Hey all just a quick introduction and background. I am a college student and do not come from a well-off family and had a relative that cosigned my private student loan which is in deferment. It dropped his credit, and now he can not co-sign my next one. The issue I have is I really do not like the loan, and its current rate. I understand it is really bad it is at 14.02% interest. I initially took out 22k but landed a scholarship so my loan was reduced. It is now at 13,600. I did the math it is accueing $160 a month so I was tempted to start making payments on it now. I want advice if it is was worth refinancing or paying it off at its current rate now. If I refinance it loses its deferment, while if I were to keep it how it is I can still make large payments on it, but the interest would make it take slightly longer.
So here is my thought-process, I am working 2 jobs. My only expenses are decently low. My one job is contract work and pays relatively well $30-$40 an hour, but since it is contract I put away 36% for taxes, due to self employment and the state I live in. My other job is part time and pays $15 an hour. I work 16-20 hours a week. My only (debt) which under monthly plans (I put addiotional money into them) that are due, my school supplies which is under affirm about $1,300, summer classes another $1,550, and than rent for the whole summer is only $500. After all of those expenses are gone all of the money I make I keep. I have aid with groceries and my subcriptions. I did some math to figure out how much I would need to work my contract job to make enough to pay off my loan by decemeber at its current rate, I did not include any money I get from my part time job. I would need to work 80 hours a month to put away enough for taxes and pay $1,800 to the loan. I was wondering if I should do that under its current rate, and since it is in deferment if I lose this contract job I don't have a monthly bill. I know I can easily make $270 (the cost I was given when looking at options) a month if I were to refinance it. If I do refinance it, I would still put away the $1,800 to still pay it off asap. I want it gone I dislike the rate, and do not like the fact that I dropped my cosigners credit so much that I cant get my next loan signed again. I am currently looking at other cosigners for my next loan as well. So which path should I take and if I did not include any other relevant information I can do so too.
Thank you, I appreciate any advice!!

All original pressings unless noted.
Grading is sleeve/vinyl.
$6 flat shipping
photos / https://imgur.com/a/Ra0wYTk
-ROCK / COUNTRY
Blackfoot - Blackfoot (VG/VG+) w/ inner $10
David Bowie - Station To Station (VG+/VG) w/ inner $20
Johnny Cash - The Fabulous Johnny Cash (VG/VG) $10
Deep Purple - Machine Head (VG+/VG+) w/ lyric insert $30
Derek & The Dominoes - Derek & The Dominoes (VG+/VG) RSO labels, sides 1,3, & 4 VG, side 2 VG $10
Doors - The Soft Parade (VG/VG+) 1970 club press, RL $15
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (VG/VG-) $20
Bob Dylan - White Wonder WWII (G+/G+) unofficial 1970 boot $30
Peter Gabriel - So (VG+/VG+) w/ inner $20
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (VG-/VG+) w/ all inners & minty poster, box lays flat $55
George Harrison - Cloud Nine (NM-/NM-) in shrink, w/ inner $10
Grand Funk Railroad - Grand Funk (VG/VG) $10
Iron Maiden - Powerslave (VG/VG+) club press, w/ inner $45
James Gang - Rides Again (VG+/VG+) $10
Elton John - Honky Chateau (VG+/NM-) enevlope cover $10
Judas Priest - Sin After Sin (VG/VG+) $15
Kiss - Paul Stanley (VG/VG) w/ inner, signed $85
Led Zeppelin - II (VG+/VG+) $25
Led Zeppelin - IV (VG+/NM-) w/ inner sleeve, 1971 club pressing $25
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More For The Road (VG+/strong VG) w/ poster $15
John Cougar Mellencamp (VG+/VG+) $7
Modern Sounds - Hank Williams (In Modern Rock-Acid Sound) (VG/VG) $35
Buck Owens - Ruby (NM-/M) sealed $10
Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA (VG+/VG+) w/ inner & insert $10
Van Morrison - Tupleo Honey (VG+/NM-) palm tree labels, w/ company sleeve $20
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon (VG/VG+) w/ 1 poster $40
Elvis Presley - Elvis' Golden Records (VG/VG) mono $10
Steely Dan - Countdown To Ecstacy (VG+/VG+) 77 press, w/ insert & company sleeve $20
Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill (VG+/strong VG) 74 press $20
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic (VG/VG+) yellow label, w/ company inner $15
Steely Dan - Gaucho (VG+/VG+) w/ inner $20
Steppenwolf - The Second (strong VG/strong VG) uk press $20
Jerry Jeff Walker - Five Years Gone (VG/VG+) drawing on cover $20
Neil Young - Journey Through The Past (VG+/VG+) $10
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Ruben & The Jets (strong VG/VG) $10
Zoo - Zoo (VG+/VG+) $35
WWF - The Wrestling Album (VG+/VG+) $30
Very Special Christmas (VG/VG) $10
Cat Power - The Covers Record (VG+/VG+) $15
-HIP HOP / R&B
Brother Ali - The Truth Is Here (NM-/NM-) $
D'Angelo - Voodoo (VG+/VG+) $120
DJ Babu - The Beat Tape (VG/VG+) $25
J Dilla - The Shinning (VG+/NM) $40
Freddie Gibbs - Pinata (Alex Goose Remix) (VG+/M) unopened, unplayed #347/500 $170
Madvillian - Four Tet Remixes (VG+/VG+) in shrink $20
Maxwell - Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (VG/VG) $50
Jill Scott - Who Is Jill Scott (VG/VG) $40
Outkast - SpootieOttieDopalisicious 12" (VG/VG+) pink marble promo $45
Jay Z - American Gangster - Acapellas (VG+/VG+) in shrink, w/ hype $50
Jay Z - Black Album - Acapellas (VG+/VG+) $15
-FUNK / SOUL / GOSPEL / LATIN
Rance Allen Group - Rance Allen Group (VG-/VG+) promo $20
Joe Bataan - Salsoul (VG+/strong VG) $70
Joe Bataan - Saint Latin's Day Massacre (VG/VG) mono $170
Chet Baker - Live In Chateauvallon in 1978 (VG+/NM-) $40
James Brown - Live At The Apollo (VG/VG) 66 press $25
Donald Byrd - At The Half Note Cafe (VG+/NM) 2015 press, in shrink $10
Joe Cuba Sextet - Wanted Dead Or Alive (VG-/VG) mono $10
Gil Evans - Out Of The Cool (VG+/strong VG) blue/green labels $15
Gil Evans - Into The Hot (VG/strong VG) blue/green labels $10
Richard Evans - Dealing With Hard Times (VG+/VG+) mono promo $40
Impressions - Check Out Your Mind! (VG/VG+) $20
Howard Lemon Singers - Message For Today (VG+/VG+) promo, Gospel Truth Label $9
Gorgio Moroder - Son Of My Father (strong VG/VG+) white label promo $70
Music Inc. - Abscretions 7" (VG+/NM) promo, deadstock, multiple copies available $35
Ralph Robles - Taking Over / Conquistando (VG+/strong VG) mono, in shrink $220
Objective Exotic Directions (funk comp - Galt McDermot, Ambassadors, Animated Egg) (VG+/VG) UK press $20
Otis Redding - The Otis Redding Dictionary Of Soul (VG+/strong VG) $25
Staple Singers - Be Altitude : Respect Yourself (NM/VG+) $25
Larry Saunders - Free Angela (VG+/VG+) 2013 Secret Stash reissue, #249/350, in shrink, no 7" $20
Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's For Real (NM-/M) sealed $10
Carla Thomas - Memphis Queen (VG+/VG+) $20
Gabor Szabo - Dreams (VG+/VG) $85
Cecil Taylor - In Transition (VG-/VG+) $10
Andrea Vereen & The St. Marks Choir - Oh, Say Can You See (VG+/VG+) in shrink, mca rainbow label $175
La Wanda Page - Mutha (VG+/VG) hilarious raunchy comedy $10
Denny Zeitlin - Carnival (VG+/VG+) $10
Songs Of Meter Park (VG+/NM) partially sealed - shrink torn, $10
Music De Wolfe - Meeting Point (VG/VG) $30

STAT News, 21 May 2024
https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/21/h5n1-bird-flu-cdc-urges-summer-flu-surveillance/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked local and state health officials Tuesday to maintain flu surveillance operations at peak-season levels over the summer in a bid to remain watchful for any signs of human-to-human spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Flu surveillance activity is generally conducted at low levels during the late spring and summer months, in recognition of the fact that as temperatures rise, transmission of seasonal flu viruses drops to minimal levels in the Northern Hemisphere.
But in a call with state and local health authorities, Nirav Shah, CDC’s principal deputy director, said flu surveillance efforts should not be allowed to go into off-season mode this summer, given the need to detect human infections with H5N1, if they are occurring. “The bottom line is that in light of the ongoing outbreak of H5 among domestic dairy cattle, we want to maximize our chances of spotting a case of novel influenza in the community and minimize the risk that a case of H5N1 would go undetected in the community,” Shah told STAT in an interview after his call with leaders of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Association of Public Health Laboratories, the Big Cities Health Coalition, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
In addition to maintaining flu surveillance systems throughout the summer, the CDC and others are using detection of influenza A viruses in wastewater to try to look for places where the H5N1 virus might be spreading. H5N1 is an influenza A virus; so too are the H3N2 and H1N1 viruses that circulate during flu season. But because the latter two typically circulate at very low levels during the summer, it’s thought that detecting flu A in wastewater could signal presence of H5N1 in a community — whether that’s in wild birds, cows, milk disposed of by an affected farm, or people.
Read more here.
Related: H5N1 influenza virus among cattle in Texas

Alright so here’s the deal I’m bored so send me your off-season plans and I will grade them! The rules are simple.
To keep it simple: your assets for the summer:

1. You get ONE draft pick. Pick 12
   
2. You get ONE trade.
   
3. 43 mil in cap space that can be used for FAs and resigning okcs players
   
4. ONE or TWO vet minimum signings.
   
5. You also have the options to resign okcs FAs up to 163 mil that leaves approximately 8 mil below the tax of 171.3.
   

I will grade based on the following criteria:

1. How effectively did you upgrade the roster,
   
2. How effectively did you use the cap space,
   
3. What is your final team cost? (Is there room to account for okcs impending extensions).
   
4. Team fit and player play style will be taken into account. Okc values character I will do my best to as well.
   
5. Most importantly fa signings and trades must be realistic… (You can’t trade Lindy for AD).
   

Send them my way! Thunder up!

I have a large northern red oak in my backyard. It recently leafed out. When the leaves were first forming, we had an extended very wet week. The following week, I noticed that many of the new leaves were curling, and that the leaves looked very yellow.
As you can see from the pictures, the leaves have hardened up some and are a bit greener, but there is quite a bit of leaf curl and the leaves are not fully green. I did notice a lot of little brown spots on the leaves, and a few of them have signs of gall or some other malformation. I also noticed that it hasn’t dropped all its flowers, but I’m not sure if that means anything. Also, there are quite a few dead buds on the trees. There are no major sections of die back.
The base of the tree shows the root flare. There are quite a few small plants growing at the base, but I didn’t see any signs of fungus or rot.
Some background: last summer I did some excavation by hand near the tree. I routed some electrical in a trench. I did cut some roots outside of the drip line. None larger than a half inch in diameter. Closer into the tree I used water to create a path underneath the roots. I did score some of the roots in the process, but did my best to limit the damage. They were exposed in the trench for a week or so, and then filled over with dirt and covered with pavers. I was concerned I might have done some damage there, but it was in a fairly narrow section and the trench was only 8 inches wide.
Of more concern, I had filled and flattened an area next to the tree last year for a patio. I did compact the soil last year with a hand compactor. This year before leaves bloomed I added a layer of landscaping fabric, an inch of sand and the brick pavers shown in the image.
I had an arborist come out today to look at it, and they were not overly concerned. She thought that the leaf curl was because of gall mites. She wasn’t too concerned about either the patio or the trench, and said that any feeder roots would regrow. She recommended a kelp based fertilizer soil injection, but didn’t seem to think it was necessary.
I’m not convinced that gall is the sole source of the issue although it does appear like there are some signs of it. Of course I’m not an expert. I’m just googling images of various types of Oak issues.
So I’m wondering if the soil compaction of the patio could cause this type of issue? I’m also wondering if the extended spring and the particularly wet ground during the leaf blooming contributed to the problem.
Some additional questions: Is my tree likely to recover on its own? Are fertilizer soil injection treatments actually of any value. I have not sanded in the patio yet. I was going to use a polymer sand which would prevent water from draining down, but I could use a regular sand that would allow water to drain directly down. Would that be helpful in providing the roots under it more water?

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was one of the biggest blockbuster movies of last summer. The latest installment in the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise, it continues the story of Caesar's ape rebellion against their human oppressors. With stunning visual effects and a thought-provoking storyline, it's no wonder the film was a huge hit.

🟩CLICK HERE TO WATCH ONLINE

If you missed catching Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes in theaters, you may be wondering how and where you can watch it online now. The good news is there are a few legitimate options to stream the movie, including some ways to watch it for free. Here's a rundown of how you can watch Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes online:
Watch It With Your Cable/Streaming Subscription For those who have a cable subscription or streaming services like Hulu + Live TV, FX+, YouTube TV or DirecTV Stream, you can watch Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes through those providers. The movie is available on-demand through premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Starz and Showtime if you have subscriptions to those as well.
Free Streaming Option Your best option for watching Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes online for free is by signing up for a free trial to a streaming service that has the movie available. Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV Stream and FuboTV all currently have the film in their libraries and offer free week-long trials for new users.

🟩CLICK HERE TO WATCH ONLINE

Just sign up, watch the movie during your free trial period, and cancel the subscription before you're charged if you don't want to keep the service. Just don't forget to set a reminder to cancel before the trial ends!
Rent or Buy Online If you'd prefer to just rent or purchase Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes outright, it's available through all the major digital retailers. You can rent the movie for about $5.99 or buy it for around $19.99 from Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, YouTube and others.
While renting is cheaper, buying it lets you watch the movie as many times as you'd like and is a good option for fans who know they'll want to revisit this latest Apes film again.
So those are the primary ways to watch Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes online right now. Whether you want to stream it for free, rent it temporarily, or buy it to own, there are plenty of easy options to watch one of last year's biggest hits from the comfort of your home. Just be prepared for some jaw-dropping visual effects and a healthy dose of philosophizing on the nature of humanity, animality and freedom.

🟩CLICK HERE TO WATCH ONLINE

My wife, Mia, and I were driving cross-country. It was our first attempt at the “Great American Roadtrip.”
Mia and I rented a small RV; more of a camper than a full blown RV. We packed up a couple suitcases with plenty of room for any souvenirs and we hit the dusty trail.
We started our journey on the “Mother Road”-- Route 66-- driving south from Chicago until we connected to i-70 and shot straight west through Missouri.
The goal was to see those parts of the country we had never seen before, stopping anywhere that seemed interesting. From the plains of Kansas up through the badlands of Wyoming and South Dakota.
In Missouri we saw the world’s largest cap gun. In Kansas we visited the Evel Knievel Museum and the World’s Largest Belt Buckle.
We love all those kitschy, tourist trap places.
Eventually, we made it to Colorado and after a few hours more of driving through amber waves of grain, we saw them... the Rocky Mountains.
We made an exit and headed north through the winding mountain highways.
The Rockies were gorgeous. Snow capped in the middle of summer, some of the peaks pierced through the white fluffy clouds.
We saw a sign that read “Traffic Tunnel - 3 Miles.”
A little further and sure enough, there it was, a large tunnel bored directly through the mountain in front of us.
A large sign read, “Pike Tunnel - Longest Traffic Tunnel in the Nation! - Please turn your headlights on now.”
“How long is it?” asked Mia.
“That’s what she said,” I quipped.
But she was right, there was no information beyond the detail that this was the longest tunnel in the nation.
“Can’t be more than a mile or two,” I said as I watched the little white car ahead of us slip into the darkness. A moment later we joined it.
The tunnel was lit by fluorescents that gave everything a greenish yellow tinge. On the left hand side was a raised walkway behind a railing for maintenance access.
Initially I was struck by the incredible amount of work that went into the construction of this man- made marvel.
“We’re under a million tons of rocky mountain right now,” I said.
“How many years before this caves in?” Mia responded.
I shot her a look--
“Let’s save the cave-in talk until we’re out on the other side.”
“I’m just saying, nature will take this back eventually,” she continued.
I scanned the empty road ahead of us.
“Where did the other car go?” I asked.
We were now alone in the tunnel, no cars ahead of us nor behind us.
“Huh... they must have sped off ahead. Maybe they’re scared of a cave-in?”
My Spotify playlist had stopped playing. Mia looked at the phone.
“No cell service.”
She turned on the radio and spun the dial only to find static.
“You’re not going to be able to pick up a station in here,” I said.
She turned the volume down.
“Just wanted to check... If only we had some CDs. This tunnel really keeps going.”
“I would have thought we’d be through it by now,” I replied.
I looked at the RV’s odometer, 45,600 miles. I picked up speed. I wanted to try and catch up to the little white car.
Up until this point, the tunnel was a straight shot, but now the tunnel started to curve to the right. It may have been my imagination but it also felt as though we were descending…
Mia felt it too and she started to get antsy.
“Where did that other car go? How long is this tunnel?”
There was an urgency in her voice.
I was getting nervous, claustrophobia was not usually a problem for me but when I looked down at the odometer and I saw that it had gone up by 3 miles, my mind began to wander to unsettling places.
We were descending in altitude. I could feel it. I could see a slope in the lights on the ceiling and the railing of the maintenance walkway. I could feel a pressure in my head, and I was getting cold.
“Could you grab me a coke from the back, Mia?”
I couldn’t have Mia getting anxious, that would only start a chain reaction and make me freak out which would then make her freak out.
She unbuckled and ducked into the back of the RV to where we had a cooler stocked with drinks and food.
Just as she stepped into the back, I saw something.
There standing on the side of the road was a MAN wearing a reflective safety vest and a hard hat. He was WAVING to me as I passed him by.
Something about him looked... strange…
I watched him in the side-view mirror as we passed and he was still watching the RV, still waving at the back of our vehicle as he faded into the distance.
Mia reappeared from the back of the RV, Coke in hand. She popped it and handed it to me.
“You look worried.”
“I’m fine,” I smiled and took a sip of the Coke.
“Eric, slow down!”
I slammed on the breaks as I saw what made Mia scream. In the road in front of us was a roadblock.
Two reflective traffic sawhorses blocked both lanes of the tunnel. Beyond the roadblock, the lights of the tunnel were dark. There was nothing but a void of blackness.
Standing in front of the roadblock was another man wearing a reflective vest and a hard hat, only this time his hard hat had a light on top which obscured his face.
We came to a jolting stop.
I turned to Mia
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “It’s a cave-in isn’t it?”
“God, I hope not.”
I rolled down the window, leaned out and yelled to the man in the hard hat.
“Hey! What’s going on?!”
The man was about 5 yards away. He took two steps towards us and then raised a hand to his mouth and yelled.
“Just doing some maintenance!”
“How long is it going to take?!” I yelled back.
The man made a hand gesture as if he didn’t hear me.
“How long is it going to take?!” I called again.
He made the same gesture. I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed the door release.
“What are you doing?” Mia asked.
“I gotta know what’s going on.”
“Eric, just stay here, it might not be safe.”
“I’ll be just a second,” I said.
I pushed the door open and stepped down from the RV.
“Stay in your vehicle!” the man yelled.
He took a couple steps towards me with his hand out telling me to stop.
“What’s the hold up?!” I shouted.
The man was a bit closer now but I still couldn’t see his face through the shining light on his helmet.
“Please stay in your vehicle!” he shouted.
There was something off about him.
Then I heard it–
“EEEAAAUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!!!”
A scream, or something, rolled from deep in the tunnel. The worker turned and looked into the darkness. Then he ran past the barricades and soon all we could see of him was the light on his helmet.
The light disappeared a moment later.
“What the hell was that?! Is someone hurt?” Mia asked.
“I have no idea,” I said.
“Should we do something?” Mia asked.
I just sat there and watched the pitch black tunnel in front of me. I had no idea what to tell her. I checked the sideview mirrors. There was still nobody behind us.
“Where are the other cars?” I asked.
“They must have gotten through before the roadblock... Or maybe they caused the roadblock?” Mia replied.
“I saw another worker a little ways back. We could try to go back and talk to him.”
“We’d be going straight into any oncoming cars.”
“There’s a maintenance walkway. We didn’t pass him that long ago. We can probably catch him on foot.”
“Maybe we should just wait for the guy to come back.”
She reached over and grabbed my arm. I squeezed her hand.
She was right.
I looked out at the tunnel ahead of us. I turned on the RV’s high beams but all I could see beyond the roadblock was more tunnel and more road.
I checked my phone. Unsurprisingly, there was no service still.
We waited, but the man never came back.
“It’s been twenty minutes,” Mia said, “How come there hasn’t been another car behind us?
I was having the same thought. I rolled down my window and stuck my head out. I looked back at the road behind us. It went back about 200 yards before curving out of sight.
There was no sign of that first worker I saw on the maintenance walk way. I looked at the roadblock ahead of us and clicked on the RV’s high beams. There was nothing beyond the roadblock but more tunnel. It didn’t look like it was under construction, just very dark.
“I think we should keep going,” I said.
“What about the roadblock?”
“We’ll move those sawhorses out of the way and just drive past,” I said as I opened my door.
Mia looked at me, then she cast her eyes to the dark tunnel ahead of us. I knew she was processing the same limited options that I was.
Driving backwards would be a huge risk in the instance of another car finally coming along.
Getting out and walking would take God knows how long, we could have driven 10 miles at this point.
Forward was our best option.
“Let’s do it,” Mia said.
We jumped out and quickly pulled the two sawhorses out of the right lane. I pulled the RV up past the barriers, then we jumped out again and put the sawhorses back where they were. We didn't need another car to come barreling through.
We were finally moving again, slowly. It was pitch black save for the high beams of the RV.
We crept forward at around 15 miles per hour. As the tunnel turned and twisted, my eyes started to play tricks on me. I kept seeing shapes at the furthest point of the tunnel.
I kept seeing something standing just at the end of the next bend but as we roll forward, there was nothing there.
“Where are the workers?” Mia asked.
“I don’t know.”
I was done rationalizing. This was all wrong. Traffic tunnels are never this long.
My mind started to wander to all the road trip urban legends I’d read about; The Killer in the Backseat, The Disappearing Gas Station, The Pale Man In The Corn Field.
Did we stumble into some strange outlier location? An in-between point on the endless roads that cross this country?
Then I saw it–
“Look! A person! Thank god!” Mia shouted.
As we rounded a curve in the tunnel, a group of maintenance workers entered our view.
The three of them stood on the left side of the road behind two more sawhorses topped with flashing lights.
Two of them faced towards us, the third was facing the other two.
The one with his back to us wore a light on his hard hat. Was this the same guy we saw earlier? How did he get this far away?
I approached slowly and rolled down the window.
“Hey! You left us waiting back there!” I yelled.
There was no response.
In fact, all three men were completely silent, and it was hard to tell in the flashing light of the sawhorses, but they looked to be standing COMPLETELY STILL.
“Hello?!” I yelled again.
I pushed open my door and stepped out onto the pavement.
“Eric wait--”
I held up a finger to Mia.
“Just a second.”
I slowly stepped towards the 3 men.
“Hello?”
No response… What the fuck?
The bright lights of the sawhorses obscured their faces.
I kept moving closer.
“Hey, what’s going on--”
Then I saw it.
Their faces... They were plastic.
In front of me stood three mannequins.
I backed away toward the RV, then I turned and walked hurriedly to the vehicle.
I was seriously freaked out but I didn’t want to alarm Mia. I climbed into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut.
“They’re mannequins.” I said.
“What?”
“They’re mannequins.”
”Why?... What?...”
“I don’t know…”
I looked back over at the three figures and my blood ran cold…
The Hard Hat Mannequin had somehow TURNED AROUND to face us. All three figures appeared to be watching us now.
Then we heard it--
A loud resonant banging on the side, and then the roof of the RV.
“What the hell was that?” Mia whispered.
We listened, holding our breath. Then--
A shuffling sound--
Something was moving ON or IN the RV.
“Stay here.” I said.
I got up.
“Eric, wait!”
I moved to the back of the RV.
It was dark. I went for a drawer in the kitchenette space and pulled out a flashlight.
I moved to the rear of the RV, the bedroom. My flashlight illuminated an empty room.
“Whoever is back here, I have a gun…”
A shitty bluff. But I didn’t see anything.
I shone the light out of the windows of each side of the RV. Nothing.
Then I heard it–
A shuffling sound, from right above me.
I looked up and screamed–
“Fuck!”
On the roof of the RV, staring through the skylight was a woman with vacuous black eyes and a dead smile.
Her stringy black hair dangled down towards me casting thing black shadows across her horrible pale face.
“Mia, drive! Fast!” I screamed.
Mia JUMPED over to the driver’s seat, shifted into gear and STOMPED on the gas. The RV was clunky but it could move when it needed to.
We lurched forward and I fell back.
I trained my flashlight up onto the skylight again and the woman was gone.
I scrambled to my feet and looked out of the side windows.
Did Mia shake her off? There was no sign of the woman. I moved to the passenger seat, breathing heavily and sweating.
“What happened?” She asked, keeping the RV at a steady 50 mph.
“There was a woman on the roof,” I said flatly.
I realize now that I was in a kind of shock.
“A woman?”
“Her eyes were black.”
Mia just looked at me, then back at the tunnel ahead of us.
“There’s something wrong with this tunnel.” I whispered.
Mia pointed at the road ahead, “Look.”
I looked out at the tunnel. There were more mannequins. A LOT more mannequins. They were positioned on both sides of the road.
They were all facing us and even though I never saw them move, when I looked in the side-view mirror, they were somehow STILL facing us, turning to watch us as we drove past. Watching without eyes.
“Just keep driving.” I said.
As we drove on, the mannequins crowded the sides of the road more and more. There were thousands of them. Eventually they were so close that some of their outstretched arms hit the side of the RV.
They were closing in on us. Squeezing our path forward. One stood in the middle of the road.
“I don’t think i can get around it.”
“Run it over. Don’t stop.”
The RV smashed into the mannequin. Its head shot forward and bounced against the windshield and the vehicle shuddered as it rolled over the body.
Soon there were two in the road. Then three.
I could see where this was going. Pretty soon there would be too many for the RV to ram through, but goddammit we were going to get through as many as we could.
“Speed up, Mia.”
CRASH!
The sound was surreal, smashing into mannequin after mannequin at nearly 60 miles per hour.
Hands, legs, heads and torsos flew.
The windshield cracked, the RV shuddered and screamed and eventually slowed down, despite the screaming engine.
I’m certain the axle was jammed up with lifeless, plastic body parts. Eventually we came to a stop.
“She won’t move,” Mia said.
She pressed on the gas but it was no use, the RV just rocked a little bit.
“Try reverse.”
She shifted and pressed on the gas, we got some decent movement before running into another jam.
“Fuck.”
“Should we get out and look?” Mia asked.
“I’ll go,” I said as I grabbed the flashlight and popped the passenger door. Mia unbuckled her seatbelt.
“We’ll go together.”
We stumbled out of the RV on the passenger side. It was like stepping into Hell.
Countless, lifeless faces stared out at us from the darkness. The only light came from the headlights of the RV and my flashlight.
We clumsily made our way along the side of the RV. The ground was littered with mannequin pieces.
I thought to myself, if we could get a couple yards cleared out behind the rear tires, we might be able to back out and get enough momentum to reverse all the way back out of here.
Instead, when we got to the back of the RV, my stomach flipped and my heart sank.
I was expecting to see a trail of flattened mannequins, instead the RV was now surrounded by thousands of perfectly intact mannequins standing at attention. As if their ranks had some how been replenished after our vehicular assault.
“This is impossible.”
She started to cry. I held her close.
“We’ll keep moving.” I said.
“It will never end. The tunnel makes no sense. It only curves one direction.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“This whole time the tunnel has only been curving to the right. it would sometimes straighten out or go left for a few yards but before too long we were curving to the right again. We’ve either been driving in circles or spiraling downwards.”
“So we’ll go back the way we came and hope we’re not going in circles.” I said.
We had been driving for hours at this point. Walking back out the way we came would take days. But now that I thought about it, Mia was right, we’d only been curving to the right.
This tunnel seemed to be very gradually taking us downwards into the earth.
Going forward would not get us any closer to escape.
“We’ll need food from the RV,” Mia said.
I nodded and we stumbled our way back to the front of the RV, the mannequins’ lifeless faces watching us the whole time.
I stepped up to the passenger door and nearly fell back when I looked through the window.
“What the fuck?” I breathed.
What I saw were two mannequins sitting in the driver’s and passenger’s seat.
How they got in there? I have no idea, but what really made my blood run cold was that they were dressed EXACTLY like MIA and I.
They wore identical sets of clothes. The one in the passenger seat had my same New Order T-shirt and black jeans. The one in the driver’s seat had Mia’s green striped sweater and denim shorts.
Their plastic faces stared out through the shattered windshield at the endless crowd of mannequins staring back at them.
Mia stepped up and saw the uncanny display.
“What the fuck?” Mia echoed.
I pulled myself up into the RV and slowly stepped around my mannequin doppelgänger. I avoided looking into its face but I swear i could feel it watching me as I stumbled around it.
Mia followed and we made our way into the back of our dark RV. Luckily we had just stocked our cooler full of deli meat and water not long after crossing the Colorado state line.
I handed Mia the flashlight and pulled open the cooler. I filled a backpack full of food and water.
I turned and saw them–
My mannequin double had somehow moved. It was standing in the aisle watching us.
Mia’s doppelgänger was still seated in the driver’s seat but had turned to peer back at us with its eyeless gaze.
Mia saw the look in my eyes and turned. She screamed when she saw them and backed into me. I put my arm around her and we stood there a moment, letting our skyrocketing heart rates return to Earth.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
I slid the backpack onto my shoulders.
Mia joined me at the door. I looked into her eyes. “Are you ready?” She nodded. I kissed her.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you,” she said.
The look on her face killed me. She was terrified. I’m sure the look on my face was similar.
I opened the door and we stepped out…
We again stumbled to the back of the RV. Once we were clear of the RV and all the crushed mannequin body parts, it became easier to find footing, though weaving through an endless crowd of lifeless people was a slow process.
It was pitch black. Without the flashlight we wouldn’t be able to see a foot in front of us.
As I walked, the beam of light created the illusion of movement in the crowd. At least I hoped it was an illusion.
The limbs of the mannequins seemed to stretch and turn, but the only sound was that of Mia and I shuffling our way through the crowded tunnel.
Things went on like this for what felt like hours. Mia and I were sweating and aching. I was about to suggest we stop and rest, but then I saw it and I froze…
Out in the crowd, beyond rows of blank faces I saw a pale face, black hair and a dead smile.
I saw two vacuous eyes staring right at me.
“Mia, do you see her?” I whispered.
“See who?”
I slowly raised my arm and pointed.
It was the woman, or whatever it was, that stared back at me through the skylight on the roof of the RV.
“Oh my god!” Mia squeaked.
I could see now that the Pale Faced Woman was tall. A few inches taller than the mannequins.
As I pointed, she stared back at me with that terrible grin.
“What do we do?” Mia whispered.
I raised the flashlight and pointed it right at the Pale Faced Woman. I thought maybe this would scare her off.
I was wrong.
The light only made her appear more unsettling as she stared back, unflinchingly.
“What do you want?!” I yelled.
She only stared back at me. She was as still as the mannequins.
“We have to keep going.” I whispered.
Mia didn’t respond. Her body was tense as she held onto me.
“We’ve come this far, we can’t turn back again,” I continued.
I pulled Mia’s hand and we continued on our way through the mannequins, keeping the distance between us and her as wide as possible.
As we moved past, she kept watching us. Though her movements were imperceptible to us, her eyes never left us. Like one of those portraits whose eyes appear to watch you no matter where you stand.
Finally, we got far enough that she was out of sight. But the thought of her being somewhere behind us only unsettled me further and I quickened our pace.
As the hours wore on, there was no sign of the Pale Faced Woman and the crowd of mannequins began to thin out. They still populated the tunnel from one end to the other, but there was more space between them, allowing Mia and I to walk more freely.
The mannequins on the maintenance walkway on the side of the tunnel seemed to thin out as well and I decided it would give us a better vantage if we were walking up there.
I helped Mia climb up the railing that bordered the walkway, then I climbed up behind her. The walkway was elevated 3 or 4 feet above the roadway. We could easily see over the heads of the mannequins in both directions.
There was, of course, no end to the tunnel in sight.
We kept walking.
The mannequins continued to thin out, but they were different now.
There were mannequins dressed as maintenance workers again, but also mannequins dressed as families and businessmen. There was even a group of mannequin nuns standing in a single file line, heads bowed in prayer.
Needless to say, we passed none of this on the way in to the tunnel. I was feeling very hopeless that we were going to be able to find our way out.
I was far beyond speculating how this was at all possible. It’s NOT possible. And even if it were, there is no good reason for someone to do this to us.
The only explanation was the supernatural. Then I saw Her. Rather, I saw THEM.
Arranged in the middle of the tunnel was a circle of mannequins with long black hair and tattered cloth.
They looked exactly like the Pale Faced Woman, minus any facial features. I kept a close watch on them as we passed to make sure they didn’t start following us.
“A door!” Mia shouted.
Mia pointed a few paces ahead of her. There was a door leading into the wall of the tunnel.
We ran towards it. Mia grabbed the handle, turned it and pulled. It was heavy and Mia had to brace her foot on the wall to get it moving.
The metal door groaned as if it hadn’t been opened in years.
Finally, it was open enough to see past.
It was a hallway. It went out about 5 yards then turned right at a 90 degree angle.
The strangest part was the design of the hallway.
It wasn’t cement or pavement like the tunnel.
The walls were wood paneled and the floor was covered in a thick carpet, like a house from the 1970s.
“I say we see where this takes us.” Mia said.
There was no reason to disagree, but I wasn’t going to get us trapped in there.
I opened up my backpack and took out a water bottle. I opened it and handed it to Mia. She drank half, then I drank the other half.
I slowly closed the door, shoving the empty water bottle in the crack to keep it from closing all the way.
I turned to Mia-- “Okay, let’s go.”
We slowly made our way down the quiet hallway. We got down to where the hallway cornered to the right and that’s when we heard it–
KA-CHUNK!!!--
I whipped around. The door had closed behind us. I ran back to it and tried to push it open, but it was no use. There was no way it closed on its own.
Someone had to have removed the water bottle. Our path had been chosen for us.
There was no turning back.
We continued down the hallway. We turned right. The hallway continued, then turned right again. That should have led us right back to the tunnel. But it didn’t. This part of the hallway went on far longer than was possible without running into the tunnel. Then it turned right again.
It went on like this. Sometimes a section of the hallway was 20 feet long, sometimes it was 20 yards long, sometimes it was 3 feet long. But it always turned to the right.
At first it was a relief to be somewhere other than the cold, dark tunnel. But the hallway very quickly became claustrophobic and before too long, I heard someone walking behind us.
We had stopped to take a break and I heard a third pair of footsteps on the carpet coming from behind us. I backtracked to the last corner.
I was terrified as I slowly peeked around the corner, tense and waiting to see the vacuous eyes and inky black hair of the Pale Faced Woman... but there was nothing there. I wasn’t about to backtrack any further.
“There was no one there.” I whispered.
Mia slumped against the wall and slid down to the carpet.
“I think I need to rest.” She said.
I put my backpack down on the ground for Mia to use as a pillow. She laid her head down and was passed out in seconds.
I had no idea how long we had been walking at this point. I stood leaning against the wall. My body was telling me to rest but I couldn’t risk falling asleep. I had to keep watch. I knew SHE was following us.
I took in the details of the hallway for the first time. The carpet was a dull brown and the walls a cheap wood paneling. The hanging lighting fixtures were shaded by stained glass, something you might see in an old diner.
Who built this place? Did someone pick out the carpet and the lighting fixtures? Did a team of workers blast these tunnels into the Earth? Or has this place always existed? Was this Purgatory?
I began to feel dizzy. I was panicking. My heart felt like it was trying to escape my chest. I slumped to the floor and tried to slow my breathing.
I closed my eyes... –
I SHOT up in a panic. I had fallen asleep while I was meant to be keeping watch.
I snapped to my feet and looked around.
Mia was still asleep on my backpack.
Then I noticed that the hallway had changed. A few paces away there was now a plain wooden door in the wall.
I slowly approached it. I put my ear to the door and I could hear what sounded like TV static and the low murmur of voices.
I discreetly grabbed the door handle and turned it slowly. I felt the latch bolt clear and I carefully cracked the door just enough to peek inside.
It was dark, so it took a second for me to register what I was seeing. I saw a small board room. A long table in the center was surrounded by seated men in suits.
At the end of the table stood another man next to an old CRT TV that was playing static. This was the only source of light in the room and all the men around the table were turned towards the tv.
Suddenly the screen flickered from static to a solid dark background. And some warped new age style muzak began playing.
Then the words appeared on the screen that terrified me like nothing else before. In plain text the words read–
“YOU WILL LOSE HER.”
I froze as I knew these words were meant for me I watched with terror as the men seated around the table slowly turned toward me in unison.
They were mannequins.
The TV screen then clicked off and they continued staring at me as I could barely make out their forms through the near pitch darkness.
I quickly pulled the door shut. And whipped around to look at Mia, I had a horrible feeling of dread that when I turned around she would be gone, like the message on the TV promised–
“Eric? What are you doing?” Mia was leaning up and staring at me.
Thank God. There was Mia, right where I left her.
I pointed at the door and said, “This door appeared and I--”
“What door?” she interrupted.
I turned and sure enough, the door was now gone.
I explained what happened to her, but I left out the message that appeared on the screen.
-- YOU WILL LOSE HER –
Those words still burned in my brain. I tried to force them out.
We drank water, ate granola and then got moving again.
Hallways. Endless hallways.
After a couple hours of walking we started to hear music. There were small speakers in the corners of the ceiling.
I recognized it as the same new-age muzak that played on the TV in the board room. The melody drilled into our minds. Combined with the dull aesthetics of the quiet hallways and the endless right turns, the music had a hypnotizing effect.
The lengths of the halls became more uniform. That is to say, the straight section of hallway was about 7 paces, then a right turn, then 7 paces and a right turn.
“I think we’re walking in circles... or a square,” Mia said.
I looked at her and took out a bottle of water. I peeled off the plastic label and dropped it on the floor.
Then we kept walking.
7 paces, right turn. 7 paces, right turn. 7 paces, right turn. And there it was... Mia was right.
The label from my water bottle lay in the middle of the hallway. Somehow we had been led into a loop. I lost it.
“FUUUCK!”
I kicked the wall repeatedly and screamed. Mia just leaned her back against the wall.
This was our dynamic. If one of us lost it, the other became zen and thought of a solution. More often than not, I was the one to lose it.
I finally stopped freaking out
“There has to be a way out. A door,” Mia said.
“We would have seen it,” I replied.
“A hidden door,” she said.
She turned around and ran her hands along the cracks of the wood paneling.
“Most likely on the outer wall,” she said.
She beat her fist on the wall, listening for a change in the sound. I exhaled heavily, sweating and tired, and I started searching the wall as well.
We checked the whole first wall, nothing. We checked the second wall, nothing. The third, nothing.
The final wall... Nothing. I gave up and slumped on the floor. Mia immediately went over to the other side of the hall and started checking the inner wall.
“What are you doing? I thought you said it would be on the outer wall?” I asked.
Then we heard it.
Mia beat the wall and instead of the dead thud, we heard a resonate BOOM –
A door…
I shot up and started tapping the wall with Mia until we found where the door ended. It was the width of about 4 wooden panels. I lined myself up in the center, lowered my shoulder and pushed–
IT MOVED! It barely moved but it was enough to confirm this actually was a door! I re-centered and tried again, lowering my center of gravity, I pushed as hard as I could. The door pushed inward about 3 inches, then Mia joined in. We slowly moved the door, 5 inches, then 10, then 15, then 20.
Then Mia slipped inside.
I had a moment of panic as she disappeared into the darkness and those haunting words came back into my mind, “YOU WILL LOSE HER.”
I darted past the doorway, falling through the threshold and hitting the concrete floor.
I looked up and there was Mia, thank God. I promised myself I’d never let her out of my sight again.
“The exit...” Mia said.
She looked and sounded as if she were a thousand miles away. I got to my feet and followed her gaze. What I saw nearly brought me to tears.
We were back in the tunnel, but there was light. About a mile down was the mouth of the tunnel, and daylight pouring in. Beautiful daylight. I grabbed Mia tight and kissed her.
“Thank God...” she cried.
We started moving. Nothing was going to slow us down this time. We sped up into a RUN down the maintenance walkway towards that beautiful sunlight.
As we approached, something else came into view. Parked in the middle of the roadway was a large vehicle…
It couldn’t be…
It was!
Our RV sat in the road waiting for us. We ran all the way to it, pulled open the passenger side door and climbed in. There were no mannequins to be seen.
I fell into the driver’s seat and Mia handed me the keys. I turned over the engine, the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I shifted into gear and floored it towards the sunlight.
As we got closer, I could see the green of trees and the blue of the sky. We were maybe one hundred yards away.
I turned to Mia, tears in my eyes…
And what I saw turned my blood to ice.
Just beyond Mia’s window, that horrifying pale face grinned at me.
The Pale Faced Woman was somehow floating outside of the RV.
Before I could say anything, her hand smashed through the window and gripped Mia by the throat, then in one horrible motion the thing PULLED MIA SCREAMING THROUGH THE WINDOW AND…
Disappeared…
I SLAMMED on the breaks just as the RV passed through the exit of the tunnel and sunlight flooded the cab of the RV. I threw it in park and shot out of the door screaming.
“Mia!? Mia??!!”
I screamed over and over. I rounded the front of the RV and looked back at the tunnel –
-- and what I saw shattered my mind…
The tunnel was gone.
There was only open road.
I had lost her.

Hi,
I recently signed up for a health-related internship (HRI) at Edward Family Athletic Center during the summer.
Has anyone here done it before, if so what were your jobscope like? I've heard some people say that the HRI are just mostly cleaning work, which I would not want.
Do you think the internship was worth it?

Hello!
I have recently signed a certification plan through teachworthy. I have a BA in History, graduated in ‘23, but took a year off due to personal reasons. I am wanting to teach Social Studies 7-12. The district that I am interested in is a D.O.I.
I plan on doing my observation hours during the summer, teachworthy training, and the testing for my content exam. After all that, the PPR during the school year.
I know that I would be in a time crunch, but i would like to be hired to work in the Fall semester for a high school. Likely starting in August-October. I have heard that starting in the fall as a first year teacher would be good due to the summer preparations that occur within the district.
If I were to start interviewing now (after receiving acceptance letter from ACP), would I be able to secure a job before passing my exam & doing the teachworthy training? I am asking due to my concerns with “limited opportunities.”
As for the actual interviews, do y’all have any advice for a soon to be 1st year in Social Studies 7-12? I have heard that sometimes you are required to “teach” in front of a panel, or bring a lesson plan of some sort.
Any advice for the application process?
If I were to start in August-October as a first year teacher, would I have 1st year teacher training via districts in the summer, or during the fall? I wondering if id be a little “behind” due to starting a little after the school year start.
Thanks y’all!

Hey folks
Spending my first summer here in Etobicoke after being away the last 3 years. Broke my heart to see this sign. Haven’t ate here before, but I’d like to give it a shot. Let’s make their last few days memorable for them.

Perhaps the biggest positive of Mauricio Pochettino's reign at Chelsea was the emergence of Cole Palmer.
The Blues signed Palmer from Manchester City for £42.5million last summer and he hit the ground running almost immediately.
The 22-year-old scored in big games against Arsenal, Man City, Tottenham and Manchester United, the latter of which he scored a hat-trick against last month.
He ended his campaign with 22 Premier League goals, behind only Erling Haaland.
And he has made Gareth Southgate's 33-man provisional squad for Euro 2024.
But will Chelsea's main man be as big a hit next season with Pochettino out of the picture?

I am wondering because the department won't let me sign up for a summer session 2 class until I complete the summer session 1 prerequisites. Really annoying because it risks me not being able to get into the required classes for fall since they might be full which will set me back for graduation.

I (22M) got my bachelors in computer science over a year ago now. I live in a town of about 50,000 with the nearest big city being a few hours away, which means there aren't a ton of job prospects here. I've kept my eye out for entry-level computer science jobs but they seem so few and far between, and the ones I do apply to I never hear back from.
Now I know people will tell me to relocate, but there's a couple reasons I'm hesitant to. First off is that my mom is low-income and she needs rent money. We live in a small house and I would hate for her to have to rent out a room to a stranger or something. If I relocate I will still feel obligated to send her that money despite not living there, on top of the real rent I would be paying. So I feel like I might as well stay here and have the chance to save money. The other big reason is our childhood cat. She's 14 and starting to really show signs of age and I don't want to be absent for what very well might be her final years.
I've never really had a proper job. I worked a part-time summer job doing yard work and stuff at a retirement home six years ago, and I never had to do an interview or anything because it was a connection through a family-friend. I also earned a little bit of money doing game development in 2019 and got a scholarship for university, and the combination of these things made me not motivated to find a job during university. I've spent the last year making several games (albeit not the best games) in attempt to recreate the success I had but to no avail.
Now I'm really considering going for a part time night-shift grocery clerk job. I'm very introverted so while most people would probably find this job boring, I feel like it would be a great fit for me. Much better than a help desk job or something where I'm dealing with people all day. Not to mention I haven't even seen any help desk jobs available in my town. I very-well might be underestimating this type of job, but after being unemployed for so long I think it would be a good first job. Stocking shelves honestly seems really satisfying to me and not very mentally taxing.
I should also mention that I have pretty bad imposter syndrome related to my degree which also plays a part in this decision, but it's mostly lack of local opportunity. What do you all think, am I crazy for wanting to do this? Everyone I've brought it up to just seems confused but it makes sense to me, in a time where I have pretty minimal expenses and basically no job experience, why not go for this type of job just to get any sort of income in? I've pretty much made $0 the last couple years so jumping up to part-time minimum wage will still be a big increase haha. Thanks everyone

I'm reaching out for some advice/guidance regarding my job search situation after a challenging last year or so. I guess I start by saying that this will be a long post.

1. I finished a contract job early last year. After spending a significant amount of time on the resume (first time i did so largely on my own, took a better part of a few months trying to figure that out). I started applying online around the summer and I was getting interviews, but it didn't go anywhere (got close twice, getting to the third round, but still nothing).

Long story short, It got to the point where this year, i needed to move back in with family because i didnt want to go into debt. Now, there telling me to apply to the CRA and do the situational judgement test, and then everything will be fine and you could apply to any job.
Ignoring how incredibly competitive those roles must be, there's likely a high probability that I don’t have the years of experience for that (have basically around 2 years in several roles) that I dont see, with my employment gap and despite me doing volunteer work right now how even if i do the situational judgement test, that it could be remotely worth the effort.... Is this in any way realistic? Anyone familiar with what the process is actually like applying for jobs at the CRA?

1. My interviewing skills are weak. I've made careless mistakes as I look back on some interviews i've done. I've thought about going to the university i graduated from and asking for help, however, I always felt that interview prep was more suitable after getting the request for the interview from the employer, meaning you have a few day notice at best.

Each job description/job your applying for is different so your preparation will be different each time. Is there a place any of you went to in order to get help with interviews? Has general interview preparation worked for you?
I've practiced with family/friends before many times, but it hasnt really helped because the issue is and its hard to explain, but its hard to simulate an actual job interview with people your familiar with because the nerves aren't there for me.

1. At this point, I view advice like "apply online", "keep applying" given my unemployment gap is longer then a year, that advice feels like a wasted effort right now, I've tailored and altered my resume slightly, changing job titles, the beginning profile summary so it aligns better with jobs i've applied for so many times, I have so many different versions of my resume saved on my computer.

I had finally decided last month, to change my strategy and given that I had to move back in with family, I looked more toward volunteer work, as an easier way to cover up an employment gap, and an easier way to gain work experience right now. I started a non-paid volunteer role last month (thankfully, no interview required, just orientation process). This felt like a realistic option, but its a non-paid volunteer role. That very obviously wont work long term, and thats why I'm looking for general advice here on what to do next.

1. I've contacted agencies. Robert Half, Recruiting in Motion, Altis Technology are the ones where I have actually get responses back. However, i guess it comes back to the interviewing skills issue where maybe I'm just not showing enough energy during those calls. Which is why, going back to #2, If anyone has tips or resources that helped them improve their interview skills beyond practicing with family and friends, I'd greatly appreciate any advice you can offer.
   
2. I'm also signed up with YMCA's Employment Services through Employment Ontario. I recently did that, so its to early for me to say whether they'll be any benefit from it.
   
3. In terms of networking, I went through a significant amount of mental and physical health issues during my time in university. One of my regrets during that time was not being able to do, what your supposed to during that time which was network/build connections. I was in no shape to remotely think about working and doing school work at the same time. I tried that once during the summer time one year and I was really struggling , and I was only doing 2 courses during that semester. I’m far better now compared to before, but its more that, now that I’m out of school. I’m not sure where to start with that. ________________________
   

Thank you to anyone that might have took the time to actually read all of that. For some reason, I feel better after writing it.

TL;DR girl best friend acts very flirtatiously all of the time but has a long distance bf
I (20M) share a class and am very good friends with a girl we'll call Kat (20F). Kat and I talk literally all day every day and if we aren't talking in person were texting. She always interacts with me in a very flirty kind of way and all signs in my eyes point to her being romantically interested in me. A few examples, for my birthday she wrote a paragraph talking about how sweet and funny and caring I am and how grateful she was to have met me, and when I was leaving my university this semester she gave me a ketchup packet (I love ketchup) with something she always texts me written on it as a keepsake over the summer. Whenever she and I stop talking in person or I am about to leave to go back to my dorm there is a tension and I can almost feel that I should make a move. The only reason I haven't yet is that she has a boyfriend across the country. She never talks about him and there is no way she talks to him more than she talks to me because it would literally be impossible (were texting as i am writing this). I just don't know what I should do, I really like this girl and I think she likes me too but I don't want to be wrong and make a move and ruin our friendship. Her major and my major are very closely intertwined so if this does not go well I will still have to see her daily

So I just found out that my grandma had a custodial account for me that could not be touched until I turnt 18. It’s like a UTMA/UGMA account. I literally just found out she had the account for me a couple weeks ago and she sent me a form I had to sign in order for the funds to be transferred over to me. (I turnt 18 in January it is now almost June)
I already filled out my fafsa form for the 23-24 year because I’m starting my freshman year taking summer classes. At the time I didn’t really have any assets because no one told me i had a custodial account with $8k in it waiting for me until i turnt 18.
My fafsa form is already processed and sent out to my school of choice. I’m not sure if i should edit it and put the 8k i am receiving?? Will it affect my financial aid package a lot if i do?? Will they know I have it??
i need help idk what to do.

So I just found out that my grandma had a custodial account for me that could not be touched until I turnt 18. It’s like a UTMA/UGMA account. I literally just found out she had the account for me a couple weeks ago and she sent me a form I had to sign in order for the funds to be transferred over to me. (I turnt 18 in January it is now almost June)
I already filled out my fafsa form for the 23-24 year because I’m starting my freshman year taking summer classes. At the time I didn’t really have any assets because no one told me i had a custodial account with $8k in it waiting for me until i turnt 18.
My fafsa form is already processed and sent out to my school of choice. I’m not sure if i should edit it and put the 8k i am receiving?? Will it affect my financial aid package a lot if i do?? Will they know I have it??
i need help idk what to do.

My mother has over 10+ autoimmune diseases and she's always sick and in pain but she still gets through. A few months ago, she suggested that I get a summer job because there will be a car available for me at the house (I just graduated undergrad and I'm starting my master's in the fall) and so I decided to start searching for a job because I don't want to be a bum all summer like I have been my entire life. Every single summer I fall into a depressive episode, don't wake up at good times, barely eat, don't work out, never leave the house, etc. But this summer I wanted something different. So after getting the inspiration to apply for jobs, I scored 3 different ones. I decided not to do the first one because I'd be working 24/7 (literally) and it wouldn't be great for my mental health and the pay sucks. I got a second job offer where I would be out in western America for 3-4 weeks, then I'd be in my home state about two hours ish away for another 4-5 weeks. After wanting to do the second job, I told my mom about it and she suddenly said I don't need to work and that she doesn't want me to go and that it wouldn't help my career. I was so confused because getting a job in the first place was all her idea. Then I got another job offer that was significantly closer to home, would help with my career, and I could stay home for the summer and I thought it would be great because I could use the car, but then she said she's not willing to let me use the family car for a job. Then, when I started considering staying, I had a few requests, (1) that I could use the family car to go to the gym and that I would pay for the membership and gas, and (2) that I can use the kitchen appliances to make my own food (they're new and my parents don't allow me to use the stove for anything and only they're allowed to make food but they work remotely in their offices all day so I don't really have time to get either of them to make me food. I learned this from staying home for a few weeks this winter when we got the new appliances). So after requesting those two things, she said no to both and that I should cope with what we have at home. So then I decided I was going to take the job out west because I need to stay on this upwards slope I'm going with my mental, physical, and emotional health.
This weekend, it was my graduation and a week or so before my mother said she didn't want to go and that she wanted to go on a trip because her anniversary is later in the week of my graduation and that I was basically being selfish for not choosing to take a trip for my graduation. Some context, we were planning on going on a trip to Europe for years but then a year or so ago my mother said it wasn't going to happen and so when she asked if I wanted to go to my undergraduate graduation or go on a trip I chose my graduation because I never got a real high school graduation because I graduated in 2020 during the pandemic. So, this past week, she was upset with me about this and she had gotten sicker and so I told her not to come because (1) she doesn't want to come and (2) she's sick, but she decided to come anyways and I am very grateful she did. Fast forward to today, my mother texted me saying that she's not doing well and she wants me to stay home this summer and not do the jobs I have lined up so she can get a break (from worrying about me and financially, even though she said she'd not paying a dime to get me to my job or to help me with my job). She's been coughing a lot and I think it's because she has a respiratory infection from a medication she started taking that could cause a side effect of a respiratory infection but when she went to the doctors they couldn't determine what was wrong with her.
I'm trying to think of I'm leaving anything out... Well for one, I'll be home for the next 2 weeks and then I'm going out to the job out west for 3-4 weeks and then I'm coming back to our home state to work the second part of the job but I won't be living at home. Also, I can't just drop out of the job because (1) I signed a contract, and (2) the company paid for my flights out west and back and the tickets are non refundable and I may want to work with this company next summer.
All in all, I don't know what to do. I know she's not doing well but if she dies I will truly regret it, and if I don't do this job I will regret it, probably fall into a depressive episode, will lose weight (which has been an issue and I'm finally a healthy weight now), and I won't be able to go anywhere because I'm not allowed to drive the car except to run errands for my parents. Additionally, my sibling just graduated grad school and my mother is wanting them to come home too even though they're in the process of starting their life in another state as well... My sibling coming back to our home state is a whole 'nother story with countless issues that I don't want to get into.
All in all, what should I do? I don't think she's going to die, but I don't want her to get sicker worrying about me. But I need the freedom to workout, work a job to be productive, to not fall into another depressive episode, and to experience life in a state I've been wanting to go to ever since I was a kid. But I also do care about my mother and she's worked so hard to provide for me and my sibling and I don't want to be selfish. But for how long will I be stuck at home during the summer, not having any freedom, before I become a real adult and have to live my own life? I just want to experience things while I'm still young but I also don't want to lose my mother. I may be overreacting with how bad her health is but she never asks me to stay home, but I've always been home for the summer.
Any advice?

So I've been radio silent, but I'm kinda back now. This is the beginning of my rewrite for this fic. Unfortunately I'm gonna take a bit to make the next part, this is due to me being part of the ficnnap. So future parts are gonna take a while to get going, hopefully I'll be functional enough to sit down during the summer and write a bunch.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the fic. Any feedback would be nice :).
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`Psionic Imprint Subject: Elias Meier, Exhausted Director'
Date [standardized Human time]: June 27th, 2136
Humanity learned it was not alone in the year of 2015, when it was viscously attacked by a hostile alien force intent on colonizing Earth. But humanity fought back, with the formation of XCOM. For the first time in the entirety of human history, Humanity stood as one. And we won, barely and not without consequences. Countries fell apart, or were briefly colonized; or in the case of Advent, for a couple decades.
Of course there was also the aliens that were invading. After some time it was found out that all of them of them were enslaved, controlled and distorted by the Elders.
Or Ethereals if you wanted to be pedantic. God I have had enough of pedantic people.
After a few tense decades, the aliens had slowly filtered into human society. The Vipers forming Sisterhoods, Mutons forming tribes, Sectoids getting into everything, Andromedas forming a haven for their people, and Chryssalids... once thought to be a dying race, surging back to life in 2077 and becoming a horrendous problem for everybody. There were a couple others but I couldn't be bothered to remember them.
Ding a little ring tone sounded, reminding me of my wretched job. I groaned, and waved my hand. I heard a dial up sound, as the system connected. Finally it connected, and one of the voices I dreaded hearing started speaking.
A monotone male voice, the voice of an emotionless thing created by XCOM to make death. "Hello Meier. I have a report, Wraith unit sent to System Gliese-832c has returned. A sapient alien civilization has been discovered. It is not what we expected though."
Wonderful, great even... God this is gonna be a whole thing to handle.
"Explain Odin, I will have to schedule a meeting about this new discovery."
"I have sent a data packet to your computer, which you would see if you looked at it sir"
How the fuck has he developed sarcasm? Has he always had this quirk or did he create it just to personally fuck with me?
I sighed and spun my chair around, away from the great view of my office window. The office I was trapped in was decently sized, the large desk with two 57 inch monitors on each side. The room was 10 feet tall, and 20 feet from door to window, and 12 feet wide. There was a seating area with two couches and a coffee table. A large drink cabinet flanked by two busts on pedestals, and a foyer sitting on the opposite wall flanked by tall standing plant pots with ferns. The entrance was double doors that looked like wood, but were actually plasma and explosive shielded metal doors.
On the left monitor was a display of the planet baring alien life. It was tidally locked, and was inhabited by... sheep, literal fucking sheep. Course they had paws instead of hooves and had no nose but still, literally just fucking sheep. They were apparently called Venlil. They had a decent population, and were part of a larger federation with an unknown number of species. They were at war with 7-8 feet tall nazi space crocodiles, and were deathly afraid of anything "predatory".
I glanced at a small box that appeared, it was an addendum by Dr. Valhen regarding the Venlil. It was a hypothesis regarding their physiology.
Experimental Codex Simulations put them at a 21.53% chance of surviving to a century with current physiology. Likely hood of genetic modification to weaken species at 71.89%.
The addendum pointed out the knocked knees, and the absence of a nose being the most likely areas of modification. I quirked an eyebrow up. I know Dr. Valhen had experience tearing open modified aliens and modifying people at an extreme levels. But still this had to be stretch.
"I have done my own calculations sir, and I have come to the same conclusion as Dr. Valhen sir." I stared pointedly at my monitors before sighing and rubbing my face.
Hmmm whom do I trust more? The mad scientist that walks around in several different metal bodies, or the psychopathic Codex who was created to be unnaturally good at killing. Hmmm good question... how about neither and say fuck it.
"OK Odin. Would you kindly contact the rest of the board and notify them about an emergency meeting?"
"Of course sir, I have already notified them about the scheduled meeting."
... Fucking prick. Oh well if I'm going to be sitting through a meeting I'm going to atleast drink some of the piss flavored water called vodka to pretend I can get drunk.
I stood up and walked over to the drink cabinet. A small round drone that was more of a floating camera came out of the ceiling and followed me. I opened up the cabinet and selected the highest proof alcohol I could find. After popping the bottle and grabbing a shot glass I walked back to my desk. Sitting down as an encrypted channel lit up my right side screen. I pressed on it and poured a shot, the small camera drone hovering in front of me just beyond the desk. The right monitor lit up as 6 people connected.
The Heads of Military, Research and Development, and Diplomatic Affairs were all in the meeting. Dr. Tygan and Dr. Shen heads of R&D, General Zhao and General Kelly heads of Military, Ms. Clark and Mr. Freeman heads of Diplomatic Affairs.
Dr. Tygan didn't look a day over 30, even though he was older than myself. His white coat looked immaculate, and his glasses clean. But his posture and eyes spoke of a man who was debating falling over asleep or shooting someone in the face. Dr. Shen had safety gear on, his clothing stained by machine fluids and sweat. He looked more alive in his 40's than Tygan, and behind him was a scene of a bustling space yard. General Zhao was prim and proper, his posture rigid and his face completely neutral. General Kelly looked to be in a ships captain quarters, his General uniform replaced with a mandatory protective jumpsuit. He looked like he was just woken up, a steaming cup of coffee sitting before him. Ms. Clark and Mr. Freeman looked... normal, they had proper uniforms on and looked like they had been working for a while but still had plenty of energy.
I shot the glass back then looked back at the drone, which had moved to be above the monitor. "So... I have received a report from Odin, and it is the reason for this meeting. Have any of you received the report as well and viewed the contents?"
Dr. Shen squinted at something behind the camera, before bending back and nodding. "Yeah I glanced at it, doesn't really affect my operations honestly. Besides I doubt that they could even get close to the OCDM. That thing can wipe out all kinds of stuff. "
Ms. Clark palmed her face, an exasperated look on it. "Could we not immediately discuss killing these new extraterrestrials? For all we know they number in the hundreds of species, or dozens. Not to mention we do not know the full extent of their technology. They could be much more powerful than us for all we know!"
General Zhao spoke up, a dismissive look to his face. "I have already run through some of the internal information of the Wraith unit. It appears that they have relatively the same level of technology as us. In fact they are actually inferior in some areas. For instance they practically have no cybersecurity. We could shut down their whole planet with a button press."
Ms. Clark groaned as she put her face in her hands. Mr. Freeman just leaned back looking tired. He raised a hand, a ding from the system notifying that he had a question. "Have we attempted to secure a direct access to their network? The more we know about these aliens the better. For all we know they have plans on dealing with "predatory" aliens. We could be signing the death certificate of humanity if we don't investigate more."
Clark looked up with shock and anger. "Yo-you can't be serious Mr. Freeman?! We haven't even attempted communication with these people and you're already planning on spying on them?! We should talk to them first, not just assume they are gonna be murderous!"
Everyone else on the meeting glanced around, the unsaid thing hanging in the air. Clark was very new to the board, and had grown up in New Russia. One of the European countries with the most amount of aliens. Everyone else had either only interacted with aliens as acquaintances, or killed them. Not to mention that XCOM was literally formed with the intention of pushing an invading alien empire off Earth. It had a long and bloody history with aliens, not to mention some of the things that it had done to aliens in service to Humanity.
General Kelly just sighed as he took a long sip of his coffee. Putting it down he crossed his hands in front of him. "We're getting off track people. We need to decide our course of action moving forward with these Venlil and their allies. I would recommend sending a civilian science vessel alongside two Avengers and a Hammer. The Hammer ship can operate in Stealth mode in the alien system, while the Avengers act like Cargo Ships. This allows us to put on a good face while still ensuring that our assets will be protected."
There was nodding across the board, everyone seemed to reluctantly agree on something for once. Then they all stared at their cameras, obviously waiting for myself. I sighed and poured another shot. "I concur with Kelly's plan, but I would also like to have Mothership Valhala on standby with Fleet Alpha. I would like you Kelly to command it, if you are too busy General Zhao will command instead."
Kelly and Zhao looked shocked by what I said. But they both donned neutral faces quickly afterwards. Zhao raised a hand, the system dinged signaling that he had a question. "May I ask why you are requesting this? Last time I actively commanded was for Operation Living Mausoleum and we all know how that turned out."
I shot back the glass and pointed at the camera. "That Operation was fucked from the very beginning. There was jack shit you could've done to prevent the casualties that occurred. Not to mention that you can't compare yourself to the Commander, he was inhumanly good at what he did. Hell from what I hear the man could practically see into the future. So quit it, stop beating yourself up over it. You're one of the greatest generals I've ever had the pleasure of working alongside with."
Zhao's face briefly clouded with a dark brooding look as I talked. But when I finished it lit up in surprise. He must still be beating himself up over that shit operation. I still remember reading the reports and feeling afraid about the future of XCOM. But thankfully Valhen managed to control the damn thing, and Diplomatic Affairs quelled the fires that had started from it.
"This meeting is concluded. Get back to whatever you all are doing." One by one the channel sent quiet. Tygan just stared into space, a vacant look on his face. "Tygan? Tygan!" He jumped in his seat, finally coming to. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face. "Tygan... it's getting worse... you really should reconsider your stance."
He looked up, a fire in his eyes. He put his glasses back on, tapping his fingers as he did so. "Well I won't. I'm not gonna stoop down to Valhen's level of depravity. The procedure is completely experimental and for all I know it's a miracle that I'm even still alive. I am almost 200 years old. If my mind is finally failing then so be it. I have played God long enough."
He left the channel right afterwards, only for another person to appear. It was Dr. Valhen and she had no camera feed. All I could see was a noise graph. "Meier... I would like to... make a... request- demand... I would like to attend the mission."
I slammed the shot glass on the table. "Absolutely not, I don't care what you're reason is. My final and only answer will be no. So kiss my ass, and go back to cutting apart death row inmates and war criminals."
…After a few seconds of silence and the graph not moving, it started laughing. That laugh told me more than enough. "Oh Meier, naughty naughty Meier... keeping me away from the new toys? How cruel of you... forgive me... I will honor your request..."
She... it left the channel. I closed it up, and spun my chair around. The window allowed me to view the Appalachian Mountains in all their splendor. In the distance I could see the camo fields of ships shifting as they moved about. I stared at the bottle before corking it and walking back to the cabinet.
This is gonna be an absolute shitshow. For all we knew we are boldly striding towards a war that will be the end of humanity once and for all.
End of Imprint
[Next]

20M from the US
TL;DR: I don't like math and as a result of that I don't understand it and struggle immensely in my math and physics college courses. I'm majoring in CS but I think I should quit because I don't like programming or math. I just don't know what other skill to learn so I'm not stuck being a cleaner or fast food worker for the rest of my life.
Long version: I don't think I'm inherently bad at math but I've always found it boring so I didn't pay much attention and my teachers aren't always good anyway and as a result of that I have a ton of gaps in my knowledge of math and don't understand it but also don't care about it at all. It's the same for anything that uses a lot of math like physics.
Even when I started programming I brushed it to the side because I was able to do what I wanted to in programming (make Roblox games and make web pages). I've now completed two semesters of college and am taking summer classes and last fall I struggled immensely with trigonometry and now I am struggling with physics although not as bad. I'm signed up to take trig again later this summer but I'm thinking about quitting it before it starts so I don't waste my money.
I don't even like programming anymore and was in it for the money but I've heard the web dev market is very oversaturated and unless you're really passionate about the field it's very hard to get a job. I just don't know what to do anymore and I'm afraid I'm going to be doomed to minimum wage jobs for the rest of my life because I'm too stupid to learn how to do any career.
The only thing I'm "good" at is learning languages and the only reason I'm "good" at it is because I'm extremely interested and passionate about learning languages. I don't think I'm actually any better than any other person. I'm just so passionate about it that I've had the drive to push through the hard moments and I have put thousands of hours into practicing Spanish.
Speaking intermediate Spanish is literally the only skill I have and it's pretty useless in terms of making money. I'm not interested in learning a single skill besides acquiring more languages and I know I have to if I want to make more money but I don't know what to learn. I also want to move abroad or be a digital nomad but I know if I don't figure out what to learn and learn it I have no hope of doing that.