Hello everyone! For several years I have rather (in)famously considered myself a lectopriest of my patron, Setesh. This is a role I carried with great honor, but perhaps also to great detriment. You see, one piece of ancient wisdom I chose to ignore was that priesthood was not a 24/7, lifelong role played by individuals. Indeed back then one would only be a priest for a few weeks or months before the off season. With so few people willing to take such roles in modern society, staying in it for several years makes some semblance of sense, but I think to continue would benefit neither others nor, more importantly, myself.
You see, I have noticed, and have had pointed out by people I truly respect and trust, several problems in myself that were either created or (more often) worsened by priesthood, without my own realization until now. For instance one thing which was called out is the responsibility I feel to “correct” others when their views/understanding/etc do not match my own, like pushing the differentiations between historical Egyptian religion as opposed to new ageism (I originally wrote “new age nonsense” which proves my point that this role has led me against pluralism). Or feeling the need to write and read constantly about topics beyond the point of exhaustion when, at best, maybe 5 people even care for that level of information and effort. Or simply an overinflated sense of worth for my own path and knowledge, which directly opposes my more recent attempts at pluralism, such as portraying Kemeticism as good and new ageism as bad, when I know deep down and full well that this is an ignorant and arrogant misunderstanding of the situation, and one is simply good/bad for myself, not for all.
When I reached out to Kemetic last year to clear my name after being mistaken for a Satanist/ToS member, my main argument was that I feel compelled and driven to share knowledge of Setesh and Kemeticism, to correct what I see as ignorance and take at least partial responsibility for the spiritual development of others. That… doesn't fit with my philosophy or metaphysics at all though. I was reminded as recently as yesterday that this is literally not my responsibility, that I’ve basically taken my social work background and applied it to Kemeticism or even the LHP. I hated social work and left for all these same reasons: systems in place limit how much you can help, people don’t even actually want help, and why am I responsible for the lives of others? Perhaps most importantly, is my way even actually better or just working for me and I am causing more harm than good pushing it on others? I cannot help but feel it is almost part of a subconscious masochism those who also have mental illness are likely familiar with, an unconscious drive to put yourself in situations that will only frustrate you and make you sad. And I have to say, I HATE the subconscious for reasons just like this.
Hell, my original goal was to synthesize our knowledge of Setesh into one place in a digestible form, and that project has been completed a few times over, most completely an entire year ago now, my goal is completed and my job is done. I could have spent all this time focusing on the dozens of problems I still have to take care of in my own life and practices, like priesthood was almost a type of deflection and procrastination. I am glad I held the role and helped those who have reached out to let me know, but when we bring it back to my own authentic metaphysical perspective, these are the tiniest drops in a vast, endless ocean. I am glad for and proud of these one-offs, but to chase such one-offs has taken me in the completely wrong direction than intended. And worse it’s had me reading books about priesthood and the like, seeking out dogma of how I “should” or am “suppose to” act as a priest, what duties are required, etc., when this is the type of acceptance of and reliance upon external dogma I abhor and caution against.
My gut reaction was what I used to always do, just leave with my tail between my legs. But upon further reflection I realized I needed to internalize and look inwards in these situations for once, and to practice proper action rather than simply ponder it. To not act like some priest who is initiated into higher mysteries or something, but as just another random person trying to do my best and what I think is right in communities I value. Honestly this is who I would rather be. I will always be Kemetic AND Left Hand Path, always be a child of Setesh, and therefore always be an outsider. Playing the role of a priest (which I will not regret for it led to some of my most useful work and best connections imo) outright contradicts this in so many ways I am honestly a bit embarrassed.
I have quit a lot of things: addictions, websites that were bad for my mental health, negatively reinforcing practices and thoughts, and my new focus is quitting both the social work drive to “fix” things (that often are not even truly “broken”), as well as the arrogance that always crops back up in me to believe that since my way is right for me and has brought me meaning and success, it is not necessarily right for all, maybe even a detriment to them as their path may be to me. My test, as I see it, is not to run away in either anger nor embarrassment, but to face my flaws and actively seek to correct them, such as continuing to engage in forums such as kemetic but as just a guy doing his thing, not the voice of a god, or Kemeticism, or academia, or any such thing.
And to those who helped bring this to my attention again, I thank you. I’ve been told both in friendly and not so friendly ways when dealing with these problems in the past, this most recent being generally friendly. In the past I have been much better about owning my nature as a child of Setesh, and priesthood as I have understood and practiced it is a direct contradiction of that nature. I don’t want to feel this drive to make people think or practice the way I do, nor do I want this drive to act or portray myself a certain way on behalf of others, even my own patron. I mean, one of my greatest magical recommendations is apathy, and I've practiced anything but that.
So today it is in optimism, humility, and hope, not anger, defeat, and arrogance that I step away from the Lector role I've taken, and once again seek to be priest of nothing more than myself and my own way.

Hello everyone! For several years I have rather (in)famously considered myself a lectopriest of my patron, Setesh. This is a role I carried with great honor, but perhaps also to great detriment. You see, one piece of ancient wisdom I chose to ignore was that priesthood was not a 24/7, lifelong role played by individuals. Indeed back then one would only be a priest for a few weeks or months before the off season. With so few people willing to take such roles in modern society, staying in it for several years makes some semblance of sense, but I think to continue would benefit neither others nor, more importantly, myself.
You see, I have noticed, and have had pointed out by people I truly respect and trust, several problems in myself that were either created or (more often) worsened by priesthood, without my own realization until now. For instance one thing which was called out is the responsibility I feel to “correct” others when their views/understanding/etc do not match my own, like pushing the differentiations between historical Egyptian religion as opposed to new ageism (I originally wrote “new age nonsense” which proves my point that this role has led me against pluralism). Or feeling the need to write and read constantly about topics beyond the point of exhaustion when, at best, maybe 5 people even care for that level of information and effort. Or simply an overinflated sense of worth for my own path and knowledge, which directly opposes my more recent attempts at pluralism, such as portraying Kemeticism as good and new ageism as bad, when I know deep down and full well that this is an ignorant and arrogant misunderstanding of the situation, and one is simply good/bad for myself, not for all.
When I reached out to Kemetic last year to clear my name after being mistaken for a Satanist/ToS member, my main argument was that I feel compelled and driven to share knowledge of Setesh and Kemeticism, to correct what I see as ignorance and take at least partial responsibility for the spiritual development of others. That… doesn't fit with my philosophy or metaphysics at all though. I was reminded as recently as yesterday that this is literally not my responsibility, that I’ve basically taken my social work background and applied it to Kemeticism or even the LHP. I hated social work and left for all these same reasons: systems in place limit how much you can help, people don’t even actually want help, and why am I responsible for the lives of others? Perhaps most importantly, is my way even actually better or just working for me and I am causing more harm than good pushing it on others? I cannot help but feel it is almost part of a subconscious masochism those who also have mental illness are likely familiar with, an unconscious drive to put yourself in situations that will only frustrate you and make you sad. And I have to say, I HATE the subconscious for reasons just like this.
Hell, my original goal was to synthesize our knowledge of Setesh into one place in a digestible form, and that project has been completed a few times over, most completely an entire year ago now, my goal is completed and my job is done. I could have spent all this time focusing on the dozens of problems I still have to take care of in my own life and practices, like priesthood was almost a type of deflection and procrastination. I am glad I held the role and helped those who have reached out to let me know, but when we bring it back to my own authentic metaphysical perspective, these are the tiniest drops in a vast, endless ocean. I am glad for and proud of these one-offs, but to chase such one-offs has taken me in the completely wrong direction than intended. And worse it’s had me reading books about priesthood and the like, seeking out dogma of how I “should” or am “suppose to” act as a priest, what duties are required, etc., when this is the type of acceptance of and reliance upon external dogma I abhor and caution against.
My gut reaction was what I used to always do, just leave with my tail between my legs. But upon further reflection I realized I needed to internalize and look inwards in these situations for once, and to practice proper action rather than simply ponder it. To not act like some priest who is initiated into higher mysteries or something, but as just another random person trying to do my best and what I think is right in communities I value. Honestly this is who I would rather be. I will always be Kemetic AND Left Hand Path, always be a child of Setesh, and therefore always be an outsider. Playing the role of a priest (which I will not regret for it led to some of my most useful work and best connections imo) outright contradicts this in so many ways I am honestly a bit embarrassed.
I have quit a lot of things: addictions, websites that were bad for my mental health, negatively reinforcing practices and thoughts, and my new focus is quitting both the social work drive to “fix” things (that often are not even truly “broken”), as well as the arrogance that always crops back up in me to believe that since my way is right for me and has brought me meaning and success, it is not necessarily right for all, maybe even a detriment to them as their path may be to me. My test, as I see it, is not to run away in either anger nor embarrassment, but to face my flaws and actively seek to correct them, such as continuing to engage in forums such as kemetic but as just a guy doing his thing, not the voice of a god, or Kemeticism, or academia, or any such thing.
And to those who helped bring this to my attention again, I thank you. I’ve been told both in friendly and not so friendly ways when dealing with these problems in the past, this most recent being generally friendly. In the past I have been much better about owning my nature as a child of Setesh, and priesthood as I have understood and practiced it is a direct contradiction of that nature. I don’t want to feel this drive to make people think or practice the way I do, nor do I want this drive to act or portray myself a certain way on behalf of others, even my own patron. I mean, one of my greatest magical recommendations is apathy, and I've practiced anything but that.
So today it is in optimism, humility, and hope, not anger, defeat, and arrogance that I step away from the Lector role I've taken, and once again seek to be priest of nothing more than myself and my own way.

*Writing this out, it's dawned on me how mundane this is, but I don't have many friends, let alone gay friends, to talk to about this.*
I 34M and Joe 30M (fake name) have been dating for a couple of years. It's long distance (by UK standards), and we don't see each other as much as we want to. It's slightly depressing to say, but this is the most serious relationship I have ever been in. I honestly love him, and he has said he loves me too. In fact, the text he sent that included the half-assed breakup included that he loved me with all his heart. Basically, he is having problems with his life - his mother being the main one - and says I deserve better... I don't want "better", I want him. I told him that he needs to decide for himself if the relationship is worth it, and not use me as an excuse, as I love him and am happy with him. Not only that, but I would understand if he feels the relationship is too stressful for him as long distance is difficult, but if he gets more from being in it, we can work on things. I said that if he did decide to end it, I would accept it, but I didn't want it to end. And I am leaving him to think it over without me pressuring him.
This is where I am wondering if I should just let it go.
I know he is struggling with his life. And it results in a lack of communication from him, which is difficult for me. Examples: -I didn't know Joe had been kicked out of his mother's place (again!). -Joe also didn't tell me until 2 days after that all his friends cancelled on him for his birthday gathering. -I invited Joe to come to mine for my birthday, and he didn't respond... at all. The next message ignored the invite. But it was shortly after that I got the half-assed breakup message. Normally, I would be utterly paranoid about the lack of communication, and it's why I have never had a long relationship before, but I honestly felt secure with Joe.
What do you think? Should I have accepted the half-assed breakup, or is fighting for us a better thing to do?

Hello everyone! For several years I have rather (in)famously considered myself a lectopriest of my patron, Setesh. This is a role I carried with great honor, but perhaps also to great detriment. You see, one piece of ancient wisdom I chose to ignore was that priesthood was not a 24/7, lifelong role played by individuals. Indeed back then one would only be a priest for a few weeks or months before the off season. With so few people willing to take such roles in modern society, staying in it for several years makes some semblance of sense, but I think to continue would benefit neither others nor, more importantly, myself.
You see, I have noticed, and have had pointed out by people I truly respect and trust, several problems in myself that were either created or (more often) worsened by priesthood, without my own realization until now. For instance one thing which was called out is the responsibility I feel to “correct” others when their views/understanding/etc do not match my own, like pushing the differentiations between historical Egyptian religion as opposed to new ageism (I originally wrote “new age nonsense” which proves my point that this role has led me against pluralism). Or feeling the need to write and read constantly about topics beyond the point of exhaustion when, at best, maybe 5 people even care for that level of information and effort. Or simply an overinflated sense of worth for my own path and knowledge, which directly opposes my more recent attempts at pluralism, such as portraying Kemeticism as good and new ageism as bad, when I know deep down and full well that this is an ignorant and arrogant misunderstanding of the situation, and one is simply good/bad for myself, not for all.
When I reached out to Kemetic last year to clear my name after being mistaken for a Satanist/ToS member, my main argument was that I feel compelled and driven to share knowledge of Setesh and Kemeticism, to correct what I see as ignorance and take at least partial responsibility for the spiritual development of others. That… doesn't fit with my philosophy or metaphysics at all though. I was reminded as recently as yesterday that this is literally not my responsibility, that I’ve basically taken my social work background and applied it to Kemeticism or even the LHP. I hated social work and left for all these same reasons: systems in place limit how much you can help, people don’t even actually want help, and why am I responsible for the lives of others? Perhaps most importantly, is my way even actually better or just working for me and I am causing more harm than good pushing it on others? I cannot help but feel it is almost part of a subconscious masochism those who also have mental illness are likely familiar with, an unconscious drive to put yourself in situations that will only frustrate you and make you sad. And I have to say, I HATE the subconscious for reasons just like this.
Hell, my original goal was to synthesize our knowledge of Setesh into one place in a digestible form, and that project has been completed a few times over, most completely an entire year ago now, my goal is completed and my job is done. I could have spent all this time focusing on the dozens of problems I still have to take care of in my own life and practices, like priesthood was almost a type of deflection and procrastination. I am glad I held the role and helped those who have reached out to let me know, but when we bring it back to my own authentic metaphysical perspective, these are the tiniest drops in a vast, endless ocean. I am glad for and proud of these one-offs, but to chase such one-offs has taken me in the completely wrong direction than intended. And worse it’s had me reading books about priesthood and the like, seeking out dogma of how I “should” or am “suppose to” act as a priest, what duties are required, etc., when this is the type of acceptance of and reliance upon external dogma I abhor and caution against.
My gut reaction was what I used to always do, just leave with my tail between my legs. But upon further reflection I realized I needed to internalize and look inwards in these situations for once, and to practice proper action rather than simply ponder it. To not act like some priest who is initiated into higher mysteries or something, but as just another random person trying to do my best and what I think is right in communities I value. Honestly this is who I would rather be. I will always be Kemetic AND Left Hand Path, always be a child of Setesh, and therefore always be an outsider. Playing the role of a priest (which I will not regret for it led to some of my most useful work and best connections imo) outright contradicts this in so many ways I am honestly a bit embarrassed.
I have quit a lot of things: addictions, websites that were bad for my mental health, negatively reinforcing practices and thoughts, and my new focus is quitting both the social work drive to “fix” things (that often are not even truly “broken”), as well as the arrogance that always crops back up in me to believe that since my way is right for me and has brought me meaning and success, it is not necessarily right for all, maybe even a detriment to them as their path may be to me. My test, as I see it, is not to run away in either anger nor embarrassment, but to face my flaws and actively seek to correct them, such as continuing to engage in forums such as kemetic but as just a guy doing his thing, not the voice of a god, or Kemeticism, or academia, or any such thing.
And to those who helped bring this to my attention again, I thank you. I’ve been told both in friendly and not so friendly ways when dealing with these problems in the past, this most recent being generally friendly. In the past I have been much better about owning my nature as a child of Setesh, and priesthood as I have understood and practiced it is a direct contradiction of that nature. I don’t want to feel this drive to make people think or practice the way I do, nor do I want this drive to act or portray myself a certain way on behalf of others, even my own patron. I mean, one of my greatest magical recommendations is apathy, and I've practiced anything but that.
So today it is in optimism, humility, and hope, not anger, defeat, and arrogance that I step away from the Lector role I've taken, and once again seek to be priest of nothing more than myself and my own way.

Shew, where to start...
well first off, I did it. I officially filed for divorce. She has less than two weeks to respond.
Quite literally the hardest decision I've ever had to make and to be 100% honest, I still don't want to, but I know that it will be what's best for me, my soul, my anxiety and my mind.
Over the past month we'd have good days and bad days. tension was always high, and it turns out she still kept lying about him.
I got a hold of her phone again and she had shared locations on snap with him, and when we were supposedly trying to make it work she wouldn't even share that with me, her husband. And I had asked. (oh and she changed his name in SnapChat so I wouldn't know it was him. Multi levels of deception. She also had changed his name in her contacts to throw me off. sucks for her I know tech well, and am a bit smarter and clever than the average bear)
On her Birthday, we weren't getting along, so she chose to go spend time with him in the evening while I hung out with out kids. (didn't tell me, found out by searching her phone for his name)
That same day, she had been texting her BFF and literally told her I was being annoying and said 'why don't you just divorce me?!' to her regarding me.
In arguments, she'd text me to divorce her because I would express how I was unhappy and am struggling trusting her because she's been so shady.
Everything from blocking me on Snapchat (because she didn't want to see my snaps was her reason) to a crazy phone screen cover, to changing the lock code on our car. (Both names are on it, but it's primarily hers)
just really odd shit and then would also try to love bomb me and have me just go along with everything and be a good family man.
More recently, on my birthday I made the poor decision to go out with her, absolutely we had a lovely time till something triggered me and her affair came up, and we started arguing.
It escalated up to the point where I was recording her on my phone as she was going nuts, and she straight up hit me in the side of my head, knocked my phone to the ground and we tussled over my phone. (all recorded)
She called the police, no charges pressed and I was told to sleep upstairs, which I did willingly.
the next day, she filed a protective order against me and I couldn't reach out to or see the kids (or her, which was a ok) for a week. I couldn't even be in my own home. She did have the kids call me everyday which was very nice.
During that week, my lawyers convinced me the best thing to do, especially for custodial reasons was to file as it supercedes the restraining order, so I did.
At the court hearing she was served, and knew it was coming the night before as her friend is an officer and it's public record.
In front of the judge, she said that I was no threat to her or our children and that Im a great father. She also stated that I'm allowed to freely come and go at the house and anywhere else I chose as I'm not a threat and she wants me to see and be with the kids. it's in the transcript, so I'll use that in the custody battle. (we will and have talked about 50/50, but it's good to have in case)
So the judge basically said that this was all a waste of time and now because the restraining order has to be extended till we divorce, it's all null except that I'm not allowed to threaten her. (not like I ever have, or would ever do.)
I've moved to a family home which has room for me and the kiddos (they have their own room and beds, as well as toys books and everything else they could possibly need at this home) and we're splitting time with them.
She expected me to make the AM 40 min commute to watch the kids by 730 so she can get to work, but I've made it very clear that if we have them overnight, we take care of the ams regardless where the kids are. She fought that for a bit, but I showed her I have a Pendete Lite order ready to go, and I could just take the main house 50% of the time and displace her, and she calmed down.
So that's about it with an update. She's trying to win me back again, but I've now caught her 4 times going back to him so I can't giver her another chance. I want to, but I know I can't. I can't trust her.
it's the hardest thing in the world. I break down crying randomly, I and am terrified about the future and how it will all work out, I hate that she chose him over me, and tries to win me back. Telling me how much this is hurting her and all that jazz and it's like...
well maybe you shouldn't have had a fucking yearlong affair! An affair that was first discovered by an 'i love you more' text. Maybe you shouldn't have given my engagement/wedding right back TWICE.
YOU CHOSE HIM.
A one time thing I could have recovered from and forgiven, but to go back time after time after time after time and hid it all and did all the things I know she did...
Ugh. It's too much. I'm choosing to break up our beautiful little family and it kills me.
however, I have to stand up for myself and I know I could never trust her again.
She keeps asking for time to heal, but she keeps going back and getting mad at me for bringing her affair up when we bicker.
I can't help myself. That mother fucker lives rent free in my head all the time and almost everything reminds me of her infidelity.
She chose him over me, and now will suffer the consequences. It just sucks because I'm suffering greatly too.
don't get married folks.
I'm sure more will come to me, but I'm just having a hard time and needed to type this all out and get it out of my head.
thanks for reading my wall of text, and I appreciate all the support over the past few months.

As the title suggests. I turned 29 last week and it feels kinda surreal. I feel like I’m standing on the edge of something? I don’t really know how to describe it. I know age is just a number or whatever but it also kind of isn’t. I’ve done so much and seen so many changes in the world over my short time here and I feel so full of life still and know that I have only seen the tip of the iceberg in relation to my experiences. We always hear about this bad shit happening in the world, but honestly, I still feel hopeful. It feels like I have more control now than ever and having the mentality of an almost 30 year old man, looking back on my life makes me feel like I’m worth something. When I talk to people in my profession, I’m treated with respect and not as a child. When I talk with my family, they ask me for genuine advice and guidance. There’s a lot of dog shit that comes with getting older, but why don’t we ever talk about all the good things that come with it? Just food for thought, I hope you’re all having a beautiful week.

My dr has prescribed an ultrasound bone stimulator that is supposed to help my ankle heal faster. EXOGEN ultrasound bone healing system. Has anyone ever used this or something similar? Has it been helpful? I’m hoping it’s not very expensive because I’m not sure how much my insurance covers and I don’t really have a lot of extra money at the moment, considering I’m not working. So I’m just trying to find out if it’s worth getting.

Welcome back to my running series of WWF PPV Reviews from a ‘blind’ perspective (I have no idea what’s going to happen; the results, the feuds or how good any of the matches will be). I have always heard stories of the attitude era and golden age but never watched it myself so I set myself to watching every single PPV event chronologically. I am also watching Wrestling Bios ‘reliving the war’ series to keep me updated inbetween the events with the feuds, and to get excited about upcoming matches.
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
The match and feud I’m most excited to see is Shawn vs undertaker. I mean what needs to be said their feud is absolutely legendary, and with my favourite match of all time coming in the future between these two I cant wait to see how they perform together in these early years.
WWF In Your House - Ground Zero 1997 Match Ratings
Goldust vs Brian Pillman 2/5
Scott putski vs Brian Christopher 1/5
Savio vega vs Faarooq vs Crush 0.25/5
El torito vs Max Mini 1.5/5
Tag Fatal 4 way elimination match 1.75/5
The patriot vs Bret Hart 3.25/5
Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker 4.75/5
I cannot believe they pulled the “she’s my love child” story it’s so funny to look back on these storylines. Goldust and Pillman are set to fight and there’s a huge grudge for Goldust here so I’m hoping to see a physical bout.
Which it wasn’t… while it was a good bout with no botched or anything, and it was better than their Summerslam match. I saw pillman was limited due to an ankle problem he had, which is kinda weird with the amount of running around he did, but they still had a decent match. Honestly though this draw of this match was where the story was going and it definitely went 😂 Pillman managed to win the match by whacking Goldust with a brick concealed in marlenas bag, and literally drags marlena to his car where he drove off with her. Classic wwf is so hilarious.
The next match was the first time I’m seeing putski and Christopher wrestle and it was actually going well until that ending. I thought they pulled off some very clean looking spots but the crowd was completely dead for almost all of this match, especially after the match, just no one seemed to care. I didn’t really care for this Brian Christopher he was laughing like a clown or something, not even a figure of speech it was literally like a clown. He might’ve been trying to impersonate Lawler but it was just weird. I’m not sure if putski was actually injured or not it was pretty hard to tell but this match seemed like it was 3 or 4 minutes long of pretty dull action.
Going into the next match and honestly I’m pretty bored of these pointless gang wars but let’s see if it can deliver. Maybe rock will get involved and liven it up but all three competitors in this triple threat have yet to put on a good show during my journey through the new gen/attitude era. Also I feel like this is the first triple threat match I’ve seen since KOTR 1996 so there’s some level of excitement for me as it can make for a really entertaining match when done right.
I was surprised to see crush get a pop as I hadn’t heard one before when he made his entrance, but a big biker dude coming in on a massive Harley will get an American crowd going I suppose 😂. But oh man once the match got going there was actually boos going throughout the stadium for the last 1/3 of it. They were trying some weird thing where they played on the fact that they both used to be part of the NOD in which they’d team with farooq on sadio vega but oh my lord it didn’t work at all, it just came off like they had no idea what they were doing. There were no highlights at all, and the last 5 minutes was crush throwing vega out the ring to use moves solo on farooq to which he’d come back in the ring, break the pin and repeat the process. Then he randomly wants to team with crush after all that?? It made no sense at all and was just a bad match, the crowd wasn’t into it and booed during quite a bit of the match, big miss.
I’m just gunna call it a ‘mini-match’ and I’m sure you’ll know what I’m talking about but it ended up being entertaining for what it was in all fairness, much better than the match I’d just seen anyway. It was more of a funny performance than a match; they both end up biting everyone’s asses? Including the referee, and mini goes and steals lawyers crown too. El torito is bloody nuts, his character is basically to act like a bull so he chases refs and officials around trying to headbutt them, fu**ing nuts 😂. I do think it went on a little too long though, if they’re going to book this kind of match then it should be short and sweet filler rather than dragging it on. There was however a pretty good looking springboard move close to the end so that was cool. There were some impressive moves and the crowd was getting involved but It’s just some filler while the show gets going in the end.
Very good idea having dude love and Austin come out inbetween the matches to relinquish the titles as this crowd REALLY needed some livening up after the past hour of the show. And when Steve starts his promo the crowd eats up every second of it and it’s no surprise because he kills it as usual, what a breath of fresh air SCSA is in the WWF during this era. He’s throwing insults to Vince, to the sergeant to JR and it’s f***ing brilliant. It’s cool seeing dude love backing him up as well I think they actually make a really cool looking tag team. And then out of god damn nowhere he delivers a stunner to JR and the crowd absolutely loses it. I would say at this point he is truly the face of the WWF and it really does suck that he suffered that neck injury and couldn’t wrestle properly for a while, having to change his entire wrestling style because of it, but it was never to his detriment, we’re truly in the stone cold era now.
Before the fatal four way, while the LOD get interviewed I couldn’t help but notice how young Michael Cole looks, I mean obviously it’s over 25 years ago but still cool seeing how long he’s been involved.
I really don’t understand these fatal four way tag matches, they always come off weirdly as you can have two people from the same team in the ring that have to wrestle… but it makes no sense because why not just tag someone else in? I don’t know it’s a weird dynamic and I’m not surprised they dropped this type of match in the future.
It’s a shame LOD was the first to be eliminated because they randomly started beating the godwinns with a metal bucket? It makes 0 sense for them to blindly DQ themselves from getting the tag titles since they were crowd favourites, but okay you do you Vince. I wanted them to win too. I know a few people don’t care for LOD but they’re top 2 tag teams in the wwf right now beside Owen and bulldog. The godwinns get eliminated next (thank god), and they just feel like the most filler tag team I’ve ever seen they’re SOOO bland and basic, they don’t even play up to their hillbilly characters anymore which is a new level of bad I won’t lie. I was really REALLY surprised that headbangers took away the belts though, with the massive push of the hart foundation I thought it was a no brainer. It was awesome seeing Austin come in and disrupt the match, he absolutely brings the whole arena completely alive whenever he does anything. Overall though the match was bad and it went on far too long even with four teams. I think the ending was pretty fun but that was only about 2 minutes of the match that was entertaining the rest just felt veryyyy slow.
Man this event has really gotta pull out some f***ing 5/5 main events for it to be worth watching because we’re 1 hour 45 minutes in without a match over 2/5 at most.
When I hear Kurt angles theme playing I was so happy, excited, confused, and then disappointed when I realised it was 3 or 4 years too early. I had no idea they kept this theme and used it for Kurt angle as well as patriot.
I have a small inkling that Bret hart didn’t perform as well as he could’ve in this match because he was annoyed about Shawn getting the top spot after everything that’s gone down and him working more regularly recently than Shawn. Patriot wasn’t a bad wrestler but his character was extremely bland, what would happen after this feud? He’d just be a guy that’s proud to be from America that looks like a Mexican wrestler… in the time of big characters making the main events he unfortunately doesn’t really fit in that well. His in ring ability was good though, no botches or anything but I just couldn’t really feel myself getting into this match. I didn’t really know if they’d book patriot in to take the wwf title as I was pretty sure they wouldn’t want hart to lose his title being such a huge name in the business right now. It was pretty fun when Vader and bulldog came out for some extra drama with them interfering with each of the wrestlers but it’s not a good sign when a match needs drama like that to elevate it. It’s better than what we’ve seen tonight but not particularly worth watching. If you love Bret hart give it a watch as he was his usual fantastic in ring performer but it’s not one of his best for sure. The crowd was really into it, making the hard camera shake chanting “USA USA”, so that was cool, but I’m not entirely sure if it’s because of the crowd or because it was such a small venue. Also worth noting Bret hart is a perfect heel character, he’s a massive star with a character that works perfectly as a heel because he sprinkles some IRL elements into everything he does. The move of breaking the American flag pole and the strangling patriot with the flag is just brilliant, makes it that extra bit more believable and I love it, Americans however must’ve hated it!
Shawn Michaels entrance was so hilarious, he gets hit by a… idk what that even was, a brown cabbage? He makes BJ notions to the crowd, his pyro doesn’t go off properly in the ring like it usually does, and he still pulled it off because he’s HBK, fantastic. This FEELS like main event material though and I’m really excited for it. Sometimes main events don’t really build up properly and just haven’t got that hype behind it but this match should be great. The first of many times we’d see these legends in the ring together.
Starting off the match right too with undertaker taking out the referee and allowing undertaker to take it to the outside and absolutely lay into Michael’s without a count out. I absolutely loved Shawn’s selling during this match too, it’s so over the top that it’s brilliant, with one of his famous vertical presses while he gets kicked in the belly whilst in the corner, love it. Him begging to the ref to dq undertaker, trying to escape through the door of the set and banging on the door, it all works really well and he plays up undertakers character perfectly. I hate when wrestlers forget they’re supposed to play up this undertaker being very scary it really takes away immersion but Shawn does it perfectly. The boos for undertaker seem to be from the women only and the cheers for Shawn seem to be from the women only, of course 😂. I also love seeing the origins of d generation x, one of my all time favourite tag teams as I’m sure is the same with everyone else. HHH makes his way down to the ring with a referee to replace the numerous ones that have been taken out during this match, and they are just the perfect team together I love it.
The actual match I thought was really really fun. It was absolute chaos and maybe not a wrestling masterclass but you can’t deny it was fun. From start to finish we go through 3 referees, we get strangling with power chords, we get triple H and HBK telling the crowd to suck it, and an amazing back and forth showcase from Michael’s and undertaker. I think this match did an absolutely fantastic job and reinstating the undertaker as the most intimidating wrestler in the wwf. The poor referees during this match though, they got absolutely abused. The only thing I didn’t like about this match was the ending. Another random referee comes to the ring to end the match as a DQ, which is a really stupid ending because illegal stuff had already happened when the other referees came to the ring so why wouldn’t they have ended it then? The action continues after the match with undertaker almost soloing Michael’s and HHH. More officials come to the ring as Michael’s beats the hell out of them. And then other wrestlers are forced to come to the ring to try and break the two up which was awesome to see. This really sets up further matches between the two, and I think that’s was the whole idea of the match which worked well, it’s just that I hate these random DQ endings to main events. We see the undertaker flying over the top rope for… I think the first time? Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve seen it in this era which was of course AWESOME!! Overall a really fun match that sets up for further main events but it’s held back by its weird and stupid decision. It’s still well worth a watch if you enjoy this feud however.
Overall, whilst the main event hit all the right places for me I just don’t think the WWF was ready for a 3 hour event yet. They simply didn’t have the roster for it to be enjoyable and so many of these matches went way longer than they had any business doing. I think Bret hart is always gunna deliver so he was fun to watch but it just want one of his best but the main event hit in every single way apart from the finish which I understand is setting up for further matches but ughhhh it was done weirdly and poorly. If you’re gunna watch this event, skip everything but the main event it’s just not worth sitting through everything else.
Overall rating 2.75/5

hi I am currently a junior in college and Ive been thinking about this for awhile but I want to change my degree to construction management because of how much more secure getting a job is. I was a psychology major and criminal justice major through the first 2 years but I realized id probably have to go to school for an extra couple of years and the job market isn't that big and id be competing against a lot of other people to get a job. with construction it interests me because I get to manage construction and to be honest that's all I know about it. but construction has always kind of interested me in a way and I like how secure getting a job is. for my School it requires me to take a lot of Buisness classes and a lot of construction management course clearly. I would not graduate on time which is fine with me. what all do you do when your a construction manager and what jobs could I get with a degree in that field? what all do I learn? and was it worth for you guys to get the degree?

I don't understand it. I see so much hate for quest users and it's exhausting. I personally am a quest user. I don't understand how so many people can judge others just cause of how kids act (or their parents letting them get on the game) or cause they can't afford 10k worth of hardware. It's ridiculous but so widespread. Can someone explain to me why this is so common??

Before people ask, it's money that I made on my own from several tech stocks before getting married. The lesson I've learnt in all of this - Don't marry a man until you've built wealth for yourself. I understand my privilege now but I grew up in a <$70K/year household so I'm extremely grateful for the financial wealth I've built over the years.
A bit of a rant followed by questions- Late thirties, soon to be single mom from 10 year marriage with an insecure and somewhat narcissistic spouse who only focused on my flaws and never my contributions to the house. Our marriage has been rocky for several years so I'll spare more details. I'm not saying I was the perfect wife or mother but I stayed put for my kid (3 year old). Now spouse has decided to go the divorce and separation route.
CA is a 50/50 state and community property is counted after marriage. I'll still do fine if he decides to fleece me of our marital wealth. We have no properties together. He earned and saved less than me throughout our marriage which was funnily not the problem, his family was. About a year ago, he decided to quit his job and take his own insurance so does not work at the moment. I'd likely have to part with my income, 401K, savings and more, which honestly, Idc. What's most painful right now and I'm still learning to accept is that I'll only see my kid for half the time.
Details-

• Income (VHCOL) - ~$200K/yr (Insurance and benefits are good but it's still stressful at times)
• Rent - $4K/mo
• Pre-marital brokerage - ~$2.5M+ (FAANG, NVDA and some unicorn startups)
• All of my other post-marital assets(401K, automated brokerage with low risk portfolio, stocks, savings, T-bills) will be equally split. I can safely say I'll be left with a minimum of $500K and could be more. I don't know his complete financial situation yet to be confident with a number.

Questions-

• Between this divorce process and market uncertainty I may be forced to take a break. What are the insurance options for my kid and me in CA?
• Should I hire a fee-only financial advisor? If yes, where can I find reliable FA's?
• I'm slowly learning about Fire, coastFIRE , baristafire and others. Where can I learn more about SWR? How do I get started here? I'd like to take more vacations with my kid and extra income won't hurt.
• I've not started a 529 for my kid, is this needed or continue with brokerage?
• Kid will likely go to public school. Kid is smart and with the AI boom, will learn more at home than school. Is it worth investing in home(>$1.5M+) in a good school district if it's only going to be the two of us or continue to rent?
• How do post-nups work? Do they carry any weight in CA? I'm negotiating with my spouse that we could live separately but not divorce just yet to see if we can reconcile in the future. Couples counseling did not work for us and he does not want to try again. We are two highly educated humans and I don't want miscommunication to make our kid lose the joy of growing up with two parents. If he does agree to this arrangement, I can request to sign a post-nup protecting my kid and I. What should I include? (I understand this sounds delusional but it's my last ditch effort for my kid).

Are there other things that I should consider as a soon to be single mom?

Had an eye test in 2019 which was just a -0.25 in one eye but otherwise no issues.
Had another test in 2024 (aged 25) which came back as -1.50 in the left eye and -1.25 in the right.
Between 2019 and 2024 obviously Covid happened and I also went through a very intensely stressful time. Hardly went outside and was looking at screens all day everyday. Looking in the distance felt like my eyes were trying to focus but the muscles were too tired or strained and weren’t used to it. A few months ago I went outside immediately after waking up, without looking at anything close up, and actually had crisp distance vision for once, on that specific day.
I know there’s a specific test using eye drops to diagnose pseudomyopia but I don’t have access to that at the moment. I’ve read studies that link it to too much close-up work as well as psychological stress and I’m a textbook example of both of those things in the last few years.
I’ve seen that it can be helped by getting reading glasses to alleviate the strain during close up work and thus making distance focus easier but I don’t know how legit that is. Any personal experiences would be interesting to hear.

INTRO

• Dan John has once again released another book, and I, once again, voraciously consumed it, because Dan John could write instructions on a tube of toothpaste and I would read every single word of it. In turn, I’ll save you all the suspense of reading this full review just to say: yes, BUY Dan’s latest book, because irrespective of if you run the program(s) in it, the book itself is pure concentrated Dan John gold and absolutely worth any price tag. And, since the book JUST came out and I JUST finished reading it, I want to be clear that I am not reviewing the PROGRAM(S) in the book, but just the book itself.
  
• But I certainly see myself using what’s in the book someday.
  

WHERE AND WHAT

• To start, you can get the book here
  
• There are 3 books listed. Do yourself a favor and buy all 3, BUT, if you want the one I’m talking about, it’s the one listed “The Armor Building Formula: Bodybuilding for Real People eBook”
  
• And that, in turn, describes WHAT this book is: bodybuilding for real people. In that sense, bodybuilding does not mean “bodybuilding”: the competitive event wherein you put on posing trunks, step out on stage and get evaluated on your physique, nor is this a book to achieve the goals OF that event. This is a very classical sense of the word bodybuilding: to build one’s body, through the concentrated effort of resistance training, in order to specifically achieve an increase in the size of one’s muscles (and, ideally, muscles that are pleasing to the eyes of others). And by “Real People”, he’s referring to those of us that live in the real world and have real world obligations (work, family, school, etc) and don’t get to live the influencer lifestyle of being able to train for hours a day everyday.
  
• There’s a fair chance that YOU are a real person who is also more interested in Dan John’s bodybuilding than in “bodybuilding”, so you may find that the contents of the book appeal to you.
  

WHAT YOU GET

• Inside the book is THE Armor Building Formula, which is Dan John’s bodybuilding program that is entirely reliant on just kettlebells. Before you stop reading because you don’t have/don’t like kettlebells, there is a section with barbells too, I’ll talk about that too. But yes: you get Dan’s program in this book.
  
• “Armor Building” is here because it references an idea Dan has regarding “armor building” in the athletic sense: putting on the muscle in the right spots that allow a collision athlete to be able to handle what is thrown at them. BUT it ALSO references Dan John’s “Armor Building Complex” (ABC), which is a kettlebell complex that does a fantastic job of accomplishing this very goal of building armor. The ABC is comprised of 2 double kettlebell cleans, 1 double kettlebell press, and 3 double kettlebell front squats. It is a fantastic full body complex that hits just about everything, and can be used to absolutely blow out your lungs, finish out a kettlebell certification, get strong AND, in the case of this book, bodybuilding.
  
• The OTHER half of the Armor Building Formula is the kettlebell clean and press, with Dan providing 4 specific pressing variations to satisfy to ADHD demands of any trainee. Dan makes a compelling argument for WHY the KB Clean and Press reigns in the world of physique building, specifically referencing how a pair of big strong shoulders and well developed glutes tend to be the secret to a wonderful physique. Given my own prescription in “Chaos is the Plan”, you know I’m a fan of this philosophy.
  
• In the book, Dan details an 8 week program to follow for the Armor Building Formula. In true Dan John style, there are no prescribed weights, reps or sets: merely guidelines BUT, with an end goal in weeks 7 and 8: 30 ABCs in 30 minutes, and 100 KB clean and presses. Very similar to Mass Made Simple, you know the goal going in (squat your bodyweight for 50 reps) and you know the method: it’s on you to do the work.
  

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

• Also contained in the book is “The Barbell Armor Building Formula”: a program that can be run with just a barbell. Dan John’s Barbell ABC is premised around 2 movements: the “continuous clean and press” and the front squat. For those of you that speak strongman, the continuous clean and press is “clean each rep and press”, as opposed to “clean and press away”, wherein you clean the weight once and then do all your presses. With this, Dan gives you 3 programs to be run sequentially for a total of 11 weeks, followed by another 8 week barbell program that includes a few more movements (curl, press, row and deadlift) which, with some breaks, totals out to 20 weeks of training.
  
• On top of THIS, Dan ALSO gives you a prescription on how to perform the ABC if you only have one kettlebell, along with what to do if you only have mixed loads (no 2 KBs of the same weight).
  
• He ALSO includes methodology on including his “Easy Strength” program into these bodybuilding programs, which I personally appreciated because it meant I wasn’t absolutely off my rocker when I combined Easy Strength with Mass Made Simple.
  
• Dan ALSO includes a few other programs in the book, one simply titled “A Bonus Program”, which requires a bit more equipment (most notably, a machine row), one of Reg Park’s programs, a sample of Frank Zane’s programming (more as an example of what the book ISN’T…but hey, it’s still there), and some helpful warm up instructions too.
  

WHAT YOU ALSO GET

• Just tons and tons of nuggets of Dan John wisdom, all on the topic of bodybuilding for sure, but also very easy to expand into the realm of for real training in general, and life as well. Dan goes into topics on warming up, cooling down, the value of walking, nutrition, the science of muscular development, historical precedents, strength standards, etc. It’s 198 pages, and they’re all pretty awesome.

WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER?

• If you are the kind of guy that just wants someone to lay out a program for you: that’s not this book. It takes a LOT of reading to even get to the program in the first place, and once you get there, it’s in a narrative style, rather than a prescriptive style. I, personally, PREFER that manner of delivery, and, in turn, enjoyed the hell out of this book, but I know that some folks are going to get chapped about this.
  
• I’ve heard Dan speaking about this book a bunch on his podcast, and he actually almost quoted whole sections of it in answering some questions (which is awesome, because it’s like you have a printed copy of his podcast), but despite all the time and effort reading, reviewing and editing, there’s still a few typos and sentences that start and end the same (something like “lifting weights is one of the greatest ways to achieve physical transformation is lifting weights”). Given my blog (and most likely this very review) is full of these issues, I’m not one to judge, but those paying for a product might be put off by it.
  
• Some of the sections in the book are just blatant reprints of articles previously written by Dan. They’re still incredibly on topic and value added in the book, but if you’ve already read them before, it can feel like you got stiffed out of content. But, of course, that’s a GOOD thing as well: the fact I was upset there wasn’t even MORE content there means I enjoyed the hell out of it. I’ve read my fair share of books that I wished would just be over.
  
• The only thing keeping this from being a for real “all in one” manual is a lack of actual instruction on how to perform the movements in the program. Mass Made Simple contained that, which I felt was pretty awesome. In addition, I WISH Dan had released this book in 2020, for his sake and the sake of the world, because he would have made a killing giving people full on programs they could run with just some kettlebells or a barbell, and we all would have gotten a lot more jacked if we had this resource.
  

WHAT ABOUT MASS MADE SIMPLE?

• That’s the most immediate question: why would I read and follow THIS Dan John bodybuilding book and not his other one? This is just plain different from MMS, and that’s not a bad thing. MMS is another fantastic book also full of Dan John wisdom on the subject of building mass, but his audience there is less “real people” and more “real athletes”. To run that program, you have to be ready to really do some suffering and put in the work in the gym and at the table. * * You also have to be willing to set aside 6-7 weeks of your life to really dedicate yourself to the effort. In turn, I honestly like the idea of new trainees taking on MMS, because it’s a very solid gut check, recalibrates expectations of the self, and Dan does a great job walking the trainee through the entire program, to include instruction on the movements themselves.
  
• The Armor Building Formula seems far more sustainable than MMS. Dan recommends MMS be run, at most, 2x a year, whereas the ABF definitely has legs to go on for long stretches. ABF is more akin to a baseline 5/3/1 program, while MMS is more like Super Squats, if I were to employ analogy.
  

SHOULD YOU GET IT?

• Absolutely, 100%. No matter your goals or your equipment, you are sure to get something out of this book.

Hi, everyone. I'm undocumented and about 10 months ago I started nannying for a family 5 minutes away from me. I didn't set up a contract or anything, so I wasn't ever sure how much PTO or vacation I had. We've just been estimating.
For three kids, 6, 5, and 2, I charged 20/hr (located in Chicago Illinois). I only had 2 years of experience and didn't think I was worth more.
Originally I was told I was only responsible for:
Tidying up the kids places and where I played. The kids dishes Changing them Laundry (folding) Feeding them what the mom gives me And driving them to school. (2 hr commute) Using their car. (For emergencies I would use mine, no gas money was given or asked for)
What I now do:
I load the dishwasher every morning. (Because of I don't she'll ask me to stay longer so, she can load the dishwasher) I organize different areas of the house (she'll ask me to help) I organize their kitchen area almost every morning. I'll run errands for her, (pick food up, or bring stuff to the cleaners, and pick up coffee) Sometimes they'll leave me all three in the morning to feed and cook for. I sometimes get 30 minute break. I do 45 hrs a week, and about two weeks ago I found out after 40 hrs they have to pay you time in a half. Lol I lost a lot of money and time!
They never let me out at the same time, which is frustrating because I can't plan anything because she'll need me for an hour or two extra sometimes.
How do you start conversations about setting boundaries? What is the most respectful way to start and say, "I've wasted a lot of money and time and I will no longer be staying passed 8 hrs"
How did you set up boundaries?
Thank you!

INTRO

• Dan John has once again released another book, and I, once again, voraciously consumed it, because Dan John could write instructions on a tube of toothpaste and I would read every single word of it. In turn, I’ll save you all the suspense of reading this full review just to say: yes, BUY Dan’s latest book, because irrespective of if you run the program(s) in it, the book itself is pure concentrated Dan John gold and absolutely worth any price tag. And, since the book JUST came out and I JUST finished reading it, I want to be clear that I am not reviewing the PROGRAM(S) in the book, but just the book itself.
  
• But I certainly see myself using what’s in the book someday.
  

WHERE AND WHAT

• To start, you can get the book here
  
• There are 3 books listed. Do yourself a favor and buy all 3, BUT, if you want the one I’m talking about, it’s the one listed “The Armor Building Formula: Bodybuilding for Real People eBook”
  
• And that, in turn, describes WHAT this book is: bodybuilding for real people. In that sense, bodybuilding does not mean “bodybuilding”: the competitive event wherein you put on posing trunks, step out on stage and get evaluated on your physique, nor is this a book to achieve the goals OF that event. This is a very classical sense of the word bodybuilding: to build one’s body, through the concentrated effort of resistance training, in order to specifically achieve an increase in the size of one’s muscles (and, ideally, muscles that are pleasing to the eyes of others). And by “Real People”, he’s referring to those of us that live in the real world and have real world obligations (work, family, school, etc) and don’t get to live the influencer lifestyle of being able to train for hours a day everyday.
  
• There’s a fair chance that YOU are a real person who is also more interested in Dan John’s bodybuilding than in “bodybuilding”, so you may find that the contents of the book appeal to you.
  

WHAT YOU GET

• Inside the book is THE Armor Building Formula, which is Dan John’s bodybuilding program that is entirely reliant on just kettlebells. Before you stop reading because you don’t have/don’t like kettlebells, there is a section with barbells too, I’ll talk about that too. But yes: you get Dan’s program in this book.
  
• “Armor Building” is here because it references an idea Dan has regarding “armor building” in the athletic sense: putting on the muscle in the right spots that allow a collision athlete to be able to handle what is thrown at them. BUT it ALSO references Dan John’s “Armor Building Complex” (ABC), which is a kettlebell complex that does a fantastic job of accomplishing this very goal of building armor. The ABC is comprised of 2 double kettlebell cleans, 1 double kettlebell press, and 3 double kettlebell front squats. It is a fantastic full body complex that hits just about everything, and can be used to absolutely blow out your lungs, finish out a kettlebell certification, get strong AND, in the case of this book, bodybuilding.
  
• The OTHER half of the Armor Building Formula is the kettlebell clean and press, with Dan providing 4 specific pressing variations to satisfy to ADHD demands of any trainee. Dan makes a compelling argument for WHY the KB Clean and Press reigns in the world of physique building, specifically referencing how a pair of big strong shoulders and well developed glutes tend to be the secret to a wonderful physique. Given my own prescription in “Chaos is the Plan”, you know I’m a fan of this philosophy.
  
• In the book, Dan details an 8 week program to follow for the Armor Building Formula. In true Dan John style, there are no prescribed weights, reps or sets: merely guidelines BUT, with an end goal in weeks 7 and 8: 30 ABCs in 30 minutes, and 100 KB clean and presses. Very similar to Mass Made Simple, you know the goal going in (squat your bodyweight for 50 reps) and you know the method: it’s on you to do the work.
  

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

• Also contained in the book is “The Barbell Armor Building Formula”: a program that can be run with just a barbell. Dan John’s Barbell ABC is premised around 2 movements: the “continuous clean and press” and the front squat. For those of you that speak strongman, the continuous clean and press is “clean each rep and press”, as opposed to “clean and press away”, wherein you clean the weight once and then do all your presses. With this, Dan gives you 3 programs to be run sequentially for a total of 11 weeks, followed by another 8 week barbell program that includes a few more movements (curl, press, row and deadlift) which, with some breaks, totals out to 20 weeks of training.
  
• On top of THIS, Dan ALSO gives you a prescription on how to perform the ABC if you only have one kettlebell, along with what to do if you only have mixed loads (no 2 KBs of the same weight).
  
• He ALSO includes methodology on including his “Easy Strength” program into these bodybuilding programs, which I personally appreciated because it meant I wasn’t absolutely off my rocker when I combined Easy Strength with Mass Made Simple.
  
• Dan ALSO includes a few other programs in the book, one simply titled “A Bonus Program”, which requires a bit more equipment (most notably, a machine row), one of Reg Park’s programs, a sample of Frank Zane’s programming (more as an example of what the book ISN’T…but hey, it’s still there), and some helpful warm up instructions too.
  

WHAT YOU ALSO GET

• Just tons and tons of nuggets of Dan John wisdom, all on the topic of bodybuilding for sure, but also very easy to expand into the realm of for real training in general, and life as well. Dan goes into topics on warming up, cooling down, the value of walking, nutrition, the science of muscular development, historical precedents, strength standards, etc. It’s 198 pages, and they’re all pretty awesome.

WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER?

• If you are the kind of guy that just wants someone to lay out a program for you: that’s not this book. It takes a LOT of reading to even get to the program in the first place, and once you get there, it’s in a narrative style, rather than a prescriptive style. I, personally, PREFER that manner of delivery, and, in turn, enjoyed the hell out of this book, but I know that some folks are going to get chapped about this.
  
• I’ve heard Dan speaking about this book a bunch on his podcast, and he actually almost quoted whole sections of it in answering some questions (which is awesome, because it’s like you have a printed copy of his podcast), but despite all the time and effort reading, reviewing and editing, there’s still a few typos and sentences that start and end the same (something like “lifting weights is one of the greatest ways to achieve physical transformation is lifting weights”). Given my blog (and most likely this very review) is full of these issues, I’m not one to judge, but those paying for a product might be put off by it.
  
• Some of the sections in the book are just blatant reprints of articles previously written by Dan. They’re still incredibly on topic and value added in the book, but if you’ve already read them before, it can feel like you got stiffed out of content. But, of course, that’s a GOOD thing as well: the fact I was upset there wasn’t even MORE content there means I enjoyed the hell out of it. I’ve read my fair share of books that I wished would just be over.
  
• The only thing keeping this from being a for real “all in one” manual is a lack of actual instruction on how to perform the movements in the program. Mass Made Simple contained that, which I felt was pretty awesome. In addition, I WISH Dan had released this book in 2020, for his sake and the sake of the world, because he would have made a killing giving people full on programs they could run with just some kettlebells or a barbell, and we all would have gotten a lot more jacked if we had this resource.
  

WHAT ABOUT MASS MADE SIMPLE?

• That’s the most immediate question: why would I read and follow THIS Dan John bodybuilding book and not his other one? This is just plain different from MMS, and that’s not a bad thing. MMS is another fantastic book also full of Dan John wisdom on the subject of building mass, but his audience there is less “real people” and more “real athletes”. To run that program, you have to be ready to really do some suffering and put in the work in the gym and at the table. * * You also have to be willing to set aside 6-7 weeks of your life to really dedicate yourself to the effort. In turn, I honestly like the idea of new trainees taking on MMS, because it’s a very solid gut check, recalibrates expectations of the self, and Dan does a great job walking the trainee through the entire program, to include instruction on the movements themselves.
  
• The Armor Building Formula seems far more sustainable than MMS. Dan recommends MMS be run, at most, 2x a year, whereas the ABF definitely has legs to go on for long stretches. ABF is more akin to a baseline 5/3/1 program, while MMS is more like Super Squats, if I were to employ analogy.
  

SHOULD YOU GET IT?

• Absolutely, 100%. No matter your goals or your equipment, you are sure to get something out of this book.

Next time you finish a game of Monopoly and you are cleaning up, instead of putting all the money back into the bank by color, create little $1,500 packets ($500, $100, $50 x 2 and $20, $10, and $1 x 5).
This way, the next time you want to play Monopoly, all the money is already divvied up and you can dive right into a game instead of trying to remember how much money everyone gets and handing it all out.

So, I’m trying to get more women to join our academy. Our academy is fairly cheap it’s $65 per month with a $10 discount if you join with a family member. So, my husband it’s $65 I’m $55 my kids are $40 each (originally $50 per person for kids) and if you want you can train at least 6 times a week with one all women’s class Friday nights.
I saw the benefits on rolling with just guys (especially 20-50+lbs on me) but man, my old ass is getting tired. How do I get people to come? I offer to watch kids, I offered to cook dinner for them to just try it out. It’s so discouraging.
My story is different on why I joined so what are some things that caught your attention to join and make it a regular thing for you? How do you introduce BJJ to people? I have posted on spouses pages on fb near me, I posted on my community page but just questions asked and got a maybe one day. One lady hyped me up so much and she didn’t show it was worse than getting stood up on a bomb date. I even was going to let her use my favorite gi. I just long a BJJ bestie I think.

I’ll clarify at the start that I am unfamiliar with most of the legalese or economic language used throughout this. If I am making incorrect assumptions or generally misunderstanding something, please clarify.
I’ve worked at my company for nearly 4 years. I am based in England.
Two years ago, my company offered staff with >=6 months tenure share options through an EMI scheme which would allow us to exercise them upon the company being bought out or merged. I claimed my offered shares at the time and forgot about it until recently.
The company had a meeting today announcing they had been bought out, and are merging with a slightly larger company (both quite small though). However, the discussion of options was not what we expected.
The company said that the options granted through this scheme “fell short of meeting regulatory requirements” and were therefore “invalid and do not qualify for tax efficiency”. The reason given for this was because the options were not set up in the parent company, but the subsidiary (Company Ltd. instead of Company Holdings Ltd.). The company claim the directors have initiated a “governance rectification” project revisiting all their procedures and governance to ensure compliance with aforementioned regulatory requirements.
The company want us to surrender our options and accept a simultaneous re-issue of options in the correct parent company. We have been given until the end of day tomorrow to do this, or we will risk losing our options entirely.
To my knowledge, from discussions with colleagues, this means that our previous options would have only been taxed at 10% - but the new scheme means that we will have to pay tax and national insurance on top of this when exercising our new options - a significant decrease in the post-tax value of the options.
The platform for which we claimed these options listed the initial company valuation at £40m (from 2022). The share price we had been given to purchase these shares was 52p per share, and the valuation put the share value at £3.29 each. However, it has also come out that the sale was for the value of £29m, with an additional £5m in 2 years. The company is selling for less than the valuation we received 2 years ago.
To me personally, this is not a major thing. It was always just an “extra”, nothing I made any significant decisions on. However, I know for a fact that the company has used these options in negotiations with a former employee to attempt to convince them to stay. Many staff are also quite angry that the valuation of their shares is going to be significantly less than they expected, given the lower sale price and the additional tax to pay based on the company’s error.
Are there legal grounds against the company here? From what I can conclude:

• The original valuation was massively incorrect (the company has grown in the past 2 years and is certainly not in decline), leading employees to believe shares were worth much more than they actually were.
• The expected tax relief is no longer applicable, meaning a 30-60% difference in share value when exercised.

The difference between the meeting and the deadline for surrendering old options and accepting new ones is under 30 hours. It is concerning to me that this is happening so fast, and people are not really having it explained to them and what it means. The company presentation did not contain any information beyond “surrender old, accept new” or the financial impact of this process.
Any advice would be appreciated, I am quite interested in this whole debacle and also unsure whether or not to complete their process based on how under-the-table everything seems to be. A lot of the above information I have had to find myself from colleagues rather than have the company explain it in a complete manner.

Dads, just had my daughter baptized (she's 10 months; we wanted to wait for logistical reasons). It was to get our families together more than anything.
Of course, my MIL had to bring up—because she didn't get her granddaughter anything with much thought behind it (which is fine; we don't mind)—that she has a Bright Start 529 for our daughter, to everyone in my family.
There is no 529. It's hypothetical at best. We know because she doesn't have the SSN. But she keeps talking about a college fund for her.
Any thoughts on how to tackle this? It's insulting not because we want / expect any sort of help in this regard, but because she is acting as if she has done this, and brags (essentially) about it.
Would love some input here. (My wife is more irked by this than I am, for what it's worth.)

I've seen a few posts and comments here singing their praises which is bewildering to me. I ordered a hauberk from them and they got literally everything wrong. The chest is narrower than they said it is, the arms were 8 inches longer than they said they would be, the whole thing was 6 inches shorter than they said it would be, and it was missing close to 50 rings and probably almost 100 loose rivets.
I understand its a cheap budget option but seriously it was not worth the money at all, its just not worth it. You're much better off getting something from Lord of Battles or Zeughaus and just modifying it yourself.