It always starts at 5:13 a.m. Lying in the half-light of my bedroom, I can hear heavy breathing, punctuated by deep breaths and growls that make my hair stand on end. It's there, right next to me. There’s motion. Sheets rustling, a mass rising from the bed. This time, for sure, I won't go back to sleep.
The noises continue into the next room. Familiar yet terrifying sounds, accompanied by weary sighs and muffled whispers. My nervousness increases. The wooden floor creaks and, lurking under my blankets, I pray for daybreak.
It's around 5:30 when the shower turns on. My blood immediately starts to race. I pray for it to stop, but invariably the ordeal lasts a quarter of an hour. Who are you to torture me like this? What's all this about? Why are you making these noises? I'm frozen, tetanized, I don't understand... The height of horror comes as soon as the water stops flowing. Almost immediately afterwards, I hear humming. The same eerie melody sung by a high-pitched voice. I wish I didn't have to listen, but I can't help it. I'd like to run away, but I have to stay alert. A lump forms in my throat, so much so that I have to contain my urge to vomit.
Finally, the bathroom door opens. I feel intense palpitations as my pulse continues to accelerate. Once again, the wooden slats squeak and I know it won't be much longer. It's almost over.
However, I know my respite will be short-lived, and this prospect keeps me from falling back into the arms of Morpheus. The moment the front door opens, I feel as if my body, then stretched like a rubber band stretched to the limit, is about to snap. I never lock the door at night, and I can assure you that hearing the handle turn before six o'clock gives me an intense cold sweat.
After such an experience, there's no way I can sleep, so I decide to get up. I take a few timid steps towards the bathroom, but change my mind. Hearing the creaking floorboards and the drops of water falling from the showerhead into the wet tray is beyond me. All this reminds me too much of the traumatic experience that preceded it, and which still punctuates my daily life. I'm going to put it off a little longer. Heading for the coffee machine, I'm relieved to see that it hasn't been activated this morning. Otherwise, the dread would be at its worst, but today I've been spared.
Although I've just got out of bed, I'm already exhausted. I collapse on the sofa, hot cup in hand. I sip the hot beverage slowly, careful not to make any noise. It could happen again... It will happen again: as I said, this morning's ordeal was just the first of many. I try to forget this harsh reality and allow myself a few more precious minutes of rest. This is absolutely necessary to face what lies ahead.
As I take my first step outside, I am reminded, as I am every day, that my ordeal has only just begun. There it is again, attacking me, clinging to me. It's nipping at my heels, infecting every pore of my skin. In public transport, on the street and then in my workplace, I can feel it following me and overpowering me. I don't know how I manage to put on a brave face, especially when an oblivious colleague says to me: "Say, you should see your face! What's this killer look you've got on your face?" before walking away, laughing stupidly. If he only knew...
For many, returning home is a relief. Home is often a bulwark against outside aggression. In my case, however, the nightmare continues.
At 7.06 p.m., I heard you turn the handle on the front door and come in coughing. Think of the sound of your heels clicking on the floor as torture. We discussed what we wanted to eat, then at 7.18 p.m., you rummaged in the drawer for a long time, looking for the right saucepan. Did you have to spend so much time on it? To make so much noise? Then you sat down on the sofa and started typing on your laptop, breathing so hard I could have strangled you. At 7.42pm, we sat down to dinner and you started chewing and swallowing with the delicacy of a troll breaking a two-day fast. I felt my hand tighten around the handle of my fork. How can someone as beautiful and refined as you stuff your face so noisily? At 8:12 p.m., you decided to have another shower. Why the hell do you keep torturing me? At least stop humming that stupid ditty! It's now 8.30 p.m. You've just come out of the bathroom and are changing in the bedroom. Just like this morning, I can hear the drops of water crashing to the bottom of the shower tray, making me feel like I'm about to explode.
My dear wife, I want you to know that I hate you more and more every day, from the moment you get up to go to work. Your morning alarm wakes me up and it bothers me. Not because I'm roused from sleep, but because of everything you do afterwards. All the strange, stupid things that make me hate you more and more every day. Don't take it personally, though: I hate them all. Our neighbors, friends, colleagues, not to mention all those anonymous people out there. They're so noisy they're despicable. If you knew the number of times I've felt like sawing your brakes, as you drive by with your polluting horrors. The accident would have been inevitable and the emergency services would have been helpless: I would have sabotaged their unbearable sirens, so they wouldn't have been able to arrive in time. You would then have died in excruciating agony.
You, my colleague sitting opposite me, yes, you who laughed stupidly while cutting and stapling I don't know what documents, if you only knew how much I wanted to take the scissors out of your hands. I'd have used them to slit you open and staple your guts raw. Then your unbearable sounds would have stopped and you would have died in excruciating pain.
You, the kid who was noisily chewing your Mentos at the bus stop, if you only knew how much I wished I'd had a bottle of Coke right then and there. I'd have forced the whole candy packet down your throat, then emptied a liter and a half of soda in your mouth. Just to get you over the urge to start emitting those sickening ruminations again. With any luck, your stomach would have exploded under the pressure of the gas, and you would have died in excruciating agony. It would have been such a firework display inside!
As for you, my beautiful wife, I want you to know that you unleashed one anger too many. You shouldn't have bitten your nails and the little skins around them. You know it's one of those things that saws my nerves, but you've never wanted to admit my hatred of sound and movement, minimizing the evil that never leaves me. Since you like it so much, I'll spare you the effort. This morning, I sharpened my knives. Usually, that repetitive noise is enough to fill me with hatred. Today, however, it soothed me, because as I listened to it, I thought about what I was going to do. Soon, you'll be skinned in your entirety like a farm rabbit, and then you'll die in excruciating agony. Don't imagine that I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. Life for people suffering from misophonia is hell, and there are certain noises we can't stand. And believe me, there are so many of them that revolt me that I know they'll kill me in the end. That'll be a relief, because right now, I'm living... in excruciating agony.

Ive been really into acupuncture and tcm for 2 years. It helped me lose a lot of weight and heal my diastasis recti after birth. Im now trying for a second baby with no luck and ive been going to acupuncture for fertility, my acupuncturist says i have a cold uterus. Im taking herbs and doing the acupuncture, following the recommended diet but not much change and it just hit me- i sit on my legs almost always. I have poor circulation too btw. Does that cut off blood flow to my uterus, can that be the culprit to my problem??

Exfiltration

[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
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Mik
“Papa Juliet calling Mike Whiskey. I’m in. Guy says she’s in room one-zero-three-eight, do you copy?”
“I copy one zero three eight,” Mik replied quietly. She looked up at the room numbers and noted that she was at least on the correct floor. “Going there now, over.”
It was a good thing that even evil corporate secret facilities had their safety procedures. As she jogged along the corridor in what she thought was the right direction, she spotted an evacuation map of the facility, complete with room numbers. Studying the plan for a moment, she traced out a path, memorised it, then took off running.
Although people fresh from Earth often complained how hard it was to maintain a good running speed on Mars due to lack of traction, Mik had no such problems indoors. The floors weren’t the best for cornering on, but she saw no issue in running halfway up the wall to kick off in the direction she wanted to go. Her enhanced vestibular systems aided considerably in keeping her balance, no matter where her feet were placed at the time.
Now that she knew where she was going, she reached the corridor that she needed in less than a minute. But then she encountered something that wasn’t a barrier as such, but certainly caused her to think twice about what was going on.
At first glance, there was little to worry about. What she’d found was an airlock of a make and model ubiquitous to half the buildings on Mars. Given that the outside atmosphere of Mars could only be survived by one person currently on the surface of the planet, the presence of an airlock would normally have been easy to explain away as an essential safety precaution.
What gave Mik pause was the fact that the airlock was inside the building, and in fact was between her and the person she was here to rescue. This made her ask herself a very specific question:
Which side of this airlock is expected to be depressurised, and why?
There was only one logical answer, and it did nothing for her peace of mind. If she was reading the signs correctly, the person behind Dani’s abduction and subsequent imprisonment was willing to set up a lethal situation for their captive, as a last-ditch screw-you to Mik. They probably wouldn’t kill her immediately, but if Mik tried to get her out, it would go from zero to fatal in very little time indeed. And in fact, if the airlock was code-locked on the other side, it would also serve to lock Mik into the area, allowing Cyberon to simply walk in and scoop her up at their leisure.
If I keep going, I’ll be trapped and she dies no matter what. Cyberon security’s probably on the way, so Pete might not be able to get us both out in time. If we pull back, they might decide she’s no use as bait, and kill her anyway. Bad end, do not want.
Okay, so I’ve seen the trap. How do I turn it around?
*****
Dani
The cell was cold, the floor hard to sleep on, and the ration bars they’d been feeding her tasted like salted sawdust, but that wasn’t the worst part. Dani had been uncomfortable before; some of the places her father had worked had lacked many civilised creature comforts. But she’d had friendly company and she’d been able to keep track of what was going on in the larger world.
Here, she had neither.
She wasn’t sure if it was deliberate torture or just a total lack of caring about her wellbeing, but the lighting outside the Perspex panel that fronted her cell never varied. Neither dim nor overbright, it was just constant. They’d taken her watch at the same time as they’d sequestered the rest of her belongings and shoved her into an anonymous coverall, so she had no way of keeping track of time, except by way of her biological rhythms and the delivery of the food rations (which in itself was worryingly irregular, like they kept forgetting that she needed to eat).
Even the Suit, as she called him (she didn’t have a name for him, but she had a huge number of highly unflattering descriptors for him) hadn’t shown up in some time. At first, she’d been able to mark off the days in her mind by his visits, either gloating over how Mik was going to walk straight into his trap or attempting to interrogate her about Mik’s habits and potential actions. She’d done her best to give him no joy either way, which in hindsight was possibly a mistake, as he didn’t visit at all these days.
All she got was a guy walking past the cell every few hours and glancing in to make sure she hadn’t miraculously dismantled the lock and spirited herself out of the building. They didn’t talk to her, even when she called out and tried to open lines of communication. She knew they could hear her, but their faces just closed off and they walked on.
It had been days, maybe weeks, she was sure of that much. A month, even two? She couldn’t be sure. A couple of times she dreamed she’d been rescued, that the wall of the cell had just opened up and she’d walked out; the emotional crashes, when she woke and discovered the reality of the situation, had been devastating. Pretty soon, she figured, she’d be hallucinating even when she was awake, and it just wouldn’t matter anymore.
So, when she saw Mik herself step into view in front of the cell, wearing her usual t-shirt and jeans and heavy boots, along with a badass-looking long-coat, she didn’t even react at first. Either it was someone else and her eyes were playing tricks on her, or she was asleep and dreaming the whole thing, or her mind had finally cracked. Didn’t matter; Mik wasn’t there.
She waited for the apparition of her friend to morph into one of the guards or to evaporate altogether, or maybe rip the door off its runners, but none of that happened. Instead, Mik examined the lock and frowned. Then she pulled out a notebook and pencil—pens had a really hard time working in vacuum, so Mik always went old-school when it came to passing notes—and scribbled something.
Dani had never been able to read a damn thing in a dream. The words and letters always came jumbled up, probably because reading was a logical thing and dreams were by their nature illogical. So, she was fully prepared for whatever the note showed to be pure gibberish.
Instead, to her surprise, it was totally readable. NO AIR OUT HERE. NEED U TO PREP FOR DECOMPRESS, CLOSE EYES. WILL OPEN DOOR, GET U OUT. DO U TRUST ME?
She read it through several times, trying to make sense of it. Mik was still standing there, waiting, though she’d glanced from side to side a couple of times. The writing on the notepad was holding steady, not changing to something else.
Is this real? Is this actually happening?
Tears sprang to her eyes as she first began to allow herself to consider the concept. She tried to keep herself under control; every other time she’d believed she was getting out, her expectations had been cruelly dashed. But she could read the note. She could read the note.
Climbing painfully to her feet—there was little chance for exercise in the cell, and the nutrient bars didn’t leave her with much in the way of excess energy—she went over to the Perspex panel that served as a door. “Are you real?” she asked, putting her hand on the panel. “Are you really there?”
Mik nodded, then flipped a page and scribbled some more. IM REAL. IM GETTING U OUT OF THERE. DO U TRUST ME? Then she tore the page from the pad and dropped it.
Instead of fluttering lazily to the ground—under Martian gravity, it always took even longer than it did on Earth—it fell straight down, at the standard three point seven one metres per second per second.
Okay, that’s not something a hallucination would bring up. There’s only Martian air pressure out there. She’d had dreams of walking unprotected on the surface of Mars. The human brain couldn’t create the consequences of low air pressure out of whole cloth. That was a leap of logic that it couldn’t make.
Dani took a deep breath and nodded. “I trust you,” she said, aware that Mik was practised at reading lips. “I just don’t know how long I can go without air.” Attempting to hold one’s breath in vacuum or near-vacuum, she knew, was a recipe for ruptured lungs. “Should I hyperventilate?”
Instead of writing more notes, Mik made the hand gesture for ‘no time’, then pointed at her first note. Dani nodded, then stepped back. Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth, working her jaw to allow her ear canals to connect to her sinus cavities.
She heard it when the door began to open, the thin high screech of escaping air, deepening to a rumble as the air pressure dropped. Her ears popped, then popped again as she kept working her jaw. Air flowed out of her lungs, then an involuntary belch joined it.
Her skin prickled and her eyes were uncomfortable behind her tightly closed eyelids, but she didn’t dare open them. Micro-pressure did nasty things to exposed eyeballs; they didn’t pop (that was something even the stupidest of space dramas didn’t do anymore), but the sheen of tears on the exterior surface had been known to freeze or evaporate, neither of which was good for the eye.
Pressure was building unpleasantly in her gut, and she did her best to relax her sphincters. Another burp was followed by a small frrrt, and she silently blessed the fact that the nutrient bars were designed for vacuum workers, who didn’t want to share their EVA suits with abdominal gases.
And then a mouthpiece was pressed over her face, and air flowed into her lungs. Reaching up, she grabbed the pony bottle, amazed that she’d actually forgotten how Mik carried it everywhere. Once she had it, Mik let go and grabbed her arm, urging her forward.
Under the guidance of her friend, she stumbled out of the cell then turned left. They moved as fast as she was able, though she had to keep her eyes closed. How Mik had even gotten there, and what the plan was to get her out, she wasn’t sure, but she trusted Mik implicitly.
They went down the length of one corridor and then another one, much farther than she would’ve been able to go with her eyes closed and no air. Alone, she would’ve stumbled aimlessly until she died. Then they entered what she figured was an airlock, the supposition borne out when a door closed behind them and the air pressure started rising again.
When she felt it was safe, she opened her eyes and handed the pony bottle back to Mik. “Th-thanks,” she rasped, her voice rusty from disuse. “You came back. I didn’t know if you would.”
“It’s been a month, let me tell you,” Mik said lightly. “I had to get reinforcements, but here I am.”
Something clanked at floor level, and Dani looked down to see that Mik had just knocked over a bucket. “Okay,” she asked. “What’s a bucket doing in an airlock?”
“Holding the inner door open so nobody can remotely shut it behind me,” Mik explained. The other airlock door opened, and she stepped out. “C’mon, we’ve got places to be.”
Dani followed along. Her joints still felt creaky and stiff, but she was damned if she was going to slow Mik down now. “Where’d you go for reinforcements? Tharsis? Wouldn’t they just send stern memos to Cyberon or something?”
“Yeah, that’s why I didn’t go to them.” As Mik and Dani turned a corner, Dani saw two of the guards on the ground, along with a third one in an EVA suit, and a fourth person in an EVA suit standing over them with a metal bar in his hand. “Hey, we’re ready to suit up and go.”
The standing man flipped up his faceplate. “Good. The suit’s just outside. I’ll keep watching these clowns while you go get it.”
“On it.” Mik tipped Dani a wink, then ducked out through the airlock. A moment later, she was back, bringing a suit in Dani’s size.
“I was wondering how you were going to get me out of here.” Dani didn’t waste time, starting to haul on the suit even as she addressed Mik. She didn’t know the guy, but if Mik trusted him, she was willing to as well.
“It was either this or terraform the whole planet so you could just walk out normally, and terraforming was taking too long.” Mik eyed the guards unfavourably. “How badly were these assholes treating you?”
“They didn’t hit me or anything,” Dani said. “Just fed me and watched me. It was their boss who said all the nasty stuff about how you were gonna fall in his trap.”
“Mm.” Mik looked like she didn’t want to drop the matter, but the guy put his hand on her shoulder and she subsided. “Okay, then. Ready to go?”
“Nearly.” Dani locked her helmet in place, then triggered the oxygen flow. The telltales showed up green, so she nodded and gave the thumb-to-forefinger all-good gesture.
The guy with Mik flipped down his faceplate, and all three of them stepped into the airlock. It was a tight squeeze but Mik was skinny, and Dani didn’t take up much room even in a suit. “We’re going to have to move fast,” the guy said over her radio. “I have a feeling Cyberon security is incoming with everything they’ve got.”
“Yeah, no crap.” That was definitely Mik. “Just by the way: Pete, meet Dani; Dani, meet Pete.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Pete added. “Lieutenant Pete Janssen, Orbital Rescue, at your service.”
Even while Dani was trying to figure out what an Orbital Rescue pilot was doing on the surface of Mars, the airlock opened and they hustled out. The surrounding terrain was the very opposite of flat, and Dani had no idea which way to go. And then Mik’s eyes opened wide and she turned her head, looking up into the sky.
“Lander,” she said. “I can hear it coming in.”
Dani had very little experience with matters like this, but she had an idea what was coming next anyway. “They’ll be bringing in ground troops, won’t they? Looking for us?”
“Got it in one.” Mik started off into the rocks. “We have to get to the ’hopper before they catch up with us.”
“Copy that, princess.” Pete hooked one arm under Dani’s. “Let’s get moving.”
Dani had thought the nightmare was over but as she discovered, it was just beginning. Even with Pete and Mik helping her up and over the obstacles in their way, she quickly ran out of energy. Fear-generated adrenaline was well and good, but it had its limits, and her arms and legs were soon powerless noodles.
“Leave me,” she begged. “They’ll catch you, and this’ll all be for nothing.”
“And if we leave you, it’ll also be for nothing,” Mik told her grimly. “I had to do it once. It’s not happening a second time.”
“Take her,” Pete said. “I’ll go and draw them off. Even if they catch me—”
Mik cut him off. “If they can’t use you to get us back, they’ll kill you. You take her, you’re stronger than me. If they’ve got guns, which I’m pretty sure they do, they’re less likely to shoot at me than you. I’ll meet you at the ’hopper.”
Not giving Pete the option to argue, she let go Dani’s arm and vanished into the chaotic terrain.
“Wait—” began Pete, then swore. “Dammit! Okay fine, she’s not giving us a choice. Let’s get you to the ’hopper.”
As they moved off, Dani had to ask the question. “Why did you call her princess, earlier?”
“Well, she’d just told us her story, and I made a joke …”
*****
Mik
The security troopers were good at moving in EVA suits, and they definitely had guns. There were also a lot of them, which was going to make this tricky as hell. Still, Mik had a few advantages on her side, some of which they hopefully didn’t know about.
She peered around a rocky outcrop at a bunch of them, who were conferring over some kind of digital map. If they wanted to use that thing to make any kind of straight path through this labyrinth of Martian terrain, they had to be dreaming. The trouble was, if they just pushed forward en masse, they could comb every last hiding place, no matter how tricky she was. Which was why she had to pull them away from the ‘logical thinking’ mindset and into the ‘chase me’ mindset.
Picking up a friable-looking rock, she stepped into view, then hurled her missile directly at the faceplate of one of the troopers facing her. It burst on impact, leaving a cloud of dust behind. Before they could bring their guns to bear, she ducked out of sight again, heading down a twisting, turning alleyway of rock. Her natural agility and balance made up for the uneven footing, allowing her to move much faster than the troopers behind her.
The call would be going out now, converging every security trooper in the area on that spot. This included any of them that might’ve been on course to discover the rille where she and Pete had hidden the rock-hopper. If they were chasing her, they weren’t going after anyone else.
She paused after a minute or so of movement, listening hard and with her hands on the rocks on either side. Sound didn’t travel well in this atmosphere, though her ears were attuned to pick up what little there was. Vibrations through the ground were sometimes more useful, and she fancied she could feel the security troops coming her way, just as much as she could hear the scuffing and stumbling among the chaotically tumbled boulders.
The next time she nailed someone in the faceplate with a rock, one of the troopers shot at her. It didn’t come close enough to worry her, though the whole experience of being shot at in general was a new and unpleasant one. She got her target, though, dusting the man plus his comrades with the ever-present fines. The fewer of her pursuers who could see properly, the better.
And then Pete’s voice crackled in her mastoid earpiece. “We’re at the ’hopper. Want a pickup?”
“No, don’t,” she replied, talking quietly into the mouthpiece even though she knew the troopers couldn’t hear her. “They’ll shoot you out of the sky. Hold tight, I’m coming to you.”
A dozen troopers looked around in surprise as she jumped out of concealment almost within arm’s reach. She was holding two large rocks that she’d selected carefully, each one with the consistency of chalk. Both left her hands even before her feet hit the ground; not aimed at the troopers, they instead hit the rocks on either side. A great cloud of fines billowed over all of the troopers, but she wasn’t waiting around for it to dissipate.
There was a nice straight pathway for her to retreat down, but she didn’t take it. Instead, she ducked into the first niche she found that was barely large enough to take her, and flipped up the hood of the long-coat so that it covered her head. Thus concealed, facing the rock and holding still, she hopefully looked like part of the landscape.
She both heard and felt the rush of booted feet behind her; yelling inside their helmets so loudly that she heard that too. Thirty seconds ticked by in her head, and there were no stragglers following along. Cautiously, she peered out from behind the coat. She was alone.
By now there would be enough troopers spread through the chaotic terrain for false sightings to be happening on the regular, and in fact she heard a few random shots here and there which bore out that idea. But that wasn’t her problem, so she slipped unseen through the dragnet until she came to the rille. Jumping from foothold to foothold, she descended to where Pete and Dani were just getting settled on the rock-hopper.
“Oh, good,” Pete said. “You’re here. I was starting to worry.”
“Can we go now?” asked Dani plaintively. “I just want to get out of here.”
“We can,” Mik confirmed, scrambling up onto the rock-hopper and strapping herself into the middle seat, which had been installed by the crusty McPherson. She flicked the wake-up switch on the flight control computer (also supplied by McPherson), then activated the controls and lit off the attitude rockets. Slowly, then with more power as she fed fuel to the main rocket, the rock-hopper climbed into the air.
“Straight back up to the ship?” asked Pete hopefully.
“Not quite,” Mik said. “They’ve almost certainly got ships up there that can shoot us down if they see us coming up out of their area of interest, so we’re going to have to stay low for the moment until we get out from under their umbrella. Our best chance for doing that is to leave their turf altogether.”
Angling the rock-hopper eastward, she applied more thrust, and they shot away across the tumbled landscape.
[First] [Previous] [Next]
[A/N: And we’re coming to a head. The next chapter or two should see the end of this run of the adventures of Mik Wallace, Martian Walker. That’s not to say it’ll be the end of the story, but it’ll be the end of the origin story.]

City has like 140PSI pressure at the street. There is a PRV after the meter and before back flow, but I've now had this fail 2 times. Upon failure it allows the full 140PSI into the building.
Besides periodically going out there to check the pressure (ours has a Gauge) is there any automated way to indicate a failure? Maybe am adjustable pressure release valve somewhere conspicuous to show us that we are now > 80PSI? Some type of alarm/transducer?

$29k ducted vs $30k ductless
Looking for advice. We’re going to replace my hvac system in an old house in northern VA. Ductwork is very old and has a lot of flex. Multiple companies have stated it’s the main culprit of our two-story home’s vast temperature differences between the upstairs and downstairs: bad air flow. Here are the two options we’re considering from two different contractors.
Option 1 @ $29k
Unit: Lennox Elite EL18XPV-036, 3 Ton, Up to 19.4 SEER2, Up to 8.4 HSPF2, 208-230 VAC 1 Ph 60 Hz Quantum Coil Variable Capacity Heat Pump
Air handler: CBA27UHE-036-230 - variable-speed blower motor
Thermostat: S-40
Ductwork: Custom duct modifications. Increasing size of supply trunk line and gradually stepping down into size to keep static pressure up and provide better airflow to add registers. Adding return and grill to upstairs bedroom. Increasing size of return duct to living room and install larger return grill in living room if necessary. Also, running larger duct to basement for better airflow. ——————————————————
Option 2 @ $30k
2 outdoor units, with 3 hyper heat indoor units on each (5 new wall units, re-wiring the 6th already present wall unit)

• (2) Mitsubishi - 30k BTU - M-Series H2i Outdoor Condenser - For 3 Zones (MXZ-3C30NAHZ3)
• (2) Mitsubishi FS-Series 12k BTU Wall Mounted Unit - For Multi or Single-Zone (MSZ-FS12NA)
• (1) Mitsubishi FS-Series 9k BTU Wall Mounted Unit - For Multi or Single-Zone (MSZ-FS09NA)
• (2) Mitsubishi M-Series 9k BTU Floor Mounted Unit For Multi or Single-Zone (MFZ-KJ09NA)

Ductwork: none
Which would you go for? The prices are close enough where we want to go for the one that’s likeliest to succeed in controlling the temperatures upstairs and downstairs. We have little kids and the temp in their attic rooms sometimes gets in the high 80s sometimes!
Thank you. Welcome any and all input/advice.

1. De - The
2. Dsfarn - Water
3. Continue - Koto
4. Fliu - Flow
5. Wertu - They
6. Werte - Them
7. Wryu - Is
8. Enplomi - The name of the language
9. En - Of
10. Flomar - River
11. Sten - Sun
12. Priste - Moon
13. Vorin - Earth
14. Kinsa - Sky
15. Tha - You (singular)
16. Thasu - You (plural)
17. Lef - Tree
18. Vreth - Mountain
19. Flera - Flower
20. Glem - Bird
21. Dris - Fish
22. Plim - Air
23. Mefla - Star
24. Krosi - Land
25. Thru - Fire
26. Vrint - Stone
27. Skra - Wind
28. Drefa - Rain
29. Kroma - Color
30. Zire - Night
31. Slen - Light
32. Plenti - Life
33. Drev - Forest
34. Vrensi - Ocean
35. Skenti - Mountain peak
36. Thel - Heart
37. Frus - Snow
38. Glenth - Valley
39. Pliv -
40. Drenti - Spirit
41. Frest - Grass
42. Kresta - Stone
43. Grinto - Rock
44. Fen - The
45. Skenti - Mountain peak
46. Klenshi - Sing
47. Klenza - Pressure
48. Zrento - Doubt
49. Frenti - Hesitation
50. Plensa - Obligation
51. Skrivi - Anxiety
52. Threna - Tension
53. Glost - Struggle
54. Drenta - Resistance
55. Plensha - Burden
56. Vrentha - Constraint
57. Sklori - Dilemma
58. Thresta - Conflict
59. Frivin - Compulsion
60. Skalor - Constraint
61. Thloma - Weariness
62. Grelth - Guilt
63. Plensa - Duty
64. Skrevi - Restlessness
65. Drefin - Constraint
66. Klonshi - Indecision
67. Frinta - Compromise
68. Sklora - Oppression
69. Thlevi - Reluctance
70. Skrana - Conformity
71. Vluthu - Awesome
72. Kilo - Person
73. Flen - Thing
74. Kren - Place
75. Kru - Time
76. Tlo - Way
77. Grin - Day
78. Zelo - Year
79. Dre - Work
80. Shra - Life
81. Frul - World
82. Blen - Part
83. Dlen - Case
84. Thron - Thing
85. Sler - Child
86. Brest - Fact
87. Jor - Point
88. Klent - Government
89. Vrin - Company
90. Kresti - Number
91. Rin - maniac
92. Wer - I
93. klen - you
94. Pru - me
95. Alm - Bag
96. Bed -Crofe
97. mae - wall
98. Friend - Reo
99. Yorple - Frog
100. Food - Retse
101. Bag - Wae
102. Wall - Tris
103. Box - Utu
104. A - Oi
105. Kled - Animal
106. Orsia - Orange
107. Kresto - Black
108. Wlenth - White
109. Sulken - Pink
110. Arkodu - Brown
111. Klosel - Circle
112. Dosu - Square
113. Proma - Oval
114. Alde - Pentagon
115. Desa - Hexagon
116. Wad - Octagon
117. Why - Sklisk
118. Fruit - Eru
119. Green - Slenk
120. Word - Tel
121. Book - Kli
122. what - Chofe
123. where - Sleio
124. when - Felse
125. How - Bun
126. Look - Eblo
127. Sorry - jud
128. - did - stuho 130 - not - te 132 - Planet - odoe 133 - even - Hafoe 134 - though - Dioda 135 - Final - ufdol 136 - in - Ku 137 - out - Ge 138 - want - Risy 139 - open - Trelta 140 - explode - Oczo 141 - Happy - Yepoya 143 - Sad - Lom 144 - bored - Mokleb 145 - need - Isuli 146 - Fire - Kiol

It’s time to beat/reduce your anxiety for good! This is a perfect way to do so and you’re not going to like it at first! But first we need to accept some things and understand some things about anxiety.
1: understand that those physical symptoms and mental symptoms you are feeling is only anxiety. That head pressure, ear ringing, tingling/“hurting” chest, the arm pains, the finger feet and hand tingling, the “blurry vision”, the muscle twitches, the palpitations, the skipped beats, the memory loss or brain fog, the dizziness, nausea, butterflies, unsure feelings, ETC. the list goes on ITS ANXIETY!
2: anxiety’s rating of 1-10 (1 being low 10 being extreme) is majority determined by our reaction
3: anxiety is only adrenaline and worry mixed when it’s not needed therefore it’s sitting idle in your head with no reason or way to exert itself that’s why you get all these physical symptoms
4: anxiety can’t kill you
5: 100% recovery is possible.
You have got to ACCEPT your anxiety.. stop trying to hide from it or make it stop with your tactics. Sit with it. Accept it. Be uncomfortable and let the thoughts flow yes it’s absolutely horrible at first but the more you sit with it and let it eat you up the more your brain starts realizing that there was no threat or bad outcome and that you turned out fine so over time it becomes the norm and doesn’t faze you all the way to the point of it not existing. When those attacks happen say out loud “I accept this anxiety” “do whatever it is you are going to do anxiety” this has brought me to a 99.9% recovery. I had HORRIBLE health anxiety that then made me fear death I went to therapy it helped I took Wellbutrin it helped but they never cured me only numbed it kinda. I started studying every side of anxiety and all of its characteristics and I learned that it’s only fear we have to overcome and be comfortable with.
To add and to me the most important. Get in touch with your spiritual side and pray to God and ask for his comfort. It may seem too far out of reach but you have to understand that Jesus has a greater plan for you and everything is in his plan so when you’re sitting with that uncertainty of anxiety and allowing the uncomfortable feelings and thoughts know Jesus has his hand on you. I promise recovery isn’t out of reach ❤️

It’s time to beat/reduce your anxiety for good! This is a perfect way to do so and you’re not going to like it at first! But first we need to accept some things and understand some things about anxiety.
1: understand that those physical symptoms and mental symptoms you are feeling is only anxiety. That head pressure, ear ringing, tingling/“hurting” chest, the arm pains, the finger feet and hand tingling, the “blurry vision”, the muscle twitches, the palpitations, the skipped beats, the memory loss or brain fog, the dizziness, nausea, butterflies, unsure feelings, ETC. the list goes on ITS ANXIETY!
2: anxiety’s rating of 1-10 (1 being low 10 being extreme) is majority determined by our reaction
3: anxiety is only adrenaline and worry mixed when it’s not needed therefore it’s sitting idle in your head with no reason or way to exert itself that’s why you get all these physical symptoms
4: anxiety can’t kill you
5: 100% recovery is possible.
You have got to ACCEPT your anxiety.. stop trying to hide from it or make it stop with your tactics. Sit with it. Accept it. Be uncomfortable and let the thoughts flow yes it’s absolutely horrible at first but the more you sit with it and let it eat you up the more your brain starts realizing that there was no threat or bad outcome and that you turned out fine so over time it becomes the norm and doesn’t faze you all the way to the point of it not existing. When those attacks happen say out loud “I accept this anxiety” “do whatever it is you are going to do anxiety” this has brought me to a 99.9% recovery. I had HORRIBLE health anxiety that then made me fear death I went to therapy it helped I took Wellbutrin it helped but they never cured me only numbed it kinda. I started studying every side of anxiety and all of its characteristics and I learned that it’s only fear we have to overcome and be comfortable with.

I just tested a cash9k and an ABF4 back to back on the same gun with the same 9mm ammo and I was shocked at the results. I was fully expecting more back pressure to mean faster bolt speed but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The traditional suppressor shot very significantly softer than the flow through. What is the rhyme or reason behind this? My expectations were that the cash9k would shoot softer.

I've played a few dozen games, and I'm just heartbroken. :(

• Standing A can't combo anymore and it lost its ability to be canceled during charge. So, Arya can no longer use it as a bait. Arya also doesn't step back as far. Right now, this move is simply usable because people don't know how to counter it. In the coming days, it's going to be near useless. It's easy to counter. It has a great hitbox, but it cancels so late that if you hit, you get nothing, and if you miss, you're... well probably dead haha
  
• Nair also lost so much usability. Since approaching is so much slower, she can't navigate through busy fields to find the right angle; even when she can, the move no longer can be canceled effectively, and as such isn't usable as a proper combo starter. Previously, it was one of two combo starters that allowed her to pressure. Now, it's usecases are limited, and if you hit a baited player on the ground (which is not an easy task), it no longer results in a combo being started.
  
• Utilt still has no combo factor, and is a pointless anti air since quickjump upair will cover more space and comes out more quickly. It can be used as a kill move in very specific circumstances, though. (For instance, hitting jab1 on a platform facing the center of the stage when they're at high percent)
  
• Dtilt actually received a small buff, allowing her to choose which direction she attacks in. But still can't combo at all. (Been this way since beta 1!)
  
• While Face Steal has a lot more combo potential, it's not making her any more viable. Sure, she could add one small hit in the beginning, and replace the uair or fair at the end with a possibly strong hit! There's definitely some hidden tech that will be matchup dependent, but it's important to note that she lost her single strongest edgeguard tool with the stun being gone. Not to mention, every application of the face is different. It used to be whatever the Nair was. Now, she has a grounded neutral B, and an aerial neutral B. Problem being is that it's not always those moves. Most of the time, in the air, it's the UpB. Like Bugs' Hammer. But it's also Taz's tornado, and... Diana's Upair??? There was just random moves assigned. AND, it's a special activation now, meaning you can no longer juggle effectively with these, as you lose your specials just but doing upB into the stolen ability.
  
• Her knife is so bad. They drastically increased the start up of the throw, making its value as a whiff punish nonexistent. They also reduced her ability to dash around obstacles? She just hits walls now. I can't imagine why they would do this.
  
• UpB? They reduced the hitbox size. Or maybe, they kept it exactly the same, but didn't account for the character models being wildly increased?
  

The game's new speed also plays much better to characters with projectiles, or who aren't forced to engage. Characters like Superman and Jason who also have armor or large hitboxes are given more leeway. Finn is generating waaay more money; Diana's whip is usable at all lengths; You can't dodge into Jab anymore, so Jake's Punch has no natural way to out play him; Batman's hitboxes are still an affront to god.
Arya received no new direct perks, and her moves from the previous iterations of the game that had fewer usecases than the rest of the cast's (standA, utilt, dtilt) all got demonstrably less usable.
Oh, and don't forget her dash attack. Great kill move, it they don't fall out of it! I can't fathom how they can create this character who has received the most complaints about people falling out of her attacks, and were just like "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we did it again ahahaha"
It doesn't feel like her moveset was considered at all during these changes, and that the moves themselves are just pasted over without giving time to establish an understand of how she would be impacted. With three of her attacks generally being worse, and her Jab1 no longer as accessible (due to the addition of the Dash Attack), she's in a significantly worse position for neutral, and a worse position for her 50/50 game off of her non-true strings, and a slightly worse position for comboing.
Nothing in melee flows well, and her only projectile is horrid. The fact is, to me, she's no longer fun to play. I am Jack's incredible sorrow.
And what's weird, is that Arya was fairly ever-present during all iterations of the game's lifespan in competition. She was popular enough that you wouldn't wait long before running into her. And yet, even after all this time, she's an afterthought. She has the fewest (I think) collectables in the game. That being avatars, skins, emotes, etc. She has received the fewest amount of direct changes coming into this game, and there's no evidence to support a furtherance of inclusion from GoT/HotD from the trailer, recent marketing, or even (tmk) the datamining.
In fact, recent skins listed show she's not getting a thing:

• DC Bombshell Wonder Woman
• Earth-0 Harley Quinn
• Ex-I.C.O.N. Agent Morty
• Golfer Marvin the Martian
• Anti-Life Superman
• Historical Friction Steven
• I.C.O.N. Director Sanchez
• Knights Must Fall Bugs Bunny

As well as multiple skins for pride month, which didn't include Arya. In fact, Arya hasn't received a skin since... well, ever? She came with two extra costumes in beta, one got removed, and was replaced with... a Christmas sweater tacked onto her base avatar lol For reference, Banana Guard launched with 1, Jason launched with an "Uber Skin", Joker received 2, and Marvin has 3 (with another on the way)! There's not even any voice lines in the datamining that suggests any GoT characters. The pipeline is empty, tmk. And with HOTD Season 2 coming next, month, there's little chance there will be a better opportunity to drop it. Maybe towards the season finale in August?
Still, Arya feels like relic. A character lost to a time that's past. It's hard to not take offense to the state of the character, when she was the sole reason I wanted to play the game... The game is just so awkward and slow now, and Arya's place in it seems to be so drastically limited that I can't imagine I'll be playing for much longer.
PS: They even took out Arya's ability to change form to taunt at the end of the game. Hardest nerf of all.

Intense squeezing head pressure after having a simple walk, god it’s uncomfortable. Anyone else? I don’t even feel any pump or bodily sensation from walking either it’s like my blood flow is not ”working”

I've been having some issues and I'm wondering if it's due to the acupuncture or something else.
So a bit of back history, I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome so lax joints that easily dislocate. I have PoTS, Migraine, Trigeminal Neuralgia, possible Fibromyalgia and digestive issues. Back in November I had a dizzy moment at the top of a staircase and fell right the way down it. I injured my knee and ankle which were xrayed and fine and I was diagnosed with concussion. A couple of weeks later I started experiencing severe back pain and mentioned this when I saw the physio (that was arranged by the hospital for my knee and ankle). The physio gave me exercises and it seemed to improve.
Then in January it suddenly flared up again, this time much worse than before and I ended up bedbound. An MRI was finally done and it was found that I had several spinal prolapses between L1 and L5/S1 as well as mild degenerative spinal disease. I tried physio without much luck and got put on a load of meds. The meds made me really sleepy all the time and completely destroyed my appetite.
Out of desperation I sought other therapies and had my first acupuncture session with my physiotherapist a week ago. When she did it, I barely felt it apart from one spot on my spine and the two points she did on the top of my backside but even then it was just a momentary weird twinge. Immediately afterwards it actually felt pretty good and I definitely felt a bit more fluid. But over a few days a couple of sore spots developed, one on the sore pin area, the others just below it. When lying in bed at night, I can feel a couple of sore spots. Because they're distinct patches I assume it's fairly superficial? Rather than a generalised pain.
But then yesterday that one sore area got really painful. I assumed I slept funny but as the day went on it got worse. Then it spread and it was like a disc around my middle of intense sharp pain, I took all of the different pain meds I could and it didn't even touch it. Eventually at 4am I couldn't take it anymore and my partner took me up to the hospital. I've suffered a lot of pain in life, including cluster headaches and a bowel reconstruction and this was by far the most pain I've ever experienced. I was seen by a doctor who felt around my back and then my front. He put pressure on my lower ribcage, front and both sides and I yelped out. He said because it was like a band and in my rib area that it was muscular and that something had gone into spasm. I was given some more meds and told to speak to my GP.
So, as the doctor wasn't sure what would be causing this, would it be possible that this was all a side effect the acupuncture? Or doesn't it work like that?
TIA

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Chapter 169 – A moment of truth. A moment to lie.
Shida exhaled slowly as she flew in a parallel line along the massive, slowly rotating hull of the Sun. The near true-black surface of the enormous ship loomed ominously next to her, tricking her brain into the impression that it was somehow trying to pull her tiny little hunter into it like a black hole or some shadowy portal. Though obviously, that was just a literal trick of the light.
Activating her frontal thrusters yet again to slow the momentum of her flight, she just barely noticed the movement on the hull next to her as something adjusted to the now slowing movement of her cargo. A moment later, a harpoon much like the one she herself had fired into the lump of molten material that had solidified around the still dutifully pinging black box shot against the precious debris, latching onto it and connecting it to the larger ship.
With the press of a button, Shida's own harpoon then automatically shot off its tip before her hunter reeled in the connecting cable as well as the remaining rod. Almost as soon as she was detached, the Sun's harpoon already began to reel the black box lump in as well.
It admittedly took a bit of time and finesse, but this process was still much easier than trying to somehow land with the barely controllable lump of hull-slag still attached to her ship.
Rubbing a hand over one of her hears, Shida released a mild huff before then firing her engines up again as she adjusted her course to fly around the ship and find her way into the dock.
Once the slightly precarious maneuver of flying through the relatively narrow, rotating tunnel that was her entrance was overcome, the feline turned her hunter onto 'life support' mode as she sat back, since she would have to wait for the atmosphere in the dock to be reinstated before she could even think about getting out.
Suddenly, a comm came in for her, making her ears twitch as she listened up.
“Please move your ship to the corner of the dock and stand by, Lieutenant-Commander,” the voice from her radio informed her briefly. “The dock will be needed for the landing of an urgent shuttle. Atmosphere cannot be reinstated before it has landed.”
Blinking slightly, Shida stared at her console for a moment. Shuttle? Why was there shuttle flying around in a situation like this?
Luckily, it didn't even take a full second before her brain fired up again and she quickly reached for the button to activate her own microphone.
“Copy that,” she said before quickly starting her ship up again, just enough so that she could slowly roll it into the dock's corner. Once there, she activated her microphone again. “Standing by,” she announced before leaning back once again.
She released a long exhale as she stared at the wall that was now right in front of her. And as she sat there with nothing to do but to think while she was surrounded by an airless room, she slowly began to feel that something was wrong.
Not with the situation, no. Even if she still wondered why the hell a shuttle was dicking around out there just after an active combat situation, that wasn't what was irking her. Though, admittedly, she also didn't really know what was. Was it something about herself? Not really. She felt fine.
Though, after a few more moments of being alone with her thoughts, it slowly began to hit her. Why did she feel so fine?
Not that she had expected to be totally broken up by a combat situation, even if it was sudden. She was trained for that much, she sure would hope that she wouldn't let it get to her too much. However, while not being too stressed out was one thing...why wasn't she angrier?
The last few times she had so much as heard about an attack, she had been absolutely livid. Blood-boilingly so. And that didn't even come close to how she had felt when she saw the victims of the attack on the detention center...
But now? She was calm. They had just been attacked out of nowhere. She had been dragged into a sudden battle. So many people, both foe and friend, had died today. And she was sad about that. She felt the remorse about the people who had been killed here. She even felt the aftereffects of pulling the trigger herself down in her stomach. But apart from that? Nothing.
What was different now? Where was that fire? And more importantly...was it good or bad that it was so suddenly gone?
Prooobably something to bring up with Dr. Nasution once she got an opportunity to attend her next session, which would probably be quite soon given current circumstances. It had been a while with everything that was going on, but she figured there was at least a good chance that their 'pleasure cruise' would not be continuing after everything that had occurred.
It seemed that the coreworlds were even more hostile ground than they had imagined.
About a quarter of an hour later, the announced shuttle had finally settled down and all hatches were sealed shut while air was slowly funneled back into the room. It took maybe a minute or two more before a specialized sensor in her ship informed her with a glowing light on her console that the surroundings were once again breathable, meaning she could safely open her hatch.
Pressing the corresponding button, the hatch of her ship sprang open, releasing a slight hiss as the seal was broken and air-exchange with the outside took place for the first time since she had closed it.
Once it was open, Shida could already hear some commotion as a large group of people came immediately flooding into the room as soon as it was safe to do so, and once she had climbed out onto the wing of her ship, she could see that they had come bearing large bags as they hurried towards the shuttle, which was currently in the process of lowering its ramp.
Resisting her urge to stand and stare to see what was going on, Shida climbed off the wing in order to go and properly announce her return.
However, almost as soon as her feet made contact with the dock's floor, she suddenly felt how she was almost taken off her feet by another body crashing into hers, startling her so much that her claws were already coming out as her arms raised to meet her sudden tackler – though a combination of a familiar scent and breathing luckily soothed her nerves long before her aware mind could catch up to who had run into her there.
Instead of sinking their claws in, her hand laid flatly down on James' broad back as her arms wrapped around him to return his sudden hug. As she held him, she could feel that he was quite unsteady on his feet, and she subtly supported him to not loose his footing as they embraced for a long moment.
A bit of a purr started up in her chest as she leaned her head against his. She didn't say anything, worrying that it may come off as mockery if she did, but she could feel that he had been worried about her. And although she obviously didn't like making him worry – especially since she knew how much that stung after having to worry about him way too often recently - she still couldn't deny that she always appreciated getting to feel just how much he cared about her so directly, and a warm feeling spread throughout her as her purr intensified.
Though admittedly, she could've done without the firm kiss he pressed onto her cheek after a moment. Still, she knew that it was an important expression of his care to him, and so she simply closed her eye on the kissed side and endured it for a moment before he finally pulled away.
Looking at his reddened face, she could read right off it that he wanted to say something like 'Don't ever do that again' or anything in that vein, but obviously he also knew that she was just doing her duty, and so he held his tongue.
His mouth opened a bit, presumably to say something else, however the chaotic and from this distance slightly incoherent shouting of the group that had rushed in earlier now meeting with the crew of the shuttle interrupted him, catching both of their attentions as they looked over.
As they did, Shida's eyes widened slightly once she realized what the chaotic scene she was looking at there really was. A stretcher carrying Admiral Krieger was wheeled down the shuttle's ramp, surrounded by medics and doctors working on her on all sides.
Her skin was a ghostly white, far more so than even her usual pale complexion, and fully on display as the remains of her uniform were under her in tattered, cut-open rags, leaving her almost entirely exposed except for her most private area and her right leg, which had been covered with a white sheet. Every other inch of her skin seemingly had to remain free as the medical personnel worked on it from all angles; sticking her with needles or attaching cables, tubes and electrodes to her as she was rolled along. Two blood bags were already dripping fresh life into her at that point, and by the look of things, a third one was soon to follow.
Still, the almost body-horror-esque sight of the doctors trying to preserve her life was by far not the most gruesome one the scene offered. That honor belonged to her uncovered left leg. Or at least...what was left of it...
Shida's ear twitched as her concentration on the scene was briefly interrupted by a soft voice speaking right next to her.
“Mama...” James mumbled aghast, causing Shida's eyes to widen slightly.
It was one of the few words from his native language that the feline actually knew. “Mom”. And hearing it out of James' mouth was an almost bizarre experience. James never called his mother mom or any similar term of endearment. In fact he made it a point not to.
Granted, in this case, it was unlikely that he had consciously made the choice to do it in this case, however the sheer fact that it would slip out of him like this spoke volumes of just how deeply the shock of seeing her in that state reached.
Not that Shida didn't understand, of course. Familial bonds or not, the Admiral was...well, of course they both knew that she wasn't untouchable by any measure. Far from it. She was just a person like anybody else in the end.
However, knowing that she could get hurt and actually seeing it were two very different things, apparently.
In the corner of her vision, she noticed how James suddenly began to move in the direction of the ongoing rescue, and she quickly jolted forwards to stop him, wrapping her arm around him firmly as she held him back from getting in the way of anything.
Luckily, apart from a brief push that only lasted for as long as it took him to realize that he had been stopped, he didn't resist her as she restrained him from approaching any further, and so the both of them just watched as the stretcher was rolled along and ultimately out of the dock.
“That was meant for me...” James mumbled, clearly thinking aloud as he kept staring at the door even after it had closed again.
Immediately, Shida pulled him in firmer, side-hugging him as she pressed her body up to his.
“She wouldn't have traded places with you if you tried to force her,” she assured him while pushing her face against his shoulder. She knew that the relationship of those two was rocky to say the least, however she still knew that much to be true. Whether she was the motherly type or not, if anything, the Admiral was just as stubborn as James was, especially when it came to duty.
James stood frozen for a bit, seemingly not exactly knowing what to do with his feelings in his current state. Shida could only imagine how much ethanol was still flowing through his veins at that time, mixed with a cocktail of all kinds of different hormones and endorphins. With all of this added back-and-forth stress, she couldn't blame him for struggling to hold onto a single thought at that time.
“Oh, James!” a new voice suddenly joined the fray, whipping both of their attentions around yet again as even more bodies emerged from the shuttle, having presumably stood back to make room while the rescue efforts were ongoing.
But now that the coast was clear, so to speak, two familiar large forms came lumbering down the shuttle's ramp.
Moar and Congloarch looked...rattled...to say the least. With Moar, it was understandable. She probably didn't have all too much experience of standing right next to a dying person as every thinkable thing was done to them to keep them alive, so Shida wouldn't have thought twice about it had it just been her.
However, the tonamstrosite was a...different story. His four eyes didn't scan the room or focus on different things at all. All four of them were pointed straight ahead with only very loose seeming focus on the people he was approaching as he walked.
His mouth hung slightly open, and he seemed to push his tongue out just a little bit while the fleshy muscle twitched up in place before settling down again, over and over, making it appear almost as if he was subtly retching.
James' stormy mind seemed to immediately latch onto the the possibility to focus on anything and went right along with a wave of his usual compassion as his eyes fell onto the to giants. This time, Shida didn't hold him back as he hurried in their direction.
“What in chaos' name happened?” he asked once he was just a few steps away from them, though even in his now focused and concerned state you could clearly tell from his gait that he wasn't quite all there.
“Oh James...” Moar repeated, struggling to speak as she shuddered in place where she stood, both of her clawed hands firmly hooked into her long fur as if clinging on for dear life.
Releasing a deep groan, Congloarch shook himself so heavily that a grinding sound came from some of the plates along his body.
“There was an attack,” the large reptile then said the quite obvious before shaking again. “There was...an invasion-” he kept describing before pausing abruptly, turning his head away as his tongue pushed itself up again, causing him to clearly struggle to suppress whatever urge overcame him at that moment.
Shida's ears and tail sank deeply as she watched those two. She could only imagine what could've occurred to have even Congloarch so broken up. And she could see it on James' face that his heart sank just as much, even if less outwards signs clearly showed it.
Slowly, Shida began to walk up to Moar at an even pace. As she did so, she gently nudged James in the direction of the other giant while passing him, knowing that he had the better relationship to the tonamstrosite out of the two of them.
Taking the hint without issue, James walked up to the enormous reptile and placed his hand on the highest part of the man he could reach while Shida leaned up against Moar's plushy leg comfortingly.
“It's alright,” James then said softly, patting his hand against Congloarch's armored skin gently while also leaning his face against the side of the giant's body. “You don't have to talk about it right now. You can take some time.”
The reactions of the two giants were very different, but at the same time equally appreciative of the soothing contact.
Moar leaned down as one of her hands unclenched from her fur to reach for Shida, reciprocating the gentle touch through an innate social drive. Seemingly on instinct, her hand went right for Shida's hair, seemingly seeking the contact with fur since that is what another rafulite would provide, and so the old lady simply petted through Shida's hair in gentle strokes while the feline pressed up against her.
Meanwhile, Congloarch seemed to simply relax in place as James leaned against him, making no effort to initiate any form of contact himself as his eyes slowly closed.
It even went so far that it seemed like he needed to put in a conscious effort to not lay down right then and there, which would've probably been inappropriate in the middle of a dock. In fact, all of this was probably inappropriate for this place, but sometimes what had to be done had to be done.
Still, with James being only somewhat in-commission right now, Shida eventually felt it to be her duty to coax everyone out of the dock once she felt that things had calmed down enough to move so they could continue this at a calmer, more private location, where the two giants could truly focus on processing everything that had happened.
–
A gentle humming filled the air, stirring her awake as light uncomfortably shone through her twitching lids while she struggled back and forth between a conscious and unconscious state.
Though once she finally pushed herself far enough into awareness to gain control over the motion and slowly forced her eyes fully open, even if she still had to squint heavily against the light from above, she glanced around through her blurry vision, instinctively searching for the source of the increasingly familiar sound of the hummed song.
She recognized the melody. It was the 'Ode to strange suns', a very old and very famous song that first emerged back in the early days of Earth's interstellar travel, when traversing light-years to reach another star-system was still a daunting endeavor. It was often sung by those in the primitive ships, often called 'tubes', to give them hope during their bleak journey. A melancholic song about giving up your life just to see what's out there – and one day push your people so far beyond what they had once been.
So far, they hadn't quite reached the lofty goal that the song set for humanity, since it spoke of mapping every star and finding eternity too short and infinity too small for their ambitions. According to the song, the day would come when 'no more strange suns rise'. What an idea that was...
Still, even more so than the song itself, she recognized the soft voice that was humming it, and her heart lifted at the implications of hearing it. She felt soft sheets rustling underneath her head as she slowly turned her face towards the sound, and the corners of her lips slowly lifted into a smile as her eyes, which were gently tearing from the harsh light biting into them so suddenly, fell onto the scene before her.
Nia sat slightly leaned against the headrest of her bed with her eyes closed, the room's white light gently playing over her dark yet soft features as she turned her face in the Admiral's direction while softly swaying her head to the rhythm of her humming, not moving it more than a centimeter with each tilt so her gentle dance wouldn't interfere too much with the work of James' hands. He sat behind her with both hands behind her back, gently holding her hair as he weaved it into long braids with practiced motions. There was a clear 'weakness' to Nia's movements, and the way she sat strongly indicated that she likely lacked the strength to completely hold herself up on her own.
And yet despite that, her humming was cheerful and content as she had her hair braided by her brother. She seemed...at peace.
After simply observing the scene for a few long moments, feeling like she could get lost in the sight if she wasn't careful, Admiral Krieger then tried to push herself up a bit, however the attempt was short-lived as a searing pain shot through her right shoulder as soon as she put any pressure onto that side of her body, forcing her to flop back down almost immediately. And as soon as she did, the pain quickly dissipated into a mellow numbness that was all too familiar to her.
She was on some strong painkillers, she could tell. Therefore, if it still hurt like that when she attempted to move, moving was probably a bad idea. Not that she couldn't have borne the pain if it was necessary, however the sight of her children like that told her that it very clearly wasn't. Whatever other challenges and battles the future may have had in store for them, this was a moment of peace, and she should use it for her recovery while she still could.
Meanwhile, her movement and brief hiss of pain had naturally not gone unnoticed. Once her eyes were no longer closed from the brief jolt of pain, she saw that Nia's eyes had now also opened. Her humming had stopped as the sweet girl's face lit up upon noticing that the Admiral was truly awake and had not just shifted around in her sleep.
“James!” she exclaimed, trying to move so suddenly that she accidentally pulled on her own hair that was still firmly in her brother's grasp, before he could react and adjust to her movements. Uncaring about the brief discomfort that surely caused, Nia excitedly lifted her hand to point at the Admiral, however James already had a knowing look on his face.
“I saw,” he replied, clearly far less focused on the braiding process than his demeanor would indicate from the outside. He quickly finished up the in-process braid between his fingers and fixated it with a small, golden, tube-shaped clasp before letting go of Nia's hair, thus allowing her to freely move her head around again.
Nia then looked over at her while James slowly stood up and moved to the corner of the room.
“How are you feeling, Sophia?” Nia asked in a gentle tone that did nothing to hide her happiness, her eyes gleaming slightly in the light as tears began to well up within them.
The Admiral released a long exhale as she settled into the sheets, though her eyes never left Nia's face – apart from a very brief moment of them following James to see where he was going. Nia looked slightly messy with her hair half-braided and the light-blue gown she wore all crumpled up, however just like her earlier humming, that messiness had a certain peace to it that allowed the Admiral to relax.
“Just how I look, I suspect,” she replied, the smile on her face returning. “I'm glad to see you awake again.”
“Hey, that's my line!” Nia jokingly complained with a mild chuckle that audibly got very close to shifting into a soft sob at one point.
At this point, James had returned from the corner of the room, walking up to the side of Nia's bed opposite to the one he had been sitting at previously. And with him, he had brought a large wheelchair.
Briefly, he turned his head towards his mother, the look on his face rather unreadable. For a moment, his mouth twitched, and it seemed like he wanted to say something. However ultimately, he pulled his gaze away again before anything was said.
Without complaint, Nia allowed her brother to lift her out of the bed and into the wheelchair, before he slowly pushed her over to the side of the Admiral's bed.
Almost immediately once she was within reach, Nia's hand found hers, holding it gently while James was once again on the move, this time towards a bedside-drawer that stood in between both of their beds.
Opening it, he briefly rummaged through it before pulling out an arrangement of small items, with which he then sat down next to the Admiral as well.
Leaning down, he gently reached for her face in a gesture that could've been mistaken for tenderness, had his fingers not reached to pull her lids open a bit with gentle force right before he shone a bright light directly into her eyes. Despite the uncomfortable nature of the action, Admiral Krieger didn't resist it in any way, physically or otherwise.
After he had ensured her pupils worked properly, James then gently grabbed her by her chin and moved her face around so that she looked straight 'ahead', which in this case meant right up to the ceiling while he got up a bit to loom over her.
“Aaaaaah,” he then ordered while holding a clear, plastic tongue-suppressor close to her mouth.
Following the order without hesitation, the Admiral opened her mouth widely, though she forewent the actual saying of 'aaah' in the process. Soon enough, her tongue was uncomfortably pushed down by the plastic item while she could see some light leaking out of her mouth in the corner of her vision.
After a brief moment of inspection, the pressure was already relieved and she could close her mouth again as James moved away from her, checking some of the monitors of devices that were attached to his mother in various ways.
The Admiral couldn't help but gently chuckle at the professionalism he clearly very deliberately employed as he dealt with her waking up. It was a nice act, however, she was smart enough to know that, since he didn't call anyone in to do it, he likely had asked to conduct these precautionary examinations himself instead of calling a doctor in for it, likely promising to call in someone more professional than himself should he find anything actually worrying.
But, based on his reactions, it seemed like everything was in working order. At least the vitals she could see on the monitors herself certainly were. Not exactly 'healthy', of course, but also not directly concerning for someone who had just gone through the wringer like she had.
Or, well...she didn't quite know how 'just' it had been. She was admittedly a bit too groggy to fully remember the exact date and time during which the attack leaving her injured had taken place, which meant even the clock on the wall was of very little help with determining just how long she had been out for.
“Do you feel anything strange?” James asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Any pain? Nausea? Discomfort?”
Krieger shook her head.
“Nothing, apart from being high as a kite,” she replied before briefly glancing down at herself. Her body was almost completely covered by a white sheet, so she couldn't exactly see anything. However, she knew what was underneath. “Though I'm sure my leg would be in a lot of pain if I could actually feel it.”
In the corner of her vision, she both saw and felt Nia flinch as she was still holding her hand, her face darkening a little.
James' expression also seemed to turn more serious after her jokingly said words, betraying his usually not horrible pokerface.
Slowly, she released a long breath.
“It's gone, isn't it?” she suspected immediately. Not surprising after the state her leg had been in when she last saw it.
Nia's face just turned even more glum at that, however James sighed and nodded.
“Most of it, yes,” he replied honestly, knowing her well enough to cut any sort of bullshit. “Though you will be glad to hear that your usual 'precautions' worked without a hitch. Your body accepted the prosthesis and you should be able to walk again almost immediately.”
She smiled.
“I always told you, it pays to be prepared,” she said, lifting her unoccupied arm with a finger playfully raised in lecture. Though then, she moved her gaze over to Nia, reaching her already raised arm over to Nia's head and pulling her in a bit closer before gently caressing her cheek. “Come on, why the frown?” she asked, giving a gentle smile. “You heard what he said, I'll be good as new.”
A returning smile fought itself through Nia's tears at the caress, and she nodded meekly – before then suddenly throwing herself forwards, out of the wheelchair and onto the Admiral in a brazen embrace.
A sharp pain once again shot through the Admiral's shoulder as another body suddenly pressed down onto hers, however this time she did not care a single bit as she moved her arms around her daughter and gently petted along her back while Nia clearly did her absolute best to suppress the quiet sobs leaving her. Meanwhile James stood next to it all with a stoic expression, only his eyes betraying the obvious compassion he felt for his sister's happiness.
Once the embrace was enjoyed and a few soft words were exchanged, he aided Nia in getting back into the wheelchair wordlessly.
And the Admiral didn't need him to say anything. The mere fact that he had decided to be here told her more than enough – even if he would likely say that he was here to visit Nia when he would be asked about it.
A few moments later, the door to the room opened, with two new people entering in a visible hurry. Though, despite their haste, both Tuya and Shida froze when they fully processed the scene they had barged into, with neither of them seemingly knowing if they wanted to proceed or not.
Taking the decision off them, the Admiral lifted her hand and waved them closer.
“Come in,” she said invitingly, not at all opposed to their presence here. Not for nothing, she was more than happy with the partners that her children had found for themselves. She could hardly have wished for better ones.
Still seeming a bit hesitant, the First-Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Commander then continued their motion, even if much slower now.
James and Nia both had pretty unreadable expressions on their faces at this point as they watched their respective partners approach. They all exchanged a long gaze with each other, which clearly told her children something that she wasn't quite privy to yet.
James was finally the one to break the silence.
“What brilliant timing,” he sighed a bit as he turned around, quickly grabbing a remote from a nearby nightstand. With it, he turned up the volume of a running but up until now muted screen that the Admiral had only been tangentially aware of so far.
Though now that everyone's attention seemed to be pulled towards it, she didn't need to be a genius to realize that something important was being broadcast there. And so she got quiet and listened, her professional seriousness returning as he fought through her slightly hazy state to not miss a detail, especially so as she saw just who the cameras were pointed towards.
Leaving her enormous head to hang slightly, Apojinorana Audoxya Tua, High-Matriarch of the zodiatos and current Acting-Leader-Supreme of the G.C.S. had taken the stage behind what had to be a house-sized podium, even if it didn't appear like it on screen.
The Admiral suppressed any feelings she had towards that vile woman as she concentrated on listening to her words.
They had seemingly missed the beginning of the conference they were not tuning into, so hopefully they hadn't missed anything important.
“...firm the attack. One of the current Nahfmir-Durrehefren, previously known as Melvolhorron, used his command over several of our ships and the loyalty of crews that had been radicalized by the ongoing galactic tensions -both zodiatos and coluyvoree- to mount the attack. No outside influence on his actions from any third-party outside of the zodiatos territories has been indicated during the investigations. The black box that was discovered by the human forces and handed over to galactic investigations in full accordance to communal law and without any resistance brought some additional light to his motivations. Among the usual logs and data you would expect to find, it also contained a seemingly deliberately saved...letter of devotion to...none other than my own person. It seems that this...tragic event turned heinous crime was something that he saw as his best chance to advance his position to that of the true Durrehefren. He seemed to believe that my devotion and favor could be gained through a decisive strike against the humans, whom he believed I hated deeply – along with all other deathworlders, it appears. It also appears that he believed this hate would go far enough that I would approve of any methods to achieve this strike against them – even an attack on not only another coreworld, but one of our oldest and most loyal allies. It's-” she cut of briefly, releasing a distressed trumpeting sound before reaching her trunk up to run its ends over her many dark eyes. “It is, of course, hard for me. Not only to have such a crime committed ostensibly in my name, but also that this seems to be an image that I have imprinted onto my people. An image of hate and discord that has radicalized them to the point that they would stoop to such levels simply to see the 'opposition' suffer. And while it is no secret that the humans have been at odds with me, I would never approve of such a heinous attack, not only because...friends of mine...were lost in it, too. And I am not free of blame. I see now that I was so focused on sternly defending us from the accusations posed against us, that I entirely forgot to also show the compassion that is so necessary at a time like this. And I want to apologize for this. Deeply. Even as the attack was committed by a blinded individual, the zodiatos will take full responsibility for it. We are willing to pay any required reparations to each of the injured parties involved, and we deeply wish that our ties we have to those harmed can be mended, be they old or new, strong or tattered. We will gladly welcome any diplomatic outreach from the injured parties as well as all others who are concerned in hopes to not only aid in the recovery of our alliances, but also in the healing of our very own souls as we will take any effort we can to move away from the hate that has caused this tragedy. Our people will not become one of violence and terror, that I swear by all three of my names. And I hope that all others follow that example, so that this tragic event may become a part of our history that will never be repeated. Now more than ever, we need to remind ourselves of the values that this galaxy was built upon. I thank each and every one of you for your attention. Success to you. Prosperity for all. Unity in the community.”

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Hi all. I've been dealing with L4/L5 herniated disc back pain for over 5 years now. What started as a herniation turned into overcompensating muscle pain that just won't seem to go away. I'm currently in physical therapy.
Here's everything I've learned and used in the past few years. As someone that's spent hundreds of dollars over the years trying to alleviate pain I wanted to pass on my knowledge to you. I've included a description of how each item helped me, and I'm also including the full product name if you don't want to click on the link directly.
Exercise Tools
A foam roller with ridges goes a long way for blood flow and pain relief. It helps with pressure points in the glutes, cracks my back, and acts as a massager all in one. I couldn't find the original one I bought, it's a big longer but these seem to have great reviews: Product: 321 STRONG Foam Roller - Medium Density Deep Tissue Massager
A tennis ball for pressure point release, I tried a lacrosse ball and found it to be too hard. I both sit/lay on the ball as well as use it against the wall. I get a pack and stash them everywhere,cars, office, folks' house, bedroom, living room, you name it. Product: 18 Pack Tennis Balls
For the Car, Office, Home
Next is a lumbar support back and seat cushion. These have been a dream. I was looking for the seat cushion and got the lumbar support as well. I use them to sit on the couch and it elevates my core and trunk. It helps me to sit up straight and removes pressure from the area that's been suffering. Definitely recommend these. Product: FORTEM Lumbar Support Pillow and matching FORTEM Chair Cushion
Sleeping Pillows
I have several pillows when I sleep. I've found luck with several.
One is a knee pillow, this one is great for travel since it's smaller, and easy for people that like to turn over a lot.
Product: 5 STARS UNITED Knee Pillow for Side Sleepers
The other is a half moon pillow, of which I have two. I actually prefer this for several reasons. One is that it doesn't rest just between my thighs, I actually put it long-ways between my knees, calves and ankles. Plus, it's longer so when I turn over on my back I can easily shift it to directly under my knees. I have two to stack for when I'm lounging in bed. Product: 5 STARS UNITED Knee Pillow for Back Sleeping
Back tape. I try to only use this when I've flared up so my muscles don't get too used to it. But it's a dream for plane rides, road trips, or days when you're planning to be up and moving a lot.
When it comes to KT tape, and I've used a lot in the last 5 years, there is one clear winner in my book: Product: Rock Tape 2 ft roll
If you already know you want the tape and plan to be using it often, spend the money on the larger roll, it saves in the long run.
Get a good pillow for your head too. It helps me to make sure it's only cradling my head and not my upper back. Normally I don't like buying pillows online but these have great reviews and I've been very happy with them. Product: Coop Home Goods The Essence Down Alternative Pillow
What else?
For a while I was using an inversion table. It feels really good to stretch out and did help me for a while. The hardest part is apartment living as it's not exactly space saving. However it does fold up and if you have the space for it it's great to have. There are more expensive ones but I didn't see any issue with this one: Product: Innova Inversion table
If I'm planning on being on my feet a lot I use a back brace, but I read (maybe someone can confirm or deny) that it trains the muscles not to work so you're possibly doing more damage in the long run. Product: Sparthos Back Support Belt
Work
A moveable standing desk is life changing. Not even just for standing but the ability to move the desk to the height you actually need to sit up straight. Product: FLEXISPOT EC1 Electric Adjustable Height Standing Desk 48x30
A good chair and/or yoga ball. Perhaps someone in the comments can recommend a good chair, as that's something I'll need next. I currently use a yoga ball and a wobble board when I'm standing. Product: Trideer Yoga ball Product: Amazon Basics wobble board
My colleague used to sit on a Gaiam yoga ball chair. She swore by it and she used it the entire 3 years we worked together so it must have been doing something right.
Exercise
Two different physical therapists have recommended Pilates to me. There are a ton of YouTube videos so I'll let you find one you like, but the biggest thing that's stressed to me is making sure it's traditional Pilates, and making sure your form is correct.
I was also told to do drinking birds, bridge pose, and clam shells whenever I can. (These links all take you to YouTube).
Staying consistent with exercise and stretching definitely helps keep the pain at bay, as does walking on a regular basis to stave off being sedentary.
I don't do Apple watches (addicted to enough devices) but I did purchase a used FitBit to just track my steps. I know you can search "Used" on Amazon but I actually found mine on Poshmark. Works great.
Diet
I'm not going to go too much into diet since it's a controversial topic, but here are some big things that helped me:
Cutting out alcohol entirely helped with more than just the inflammation, but gave me the energy I needed to tackle the pain.
I've added more whole fruits to my diet as well and cut back significantly on ultra-processed foods.
Cutting back on caffeine helped my sleep tremendously which helped recovery time for pain.