No mlm

I only understand MLM as multi-level marketing, but it doesn't seem to make sense in the conversation. I tried asking a couple of times, no answer.

Update 2: I went full Gladys Kravitz and did some internet sleuthing. Here's what I learned:

• Found out the girlfriend has an alias, and located her social media profile.
• They are in Thailand, and have been since March. Looks like they are having a fabulous time, for anyone wondering.
• She's an "influencer". Her current push is a MLM diet drink she invented along with something about a millionaire mindset. She posts a lot but has almost zero engagement from her 25k followers, other than a few likes here and there.
• All of the previous business websites are now defunct.
• He hasn't paid any of the property taxes.
• She's being sued by an assisted living facility on the East Coast, which is where they moved from.
• It does not appear that they are coming back based on some of the posts. Lots of "we followed our hearts and it led us here" kinda shit.
• Cool. Cool cool cool.

Update 1: Had a welfare check done. Police went around the property, looked in all the windows. It appears no one is home.
I hope I don't sound like an asshole here. I've got a neighbor next to me who's kind of a weird guy with an even more bizarre girlfriend (she has lots of strange side businesses, but seems to end up sued in the end after she cuts and runs). He lost his job in Feb/March.
Anyway, since moving in, they've never touched their lawn, and after the drought we had last year, the entire yard wound up dying. Anything that was left, was killed by the leaves he never raked in the fall. A lot of that is likely due to the neighbors prior who planted grass that had to be watered constantly and was maintained by a lawn service, so the yard was weak to begin with. Now nature is taking it back and weeds are growing in its place. Big ones. Which is attracting some new animals. We had a big storm come through, they lost a lot of branches, so we cleaned them up because they were blocking the sidewalk. That was when we realized we haven't seen them in a while.
They normally use their garage for cars, but for the last 2-3 weeks (maybe more?) their car has been in their driveway and the same package sits on their porch. I don't know if they've just abandoned the house and left? I'm worried because of the cut-and-run shady business history that the same thing is happening to the house and it's going to attract criminals or squatters. Something similar happened to a house at the end of the street a few years ago and it turned into a drug den.
I would file a city ordinance report, but they'll just send a letter. Which the neighbors won't receive, because they're gone. I think.
If they're not gone, then I'm very concerned whoever is in the house is dead. The car in the driveway has me a little nervous, I find it odd that they would leave behind a Mercedes. He sold his truck, the only other vehicle was a muscle car that they either took or is still sitting in the garage.
Do I call the police and have them do a welfare check?

Back to playing, and I want to make that final grind for 99 mining. Currently sitting 94-95. I've been keen to MLM due to how AFK it is, especially with the recent changes (hopper in the upper level was added since I last played.) Most of the mining guides I see are from early this year or older, so wanted to verify some info on what is efficient, keeping in mind, I am not good (nor do I want to focus so closely on) tick manipulation for max XP/GP per hour.

1. What is the efficiency difference (GP and XP) per MLM and gem mining (no 3-tick manipulation)?
2. Is cutting my own gems from the mine result in a significantly lower GP/hr?
3. Does the Celestial Ring boost rate of getting Adamantime / Runite ore from MLM, thereby boosting GP/hr?
4. * How does amethyst compare to MLM, star mining, and gem mining in terms of XP and GP per hour?

My account was also hacked and I lost darn near everything, so good GP per hour is also high on my list. Ideally, once I hit 99 mining, I'll have plenty of money to buy new combat/slayer gear.
TL;DR: Verifying MLM (upper level) is good XP/GP per hour vs non-tick manipulation gem mining (w/ gem bag and hard Karamji diary).
EDIT: To include an additional question*

I’m an eldest daughter from a mixed cultural background for context so… yeah.
I swear to god the second I was born my parents wanted me to be a surgeon or a doctor. I was bought science books, science themed everything as gifts etc etc. Basically forced to be a geek before I even reached school age (nothing wrong with geeks at all I still am one now hehe.) I was also forced to play violin and do classical singing and they’d constantly tell me when I reached 18 I need to join the cities symphony orchestra. So a doctor and a classical maestro….. right…
I actually had an interest in disease from a youngish age so I did eventually want to go to medical school or do a stem degree so that kept them happy but every week somewhere in convo me becoming a doctor would be brought up. My mum would also constantly make me perform music for her friends which embarrassed tf out of me.
So awesome! Parents who wanna see their kids succeed right? So what did they do to help me go to medical school?
Tutoring? No. Too expensive even when I requested extra help for maths (my weakness) my mum told me I am not getting it because I have shitty focus and it’s a waste of money.
Good grades? I got those. When I didn’t I was beaten or not allowed to eat dinner. Nevermind they never took interest in any of my schoolwork. I was expected to just do well regardlesss. My GC sister would get 20 bucks for every grade she got over a C+.
A home environment conducive for studying? With all the yelling and constant drinking and physical violence my home life was very hard to Be in. But I wasn’t allowed outside on school nights so going to a library or my friend’s house was out of the question. I really struggled to focus when my mum would burst into my room every night to yell at me for leaving a cup in the sink.
Volunteering? My parents made it known they thought I was irresponsible and stupid(??) and would never take me to anything I wanted to participate in for college credit. I didn’t even bother asking after the first few times. I’d taken interest in going on a trip to Africa to shadow a midwife for a couple weeks using money I’d saved from my cashier job and my aunt and thought this was a wonderful opportunity. My racist ass mum wouldn’t let me go because she didn’t want African men “giving me aids” which I just… I feel nauseous even typing that. I was 15.
Mental health support? A psych told my parents it was highly likely I had inattentive ADHD when I was young and instead of seeking further help which I’m sure would have been beneficial my mum decided from her expert peer reviewed research of speaking to her MLM sales friend that my behaviour of sometimes submitting homework late and dawdling in the shower was because of my diet and suddenly lactose and sugar were banned and I had to have these shake things every morning. It did nothing btw. My dad also told me he didn’t believe in that stuff and I was just not exercising enough… yeah because I wasn’t allowed to leave the house lmao.
During my exams years (11&12) my parents went through an incredibly messy divorce which obviously was hard. My dad was given custody because my mum made like 0 money and because of his work schedule and hobbies I had to feed, drive and do chores for my younger sister who really took the divorce hard. She slept in my room most nights. Despite this I somehow managed to keep my grades decent enough to where I was invited to interview for a pre-medical program in another state. My parents wouldn’t pay for flights so I couldn’t go. I applied for a biomedical science degree in my state and got accepted and decided to go there instead. The minute I got the acceptance letter my parents were pressuring me to move out (16) and so I did. No help in any way shape or form I moved 4 hours away. For years they constantly shamed me and called me lazy whenever I brought up my studies because it wasn’t medicine. I said it Wasn’t too late to attend medical school it was just far too expensive for me to pay for (we don’t do loans in my country) and they just shrugged.
I haven’t talked to them in nearly a decade and this still grinds me. How the hell did they expect me to get into medical school and go with no money and no support of any kind (emotional, physical etc.) and then shame me for not going.
Nothing I ever achieved was good enough. My classical music got me many awards and they would still put immense pressure to the point where as soon as I could I quit. I got diagnosed with ADHD last year and have since been medicated and man.. the difference in my focus is night and day. I feel it’s important to note neither of my parents even finished high school lol.
DAE experience the pressure to be a prodigy with no parental guidance?

I live in a red state in a very wealthy, very red, very MAGA area. “Fiscally responsible” is thrown around a lot.
The county commission voted on a budget for next year, but there’s a 10+ million shortfall for the district. There’s a big debate going on now because a commissioner suggested only providing raises for teachers instead of across the board and the superintendent pushed back.
Of course we have people on social media demanding “budget line items” (the current, very detailed website for the budget isn’t good enough, they literally said they wanted a spreadsheet) so they can go through it and determine what to cut.
Lady, you are part of an MLM. You haven’t been in a school in over 30 years. You have no idea what goes on in schools or central office. Heck, most teachers don’t know what goes on in schools outside of their bubble.
I have been teaching for a long time. I have seen what happens when “fat” is trimmed. The work trickles down to the teachers and we are already doing too much.
Yeah, the superintendent doesn’t need a chauffeur or three assistants or whatever. But that’s not going to remove 10 million from the budget. And for random people on social media to act like they should have any say in what positions and other expenses should be cut is infuriating.
EDIT: Currently, people are suggesting cutting the district office of communications because “the schools already communicate with us.”

In no particular order, here is my attempt to list all the Pax “types” we all meet every day.

• Car Guy: car guy has an RX Ultima Z800D with a rear defenestrator and 7000 horses a second. But it’s in the shop, and anyway he’s thinking about buying a Chevy Scoophead 9 million with both front and rear engines that runs on farts. Let’s talk about cars for 20 minutes.
  
• Personal Finance Guy: personal finance guy wants to know how much you make per kilometer, per minute, per passenger, how much you pay for gas, maintenance and toilet paper. He wants to know the exact amount in your bank account and then talk about the fuel efficiency of your car for 10 minutes. Finance guy thinks you should be working in finance instead.
  
• Sexual Harassment Guy: Sexual Harassment Guy fucks. He wants you to know he fucks. See that girl? He’s fuck her. Roll down the window. Do you fuck? Oh you’re married? You must not fuck. Hope she’s hot. Want to see the girl I’m fucking?
  
• Trauma Girl: ex-girlfriend of sexual harassment guy. She sits right behind you. She stares straight ahead. If she speaks, it’s only to inform you she has a boyfriend. If you’re a female driver, she sighs with relief. If you’re a big guy, she’s visibly nervous. Big tip if you leave her alone.
  
• Stag Do Steve: Steve’s about to get married, and as a result, is too drunk to stand. If he makes it to the car, which is 50/50, he’ll immediately want to change the destination. Luckily stag do Steve is always accompanied by:
  
• Nice Guy Eddie: Eddie apologizes for Steve and keeps him under control. He tips big because he’s a working class stiff. He makes you feel better about having Steve in the car. Eddie is good people.
  
• Tech Brodie: Tech Brodie works at Uber, or InstaGoogle, as a junior neural framework compiler. He believes he knows everything about everything because he heard about it on Lex Friedman’s podcast. His Tesla is in the shop. Of course.
  
• It Girl : It Girl spends half the time swiping left on bumblr or Twirlr, and taking sexy selfies as you drive by monuments. It girl knows she’s hot, knows you know she’s hot, and expects to be hit on. When you don’t, she’s frankly a little annoyed.
  
• Foreigner Hater Fran/Frank: FHF’s first question is where you’re from. If you’re from one of those good (white) countries, he/she wants to tell you about all those people from those bad (not white) countries. If you’re a foreigner who speaks the local language well, he/she informs you you’re one of the “good” ones. FHF lets you know they have black friends (they don’t).
  
• IDF Guy/Girl Not just a typical Zionist, but a genuinely dangerous seeming person. Wants to know your stance on Israel, and if your answer is to nuanced or neutral they will spend 10 minutes “educating” you on the situation. Avoid politics.
  
• the Nigerian Entrepreneur : this person speaks 6 languages, got an mba from Harvard, and is running 3 businesses while also taking pilot lessons. They will damage your self-esteem by being better than you in every way.
  
• The Motivational Speaker: takes it upon themselves to unilaterally improve your life during a 12 minute drive. They may mention they are in an MLM at some point.
  
• Phone Girl: phone girl’s phone is blowing up fam. She’s texting while calling and getting call waiting about the texts she isn’t answering. Bonus points for leaving her phone on speaker.
  
• It’s your fault I’m late guy: you could have made that light. What is this guy doing? It will be faster if you turn off here. Look I was supposed to be there 10 minutes ago. Come on if I knew it would have taken you this long to get to me I wouldn’t have ordered. No tip. Bonus points for a 2 star “bad navigation” review.
  
• Story Time: you would believe what happened to this person today. You won’t care, but you’ll hear the whole story in exhaustive detail.
  
• Human GPS: you want to get in the left lane here. It’s about 2km on the right. You wanna pass this guy. You better signal.
  
• ”It’s just a minute away” guy: he wants you to take him somewhere else, but it’s just like a minute away. Will refuse to put the new destination into the app, because they know it will cost more. Average of 4-5 minutes away.
  
• 2 Minutes Girl: I swear I just need to run inside, grab something, and come back. It will be 2 minutes. Average of 11 minutes waiting. Will be on the phone when they come back and will not end the call until you drop them off.
  
• Tip You In the App Guy: never tips you in the app.
  
• quietly tips big gigachad: doesn’t say a word about anything. Is polite, gets out, and leaves a monster tip, sometimes as much as the base fare.
  

That’s my partial list. Any other contributions, I’ll be happy to add them.
Edit: some additions

• Suburban Winemom Does Big City: she’s probably a real estate agent, but she’s definitely a closeted alcoholic.
  
• Front Seat Guy : front seat guy wants to sit in front, and doesn’t want to be told no. Bonus points for messing with the aircon or giving you navigation tips you don’t need. Beer breath strongly encouraged.
  
• Yelling in the Car Girl/Guy: YCG yells. In the car. A lot. Sometimes also out of the car.
  
• coming to you guy: coming to you guy is coming to you, even if you ask them not to, even if they have to cross 4 lanes of busy traffic, forcing you to stop on a fire access lane. Coming to you guy must come to you.
  

Welcome to our weekly odds and ends post!

If you are looking for events, please check out our exhaustive Events Calendar!

Every parent level comment should begin with one of the following categories:
[For Sale] concert tickets, beauty and grooming services, Ikea bookcases
[For Free] dental checkups and couches that you can totally have for free but you have to move them yourself
[Want to Buy] * Rave tickets, a used toaster, a cute puppy*
[Job Request] You're new to the city and are looking for work in IT or you hate your job and need some leads. Be sure to include your skills and qualifications. A lot of people on this sub love to help others but they can't do that if they don't know your background and interests.
[Job Announcement] You're looking for new team members for a fantastic job that ISN'T a scammy ca$h4work gig or MLM
[Living Arrangements] You need a roommate, an apartment, or are offering a living arrangement. Be sure to clarify your tidiness expectations because you never know what you're going to get when accepting a roommate and I'm NOT GOING TO DO YOUR DAMN DISHES ANYMORE REBECCA
[Personals] You're lonely, new to the city, want to play extreme Frisbee, or need someone to eat Ian's Pizza with because no one wants to do that alone. We understand.
[Event] An advertisement for your amazing upcoming event - like a urban foraging excursion or band performance that is totally going to blow the roof off

So I [26M] matched with this girl [24F] on Bumble. She works in F&B as a business consultant and I personally own a small restaurant. Let me write down the chronology of what went down in the conversation here:
1st day - Her first question was which restaurant brand I owned. I was pretty uncomfortable in sharing it so I just said oh just a small joint in X particular niche. I answered her first "2 Truths 1 Lie" which lead to a pretty personal topic on the get-go (about divorced parents from mine and her side). Other than that it got a little dry after. She ended the conversation without moving the topic elsewhere.
2nd day - I sent her a pic of a pizza I ate that morning and told her to rate it (it was pretty bad). She answered and asked where it was. I told her if she wanted to find out (was trying be a little flirty). She said how, and I said I can take her for a nice lunch there for a conversation, either we hit it off or worst case scenario she can just pitch me her consultation services that I might be able to use for my own business.
3rd day - No response
4th day - She responded, "No thanks, you're probably an MLM scheme". I jokingly replied with a badly drawn picture of a pyramid with me on top and her name on the bottom of the scheme. She responded with laughter after. We had a synchronous conversation after that about random things and I pushed the idea of a fun date again (since I thought the mood was pretty playful). She asked me how many shoots have I shot for a date, I said just one, which was her (was honestly the truth, since I found 0 people that is my type after a month of using bumble). She quickly changed the topic into her initial question at day 1 which was what my restaurant was. I finally answered, and she told me she wanted to order 1 for tomorrow. I jokingly said fuck that, I'd rather have a date with you and she replied with a lmao. Afterwards, the conversation just went on about cooking.
5th day - I offered her whether she wanted to buy some of the food from my restaurant in the morning, in which she didn't reply till nighttime where she claimed she was super busy. I said it's not a big deal and the conversation ended.
6th day - I sent her some pictures in the morning on some menus I'm working on and she replied with some valuable insights about them. She asked whether the restaurant was open right now (it was closed) and I said well I can make an exception to cook for you personally. She replied with some enthusiasm and said, ah it's fine you don't have to do it, which I replied with an ok. Afterwards, she told me that there was an event going on that she's organizing and that she'll be there today. She said I should come and join with my friends and mingle if I'm not doing anything. I told her, I'll think about it and ended up telling her that I'm sorry that I'm not coming later that day because I had some stuff to do. Then I told her I'd love to come when we finally have that date. She replied that it's ok I didn't come, thanks anyways (but no referring to the statement for the date). After this, she just doesn't seem interested in talking to me.
After reading what I just wrote, I realize I might've been too pushy for a date. What do you guys think?
One thing to note about me is that I was friend-zoned quite often during my younger days, which lead me to be insecure about it and being a little too forward about my intentions with girls now so that I'm an adult so it never happens again. It's worked before, but maybe not to some women.
Was she interested in the first place? If yes, is there anyway I can fix this? Can I say "let's start over"? I feel like an idiot now that I realize how I approached her lol. I'm very interested in still pursuing her and would appreciate some insights on this.
Edit: Thanks for the perspective kings. Would still like to know how a female sees this though.

So I [26M] matched with this girl [24F] on Bumble. She works in F&B as a business consultant and I personally own a small restaurant. Let me write down the chronology of what went down in the conversation here:
1st day - Her first question was which restaurant brand I owned. I was pretty uncomfortable in sharing it so I just said oh just a small joint in X particular niche. I answered her first "2 Truths 1 Lie" which lead to a pretty personal topic on the get-go (about divorced parents from mine and her side). Other than that it got a little dry after. She ended the conversation without moving the topic elsewhere.
2nd day - I sent her a pic of a pizza I ate that morning and told her to rate it (it was pretty bad). She answered and asked where it was. I told her if she wanted to find out (was trying be a little flirty). She said how, and I said I can take her for a nice lunch there for a conversation, either we hit it off or worst case scenario she can just pitch me her consultation services that I might be able to use for my own business.
3rd day - No response
4th day - She responded, "No thanks, you're probably an MLM scheme". I jokingly replied with a badly drawn picture of a pyramid with me on top and her name on the bottom of the scheme. She responded with laughter after. We had a synchronous conversation after that about random things and I pushed the idea of a fun date again (since I thought the mood was pretty playful). She asked me how many shoots have I shot for a date, I said just one, which was her (was honestly the truth, since I found 0 people that is my type after a month of using bumble). She quickly changed the topic into her initial question at day 1 which was what my restaurant was. I finally answered, and she told me she wanted to order 1 for tomorrow. I jokingly said fuck that, I'd rather have a date with you and she replied with a lmao. Afterwards, the conversation just went on about cooking.
5th day - I offered her whether she wanted to buy some of the food from my restaurant in the morning, in which she didn't reply till nighttime where she claimed she was super busy. I said it's not a big deal and the conversation ended.
6th day - I sent her some pictures in the morning on some menus I'm working on and she replied with some valuable insights about them. She asked whether the restaurant was open right now (it was closed) and I said well I can make an exception to cook for you personally. She replied with some enthusiasm and said, ah it's fine you don't have to do it, which I replied with an ok. Afterwards, she told me that there was an event going on that she's organizing and that she'll be there today. She said I should come and join with my friends and mingle if I'm not doing anything. I told her, I'll think about it and ended up telling her that I'm sorry that I'm not coming later that day because I had some stuff to do. Then I told her I'd love to come when we finally have that date. She replied that it's ok I didn't come, thanks anyways (but no referring to the statement for the date). After this, she just doesn't seem interested in talking to me.
After reading what I just wrote, I realize I might've been too pushy for a date. What do you guys think?
One thing to note about me is that I was friend-zoned quite often during my younger days, which lead me to being a little too forward about my intentions with girls now so that it never happens again.
Was she interested in the first place? If yes, is there anyway I can fix this? Can I say "let's start over"? I feel like an idiot now that I realize how I approached her lol. Would appreciate some insights on this

I come from a petty-burgeois family. For a while we had a good relationship and similar politics, but then the 2018 Bolsonaro election and their support of it made me deeply reevaluate my politics, eventually leading me down the path of Marxism, then Marxism-Leninism, and now I'm investigating Maoism as well.
The root of my problems, I thought, is that I still cannot fully let go of petty-burgeois emotionalism I grew up with, I still cannot fully hate my family even though they are class enemies. But I eventually came to recognize that politics isn't about what I feel, and came to admit that, uncomfortable as it may be for me, they may very well have to be shot, and I will have to just let it happen. It should be fine, I would live to see them die for one reason or another and if this happens as collateral damage of a revolution it would be overall a really good thing even if I, personally, need some time to mourn later. No revolution with white gloves and all that. I already had people in my family die so I know I get over it eventually and that I can't put my temporary feelings above the whole future of the working class. With this I thought I was useful enough as a ML.
But when I started investigating Maoism it became clear that my petty-burgeois individualism runs even deeper than that, namely, I'm fundamentally unconfrontational and cowardly and reclusive and cannot honestly visualize the revolution actually happening within my lifetime, and this is the kind of stuff that hinders political activism and makes me prioritize personal safety over the movement. Still, I tried getting out of my comfort zone and being politically active anyway in my pre-Maoism days and joined the main revolutionary party in my country (Brazil's PCB), of Marxist-Leninist orientation (revisionist and outdated, as I would later find out in my studies). But where I live it was only a small cell and we were unable to do any significant political activism until it eventually disbanded due to internal conflicts within the party and due to everyone being too busy and too hopeless. And now that I'm studying Maoism, it all makes sense in hindsight. We were more concerned with distributing magazines than being in touch and at the service of the masses and that is a grave error.
But what can I do then? My problem isn't in the outcomes of the revolution or with the kind of society that will follow, which I belive to be overwhelmingly positive and I'm fine with giving up my tremendous privilege for it (I'm studying computer science, a very privileged labor aristocrat position, but it's mostly because it's a subject I enjoy than because of the prestige, I'm definitely supportive of wage equality and I'm fine with doing hard labor in the mines or in the camp or the factories should it be necessary, and I'm also fine with having my petty-burgeois wealth expropriated) even if I still have some things I'm a tad uncomfortable with due to my petty-burgeois upbringing and that I'm trying to change (again, I'm an unconfrontational coward). The problem is that now that I see how only Maoism and MLM can be truly revolutionary, I don't see how I could be in any way useful for helping the movement, as there is no Maoist organization I know of in Brazil (the ones we had that split off the ML party eventually gave up and became social democrats), and even if there was, with me as I currently am with my class background, I don't think I have at all what is required for the type of activism Maoism requires.

Ive seen the last couple of posts from some very discouraged mommas who are doing their best but are still under suppliers and it’s heartbreaking to see that yall think less of what yall can provide because it’s not a crazy high amount😭
I am an oversupplier and I just wanted to give some honest 2 cents on being an oversupplier because I feel like all thats said about over supplying is positive or seems ungrateful, braggy, or uppidity..
My baby was born 2 months preemie (31w6d) and a whopping 3lbs5oz at birth and we spent a total of a month in the nicu. To be completely honest I believe that because I HAD to stick to a pumping routine 2-3 hours a day from the moment she was born that it immensely helped establish my supply but didnt give me an over supply. I firmly believe it’s just luck and that no matter the supplements or MLM crap people try to push on you, your body can only do what it can do and with whatever it does it’s still amazing and such a gift to give to your baby!
There are all the typical cons of OS like constantly having to pump, the cost of supplies, cost of freezers, etc but I wanted to talk about something a little more personal, non financial, and emotionally hellish in my opinion which is not being able to breast feed your baby at all / very limited.
A huge con of oversupply is that until a day ago now that my baby is 2 months and some days old, did I finally get to breastfeed my little one with no nipple shield or any sort of buffer- and yes i did absolutely sob over her! Before then I had to be ultra careful because of my flow and the risk of her choking or aspirating which is so terrifying especially since she has been so small and fragile that she even would choke with premie nipple flow. I was also put on a strict 5-10 minute TOPS BF time if I did choose to BF her in the NICU.
I also had to start bottle feeding due to the fact that ny LO was starving all of the time every time I tried to exclusively BF because she was only getting sugary foremilk and none of the fat milk because she physically couldnt drink that much.. to say that it absolutely crushed me to have to turn to EP and not be able to BF almost at all is an understatement!
Part of me knows that it’s a gift to overproduce and I have and will continue to donate milk to both banks and a good friend of mine who underproduces (her supply is drying up) as well, but sometimes part of me wishes I could have been a normal mom who could just feed at the breast and have that special bonding time with her LO..
I just felt like I havent seen anyone who overproduces ever talk about any downfall of the condition or any of the heartache of it /how limiting if can be.. I guess everyone struggles in one way or another whether it’s over or underproducing and everyone is valid in their own struggles. I commend any woman who pumps or breastfeeds and sticks to it because this crap is HARD!
Yall are all amazing and yalls babies are SO lucky to have mamas like yall that are fighting to give them the best that they can🫶🏼

Frank could have slept in the trailer, but he preferred being in the van under current circumstances. He could scare off anyone who got a bright idea to try and steal the vehicle, for one thing. And if something happened in the motel room, if Jenna and Mike needed help, he was closer.
Not that any of that seemed likely; this place seemed dead as hell.
The motel was a not-too-busted-down place. The town it sat at the edge of was a wide-spot-in-the-road type. An out-of-the-way hamlet, some might call it. To Frank's parents, the town would have seemed ideal. Small enough to seem homey and friendly — and Christian, of course — but large enough to have the basic amenities: a pool of suckers for Mama's MLM sales and other schemes, people looking for someone like Papa who could at least seem to fix anything for cheap, and an attitude that led people to mind their own business, even with new folks and strangers, leaving no one too inclined to call in Youth Services or the equivalent at every sign of a bruise or a scrape or bleeding backs or broken limbs.
They'd done a lot of midnight runners out of places where people showed some level of neighborly concern. Left a lot of things behind in rented houses and apartments.
The best time had been when Frank was between the ages of five and seven. They lived with Grampa and Gramma Schnedeker then, and all the kids who were old enough got to go to proper school for a while, like school-school. Grampa Schnedeker needed a lot of looking after, and Gramma wanted the kids out of the house at least a few hours a day so as not to disturb him too much.
Since they got to go to school, Frank and his siblings right on either side actually learned to properly read and do the beginnings of math and such. Mama said all they needed to read was the Bible, and Papa said math was only important as far as helping him measure and cut lumber and pipe for projects, but still, the kids learned. And when Grampa Schnedeker died and the family moved on, the kids who had got school for a while tried to keep up and to teach things to the little ones.
That got stopped pretty quick, and Mama took over the "lessons," which really just meant she handed the kids their little workbooks every morning after breakfast and left them to work — QUIETLY as she always demanded — while she went and schmoozed sales or whatever. All the boys stopped having any "lessons" after 10 years old. That was when they would start going to work with Papa.
All the boys besides Frank, anyway. But that was before anyone besides Frank even knew that Frank was a boy.
And boy, had that been Hell on Earth when he finally outright told them he was a boy. Mama went to scream-praying like she tended to, and Papa tried to beat Frank to death, and then he did other things that really almost did kill Frank, but luckily Susie called 911.
It was Hell after, too. All that time in the hospital, and the stuff was on the news, and then Frank was sent to foster parents practically across the country. Those first ones were okay, except they also didn't believe Frank was a boy. They just tried to send him to a conversion therapist, who somehow luckily realized that there was no converting Frank and tipped off the social workers. Frank got new foster parents who accepted him, helped him get a name change, and even let him stay with them after he aged out of the foster system, until he could get his GED and see about college.
And then there was college, with his new name and his new clothes and finally being himself, and then the year of college, he met Jenna, and everything since then had been almost golden.
He could not sleep, crunched up in the driver's seat of the van with his head full of memories, so instead he just let it all play, the good and the bad, until it was almost sunrise and he needed to piss like a racehorse.
Then he got out of the van and went to knock at the door of the motel room. After he peed, he would ask Jenna if she minded taking the first shift driving today.
Gotta be up early and get everything together. Danna hated cooking, so Derick made breakfast, got the kids settled, and carried a plate back to his wife, still ensconced in the big bed in the back of the RV.
God had said that the wife should be the one to tend to the home and children, had he not? And yet, if the wife was unable to do some part of that, surely the man, in his free moments, should try and help. Thus, Derick would cook and would see that the children had breakfast, since Danna had such trouble sleeping, and then had trouble waking in the morning, especially when she was pregnant.
And if Danna's mother had never taught her to cook, well, that was the sin of Peggy Lynn Sooks, not her daughter. God would punish Peggy for her failures as a wife and mother.
Other than the sleeping trouble and the aversion to some of the arts of housewifery, Danna was excellent. She was really smart, figuring out how to put together all the social media stuff. And she was always ready to go whenever God told Derick they needed to pick up and move on. She greeted each trip, long or short, with joy, and she treated her other wifely obligations with equal joy.
Perhaps too much joy, sometimes. Danna, for example, took great joy in the act of procreation. That was good, of course, for they were to be fruitful and multiply and spread their family over the Earth to carry the Truth of God's message.
But the act of procreation, sacred and holy as it might be, was never something Derick greatly enjoyed. He did not, as he knew some husbands did, press his wife to fulfill her duties every night. In fact, their marriage had not been conssumated for nearly two months after the wedding, simply because Derick was disinclined. It took Danna reminding him that God's holy word also said a husband should satisfy his wife, and then they finally joined fully in their union.
Still, they did not do it often, unless Danna pressed Derick. As the years went on, she did so more and more, and so he let her have her desire. It was his duty as a husband.
Today, they would stay here. God had said they would be here about a week. Danna seemed happy with that, and the children seemed pleased as well.
They always seemed happiest when the family stopped wandering a while.
Derick had tried to explain to the children why they moved around so much, and why they must keep doing so. He thought perhaps the oldest two boys were beginning to understand. The little ones were still far from such wisdom, but there was time yet.
There was time.
3 Table of Contents 5

Hello hello!
Our community runs several Vanilla servers.
All of them:

• NO RAIDING SPREE
  
• Monthly Wipe
  
• No BP Wipe
  
• Low Upkeep
  
• Detailed Player Stats on our site
  
• No admin abuse ! None ! Never !
  
• In-game chat can be found on our discord
  Quad server: 217.146.82.244:28255
  Solo/Duo server: 54.37.245.179:28415
  https://rustyburger.co.uk/discord
  rustyburger.co.uk
  

Every gender should be accepted, no matter what it is, though this statement contradicts the rule of this server; no females allowed.
I created this server originally so people who are looking for a boyfriend and are part of the LGBTQ community can, without the typical problems of dating.
I want a place where people who aren’t straight can thrive whether MLM, NBLM, or even NBLNB can thrive, so instead of waiting for that place I made it.
I respect all genders, but I also want people who are looking for live to find it.
Soon I’ll create a space for all genders and a server for WLW and NBLW too. For now let’s start with this.

Hello redditors of antiMLM,
Just this week, I received an email from a relation advertising FOREVER—not to be confused with Forever Living. Searching through this sub, I found a few short references over the last years with little detail. In one, a commentor described FOREVER stating "as mlms go, it seems ethical." Every red light went off while I looked into these “FOREVER Ambassadors.” I then began a search, with much of the ultimate work done by my spouse. It took longer than seemed acceptable to identify this MLM for people who glanced over the internet. FOREVER is not listed on any of the MLM databases I could find from this sub or elsewhere. Based on the mandatory “FOREVER Ambassador Community” on Facebook, now 8 years old, at least 2,500 people have gotten into their clutches at some point (I haven’t linked because I think it might be against the sub rules).
Thus, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, here are references for the community to identify a yet-another-multi-level-marketing scheme. I am a sarcastic person, so be forewarned. All sources were publicly available and required no logins or access.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(1) Background of the FOREVER business model
(2) The FOREVER Ambassador program
(3) Costs of serving as an Ambassador
(4) Compensation advertised for Ambassadors
(4a) Income in cash from personal sales
(4b) The downline system used by FOREVER
(4c) Non-monetary-achievement compensation
(5) FOREVER Ambassador Business Training
(6) Conclusion down to brass tax on FOREVER
STUDY OF FOREVER
(1) Background of the FOREVER business model
FOREVER is an online service that advertises it can be a “permanent digital home that lasts for many generations.”[1] This is to be accomplished via a so-called “FOREVER Guarantee Fund” that invests to pay for digital storage for over 100 years.[1] Their website promises me that “permanent” is “not a buzzword”—I think that’s the Platonian ideal of a buzzword.[1] Regardless, this is not a quality review post.
(2) The FOREVER Ambassador program
The sellers used by FOREVER are called “FOREVER Ambassadors.”[2] As advertised, it looks like a classic MLM pitch. You can “earn up to 35%” commission” while having “the freedom to work from home, and the flexibility to make money on your own schedule.”[2] FOREVER lists various opportunities, such as “trainings” and the ability to “learn and grow with friends,” as well as “make life-long friends.”[2] As part of the “Meet our Team” webpage for corporate FOREVER, there are multiple “Executive Ambassadors” listed.[3] There is no barrier to entry on experience required to become an Ambassador.[4] I observed that, throughout the internet and on the FOREVER website, the vast majority of Ambassadors are women—as you know, many MLMs target women and moms.
(3) Costs of serving as an Ambassador
FOREVER has, at minimum, an “Annual Ambassador Fee” that is the primary cost to entry of the program.[2] For $179 a year, one would receive “back office tools,” various marketing materials, and “countless opportunities”—maybe money, but more on that soon.[2] There is a link to an Ambassador’s own selling website.[5, at 22] This Ambassador fee “is subject to change over time.”[5, at 25] There is also a FOREVER Merchandise store where Ambassadors can get their supplies.[6] These include a 40-pack set of catalogs for $44.99 and a $144.99 tablecloth for potential customers during in-person events.[6]
For Ambassadors, FOREVER advertises there are “free training events.”[5, at 25] Each year, for $399 in 2024, Ambassadors can attend the 3-day “FOREVER Live!” event.[7] It is in the destination getaway of… next to their headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA (I’m sorry Pittsburgh, you’re a beautiful city).[5, at 24] It is also possible to pay for a “p2P Virtual Party” and “p2P Live Events,” but is unclear what those mean.[5, at 5] Various “ranks” of Ambassadors receive a “monthly stipend” starting at $25 a month after $15,000 total in personal plus team sales a year.[5, at 9]
(4) Compensation advertised for Ambassadors
(4a) Income in cash from personal sales
FOREVER pays its Ambassadors based on a “cash sales” versus “full sales” system.[5, at 5] The too-long-didn’t-read summary is that some products are paid less commission than others because of “margin” of different products.[5, at 5–6] Critically, the Personal Commission Rate is where our story kicks into gear. At the bottom, an Ambassador who sells less than $2,000 a year in sales receives the windfall of a 15% commission.[5, at 7] The number rises to 34% once sales are $90,000 or greater in one year (I don’t know where the 35% from earlier went).[5, at 7] However, to earn the 20% commission or more once one passes the $2,000 sales amount requires completion of the “FOREVER Ambassador Business (FAB) Training.”[5, at 7] I read it, more on that later.
You might ask, “Is there a sales quota for FOREVER® Ambassadors?” FOREVER says “no.”[8] However, the less one does the less FOREVER pays Ambassadors for what they do (this chart is older than the Compensation Guide cited).[8]
(4b) The downline system used by FOREVER
Of course, while it took forever to reach here, we come to the “downline” process—FOREVER’s words, not mine.[9] FOREVER immediately identified that new Ambassadors “choose another Ambassador to mentor you as you grow your business” (I do not know if this means an upline).[2] Nevertheless, “Team Sales” are compensated by FOREVER down to the 5th Line.[5, at 9] If an Ambassador does not build a team, then they do not earn Team Commissionable Cash Sales Commissions.[5, at 9] FOREVER states that getting new Ambassadors “to sign up under your name” is how you help “further your business.”[9]
However, even if an Ambassador builds a team, they receive a very restricted downline compensation if they do not make a minimum of personal sales.[5, at 9] For future reference, an “Associate Ambassador,” the bottom, makes less than $2,000 and earns no downline sales.[5, at 9] An “Ambassador,” second to last, is the first rank with a downline commission (4% for 1st Line), requiring $2,000/personal a year.[5, at 9] To reach “Senior Ambassador,” third to last, and above, a FOREVER Ambassador must start earning exponentially greater amounts of personal plus team sales to rise in the “ranks.”[5, at 9] A Senior Ambassador requires $8,000/personal but $15,000/gross, and is the first to get 2nd Line commission (4% for 1st Line and 2% for 2nd Line).[5, at 9] It is unclear to me if “new members” must be recruited “each month” to rankup—the website says so, but I see it nowhere in the Compensation Guide.[8]
At the top of hierarchy, there become two “Executive Ambassadors.”[5, at 9–10] These ranks start at $28,000/personal and $250,000/gross a year.[5, at 9] As well, one must have at least three “Team Leaders” in their 1st Line.[5, at 10] Team Leaders refers to Ambassadors who have themselves reached the rank of “Associate Lead Ambassador” ($12,000/personal and $30,000/gross).[5, at 9] FOREVER advertises that the Executive ranks are for—and I am not making this up—those Ambassadors who are “grooming FOREVER Leaders on your team below you.”[5, at 10] Irony is dead folks.
(4c) Non-monetary-achievement compensation
Because being paid to work is overrated, FOREVER will also provide “Additional Benefits” to its various ranks. As an Associate Ambassador, you can join the aforementioned Facebook Group and hear the CEO talk on a monthly phone call.[5, at 11] Regular Ambassadors also get a certificate to put on their wall.[5, at 11] Senior Ambassadors get a standing ovation at FOREVER Live!—you can even be ovated on stage as an Associate Lead Ambassador (I would pay $179 a year to not).[5, at 13–14] My observation is that a lot of ranks mostly provide additional types of standing ovations at FOREVER Live! and reserved seats for dinners there.
But then you can reach the pinnacle of Everest (that much like the real one, other people just carry you up there): the Million Dollar Club.[5, at 20] For making $1 million in personal and team sales in a year, one will earn a single $10,000 dollar bonus.[5, at 20] If you are then a “top-performing Ambassador,” one can be taken on the “Achievement Gathering,” to Jamaica in 2024, to mill around with other top-performing Ambassadors—and the corporate staff.[5, at 24] There is no mention how many people earn it or how much must be earned.[5, at 24]
(5) FOREVER Ambassador Business Training
I mentioned earlier that Ambassadors must complete a “FAB” training to receive more than 15% in commissions.[5, at 7] To hit this post home, I wanted to identify some highlights. The FAB training has 5 Steps to reach regular Ambassador status.[10, at 4] These Steps include such activities as “Meet with your Upline” (Step 1), “Connect with your Upline” (Step 2), “Meet with your Upline” (Step 3), “Meet with your Upline” (Step 4), and “Meet with your Upline” (Step 5).[10, at 7, 10, 12, 14, 16] You also have to join the FOREVER Facebook group and any created by your Team (just “ask your Upline” to find it).[10, at 6–7] There’s a task in Step 2 to create an introductory “Share List,” with five lines each for “Friends,” “Teachers,” and your own “Parents/Grandparents.”[10, at 7–9] For an unclear number of hours, you must attend multiple weekly and monthly “training opportunities” and “calls.”[10, at 6–7, 10] And one last item, to rank up in FOREVER, you must register for an upcoming event.[10, at 12] As of writing, the only one listed on the linked webpage is the $399 FOREVER Live! conference.[11]
(6) Conclusion down to brass tax on FOREVER
I was unable to find an Income Disclosure Statement for FOREVER. However, basic math tells us that an Associate Ambassador, the bottom, can only earn up to $300 a year.[5, at 11] To reach regular Ambassador, which includes signing up and beginning all the time sinks listed above, the maximum personal commission is $1,200, in addition to whatever downline (however big those are on average).[5, at 11] Without a downline, even the top-bracket personal sellers are the only ones to earn more than $30,000 a year.[5, at 7] The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimates that the Real Median Personal Income in the United States for 2022 was $40,480.[12]
There is one way to make it with FOREVER: to build a downline. It’s a multi-level-marketing scheme, and no one should join it. Unless of course, you want to join my downline—I promise you'll be rich just like me.
LIST OF REFERENCES
[1] “Our Story,” FOREVER.com (accessed May 18, 2024), https://www.forever.com/our-story
[2] “Become a FOREVER Ambassador,” FOREVER.com (accessed May 18, 2024), https://www.forever.com/opportunity
[3] “Meet Our Team,” FOREVER.com (accessed May 18, 2024), https://www.forever.com/our-story/team
[4] “What is required of me as a FOREVER Ambassador?,” FOREVER.com Support (accessed May 18, 2024 [updated “2 years ago”]), https://support.forever.com/hc/en-us/articles/215823437-What-is-required-of-me-as-a-FOREVER-Ambassador
[5] Ambassador Compensation Guide, FOREVER (Jan. 31, 2024), https://www.forever.com/app/users/forevealbums/ambassador-kit/f3ii4wzeewd0nfwg4nb40kyw1/files/1043b0c6-de01-4aff-a1e3-83db7e6b1b17
[6] “FOREVER Merchandise,” FOREVER.com Ambassador Training (accessed May 18, 2024), https://www.training.forever.com/store
[7] “FOREVER Live! 2024,” FOREVER.com (accessed May 18, 2024), https://www.forever.com/events/forever-live-2024
[8] “Is there a sales quota for FOREVER® Ambassadors?,” FOREVER.com Support (accessed May 18, 2024 [updated “2 years ago”]), https://support.forever.com/hc/en-us/articles/215142548-Is-there-a-sales-quota-for-FOREVER-Ambassadors
[9] “Downline,” FOREVER.com Support (accessed May 18, 2024 [updated “2 years ago”]), https://support.forever.com/hc/en-us/articles/221072448-Downline
[10] FOREVER Ambassador Business Training, FOREVER (May 14, 2024), https://www.forever.com/app/users/ambassador-training/albums/02-forever-ambassador-business-training-booklet/qcg622q43zy6835w9ojq3wkw/files/f0bd2387-bb14-43a2-a46d-344a91470147
[11] “Events,” FOREVER.com (accessed May 18, 2024), https://www.forever.com/events
[12] “Real Median Personal Income in the United States,” Federal Reserve of St. Louis (accessed May 18, 2024), https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N
POST EDITS
A few formatting errors and a minor phrasing correction.

(sorry in advance english is not my first language, and sorry if this is long.) so i'm 19 and AFAB and i've been questioning my gender since i was 14. I realized i was bisexual at 13, and i rarely questioned that. I first identified as demigirl, than as genderfluid, sometimes as agender, sometimes as non-binary, than demigirl again, and since I can't make up my mind i've been sticking with genderfluid.
since i was a kid i felt like i SHOULDN'T be a girl. my pants always "fit me" weird, i wanted to play like boys did, but on the outside i was always girly. i always felt like someday i would have been a man; when i was a teen my girl friends would get lazer to get rid of mustache, and i never did because i was scared that "if one day i become a man i want to have a mustache" (now i know that's not how lazer works.) i have a boyfriend (he/they), and he's the best. he sometimes refers to me as their girlfriend, their boyfriend or their partner. And having a boyfriend is what started all this mess that made me think that i'm not actually genderfluid, but transmasc (not necessarily binary). Because normally i dont feel entirely bad about being "a girl"; i have long hair, wear mostly feminine clothes, and i dont have much issues with having a feminine body. Yes i still feel on my own as something is missing, but i am still comfortable being girly and being percieved as a girl. But being my boyfriend's girlfriend just...feels wrong. I read this on another reddit post, and it's like i dont feel comfortable being in a STRAIGHT relationship, like that's the part that throws me off. So then i start questioning about my sexuality; am i gay? but this doesn't seem right, i know i'm attracted to girls. So maybe i am a lesbian? And this is freaking me out, cause ofc i have a boyfriend and i love him and it wouldn't make sense. But in some way it does. I feel like when I'm watching wlw couples on the internet sometimes i feel jealous, and i feel terrible. But i feel even more jealous watching mlm couples. And also, thinking back, when i was in a (semi)relationship with a girl, i didn't really feel like loving her as a girl; i really felt like i wanted to love her as a boy. But idk if this is just because of heteronormative standards. And sometimes i feel like since i have a boyfriend then i should be his GIRLfriend, cause somewhere in my internalized homophobia "that's how couples should be". So maybe I'm a boy and I'm just holding back because of fear?
I live in a small town, and my circle of friends haven't even accepted that i'm nonbinary yet. I dont know if i will ever come out as trans, or if i ever want to. I just wish i could sleep and wake up as a man and no one would question anything.
I just want to know if there is some explanation to this or if someone else experienced it. Thank you so much. <3