/Services: Offer your own products or services, such as eBooks, courses, or consulting.
• Membership/Subscription: Provide premium content for subscribers or members.

10. Analyze and Improve

• Use Analytics Tools: Google Analytics and other tools can help you track your blog’s performance.
• Monitor Key Metrics: Focus on traffic, bounce rate, session duration, and conversion rates.
• Continuous Improvement: Regularly update old posts, optimize for SEO, and adjust your strategy based on performance data.

Conclusion

Starting a blog in 2024 involves careful planning, consistent effort, and a willingness to adapt and learn. By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to creating a successful blog that resonates with your audience and achieves your goals. Happy blogging!

2.206 may go down in history as the worst and most useless game update Geometry Dash has ever received. Music was the #1 focus of this entire update and it's not even close to a required aspect of the game, in fact I'm a top 200 player and don't play with music 99% of the time. The original 2.2 update introduced game breaking features to the physics that broke hundreds of levels and also a dysfunctional daily recompletion system, neither of which were touched in 2.206 and the integrity of the game is still pathetically awful.
Literally nothing about the actual game was improved in 2.206, I've yet to experience a single positive aspect of the update for myself but I'm experiencing PLENTY of negative side effects such as random new screen tearing and excessive lagging on even the simplest levels, both happened after no settings changes. The game seems to be using less resources and is lagging way more which is just ridiculous, it's like it wasn't even tested before RobTop pressed release on the most pathetic update in any video game.
What the fuck is even the point of releasing such an awful update that you KNOW is gonna get complaints from the actual good and experienced players of the game?? Not everyone is a fucking stupid NPC who only plays GD for music and thinks its a rhythm game, grow the fuck up RobTop and learn the things that are actually important about your game.
Not to mention that geode mods don't work anymore which I'm sure everyone is complaining about, my main questions would be if it's possible to overclock GD's ability to use resources in order to reduce 2.206 lag and also when do proper replayable dailies and weeklies plan to be released because the game literally has no leaderboard integrity until those are fixed?? Also if a 2.206 version of geode is released then feel free to post it in the comments.

Just venting about my husband’s ex girlfriend. He treated her so well when they were together and she was absolutely awful to him. Left him for his best friend, used him for car rides everywhere when she had a boyfriend that could do it, kept creeping into his life everytime he was with someone new and always managed to leave after she messed things up. When my husband and I were just talking and going on dates she found out and on his birthday (when we weren’t officially together yet) had him over her house to cook him breakfast cause she couldn’t afford to take him out all while she had a boyfriend. I found out about this after me and him were already officially together, he told me he felt guilty about even being there and didn’t stay long. I was angry that it had happened and he regrets so much even doing that to this day. When I found out it happened I had all the screenshots to prove what she was doing while she was in a relationship and even though I wanted to send them to her then boyfriend I talked myself down from sabotaging things the way she does and let karma do its work. I guess karma did it’s thing because she’s not with the boyfriend she was with before but she is with a new one now. When that situation happened I promised myself I wouldn’t just let it slide again. Well today she made a new snapchat account just to add my husband and he showed me he didn’t add her back but before he blocked her I told him to leave it there and I responded to her myself. I had some interesting choice words for her (let’s just say that) and she hasn’t responded back yet. Some people close to me say I shouldn’t have responded and given in to her trying to stir things up and that I played into her hand by giving her a reaction and letting her think I’m “insecure”. I completely understand that POV but I already did the “no response” thing in the past and she still reached out, but I don’t think I can just watch someone blatantly disrespect the fact that my husband is a married man. Especially someone who treated him terribly at that. I get you should “turn the other cheek” at times but some things I just can’t ignore! My marriage is one of them. That’s all for my vent.

Swiatek vs Potapova :

Swiatek had to have been happy with her third round matchup after waking up from the nightmare that Naomi Osaka presented. She made quick work of Bouzkova, who was outmatched in every department. Bouzkova did manage to battle back in the first and make the set close, and she served surprisingly well, but she just doesn’t hit hard enough to beat Swiatek. It was one of those matches where Swiatek looks a bit impatient because she’s supplying all the offense, and it seems like when it takes 3-4 shots to get an opportunity to hit a winner, she tries to just infuse extra pace or spin instead and unforced errors appear. Trying to make the ball explode doesn’t really work, and extra force applied tends to fall short when compared to smooth technique. I watched Rune and Zverev have similar trouble today against their opponents. Players wind up pushing because they hit bigger than their opponent, but don’t want to make errors. It’s accuracy that’s missing, and it’s something for Swiatek to work on in the off-season. I would say that accuracy is the main problem with her serve as well. It has plenty of pace and spin, but the ball lands towards the center of the box way too often. Less pace, and more location will go a long way.
If it feels like I’m levying criticism today, yes. Your turn, Potapova and Wang. Potapova was down 5-0 in the first set, and won 7 games in a row. Wang has a tendency to just go big on her forehand, and she doesn’t stop when she misses. Potapova was an uphill battle, but Wang doesn’t actually need to hit clean winners to score. Her forehand is one of the biggest in the game, and once she locks into a cross-court rally she usually can win provided the ball lands inside the court. Landing the ball inside the court proved difficult, and it felt a bit like watching Struff. All the ability in the world but a sense of urgency that doesn’t really match the moment. Yes you want to stay aggressive, but the weight of shot buys you time in the rally, you don’t need to escape a rally you’re in control of.
Potapova wound up losing the second, and down a break in the third. She dug in admirably, but there were some really poor decisions late in the match. After getting to triple break point by rallying with Wang and keeping the ball deep until Wang missed, she got a simple backhand return off a serve. She went for a clean winner down the line for some reason, and then suddenly the next point mattered. She lost it, and suddenly the “oh F I had it and now it’s gone” fears rose. The game ended up at duece, and she went to tactic B : screaming on every shot. You can’t scream your opponent off the court, so this didn’t really work. In the end, Wang coughed up errors and Potapova won, but it was a match that was managed poorly by both. Potapova was very reactive to misses and makes, which is fine but wastes a bunch of energy and tends to affect your decisionmaking in a readable way. You want to maintain some mystery, and at a minimum not give your opponent any inspiration or hope to work off of while you’re out there.
Swiatek Potapova should be another safe match for Swiatek, but Potapova has good power off both wings and she hits her backhand down the line decent. Swiatek will need more than she brought against Bouzkova, and chances are this won’t be a blowout. Potapova won their last meeting 6-0 in the third on clay, but it was in 2016 at the juniors. Swiatek in 2.

Danilovic vs Vondrousova :

Olga Danilovic has made the 4th round of a major. This changes her career in a major way. Tons of points, at least $250k, and a chance to win more. It’s even sweeter I would imagine because she probably shouldn’t be there. Her match against Donna Vekic was filled with many fumbles. Both players have enough power to hit past the other. Vekic was able to hit inside out forehands to great effect. Danilovic’s pendulum swing on her backhand was able to force errors from Vekic quite often. Her forehand down the line was almost a clean winner anytime she made it. In between all that though, they missed constantly.
The first set was a 6-0 beatdown from Vekic. She played excellent, and likely should have won the second. In the third, she went up a quick break. She gave that back, but broke to serve for the match. Immediately, she threw in a handful of forced dropshots and errors. Luckily, she broke again to serve for the match at 6-5. This gave her the opportunity to come up with a few more bailout dropshots and errors. If you watch highlights, this was an incredible match. If you watched the match, you saw two players whose games were affected by the situation. Vekic forced the issue and missed anytime she got control of the scoreboard, and Danilovic went through bouts of not missing at all followed by sending every ball wide. The tiebreaker was vaguely like watching a junior match. Every miss brought a huge reaction from the player. There were constant gestures and faces made to their boxes, and it was a little difficult to watch two great players struggle to focus and execute. Vekic managed to go up again 6-2 in the tiebreaker, but froze at that point and began hitting most of her shots long. She had trouble serving first serves in for the second half of the entire third set, but she really was unable to respond defensively once Danilovic got a full swing in.
After watching Danilovic down Collins and sort of defeat Vekic, it’s hard to count her out against Vondrousova. Marketa is a clear favorite against most players on clay, but the scorelines of her matches can be hard to predict. Against Paquet she was up a set and cruising up a double break in the second, and wound up back on serve. She closed out, but Vondrousova doesn’t hit that big and mostly thrives by defending and earning errors, so Danilovic will be able to compete. They played in the BJK cup and Vondrousova won in 3, and I’m guessing slower clay will give Vondrousova more of an edge. Vekic’s lack of speed really hurt her, and I think Vondrousova being able to put extra ball consistently in play will make Danilovic’s rough patches more of an issue. The emotional and physical output of Danilovic over the last few rounds has to take a toll, and I think she’ll fall a game or two short here. Vondrousova in 3.

Gauff vs Cocciaretto :

This is an excellent draw for Gauff so far. She’s playing great players, but stylistically they’re not a lot of trouble for her. This round is another good spot. Elisabetta Cocciaretto is a good server and has nice power, but she’s not the fastest around the court and she can make some unforced errors if she’s rushed. This means Gauff’s defense and power give her a great shot to win without trouble. Cocciaretto beating Samsonova was a surprise to me, but Samsonova doesn’t have the speed that Gauff does nor the consistency. This is a criminally short analysis but Gauff in 2.

Tauson vs Jabeur :

Great champions are able to elevate their games. This round, Ons will need to elevate hers. Clara Tauson is playing some great tennis, and coming into this match hers is the higher level. Jabeur was projected to have trouble against Fernandez and she did. It was another match where I felt like a good coach could have gotten their player across the finish line. Fernandez didn’t have a great chance in the first, but Jabeur was very willing to give the second away. Fernandez was able to dig in on defense and rally with Jabeur until she made errors or gave Leylah opportunities. Rather than keep rallying and really punish Jabeur, Fernandez went for winners … and missed them all. I’m not exaggerating here, in the second set she missed almost every offensive shot she went for, and it didn’t feel like she had to go for them. Jabeur hits bigger than Fernandez, so on the court it may have felt like she needed to do a lot, but most of her points come from consistency, so Leylah’s team will want to focus on having her focus on the mental battle going on in her opponent’s head rather than trying to be a big hitter. Physically, it’s just not in the cards for her to be slinging offense. Maybe she landed those same shots in an earlier round, so going for them was fine, but awareness on court is important, and Jabeur was trying to give the set away. After winning, Jabeur celebrated a bit which left me puzzled. It’s natural to be happy when you win, but I feel a little odd about these matches sometimes. Fernandez didn’t land a first serve for the last 20 minutes, threw in a ton of errors, and tried to hit an overhand winner for some reason off a return at 5-5 in the tiebreaker. It was a nice win, but Jabeur made this match hard on herself. I might be in hater mode today and I apologize, but it feels like sometimes players tap their head or pump their fist after overcoming challenges that they themselves created.
Positives for Jabeur were the times she put one extra ball back. She has had a middling season, and seeing her dig in is great. Her racquet skill is some of the best on tour as well, so the gets aren’t just a boost, they’re downright effective. She has the ability to stretch to her forehand and put squash gets back extremely low, and to flick cross-court forehands that seem impossible from how extended her arm is. Jabeur’s depth of talent is why she is still slightly favored in this match, because again, Clara Tauson is coming in at a high level. Tauson beat Ostapenko, and followed it up by putting Kenin through the ringer. Kenin had no chance in the first, but in the second she was able to reel back a break of serve and apply some decent pressure. Frustratingly, she just wasn’t able to execute in the big moments. At 15-30 5-5, Tauson hit a lob that was going a few feet out (to the side). While running backwards, Kenin seemed unaware of where she was in the court. She tried to play it overhead and missed. It was a momentum killer, and she ended up missing the remainder of her offensive opportunities.
Throughout the match, the big difference in the two was Tauson’s ability to score quickly. When she lands first serves, or if you give her a moment to get a full swing anywhere inside the baseline, you are toast. She has the type of power that Anisimova/Collins generate on their backhand, and she has a heavy forehand. That is why I suspect Jabeur will have a tough time winning this quickly. Jabeur has the endurance and variety to frustrate Tauson, but this feels like a battle of two big offenses, and Jabeur’s is a bit less consistent at this point. I want to believe Jabeur wins in 3, but she will need to step up her game and avoid the type of letdown she had in the second against Fernandez. Tauson is several tiers above Leylah and Osorio in terms of offensive opportunities, and both those players were able to get in winning position in at least one set. I’m still going to go with Jabeur in 3. Tauson has beaten some offenses, and some defenses, but Ons is the most complete player she’s faced so it feels very much like “prove it” territory for me.

Arnaldi vs Tsitsipas :

The story in Arnaldi’s match seems to be Rublev’s temper, but don’t let that overshadow Arnaldi’s performance. For me, Rublev’s temper is partially his fault, and partially his team’s. I’m especially sensitive to this after watching the last round, but being reactive to the outcome of points is a bit of a leak. If you are easily moved by events, then you are always able to be moved. It compounds, because if you are really good at something, there is no reason to believe that minor failures will continue, or even matter. It gives your opponent motivation, it wastes your valuable reserves of adrenaline and dopamine (depending on good/bad outcomes), and it’s honestly fairly distracting for an opponent. Just generally speaking, if my opponent is smashing his head with a racquet, I don’t really want to beat him. I’m still going to, but I want to compete and win, I don’t really want to add suffering to someone else. It’s unprofessional, it’s a detriment to his game, and it puts his opponents and umpires in an uncomfortable spot. Of course, he knows this, but it should hit home in this moment that he lost this match because of his lack of composure, and lost it to a player who thrives because of his composure.
Matteo Arnaldi plays steady consistent tennis. He works hard, he constantly works on his game, and he isn’t reactive out there aside from hyping himself up. He beat Fils because of deviations in his level of play and because he made it clear he wouldn’t miss. Fils forced shots and missed because he was unwilling to do the work. He beat Rublev because despite Rublev opening the match hitting clean and crushing winners, he just stayed the course and kept competing. When Christmas disappeared, Rublev noticed, and he did not like it. The crux of the issue is, he did not accept it. If I am upset about the way things are, that is natural. If I grit against the way they are, I suffer. If I accept the way things are, I am (counterintuitively) instantly free to begin working on changing them. It doesn’t mean we celebrate errors or loss, but resetting to the present moment is a major key to winning in professional sports and tennis players in particular have a difficulty with this.
I’m not trying to dump on all these players or attack them here either. All of them are tremendous athletes and are mostly excellent ambassadors and competitors. All of these struggles are natural and we all experiences the highs and lows of competition, but Rublev wants to win and this is something he needs to work on to do that consistently. If his coaches aren’t working on this with him, they’re doing him a disservice. If they are and he isn’t buying into it, he’s doing them a disservice. Everything is fine with Rublev’s game but the holes are clear. He needs more reps at net, he needs to develop dropshots, and he needs to not smash racquets.
For now, it’s Arnaldi vs Tsitsipas. Stefanos has been excellent this event, and he opens as the favorite for a reason. Zhang played solid in round 3, but he was helpless against Tsitsipas. Stef is holding serving quickly, and the speed with which he’s finding a forehand to the open court off of players’ returns is the catalyst of this. His stamina is a major weapon in these conditions and in this format, and his serve/forehand is one of the best left in the event. If Arnaldi wants to win, the plot is simple. Isolate Tsitsipas’ backhand, and get deep in sets. In the late stages of a close set, Tsitsipas is still prone to some shanks. I really do think Arnaldi needs to win the first set to have a shot here, but had Rublev been playing Tsitsipas I think we’d be expecting a somewhat close match so there’s no real argument for Arnaldi to get blown out here. He has a complete game, and he has good discipline. He’s lanky so he might be able to return well, and he can send his backhand down the line so Tsitsipas can’t just camp in his backhand corner. Forehand to forehand though, I think Tsitsipas wins. Losses to Ruud, Jarry, Medvedev make me think that Arnaldi has a bit of a ceiling, but all those were close affairs so Tsitsipas should have his hands full here. Tsitsipas in 4-5.

Alcaraz vs Auger-Aliassume :

Shelton and FAA was fairly hyped, but only Felix delivered. Shelton wasn’t really that bad, but FAA just showed he’s more comfortable on the surface. He faced no break points, and won comfortably in straight sets. His next match will be a lot more difficult, as he plays a version of Carlos Alcaraz that is cruising through the draw without really playing his best tennis. Alcaraz vs Korda was a strange contest. It reminded me a bit of Zverev or Rune playing matches they know they’re going to win. They don’t want to play extra sets, so they play a bit more carefully and just make sure to outlast their opponent. What ends up happening is the score stays close, and the stronger players needs to win a tense tiebreaker or break late in the set. Sure, they still win, but I think that an all-out assault from an earlier moment would allow them to fatigue their opponent.
These guys are all in tremendous shape (even Kotov), but there are levels/paces that they can’t hang at for long. Someone like Alcaraz can push the pace and wear Korda down, and once he breaks from that level, the odds of him winning the next sets easily are more likely. We watched Nadal and Djokovic do this to opponents for a long time, and the late sets were almost always blowouts after frantic openers. We watched Federer do the same thing mentally to opponents with a constant onslaught of offensive shots and tricky slices. If you don’t push the pace to a level your lower-tier opponent can’t hang at, they end up playing at a pace they’re comfortable with and then you play the same level of Korda in set 1 as you do in set 3.
Hater mode continues, but in this case I think it’s all assuming that Alcaraz is totally healthy. If he’s saving his arm for later, he played Korda perfectly. Sebastian continues to battle even with the best players on tour, and in the big moments he doesn’t change his game. 4-4 in a tiebreaker isn’t the time to force anything, but if you’re the underdog and have nothing to lose, it might be a good choice to ratchet up the pace a little, or take some chances. Instead, he seems to throw in rally ball errors. The two forehand misses he had in the tiebreaker were rough, but worse was that they weren’t even shots that were going to score. He was just guiding the ball in straight over the net. I guess in the end, beating Alcaraz, or even playing him even for a time, is a huge ask. It was a great match.
FAA will have his best chance to beat Alcaraz here. Alcaraz’s arm is potentially not 100%, and Korda probably should have won a set. I think the pace alone that Felix brings will wake Carlitos up a bit, and he has beaten FAA the last few times they’ve played so he’ll know which shots to employ and when. Even with his arm a question mark, Alcaraz’s speed around the court and ability to extend rallies are the right assets to score on FAA. Auger-Aliassime’s main issue on tour is that he can overhit forehands and cough up unforced errors. It should be noted also that FAA Shelton was played under a closed roof, which helps Felix’s serve a bit. The weather in Paris looks pretty nice for the rest of the tournament, so it’ll be warm and ideal for Alcaraz to wear him down and isolate his backhand when he can. FAA is good enough to compete at this level, but hasn’t been doing it regularly enough for me to think he can do so here for 3 whole sets. Alcaraz in 4.

Hurkacz vs Dimitrov :

Dimitrov leads this h2h 5-0. All the matches have been close, but you don’t get to 5-0 against Hurkacz unless you can reliably return serve. If you can reliably return serve, you can beat Hurkacz, and on clay it should be even more beneficial. Hurkacz has played excellent in this clay swing considering his status as a servebot, and leading into Wimbledon and the North American swing I think his baseline improves have him primed for some titles. He had a hard test with Shapovalov in round 3, and the new and sort of decent Shapovalov put up a good fight. Dimitrov had an easier time with Zizou Bergs, despite dropping a set. Bergs broke Dimitrov a bunch in this match, but Dimitrov’s slice gave him a lot of trouble. Grigor was content to just keep hitting the court, and it was enough in the end. Bergs had trouble lifting his forehand inside in off of the slice, and it meant going mostly inside out which Dimitrov was only too comfortable with. The quick turnaround is a concern here, but I don’t think the Bergs match was as labor intensive as it could have been. There were numerous rain delays, and the scores were close but only because Dimitrov didn’t redline. He served with control, he hit to big targets, and he secured the bag.
I don’t think Hurkacz gets beaten quickly here, and I don’t think Dimitrov is automatic just because of the h2h. He should win, but Dimitrov lost to Rune/Mensik/Fritz recently and those are all players right around Hurkacz level. If this goes to a 5th, I’d be pretty worried for Dimitrov’s chances. Picking Dimitrov in 4 feels tough, because Bergs got to a 4th and he wasn’t really playing his best today. The h2h is hard to ignore, so I’ll go with Dimitrov in 5. The quick turnaround might leave him tired but he should be able to outduel Hurkacz in most volleys and the low slices will be tough for the big dude to get down on.

Sinner vs Moutet :

Nothing like a seemingly simple one to end a full day of criticizing professional athletes for not being perfect <3. Moutet has been the most entertaining player in this event. He has won and lost lopsided sets, he has gone for every shot possible, he is chatting with the crowd, and he is giving the home country something to believe in. Considering he couldn’t even hit a two-handed backhand for a good chunk of the past year due to wrist surgery, it’s pretty impressive for him to get his game back to a really high level. Ofner was beating him early in the third round, but he was also sweating profusely. The workload of defending against Moutet’s big forehand strokes and his clever dropshots is exhausting, and Ofner’s game dipped as the match went on. It’ll be fun to see Sinner trading with Moutet, and it’ll be another look at his physical ability to see how quickly he moves to the frontcourt and how he defends Moutet’s forehand inside out. Generally with a hip injury, it’s sprinting forward and leaning wide to that side that becomes an issue.
Sinner has sort of entered a big however many group in terms of his results. He is able to beat the lower tier players for the entire match, and is consistently able to do so. There are no holes in his game, and aside from his hip issue there is no reason to think he loses here. Moutet has the game to make this the match of the day, but it feels like he’s spent a lot more time and energy on court and that’ll cost him. Sinner in 3.

I’ve had several accounts with E*Trade (now Morgan Stanley) for about 25 years. All of a sudden, this year, they’ve restricted my accounts four different times (the most recent I found out about today) and never provided any explanation as to why. Each time, I’ve completed an extensive interview and answered questions about my finances and personal life that feel remarkably personal and inappropriate. Each time I complete the process they assure me I won’t have any more problems. Then my accounts end up restricted again within a month.
For some background: I worked a steady job from 2001 until 2020 when I became disabled. The process of qualifying for disability insurance payments was long and difficult, so I lived off savings for almost two years until my bank balance was almost zero. Then I sold my house (received a large check for the proceeds). Then finally I was approved for ssdi, received a large back-pay check, and ongoing monthly payments. Then my disability company tied to my job settled their claim with me as well. Another large one-time payment that came across in two parts.
I explained all of these things, and even gave contact information for all my lawyers and disability companies. I use my accounts for normal bill payments, and a high yield interest account for savings, which I don’t touch.
So what worries me is that I’ve somehow made some ‘naughty’ list that keeps me flagged, so any use of my accounts triggers the restriction again. (My most recent restriction came after I deposited a check from my dentist for insurance overpayment of a whopping $182). I get that the past four years haven’t looked normal, but I’ve explained every penny, with documentation. I don’t see why every single transaction in my account risks my account being frozen.
How can I determine this? Will changing banks wipe the slate clean? Are there banks that have a better record as far as mistakenly restricting accounts?
Thanks for any insight or advice.

As your dedicated concierge during your stay in Japan, we offer three main services: "Protect Tourists From Unscrupulous Businesses," "Your Personal Concierge," and "Itinerary Optimization."
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To address these issues, we invite you to submit a draft of your itinerary to us. Our Japanese staff, born and raised in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, will suggest restaurants where you can enjoy high-quality food at the same prices we pay. We can also optimize your accommodations, selecting hotels that offer easy access to your destinations, maintain high hygiene standards, and provide excellent value for money. Additionally, Tokyo's subway and train systems are among the most complex in the world, with 772 stations. Unlike online resources that only provide simple station connections and transfer information, our team knows Tokyo inside out and can optimize your travel routes during the itinerary planning stage.
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I’m sure everyone here is sick of these post so I apologize in advance. I’m just super stressed.
I am sure locals probably won’t love more people moving here but It looks like I will be in about a month or two. I totally get it, I live in a place that’s the exact same way. Cost of living through the roof, open land getting turned into more developments, etc. My girlfriend was offered a promotion/transfer to Bozeman. We always knew we were going to end up moving somewhere eventually (not immediately) but she’s a wildlife biologist and this is her dream job.
So I said all of that to say I apologize. I am much more reluctant to move more than she is but I can’t lie, as someone who is obsessed with everything outdoors (and had done very little previous research because this happened in a matter of days) I was pretty stoked.
The problem is, the more I looked into it the more I get concerned. To make this shorter I’ll just list them:

• I am an accountant and it seems there are not a ton of accounting jobs in the area. I would love to leave that field and work doing something cool outdoors and would be willing to make less but ,even with all of my experience, I’m sure there aren’t any jobs like this where you can make a living wage.
  
• Even with the cost of living around me rising it is still less than Bozeman, that combined with it seems to me there is pretty low housing compared to population make it seem like it’s going to be hard to find something we would like and in budget.
  
• I am from the south. I have only experienced rough winters when visiting her family (New Hampshire) and I’m not sure what there is to do other than ski.
  
• We are both 30 and it seems like there are less people our age than I assumed.
  

I don’t know what I’m looking for here. Any general information/advice I suppose. It all happened so fast and I’m pretty overwhelmed.

As a person who recently passed their PPL, I want to give potential pilots advice so that they could avoid the same mistakes I made during training and during the checkride. I hope you guys find this helpful:

1. Personally, I HIGHLY suggest part 141. I went from a part 141 to 61 because I had a terrible experience with a preivous flight school, which is another story for another day. A 141 program will give you structure and study skills whereas 61 you get to design your own curriculum in a way. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with making your own curriculum. Some people learn differently than others. But the problem is that you're entering into a skilled field that you have presumably never been a part of before, so you're gonna have to learn to walk before you run in both the air and on the ground. Now, I understand that people on this forum might have a different opinion than me on this topic, but as a new learner, I think the more structure the better goes a long way. Especially when it comes down to saving money and preventing gaps in your knowledge, in addition to having to spend hundreds of dollars of extra money like I did.
2. Buy a good ground school IMMEDIATELY. Trust, me, this is going to bite you if you wait off for too long like I did. Buy a ground school (and a good one) so you have checkride knowledge and will be able to get at least an 85% on the PPL written. DPEs care about those scores, so make sure you're prepared.
3. FFS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use checklists on the checkride and read the ACS before your checkride dates. Write down what you're good and bad at and work around it with your instructor. I literally cannot even begin to describe how many people bust their checkrides over bad reasons like this.
4. After you learn how to do normal landings, practice short and soft field often. This is another common reason why people fail. They simply do not have their landings up to standard or maybe they just had a bad day on their checkride.
5. DO RESEARCH BEFORE SELECTING A DPE. Here's the thing: There are many great DPEs out there who want you to succeed. Of course, they are not going to pass you if you are not prepared, but there are DPEs out there that are genuinely terrible people who are only fat it for the money and will have no guilt in failing you for stupid reasons. Ask what kind of experiences other pilots had with their DPEs and see if they would recommend him or not.
6. Study. I don't have much to say about this. If you do not study and have a system in place that will keep you're knowledge on track as time passes, you WILL struggle BIG TIME and ultimately spend more money. Just read over the books for 45 minutes a day. AND START TO STUDY THE ORAL EXAM GUIDE COVER TO COVER EARLY IN YOUR TRAINING. If you do this you'll have that whole thing drilled in your head before you know it no matter how dreadfully long it is.
7. Do your research on the school you go to. Also, be VERY careful of programs like ATP who promise you a bunch of benefits but don't deliver. They will take your money, leave you in debt and not give a single damn. Choose your school wisely, read reviews, talk to instructors, and make sure that you will not be treated badly. I learned this the hard way before switching flight schools. Also look up ATP stories on Reddit and other internet sites and you will see the bad reviews and false promises that I am talking about.
8. If you're not doing well with your instructor (maybe he/she is not a good teacher). By all means, switch. A lot of people avoid switching because they're afraid that it may make the instructor feel bad. Trust me, it is ok. If you have a problem, maybe you're struggling on a topic, or you aren't absorbing info from your instructor, talk to your CFI to try to get it resolved. If not, switch.

A good CFI will know that some people click better with others in the long run. ALSO, occasionally take flights with other instructors. If you are struggling on a specific area with your current instructor, I guarantee you a few flights/grounds with another really good instructor will help you understand the material more easily. This is even if you simply couldn't get the knowledge through your head with your original CFI. If I had done this on topics I struggled on, I wouldn't have spent the time and money that I spent.
I hope you guys got something from this. Some of these are expensive lessons that I am giving to you guys for free. Hope this helps.
EDIT: Additional points added

I'm looking for help on how to edit my batch file so that hexchat opens minimized (to system tray) as opposed to opening up normally. I created a batch file that task scheduler points to with the following line.
start /min "" "C:\Program Files\HexChat\hexchat.exe"
My trigger is "at log on of any user." Running with highest privileges & the action is start a program and points to the batch file with the text above. I set the user account to "Administrators." Seems like the only thing not working is the minimization aspect, the task scheduler is succeeding at opening the program at startup otherwise.
Here is the screenshot of my settings on minimization on hexchat in case it matters.
https://i.gyazo.com/3b54fc4f1e8a587ae406fa564b85162d.png

I couldn’t help but feel that the finale of The Owl House was somewhat underwhelming, particularly with the origins of the Collector. This little fella had so much potential for a deep and exciting backstory, which looking back seemed to get oversimplified for the sake of time crunching. So I thought, how would I rewrite the Lore behind the formation of the Boiling Isles?
Well, from my days of roleplaying I decided to come up with my own backstory of its deep Origins.
The tale goes as follows;
In the age before the witches, before the dawn of the Titans, and before the reign of magic, there existed The Overlords.
These ancient celestial beings were known to rule over the world, whose name could not be remembered, as it still had yet to be formed.
So the Overlords created the Titans as cosmic craftsmen, gifted with the power of magic as engineers of the high heavens who crafted worlds, rising the mountains and lowering the seas.
But the Overlords were unsatisfied. And with each world the Titans created, another was destroyed to make room.
The Titans, angered by their works being destroyed, rebelled against their Overlords in a celestial war that destroyed all the known worlds. All but one; ours.
Few Titans remained, but the Overlords left behind the Five Children of the stars, each with a title.
The first is The Watcher, the most noble of the siblings. As his name implies he would watch over the mortals of the for their safety, and in spite of his shyness would intervene when necessary. He would look after his siblings, pertaining to the role of big brother. Tiresome as his responsibilities are, he still maintains a strong sense of compassion.
Then there was the Chronicler, who would observe the ongoings of the boiling isles and write them down from memory. He keeps a near infinite amount of records in his abode that would make even the most decorated librarian humbled. He loves to keep his collection of books in a neatly and orderly fashion, and becomes quite irksome when his other brothers tamper with it.
Then there’s the rapscallion; the Collector, who, being the youngest of the children, is more than not known for causing mischief among the mortals. As his name would imply, he has an odd curiosity of collecting just about anything for himself, and keeping it as a specimen. For what purpose is unknown.
Then there is the Dreamcatcher; the Boogeyman of the Boiling Isles. Taking the form of a shadow, this child is even more mischievous than the Collector, and as such, dangerous. Hiding within the crooks and crannies of peoples homes, he often loves to spook them at best, and at worst, torment them by turning their dreams into living nightmares.
Finally, there is the most terrifying child of the stars; The Puppetmaster. Often known as the cruel hand of fate, this child sees mortals as nothing more than pawns to manipulate, and takes it upon himself to pull the strings behind the unseen curtain. No one truly know what he looks like. But many accounts in the Boiling Isles have recalled that whenever something truly horrible happened, there was someone no one else than the victim could see.
As the Titans fade into legend, the Children of the Stars have faded into obscurity. Only one has shown his face in recent memory.

I've encountered two instances recently of authors with beloved fics either deleting or completely privating their work(s). I will not name names, but they are very easy to discover with just the tiniest bit of digging.
This has been a crushing reminder to me that if you truly want to appreciate your favourite fanfic for good, you should archive or download it, so that in the event the author deletes their account or the fic, you can still read it.
For FFN and Wattpad, it isn't the easiest of tasks, but for Ao3, make sure you click 'Entire Work' and archive that link. You'll be able to read the whole thing that way.

My ex reached out after nearly one peaceful month of NC and I am again trying to survive enormous waves of hatred. I always thought I hated people or things before but now I know what actual hate feels like…before? That was just dislike. Maybe strong dislike but now it is sheer unadulterated hatred and I can feel it harming my health. I am sitting here after getting some lame ass half ass apology followed by a request to hand over the title to a vehicle we co-purchased but he absconded with even though he owes me nearly 10K. His apology was just a segue to attempt to look like he is a better person (hell would have to freeze over first) and then charm me into losing more to him. The last time he called me he told me I meant less than nothing to him. Less than an object. But hey he’s in NA and talking to a new pastor so all should be forgiven. Wrong. I won’t ever forget how poorly he treated me. Won’t forget him cheating and stealing and choking me out on the stairs and breaking my bones. I won’t forget him using me. Subjecting my household to terror. I won’t forget him showing us we meant nothing especially after he told my little one he wanted to adopt her….i’m still working on forgiving myself for giving him a chance when my intuition screamed not to….i am in no hurry to forgive a no account lying cheating trashbag nor am I in the business of handing over 10K. I want him to suffer but at the same time, I am worth more than it costs to hold so much anger I can feel it aching inside my body. Chest pain. Headaches. High blood pressure. No hatred I have will ever hurt him because he has no soul or heart or conscience or whatever it is that makes him despicable and abusive. He goes to court this next week and I am hoping to be taken off his bond and honestly if he rots in prison, so be it. Seems fitting. Sorry for the rant but I dare not say anything to people who know me because they will see that this situation damaged my huge heart. I already let them down enough by settling for this ah in th first place. I would actually go back in time if it were possible and never ever meet the dude. I hate him.

TL;DR version. As the title says. Some good mid range wheels for this game?
Long version. The Game Pass free play days worked a treat by getting me to try out the game and end up buying it just a couple hours later. The learning curve was quite crazy as I'm a pad user coming from more casual games like Forza and F1, but managed to get a hold of it and do some pretty consistent laps. Decided to get out my very old and dusty budget Thurstmaster 458 which I never really used because I was always about 4 seconds a lap off on other games, but here I was straight away matching my controller times which really shows how beneficial a wheel is. All that yapping aside, what are some good wheels that aren't budget but also won't break the bank? I'm an Xbox user if that makes any difference

Hi, I am 25 y/o Physicist(not at all like Sheldon Cooper, lol), looking to make some long term friends. I have got some free time at my hand from work, so I thought why not use it to make some new connections.
So, when I am not busy unravelling the secrets of the universe, I like to draw, sketch and paint, read books, watch movies and TV shows, with my favourite genre being sci-fi and psychological thrillers, and listen to music. I also like to play football(soccer for my American friends) and video games on my PC. I have started learning guitar recently as well.
I like to have nice meaningful converstaions as well as light and funny ones too. I try my best to make people smile and laugh and provide a safe, non-judgemental space for them to open up at their own pace. You can talk to me about anything. Your day was good? Tell me all about it. Your day went bad? Vent all you want. Saw a cute person that you instantly had a crush on? Share what you liked about them. Had something nice to eat? Tell me how good it was. Have some problems in your life? Share them and we'll try to find solutions together but no compulsion if you only wanna vent. Just be yourself!!
If any of this rings a bell, you can send me a chat and we can connect and get in the process of knowing one another. I have no preferences over gender but I do ask that you be atleast 18+. Hope you all have great day!!

Hey everyone,
I just wanted to share a little project I worked on for fun – it’s called Binary Brew. It’s a lightweight, free app for macOS that helps keep your screen awake. I think this app is pretty useful for some. Honestly, all it is is a GUI for the terminal function "caffeinate."
Why I Made It:
I use the caffeinated terminal function often and used to rely on the Caffeine app, but it’s become quite overpriced. So, I decided to build Binary Brew as a free alternative. Feel free to take my code and make it better!
What It Does:
• One-Click Activation: Keep your screen awake with a single click.
• Custom Timers: Set it for 15, 30, or 60 minutes.
• Simple and Lightweight: Easy to use without any fuss.
How to Get It:

1. Download it from the GitHub Releases section.
   
2. Drag Binary Brew to your Applications folder.
   
3. Open the app and you’re good to go!
   

Feedback:
I’d love to hear what you think! Feel free to drop comments or issues on GitHub. I can't promise I'll update this often, because this is just something I did for fun. It's my first coding project.
GitHub Repository: Binary Brew
Thanks for checking it out!

Hello! My name is Ralph and I am 36. I am looking for friends and also my future bestie.
I am flight crew so I get paid to travel the world. So that means I am not on any specific time zone, I sleep when I’m tired. As flight crew my work schedule can be 7 days a week, 365 days a year and holidays. I prefer it that way vs a traditional 9-5 Monday to Friday type job, no thanks. As flight crew I get to see the world and get paid for it. I truly love my job and what I do. I also get to live in Florida but still see all 4 seasons! I have been to 19 countries and growing!
I am a nerd and I also produce electronic music, such as house, drum and bass, trance, etc. I love gaming and I am a huge gamer.
I am looking for friends who are like me. People who get my level of sarcasm and can vibe with me from the beginning and laugh with me, etc. I am extremely picky with the friends I choose.
If you think you can become friends with me or one day my bestie/best friend, message me! The bestie thing takes time, it just has to happen. But message me and let’s vibe!!! I am eventually though looking for my best friend. Someone who I can be friends with and get along with, someone who actually gets along with my wife which isn’t hard. Being friends with her isn’t a requirement though. Someone who gets me, and I get them, and we laugh, hang out one day and in general, and overall just an awesome best friend.
If you are fellow airline flight crew, feel free to message me too! It would be cool to talk!
US only! I am looking for real life friends not just online. Let’s talk! :)

Hello! My name is Ralph and I am 36. I am looking for friends and also my future bestie.
I am flight crew so I get paid to travel the world. So that means I am not on any specific time zone, I sleep when I’m tired. As flight crew my work schedule can be 7 days a week, 365 days a year and holidays. I prefer it that way vs a traditional 9-5 Monday to Friday type job, no thanks. As flight crew I get to see the world and get paid for it. I truly love my job and what I do. I also get to live in Florida but still see all 4 seasons! I have been to 19 countries and growing!
I am a nerd and I also produce electronic music, such as house, drum and bass, trance, etc. I love gaming and I am a huge gamer.
I am looking for friends who are like me. People who get my level of sarcasm and can vibe with me from the beginning and laugh with me, etc. I am extremely picky with the friends I choose.
If you think you can become friends with me or one day my bestie/best friend, message me! The bestie thing takes time, it just has to happen. But message me and let’s vibe!!! I am eventually though looking for my best friend. Someone who I can be friends with and get along with, someone who actually gets along with my wife which isn’t hard. Being friends with her isn’t a requirement though. Someone who gets me, and I get them, and we laugh, hang out one day and in general, and overall just an awesome best friend.
If you are fellow airline flight crew, feel free to message me too! It would be cool to talk!
US only! I am looking for real life friends not just online. Let’s talk! :)

So, last time, y’all caught his narcissistic behavior early. Let me just say that in-between those moments things were “okay” and we had a good time goofing off at work. That was what made distancing myself a bit difficult, don’t come for me.
But this solidified that I needed to get the fuck away from him. I’m going to try to make this short, but I probably won’t be successful at it.
SO! We were sitting outside the job. We were silent until he said, “I don’t like women wearing wigs. I like women who wear their natural hair.” I just so happened to be wearing a wig, so I ignored his comment. He continued, “You need to stop wearing wigs. And the lens of your glasses are so big, no one can see your eyes. That would bolster your self-esteem.”
Like, what?????
I told him I don’t really care about what he thought about my wigs or my glasses and all he replied with was that he was just trying to help since I had low self-esteem and that I was mad for no reason or some shit. I wasn’t, by the way, as I said, I will wear what I want and be happy with myself. He tried to analyze my body language and tone of voice. Then his ride was summoned, but before he left he told me to “use my natural hair more often,” like I had such disdain for my hair. Ugggh!
I was upset at that point. When I got home I texted him. Looking back, I had no NEED to explain myself but hindsight is 20/20, yeah? I texted him and here’s how it went.
Me: sorry, but your “advice” wasn’t helpful. I don’t even get my hair done sometimes cause it’s expensive.
Him: you could literally braid your hair for free if you have a good friend
Me (a day later): and I’m happy with how I look
Him: …. Good for you
Him: you caring about what I think is utterly wild to me
Me: I’m happy you went to “help” me but your unsolicited advice was not needed
The next few days or so, I did not speak to him at all. There were brief interactions. I even gave a way an extra soda for him, but other than that, nothing. He tried acting like we were cool, but I didn’t buy into it. I gave away that soda because I wanted to show him that I could be a good friend but keep playing with me, and I’m gone. Looking back now, that was weird.
After about for or five drafts I finally decided to post this so….what do you think???! Comment below!