Hey everyone, I’m sitting around bored 12 days post-op and thought I’d write about my injury and experience up to this point just in case it’d be helpful to anyone. I’m also a physical therapist, so I have experience on the other end assisting with the recovery process - but this is my first major injury for myself. Apologies in advance for the length!
My injury first occurred on March 16th, pushing off with my right foot to return a serve in a game of racquetball. It was the typical feeling of getting kicked in the back of the leg - to the point that I thought someone had dropped something from the spectator gallery (it was a tournament with an audience) and looked back expecting to see something on the court. Following that was the immediate realization that I had torn the Achilles. No significant pain, but a complete inability to actively plantar flex my right foot and a visible/palpable defect.
The ER visit started with two PAs agreeing with me that it’s a clear Achilles tear, and using my leg as a teaching tool for a new nurse. That confidence in the diagnosis was shaken though when the MRI came back negative. I was splinted in plantarflexion (PF) and anxiously awaited a visit with a podiatrist on Monday (injury was on Saturday). I also had a visit with an orthopedist (foot/ankle specialist) for that Friday just in case.
The podiatrist agreed that clinically everything lined up with an Achilles tear, but wanted to put me in a boot in neutral given the negative MRI. I was uncomfortable with that approach and rigged up my own heel lifts to stay in PF until I saw the ortho that Friday. The ortho was also a bit stumped, suspected a possible plantaris tear (maaaaybe showing on the MRI) and partial Achilles tear, and put me in a cast for 4 weeks. This was uneventful, just a boring month, so I’ll skip forward to my “big mistake”.
After a month in the cast I was put in a boot with heel lifts, planning to continue with a conservative approach and some physical therapy. I scheduled my first PT appointment for a week after getting out of the cast (6 weeks post-injury) and started my own PT at home with some light IER AROM, NMES for my calf, and other basic exercises. That Wednesday (April 24th) I was home with my 4 y/o daughter, using my knee scooter to get around. I was typically quite diligent in keeping my boot on, only taking it off to let my foot breathe when lying in bed or on the couch. In a moment that still lives rent free in my head, my daughter asked me for some strawberries and I decided that it was just a quick roll on the scooter to the kitchen and back. Somewhere between shutting the refrigerator door and turning my body to grab the strawberries off the counter the scooter tipped over. To my right side. And I came down with most of my weight on my right leg, without my boot on, forcing my foot into dorsiflexion. I felt a pop, immediate pain, and laid on the kitchen floor while my daughter helped me grab my phone so that I could call my wife.
What followed was a week of shame (beating myself up as I absolutely knew better than to move around without the boot), pain, and the awful realization that surgery was the next step. Diagnostic ultrasound showed a rupture with 2.7cm gap, and surgery was scheduled for Thursday, May 9th. The surgery itself went well, although the surgeon expressed to my wife that the tendon was “more shredded” than he expected. I was splinted with bandaging/ACE wrap holding it together. Showering has continued to be a pain, although two months into all of this I’m getting used to sitting down. I get the splint off tomorrow during my first post-op visit, likely moving to the boot next. Pain is fairly well managed, although I’m currently getting a fairly constant rotation of burning, aching, and spasms as my leg goes slowly through the healing process.
I’m nervous about the upcoming rehab process, likely the result of “knowing too much” and fearing the worst as I hope to get back to my prior level of function. I’m comforted knowing I have the tools at my disposal to maximize my rehab. It’s been great to read through other peoples’ posts on this forum, particularly getting some perspective on different experiences. For those that read this, I’m happy to answer any questions or update as I progress through my last weeks of lying around at home and finally start PT (in a few weeks).

Tldr: bought a house with my partner in late 2022. We broke up in early 2024 (this was wildly unexpected). I’m trying to sell but I’m underwater. The house has been on the market for nearly 90 days, with questionable strategy from my agent including small price reductions. Do I take the listing down and commit to paying off my soft second DPA to reduce my overall principal and more likely break even in a year?
I’ve posted here before with more detail, but my partner and I are both on loans and a deed for a home we’ve owned for ~20 months. He’s paid nothing from closing to mortgage to maintenance; we’re on good terms and I’ll continue to function as if he isn’t involved — this is not a concern.
My ideal plan is to sell, live with my folks for a while to pay off debt and then relocate to rent. BUT my house has been on the market for nearly 90 days without an offer, and listen — I already know the price is the problem. Original comps in February ranged $235k-$260k IIRC, but I’m fairly sure prices have fallen in my market.
February 26 – listed at $255k
April 13 – $252k
April 25 – $247k with $3k concession
May 16 – $240k
I have a silent second through the Chenoa fund, so my combined principals are ~$228k, $218k+$10k. If I’m estimating 10% in seller’s fees on $240k, I’m looking at about $12k difference that I’ll need to cover. I have $13k saved, and save about $1k a month.
Option 1: I’m fine with wiping out my savings to sell, but considering costs from inspection discoveries or an offer below $240k – I’m starting to think I’d have to take a personal loan (or 401k loan) to realistically sell.
Option 2: I can comfortably continue to pay the mortgage. I can use my $13k in savings to pay off all personal debt, freeing up an additional $800 a month. Then I can take $1,000 of my monthly savings ($1.8k), apply it to the silent second and do minor updates over a year. Relist in a year when I’ve paid off the second mortgage and have a better position to negotiate sale price. (Minor updates would include new flooring, interior painting, light fixtures, maybe exterior paint)
I’m leaning 30/70 between Option 1/Option 2. Option 2 is the smarter choice, of course. I just dread the idea of being back in that house or back in that town for another year. I want Option 1 to work desperately, but I think I’m just accepting now that it won’t.
Do I make the smart choice, give it maybe 2 more weeks then pull the listing? Any angles I’m not considering?
Edit to add: if sold, I could save $3.2k a month and pay off all debt in 4-5 months, then save about $4k a month

The stress of the last six months has nearly killed me. Besides the general cratering of the outside world—political strife, climate change, inflated rents, corporate greed, and the baffling resurgence of crew socks—my internal life was falling apart, too. I'm at the point where I can't see a way out of the darkness, and that feeling has only grown in the last few days.
My struggles ramped up exponentially in the last two weeks. It started when my long-term girlfriend and I called it quits after five years. There was no definitive relationship-altering fight or infidelity. It was simply the boring banality of the "roommate-ification" of our lives together. We both felt the shift but never talked about it. Turns out communication is important.
Truthfully, we'd stayed together for so long because we couldn't afford to live apart. Our rent had nearly doubled the last time we re-upped our lease but even that was a bargain compared to what was out there currently. We were trapped by our need to have a roof over our heads.
My job had stagnated, and I couldn't find anything better. I was stuck. Like me, she'd been job hunting as well. Unlike me, she had a master's, and her prospects should've been higher. They weren't. For five months, she applied to hundreds of jobs and couldn't break through. If she got a rejection email, it was a win. Most of the time, the companies never responded.
Finally, she found a great opportunity at a Fortune 500 company. It was an involved process. She nailed the five interviews, and her "test project" was well received. She was offered the position, and it came with a massive pay increase—double her current salary. I was proud of her—she needed a win. We celebrated with pizza and beer that night.
Two days later, she dropped the bomb that she was breaking things off. The relationship ending wasn't a surprise. The timing was. The discussion was brief, and there was zero chance of reconciliation. She declined when I asked if she could stay until the lease ended. Mentally, it would've been too much for her. Two days after that, she moved out, taking half the rent with her. I was stuck in a lease I couldn't afford on my salary for the next six months.
My free time evaporated as I took on two extra gigs to help make ends meet. In addition to my office nine to five, I drove for a delivery app on the weekends and took a part-time night job stocking shelves at a local grocery store. When I wasn't hustling for housing, I slept or ate. I did nothing beyond that. Nothing brings me joy. There is no spark.
This drudgery has become my daily routine, and it's killing me.
To help cover some cost gaps, I've started selling off some of my stuff online. It was just me here, and I decided that the Spartan lifestyle would have to work for now. Anything I could fetch a decent amount for went up for sale. My apartment is so empty now every noise causes an echo.
Before my shift at the grocery store, I agreed to meet someone who wanted to take a look at my kitchen table. It was a lovely table – my ex had obsessed over it – but I didn't see a need at the moment. Now that I was a bachelor, my TV trays became my default kitchen tables anyway. I wasn't planning on any dinner parties in the future anyway.
A couple showed up later than they said they would. It was a bored-looking guy and a fastidious young woman. She made friendly small talk as she looked over the table. Her boyfriend (I think) stayed quiet and played bodyguard. I gave him a friendly nod at one point, and he just looked away. She said they'd take it without trying to talk me down. I took the small win.
She asked if I could help carry it down to their truck. I was running late, but feeling helpful, even for a fleeting few seconds, was worth it. Her silent boyfriend and I hauled the table through the hallway and even managed to avoid hitting the walls the entire way down.
I placed it in their truck, got my money, and turned to leave. The girl said thanks, and the boyfriend finally returned the nod. I gave a weird half-wave to them both and started to walk away when I heard the passenger window being rolled down.
"Hey man," the boyfriend said, his voice higher pitched than I thought it would. "What was up with your brother giving us the evil eye in the lobby when we got here?"
I turned around, "Huh? I don't have a brother."
"A cousin then?"
"My family lives about a thousand miles away. What happened in the lobby?"
"A dude that looked just like you was hiding in a dark hallway in the lobby and staring at my girl's ass."
"Jacob, really," she said.
"I'm sorry that happened, but I had nothing to do with it. We do have the occasional homeless guy meander in. Maybe you saw one of them," I said. "Did he say or do anything bad?"
"Jacob, I asked you to not say something," the girl said, burying her head in her hands.
Jacob's frosty attitude to me made sense now. "He said something about running up that ass. I dunno, he was mumbling. I told him I'd beat his ass if he didn't stop staring. Seemed to shut him up."
"Oh. Well, congrats," I said. "I'll tell the manager. Thanks for letting me know."
"You should do a better job keeping jokers like that out of the building."
"Jacob, he's not a security guard."
"He should still be a man and protect his home."
"Have a good night," I said, ending the conversation and heading back up to my apartment. I had about five minutes to change and head out before I'd be late. Last thing my ego needed was to be fired from my backup job.
Thankfully, I was able to slip into work and not get spotted by my boss. That was the last of the good news, though. We had a massive weekly order come in, which meant I'd be there late, plus someone had called out. Worse, our hand truck had a flat tire, and I spent the next few hours torturing my muscles, schlepping heavy boxes around the store. I soldiered on, counting down the minutes until I left and fantasizing about going to bed for the night.
If wishing for sleep wasn't a sad statement to my mental well-being, nothing was.
I came home after my shift at the grocery store and plopped down on the couch. I had contemplated selling it, but it was an older Ikea number, and I didn't think the value would replace my desire to sit. I could feel my body sink into the cushions, and the day's tension seep out. I was beat and tired to the point that turning on the TV was a chore.
I picked up my phone and thought I'd doomscroll until sleep overtook me. I didn't expect it to be a long scroll, as even the methadone that is my phone has failed me lately. As I lowered myself from a slumped position to a supine one, I heard footsteps outside my apartment door. This was not unusual, but the noise I heard sounded like kid footsteps. That was unusual, as nobody on our floor had kids, and it was almost midnight.
Despite my body screaming at me to not move, my brain suggested I check it out. I rolled myself off the couch and eventually stood up. I listened again and heard the kid running down the hallway. I walked over to my door and looked out the peephole. I didn't see anyone.
"Maybe I'm dreaming," I said to myself. "Maybe I'm not staring out a peephole, expecting to see a kid running down the hall at midnight, but instead, I'm cuddled up in my bed, snoozing." I pinched my arm and felt the pain. I was definitely in the waking world.
I turned to head back to the couch when I heard the running again, this time louder. I opened my door and peeked out into the hallway. Nobody was there. The door from the apartment across me opened up, too. Gloria, a young at heart grandma who was friendly/constantly buzzed in a wine mom kind of way, gave me a once over.
"You heard that, too?" she asked.
"Kids?"
"No rugrats around. I assumed it was some drunk assholes stumbling home from the bar."
I laughed. Gloria was, as always, blunt. "I didn't see any assholes," I said.
"Then you're not watching the right kind of internet videos," she said with a wink and a hoarse cackle.
I blushed. How do you respond to that? I just kind of nodded in agreement and shrugged.
"Gotta get your jollies while you can," she said before adding, "You need some rest, dear. You look like hammered shit." She shut her door and went back inside.
She was right. I felt like hammered shit. Since I wasn't going to solve the case of the mysterious runner and was sure it wasn't some lost kid, I decided to call it a night. I went back inside, shut down the apartment, and crawled into bed.
I thought about watching one of the "right kind of internet videos" but fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
***
"Your problem is you think the world owes you something."
John, my elderly coworker at the grocery store, was standing by while I unloaded a pallet of cereal. I liked John, and when I first started, we instantly clicked. He's quick with a joke and fun to talk to. He's also about thirty years older than me and speaks with the Boomer combination of accumulated wisdom, backhanded compliments, and fringe conspiracy nonsense. Still, regardless of how couched the kindness is in gobbledygook, he's usually coming from a good place.
"What?" I said, putting a box of Captain Crunch on the shelf.
"You're complaining about your situation, right? Saying it ain't fair. The world took a paddle to your hind quarters? Hey brother, that's the way the cookie crumbles. Gotta just pick yourself up and start over. You're smart enough – figured this job out right quick – you can do it."
The job was wheeling pallets around the store and stocking shelves. It wasn't much to figure out, but I understood his meaning. The other stuff wasn't necessary, though. "I'm just in a funk. I don't see a way forward."
"Hey, so you've bottomed out. No shame in that. Happens to us all. Silver lining, you can only go up," he said before adding, "Unless some other bad shit happens to you like your car dies or your apartment building burns down. But after that, it's only up."
"The apartment building burning down would be a blessing," I said, hoisting another little Captain on the shelf. "The rent is killing me."
"Have you tried negotiating a lower rent? They used to do that when I was your age."
"I think they'd evict me if I even asked."
"Hell, then you'd have at least thirty days, maybe forty, before they'd kick you out. Plenty of time to turn things around."
"Uh-huh," I said, "Any chance you could give me a hand here?"
"My back is screaming like a pretty young thing after prom," he said, holding his back for emphasis.
I didn't push. "Hey, I meant to tell you about some weird shit that happened the other night."
"Lay it on me. I love the strange."
"So, after my shift the other day, I got home around midnight and was flopped on the couch. I heard someone running down the hallway outside my apartment. I wasn't the only one. A few other neighbors heard it, too. When we checked, though, nobody was there."
"That ain't strange," John said, waving his hand, "that's a man who's plowing another man's wife running for his life."
I laughed. "That's not the weird part. So, for the next two nights, it's the same thing. Around midnight, someone runs down the hallway. Only this time, they're trying the door handles as they pass. So, I asked the front desk to check the security cameras, and they do."
"They see a man running away holding his clothes?"
"There wasn't anyone running down the hall," I said, "But the weird thing was, you could see the door handles turning on the video."
"Damn, that's a good one," John said, "You sure it wasn't just a camera glitch. These new ones from overseas aren't as reliable as they want you to think. Chinese probably using them to spy on you, too."
He continued as my brain tried to reconcile John's two opposing comments. "Weird shit happens at night, man. Before working here, I only worked the day shift. Even when they offered me more money to work nights, I turned it down. Even when they promised me a promotion, I turned them down."
In a previous life, John had worked as a paramedic. He came by it after serving in a medical unit in the army. He'd told me he loved the rush of the job, but after a while, the death and hurt in people's eyes got to be too much to handle. But he worked there for almost twenty years. So, the man had a tolerance for shenanigans and odd occurrences.
"Why'd you agree to work nights here?"
"Shit, we're home before the witching hour. This is like late afternoons, at best. But if it was overnights, hell no. Captain Crunch can anchor his own ship to the shelves. I'd take my ass to 7-11 for a day shift before agreeing to work an overnight."
"Something happen to you during the army?”
“I got the clap,” he offered.
I sighed. “What turned you off nights?"
"Oh. I heard enough stories from coworkers to know I didn't want to experience any of that hoo-doo shit," he said, "trying to save someone's life is hard enough without adding in demon kids and ghosts."
"Did your coworkers see demon kids?" I asked, moving on from the good Captain to the Trix rabbit.
He nodded, "They saw too much. I find it odd, even with all the surveillance we have now and all the science we know about these days, that the night still scares us. You ever know someone who worked a night shift?"
I had. My ex. During college, she worked the overnight desk at a hotel for a while. She quit because the job gave her bad vibes. I told John as much.
He pointed and laughed, "See! Don't you find it odd that every person who works at night always has a story of something eerie happening to them? Every person, buster. That's what they call an irrefutable fact."
"Maybe the ghost running down the hallway is an old employee still doing his rounds."
"In that case, keep that door double locked. I'd even wedge a towel under the door just in case."
"Maybe they're friendly? Casper-like in that way."
"You ever heard someone tell you about a friendly ghost outside the funny papers?"
"I'm sure it happens," I said, "The scary ghosts are more popular though."
“We think we know everything there is to know but we are just babes in the woods when it comes to night things.” John shook his head. "Imma tell you one or three things that happened to a guy I worked with back when I first got hired on to chase after corpses in the ambo. Guy's name was Gil. Quiet man, kept to himself. Didn't rock the boat or demand a bigger paddle. Just rowed with us. Good cat to learn under," John said, finally handing me a cereal box.
I took it, and he kept going, "Now, Gil, ya see, he had a little wifey that would pester him about working days. She was a cop and worked evenings at that time, so they never saw each other. When married people can't align their genitals every now and then, it spells doom."
"A little too much information but sure," I said, shelving another box of Trix.
"Probably part of what happened with you and yours," he said. He wasn't wrong, but that didn't mean I wanted to hear it.
John kept on, "Gil finally got approved to move to nights. Little pay boost and a happy, 'fulfilled' wife should've made that man happy. But it didn't. I saw him a few months later, and he had changed. He might've been quiet when he was working with me, but he'd talk to you if you engaged. When I saw him that time, though, oh boy. He looked sick."
"Wasn't a fan of working nights?"
"Wasn't a fan of living anymore is the feeling I got," John said, "After some prodding, he got to talking with me some. Told me he missed days because the nights were messing with him. I thought it had to do with the schedule change, but that wasn't the case. He said he saw things in the dark he couldn't explain. Things that would turn James Brown into James White, ya dig?"
"I...dig," I said.
"Told me they got a call to an abandoned apartment building one night, around three in the morning. Wasn't unusual. Old buildings in the city are where hop-heads congregate and share drugs. Sometimes, the drugs are too much. Sometimes, they find a person passed out or, worse, dead. When you work in the ambo, you aren't scared of death like a civilian. You've been around it. Probably seen a few folks take their last breaths. It doesn't bother you the way Mother Nature intended it should."
He handed me another box, continuing his assist streak, and kept going, "Ambo pulled up, Gil stepped out and looked for someone to talk to. Nobody there, though. Not uncommon. Some people want to help but not be involved. There's not a soul around. He calls out, but nothing comes back. Tells me he turns to get back in the ambulance when he hears a scream from inside the run-down building. They're calling for help. He's gotta go in the abandoned building in the dark."
"No thanks," I said.
"But it don't bother a medic like that. Gil's done a million of these calls. No big deal. He runs into that building but doesn't come back out until twenty minutes later. Just goes missing. After five, the crew heads in to back him up but can't find him. Gil tells me his crew called the cops. It was like he had vanished."
"What happened?"
"I asked him and he got real quiet. Said he fell into some place that looked like here but wasn't here. Said he felt their eyes on him. Judging him. Told me they followed him home and wouldn't leave him be."
"Who?"
John shrugged, "He didn't say. Shut down after that and left. Just walked past me like I was shit on the sidewalk. He quit about a week later. Heard he had a stroke a year later and was a tombstone owner three months after that. Good guy, though."
"Your aversion to overnights makes a little more sense."
"Never in a million years. You don't want something like that coming after you."
"In my case, could it get much worse?" I said with a half-smile.
"Man, I wouldn't even joke about that," he said, making the sign of the cross, "You don't want that shit attachin' itself to you. With your luck, you'd bring him in here, and it'd hop over to me. I can't have a ghost crimping my style."
After a bit, he got called away to sign off on a delivery. I finished out my shift and headed out to the parking lot. When I exited the building and spotted my car, I froze. My doors were all open, and the interior lights were on. Someone had broken in.
I glanced around the lot to see if the thief was still around, but there wasn't another person near me. I walked over to the car and peered inside. My glovebox had been ripped open, and my registration was pulled out, but nothing else was missing.
I found little hand prints in the dirt all along the body and the windows. I held mine up for comparison, and they were about half the size. It must've been some tweens or teens who did this. Maybe they were going to steal some things and got cold feet. I contemplated calling the cops, but since nothing had happened and they wouldn't do anything anyway, there was no reason to delay sleep any longer than I had to. I closed all the doors and climbed inside.
I started the car and heard something rattling in the AC vents. I pulled out my phone and shined the light at the vent. There was a small piece of paper inside. I looked around my car for some tool to pull it out and only found an ink pen and a bent-up paperclip. After McGuyvering the vent for a bit, the paper finally came out.
I held it up and unfolded it. There was a handwritten note. It simply read, "I know you're here. I know you're hiding him. I will find you both, and then it'll be your turn to run the race. We all have to run at some point."
I had no idea what that meant, but my body still provided goosebumps. Who was trying to find me? Who was the second person? Why leave a note in my AC vent? What the hell did run the race mean? I hadn't run a race since elementary school and wasn't planning to do so any time soon. Did they mean the rat race? Because I was basically marathoning that motherfucker already.
"Jesus Christ," I said, shaking my head. "What else, universe?"
As if it were a well-practiced comedy routine, the universe responded. My back passenger door swung open, and I heard footsteps running away from my car. I sprung up and scrambled to get out. There wasn't anyone else in the lot that I could see, but very clearly, someone had been hiding in my backseat.
My nerves were shot already, and this was not something I wanted to deal with at the moment. My brain decided that to avoid a breakdown, I needed to shift into automatic mode and just get back to the safety of my apartment. I'd be more prepared to deal with this – whatever it was – in the morning.
Either that or I'd jump in front of a bus. Both sounded satisfying, albeit in different ways.
***
"There he is," Gloria said as soon as I turned down the hallway. I looked up and noticed a small cabal of my neighbors standing in a semi-circle, waiting for me. They all look displeased.
"Hey guys," I said, confused. "I miss an invite for a block party?"
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
"About?"
"Don't play dumb," another neighbor said, jabbing their finger in my direction.
"I'm not playing," I said, realizing the self-burn only after the words escaped my lips.
Gloria showed me the screen on her phone. It was a static shot of her door from across the hall. She pressed play, and nothing happened for a beat until something darted across the screen. That was the whole thing. I looked up at her, my face twisted up in confusion.
"Well," she said, "What do you have to say?"
"What was that?" I asked.
"That was you!" the pointing neighbor said, pointing harder than I thought possible.
"What?" I said, laughing. "Are you all serious?" They didn't laugh, and I realized they weren't joking. "How can you even tell it's me? It's a blur. Never mind the fact I've been at work for the last five hours. Plus, this blur is half my size. I get we're all weirded out about the Phantom Runner, but it's not me. I swear to God. I don't even have the energy to think about running, let alone the physical desire to."
"Then explain this," Gloria said, slightly swaying from the half bottle of Pinot Noir coursing through her blood. She rewound the video and froze it on a specific frame. I couldn't believe my eyes, but I was looking at...me. Or, rather, something pretending to be me.
"What the fuck?" I said, my jaw dropping.
"Still think we're lying?" the pointer said smugly.
"No, but, guys, this isn't me. I... I've been at work. Wanna see my schedule?"
I reached into my phone and pulled it out. There was an email with my work schedule that confirmed what I was saying. They relaxed, and, for the first time, anger gave way to fear. Their very plausible explanation was suddenly invalid. It left two implausible answers floating in the ether: either I had a pint-sized doppelganger terrorizing the hallways of my apartment, or a ghost was haunting the building.
"I'm...gonna go inside," the pointer said, walking back to their home. Everyone else drifted away until it was just Gloria and I standing alone in the hallway.
She looked at me and sighed, "I feel like an asshole," she said. "Sorry I accused you of causing the racket."
"If I had seen the video, I would've thought the same thing," I said. "We're good."
"What do you think it is?" she asked.
I shrugged and let out an exhausted sigh. "Honestly, Gloria, I've had a screwed-up night already, and this is the cherry on top of the shit sundae; forgive my language. I don't have the mental bandwidth to even comprehend what's on the video at the moment."
"Think it's after you?" she asked, though I suspected the wine had forced her to put that idea out into the universe. As I had already seen, the universe seemed to take requests on my behalf.
"Maybe it's after you?" I said, coming off a little meaner than I intended, but I didn't care. I left her there to contemplate that scenario and went into my apartment.
As soon as the door shut behind me, I felt on edge. Just because I didn't have the mental bandwidth to discuss the doppelganger didn't mean it wasn't dominating my thoughts. I saw the frame of the video. The damn ghost looked exactly like me. What could that possibly mean? I know I had wished for death, but I was very still alive. I had rent due to prove that.
Did I happen to live in a place haunted by a ghost that looked strikingly like me? Was it some kid with a passing resemblance just causing chaos? Was it something else I couldn't even comprehend – an alien? A clone? A secret government project?
There was a thumping coming from the hallway. The mini Usain Bolt was at it again. I knew the neighbors would ignore it. Since they had all thought it was me, which was proven to be untrue, they would avoid the running man from now on. While curious and confused by the creature, they'd never put themselves in harm's way to discover what it was. They were not a brave lot.
Neither was I, but maybe my life crumbling around me had forced my hand. I walked over to my door and swung it open. I hit record on my phone, stuck it out like a periscope, and glanced around the hallway. Nobody was there. No neighbors were looking. No person was running.
"You gotta stop, man. I need to go to sleep," I said to the empty space. No response, not that I was expecting one.
I turned to walk back in, and I caught something out of the corner of my eye. A face at the end of the hallway peeked around the corner. For a quick second, we locked eyes, and it was like I was looking into a mirror. This thing was me. But...how?
I tried to get it on video, but it ducked back into the shadows. I took that as a cue to shut and lock my door. My heart was racing, and I didn't want to think about this anymore, but I couldn't help it. There was a me in the hallway who enjoyed pestering my neighbors. Worse, they liked to run for some ungodly reason.
I put my phone on the counter, the video still rolling, when there was a knock at my door. It echoed in my near-empty apartment. I tried to ignore it and convince myself it was something else, but it wasn't. The ghost was knocking on my door. Even with my brain paralyzed, I couldn't help but think that it was awfully polite to knock.
Another knock, this one more forceful. I wondered if the neighbors thought I was making this up?
"I know you're in there," a voice said. It sounded just like me. "This is about the race. We all have to run the race. It's your turn now."
I froze. My legs went wobbly like a boxer on the brink of a blackout, but I stayed tall. I opened my mouth to speak and found the words dying in my throat. I grabbed a nearby bottle of water and took a chug.
"We all have to run the race."
"What race?" I choked out, "What are you talking about?"
"Open up. They're in there already, and I need to get them."
I glanced all around my empty apartment. I didn't see anyone else in here. I didn't hear anything. Whatever this thing was, it was lying. I grabbed my phone and held it in my hand. I wanted to document this to prove that I wasn't crazy.
“Did you leave the note?”
“I know they’re in there with you,” it repeated.
"There's no one in here," I said.
"They're hiding. I think I know where. I can hear them."
"You've gotta get out of here," I said. "There's nothing here, and you're scaring people."
"I'm scared, and you should be! You have to run the race, man! Open up, and I can show you."
The handle started to shake. I peered through the keyhole and only saw the top of the other me's head. They began to shoulder the door, and it crunched against my nose. I screamed out in pain and stumbled back. I tripped over my feet and landed hard on my ass.
The thing slammed into the door two more times, shaking the walls. The strength seemed unnatural. On the third hit, the door burst open. I finally got a view of the thing. It was me. Scaled down by half, but it was me. We both seemed shocked.
"You're so much taller up close," the other me said.
"Who the fuck are you?"
I felt a buzzing in my feet that seemed to climb up my body until it reached my brain. There was an intense pain that rippled through the folds of my mind. Through the pain, I could hear a disembodied voice whisper, "We all must run the race. We all have to run. Chase it. Chase yourself." It felt like my skull was going to split in two. I clutched the sides of my head and let out a primal scream that hurt my own ears.
Then it was gone. But I could still feel the echoes in my mind. "We all have to run the race. We all have to run." The thought would waver between making no sense and making complete sense. One second, I was questioning what was happening to my mind, and the next, all I felt was the desire to continue the race.
"There he is!" the other me yelled, pointing at the hallway.
I glanced over and saw another version of me standing in the hallway. It was half the size of the other me that had broken into my place. When tiny me locked eyes with my intruder, he ran for the open hallway closet.
The other me followed, screaming that it would catch the little bastard if it was the last thing he'd do. I pushed myself up to my feet and felt queasy. I watched as the other me ran head-first into the closet without slowing. I expected to hear a loud thump as it hit the back wall but none came.
"We all have to run the race," the voice in my head said, soothing my nerves. "It's your time to run the race."
I moved down the hallway, each footfall echoing loudly in the empty apartment, each step bringing me closer to the closet door. Something was drawing me there. The voice's words echoed in my mind as well: "We all have to run the race. It's your turn now."
I grabbed the door and stopped. Something was compelling me to move forward. To go into the closet. To chase myself. To run the race.
"No," I whispered and yanked my hand from the door. I pulled out my still recording phone, and stared into the camera. My face was devoid of color, and you could see the fear etched into me. "I'm freaking out because...because…"
I stopped. I felt an invisible hand grab my body and tug. "Because...because if I don't run the race, something bad will happen. I have to chase it. I...I have to."
My phone dropped from my hand, and I didn’t care. The force pulling me forward stopped but my body kept going. I could feel the last strands of my rational mind splintering. My thoughts became focused on one thing: I had to catch myself, find out what was happening, and run the race. If I ran, maybe I'd win.
I needed a win.
I walked into the back of the closet and felt a door handle sticking out of the wall. I'd been in that closet a million times before and never had seen this. But a sense of calm washed over me. This….this was supposed to be here. This was perfectly fine.
I turned the handle and pulled open the invisible door. In front of me was a hallway that looked strikingly like the one outside my apartment. At the end of the hallway, I saw Gloria step out of their home to leave for the night. She was huge. Twice my size, easy.
Another door opened, and I saw...me—a giant version of me. The Hulk version of me was getting ready to go to the grocery store for work. I watched as the giant Gloria and giant me joked and laughed. I was stunned.
I stared, and a new thought came to me. I have to find the smaller me and talk to it. I needed to find out if there's a way out of this...this….
"It's your turn to run," the voice said.
Calm embraced me. "It's my turn to run," I repeated. As the giant me took off and the giant Gloria re-entered her apartment, the hallway beckoned.
"We all have to run the race," I said softly, "It's my turn now."
I started running.

Hey there, I'm a 23-year-old girl who's into gaming and looking for someone around my age to share that passion with. Must be 20-26 years old .They usually say laughter is the best medicine, and I love someone who can make me smile and laugh. Whether it's funny memes, witty banter, or just silly jokes, I'm always up for a good laugh.
I value true connections. I'm looking for someone who's honest, supportive, and values the same things in a relationship as I do. Of course, a love for gaming is a must! I enjoy all sorts of games, from casual to competitive, and I'm always open to trying new things. I'm looking for someone who enjoys exploring random stuff as much as I do and who I can share new experiences with.
A bit about me: I'm easygoing, friendly, and always up for a good conversation. My ideal evening involves staying in, cozying up on the couch, and diving into a new game or revisiting an old favorite.
If this sounds like you, feel free to send me a message! I'd love to chat about games, life, and anything else that comes to mind. Let's see if we can build a genuine connection and have some fun along the way!
Edited: I'm also from New Zealand, so anyone on OCE servers or even Asian one hit me up
P.S. If you can recommend a hidden gem of a game, I'm all ears!

AGI Defined
An autonomous assistant that solves tasks you give it as well as or better than a human would. It has the reasoning, agency, learning capability, and ability to use tools like a human.
How AGI Solves Tasks
Problem Definition and Understanding:
Start by understanding the problem, desired outcomes, and constraints.
Planning:
Formulate a detailed plan outlining steps and strategies to address the problem.
Knowledge Acquisition:
Gather relevant information from its database, the internet, and through its own experiments.
Data Collection and Analysis:
Collect, clean, and analyze data to extract useful insights.
Reasoning and Planning:
Plan by simulating different strategies and evaluating their feasibility.
Creative Generation of Solutions:
Create innovative solutions by combining and extrapolating ideas.
Evaluation and Selection:
Evaluate solutions based on criteria like effectiveness and ethics.
Decision-Making:
Decide on the best solution by weighing pros and cons.
Implementation and Execution:
Implement the chosen solution with an action plan.
Iterative Feedback and Learning:
Adjust approach based on feedback during implementation.
Continuous Improvement:
Learn from experiences to improve problem-solving over time.
How Agi Is Smarter Than Humans In Discovering and Implementing New Knowledge
Enhanced Memory:
Have an extensive and perfect memory, allowing it to recall and use vast amounts of information instantly.
Processing Speed:
Analyze vast amounts of data and complex problems much faster than humans.
Integration:
Integrate information from diverse sources and disciplines more effectively, generating novel insights.
Pattern Recognition:
Detect subtle patterns and anomalies in data that humans might overlook.
Deep Learning:
Understand and learn from complex datasets, making connections and insights that are difficult for humans to grasp.
Hypothesis Generation:
Systematically generate and evaluate a vast number of hypotheses, including unconventional ones humans might not consider.
Simulations:
Run countless simulations of theoretical models quickly to test their validity.
Unbiased Exploration:
Explore hypotheses without cognitive biases that might influence human researchers.
Logical Consistency:
Maintain higher levels of logical consistency in reasoning, avoiding common cognitive fallacies and errors.
Advanced Problem-Solving:
Solve complex problems more effectively by using advanced algorithms and heuristic methods beyond human capability.
Feedback Loop:
Rapidly iterate and refine models based on new data, accelerating the cycle of discovery.
Innovative Thinking:
Generate truly novel ideas and solutions that go beyond conventional human thinking.
Continuous Operation:
Work continuously without breaks, accelerating the research process.
Innovations Needed For AGI
Hardware:
Better chips
Data centers
Energy production
Software:
Agents perform multi-step tasks and know what to do next for the task to be done without being asked to.
Self operating computer
Having every workflow application have the AI be able to use the tools rather than just give advice based on what it sees on the device and hears from the user.
Spoken Timelines: I didn't add links but you could just search what I said on Google.
Dan Schulman (former PayPal CEO): GPT-5 will be a freak out moment. 80% of the jobs out there will be reduced 80% in scope.
Sam Altman thinks GPT-4.5 will automate 100 million jobs globally.
In 2023, Sam Altman said he predicts job losses will begin in 2-3 years.
Sam Altman's AI Capabilities Projection:

• Multi-Modality: Somewhat with GPT 4o. Still needs an everything to everything model.
• Reasoning: Q-star, chain of thought, search tree. I’m sure more will come.
• Personalization: Most likely having the AI be trained on all your personal data by having it control your devices. (Bill Gates Interview)
• Reliability: Sam said that this is when the AI can always give you the best response. He remarks that if GPT-4 gives a good response 1 out of every 10k times, then he wants to ensure that one good response is given every time. (Bill Gates Interview)
• Agents: API calls with other apps. Ability to use tools in different applications.

AI that controls your computer is coming soon
Sam Altman said GPT 4 is really dumb. So he knows the next model is actually way better.
OpenAI is likely two years ahead of everyone.
OpenAI COO: Brad Lightcap

• We’ll get a major upgrade by May 2025 (Based on May 2024). Today’s systems are laughably bad.
• Models are capable of complex "work."
• OpenAI already has a desktop app with a conversational voice and can comprehend what’s on your screen. So they can be like your teammate.

Every company’s workflow would be reengineered by May 2026. Nvidia, Dell Are Building Their Own AI 'Factories' (Based on May 2024)
Project Stargate: Nuclear fusion to power the $100 billion data center to be released in 2028. This is likely for scaling for smarter models, make AI faster, cheaper, or getting it to as many hands as possible.
Many leaders in AI give AGI release dates between 2025-2030. Most people that think AI won't take jobs are thinking of todays tech for the future. They don't consider how AGI would be like for AI to take jobs. Like the required technology and how those innovations could be achieved. People don't consider how embodied humanoid robots with AGI could also eliminate many jobs. People think trade jobs are safe. NVIDIA's project groot is training robots in simulation. Who's to say that the robots can't learn to do all tasks. Maybe not in a year, but five years is a lot of progress with the rate AI is advancing. Even if we don't have AGI now, AI will be replacing jobs. If one person can use AI to do the work of one team, then those people who would have been on a team would be laid off. Especially when Agents roll around in 1-2 years.
Sometimes it really worries me about the people who go to college to get a high paying jobs, especially first gen college students from immigrant families. Imagine working hard for the dream of getting a high paying job only to be automated in six years. What happens to their drive? All their hard work for what? Sold a long gone dream and had the carpet pulled under them. In my opinion, even jobs like doctors could be automated if humanoid robots had embodied AGI. Sure it might not be wanted at first, but it has the potential too.
My Thoughts on AGI
AGI would just be the accumulation of all the different innovations needed to reach the requirements needed to meet the definition of what AGI is. Realistically, engineers could do this within six years. So even though I have a general idea of how AGI could be achieved by the end of the decade, I would just have to wait and see when these innovations are created.
Post Labor Info
Most people work to gain money because money is needed to survive and buy things that you want. The purpose of school is to provide people with a pathway to secure a high-paying job. When students say they work hard in school to be successful, it often means they want to get a high-paying career.
But if AI were to start taking over jobs, then our relationship with work would change. There would be mass unemployment, leading people to receive UBI. The government would be forced to give UBI unless they want societal collapse. No one would need to work to have money for survival and buying the things they want.
If everyone had free money, people would use the extra time on bettering their personal lives. They can spend more time with loved ones and do the things they want to do. There would be a paradigm shift in how society is set up. People wouldn’t have to work so hard at school or a job in the pursuit of money. A lot of people don’t like working anyway, especially since the cost of living is causing them to work harder and subsequently deal with mental health issues. Look at Gen Z doesn't want to work, antiwork, wage slavery, 9-5 rat race. Cost of living being unaffordable. People work so hard but can not get by. Hard work is not properly financially compensated and college grads can't find jobs. Meaning from work could be derived from work you want to do not work you do for a paycheck. Look at David Shapiro's YouTube channel for more info on Post-Labor and Post-AGI videos.
It would be better for the next generation of people born in this post-labor world. Nasa researchers found that 98% of 5-year-old children fell into the “genius category of imagination.” This number dropped to 12% for 15-year-olds and to 2% for adults. The reason for this drop is the education system killing creativity. But with the traditional education system gone, that generation is likely to remain geniuses.

Hey all, I’ve learned a lot from this sub but could still use advice. I have severe allergies and am medically disabled. I’m looking for a lightweight (ideally 12lbs or less, the lighter the better) Hepa that I can carry up and down stairs that will allow me to easily and often vacuum pretty much everything- floors, shelves, couch, mattress, belongings, walls etc. I have belongings in storage that need a very thorough cleaning too.
I’m leaning towards bagged cannister and particularly Miele but welcome suggestions. Currently in a one bedroom loft with spiral staircase, and looking to buy a small to midsized multilevel house but need a vacuum to dramatically improve my current space and address storage belongings in meantime. Currently have predominantly laminate and tile floors with a low pile area rug. Anticipate buying a place with predominantly wood floors but some low pile carpet possible. No kids or pets, but hope to adopt a dog once I buy. My past shoulder length hair sheds and can clog spinners (no idea of technical term) so that’s a consideration.
Two approaches are possible- get a low or mid range vacuum to address my current situation (1 bedroom and storage items) that I can use like crazy but replace with an upgrade when I buy a home (something ranging from Simplicity Jill, Henry, or Miele C1 Compact. In the $200-500ish range) or get something a bit more expensive like the Miele C1 Cat and Dog that could potentially transition better to a new place and circumstances OR that I could give to my senior citizen parents when I move. They have largely wall to wall carpeting and a dog that sheds a ton.
Budget is $750ish or less. Some specific questions: how heavy are C1s and C3s? I keep seeing different weights. Are C1 Compacts lighter than other C1s? Are they better sealed or higher quality builds? Is the only difference between the Compact Pure and Turbo the Turbo head and could I buy one separately to add to the Pure to make them the same? Does the C1 dog and cat always use the heavier electrobrush or is it swapped out for the lighter weight C1 attachments when vacuuming anything but carpet? Feel free to answer any, all, none. Thanks!!

I am trying to take advantage of the memorial day sale for couches as I heard it is usually the best time to buy sofas.
I have been doing my research and seems like a lot of people recommend these companies, but would like any input on these are any other suggestions.

• What A Room is having a 10% Off, but they emailed me a coupon code for 15% (MDS24-EM15). I've been reading that people have great customer service experience with them as they have a lot of customization with a lot of sizes/configurations, free fabric samples with a lot of options, different cushion firmness. I really like that you are able to choose different depth levels as there are some sofas I really like from other brands but limited customization options as I am a bit taller so having a deeper sofa would be nice.
• LoveSac is having a 30% off which seems like one of their better deals. I like that they are modular and that I can always add additional parts if I need to add more seats. Also their covers seem removal so its nice that you can change it up or replace it when necessary. Heard good things about them, but their options are quite limited, but they are quite expensive so 30% seems like a steal.
• Crate & Barrel is having a few couches on sale at about 20% on their Unwide slipcofa sectional sofa or their Lounge deep sofa is 10% off. They are also having a promo with 20% rewards if I sign up for their Credit Card which seems quite promising. I don't know their credit too well though but may seem worth it if I buy more furniture from them later on.
• I am looking for mostly a quality sofa that would last longer than 5 years so these are the one's I narrow down to for now.

Hi, I’m self employed and need to buy a van for my business in the next year or so really. My average profits are around 20k. My understanding is if I was to spend 10k on a van this year my profit would then be 10k and therefore no tax for this particular tax year effectively. My problem with this is that I want to get a mortgage in the next couple of years… so although a nice tax free year would be handy, I don’t want it to look like I’ve made just 10 grand profit. Because I haven’t really… I’ve made 20k and spent 10 on a van. If you see where I’m going. Is there any way I can spread the van purchase over several tax years (in terms of in tax write offs) and still buy it cash?

Okay, so for this post there are a lot of people involved (this has been going on for a while) so I'll list up here who's who. This is my wife's family. I'll be using code names when appropriate:
Father-in-law - FIL
Mother-in-law - MIL
Wife(oldest daughter) - Wife
Second daughter - Sarah
Third daughter - Lana
Fourth daughter - Ruth
Second daughter's husband - BIL
Third daughter's fiancee - Karl
My daughter - daughter
Second daughter's older son - Danny
Second daughter's younger son - Aaron
And me as me
I know this is long but bear with me TL;DR Brother-in-law has snapped the last straw for the family and we are all starting to cut ties with him

 BIL's family has their own side of the story that I'm barely familiar with, so it won't be brought up here. We first met BIL way before they got together; Sarah bought a house as a group of friends with her boyfriend at the time, and BIL and his second wife at the time. We didn't interact with him much. We just heard a few stories about him from their friend group. Eventually this situation broke down and BIL and his second wife left and vandalized Sarah's home on the way out. They let their dogs poop all over the floor, stole some miscellaneous items, poured water in their lawn mower gas tank, etc. He did this to Sarah, his future third wife. We thought this guy was out of our lives forever. Sarah eventually came to stay on my couch after she sold the house. She lived with me and my wife for roughly 3 months. Then she went and rented an apartment a few miles away. No sooner than a few weeks did we find out she was dating future BIL, and a few weeks after that we found she was pregnant. He met the family and stated that he wanted to be a part of it. He blamed all his past transgressions on his second wife. We questioned him at the time if he was still with his second wife. He said no, and that he was officially divorced. My wife looked up the public court records and found out that he didn't file divorce papers until 11 days after we asked that question. A small lie but considering our history of knowing him it was concerning. BIL is a big gun enthusiast. About 1 months after they told us Sarah was pregnant, while cleaning a gun at home he shot himself in the hand. Again, we were concerned but Sarah assured us he was a changed man and this was just an unfortunate accident. His hand healed but he didn't do his physical therapy that seriously so his hand is still kind of jacked up. I feel this is important because he kind of has a history of not following through on what he says. During Sarah's pregnancy we found out that BIL seriously beat one of their dogs back when they bought the house together. We also figured out he diagnosed himself with bipolar, but refused to go to a doctor to get an actual diagnosis. The whole family at the time was distracted by all of this because during Sarah's pregnancy my wife went through a major medical struggle that resulted in multiple surgeries and a months-long stay in the hospital. We were so focused on that the BIL details just kind of came and went at that moment. Sarah gave birth to Danny during COVID lockdown. We were so excited and we all were very active in Danny's life. Time would pass and we just kind of got used to BIL being despite the fact that he often would miss family events. BIL and Sarah would move into a house on my in-laws property just down the road from in-laws house. MIL became their primary caregiver as she could work it around her job and still make decent money. As 4 years have passed my MIL, FIL, Lana, my Wife and I all take shifts of watching their now 2 kids for them, for free. MIL also watches my daughter but significantly less that their son's. 2 years would pass after Danny was born and everything seemed OK. There would just be hints in they way he talked about who he really was. He would say something in casual conversation like "man, there seems like there are too many black people in commercials these days" or "I don't know why we are forcing women's sports to be a thing." Bigoted stuff like that, but veiled enough so there was plausible deniability. I would often call him out on it, so he really grew to not like me. This all changed at his 30th bday. He had a big party with a lot of alcohol and weed with dozens of friends. My wife and I didn't go because we are not party people. Lana and Ruth went to the party. Sarah was also there. During this party BIL went outside and decided to "mud" his jeep through the creek beside their house. This was possibly with Karl but I'm not sure of that to this day. Karl has recently come into the picture prior to this event and was previously friends with BIL for a long time. The jeep got stuck and flooded for obvious reasons. After trying to get it out of the creek by multiple means, they gave up and left it there. I believe it took almost 2 days to get it out. He went back to the party and as everyone got progressively drunk and high, my 2 sister-in-laws Lana and Ruth (I believe) criticized BIL for getting his car stuck in a creek while playing. BIL verbally assaulted them and demanded they get out of his house. They left in tears. They drove separately, and Lana had gotten buzzed so they both got in Ruth's car and drove to my house. They sat and vented to my wife and I for a while, and eventually I offered that we should go do something fun to take their minds off of it. My wife and I drove them to Taco Bell and we got some food and drove around town for a while and made jokes in the car. After they cooled off and were in a better mood they said that Lana needed to go get her car from the party. In a flurry she accidentally left her keys inside her sister's and BIL's house. We drove them over just in case anything sketchy happened but Lana and Ruth didn't want us to go inside, so we waited out in the car. She didn't think it would be a big deal to walk in, but as her and Ruth did BIL immediately got in her face and demanding she gets out or else. Ruth went to talk to someone else at the party and didn't notice this at first. BIL shoved Lana against a wall and held her there. Everyone apparently stood in stunned silence as this happened. He then shoved her to the ground, grabbed her around the ankles and started pulling her across the floor. As he was threatening to do even worse, Ruth ran up and jumped on his back and gave him a head lock. She screamed at him to stop but before BIL could anything about this everyone finally woke up and pulled them apart. Ruth helped Lana up and they ran out of the house onto the front porch sobbing. My wife saw this and got out of the car and yelled at them to get back in our car. We drove up to the in-laws house. By then it was past midnight. MIL was about an hour away working her job and FIL was up in his room asleep. The sisters went and woke him up and explained the situation through tears. They also called MIL to inform her of the situation. He got ready and ask me to go with him down to the house to get some answers. The sisters stayed up at the house. We drove down in his car and when we got out the entire party was ready for us and greeted us at the car. Literally over a dozen people, most of whom I did not recognize started screaming what happened at both of us simultaneously. Everyone was clearly very drunk. FIL looked overwhelmed, so I raised my hands and tried asking everyone to stop for a second and go one by one telling their bit of the story. BIL stopped me mid sentence and pointed his finger in my face. I noticed he had his other hand on a holstered hand gun. He yelled out "You don't have a say here! You're barely even part of this family." For context, I had been with my wife for over 11 years at that time and he hadn't even married Sarah yet and had been there about 2 1/2 years. FIL backed up and told me that I need to stop talking and that I was being a problem. I backed off and went over the yard to Sarah and Karl. I asked Sarah what happened and she told me that she didn't see what happened and that she wasn't very aware of what was going on now. Karl would barely answer the same question. I walked back over to FIL but he told me to back off and that I really wasn't needed there. Admittedly I felt pretty insulted and just decided to walk back to his house and get my car and go home with my wife. We eventually left after FIL came back to the house. We found out later that BIL had pulled his gun out and threatened to kill himself if FIL didn't leave. Out of fear of what he would do, my in-laws were pretty afraid to take action at this point. A lot of the situation was his word against someone else's and Sarah went on a tour around to the friends and convinced them not to take any of this to the police. She then tried to smooth things over with the family and offered that BIL would apologize to everyone. He then refused, stating that Ruth was the real aggressor and that she assaulted him. He eventually agreed to apologize to just FIL for causing a problem and I think some half-hearted apologies to Lana and Ruth. The whole situation was swept under the rug but an unease has existed over the family since then. He stopped coming to family events pretty much altogether. About 4 months after this situation, prior to my daughter being born, he told MIL he was going to bring Danny up to their house so she could watch him for a few hours while he took a nap. His job works long hours so this wasn't out of the ordinary. However, he didn't show up for a while and my MIL started questioning what going on. She called but there was no answer. She drove down to his house and knocked but there wasn't an answer, only Danny crying in the background. She let herself in and found BIL asleep on the couch with Danny actively trying to wake him up. MIL tried to wake him up but nothing for a few minutes. She gave up and wrote a note to let him know where Danny was. BIL didn't notice Danny was gone for 2 hours. He finally woke up, drove up to in-laws house, and yelled at my MIL for just taking Danny without informing him. He took Danny and then left. A few months after that, after my daughter was born, He fell asleep while watching Danny again. This time we found out because when he woke up the front door was open and Danny was gone. He called in-laws for help finding him. My in-laws have a large property (about 200 acres) with a ton of it forested. Danny wandered 1/4 of a mile into the woods and I believe it took roughly a little over an hour to find him. Family questioned him hard this time but he just recoiled back into their house and didn't talk to us much. Sarah continued to defend him and said it was just an accident. Again the police were not notified about any of this. There was always this idea that if we went to authorities about any of this they would just run for it. They would then surprise everyone with the news that they were pregnant again, despite the fact that Sarah had used the morning after pill. This whole time they hadn't married yet. They announced that they were getting married but Sarah told Lana that it was mostly just to help BIL not have to go through bankruptcy a second time. I wasn't sure if this would do anything to help that situation, but that's what Sarah said at one point leading up to the wedding. About a month before the wedding, however, he threatened Sarah that if she insisted on inviting my wife to the wedding he would demand to invite a friend of his that Sarah hated. This friend also used to date BIL I believe. This was his ploy to force Sarah to not invite my Wife or me. The 2 other sisters and MIL all stood in solidarity with us and said that they would also not go if we weren't invited. He eventually relented and they got married a little before Aaron was born. As more kids were added, MIL's childcare duties got much harder. Eventually my wife and I started paying her (not much but something at least. $150 a month) to watch our daughter, but we also did chores for her, bought her food often, and eventually my Wife started taking a few shifts to watch all 3 children. To date, BIL and Sarah have never compensated any of us for our work. It's a little frustrating but we've tried to understand because Sarah and BIL seem to be bad with money. They objectively make more than us yet can't afford to pay MIL anything. Last Thanksgiving, in the middle of dinner, Sarah and BIL decided to have an "intervention" and talk about how we were not treating BIL fairly. They addressed everybody but really honed in on me specifically. This seemed to be because the rest of the family kind of dance in eggshells around them, while to be frank I'm pretty honest about how I feel about them. They seemed to think I was causing the family to turn against him and questioned why I would do that. I told him he lacked humility. He said he didn't understand. I told him that if he admitted to his mistakes and actually apologized about any of the stuff I previously wrote, instead of blaming everyone and everything else then the whole family would feel a bit different about him. A lot of talk was about the 30th b-day and other times when I just ignored him and how he had already apologized about the party. I reminded him that he didn't apologize to most of the family and he blamed Ruth. He then stated that Ruth was the cause of a lot of the problems at that party. He also made a big deal about how the family doesn't trust him with my daughter and kept emphasizing how he has never held her. We finally tried to come to an agreement. I told him I would try to talk to him more and try to understand him better and he said he would try to come to family events more. He also wanted more of a relationship with my daughter. We left and my wife and I were skeptical but we said that if this is who Sarah really wanted to be with, as long as BIL wasn't perceived as a threat he could have more contact with our daughter. We have had way more of a relationship with his kids than he has had with our daughter so I tried to sympathize with that imbalance. Karl also stated later that having known BIL for a long time, he thought he was very sincere. To date, BIL has not asked or tried at any family events to spend any time with my daughter, despite having numerous opportunities. Now to the current situation. About a month ago Lana and Karl announced that Lana was pregnant. This was a revelation due to Lana having a medical condition that made it harder to get pregnant. A lot of excitement was brewing in the family because of this. Karl has been seeming like a good partner to Lana, and proposed to her a little before the pregnancy happened. This is especially pertinent because Lana and Karl moved into a house together right beside BIL and Sarah. A few days ago they were over at Sarah and BIL's house when an argument broke out between Sarah and BIL. BIL demanded that Sarah wasn't an "obedient enough wife" and that if she wanted there marriage to work then she was going to have to get better at serving him. She was upset and they weren't coming to an agreement so he was going to leave, but apparently he was very high so Sarah refused to give him the keys to his car. He got extremely mad and then got a gun, held it to his head, and threatened to kill himself if she didn't hand over the keys. Fortunately, Danny and Aaron were taking a nap during all of this. Sarah called the police during this whole exchange and the operator heard a lot of what BIL said over the phone so based on that they arrived at the house. He apparently drove away and it took the police a bit to find him but once they did he turned himself over. They admitted him to a mandatory 72-hour stay at a psychiatric ward for a mental health assessment. Sarah then came up to the rest of the family (not me or my Wife) and gave them Danny and Aaron. She then went and confided with Lana and Karl about how abusive BIL had been and how life was just miserable right now. A lot of us, especially Karl and my in-laws, were telling her that she needs to leave BIL and file for emergency custody of her children. She seemed to be listening to us and turning a corner, but inexplicably the psychiatric ward allowed BIL to have a phone call with Sarah and they had a long conversation. Suddenly, Sarah shut us all out and completely changed her story. She started defending BIL again. BIL was then let out of the psychiatric ward a day early. Since Karl was working at the time, Lana came to stay with us and then over at her in-laws. We are especially concerned about her safety around BIL due to her being pregnant. They have since cut nearly all contact with us for 4 days now. They have only told Karl that they were getting a new TV because the old one mysteriously broke somehow. They have continued to post on social media like nothing has happened. They have spent 2 days with BIL's family so we aren't sure what their opinion of this is, though we do know a sibling of his has also told Sarah to leave him prior to this latest situation. We don't know what their plans for childcare is because they are wholly reliant upon us. Lana is very reluctant to ever be home alone. Ruth is as well. There are so many other details I haven't mentioned. There have been holes in walls they've had to fix. There is some evidence that BIL is cheating on Sarah, but that evidence is somewhat inconclusive. The bigoted comments for a while now have gotten increasingly misogynistic. It's a lot of 'we need to respect proper gender roles' kind of stuff. There's just too much and I've already written a book on here. I don't really know what to do at this point. Because a lot of this stuff has been swept under the rug it's hard to tell how seriously CPS or police would take our claims. FIL has threatened to kick them out of their very cheap rental they're in now. Who knows what they would do in that scenario. I know this post is detailed and because of that BIL or Sarah might see it, but at this point I wonder if I even give a shit. They've already eluded to keeping their sons from us in the past and the vibes we are getting now is that they are already doing it. And from the bottom of my heart, fuck BIL. 

i have no words other than i’m tired. i looked up how bad my bulimia is, and it goes under extreme bulimia with more than 14 episodes of binges per week. my family is fully aware of my ED, they have tried everything, putting me into therapy where nothing worked, keeping an eye on whenever i go to the bathroom, literally spying on me all day long just for my behaviours. it’s a hell of a life. luckily it has stopped and i have my privacy and freedom again, but my ED has never stopped. it’s like i have the biggest ego on earth, i have so much love for food and my ED, that i hate it. i WISH i hated it. every night i am so motivated to start over, fresh healthy start and i start planning a new plan how to overcome it. however, as soon as the sun rises again, i am in b/p mode again. even if i eat small portions, i purge everything. everything. sometimes there will be hours where i regurgitate the food i’ve consumed (gross ik), and all i want to do all day is eat. i have no motivation to workout - at all. even if it’s a little walk. i don’t find any interest in ANYTHING i used to like. sports, hobbies, nothing. now i put words into it, i realize it has gotten so depressing, to the point where all i want to do all day, is sit on the couch and b/p. and the worst thing about it is, i enjoy it??? hello?? where did my life go?? obviously i need special and serious treatment, but i can’t bare to think about getting locked into a mental hospital and gain a shit ton of trauma. i’ve looked into treatments online, but i’m afraid i can’t afford any of the coachings. ironically, i’m still a 20 y/o girl with future dreams, hoping that one day i will magically be ED-free, but i’m not sure how many days, weeks, months or years i get to that point. i’ve had bulimia now since november 2022, and i’ve been purging multiple times a day ever since. my family had tried to warn and scare me with long term effects, but nothing seems to get to me. will all that i have, i seriously need help. i don’t know where else to ask for help, so please, those of you who have recovered from extreme bulimia, HOW in the world did you recover? it’s easy to say “stop labelling food as good or bad” or “stop binging and purging”, i just CANNOT DO IT.

I currently have a Steam Deck and love it. While the SD is excellent for playing on the couch, it really doesn't feel portable while having to bring the case around everywhere.
I saw the rg35xxsp release and got really excited about the form factor, but it'll be about $110 with taxes and shipping which feels hard to justify.
After finding the v90 I thought it could be a good middle ground being rugged and about $45 with free shipping, but I've seen so many mixed reviews on whether or not it is worth it.
The r36s is about $55 but I really don't like the joysticks and I think I would stress about breaking them in transit. The rg35xx is $60 with free shipping, but again feels like I would be worried about damaging it and need to lug around a case and everything.
Is the blurriness and performance bad enough on the v90 that I should just save up for a few months and get a rg35xxsp?
I mostly plan on playing GB/GBC and a handful of GBA games like Fire Red, Ruby, Wario Ware, and Apotris. NES is nice to have but I don't care for most games on there. SNES I would maybe play Super Mario World which I've seen some people say runs at 60 fps and some say it runs at 20.

I DO NOT GIVE OUT PASSWORDS! I USE 2FA & YOU SHOULD TOO! ALWAYS BE WEARY OF PEOPLE PHISHING FOR YOUR PASSWORD OR CLAIMING YOU ARE BANNED!
PAYMENT: Zelle (strongly preferred), Venmo, CashApp, or Paypal FF (Last Resort). High value orders and new to the sub Zelle only.
SHIPPING: USPS $6 less than 10oz. $10 over 10oz. $100 insurance and tracking included. Free shipping on orders over $500. Additional insurance over $100 is optional at buyers liability. Additional insurance $0.80/$100 coverage. I can ship other methods at buyers' request.
AUTHENTICITY: All of these items have been verified for authenticity using acid tests or a sigma. I offer a full money back guarantee on the authenticity of all items listed. I am happy to send a video of an acid / magnet test if requested.
If you need more pictures or info don’t hesitate to ask.
ORDERS SHIP THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS DAY!
PROOF: https://imgur.com/a/Tc6XrxP
All Prices rounded up to the nearest $0.25
Coins:
Mexican Gold 2 Peso 1945 Restrike (2x) - $133ea
Gold Jewelry (ALL 5% BELOW SPOT):
14K Gold 18.5" 3mm Omega Chain / Necklace 22.514g Signed 14K Italy & MI - $971
14K Yellow & White Gold Two-Tone Ring Size 6-3/4 Signed 14K Makers Mark 5.267g - $227.25
10K White Gold Fuchsia CZ Heart Necklace and Earrings Set 18” Rope Chain Signed 4.39g - $135
Sterling Silver Necklaces:
20” x ½” HEAVY Figaro Chain 238g - $425
30” x 6.5mm Italian Curb Chain - 54.47g - $109
16” Italian San Marco Chain with 7” San Marco Bracelet 62.3g - $115
31” Puff Heart Necklace with Italy Rope Chain 15.4g - $35
30.5” Box Chain with Owl Pendant / Brooch (has attachments for both) 11.63g - $33 SOLD!
19” Italian Square Herringbone Style Sterling Chain with Czech Pendant - 6.28g - $20
18” Italian Sterling Box Chain with Ross Simon Cross Pendant 2.61g - $20
16” Sterling Abstract Glass Pendant Necklace 15.96g - $25
18” 925 Box Chain with Synthetic 14x10mm Sapphire Pendant & Matching Earrings with 10x8mm Sapphires 8.12g - $30
18” 925 Gold Vermeil Box Chain with Pear Cut Ceylon Sapphire Pendant & Matching Triangle CZ Earrings 12.13g - $30
20” Italian Millefiori Necklace with Circular Glass Pendant 3.18g - $25
15.5” Italian Millefiori Bead Necklace 3.98g - $20
15.5” Italian Murano Style Necklace (Note the wire is ferrous for strength, clasp and non-stone charms are sterling) - $15
15” Native American Fetish Necklace (Note the wire is elastic material for strength, beads and pendants are sterling) - $30
17” Sterling Bead / Clasp Turquoise Nugget Necklace (Note the wire is ferrous material for strength, beads and clasp are sterling) - $15
Sterling Silver Bracelets & Pendants:
8.5” x ½” Heavy Curb Bracelet 53.6g - $105
Taxco 7.5” Juan Luis Flores 70s Vintage Bracelet 43.49g - $86.98 SOLD!
Sterling Flower Filigree Bracelet 8” 10.19g - $30
Sterling Rose & Garnet Tennis Bracelet 7.5” 13.43g - $35
Ross Simon Sterling Rose Quartz Aventurine Tennis Bracelet 7” 9.50g - $30
Sterling Native American Bear Bracelet (Note the wire is ferrous for strength, clasp and non-stone charms are sterling) - $40
Sterling Silver 2-Strand Malachite Bracelet 7” 2.32g - $20
Sterling Clasp Faceted AB Crystal Bracelet with amazing sparkle (Note the wire is ferrous for strength, only clasp is sterling) 7” - $15
Taxco Hummingbird Pendant / Brooch (has both attachments) 11.95g - $24 SOLD!
Sterling Pink CZ Butterfly Bracelet 7.25” 7.5g - $27.50
Sterling Silver Earrings: https://imgur.com/a/rTrTKTE
Larimar Dangle Earrings 1g - $12
Dolphin Jumping through Hoop Drop Earrings 6.86g - $15
Taxco Sterling Half Circle Bohemian Hoop Earrings 9.24g - $20
Taxco Sterling Triangle Drop Earrings 9.43g - $18
Taxco Sterling Shell / Feather Drop Earrings 6.01g - $15
Taxco Sterling Triangle / Bead Drop Earrings 21.79g - $25
Flower Drop Earrings with Aquamarine Stones 9.28g - $25
Teardrop Shaped Earring with Black Beads 5.13g - $15
Concentric Oval Earrings 2.05g - $12
Leaf / White Opal Studs (Brilliant Luster on these) 2.22g - $40
Vintage Filigree Sterling Drop Earrings (Super intricate) 14.33g - $20
Vintage Sterling Dragonfly Earrings 12.39g - $20
Heart Shaped Drop Earrings with Lapis Stones 5.22g - $15
Sterling Silver Rings: https://imgur.com/gallery/65jVHip
Bali Swirl Design Sterling Ring Size 7-1/2 11.06g - $27.50
Large 925 Ring with CZ Size 6 5.97g - $18
Large 925 Ring with CZ and Flower Engraving Size 6 9.28g - $18
925 Ring with Bands of CZ Size 6 5.9g - $18
Wedding Band Style 925 Ring with Moissanite Size 6 2.41g - $18
Shablool Didae Israeli Filigree Style Ring Size 7.5 One-of-a-kind 8g - $25
Sterling Silver Flatware / Kitchen (MOST @ 95%):
Porter Blanchard Sterling Tea Pot 612g - $554 (95% of SPOT)
Gorham Sterling Footed Bowl 619g - $560 (95% of SPOT)
Pimaral Peru Sterling Serving Set 311g - $281.50 (95% of SPOT)
Assorted Sterling Spoons (Unmarked and the smaller two are thin) 44g - $40 (95% of SPOT)
English Shell by Lunt Sterling Silver Soup Spoons (4) 135g - $122.25 (95% of SPOT)
La Touraine by Reed & Barton Sterling Tea Spoon 30.34g - $27.50 (95% of SPOT)
Lunt Lus60 Sterling Silver Salt Spoon 2.94g - $10

Openfair is doing free valuations for business owners. They are looking for opinions on the process and it dosen't require a sign up. People should have a look as it usually costs $8k-$10k to get a valuation of the same caliber.

Find 'chipotle mukbang' on TikTok TikTok Search
chipotle
chipotle near me
chipotle menu
chipotle stock
chipotle catering
chipotle hours
chipotle calorie counter
chipotle nutrition calculator
chipotle promo code
chipotle nutrition
chipotle careers
chipotle aioli
chipotle application
chipotle ashburn va
chipotle arlington va
chipotle app
chipotle adobo sauce
chipotle alexandria va
al pastor chicken chipotle
adobo chipotle
adobo chipotle sauce
ancaster chipotle
aioli chipotle
a chipotle near me
at what time does chipotle close
a chipotle bowl
allergen menu chipotle
chipotle bowl
chipotle burrito
chipotle bowl calories
chipotle boycott
chipotle bowl menu
chipotle barbacoa
chipotle bethesda
chipotle burrito calories
barbacoa chipotle
boorito chipotle
best chipotle order
burrito bowl chipotle
baja chipotle sauce
burrito chipotle
bogo chipotle
burrito day chipotle
burrito vault chipotle
burrito bowl chipotle calories
chipotle chicken recipe
chipotle calories
chipotle chicken al pastor
chipotle customer service
chipotle coupon
chipotle corn salsa recipe
chipotle catering menu
chicken al pastor chipotle
copycat chipotle chicken
calories in chipotle bowl
corn salsa chipotle
catering chipotle
calories in chipotle burrito
calories chipotle
chicken chipotle recipe
calgary chipotle
chipotle delivery
chipotle dc
chipotle deals
chipotle dressing recipe
chipotle dressing
chipotle drinks
does chipotle support israel
does chipotle take apple pay
does mcdonald's own chipotle
does chipotle have a drive thru
does chipotle deliver
do chipotle points expire
diy chipotle bowl
directions to chipotle
drinks at chipotle
doordash chipotle promo code
chipotle e coli
chipotle e gift card
chipotle embrey mill
chipotle e coli outbreak
chipotle email
chipotle employee login
chipotle earnings
el chipotle
e coli chipotle
el chipotle arcata
email chipotle
entree chipotle
easy chipotle mayo recipe
e coli outbreak chipotle
edmonton chipotle
elk river chipotle
englewood chipotle
chipotle frederick md
chipotle fundraiser
chipotle fredericksburg va
chipotle falls church
chipotle feedback
chipotle fajita veggies
free chipotle
fajita veggies chipotle
free chipotle code
first chipotle
flood bowl chipotle
free guac chipotle
founder of chipotle
free delivery chipotle
fajita quesadilla chipotle
food poisoning chipotle
chipotle gift card balance
chipotle gift card
chipotle guacamole recipe
chipotle germantown md
chipotle gaithersburg md
gluten free chipotle
guacamole recipe chipotle
group order chipotle
gift card balance chipotle
guildford chipotle
green salsa chipotle
grilled chicken chipotle ranch burrito
get free chipotle
great falls chipotle
guacamole chipotle nutrition
chipotle hiring
chipotle hagerstown md
chipotle honey vinaigrette
chipotle hours near me
chipotle hiring near me
chipotle hyattsville
chipotle hot sauce
how to make chipotle sauce
how much is a chipotle bowl
how much is a chipotle burrito
how much is chipotle catering
how healthy is chipotle
how much is a quesadilla at chipotle
how much calories is a chipotle bowl
how much is chipotle delivery
how much is chipotle stock
hours for chipotle
chipotle ingredients
chipotle in adobo sauce
chipotle in adobo
chipotle ingredients list
chipotle is my life
chipotle israel
chipotle in dc
is chipotle healthy
is chipotle open on easter
is chipotle gluten free
is chipotle in canada
is chipotle in the uk
is chipotle hiring
ingredients in chipotle
is chipotle a restaurant
is chipotle a pepper
is chipotle in london
chipotle jobs
chipotle jobs near me
chipotle jc
chipotle job description
chipotle juices
chipotle job application
chipotle jalapeno
chipotle job login
jersey mike's chipotle mayo
jersey mike's chipotle cheesesteak
juniper berries chipotle
joshua weissman chipotle
jalapeno vs chipotle
jackson ms chipotle
job description for chipotle crew member
johnson city chipotle
johnstown pa chipotle
joliet chipotle
chipotle kids menu
chipotle kids quesadilla
chipotle keto bowl
chipotle keto
chipotle kids meal hack
kids meal chipotle
keto chipotle
keith lee chipotle
keto chipotle bowl
kids quesadilla chipotle
kronos chipotle
kyle chipotle
kids meal chipotle calories
kansas city chipotle
kirkwood chipotle
chipotle laurel md
chipotle leesburg va
chipotle logo
chipotle login
chipotle lifestyle bowl
lifestyle bowl chipotle
low calorie chipotle
london chipotle
lime rice chipotle
logo chipotle
las vegas chipotle
list of chipotle toppings
login chipotle
langley chipotle
chipotle menu pdf
chipotle mayo
chipotle menu with prices
chipotle manassas
chipotle meats
chipotle mexican grill washington photos
menu chipotle
mayo chipotle
meats at chipotle
mayonnaise chipotle
menu for chipotle with prices
make chipotle sauce
make chipotle rice
meal prep chipotle
macros chipotle
chipotle news
chipotle nutrition information
nearest chipotle
national burrito day 2023 chipotle
new chipotle chicken
nearest chipotle to me
nutrition calculator chipotle
national burrito day chipotle
nurses week chipotle
nachos chipotle
navigate to chipotle
new york chipotle
chipotle order online
chipotle order
chipotle open
chipotle options
chipotle okta
okta chipotle
order chipotle online
owner of chipotle
options at chipotle
open chipotle near me
ottawa chipotle
open chipotle
online chipotle promo code
owasso chipotle
orlando chipotle
chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
chipotle promo code 2024
chipotle pepper
chipotle prices
chipotle powder
panera chipotle chicken avocado melt
promo code for chipotle
pronounce chipotle
protein bowl chipotle
pasta chipotle
pico de gallo chipotle
phone number for chipotle
price of chipotle bowl
promo code for chipotle 2023
promo for chipotle
chipotle quesadilla
chipotle queso
chipotle quesadilla calories
chipotle quesadilla price
chipotle queso ingredients
chipotle quesarito
chipotle quesadilla nutrition
chipotle queso blanco
chipotle queso nutrition
chipotle queso code
queso blanco chipotle
qdoba vs chipotle
quesadilla chipotle
quesarito chipotle
qdoba vs chipotle reddit
quesadilla chipotle calories
queso blanco chipotle ingredients
queso chipotle nutrition
queso recipe chipotle
quincy chipotle
chipotle rice recipe
chipotle rockville
chipotle rewards
chipotle reston
chipotle rice
chipotle recipe
recipe for chipotle chicken
recipe for chipotle sauce
restaurant chipotle
recipe for chipotle rice
richmond chipotle
recipe for chipotle guacamole
recipe for chipotle mayo
recipe for chipotle chicken bowl
recipes with chipotle
chipotle stock price
chipotle stock split
chipotle sauce
chipotle salad dressing
chipotle stock split date
chipotle silver spring
chipotle sofritas
chipotle springfield va
chipotle salad
sofritas chipotle
subway chipotle sauce
sauce chipotle
spicehub chipotle
steak chipotle
substitute for chipotle paste
spicy chipotle sauce
salad chipotle
sour cream chipotle
stock chipotle
chipotle toppings
chipotle tacos
chipotle tortilla calories
chipotle tysons
chipotle tortilla
chipotle tomato salsa
chipotle tiktok
taco bell chipotle sauce
taco bell chicken chipotle melt
twitter chipotle
toppings at chipotle
tacos chipotle
the nearest chipotle
teacher appreciation chipotle 2023
the menu for chipotle
the best chipotle order
the number to chipotle
chipotle union station
chipotle uk
chipotle uniform
chipotle uber eats
chipotle union station hours
ukg chipotle
uber eats chipotle
uk chipotle
uber eats chipotle promo code
use chipotle gift card online
union station chipotle
unlock burrito chipotle
union chipotle
uxbridge chipotle
uk chipotle menu
chipotle vinaigrette
chipotle vienna va
chipotle veggie bowl
chipotle vegan options
chipotle vinaigrette calories
chipotle vinaigrette recipe
chipotle vip card
chipotle veggie bowl calories
vinaigrette chipotle
veggie bowl chipotle
vegan chipotle
vegan chipotle sauce
veggie bowl chipotle calories
vegetarian options at chipotle
vancouver chipotle
veterans day chipotle
victoria chipotle
vinaigrette chipotle calories
chipotle washington
chipotle workday
chipotle white rice recipe
chipotle woodbridge va
what's the menu for chipotle
what is chipotle sauce
what is barbacoa at chipotle
what is chicken al pastor chipotle
what is sofritas chipotle
what is a chipotle pepper
www.chipotle.com gift card balance
what is chipotle aioli
what is chipotle mayo
what's in a chipotle bowl
chipotle x elf
chipotle x stanley
x spicy chipotle southwest sauce
x spicy chipotle southwest sauce subway
xenia chipotle
x spicy chipotle sauce
x-spicy chipotle southwest sauce (v)
x spicy chipotle
xochitl chipotle
xochitl chipotle salsa
spicy chipotle southwest sauce
chipotle yogurt sauce
chipotle yelp
chipotle yahoo finance
chipotle york pa
chipotle yearly revenue
chipotle year founded
chipotle youtube
chipotle yogurt dressing
chipotle yuma
yahoo finance chipotle
yelp chipotle
yogurt chipotle sauce
yorkdale chipotle
yucca valley chipotle
yorkville chipotle
york university chipotle
yakima chipotle
yucaipa chipotle
ysu chipotle
chipotle zip code
chipotle zionist
chipotle zacks
chipotle zanesville ohio
chipotle zero dollar delivery
chipotle zero acre farms
chipotle zzz
chipotle zoominfo
zambrero chipotle sauce
zupas chipotle chicken salad
zambrero chipotle sauce recipe
zero carb chipotle tortillas
zupas chipotle chicken salad recipe
z-teca vs chipotle
zupas chipotle ranch dressing recipe
zanesville chipotle
zupas chipotle chicken salad nutrition
zzz on chipotle app
chipotle 08902
0 delivery fee chipotle
02 chipotle
0 dollar delivery fee chipotle
0 point chipotle
chipotle 02 arena
chipotle 08016
chipotle 08844
chipotle 08865
chipotle 08816
chipotle 08080
chipotle 14th street dc
chipotle 14th st
chipotle 14th st nw
chipotle 10k
chipotle 14th street nw
1800 chipotle
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 chipotle bowl calories
1st chipotle
$10 chipotle gift card
1 chipotle chile in adobo
13 characteristics chipotle
161 chipotle
1 chipotle burrito calories
1000 day chipotle challenge
chipotle 22407
chipotle 2023 revenue
chipotle 22030
2 ingredient chipotle mayo
24 hour chipotle
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2015 chipotle e coli outbreak
24 hour chipotle near me
2023 chipotle usa hockey nationals
2024 chipotle nationals basketball
2023 chipotle teacher appreciation
2024 chipotle promo code
2 chipotles in adobo
chipotle 3 pointer
chipotle 3 pointer price
chipotle 3 pointer 2024
chipotle 3 taco calories
chipotle 3 tacos
chipotle 3 pointer online
chipotle 3 tacos price
chipotle 3rd st
3 pointer chipotle
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
3 chicken tacos chipotle calories
3 point burrito chipotle
3 pointer chipotle price
3 tacos chipotle
311 s wacker chipotle
323 yonge street chipotle
3030 niagara falls blvd chipotle
3 dollar chipotle burrito
chipotle 401k
chipotle 401k match
chipotle 401k plan
chipotle 401k login
chipotle 401k match reddit
chipotle 4 values
chipotle 401k provider
chipotle 401k reddit
401k chipotle

43 chipotle cheese steak

400 calorie chipotle bowl
4 oz of chipotle chicken
4 cornerstones of hospitality chipotle
404 broadway chipotle
4760 3rd ave chipotle
4009 broadway chipotle
4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
4655 pga blvd chipotle
chipotle 50 to 1 split
chipotle 52 week low
chipotle 50 off
chipotle 50 to 1 stock split
chipotle 53 ingredients
chipotle 50-1
chipotle 50 off hack
chipotle 500 calories
chipotle 50 to 1
500 calorie chipotle bowl
5 star chipotle
525 w monroe chipotle
5 star chipotle near me
5 facts about chipotle
5 pillars of throughput chipotle
50 off chipotle
525 university ave chipotle
557 grand concourse chipotle
501 fashion ave chipotle
chipotle 68th street
chipotle 6th street
chipotle 60606
chipotle 60504
6 dollar chipotle
600 calorie chipotle bowl
610 newport center drive chipotle
601 8th ave chipotle
625 broadway chipotle
69th st chipotle
63rd chipotle
6600 fannin st chipotle
6 w grand ave chipotle
6133 erin mills pkwy chipotle
chipotle 7th st
chipotle 7 rules
chipotle 75 hard
chipotle 7000 stores
chipotle 79938
chipotle 79912
chipotle 71
71 spring street chipotle
774 broadway chipotle
700 calorie chipotle bowl
7th ave chipotle
7000 okeechobee blvd chipotle
7 corners chipotle
71 chipotle post road darien
7th street chipotle
71st chipotle
7091 security blvd chipotle
chipotle 800 number
chipotle 86th street
chipotle 85050
chipotle 82nd st
chipotle 88
chipotle 85254
chipotle 8k
800 chipotle
864 broadway chipotle
885 10th ave chipotle
87th chipotle
8753 roswell rd chipotle
86th street chipotle
888-222 chipotle
800 calorie chipotle bowl
8610 woodbine ave chipotle
8420 beverly blvd chipotle
chipotle 90s
chipotle 9/11
chipotle 93311
chipotle 97211
chipotle 90503
chipotle 95th
chipotle 95th st
chipotle 9th avenue
95th chipotle
906 3rd ave chipotle
96th street chipotle
99 restaurant chipotle sauce ingredients
9173 roosevelt blvd chipotle
9 west 42nd street chipotle
933 chipotle
98.6 chipotle
92nd and shea chipotle
900 calorie chipotle bowl

Goal: Create a heartfelt animated music video Song: TheFatRat - Still Here With You Tone: Happy, Sad, Sweet, Touching, Moving, Inspiring, Beautiful, Spiritual Style: 2D cute cartoon/anime Length: About two and a half minutes to fit the song (more is fine, adding a short intro/outro to fit the story is welcome) Deadline: 2 Months (flexible) Budget: $3,000 (flexible)
​
Sorry if the deadline/budget seems unreasonable. I am very flexible on both and am more than willing to work with someone on a fair price.
​
I would like to have a music video created for my fiancée, Emily, starring her and one of our cats, Fawkes, who we helped cross the rainbow bridge in February 2023. We always get the feeling he's still here with us, watching over us, spreading his love and joy. I want to imagine what that would look like if it were indeed true. On a spiritual level, they were/are truly soulmates, and I want to create something really special for her to remember him by. These last few years have been really tough for her, and we have been abandoned/betrayed by some friends and family mainly due to drama around our caring for Fawkes.
​
I am looking for someone passionate who truly wants to help me make this a reality. I will do everything in my power to get whatever you need to make this work. This is probably way too much info, but I'm trying to get my thoughts out if it can help the creative process for anyone. If you're interested, please send me a message.
​
Factoids:

• Me: 33M
• Emily: 34F
• Emily and Fawkes slept on the couch together during his sickness (he would always lay on her, face to face)
• Emily likes to paint as a hobby (shapes, flowers, birds, owls)
• Emily likes to play PC games (Overwatch, World of Warcraft)
• Emily is usually up at night while I'm asleep
• Emily has been free of work since before he got sick
• I work during the day, Emily is at home alone (she does not drive)
• We still randomly find his fur on our clothes that have been washed multiple times since he passed. It makes us smile and think of it as a gift from him.
• Fawkes and Freyja didn't get along unsupervised, so we kept them separated when we slept or had to go somewhere
• Freyja sometimes acts like Fawkes did (belly rubs and lots of snuggles). We feel as though it's Fawkes visiting us through her.

​
Thoughts, ideas, notes:

• Possibly starting from when we are at/leaving the vet when we said goodbye
• Fawkes depicted as an angel/spirit cat
• Centered around Fawkes and Emily
• Emily doing day-to-day things like watching TV, painting, playing games, chores
• Emily looking at pictures and feeling sad
• Emily feeling hopeless and alone
• Freyja and I can be part of making her feel better sometimes
• I go to work and she's all alone
• Fawkes finding ways to cheer up/help Emily, somehow interacting with things around her
• I want it to express feelings of sadness at points but also happiness and joy
• Locations closely based on actual places we went/live (I can provide pictures of where we live or addresses of locations for Google Maps for satellite views)
• Ending: I would like to show Fawkes with her family dog (who passed away in September 2021) and her grandmother (who passed away in January 2024), all happy together and watching over Emily

​
backstory below
​
Beginning:
Fawkes came into our lives in July 2017 from the streets after his previous owners were taken away from him a few weeks prior. We immediately brought him to the vet to get checked and tested for anything. The vet found that he was chipped and five years old. As a result, they couldn't really do much besides try to contact the previous owners. We took him home and kept him separated from our other cat, Freyja, since we did not know if he could spread anything to her. He was pretty lethargic, hardly eating, and couldn't really keep much down. We honestly thought we would wake up the next morning and he wouldn't be with us anymore. Luckily, that was not the case.
​
He wasn't doing so well the next day, so we called the vet and they had us come in again. Since the previous day, he went from over seven pounds down to about six and a half pounds. Our vet decided it was necessary to medically intervene or he was likely going to die. They hospitalized him on the spot and started giving him subcutaneous (SQ) fluids and other medications to help with his nausea and stimulate his appetite. We left him under the care of the vet and all we could do was wait to hear back. He pulled through like a champ. He was eating, moving, jumping, playing, snuggling, and loving life. It was as if he was reborn, like a phoenix from the ashes, so we named him "Fawkes" after the phoenix from Harry Potter.
​
Over the following years, Fawkes and Emily became pretty much inseparable. He was such a lovebug and radiated that classic "orange cat energy" wherever he went. If he wanted to get into something, he'd either find a way or keep trying until we could stop him. He absolutely LOVED belly rubs, and not once was it ever a trap (unless you felt "trapped" rubbing his belly for hours). In all the time we had him, he never hissed at, scratched, or bit (non-playfully) anyone. He just wanted to love everything and everyone he met. He didn't have any enemies in his eyes, just others who may not have cared for the level of love and joy he wanted to share.
​
Later:
Fawkes was diagnosed with stage 1 chronic kidney disease (CKD) in October 2021, which quickly progressed to stage 3 by early 2022. We were giving him medicine a few times a day, SQ fluids every couple of days, and going to the vet every other week to have his levels checked. He became a regular at the vet and even a few employees confessed to taking breaks just to go snuggle him because they loved him so much. We almost said goodbye to him in May 2022, as his symptoms were worsening and he no longer wanted to eat. He was a fighter, though, and told us he wasn't done fighting yet by finally eating on his own just as we were trying to make that difficult decision. We took him to the Animal Emergency and Referral Center (AERC) that night.
​
The vet told us that he had developed anemia and our only options were either to take him home and start end-of-life care or do a blood transfusion (which might not even work) and keep him hospitalized for a few days to be monitored. We opted for the blood transfusion. The procedure went well and we were able to come and visit him a day later, though they still had to keep him for another day or two just to be safe. We were also able to have his case looked at by a specialist, and they adjusted his meds to better suit his needs. They were estimating he maybe had a few weeks to a month or so before we ended up back where we were before the transfusion. We were now giving him less medicine a few times a day, SQ fluids every night, and going on walks through our apartment building every night before bed.
​
A few weeks became a few months, and he seemed to be doing even better than he was all of 2022 before his transfusion. We would take him on trips to Petco every week or so, so he could walk around and meet new friends. We would bring him to the park while we played Pokémon GO, even if we ended up just sitting in the car. Starting around September 2022, my boss even let me bring him to work with me on days he wanted me in the office. Vet appointments were few and far between, sometimes a couple of months apart. This pretty much continued all the way into February 2023 until we started to notice more significant symptoms again, and his CKD values were getting much worse. He didn't want to eat, he was hiding more, and he would often seek comfort by laying in his litterbox. We could tell our little warrior was ready to be done fighting.
​
Goodbye:
On the night of Tuesday, February 14th, 2023, Valentine's Day, we decided we couldn't make him fight for us any longer. We called our vet and made an appointment for Thursday, February 16th, 2023. We spent the whole day together on Wednesday, February 15th, 2023, snuggling on the couch and finished with our nightly routine of SQ fluids and a walk. We all spent the night together on the couch, staying awake as long as we could. On Thursday, February 16th, 2023, we brought Fawkes to the vet, and he was excited to walk around and explore the new space for a short while before needing a rest. It was nice to see him perk up and act like how we remembered him to be. The doctors took him away to be prepped and brought him back after a short while. We were petting him, kissing him, and told him he was a good boy and how much we loved him as he peacefully passed. We left there with the heaviest pet carrier ever. An empty one.

This starter is an assassin's tale that can take many different directions: romance, thriller, mystery, etc. Shoot me a message/chat if interested! Cheers.
“Pathogen, your source for cheap, low-cost assassinations!” a radio announcer yells. “Here at Pathogen, we take the high cost out of contract killing. Hate someone? Need a rival eliminated… permanently? We got you covered with only a flat, one-time fee.”
Hyzen scoffs and turns off his radio intercepter that scans the dark web for Pathogen activity. It appears they now advertise in plain sight. That takes balls. Hyzen gets up from the couch and makes his way into the kitchen.
“I know you're there,” Hyzen says to no one. He opens the refrigerator and peers inside. “Come on out,” he adds, nonchalantly sticking his hand inside to grab water.
There's silence. But Hyzen hears footsteps. The barely audible sound of bare feet hitting the hardwood floor.
Hyzen turns to stare at a lone shadow figure in the room. “So… Pathogen finally tracked me down, huh? Took you guys long enough.” He takes a drink of water.
“Don't gloat,” . She clenches her fists. “You're just a name on a piece of paper for me now."
“Really? After all we've been through? I'm just a name? That's pretty harsh,” Hyzen says, walking over to grab a peach.
“I don't care. You're a traitor.” glances around the home and sees a mask on a nearby shelf. It's creepy. It's evil. It's a strange combination of black and gray. looks back over at him. “I see you still have your mask, Reaper.”
Hyzen nods. “Of course. That shit is like a collectable.”
charges at him while pulling out a knife. Hyzen throws his peach into the air, blocking her assault then pushes her back with a palm to her chest. He catches the peach on its descent and takes another bite. “You'll need to be better than that,” Hyzen taunts.
grins. “We both know I'm the better assassin.”
Hyzen shakes his head. “Nuh uh. I have a higher body count. Actually, I still have the highest body count.” He expands his arms into the air. “Across all of Pathogen's assassins. It's pathetic, really. I haven't killed in years. Pathogen is nothing without me.”
“Then come back.”
“No.”
“I don't want to kill you, Hyzen.”
“I don't want you to kill me either, .”
“I told the bosses I'd try to recruit you back… clearly, I failed. Here I come.” No dash this time. approaches calmly, the sound of her bare feet slapping the hardwood floor beneath her.
Hyzen looks at his peach. “Damn… Not even enough time to finish my favorite snack.”
“Peaches are gross,” says and swings at him.
Hyzen ducks, pushing her fist away and throwing a kick. dodges and spins to sweep his leg. Hyzen leaps over the kitchen island and blocks her fist as she follows him. throws some combinations, which Hyzen dodges and blocks with no trouble. He palms her chest again, pushing her back a couple of feet. “You're weak to that? It's been years and you still can't defend against the palm? That little step back is the difference between life and death.”
approaches again. “Shut up.” There's a noise on a monitor, distracting Hyzen as he looks over at a screen sitting on a cabinet in the living room. “Got you!” she yells.
grabs him and swings her leg up and hip tosses him to the ground. She wastes no time, grabbing his arm and pulling it between her legs in an armbar. Hyzen screams as extends his arm without mercy and grabs a knife from her waistband, holding it to his wrist. Bleeding out isn't a bad way to die. A mercy killing.
“Dad?” a voice asks. A little girl walks into the living room, emerging from an adjacent bedroom.
loosens her grip and looks at the girl. Probably three years old and that distraction is enough for Hyzen to break free. Hyzen gets up and throws a downward punch at , but she somersaults backward.
While resets, Hyzen rushes over to his daughter. He turns back around to face , shielding his daughter, who hides behind him.
“It's okay, Lexi,” Hyzen says.
Lexi peers around Hyzen and pokes her head out, locking eyes with . “Who are you?” Lexi asks.

Hi, I have an amazfit balance (and I’m loving it) and when added to my Zepp account it offers me a 3 month free trial, but I didn’t pay attention and when u order it’s been really a 15 days trial. That happened to anyone else? Is possible to fix that ? The trial of amazfit zepp couch is working right, I have just check to be sure it’s the 3 month it offers.
Sorry about my english.

My car was involved in a 3 car accident while I was out of state (guy ran into mine and another drivers car, both street parked) The at-fault drivers insurance is taking 100% liability but my car alone has 27k in damages (totaled) and the driver is insured for the state minimum of a whopping 10k, which obviously creates a limits issue.
My insurance is telling me that my own collision will have to kick in because of the limits issue.
Can I get expect my rates to increase since my own insurance has to kick in? My insurance company is being dodgy with the response to that question.
I believe there’s no such thing as a free lunch ; someone here is taking the hit and I am starting to believe it is me.

I know that times are tough for folks all around and sometimes spending money on things like video games takes a backseat when it comes to other minor expenses. I am no exception to this. I hope this is allowed here and I have debated on whether or not to post it. I’ve been seeing more and more folks expressing a genuine desire to purchase the Homecoming Package but having a lack of funds is making that difficult to do.
Well, if you have some free time and you don’t mind repetition, you can easily make enough money to pay for HC doing surveys on your phone. They are super easy and best of all, you don’t have to leave your couch or chair to do them. There are lots of survey apps you can download depending on your location and type of phone. I’m in the US so I have access to pretty much all of them. Each survey will pay a small amount of either cash or points you can redeem towards gift cards. Most surveys are between 5-45 minutes and range anywhere from .25-2.00. Some even higher. Once you start getting into the survey stuff, you can find some home product studies that pay much more. I’m currently doing a conditioner study for 3 weeks and I am making 85.00!!!
The majority of them offer both Google Play gift cards and App Store gift cards. A lot of them even offer cash out to PayPal or Venmo. It also comes in handy for other small purchases or pocket money, etc… My favorite two are Qmee and Swagbucks. If you are interested in getting started and need some help, just let me know and I can help ya navigate getting set up. Happy Tsuki’ing!

Hopefully this isn’t downvoted instantly, because I know people seem to get strangely very defensive about Beast’s characterization in this run. I think there is a lot of miscommunication whenever a Beast fan complains about how he was depicted here. Often times people will discount those complaints because they think Beast fans just don’t want him to go bad, when that doesn’t really seem to be the whole truth from what I’ve seen. Ultimately, the complaints I raise and I have seen others raise are more about thinking the writing of his spiral in X-Force 2019 was not done well rather than that said spiral shouldn’t have happened at all. With the Krakoa era coming to an end, and “From the Ashes” having the now-rebooted Beast who is pulled all the way from his time on The Defenders, I don’t see any of the flaws here being addressed beyond characters casually referring to how bad he became. So I wanted to take this time in the in-between, where our new Beast is apparently just chilling on Wonder Man’s couch while the rest of the X-Men fight against Orchis and Nimrod, to once and for all lay out the flaws of Beast’s villainous era, and establish not that it shouldn’t have happened, but that it could have been way better.
Problem 1: A Lack of Pathos:
Most X-Men fans who have been reading for awhile will agree that it’s honestly surprising more mutants haven’t gone down a dark path. Their history is one of striving for acceptance, putting their lives on the line for people who would rather see them dead, and being rewarded with not one but multiple genocides on their population. Some of the most interesting stories can actually come from a formally “upstanding” mutant finally deciding enough is enough. When Cyclops went down his “villainous” path, it made a lot of sense. We’d seen him becoming more disenfranchised with the dream for years. We’d seen his trust in Xavier erode time and time again, and so when he decided to stop asking for acceptance and start demanding it, it was hard to blame him. Even as we saw most of his friends turn against him, that didn’t stop people from declaring “Cyclops Was Right,” because his perspective could easily be understood, and he did achieve results. More recently in X-Men ‘97, we saw Rogue go down a dark path in the wake of Genosha being wiped out, including Magneto and Gambit. Again, this was understood, and it was an interesting direction for her character.
This sort of turn would also make a ton of sense for Hank McCoy. Did you know that back towards the start of the original Uncanny X-Men run, Hank was actually the first X-Men we ever saw to leave the team and say that Magneto was right, after he and Bobby were attacked by an angry mob because Hank used his powers to save a young child? Over the years, one of Hank’s most recurring struggles and arcs is self-loathing and eventual acceptance of his condition. Hank has always been at his darkest when he’s trapped in his spiral of self-loathing, but when he comes out the other side, he tends to be one of the most optimistic mutants when it comes to coexistence with humans. He was out making connections and fighting alongside non-mutants before anyone else. Joining the Avengers and Defenders, speaking on behalf of mutant rights before congress, dating human women who were able to accept his appearance, blue fur and all. Until they weren’t… looking at you, Trish Tilby.
So with all of this in mind, it would honestly be an extremely interesting arc to see Hank, this optimistic mutant who has spent his life building bridges and making connections with humanity, to be slowly beaten down and start to believe peace is not an option. As one of the original X-Men, he has been there through every tragedy that struck the mutant population. And as one of the smartest X-Men, he has usually been at the center of these crises. He has seen advancements in science meant to eradicate the mutants. He has fought against viruses that threaten to drive them extinct. He was there in the wreckage of Genosha. He has seen countless friends killed again and again. He has suffered his own mutation evolving and making him less and less human-looking. He saw the development of a mutant “cure” and was tempted to take it. He has seen it all.
And so that brings us to Krakoa. This is the moment where the mutants as a whole decided enough was enough. If they could not be accepted by humanity, they would pack up and form their own nation, and they would force humanity to accept that they exist by developing life-saving drugs that other nations would have to rely on. And what is one of the first things that happens after the establishment of Krakoa? Hank witnesses assassins infiltrate the island and assassinate Charles Xavier. This right here is honestly the perfect setup for Hank to go darker than he has before. Even after literally segregating the mutant population from humanity, like humanity seemed to want, they still decided to come and kill the man at the forefront of the movement. And Hank, recently placed in charge of mutant black-ops, would likely see that all options are on the table.
Unfortunately, Hank’s actual pathos surrounding the decisions he would go on to make is not explored by the book itself. The book has no interest in detailing Hank’s fall from grace as we saw with Cyclops before him. The book just wants us to accept that Hank has already fallen. And in fact, according to the writing, maybe he never had anywhere to fall from. Any time a character in X-Force tries to ask important questions to understand Hank’s thought process, they are cut off. Usually by Wolverine saying “He’s always been like this.” And then on one occasion, when Wolverine asked Hank why he was doing all this dark shit, Hank said, “Didn’t you read the script? I’ve always been like this.” There is no attempt to examine Hank as a character. We don’t need to know why Hank makes the decisions he does, because this book wants Hank to be a black and white villain and so that’s what he will be. Why? Because he’s always been like this.
Problem 2: Rapid Escalation:
One of the major defenses people have when it comes to Krakoan Hank is that he has apparently been on the road to his villainous self for over a decade. The X-Force run itself loved to have characters spout a list of Hank’s previous “crimes” without any context involved, as justification for why he was acting the way he did in the current run. The problem is, that context is very important. Because it shows the disparity in the Hank of previous stories who made mistakes with good intentions vs the Hank of X-Force who did heinous shit because he wanted to. This was less a plane making a slow descent and more a plane that was slowly descending, but then its engines shut off and it plummeted into a fiery explosion.
To make this case, we need to briefly analyze the previous perceived transgressions of Hank McCoy to show what they actually meant for his character and how they differ from the Bond villain X-Force would present us with. Let’s start with Threnody. Somehow, Threnody became a bit of a buzzword for the beginning of the end for Hank. When people talk about the history of Hank and Threnody, they will usually present it as one of Hank’s worst sins, saying something like “Hank callously handed Threnody over to Mr. Sinister so he could experiment on and abuse her!!!” It kind of makes for some whiplash when you actually read the Threnody story people are talking about. Here is a brief rundown of what actually happens:
Threnody is a young woman who cannot control her powers. It causes her no end of grief, and when we are introduced to her, she is homeless and constantly in danger of hurting herself or others. Beast, Rogue, and Iceman come across Threnody who has been found first by Mr. Sinister. Sinister actually has a vested interest in curing the Legacy Virus, and believes he can help Threnody master her powers, at which point she will prove vital in his efforts to study said Virus. Notably, Threnody wants to go with Sinister here. While Rogue disapproves, Hank does believe that Sinister is actually Threnody’s best option, openly stating Sinister can actually help her gain control and the X-Men cannot, because, as Hank directly says, Sinister is willing to damn parts of his soul in pursuit of scientific enlightenment, and the X-Men are not. A few issues later, when breaking into Sinister’s base, Hank encounters Threnody again. She’s happy. Sinister did indeed help her control her powers, and she has been able to use her abilities to help mutants the world over, while also undermining Sinister’s more evil operations from the inside. Hank expresses relief, saying he was kept up at night by his decision to let her go with Sinister, but Threnody actually thanks him for letting her. And that’s it. That’s Hank’s big “crime” here.
Hank’s other “sins” are also of varying levels of severity. There’s the time “Hank worked with his evil self to cure the Legacy Virus!” when the actual story in question is Hank asserting that he won’t stoop to the levels of Dark Beast and compromise his values in the name of science. There’s the time “Hank sided with the Inhumans against the X-Men!” when the actual story is Storm sending Hank to Attilan to find a way to end the conflict between mutants and inhumans before war broke out. Hank runs out of time to find a cure for the terrigen mist cloud, suggests mutants get off-world in the meantime rather than go to war with the inhumans, is thrown into a cell by the other X-Men for his “betrayal”, and then freed at the conclusion of the war by a repentant Storm when it comes to light that the whole conflict was manipulated by Emma Frost. There’s the time “Hank risked the timestream by bringing the original X-Men to the present day!” A decision that was made on his perceived deathbed with the hopes of bringing his old friend Cyclops back to his side. Hank wants to take the young mutants back right away, but they refuse. And instead of others enforcing that they need to return, we actually see Kitty Pride decide to lead them in the present in memory of Charles Xavier. Notably, Kitty would be one of the many mutants in future issues who would yell at Hank about this.
The point of this post isn’t to absolve Hank of all fault. He has made countless mistakes and bad decisions. Regardless of the culpability of others, the pulling of the O5 to the present was his decision. During Secret Empire, Hank would turn a blind eye to Hydra’s activity simply to keep the mutants under his care safe. During all of this, however, Hank’s character was not compromised. He expressed despair and regret over his worse choices, and struggled with thinking he was a good person any longer. Again, going back to his recurring struggle with self-loathing. He had pathos behind his decisions and how they affected him, and would often reunite with Wonder Man as an opportunity to recenter and declare he would “be better tomorrow than he was yesterday.”
You would think, if the aim of X-Force was to turn Hank into a full-on villain, it would take advantage of the long-form storytelling of comics to chronicle that escalation. Like I said, the assassination of Charles Xavier is a great starting point for Hank to start going darker than he ever has before. The problem is, we don’t get an escalation. Hank starts the run by doing some of the most heinous shit imaginable. Regardless of your thoughts on the severity of Hank’s previous mistakes, none of them compare to his opening volley in this run. Hank uses telefloronics to override and genocide an entire country, leaving various people either completely dead or braindead. We later find out that during this time he also established a space station where he ran unethical experiments on prisoners like Krakoa’s very own Dr. Mengele. He then accuses his old ally Colossus of conspiring with Russia against Krakoa, and calls forth the mutant population to witness as he parades a shamed Colossus through its streets. Then he kills Wolverine and resurrects him as a mindless animal who he uses as an attack dog against his perceived enemies. This isn’t an escalation, this is a different character. And the aforementioned lack of pathos means that we don’t get to see him struggle with these choices. We don’t see his thought process as he becomes darker and darker. Why would we? “He’s always been like this.”
Problem 3: No Personality:
One of the most fun aspects of turning a protagonist into an antagonist is seeing how their personality works with a more villainous mindset. When Cyclops became an “antagonist” to the X-Men, he was still Cyclops. He stuck to his convictions, he was a great leader and tactician, and he was able to turn many mutants to his side because of this. We’ve seen an evil Beast before. The creatively-named Dark Beast is from an alternate future where Beast went down a dark path lacking ethics. The fun of this character, besides comparing his ideologies with our Hank McCoy, is seeing how Hank’s penchant for jokes or quotes now become far more sinister and cutting.
There’s a strange narrative that the jokey Hank is reserved for the Avengers while the Hank with the X-Men is all business and science. This isn’t entirely true. Early on when he was a member of the Defenders, Hank talks about this sort of thing. He essentially says that he wears different hats. While working with the X-Men, he used big words essentially to gain respect from both his teammates and humanity. But with other teams, and in his then-new furry form, he dropped all of that. His speech became more naturalistic and he was much more of a goofball. The thing is, it’s the speech patterns that truly change depending on who Hank is hanging with, not his personality. Hank with the X-Men and Hank with the Avengers are both jovial characters who like to tell jokes and quote philosophy. You can see Hank being a bit of a clown among the X-Men in various runs. So it’s not like it’s a given that Hank is some entirely different dry doctor devoid of any sense of humor when among the X-Men.
But this is how Hank is portrayed in X-Force. Part of why this version of Hank is so hard to reconcile with the rest of his history for fans of the character is that he just doesn’t act like himself, even when he isn’t actively committing war crimes. In one early issue of the run, we get a glimpse at Beast’s journal where he accounts a meeting he had with Forge. Now, Beast has been known to be a very physical character. He is often known to sweep others into a hug, or even plant a big kiss on their face in the case of characters like Wonder Man or Iceman. Meanwhile this one page where we read his thoughts on Forge is clearly pretending this is not the case:

I paid Forge a visit in the Armory – and I must say that he can be, like Logan, rather impossible. There is a certain locker room bravado about him I find perplexing, like a language I only half understand. For instance, he refused to shake my hand but instead dragged me into what he called a “bro hug.” Then he challenged me to a “feat of strength,” asking if I would test out this sappy “muck bomb” he had developed that – or so I gather – glues one in place. He wondered if a “big boy” like me might be able to thrash free of the binding. I refused him and said I very much would prefer to get down to business. He then referred to me as a “bookish peckerwood @#$%” but did so with a friendly laugh and clapped me on the shoulder hard enough to make me stagger. I’m not sure how to process this, honestly. Is he being friendly or cruel? Is it possible to be both?

Needless to say, this doesn’t read like Beast. It reads like an android that has never before felt human emotion. I remember before reading this I was theorizing that Hank had been switched with Dark Beast once more to explain his sudden escalation, but after this I realized that couldn’t be the case. Because this sounds like neither Beast nor Dark Beast. Dark Beast understood how to properly write Hank as a villain. He doesn’t suddenly become your typical made scientist devoid of emotion, humor, or basic human understanding. He still makes jokes that are now cruel. He still quotes literature in a way that paints him as a god among men. Hank going bad can be a fun read, but this run was not.
Problem 4: No One Cares:
Another important angle to consider when writing a story of a good person breaking bad is how it affects those around them. Those who are close friends to the person and find themselves disturbed by their current actions. Again, I return to Cyclops. Regardless of where you stand on if he was right or not, he was very much positioned as an antagonist to the mutants at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Yet we see various friends of Cyclops still caring for him and wanting to pull him back from what they perceive as the dark side. Like I previously said, Beast’s whole reason for messing with the timeline was because he felt he was going to die and wanted to try to appeal to his old friend and bring him back around before he passed on. When someone good goes bad, part of the emotional core is seeing former friends try to appeal to their better nature, and even eventually deciding they’ve gone too far to turn back.
Not so with Hank in X-Force. Like I said, this run posits that this is not any kind of heel turn for Hank. This is how he’s always been. “Hank this isn’t you!” “No, he’s always been like this.” “Hank, turn back before it’s too late!” “Turn back where? He’s always been like this.” None of Hank’s friends give a shit. Hank’s best friend amongst the X-Men is Bobby Drake, Iceman, and we never once see any kind of confrontation there. Cyclops and Angel similarly doesn’t care. Now you could argue this is because X-Force is a secretive organization. Bobby and Scott don’t even know what Hank is doing. There are two issues with this. First, things reach a point where they would know. Hank’s actions become public knowledge, and Wolverine goes off to hunt him down while the rest of the X-Men just kinda look the other way. And second, there is someone with a lot of history with Hank that was a part of X-Force and did see everything that was going on. Jean Grey.
But we never get to see Jean wonder what’s happened to her close friend. Jean who was always incredibly close to Hank. Jean who, it was confirmed during the All-New X-Men era, had mutual feelings for Hank and might have started dating him had things been different. But no, Jean, like every character in this run, accepts that Hank has always been like this. That’s the answer to everything. So instead of some kind of emotional confrontation where she tries to appeal to his better nature, we instead have Jean yell at Hank, use her powers to throw him against a wall, and quit X-Force. And then most recently, we see her tell Firestar without hesitation to throw Hank under the bus for any heat that comes her way from her undercover mission. Because everyone will believe Hank is responsible for all the bad shit. Who the hell cares about Hank? According to this run, no one.
Conclusion:
I hope you can see the larger issue here. When Beast fans complain about his Krakoan era, people assume they just don’t want to see their favorite do bad things. But it’s practically accepted at this point in comics that most heroes will have a villain arc. Hell, Iceman is the only one of the original five X-Men who hasn’t gone down a dark path at this point. The problem is that everything about the writing of Hank during this time was just not done well. There is no exploration of Hank’s descent into villainy, and any questioning down that line is immediately shut down by the assertion that this is just who he’s always been. There isn’t any slow escalation because his first move is genocide. Hank is not even written as himself during this era, but rather as a generic bond villain. And none of Hank’s former close friends even show any emotion about his turn to villainy. An evil Hank story could easily work. We saw it with Dark Beast. A story where the former optimistic member of the X-Men has been beaten down so many times that he takes on a “whatever it takes” mentality could be interesting and emotionally resonant as we both understand what drove him here yet hate the man he’s become. But that isn’t what we got. We got a run that wrote him as a complete stranger and then had all the characters tell the reader that they were wrong for ever thinking he was anyone else.

Been a few weeks now but I wanted to type up my race report for my first ever marathon finish!

Race Information

• Name: Kalamazoo Marathon
• Date: May 5th, 2024
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Kalamazoo, MI
• Website: https://www.zeiglerkalamazoomarathon.com/
• Strava: https://www.strava.comhttps://www.strava.com/activities/11340116487 (Note does not match chip time due to starting prior to line and ending a bit after as I forgot to turn watch off immediately!)
• Time: 5:40:11.63

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Don't Die	Yes
B	Finish	Yes
C	Sub 6:00	Yes
D	Sub 5:30	No

Splits

Mile	Time
1	11:37
2	11:41
3	12:22
4	12:44
5	12:43
6	12:29
7	12:35
8	12:41
9	12:37
10	12:51
11	12:42
12	12:36
13	12:32
14	12:03
15	14:39
16	13:26
17	13:08
18	13:04
19	13:20
20	14:51
21	13:22
22	12:57
23	12:30
24	12:29
25	13:37
26	14:25
27	13:26

Training

The training journey for this marathon started as a continuation of my original running goals back in April of 2023. In said April my sibling ran a set of Disney races while very pregnant and it lit a, "I can do that" fire under my ass. I signed up for the 5k, 10k, and half during the Princess weekend in february and then the Marathon in Kalamazoo early this year when I decided I actually liked running long distances. So the training went as follows: Couch to 5K, Jeff Galloway 10k, Jeff Galloway fairy tale challenge, then a mix of Jeff's marathon post wine and dine and another random one I found online that fit my schedule better. The training overall went fairly well. I missed a large stretch in September with a foot injury, and missed a few mid-week runs due to life being crazy. The biggest mental wall I hit was when I bonked out at mile 18 of the final long run before the Marathon. I forgot gels and suffered for it, this created a lot of stress heading into the marathon as I'd never run more than 18 and self-doubt heavily creeped in.
As for strength or other training it was basically non-existent. I did a lot of pre-post stretching, massage guns, lacrosse balls, etc. I had a very short period of strength training regime but I heavily lack motivation in that world. Before any future marathons (will be starting Dopey training in July) I will try and get better in this realm, especially lower legs.

Pre-race

Travelled to MI the day before the event. Got into town and settled into the hotel before prowling around town for a few hours. Ate a good pasta heavy meal for dinner at Hop Cat before settling in for the evening.
The morning of the race I got up and dressed before heading to the pre-race area. Had half a leftover turkey/bacon/avocado wrap (my wife's dinner) and a banana nut muffin. Chugged a bunch of water and took some ibuprofen right before race start. Made sure to stretch and keep moving during pre-race ceremonies. This is such a small race that it was nice to just wander up and down the start/finish area. Did a bit to stay warm as it was slightly chilly in the morning at about 50F, but didn't layer up because I knew I'd be fine during the race. Rest of the weather was grey cloudy skies, no rain (rained a bit around mile 13/14 but not much). A very wet race due to humidity.
It was also a fun start line since the only other official races I had done were Disney (Massive crowds, multiple waves in multiple corrals) and a smallish 10k in Chicago that had poor organization and a 2ish person wide starting chute.

Race

Miles 1-2 were fast, I had that starting excitement, my competitive brain just NEEDED to keep up with people around me, but luckily I didn't burn too crazily because I do run/walk intervals (4:30 and 2:00). I did this because my knees always felt better on run/walk than pure run. When I hit mile 2 at under 12/min miles I knew I needed to slow down and did.
Miles 3-14 is where I was truly in my groove. My pace was very consistent, varying mostly for the various crazy hills this course has. I ran for a good 6 or 7 miles bouncing off the 5:30 pace group who would just start to catch me during walk intervals before I'd get space back during run intervals. This is the main meat of the tougher part of the course as well, a lot of rolling hills, some steep, some not, and a run through a park trail passing a lot of non-race walkers on the path. I felt really good during this whole stretch and it really helped me dig in mentally and believe I could finish
Mile 15 - I lost some pace here as I managed to get a rock in my shoe and stopped to dig it out. A bit annoying but I was able to get it pretty quick without my body thinking we were done.
Miles 16-19 I was a bit slower, getting back into my groove of 12:30ish miles was tough because I was all alone at this point and didn't have much around me to gauge off of. The course here was also a bit less exciting as it was longer stretches on non-scenic roads winding back towards downtown Kalamazoo from Portage. I also was attempting to slow down just a tad purposefully as I was approaching that PB of 18 miles and fighting the mental idea that I couldn't finish if I went too fast.
Mile 20 - My slowest mile, I stopped here at a medical tent as the damp air meant I was fully soaked and my inner right bicep managed to get so chaffed that it was bleeding pretty badly. Stopped to let them clean it and apply a bandage so I didn't look like a horror movie victim crossing the line.
Mile 21 - Getting back up to speed after my medical stop and spent a lot of this mile doing the mental math to see if I could finish under 5:30 still, a stretch goal of mine. I'm usually very good at math, it is a strong point of mine, but doing times in my head I managed to come up with that I only needed 13min/miles to meet 5:30. Post race I did the math (By post race I mean while typing this report) and I need to be doing 11:49s so it wasn't happening but because of bad math I got fired up at least 😆
Miles 22-25 - Here, due to bad math above, I managed to get back into my pace groove finally after the previous 8 miles of up and down, rocks and medical issues, etc. I felt really good and it was here that I finally was released from the idea that I wouldn't finish. I actually felt really good and had that great running revelation that my training worked. Everything was starting to hurt, and I could feel the muscles losing their will to live, but I knew I could push through it to the end. I was also somewhere around mile 23/24 that I lost some feeling in my left toes.
Mile 26 - at about 25.5 miles I reentered downtown and spurred by the notion that I was less than a mile out I hit the anti-wall, I felt SO GOOD and just jubilant, right up until my right quad decided to MAJORLY cramp and spasm. It didn't deflate me at all since I knew, at that point, that I had right around an hour to cut off time to do 1 mile, but it hurt BAD. I chugged the rest of my flipbelt water and massaged while I walked for about half a mile. I got it to the point I could run again and I told my leg (out loud in front of spectators and other runners), and I quote, "Just shut the fuck up for a quarter mile you stupid bastard." I'm pretty sure one spectator clutched their pearls but whatever.
Final stretch - at this point I was good, I ran through the slight pain, turned the final corner and crossed the finish line. My first ever marathon in the books and the longs continuous run I had ever done bested by 8.2 miles. My race fuel strategy was a gel every 5 miles with the last at mile 24 instead of 25. I took one extra as a backup that I did use at mile 20 when my stomach started rumbling a bit.

Post-race

Being a smaller marathon the post-race was much calmer. There was a decent sized crowd left for us last 40-50 runners, but my wife was able to just stand in the road behind the finish line, got a good picture of me and all that fun jazz. I rang the first time finisher bell, grabbed a banana and a chocolate milk from the tables and wandered into the post-race expo area with an absolute high of serotonin and self-pride. Grabbed a pork taco from a taco truck before heading to the car, changing shirts, and hitting the road for the 3 hour drive home. Unfortunately I am too slow to have kept my hotel room for a shower after the race, but I was mostly wet and not too sweaty/smelly so the wife didn't have to suffer too much.
As a final piece to this race report I will leave the first train of thoughts that I had after crossing the finish line about the race. It went like this:
"What a stupid distance, I don't understand why anybody does this, it hurts, it's stupid, I'm stupid for doing this, I hated everything about that, and I can't wait to do it again." The rawest reaction which of course now a few weeks later I can look back and see that I didn't hate the race at all, I really enjoyed it, but thought I'd share that funny slew of hatred with everyone.
Thanks for reading.
Made with a new race report generator created by herumph.