I’m not going to show pictures just yet, but if enough people ask I will. I’ve been listening to a bunch of subs (primarily for skin and acne) and I’ve noticed a huge clearing. My skin is completely rid of acne at the moment, and I only have my scars and dark spots. I’ve had random clearings in the past, but I haven’t changed my routine at all and I feel this was definitely a result. :) Plus I’ve really had a surge in confidence lately, my face looks really beautiful.

• I have not had any headaches or nightmares :)

What’s the #1 thing every founder needs to know?

I’ll give you a few minutes to make a list — top of mind might include sales, marketing, technology, product management (especially product-market fit), technical skills, fundraising, team building, leadership, management, finance, and planning/executing strategic growth and scaling.
Sure… but, sorry, none of that is the correct answer. Because, of course, you know that founders typically are expected to be jacks of all trades. So yes, to all of the above, but that’s not the secret sauce.
The #1 thing every founder needs to know is… themself.
Here’s the truth: founders start companies, and entrepreneurs build them. While not every entrepreneur is a founder (think franchise owners), every founder is an entrepreneur (at least initially).
If you’re like me, you are a forward-obsessed founder. That means where you are now is always building toward where you want to go. That person is always an entrepreneur. Once the company is started, you’ll do what it takes — including relinquishing control — to keep it growing.
Does that sting? We founders think of our companies as our babies, but statistics say we’re likely to be the ones kicked out of the nest. Also, research shows that in the US, only 14 out of the top selling 500 companies still have the original founder running the company. And the Harvard Business Review reports that most founders relinquish control long before their companies go public — and that four out of five are forced to step down as CEO.
It doesn’t have to be that way if you have one critical attribute: self-awareness. That way, you can decide as your company grows how you want to evolve your role in the overall day-to-day running of the company (i.e., learn, delegate, hire, move on). And ultimately, you can make better choices at critical growth junctures in your business progression.
So, to help you become more self-aware, it’s helpful to understand the different types of founders. Let’s dive in.

The Types of Founders

A couple of notes before we get into specifics:

• Much like any other classification, there are gray areas, so you (and many of the examples I share in this article) may fit into more than one category.
• Some traits are common to all founders, such as being open to innovation, passionate about their project, risk-takers, etc. But some founders excel or even over-index in certain attributes, so that’s what you’ll see in the different types.

The bottom line: knowing your strongest/weakest points is a critical piece of the self-awareness pie. That way, you can conduct your business in what I call the Green Zone — aka the Genius Zone, where you have both high passion and high competence — and make the best choices for you and your company.

1. The Solo Founder

Traits:

• Fiercely independent
• Self-assured
• Strong belief in their vision/idea
• Business strongly tied to skill set and experience
• Resilient (i.e., can withstand feelings of loneliness)

Benefits:

• Freedom
• Complete control
• Learn a lot

Pitfalls:

• Solo-founded companies statistically have a higher failure rate
• Harder to raise money/VCs are more reticent
• Health impacts: burnout, loneliness, etc.
• Attention is divided because you wear all the hats (marketing, sales, building your product, finances, fundraising, prospecting for new customers, etc.)
• Complete responsibility for all aspects of the business

Example: Sara Blakely, Spanx Founder
Ten years ago, in 2012, when she was just 38, Sara Blakely became the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire. Her business, built on a significant industry gap (the lack of comfortable, effective shapewear) and her incredible sales hustle, also benefited greatly from Blakely’s abundant self-awareness. Here’s her advice to solo founders at a 2020 business conference:

“I tell people as soon as you can afford to hire your weaknesses, do it… As soon as I could afford to hire someone to do more of the operations side of the business, I did. As an entrepreneur, one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself is to stay in your lane.”

In other words, know what your Green Zone is and play there.
If you’re like Blakely, it’s usually big ideas and sales ability (she could easily qualify as a Visionary Founder, too) or operations and execution (what Blakely realized she needed help with).
Pro tip: If you’re a solo founder, you’ll likely want to lean into an entrepreneurial framework like the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to help you define and settle into which side you skew toward.

2. The Visionary Founder (or Co-founders)

Traits:

• Driven by a big idea
• Disruptive — recognizes opportunities to upend traditional norms
• Focused and clear
• Persistent
• Natural salesperson
• Can see the big picture
• Collaborative (esp. In co-founder scenario)
• Motivated by the impact they have — more than $$ alone

Benefits:

• Passionate about their work
• Aren’t easily derailed — failures are expected, and mistakes are not made twice
• Inspired leadership

Pitfalls:

• So focused on the big picture that they may miss important details
• A visionary idea doesn’t automatically = visionary leadership
• Disconnected from reality at times
• Easily bored when the mundane takes priority
• May not plan succession well
• Unrealistic expectations
• Poor communication

Example: Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak
Considering that Steve Jobs’ name is pretty much synonymous with “visionary,” I don’t think I need to list more than the products and industries Jobs’ revolutionized at Apple and beyond — Apple Computers, iPod (iTunes), iPad, iPhone, Pixar, iCloud — with many products and points in between. George Lucas, from whom Jobs bought the Graphics Group at Lucasfilm and renamed it “Pixar,” perfectly summarizes his superpower:

“The magic of Steve was that while others simply accepted the status quo, he saw the true potential in everything he touched and never compromised on that vision.”

Steve Wozniak was the technological yin to Jobs’ sales and marketing yang, bringing the vision of a computer with a graphic interface to life. From the visionary files, “Woz” also invented the first programmable universal remote and was an early innovator of wireless GPS (thanks to his clever dogs who routinely evaded electronic fences).

3. The Serial Disruptor

Traits:

• Varied interests & capabilities
• Easily bored — desires variety and change
• Optimistic
• Extremely innovative
• High threshold for pain
• Accepting of failure
• Self-reliant
• Diverse capabilities
• Bold vision
• Motivated by the impact they have — more than $$ alone

Benefits:

• Variety of experiences
• Flexibility and freedom
• Diversification
• Tons of opportunities for creative expression
• Greater earning opportunities
• Disrupts industries
• Attracts high-quality talent

Pitfalls:

• High risk
• Difficulties finding trustworthy partners/can get stuck helming something when you want to move on
• Multitudes of people reliant on you
• Divided focus
• Ego-driven pursuits

Example: Elon Musk
Like him or loathe him, Elon Musk is perhaps the most prolific (and successful) serial founder of all time with startups including Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink, among others. His drive to design opportunities to evolve humanity has redefined both hustle culture and the art of serial entrepreneurship.
For serial founders, having a set of principles is key to their success. In Musk’s case, his use of “first principles” — reducing a process to its essential parts — has served him well, from helping him figure out how to make rockets cheaper and reusable (SpaceX) to shifting the narrative of electric vehicles (Tesla).

4. The Engineer

Traits:

• Engineer by experience and nature
• Technically savvy
• Able to problem-solve technology-driven issues (not just with the product but also operations-wise)
• Strong desire to not just innovate but also to accelerate progress
• Expansive vision of how technology can solve common problems
• Level-headed
• Agile, fast learners
• Focused on execution

Benefits:

• Pragmatic approach
• Own technology
• Problems are solved quickly
• Able to employ technology to reduce time to market
• Solutions for products can become new products in their own right

Pitfalls:

• Not well versed in other crucial areas (i.e., sales, marketing)
• Over-index on having lower Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
• Because they can learn quickly, so may get stuck playing outside of the green zone

Example: Mark Zuckerberg
Much like the other examples I’m sharing, Mark Zuckerberg’s story has been widely told, so you probably know about his development of Facebook. But at his core, Zuckerberg is an engineering prodigy and geek. At just 13 in 1997, he built “ZuckNet,” which enabled the family’s home computers to communicate via Ping (a precursor of AOL’s Instant Messenger) with his father’s dental office computers. He was using AI in his senior year in high school, so the roots of his Meta(verse) focus today are apparent.
A common weakness for engineers is they tend to have a lower EQ, which has been well-researched. As a former engineer, I understand how logic and technology come easier than understanding human behavior. This is why tech founders should seek out mentors early and bring in competent leaders with high EQ and leadership skills — for example, Zuckerberg credits his former COO of 14 years, Sheryl Sandberg, for turning the company into a multi-billion dollar company.

5. The Personality Founder

Traits:

• Charismatic and gregarious
• Attracts a vast audience
• Influential
• Ambitious
• Forward-thinking
• Inwardly motivated (responds to a “calling”)
• Excellent storytellers
• Authentic and honest (ideally 😉)

Benefits:

• Has a built-in audience and established social platforms
• Likely has pre-existing wealth (can help fund the business/mitigate startup money woes)
• Can use their power for good; disruptive in a positive way

Pitfalls:

• Needs to find the right people to trust
• Can’t just be the “face” of the business; needs to accrue real business chops
• Celebrity and influence status don’t equal quality products
• Difficult or impossible for the founder to leave

Example: Oprah
I’m using Oprah as an example, as her products are an outgrowth of her — her eponymous talk show, which ran for 25 years, the OWN network, O Magazine, her book club, and a variety of charitable endeavors comprise her vast empire. But of course, we know plenty of other personality brands that have racked up billions in sales and even transformed, from the Kardashians/Jenners, to Bethany Frankel and Ryan Reynolds (just watch Deadpool 3 to see his brands — coming in 2023).
In today’s age of influence, we’ve seen a surge of personality brands and founders who leverage built-in audiences and communities to scale quickly. All these names are business mavericks in their own right, but many didn’t start out this way — they deftly utilize their charisma and ability to entertain to shape their brands and pave the way to success.

6. The Accidental Founder

Traits:

• Independent
• Resourceful
• Necessity-driven
• Follow their desire/passion
• Creative
• Willing to take risks

Benefits:

• A deep belief in what they’re doing
• Solves real-world problems based on personal experience
• Discover they’re much happier running their own show
• Turns skills, vocation, or avocation into a profitable business

Pitfalls:

• May not have the business chops
• Reluctant business person — may not actually want to run their own business
• Needs to find the right people to trust
• Overwhelm

Example: Yvon Chouinard
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard has been in the news lately for giving away his company to fight climate change. He’s an OG accidental entrepreneur whose passion for rock climbing led him to develop reusable pitons (rock climbing spikes) and, later, heavy-duty shirts. Famously Chouinard called himself a “dirtbag climber” and didn’t want to become a business mogul. Sixty-five years later, this accidental founder’s company is valued at $3 billion, and his latest innovation is a way of giving away the profits of a company to continue his contribution to society — protecting and preserving the natural world.
As I always say, there are riches in the niches, and accidental entrepreneurs are the leading type of founders to discover a marketplace with little or no competition.

7. The Intentional Founder

Traits:

• Purpose-driven
• Strong ideals and values
• Passionate about the bigger picture impacts
• Socially conscious
• Clear and focused on the brand mission

Benefits:

• An empathetic approach to the product/the company
• Can educate, empower, and motivate others (i.e., team, customers)
• Employees are statistically more satisfied and likely to stay
• Commitment to a higher ideal engenders more loyalty and trust with the general public (customers)

Pitfalls:

• Moving from individual ideals to a group effort is tricky
• Difficult to find employees with perfectly aligned values
• Might not have the business experience to set the organization up for long-term success
• Purpose-driven (belief) isn’t the same as purpose-enabled (capability)
• Might be challenging for the company to survive the loss of the founder

Example: Jessica Alba
While Jessica Alba does have some touches of a Personality Founder (she is an actor) and an Accidental Founder (an allergic reaction to detergent made her worry about her new baby’s sensitive skin), she is an excellent example of an intentional founder. Back in 2008, when Alba had that allergic reaction, influencer marketing wasn’t what it is today — plus, she had some success but was by no means a household name. Ditto for eco-conscious consumer packaged goods — a plus, sure, but didn’t have the same urgency and importance it does today. Alba then spent years researching ingredients in everyday products and even went to DC to lobby for updates to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. Convinced that consumers need safe, affordable, environmentally friendly products for kids and home, Alba launched The Honest Company in 2011.
Now, she did have seasoned co-founders, her own wealth to use out the gates, and VC support shortly after that, but it has always been Alba’s commitment to and alignment with the brand’s core principles that have kept the brand growing and thriving — today, as a publicly traded company with a 2021 $412.8 IPO.
What type of founder are you? Definitely feel free to share in the comments.

Hello, I am facing a very peculiar issue with Proxmox.
I have three servers Intel SCL1530CLR from ~2006 (with two Intel Xeon E5420 cpus, 8GB DDR2 and S5000VCL motherboard ). I have been trying to install Proxmox VE into them for a project, but every time I open the installer there is a big chance of it locking up and not progressing, but sometimes the installer do go through. I have attempted to diagnose the installer also locking up, to no avail.
https://preview.redd.it/gviizi1gxs1d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b59a3fce53041ca398069a66cbd0ba589c6d745
https://preview.redd.it/ldy9si1gxs1d1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0e80e1e0dd625ce72c352acadf5fc9fe03256f1
These were two different attempts at booting the Proxmox VE installer, it gets stuck at different points.
This also happens with other Linux distribution installers such as Debian and Ubuntu. I have gone around that by attempting to install several times until the installer finally loads. After install, every time I boot the machines up, they get stuck at a random point at boot. If left for long enough (and removing quiet from the options at GRUB) they will display this thing:
https://preview.redd.it/h3trka9pxs1d1.jpg?width=1216&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf10c02cfd0a162f4c39f46ae6ed79badd2efd2e
Looking over on Google, this post from AskUbuntu tells me to add as parameters noapic and nomodeset. Doing this will not have any effect, as the servers keep doing what stated above. Also I have tried is to install the intel-microcode from this suggestion, to no difference.
Testing other operating systems, stock Debian 12 works.
Another measure I have tried is to install the Debian kernel 6.1.0-21 onto Proxmox and then boot it from GRUB. It is not the best idea, but doing this will make the system boot all the time. Also I have tried to install the Debian Sid kernel into Proxmox, which is also not beautiful, since the package manager forced me to uninstall proxmox-ve, but I wanted to know if it was down to the newer kernel versions, to which it also was able to boot.
Finally what I have tried today was to debug the boot process using the serial console during the system boot with the kernel parameter console=ttyS0,112500n8, to which the system does boot every time I have tried with no issue using the stock pve kernel, and I were not able to replicate the bug with this option set.
Any ideas as to what would be happening that would prevent the system from booting unless these specific scenarios? If it also helps, I can attach pictures of when Debian locks up during the install phase, which does give some more information.
Also attached are the logs of the kernel once the system boots correctly (from dmesg). https://pastebin.com/fCmb8LhU
Thanks in advance.

Too bad they weren't allowed to FaceTime each other yesterday due to Brock's last-minute all-day errands for his "P-day", but did so Saturday night when Brock opened his "birthday box"...
McMinnville, Friday night:Boston's assembling the birthday box...and including handwritten cards from their Franklin friend Mark Mabry(📸:@reflectionsofchrist)...
HomeChef for dinner...
Feeding watermelon and blueberries to the chickens and cows...
A cicada invasion...
Boston's new business credit card:American Express/Delta SkyMiles to supplement his personal credit card...
Brock posted a picture of his dinner at the Texas Roadhouse in New Bedford...
The end...
Wednesday's vlog will probably be about how the "birthday weekend" went...

I know that for example in Japan, they are even installing a barrier to obstruct the view of Mt. Fuji, because the nearby towns (and a Lawson) are starting to get fed up with an overflow of tourists who stop at one particular spot just to take pictures of the mountain. That is not the only issue with the overflow of tourists within their country, in Kyoto specifically, it is way too crowded. What annoys me the most is them taking pictures of Geisha everywhere, I get it they want to snap a picture, but keep in mind that they are humans and need some space. (They are now issuing a ¥10000 fine for violators.)
Especially with the geisha, like “Leave them alone, geez!” (Give them the right for privacy at least!) They do not like an iPhone right in front of their faces just to be snapped all the time, the thing is that Kyoto is highly dependent on tourist revenue but the local populace ain’t having it, as there are cases of people obstructing roads, tourists filling in the seats on local buses or public transportation that the locals there use daily, most of the demographic living there are old people. (senior citizens) They are even banning tourists on entering Geisha (or Maiko) districts.
During the time Logan Paul visited Japan was the worst, as he went to the suicide forest and recorded footage of a DEAD BODY then proceed to laugh, he took the video down after receiving a ton of backlash. He's not the only one, Johnny Somali also did some shit that landed him in jail, such as entering a construction site, using a random guests room number to get himself 'free' breakfast without realizing that guest will be billed upon them checking out, all due to his stupid actions. Streamers like him who visit Japan are just dumb, taking advantage of others.
Japan is now enforcing stricter rules regarding filiming in public, there are even businesses that forbid both video and photography, so no streaming IRL. In general, Japanese are fed up and pissed off about tourists who disrespect their customs or completely disregard their culture, there are even foreigners who throw trash on the floor (due to Japan not having bins everywhere, even in public, they only exist at designated areas) so you have no choice but to carry your trash with you. They even throw trash not from the konbini into their bins!
Even cities such as Osaka or Hakone are imposing tourism taxes, to curb their presence. Since Japan is one of the countries Westerners fetishize a lot, weeaboos think the country is like anime, but it does not mean that people there act like anime characters. There are instances of foreigners bringing in medication or drugs that are banned or deemed illegal (like medical marijuana / ADHD pills) in Japan but not in their home countries, so that means they are subjected to prison and deportation, like... come on, do some research about the country you are traveling to prior to entering their soil.
here are even sacred sites in Japan (like shrines or temples) that have been vandalized, desecrated all because of tourist interaction, which is sad because it’s damaged, losing the integrity on why it’s important. There was a bamboo forest in which someone CARVED their initials on it, like “Don’t destroy the bamboo!” It pisses me off that they desecrate a site you are NOT meant to be treading on at all.
In hindsight:

• Does the Netherlands have an over tourism problem? If so, how bad is it?
• Are there instances of behaviors coming from tourists that annoy Dutch people to the point the authorities are cracking down on bad behavior imposing harsher penalties or deportation?
• Do you know any cases in where tourists have desecrated an important landmark, monument vital to Dutch history or culture?
• Do you know any sites that often get photographed way too often that people are considering on creating a barricade to obstruct the view of said place or site?

Hey everyone, I've never had a strong reaction as allergy to the sun. I usually just get a sunburn and that's it... I got strong sun on friday and had some stuff come up on my arms, then went for canooing on sunday (completely drenched in spf50 and completely covered) - but since then my underarms and chin just keeps on getting worse. Sunday it wasn't even my lips but since yesterday nearly all of my lips are plastered with tiny blisters or hives. The first 3 pictures are from this morning, 4+5 fron yesterday.
I'm taking loratadine in the morning, using normal creme to keep hydrated and using spf on top. However I feel like my usual lipbalm is just worsening my lip condition. At night my arms were so itchy I woke up several times.
Just got benzedrine bc some ppl in another sub said it helped them relieve the itch but it didn't do anything, so I just washed it down and remoisturized my skin. I'm traveling until 31/05 so I don't think I can go to a doc without paying insane ampunts of money but I haven't found a post in this sub talking specifically about face or lips.
I'm not sure if I'm doing anything to worsen the situation as some red spots that look more like the common picture people have posted here "is this sun allergy?" have started appearing in areas that weren't directly exposed to sunlight.
Thanks so much in advance everyone!!! The itchiness and open cracked lips are driving me crazy!

Okay fellow humans, I’m kind of at a crossroads here and I need some advice… So lately some stuff went down with my roommate and her boyfriend and on a night of drinking she showed me and my boyfriend the screenshots of the conversations between her boyfriend and another female(s). I saw some things like “you get me soaked” and him calling her baby which honestly made my red flag radar start going off. I didn’t really pay attention to the time stamps or when the conversation happened but all I know is that if you’re in a relationship you shouldn’t be talking to other people like that, and I told my roommate those exact words. She also went to my boyfriend to talk about it as well and I’m pretty sure he told her the same thing. After that we continued having a good time together and went on with the night having fun as a little family. The next day (Mothers Day) my boyfriend and I were leaving to go see our beloved mamas, as I was walking out the door my roommates boyfriend stopped me to talk to me about last night. He looked at me and started with “First I want to clarify that those screenshots she showed you were old and happened before we started dating, she likes to show stuff like that when she’s drunk.” I was honestly speechless… the questions running through my head in that moment were “why are you trying to justify yourself with me right now?” And “If you already talked about it before with her why are you trying to talk to me?” Of course I didn’t ask those out loud but I just kind of gave him a glare, and I said “alright man” and walked out the door, mind you when he told me that his body language was off and fidgety AND she has never even showed us stuff like that before the previous times we got drunk together. When my roommate and her boyfriend talked about the screenshots… he said he was doing it for “money” because they were in a tight spot, at the time both of them were unemployed. But I smelt total bullshit with that excuse. There’s other ways to get money in a more honest way, I know getting hired and finding a new job is hard but talking to other women who aren’t even sugar mama age is a little sketchy to me, don’t you think? My boyfriend and I honestly were getting restless about the whole situation because we had a strong feeling he was lying right to her and our face. Later we came back home from the domains of our lovely mothers, I didn’t really want to talk to my roommates boyfriend so I went straight upstairs to take a shower while my boyfriend conversed with them downstairs. From what my boyfriend explained to me, he talked to them about the situation and they were allegedly on good terms and roommates boyfriend deleted/blocked all the girls he was talking to, he even let my boyfriend look through his phone to show proof. But there was more evidence of one more girl in his phone that wasn’t deleted, a girl under the name “Fggt😁😁” my boyfriend found a text from him to her saying “Be mine😍😍😍😍” HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TELL YOUR GIRL YOU BLOCKED EVERYONE AND STILL HAVE ONE LEFT?! The date of the text was from April 15, 2023… My roommate and her boyfriend have been together for the past 3 years… ummmm RED FLAG. My boyfriend didn’t say anything about what he found and handed the phone back. Later that week my boyfriend and I planned on talking to my roommate alone when her boyfriend was at work, and that’s what we did. About two or three days ago we pulled her outside to express our concerns, my boyfriend and I have both been in relationships with shitty people so we know how it feels to be cheated on so it was with good intentions and we were just trying to look out for her. My boyfriend told her to just keep an eye out and proceed with caution. I’m a very straightforward person with my feelings so I told her something similar but I also told her that I don’t really trust him anymore and that he might keep this behavior up and get sloppy about it in the future.. When we came back inside we again clarified that we are watching out for her and we are on her side. We also told her that if shit hits the fan with her relationship, we will be on her side 100% she was willing to listen to us and respected our opinion which we were grateful for. But then yesterday or maybe the day before I’m not too sure cause my perception of time sucks, me, my boyfriend, our best friend, and my roommates little brother were all having a good time drawing really stupid pictures of each other on the fridge, as a JOKE. Then my roommate and her boyfriend came downstairs and the vibe in the room totally shifted to complete tension, her boyfriend was visibly upset or irritated, standing in the corner with his arms crossed and just glaring at us (me, bf, best friend). We looked at him and tried showing him the drawing of him to get a laugh out of him but he was just stone face and not happy at all. We tried asking him what’s wrong but all we got was the silent treatment, which we didn’t really care. But he was being salty which ruined the vibe in the room so my boyfriend and I just went upstairs cause we didn’t want to be around a sourpuss. We didn’t know why he was upset, but my boyfriend and I assumed that our roommate told him about what we said to her and now he’s mad about it. Was it wrong to express or worry to her? Are we the as*holes for not wanting our friend to get hurt? I need some advice. What do ya’ll think about this??

[Part 1]
Day 3
I woke the next morning from the sunshine in my eyes. My head was resting ever so slightly on Eli's arm as we had both fallen asleep on my bed after I begged him to stay. I blanched in horror at the drool stain I had left on the arm of his white t-shirt.
I began to slowly move myself and retreat downstairs as the memories of the night before came flooding back. How I had broken, screaming in terror, and how Eli had saved me, not knowing the true reason he found me curled up on the floor crying.
As I stepped off the bed, my leg got snagged in the frilly bed cover, and I went crashing to the ground, making quite the noise as I landed. With a yawn, Eli's eyes opened, and I felt myself blushing as he turned to look at me.
We both kind of stared at each other for a moment, not speaking. Eli opened his mouth, then closed it again as if unsure of what to say.
"Coffee?" I asked quickly, filling the awkwardness of our situation.
"Please," Eli said, smiling.
In minutes, I had a pot brewing as I leaned against the kitchen counter. Eli was picking up the scattered photographs from the floor and looking at them quizzically.
"Why do you have pictures of the Harmons?" Eli asked, showing me the photos of the yellow-haired man and his family.
"Is that their names? I found them out in the barn under a blanket," I answered as I rooted around the cupboards for two mugs.
"In the barn? I cleaned it out just last week. No way I would have missed this trunk," Eli said while examining the wooden trunk with its simple rustic hinges. It was plain and unadorned with any embellishments. Basic as basic could be.
"Well, you must have missed it because it was there," I said, putting emphasis on the "was" in a way that reminded me of my mother chastising my father.
"That's so weird," he said, shifting through the photos while sitting at the table. I brought him a cup of coffee and sugar, and he began absentmindedly adding a lot of sugar to his coffee. About six scoops later, he began stirring and sipping it.
"Well, anyways, thanks for coming last night. I wasn't myself, I hope you know that I'm not some damsel in distress," I said quickly, like word vomit, and I even chuckled at the end, feeling like a total weirdo.
"What happened anyway? You didn't say last night," he said, putting the photos down in a jumble on the table.
I paused for a moment, considering how to answer. As I sipped my coffee, I stared out into the yard beside the barn where the scarecrow stood, glancing around the edge of the barn, hanging limply in his hole. His appearance once again sad and dejected instead of murderous and terrifying.
"I was just scared, I had a nightmare, and it just scared me," I said dumbly, trying not to turn crimson again under his intense gaze.
His eyes seemed to cut right through my lie, as if he were staring directly into my being before he simply glanced away out the window. We fell silent again, and I filled some moments by sipping my drink. It seemed to revitalize me; the sun and the company made me feel secure.
"Why were you here anyways?" I asked after a moment.
"I heard screaming, so I came running. I live just on the other side of the grass there, behind the barn," Eli said, pointing to the barn out the window.
"Must be really close, I didn't see any houses on the way in," I said, prying deeper into the situation.
"It's actually a trailer, maybe like two hundred yards from here. I was outside getting some air when I heard you scream. So, I came running," Eli said, finishing his cup of coffee and placing it in between us like a barrier, as if he was hiding something.
"Could you, uh, not do that?" Eli asked, with an uncertain grin on his face.
"What am I doing exactly?" I asked, startled for a moment, my stomach doing a sort of flip.
"It's just that you like stare at people. You've been staring at me for like my whole cup of coffee, I don't think you blinked the whole time," Eli said, averting his eyes shyly.
"No, I don't," I said until I realized he was right. I never noticed that about myself.
"Right, well, I've got to go. I am probably going to start painting today, so you might see me in a bit," Eli said, rising and heading to the door.
"Wait," I said, grabbing his arm for only a moment before releasing it like it was scalding hot.
Eli glanced at my hand for a moment, then at his arm, before he, too, blushed crimson.
"I just wanted to say thank you again. For last night, I mean. Well, what I mean is I appreciate it," I said, my eyes downcast in, for some reason, shame. Like he had seen me at my weakest and it weighed on my gaze appropriately.
"It was nothing, besides I didn't get much sleep with your constant snoring," Eli said, laughing at me.
"I so don't snore," I said, swatting at him but unable to control a smile creeping up onto my face.
After Eli left, I felt instantly colder, my eyes kept returning to the scarecrow. I grabbed my camera from upstairs and went out to the yard. I scanned the dirt for anything out of the ordinary. There was no blood, or anything on the dirt where the scarecrow stood just last night. I slowly made my way to the scarecrow, but nothing happened. I snapped a photo of the inanimate object, and it didn't even flinch. I poked it, but all I felt was straw underneath its clothes. I removed its mask, expecting a severed head, but it was just straw. Nothing was here but straw. I dropped the mask on the ground and took another photo proving it was just straw and nothing else.
An idea struck me as I regarded the source of my torment. If I planned to stay even one more night here, I needed to do something about this scarecrow. I rooted around in the barn, a series of tools hung from nails in the wall. On one hung what I was searching for. An old rusted shovel with a dirty wooden handle that was worn smooth from use.
I returned to the side of the barn beside the scarecrow, knowing for whatever reason this thing only came when night fell and didn't react at all when I moved or touched it during the day.
Before my morning coffee had even settled, I began to dig at the dusty earth, loose and easy to dig, it came away in shovelfuls. Within an hour, I had a fair-sized hole in front of me. Sweat dripped from my brow, and when I wiped under my eyes, they came away black from last night's makeup. Glancing at the field of grass and knowing Eli could appear at any time, I decided to head inside and shower. The hot water was a godsend, and I lingered for longer, letting the water drain down my head and back, my eyes closed, trying to forget the images from the last two nights. I should just pack up my car and leave right this minute. But how could I explain this to my family? I decided to go through with my plan and bury the scarecrow. I could last one more night if I prepared for it.
I left the shower and dressed modestly, in another one of my old rock t-shirts and a pair of shorts. I returned to the yard and with a satisfying push, I dropped the scarecrow into the pit. It fell with a nice thud, and I smiled at my power over it in the day; it's just at night when I should fear it.
As I threw the first shovel of dirt back on top, I heard a noise in the grass, and it parted, revealing Eli wearing the same pair of jeans and work boots, but he had changed his shirt to a plain black one. In each hand, he held cans of paint and a brush.
"Should I even ask why you are burying that old scarecrow?" He asked as he came to stand beside me.
"Probably best if you didn't," I admitted, leaning on the shovel.
"Well, I'm going to anyway. Polly, why are you burying that old scarecrow?" He asked, a rare smile coming to his face.
"Because it's been haunting me at night," I said bluntly.
"Mhm, yeah, okay. Fine, don't tell me. I've been meaning to get rid of it anyway, but normal people take things to the landfill," Eli said with a smirk as he turned to the house and began setting up for his painting.
I finished burying the scarecrow and stomped the dirt down flat. I finished my job by moving my car and parking it directly over top of the spot where I buried it.
Eli watched me curiously but didn't remark. I returned the shovel to the barn and went out into the yard. I decided to go for a hike around the property. I needed some time alone to think and unwind.
As I made my way through the grass, it began to confuse me. This had obviously been a large farmland, but how had the wild plants grown in such a thick, endless maze of greenery?
It gave me an eerie feeling, like I was being watched as the grass covered three-quarters of my body, like there would be something lurking out in the grass, crouched low, waiting for me.
After a half-hour or so, I came upon a clear lake, only big enough to be considered an old swimming hole, I thought as I dipped my hand into the cool water.
I took off my outer clothes and decided to go for a swim. I lowered myself in slowly and reveled at the cool water. The pond wasn't deep, but the water was clean. A small rope swing had been hung from a large oak tree that bordered the pond. It also provided a nice layer of shade that made it the ideal spot to spend the day. I floated on my back in the water for what seemed like hours. The day seemed to slip away from me. A small beach of sand sat at one side of the pond, so I lay out in the sun and closed my eyes. The warm day warmed my soul, and soon I felt myself drifting off into sleep.
I awoke to the sound of crickets and darkness. I couldn't believe it. I had slept through the day; the long nights had finally caught up to me, and now I was stuck far away from the farmhouse. I didn't know if my plan with the scarecrow had worked, and this wasn't the place to test my theory.
A full moon lay overhead, casting a silvery glow on the world before me. A sea of grass swayed gently in the wind, sending shivers down it in shuddering waves. I looked around, but I was thankfully alone, just the crickets chirping along melodically as my only companions.
I had to make it back to the house, so I started on my way, my hands trailing along the tall grass. The pale light played easily on the deep green grass. Step by step, I made my way back towards the farmhouse and the barn, throwing caution to the wind, and I started to jog along, anything to get back faster. I would have to find Eli; maybe if we were together, he could stop it like before.
If I thought the field was creepy during the day, by night, it was a whole new world. Every sound made my heart stop for a beat before restarting in protest. When all of a sudden, the crickets stopped chirping. I dropped to my knees, letting the long grass cover me from sight. Through the strands, I could make out a shape moving slowly through the tall grass, the swish of the plants as it made its passage through them. My heart dropped. Was this Eli looking for me, or was it the scarecrow come for me?
That's when I heard a voice, a voice cutting through the silence. It started off quiet and raspy as it sang an eerie children's song.
"Did you, did you, did you come for me?
Run and hide, don't you know that I seek
The world it claims that I be not clean
When I come, you'll see how filthy I can be.
Tonight, it is happening, tonight you'll see
Beneath the moon, my shadows they do creep.
In this world, at night I shall be free.
Tonight it's happening, tonight you'll see.
When I come, you had better flee, or else I'll come and give my filth to thee."
I was frozen to the spot. It hadn't found me, but it knew I was in the grass somewhere. Now, with each word, chewed up and spat out like it was unhappy with it, now it was accompanied by the whistle of something in the air and a slicing sound as it cut through the grass around me.
It finished another round of its song, but now it stood within feet of me, its blade whistling as it cut. I took a moment to ready myself, and as it raised its blade to cut through the grass I hid in, I dashed out of my hiding spot and slammed into it. But nothing resisted me; I fell through it like it was a ghost.
In a tangle of limbs, I landed hard on the ground and tried quickly rolling to my feet. The blade of its weapon pierced the earth beside me. Now I could see it was a two-handed scythe the scarecrow carried, but something was off, its hands were human. Pale milky skin like a newborn baby. I had little time to examine the creature except for the canvas bag over its head. Two large black eyes came out of the slits that leaked a dark red blood like tears.
It screeched loudly and swung its scythe, but it was slow, and I took off through the grass in the direction of what I hoped was the farmhouse.
I completely gave up all pretense of hiding and sprinted as fast as I could without looking back. The grass seemed to part for me as I ran in terror. I was just glad that in high school, I had taken track as it was paying off now.
I could hear the noise of footsteps behind me, but I never turned. I ran and ran until my lungs felt like they were going to burst Something silver flashed to my left, and I tripped over something hard and unexpected. The wind was driven from my lungs as my chin slammed hard into the earth. I scrambled back, trying to escape, but the scarecrow was on me, its blade flashing angrily in the pale moonlight.
I wanted to move, I wanted to fight, but my body was weak and unable to catch its breath, and I lay there helpless as it swung its scythe towards me. I closed my eyes in fear, but I only heard the thud of dirt before I opened my eyes. The scythe was discarded, and the scarecrow stood staring at me.
It seemed to be struggling with something, one hand reached out towards me only to be snapped back to its side. A roar of rage pierced the canvas sack over its head as it struggled against its invisible bonds. For a moment, I thought I saw something behind it, three sets of hands holding it back. One feminine in nature, and the other two must have belonged to children. In a flash, I saw a beautiful woman who looked vaguely familiar with her long brown hair and plain dress.
"Run," she moaned as the scarecrow swung around wildly.
I didn't hesitate and fled, my breath had returned, and while my body still ached from my fall, I powered on, knowing this was the only respite I would receive tonight.
In the distance, I could see a small sheet metal shape; Eli's trailer was slowly coming closer as I ran, and I beelined it for the trailer. I could hear the footsteps behind me again as the scarecrow resumed its chase after me.
I reached the old trailer and banged on the door as loud as I could; I rattled the handle, but it was locked.
"Eli, it's me. It's Polly, please let me in. Please," I begged as I banged over and over again on the door of his trailer.
Nothing responded to me, and the trailer was dark. The single window in the back held no life inside the trailer. From the trailer, I couldn't tell which direction the farmhouse was in the dark, so I fled into the tall grass and crouched low, watching the clearing around the trailer.
While I caught my breath, I watched the scarecrow enter the clearing, its scythe back in its hand as it circled the trailer. When its raspy voice began singing again low and quiet, only loud enough for me to hear.
"Did you, did you, did you come for me?
Run and hide, don't you know that I seek
The world it claims that I be not clean
When I come, you'll see how filthy I can be.
Tonight, it is happening, tonight you'll see
Beneath the moon, my shadows they do creep.
In this world, at night, I shall be free.
Tonight it's happening, tonight you'll see.
When I come, you had better flee, or else I'll come and give my filth to thee."
The song made me shiver uncontrollably at the lyrics and the voice; it sounded demented like a crazy person letting their demons out into a nursery rhyme.
I lay perfectly still; for some reason, it couldn't find me. This creature I assumed was all-knowing seemed to have some very human weaknesses. It moved and talked like a human, even had certain body parts that were from a human; it even felt human the way it chased and reacted.
The scarecrow moved on through the tall grass, and I let out a sigh of relief as it lost my trail. How terrifying that beast was. In my pocket was the keys to my car. Eli had told me that the farmhouse was fairly close to his trailer. I had to navigate to the car, then drive as fast as I can away from this place. The fact that I hadn't left already because I was worried about money was insane. Who cares, I could drive to Barb's and demand my money back. Go home and just tell my parents the truth. The whole reason for actually leaving home this summer, why I was actually here in this field shivering uncontrollably in fear. But I couldn't think about that now, not now, there will be time to deal with that later. Now I needed to focus on staying alive, getting to the car, and getting out of here.
I went in the direction the scarecrow had; he knew the land better than I did, and every noise I made in the silence of the night made my heart drop. It took all my courage there and then to take one step forward, then another. I felt like I was going to be sick; my stomach was in knots to where it felt like even if I was sick, the only thing to come out would be only bile and stomach acid.
With each careful step, I made my way closer to the farmhouse and the scarecrow. Through the darkness, I could see my goal, the farmhouse, and the barn. Within minutes, I had made it securely to the farmhouse yard.
My car still sat in the same spot overtop of the hole where I buried the scarecrow. In the moonlight, I could see that the dirt had not been disturbed.
The scarecrow was nowhere to be seen, and I cautiously made my way to my car, my keys in my hand as I approached the driver's door. I hadn't locked the car, and it opened on the first try. I turned on my car as quietly as I could, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next.
Something landed heavily on top of the roof of my car, making it dent inwards slightly. With horror, I saw the scarecrow swing its scythe into the back window of my car. With a crash, the glass shattered inwards; I put my car into gear and roared away down the lane. In my rearview mirror, I couldn't see anything, so I swerved back and forth, trying to shake the creature from the roof of my car when the scythe crashed in through the front window, making a hole just large enough for it.
The glass spidered, and I couldn't see out the window very well. I swerved down the road, but the scythe remained in the car, allowing the creature purchase. In a panic, I spun my wheel wildly, trying to dislodge it, but I lost control, and soon felt something crash into the front of my car. The airbag went off in my face, and I hadn't been wearing my seatbelt. I slammed hard into something else, and my vision went dark. I was in a daze; I must have passed out because I don't remember a lot of what happened next. I felt the car door open with a crunching tear, and it landed loudly as it was torn off. My body being grabbed and tossed on the ground. I felt no pain, just a gentle numbness. I felt blood on my head as I raised my arm to touch my face.
Then just blackness, complete, and empty just feelings, fear, unease, sadness. My eyes opened, and the scarecrow was overtop of me. Pain on my chest and my vision went dark again. Coughing as something poured down my throat. I couldn't breathe, why couldn't I breathe?
My eyes opened one last time, and I saw the scarecrow pouring a dark liquid from its mouth directly into my mouth and eyes. My vision was red and bloody before I closed them one last time.
The words of its song echoed into the emptiness of my thoughts.
"Did you, did you, did you come for me?
Run and hide, don't you know that I seek?
The world it claims that I be not clean.
When I come, you'll see how filthy I can be.
Tonight, it is happening, tonight you'll see,
Beneath the moon, my shadows they do creep.
In this world, at night, I shall be free.
Tonight it's happening, tonight you'll see.
When I come, you had better flee, or else I'll come and give my filth to thee."
The darkness enveloped me, and I felt myself slipping away, the sounds of the night fading into oblivion.
Day 4
When I awoke, it was morning, and I found myself lying in a hospital bed. My head throbbed with pain, and my body ached all over. The memories of the terrifying night flooded back to me, and I shuddered involuntarily.
A nurse entered the room, her kind eyes filled with concern. "You're awake," she said softly, her voice gentle like a soothing balm. "You're lucky to be alive. You were found unconscious by the side of the road next to your car. Do you remember what happened?"
I tried to speak, but my throat felt raw and dry. I croaked out a few words, barely audible. "The scarecrow... it attacked me..."
The nurse frowned, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Scarecrow? What scarecrow?"
My heart raced with panic as I realized the truth. Had it all been a nightmare? But the pain in my body felt too real, the memories too vivid to be mere hallucinations.
I tried to explain, to tell her about the terrifying creature that had pursued me through the night, but she only looked at me with concern, as if I were delusional.
"I'll get the doctor, and there is a young man who brought you in. He has been here all morning," the nurse said with a sly wink.
After a few minutes, she came back with Eli and a doctor, both of whom smiled gently at me through the window. The doctor came in first and went over my health with me. I had a concussion and bruises all over my body. A generous-sized cut from some glass on my scalp had been stitched and bandaged. My mind flashed back to the night before. How the scarecrow had filled me with its gooey red blood.
"Did you find anything else?" I asked cautiously, trying to avoid another scandal like with the nurse.
"No, as long as you have someone to pick you up and take you home, you are free to go. That nice young man out there said he would take you back home," the doctor said, pointing to Eli as he rose with a slight grunt.
I glanced at Eli, and he waved uncertainly at me. The doctor went out and began talking to Eli for a few minutes.
While I waited, my mind began to have strange thoughts. Something was wrong; I felt weird. My vision turned red, and I began to see images before my eyes.
The Harmons. They flashed before my eyes in real-time—the husband hugging his wife, then swinging his kids around, chopping wood outback next to the barn while his wife cooked in the kitchen.
As Eli entered the room, the visions stopped suddenly. Like my saving angel for the third time now, I was extremely grateful to Eli.
"Heyyyyy," Eli said, elongating the word in a sort of familiar yet awkward way.
"Hi," I said, closing my eyes and letting my embarrassment pass in only a few seconds.
"Why is it that fifty percent of the times we meet, you're in serious trouble?" Eli asked, coming to sit on the edge of my bed.
"Oh, you know me, bad luck, I guess," I said simply, becoming aware that under my blankets, I was in a backless hospital gown, and he was inches away from me.
I pulled the blanket up to my chin as a sort of cover for my appearance, but Eli didn't seem to notice. He continued talking to me. It was actually really sweet the way he seemed to care for me.
"Anyways, the doctor said I could take you back to the farmhouse to rest," Eli said.
"No," I said suddenly, becoming serious.
"What? Why not?" Eli asked.
"I just, I just can't right now. I'll tell you later. Just, we can't spend the night anywhere near the farm," I said, grabbing him by the arm, hoping to sway him.
"Well, I mean, if you want, we can grab your stuff, and my house can literally go anywhere," Eli said in an offhand manner, as if he had expected this.
"Promise?" I asked, trying not to seem too afraid.
Within the hour, we had returned to the farmhouse. The hole I dug was still covered over, and I stared at it as we parked in Eli's black pickup truck.
I ran inside and quickly got changed into my only clean clothes, grabbing everything I had from the farmhouse. I paused at the dinner table, looking down at the photographs of the Harmons and thinking back to that weird moment in the hospital with that odd vision.
The day was getting longer, and I hurried back to Eli, waiting in the pickup truck. I threw my bag in the back and climbed in beside him. He smiled and backtracked down the lane. We turned to the left and went down a side road where we came upon my poor old car. It had crashed directly into a tree, and the whole front part of the car had been destroyed. Fluid leaked all over the road, and I almost shed a tear for my departed friend. We had traveled far together. I grabbed a few things from the car, but something was off about the car. The front door had been knocked off and was discarded on the far side of the road. It looked impossible; the door hadn't even hit the tree.
Eli hooked his truck up to his trailer, and we sped off, leaving the property behind us. We headed into town and found a pullout on the side of the road with a set of bathrooms to camp at for the night. Eli's trailer was messy but cozy. He had laundry strewn over most surfaces, but it didn't smell bad.
The room consisted of a small kitchen with a bed in one corner. There were also a lot of posters and artwork on the walls. I examined one of a pretty girl with long raven-black hair. It was a realist painting, obviously taken from real life.
"Who is this?" I asked as Eli made us some food.
"That is just a friend," Eli said, glancing at the painting he had done.
"Well, she is a pretty friend," I said, enjoying watching the back of his ears turn bright red.
"Dinner's ready," he said, pouring the mixture of food he had made onto a pair of plates.
Eli served me and handed me a can of Coke to drink. I thanked him and sat on his bed. It was the only serviceable piece of furniture in the whole trailer. We both sat in silence for a moment while we ate. I could tell something was bothering Eli as he kept making glances toward me.
"What? What is it, Eli? Just say it," I said between bites.
"Tell me what happened, Polly. Tell me why you were burying the scarecrow, why you were passed out in the road with straw in your hair. Tell me why you were muttering about the Harmons and a scarecrow when I found you," Eli said suddenly, as if he were unloading a machine gun.
I looked Eli square in the face and relented. I told him about the last couple of nights at the farmhouse, about how the scarecrow had been tormenting me every night. About how he had saved me and how last night I had fled through the fields to his trailer and then to my car. I told him about the vision I had about the Harmons in the hospital. By the end of it, I was in tears. I felt so foolish and childish.
Eli took it in stride. He asked a few questions during my retelling, but by the end of it, he was silent. Tears fell down my face and landed in my lap. We had both put our plates on the counter, and Eli hugged me. He put his arms around me, and I nuzzled into his shoulder, feeling comforted again in him at the lowest points of my life.
With a gentle hand, he wiped away my tears, and I smiled, letting a nervous laugh escape my lips. I looked up into his face and felt his stare before I saw it. His pale blue eyes shone with comfort, and then his lips were on mine as he kissed me quickly before pulling away slightly.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. That was insensitive of me. You're sad, and I took advantage of that," Eli said, moving back slightly.
"Shut up," I said, and grabbed his shirt, bringing him back in.

Hey all,
So my daughter has been doing/acting very odd recently... I am single parent, my baby mama is still in the picture though, so we co-parent very well, and our daughter has got to be the closest thing to an angel that I've ever met. Every other week my daughter goes to her mothers, and due to her work schedule being so hectic, she has to take her to daycare 5 days out of the week.
Apparently, the daycare that she goes to is ran by a lady in her mid to late 30's, possibly early 40's, and is being ran in her house, which truly isn't an issue, I know that many people do that, my aunt included when she did run a daycare. I guess the lady's husband had just recently gotten out of prison, but she sent him divorce papers while in prison, although I don't really know exactly what ever happened regarding the divorce. I don't remember what the crimes were that he committed, but he sat in prison for about a decade, all I know is a few of them were violent, and I am pretty sure one or two involved selling drugs.
I am not sure if he is still in the picture, I don't know if he is at the house while the lady is running the daycare, but all I do know is his daughter has been doing some very very odd things. I am curious if this is at all normal, or if not necessarily "normal", then just curious if anyone elses child has done similar things...
First, I was lying on the bed with my daughter watching movies with her and trying to put her to sleep for a nap. Well, I asked "Are you getting tired Monkey? (that's her little nickname, lol) and she said, "Yes daddy I am" Then yelled out "GOODNIGHT GG" (GG is grandmas nickname), then i say, "Okay hun, give me a hug and smooch goodnight." So I hugged her, kissed her cheek, then turned my face so she could give him a little peck on the cheek.. Well instead of that she went and licked my neck like 2-3 times, the started sucking on my neck, and I jumped up and felt sick to my stomach for a second and said, "Honey what are you doing?! You've never done that before, where did you learn that? We DO NOT do that to people EVER, okay?" and she said "Okay dada" with a sad almost confused face...
Second, my daughter has always had problems getting rashes from her diapers and has to wear very specific ones and has medication that has to be put on her front and back side when she gets her diapers changed... I know that they're very painful and they look very painful, enough pain that she would actually take her pants and diaper off herself instead of saying she "went pee pee or poo poo".. And it's just a very sensitive area, so once we got her the medical cream to put on it really helps a lot... Come to find out this daycare NEVER changes her diapers, not sure if that's a normal thing or not, I'm not the most informed on that stuff, but I would think that they would? Anyways, the other day when I was changing her diaper, I was using the wet wipes to clean everything up, and before putting the diaper on, I started to add the medication... Mind you, this has been going on for months, so she is used to it at this point, but this time I did it she responded VERY different... It used to be painful to the touch and would cry hysterically until it was finished. This last time, she started giggling and laughing and said, "Dada stop you're not supposed to do that!" and I was just taken aback, speechless and I'm thinking about 20 different horrible things.
Also, I forgot to mention... The lady who runs the daycare will have friends over while watching these children, not family, but people that she goes to the bar with, friend groups that she is close to and whatnot, and so far, that's all that I know of in regard to that. Who knows what else this lady has going on in that house. So, I asked a friend what he thought of that, he asked for the lady's husbands/ex-husbands full name so he could look up his charges and whatnot, but I don't know the information. I wanted to see if any crimes that were committed or even past charges were anything to do with CSC or any pedophile shit.
This has been bothering me all week since this stuff started happening, and it REALLY bothers me. I am having lunch with my baby mama to discuss what to do... One thing that we know for sure is she is NEVER going back to that daycare, but she has been going for two years now, it's just very odd that it began happening once the Ladys ex came home from prison.
Anyone have any personal experiences that were similar? Is this something normal?? I've never heard of a child doing this, especially a 2-and-a-half-year-old. I am literally praying that no harm came to my daughter, as would any other parent... I would literally... well I won't even say it, but I would **** someone if they EVER did something to that little angel. I just am looking for some advice, maybe some similar things happening to anyone else, and IF there was something that happened, what steps should be taken? I am thinking that this is worst case scenario, but I really don't want to jump to conclusions and do something that I would regret.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate any and all feedback!!

I can't get over the thought of what I should have done differently. Last weekend my boyfriend came to the same festival where I was with his friends. I noticed on the first night that something about him seemed "off." I left the scene, and later my friend told me he had said, "I want to kill myself, don't tell my girlfriend." We had a little argument, after which he yelled in my face that he wanted to kill himself. He then ran away and a couple of hours later sent me a picture from the emergency room bed with the caption, "Sorry, I tried to kill myself. Enjoy life."
I was shocked because there had been no signs of this. He had been depressed since last fall, and it affected me as well. I was in shock and said I couldn't handle this anymore. After that, we exchanged messages throughout the night, and then he sent pictures from a highway telling me he is not going to live without me. He said he was about to jump in front of a truck. I talked him out of it and said that if he promised to get help, I definitely wanted to stay with him. He promised never to do this again and wanted to get himself better. We said we loved each other so much, and he promised to be sober the next festival day. After that police took him to first aid station which he left almost immediately, because he’s friends had called 911.
The next day, we talked about it a little. However, due to my shock, I couldn't talk much, but we agreed to discuss it later. At some point, I noticed he was buying alcoholic drinks. I got angry with him because he had promised to stay sober. I said, ”you can't drink any alcohol in this state, so why are you doing this?” He mumbled something like, "in this situation, there is no other option." We argued and yelled at each other. He has normally been the calmest person in the world and hates violence, but when he yelled right in my face, I was really scared he would attack me. There was so much hate in his eyes that I feel like I couldn’t recognize that person anymore.
At some point during the argument, he yelled, "Thanks to you. Now I'm going to kill myself" and ran off. I immediately went to find his friends to get help with the situation. A moment later, he sent me a picture from the train tracks. The caption read, "Goodbye." I tried to persuade him to leave, but he insisted he wouldn't, that he had nothing, and that he was mentally ill. At this point, I called emergency services, and when I tried to call him immediately after that, his phone was off.
The police called me an hour after the situation and said that my boyfriend had already passed away just before I called emergency services. I'm completely shattered because I blame myself for this. Why didn't I force him to leave the festival? Why didn't I take him to the emergency room for the third time? This questioning is the worst thing about the whole situation. On the other hand, I try to be compassionate; he never expressed how bad his situation had gotten. Still, I will never get over this.

Obviously, I am anxious asf. Cause I kinda wanted kids in young age, and It feels like no men around my age want serious relationship. But bravely, I finally ended this relationship. After 1 and half year! He still be sending me emails saying “you are doing this again” as if I am going to go back to him again, but I won’t, I am going to change my email address too. He made an account on hellotalk to talk with me cause he knows I am there, then I saw him setting his profile picture as his face, describing his job eventhough it’s a whole new account he made to talk with me. he LOVES getting attention from “asian girls” online and now it’s actually reliving to find him like that when I was thinking THE END. PLEASE GOD I hope I will be able to meet someone around my age next time.

tl;dr - my relationship was the only good thing in my life, it just suddenly ended, and I have no social or clinical support system to lean on. Having a bit of a crisis. I hate listing acronyms, but for the sake of context: OCD, ADHD II, ASD, CPTSD.
Yesterday, my partner and I suddenly broke up. This morning we said our final goodbyes over the phone. I'm not exaggerating by saying our relationship was the only good thing in my life, and our future together was the only thing I had to look forward to... Since our relationship began, my ESA has been diagnosed with cancer and chronic lameness, my parents began a nasty divorce which completely destabilized both myself and our household in general (I reluctantly began living with them recently as I'm disabled and really didn't have a choice after my own divorce), I drifted far away from my best and only friend during this period of time (they are not in a life-place where we could reconnect or they could be there for me), I developed a recurring tear in an arm tendon, I don't have any other close family, and the one person I do have (my mom) has caused me a litany of trauma and is generally a strong negative presence in my life. My car is also falling apart... I feel like I'm living in the most contrived, depressing country song of all time right now. If someone else told me they had this many problems simultaneously, I probably wouldn't believe them.
So back to my partneex... They were the first and only person in my life who I felt actually understood me. And I believe they felt/feel the same toward me. Their life had also begun a downward spiral since shortly after our relationship began. We both fell into an intense series of personal misfortunes, which were unrelated to one another. We would always talk about how if we weren't there for each other during these times, there'd be no one in our lives to support us the way we need(ed). We came together right before all of these bad things happened, and celebrated what an unexpected lifeline we'd been thrown in the form of one another. At the same time, those stressors were forming cracks in us and in our relationship... Horrible poetic irony... I've been reduced to basic low-functioning survival mode, unable to completely fulfill all of my partner roles that need to be, while they've become less and less of themselves; which I believe was more or less the deepest fracture. We communicated openly and honestly as we'd always done, and the bottom line for me was that I'm doing my best and it's not enough, and their negative experiences over the course of our relationship catalyzed an incompatible change in them for the sake of their mental preservation... That there wasn't room in that space to support or consider my needs in the way they need to be, nor overlook my inability to meet theirs currently. Obviously there's an additional ocean of nuance and detail, but I think that's enough of a painted picture. Basically, no one's at fault.
At this moment, my mind is frantically attempting to figure out where to go when I have no support system. There's no one to call, nowhere to go, etc... I have a therapist and a psych, but they have little expertise in intense neurodivergence, and I know that what I need is guidance from someone who knows how to handle someone like me specifically, that actually understands what my brain is doing. I've even considered extreme measures like going to the ER and attempting to access expedited psychiatric inpatient treatment, but I don't really think that's the answer, and it also opens up a whole other pandora's box of complications... I'm totally lost and directionless. No friends, no family, a dying ESA... And I can't stop crying. Haven't eaten in a couple days at least. Face hurts so much from bawling. Outside of this relationship suddenly imploding, I have a toxic single parent, a dying car, a dying dog, endless responsibilities, and rescue meds that keep me sedated and confused in-between crying. I'm in my mid 30's and never felt so helpless, worthless, and alone.

i never thought i would end up here but these days i just can‘t figure out the way men think, so here i am..
a few months ago i talked to a guy on tinder and he seemed really nice! after sending a few messages back and forth we realized that he was a co-worker of my sister‘s boyfriend, but since i was on vacation when we started talking i forgot to respond and haven‘t talked to him ever since.
yesterday, my sister and her boyfriend took me to a work party of his and when i went to the toilet, i passed my sister‘s boyfriend while he was talking to a guy. the guy said „hi“ and i said „hi“ back but couldn‘t really put a name to the face.
later, when i was back at my table, he came over, sat down next to me and introduced himself. i then realized that he was the guy i talked to a few months ago and apologized for not recognizing him. we talked for about 1 hour, had a lot of fun and he was being a little touchy (i don‘t really know him, so maybe he‘s like that with everyone).
after talking a little, i asked him for his IG and we followed each other. and at one point later on we were sharing a drink and he tried on the ring i was wearing.. my sister mentioned how cute we were together and how she could see „sparks flying“.
when we left, he shook my sister‘s hand and gave me a hug, saying „it was great to finally meet you.“ i agreed and went home..
back at home, i wasn‘t sure if i should text him so i just liked one of his pictures and when i woke up today i saw that he liked one of mine as well. then i liked another one of his, but he didn‘t do the same. i even posted a cute selfie, trying to get him to respond, but he didn‘t, even though he saw it.
i know i sound like a 15-year old but i don‘t really talk to guys.. especially not in real life. now what should i do? should i message him now? should i wait a few more days and see what happens? or should i take it as „he‘s not interested“? thanks!

The woman participates in an online forum or social media discussion. She is using a pseudonym, and her physical appearance is unknown to the other participants. The woman’s arguments are met with skepticism and derision. Commenters accuse her of being "ugly" without any basis for this claim, reflecting a bias against women who express opinions online. Until she posts a picture of herself, the woman is simultaneously in a state of being "ugly" and "not ugly" in the eyes of the online community, according to their biased assumptions. The act of posting a picture forces the wave function to collapse, revealing her appearance. However, this action triggers another quantum effect: the social judgment of her personality and intent. If she does not post a picture, she continues to be accused of being "ugly," undermining her arguments regardless of their merit. If she posts a picture, proving her identity and potentially countering the accusations, she faces a new wave of criticism. She may be labeled as vain, insecure, or narcissistic, shifting the focus from her arguments to her perceived need for validation.
Just goes to show you can never win as a woman. I'm going back to pretending to be a man online. Bon voyage!!!!

Everyone has a right to put up whatever they want for profile pics.
Question 1: do you include your face in your pic? We do not and thankfully so. We have been liked by co-workers and acquaintances that we definitely don’t look at things that way.
Question 2: how do you decide which picture you use? We have had some likes that do not match what they had posted. Between older pictures, weight gain, filters, and what I can only assume is photoshop. There’s a lot of false advertising. Not saying we’re looking for GQ models or that ours are any better but if you can’t be real with your pics we have to assume not much else is real either.
Question 3: if you are listing yourself as single but there is a consistent man/woman in the photos with you, are you prepared for questions about that? We had a match that we liked and just wanted to be sure this wasn’t going to cause drama with the other person in the pics. Once questioned, there were a lot of half answers. We decided not to go any further. Almost two months later same guy contacted us and asked if we would be interested because he was now “officially” single and getting a divorce. The answer was no because he wasn’t honest to begin with.
Question 4: final question. What do you look for in other profile pictures? Do you need a face? Are you looking at the fun places people are? Are you turned off by the obligatory bathroom mirror pic? Do you look for people being real?

Ok so my(28f) boyfriend/baby daddy(32m) & I have 2 kids together & we have been together 8 years. For context we dont live together & he cheated on me a few years in, he begged, I stayed & we started to work on our family. The last time he cheated was with a coworker whom he ended up getting pregnant & says he made her have an abortion. (this info came out after I had baby #1 we went back and forth about this for almost a year, he begged i stayed again)Anyway fast forward to now we have baby #2(6month boy) I find out on Mothers Day he’s cheating again with a different co worker.. I went thru his phone (petty i know but it was my intuition literally dreamed it😞) and read and saw every text and picture they were sending back and forth to each other. Even with the phone in his face and a message about having sex and oral sex he lied about being with her. I am genuinely disgusted because these messages were in the past week and i KNOW for a fact he’s been kissing my babies on thier faces — after literally saying he ate her out in the texts. I am furious, heartbroken & want to ruin his life. He is in a management role at his office & the girl he was chasing with works as his “assistant” basically and get this , when confronted she said she didn’t know about me or our children! Would I be wrong to send these texts to their main boss and have them both f’d up or I should chill and let it go bc the texts are about to be sent! Im already a single mother basically as i said he doesn’t live with us but he comes and goes and is financially supportive for the most part. Child support wont be needed as I also have a good job in marketing. I want to ruin him

This is inspired by so many posts in the jobs and debt subs where people seem genuinely helpless and distressed.
Obviously, finances and lifestyle are deeply personal and, in reality, no one would allow another person to see the full situation and/or make suggestions, so financial coaches and teachers sort of just have to believe the person with only a cursory idea of the person's situation (like official income and bills).
Still, I can't help to think that, for so many people who claim they can't save or make ends meet, etc., if they could be fully observed 24/7 for a full month (hell, even a week or day) and have full access to their finances (including all income, debt, financial records, etc.), as well as habits; how they spend their time, etc., then their problems could be diagnosed and a plan could be devised to fix their situation; like, "Why are you spending this much on this?" "Did you realize this subscription - that you don't even use - is costing you $50 a month?" "You claim to have no free time to get a second job, but you just watched 4 hours of TV/YouTube each night this week..." etc. I'm not suggesting no one should have any fun or a new iPhone or get coffee from a shop, but it'd be interesting to see the full picture in context.
Again, this would be super invasive and would probably offend the person who was under the microscope, but I was thinking about this while watching "My 600lb Life" last night, since obviously the camera doesn't follow them around 24/7 and they tell Dr. Now that they're sticking to the diet, yet they often don't lose any weight by the follow-up appointment...
Now, assuming someone actually wanted to face the truth of their financial situation and was willing to undergo the potential embarrassment and vulnerability, do you think there'd be a market for this sort of total scrutiny to get a person back on track financially? I'm sure the person themselves wouldn't be able/willing to pay for it, but perhaps a non-profit service? I just know that when I was doing DR's plan, I certainly wasn't as gazelle intense as I could have been and someone delivering this kind of service could have had a million and one ways to tear me apart.
On a side note, I often wonder how much is willful blindness to one's own bad decisions versus genuinely being unaware of problems or bad habits which trap people into poverty or not being able to get ahead financially.