Seasonal Allergies Immunotherapy
Hi I’m planning on applying for OCS when I graduate in May. But im currently taking allergy shots for my seasonal allergies. I would have no problem pausing them during basic etc. Resuming when I’m past training, but is this something I have to do? Is it worth having to get a medical waiver for it? Do I need to tell my recruiter?
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Currently in the process of reenlisting as a prior service who was chaptered out in AIT for SI. Submitted and turned over all my paperwork to my recruiter and awaiting MEPS. My recruiter said this is the longest part of the waiting game from his experience. How long should I be expecting to wait realistically? I would ask my recruiter but I feel like I've bothered him enough over the past few weeks lmao. - Thanks!
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Hey guys l need some advice so i'm gonna get straight to the point. I am 20 and a junior in college. I ship in June and i have 3 Mos choices so far. 19D, 11b and 19k. Which do y’all recommend?I'm hardworking and not lazy so yeah. I am joining for many reasons but one of the main reasons is travel. Would I get to do tha much? Thank you
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Hey guys, I enlisted with an airborne contract that has my first assignment at Fort Liberty. How likely is it that I get assigned to the 82nd?
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Weight loss
I'm currently 5% body fat over for the arms 2.0. I'm eating way better and consuming 12-1,500 calories and losing an average of 3,000 calories a day. I've been running/walking 2 miles a day of hill terrain. My recruiter said I need to lose 10 pounds by May 17. I need tips and tricks on how to lose those pounds by then
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Army National Guard recruiter says at MEPS you can choose from several dates to start basic. Is that accurate?
If so, typically how many dates are there to choose from and how far in the future? I have a great civilian job, so would like to know my date as far in advance as possible.
Edit: would go on to traditional state OCS (yea, I know the internet’s opinions on it but it fits my life really well) afterwards.
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I've got 4 years active and 3 years guard under my belt and I've always put in to my tsp to get the match. I know you need 8 years to keep the matching, but my unit has drained what little motivation I had left for the army, and I've decided I'm done. I'm curious if anyone can help me figure out if there's any option that will help me keep my tsp matching besides a 1 year extension. I doubt the IRR counts towards 8 years, and from what I understand, the inactive guard is simply a pause button. So instead of pushing me to 8 years, it's just delaying my 7th till next year or something. I'm also wondering if a future federal job would contribute to that 8 years or if it has to be all concurrent. Thank you for any help or any resources or links yall can send me to figure this out.
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I was wondering if I could join the army with depression, anxiety, and OCD. All diagnosed. I have no suicide attempts or anything like that, no inpatient care either. All of these are somewhat mild and manageable, and I haven't been on any medication. But that was another concern of mine, if I was to get on any medication, would that disqualify me? Thanks a lot.
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Im currently a senior in high school trying to enlist in the army since December but I’m at a loss of what to do. I took the asvab scored a 61 but autism came up on my records from when I was a kid. I had to get a full medical Record for meps then they wanted my pharmacy record and now they want some more records my recruiter made me sign a form for my old doctors to get it from them about a month and a week ago. I called him the earlier this week and he said he Kentucky or Kansas (I didn’t hear him well and forgot) doing some training I honestly just don’t know what to do I’ll graduate from high school in a few weeks and I probably have a month after that before my parents kick me out any advice?
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Hey all, I wanted to get some insight on whether you all think I would be able to enlist with Crohn's. I've seen online that it's generally marked as an "unwaivable medical condition" but sometimes goes on a case by case basis. My IBD is very mild, I honestly forget that I even have the damn disease because it doesnt effect my daily life at all. I have it managed by taking an 8-week biologic but have gone on extended breaks from it before due to insurance reasons (roughly 2-3 months without any meds) and had no flare ups or any issues of the sort. However, my doctor is thinking of switching me to a daily pill (Rinvoq). I don't have any food sensitivities like a lot of Crohn's patients have (caffeine, alcohol, dairy, etc.) and have never had any surgeries nor does my GI doctor think i'll ever need one. I wanted to enlist for a 17C contract as im already in college for tech anyhow, I'm not sure if that would effect my standing. However, dream MOS is 18X but I figure that may be tougher to get by a recruiter. Any advice or thoughts? Army has been my dream forever and I don't want to have to give it up, so I'd really do anything haha.
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I have 2 non violent felonies from 2011 and PTD from 2022 for possession. I've been upfront and honest with my recruiter. He sent me to test today and I scored 63 on Asvab and GT of 113. Is there a chance for me? Thanks in advance. 30 and in great health and shape.
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What bases would you do bmt if your in cyber security and aviation mechanics?
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I ship out in a week. Went to meps and signed in March. Can I change my MOS? Or is it too late ?? I want something language related because I’m fluent in Arabic (already passed DLPT)
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For anyone that has done OSUT at Fort Moore, how long does it typically take before they’ll tell you where your FDS is?
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I have read a few horror stories where someone enlisted with X,Y, or Z in their contract, but after basic they where told something else and could not confirm the original. For example, someone claims they had a specific location through Option 19, only to later be told they are going somewhere else.
My first question is: has this happened to anyone here, and if so and how was it resolved?
My second question is: after signing your contract, how do you gain acess to it later? Do you receive a physical copy for yourself? Can you download a copy? Is there someone you can ask in the Army to retrieve it for you? Will it be acessable on a portal of somekind?
I am considering enlisting with option 19 and the location is very important to me. Thank you!
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Is phone use in BCT only delegated to calls? Also does phone use depend on what phase you're in, like, red phase 20 minutes, blue 30 minutes? Going to jackson
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Not the best time to swear in, waivers
I have all of my waivers approved, however, I won’t be swearing in due to job circumstances. If things change, can I still go back into the army or will I blocked out of it forever?
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I have an AAM and 3 COAs which S1 has been tracking for months but which have yet to reflect on my PPW. Do I have any recourse?
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my recruiter says that I can't get option 4 in my 35W contract but I really want to be airborne as a 35p/m so I have a higher chance of having my skills be put to use. Can i put in for airborne at DLI or AIT? what is the earliest I can do this and how would I go about it? I just went through the normal MEPS process not the airborne physical fyi
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Is a bonus worth choosing the Army over the AF?
In general, I’ve heard that the army’s QoL is less than that of the Air Force. However, the army has way more jobs w bonuses that I’d be interested in. And it’s the same or similar jobs as the Air Force, but w a bonus. I know the Basic Training for army is also longer, but a bonus can be convincing. I have the same question, but in regards to joining the navy as well. I want to focus on my education during my enlistment & get my bachelors & id also like travel opportunities. I haven’t taken my ASVAB yet, it’s scheduled the 16th. I scored rlly well on the PiCAT, and according to those scores I qualify for some army jobs w a bonus. I know it’s not as simple as that, and it’s a whole process & based on what’s available. Just want some opinions on if I was offered an army job w a bonus as opposed to the same/ similar Air Force job without, would you consider it worth it based on your experience?
I already got some answers from a post I made about this, but moderator deleted it and said to comment here. But any additional info/ insight is greatly appreciated. I want to make the best choice for my future in the case that I don't want to do 20 years.
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I'm joining up rn and working with a recruiter. We've got my waivers and everything. Pretty much just have to pick a job. For background I was an IET separation back in 2009. From what I've read and what me and my recruiter have gone over I am glossary non-prior service. I could have sworn I read (albeit a while ago) that business rules did not apply to GNPS, so I should be free to pick my MOS. However, I talked to my recruiter earlier today and he wants me to sit with his 1SG and go over the job options available for prior service. Am I wrong and I just get what I get?
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Please help!
I was looking to join the guard but in my medical records it shows I had Guillan barre. I was feeling some numbness in my legs, but looking back at it, it was very cold outside and I was just a bitch who would try to get out of school by any means possible. They did a spinal tap and never found any trace of the disease however. I was in the hospital for a couple of days, the gave me immunoglobulin and then I went home and nothing ever came of it. I am currently completely asymptomatic This was when I was 12 or 13 years old. Now I’m 18 and want to join but my recruiter said I have to get all the records and stuff. What is the chance that I will still be able to join? I tried looking it up online but I couldn’t find an answer. Also if I’m able to join, will I need a medical waiver?
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My MOS is 68W, I'm shipping out in June and I'm taking the OPAT in a couple of weeks. I'm 5'2 and 115ish pounds. I'm pretty fit. My biggest worry is the standing long jump. I want to pass the OPAT with flying colors and keep my MOS. Is there any advice or tips y'all can give me?
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I’m looking to graduate and enlist in a month but can’t decide on what MOS I want. I think 11B because I don’t want to individuate and do army shit or 68W but I’m not sure if I can get advanced combative training or other schools I want. I want to do something that’s “high speed” and meaningful while working my way towards Ranger reg. Is the 82nd Airborne a good pathway to that? How is civil affairs? Can you enlist directly into it while being active duty?
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Thinking about reenlisting to army with 8.5 PS in USMC. Been out < 5years. Will I have to repeat AIT if I keep my same MOS? I know this is the wrong channel for USMC feedback but also considering going back there if it would mean not repeating AlT. Thanks in advance!
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Hi everyone! I’m a high school student planning on joining the military. I’m Muslim, so I want to be sure that whichever branch I join is accommodating to Muslim needs. If it changes anything, I’m planning joining through the ROTC route.
My main concerns are, does the Army give beard waivers for Muslims? Is it possible to take short breaks throughout the day to pray? Can you fast during Ramadan? Can you be provided with halal (no pork/no alcohol) food?
Also, I’m interested in infantry or armor (or any kind of ground forces officer in general). Would these accommodations interfere with being selected for these careers or being mission ready? (Such as a beard, fasting, etc.)
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i’m a current nasty girl and i’m looking to transfer to Active duty. i understand i need a conditional release in order to sign a new contract and need my G-1 to sign off on it. i’m looking for info on the process from someone who’s gone through the process.
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What are the odds of getting a waiver for ulcerative colitis? I was EPTS’d out in march 2023 after being diagnosed while I was at 30th AG. My GI said I was in remission as of jan of this year. I take 4 Lialda pills a day and get an entyvio infusion every 2 months. I feel perfectly fine now though. Scored a 74 on the asvab.
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Medical record
In the navy currently and getting out in a year. I had a back injury prior to enlisting that I didn’t disclose. I plan on entering the army after my contract. If this comes up will my discharge from the navy be lowered or my benefits revoked?
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So my recruiter told me that I have to get a lease first, but the thing is, is that we don't have one with our landlord. It's more like an oral lease and he's a slumlord who never tries to communicate with any of us. That being said, my recruiter then said that I should find a lease online and edit it to where I state that I'm paying the rent to my sister instead (who has a valid ID) He also stated that my sister and I have to go to a check-cashing place to get it notarized. Is this all ok to do and will the BHA be approved? Also if it's approved, does this mean that the rent we pay which is $1,365.50, is going to be paid for while I'm away and how exactly??
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Can I enlist if I have a Mexican highschool diploma? (I am american, just finished highschool in mexico) And don't have a address in the USA???
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I am thinking of finishing up my bachelors and joining as an officer, my question was whether it was possible or not to guarantee mos 17c in the army if I join as an officer.
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I just got told that I cant enlist for 2 years after my waiver got denied for a history of depression. I stopped feeling depressed last August but got officially cleared into remission in February. I was told theres no point in a consult and the most I can do is reach out to a congressman. Other than reaching out to a congressman, is there really nothing I can do?
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Questions about Virginia National Guard
I want to do OCS! Now here’s my confusion. My recruiter is saying that the moment I swear in is the moment my contract is going to start and will count towards that 6 year! So, if he is right, I will basically complete 2 years training if I do state OCS. But I would like to have more control on what branch I get! My top 3 are: cyber warfare, signal, and intel. Should I do accelerated in that case? Also how likely am I to get one of those aforementioned three if I do state OCS of 18 months? My bachelor was in Computer Engineering, and I am currently enrolled in ASU for master’s pursuing Computer Science! Will I get that 24k a year tuition fee because he said there’s a possibility I might get it since it’s fully online? Can I get tuition assistance and loan repayment both? Does getting either one incur additional service time?
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im thinking of joining as a officer and going into ocs, what is the best branch for a well paying civilian job after completing my service, for context my major right now is relg studies plus maybe bio.
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I leave for Future Soldier Preparatory Course for the fitness aspect on the 21st, has anyone gone through it recently? There’s not a whole lot of information on it online, I was just wondering what it’s like, and what to expect. Do you get issued all of your gear since you will be going to bmt after? What is reception like? Any and all information and tips is greatly appreciated!
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So my husband is going to meps next week. he has 2 different sets of scars on his left arm. He works at a mobile home plant building houses. One was from when he got caught on a nail so it's a little deeper looking and another was from some sheet metal at work. He didn't disclose it to his boss because he works on a line and it would've put his team behind so he just put some bandaids on it and went about his day and cleaned it up when he got home. This was about 1-2 years ago. What is his meps experience going to be like? They aren't self harm obviously but we've heard horror stories about the doctors at meps not believing people and DQ them. He honestly forgot about telling his recruiter and his recruiter has already sent in all his medical history and got him scheduled for meps. Should he still go ahead and tell his recruiter or just wait and disclose it at meps?
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Should i go in as 17c or try my luck at ocs?
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I'm currently in process Enlisting in the Reserve, while holding an associate's degree in mechanical engineering technology, with some side education in programming. While I am working towards my bachelor's degree, I'm looking to pick an MOS that will help my career, or at the very least, be interesting. I don't remember my scores, but my Recruiter told me whatever I pick, my score won't be the limiting factor.
Top of the list for career jobs is 15 series, from what I've heard from currently enlisted in my friend group, wrenching on aircraft in general is a fast track to a cushy job on the outside with my education. 25 series looks boring but useful as anything IT/electrical complements my degree. On the more interesting side, I was looking at 91 series, either 91F or 91P.
Am I going anywhere wrong with any of these jobs? Anything I should be keeping in mind?
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25D or 35T I just wonder which MOS would be better for career. I am really interested in IT. I know 25D is not entry MOS. Let’s say you meet requirements for both MOS. If you stay as enlisted side, what would you recommend?
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I’m heading to ait now at fort Moore for 91M do I get my phone and am I in a dorm how is that like
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Hi all,
I am a permanent resident here is the US, and last week I finished my ASVAB mock test with a 95 on my AFQT. The recruiter says I am eligible for everything that doesn't require a security clearance which is kind of a problem as my dream MOS are the 35-series and 17-series (As both of these are locked behind clearance requirement)
After some thinking, I narrow down to the following, but there are still too many so I hope I can get your feedback on what I am doing. My aims are: a/I want something that will translate into the civilian world well if my time in the army doesn't go well, b/I want an MOS that can advanced through warrant or becoming a commission officer if my time in the army does go well, and c/I want to push myself to the limit and break out of my comfort zone to see where I can go. If I sound arrogant, please forgive for that: I am just trying to be as careful as possible. I am nearly reaching my thirty, and I want to take deliberate steps because I no longer have the luxury of youth and family to try and fail.
The MOS are:
11-series, 12B and 12D: I have a soft spot for these despite knowing they don't translate into the civilian world. But in my heart somewhere is a wild child that wants to test my physical prowess and wants to blow things up. I do know my knees and lower back will hate me for picking this.
15 series: With exceptions to 15C, 15J, and other works related to flying or being mechanics of sensitive equipment, I can be an aircraft technicians. I read that there are demands for airplane mechanics but I don't know much about this field other than a/I got to repair planes, b/people seem to hate it because you have to sign a long contract if you become a warrant.
68A: I did see this MOS getting recommended a lot but after reading its description, I am not very sure if I want to do it either both in the army or afterwards. I must also admit I don't have a good insights onto the day to day life of this job. Can someone shed some light about this MOS for me?
68C: Becoming a nurse seems like a very safe choice out of the military given that the BLS projects nurse to be in high demand and being able to take care of your family sounds like a big plus to me; however, I don't know if I like being a nurse. My parents were doctors, and having seen the hospital environment I can say I am not a fan. I also look into 68A but BLS prospect for it didn't seem good, and the training on 68E, 68D, and 68V look a little bit too short. Do you really become a dental assistant just with 10 weeks of training?
68W: I must admit, I have a soft spot for 68W as it allows me to be both learn some medical skills and be on the field. However, I do notice that 68W only translates to paramedic/EMT post-army, while 68C translates to becoming a nurse (which is more valued and regarded as "better" than paramedic or EMT and thus in higher demand)
88H, 92A, 92F, and 92Y: I pick these because, according to BLS, there is a projected increase need for people in warehousing and transportation. From my limited understanding of the fields, you will be in charge of handling logistics such as maintaining unit inventory, ordering supplies and weapons for your units, etc. but I am not very sure on the difference between, say, 92Y and 92A.
So, can you give me a suggestions? May anyone who has been in these MOS share their experience to help me pick? What are some of the MOS I miss?
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
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Is the 09m program ending at the end of may?
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How does one secure a religious exemption before basic training? My recruiter said we would talk about it down the line but it’s getting down to the wire and I’d rather it not get forgotten.
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Hi my duty station is at JBLM I’ll hopefully be there around May of 2025. I still have too go through basic and AIT but I was hoping that I could get some info about the barracks and hopefully get in touch with some of the people that are getting stationed/ already stationed There that are aviation, specifically 15Y. Thank you
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How can i improve my chances of success after the military?
I'm going to meps in 2 weeks and im shooting for a 25 series mos. 25H was what was available at the recruiters after i took my practice asvab. I'm not the brightest bulb but, hey, I'll take it. Aside from college ,which i want to continue to pursue throughout my time in the army (or after depending on my mental fortitude once i'm actually in,) how can i set myself up for success in the civilian world? Any input from past 25h or 25 series who somehow translated their career into decent paying jobs will be much appreciated.
I'll add I'm only joining the army for the college benefits and free training as i come from a poor household and have no other feasible way to pay for it.
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Hello everyone,
I was recently laid off from a $64k job, and honestly, I'm not too upset. I was already feeling burnt out and unhappy, staying primarily for the promised educational benefits to facilitate a career change, which obviously fell through with the job loss. Now, I'm considering my options and the military as a new path has been sounding appealing to an extent. The VA loan and GI Bill are particularly enticing because they would help me pursue a degree without getting into debt, and enabling the career change I've been considering. And the thought of being able to buy a house at this age/economy seems awesome.
At 28, I'm weighing the implications of joining now, especially considering the pay cut and spending four years AD without the guarantee of going overseas which for me would make it much more worthwhile. Also, I'd likely be one of the older members among younger peers, which is another factor to consider. My entry rank would be E3 due to my associate degree told by the Air force recruiter I met, but I'll need a moral waiver for a misdemeanor I had at 18, which might limit my job options not to mention she told me I would have to be at the disposal of whatever the Air Force wanted me to do? Which I am assuming means that I could enlist for one thing that they tell me nope get your doing this.The Air Force recruiter told me that I would be just fine and I would be able to get in as long as my ASVAB score is high enough.
I'm torn about whether to commit to AD and save myself or a longer term in the military via reserves but still stuck in the same loop of feeling in fulfilled, unable to afford university and in a place I would rather leave. Insights from anyone who joined the military later or faced similar decisions would be incredibly helpful.
Thanks for any advice!
P.S I am also ok with the idea of the military as a career as I would still be able to retire earlier than many of my peers if I pursue the 20 year route..
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I’m reenlisting at the end of this month (was NG but going active). My husband is also active and I was wondering how likely is it that I can be in the same battalion as my husband? I know married couples aren’t supposed to work directly together but would that still be considered “working together”?
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Hi All, I'm 23F graduating college with my bachelor's in international relations at the end of July. I speak intermediate Spanish and would be open to learning more languages. I am looking for a mos that doesn't restrict me to behind a desk or sitting on my ass all day. I was thinking of something intelligence related. I would appreciate any advice/help.
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So i have hemorrhoids right now and I go to MEPS monday. I have a Drs visit from about 2 years ago where she prescribed me the cream to use. The cream says to only use it when you have hemorrhoids. I still have the cream. Will I pass MEPS if I bring that the Dr visit. or should I get a new one the day before? It's Saturday so my recruiter won't answer.
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So I enlisted on Friday. (25H) and I ship to BT in August. I’ve made my mind up before enlisting that I was going to make a career out of it. So now I’m here before you all to ask… what’s some advice you could give someone looking to do 20. Like what’s steps would you take if you could go back to make the most of your Army career? I remember my dad who served in the navy would always say “choose your rate choose your fate” and I think I started off on the right foot. Any suggestions to help make the correct steps in my new career path?
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Going back in. Needing some suggestions on different MOS.
So when I was in the first time I was a 25U. I was 16 when I swore in to secure my mos and left at 18YO. I’ve decicided to go back in. Im picking between 19 jobs, I qualify for all of them as I keep my old asvab scores. I scored over a 105 in everything so I have a pretty big list to pick from. These jobs have good jobs outside of the army and that’s my angle, I know 25U translates to a good job outside of the army but it’s not my cup of tea. So any info on the jobs in the army and civilian life for these mos would be greatly appreciate. The jobs are: 68L 68X (specifically because I want to help vets who are/have suffered) 88H 35F 25B 35M 35G 35L 88K 88N 88U 27D 31E 12M 15Q 15N 25U 88L 88M
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Already signed my contract but I really really wanna change my MOS by the time I ship out for BCT in mid-July, what would be the best way to approach and ask my recruiter to change my MOS? The one that I want is really in demand (19K) so maybe that might help?
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Background: Greencard holder, 6yr+ experience in IT field. No degree. Married.
Always wanted to join the military and finally have the opportunity to do so.
What I want to experience from the military;
I want the opportunity to grow in the IT field and have military experience and later on attain a contractor job in overseas installations. Very interested in being able to move overseas for a few years specially Japan.
My biggest interest is to grow in my career + experience other countries.
Recruits have also told me that for active duty they are allowing first duty station to be chosen because the army apparently has a shortage of people joining so they want to motivate people to join by allowing them to choose duty stations. This has made me consider going active IF they aren't lying about this + the job security has always been a plus to me.
My primary plan was :
Going reserve, getting my citizenship while in basic training, changing my mos to 25B then finding government contracting job overseas preferably (Japan) and changing my unit to Japan to drill there (Camp Zama). Overall my biggest goal is to move overseas and be in the IT field.
What is the best route? Advice is greatly appreciated in advance:)
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I want to enlist as a 19D Wont be for a year or so still but trying to do my research and evrything and make sure this is what i want, So far it looks like it is but i have a couple of questions that i need answering before i decided to enlist. 1. as a 19D with 19C coming will 19D still be manning Bradleys 2. What are my chances of being assigned to a cav unit i really dont wanna be assigned to an infantry or god knows what else 3. Am i able to enlist as active at 17?
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Is it hard to get a self harm waiver? It happened one time three years ago. My recruiter is pushing for it now
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I'm going to MEPS this week and I was told that the Job I'm really interested in (12w) is rare and to not get my hopes up. I'll be doing research about some other jobs, but if I really want that job should I just wait for a slot to open up or go with alternate choices?
Does anyone have any experience with this job and how often slots show up?
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Vision Waiver Acceptance Probability
So I’m wanting to enlist as an 11x OP 4in the army, went to MEPS a few weeks ago, and am currently waiting on a current injury to be waived. I’m just kind of worrying about my vision waiver. Recruiter said we have to wait for this to be cleared first, then we can launch the vision waiver.
What’s the probability that a vision waiver will be accepted with Visual Acuity of 20/30 20/50 corrected vision. I understand everything is case to case, I’m just kind of worrying that it’ll end up being denied.
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Is there a list of all the different Options in contracts? Like Option 40, Option 4, Option 19, etc?
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In the process of renegotiating my contract before shipping out and I'm seriously considering 19K (M1 Armor Crewman). Recruiter told me that anyone can volunteer to go to airborne school at BCT and I really want to go airborne but it seems like 19Ks don't really do it as much as other MOS's. Is it true that i will have the opportunity to volunteer myself for airborne school at basic? If not, how can I attend Airborne or any other specialized school as a tanker?
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Leaving for BT in 2wks. First stop Ft Lenwood and then ft sill for AIT. Then off to Ft Drum for my 1st duty station. Can anyone offer insight on what to expect at each location/stage? 13F if it matters. Much appreciated.
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Just reserved mos 88L Water craft engineer.
Was excited at first as I’ve e heard a lot of good things about this mos, but i have a wife, 6yr old and another on the way and am worried that i wont be home that often given this mos. Im supposed to go to meps in 4 days and swear in. Im really not trying to be away from my family all that often. Is this mos bad for family life? Have i made a mistake? Or should i keep it and roll with it. Any recommendations on what i should do?
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Hello, I’m in ROTC right now but I’m about to go to CST. I have been looking into branches as much as possible and am pretty set on ADA but I wanted to ask if anyone here has been on a HIMAD or SHORAD deployment that can give me some insight on what it’s like, more specifically SHORAD but I do want to hear both sides.
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Joining the army
hi, I am 17 turning 18F, and im joining the army and going to boot camp soon. What are some advice or anything you would tell someone before they go to boot camp or thinking about joining the army?
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Hello, I'm currently a high school senior who is interested in joining the ROTC. I've reached out to ROTC recruiters in the colleges that I will be attending however, they never picked up their phones nor responded to their emails after multiple attempts. I've also scheduled appointments with them only for them to not show up multiple times. I've also called the army and they said they would have someone call me but they never did either. I was wondering if anyone could help me get in touch with an ROTC recruiter as I got a few questions about the Army ROTC as well as the process to proceed.
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Can you go to an maritime academy before your service then get it paid when you join? Can you take maritime academy while active duty?
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What are possible first duty stations for Army officers out of ROTC by MOS?
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Seasonal Allergies Immunotherapy
Hi I’m planning on applying for OCS when I graduate in May. But im currently taking allergy shots for my seasonal allergies. I would have no problem pausing them during basic etc. Resuming when I’m past training, but is this something I have to do? Is it worth having to get a medical waiver for it? Do I need to tell my recruiter?
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Currently in the process of reenlisting as a prior service who was chaptered out in AIT for SI. Submitted and turned over all my paperwork to my recruiter and awaiting MEPS. My recruiter said this is the longest part of the waiting game from his experience. How long should I be expecting to wait realistically? I would ask my recruiter but I feel like I've bothered him enough over the past few weeks lmao. - Thanks!
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Hey guys l need some advice so i'm gonna get straight to the point. I am 20 and a junior in college. I ship in June and i have 3 Mos choices so far. 19D, 11b and 19k. Which do y’all recommend?I'm hardworking and not lazy so yeah. I am joining for many reasons but one of the main reasons is travel. Would I get to do tha much? Thank you
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Hey guys, I enlisted with an airborne contract that has my first assignment at Fort Liberty. How likely is it that I get assigned to the 82nd?
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Weight loss
I'm currently 5% body fat over for the arms 2.0. I'm eating way better and consuming 12-1,500 calories and losing an average of 3,000 calories a day. I've been running/walking 2 miles a day of hill terrain. My recruiter said I need to lose 10 pounds by May 17. I need tips and tricks on how to lose those pounds by then
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Army National Guard recruiter says at MEPS you can choose from several dates to start basic. Is that accurate?
If so, typically how many dates are there to choose from and how far in the future? I have a great civilian job, so would like to know my date as far in advance as possible.
Edit: would go on to traditional state OCS (yea, I know the internet’s opinions on it but it fits my life really well) afterwards.
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I've got 4 years active and 3 years guard under my belt and I've always put in to my tsp to get the match. I know you need 8 years to keep the matching, but my unit has drained what little motivation I had left for the army, and I've decided I'm done. I'm curious if anyone can help me figure out if there's any option that will help me keep my tsp matching besides a 1 year extension. I doubt the IRR counts towards 8 years, and from what I understand, the inactive guard is simply a pause button. So instead of pushing me to 8 years, it's just delaying my 7th till next year or something. I'm also wondering if a future federal job would contribute to that 8 years or if it has to be all concurrent. Thank you for any help or any resources or links yall can send me to figure this out.
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I was wondering if I could join the army with depression, anxiety, and OCD. All diagnosed. I have no suicide attempts or anything like that, no inpatient care either. All of these are somewhat mild and manageable, and I haven't been on any medication. But that was another concern of mine, if I was to get on any medication, would that disqualify me? Thanks a lot.
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Im currently a senior in high school trying to enlist in the army since December but I’m at a loss of what to do. I took the asvab scored a 61 but autism came up on my records from when I was a kid. I had to get a full medical Record for meps then they wanted my pharmacy record and now they want some more records my recruiter made me sign a form for my old doctors to get it from them about a month and a week ago. I called him the earlier this week and he said he Kentucky or Kansas (I didn’t hear him well and forgot) doing some training I honestly just don’t know what to do I’ll graduate from high school in a few weeks and I probably have a month after that before my parents kick me out any advice?
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Hey all, I wanted to get some insight on whether you all think I would be able to enlist with Crohn's. I've seen online that it's generally marked as an "unwaivable medical condition" but sometimes goes on a case by case basis. My IBD is very mild, I honestly forget that I even have the damn disease because it doesnt effect my daily life at all. I have it managed by taking an 8-week biologic but have gone on extended breaks from it before due to insurance reasons (roughly 2-3 months without any meds) and had no flare ups or any issues of the sort. However, my doctor is thinking of switching me to a daily pill (Rinvoq). I don't have any food sensitivities like a lot of Crohn's patients have (caffeine, alcohol, dairy, etc.) and have never had any surgeries nor does my GI doctor think i'll ever need one. I wanted to enlist for a 17C contract as im already in college for tech anyhow, I'm not sure if that would effect my standing. However, dream MOS is 18X but I figure that may be tougher to get by a recruiter. Any advice or thoughts? Army has been my dream forever and I don't want to have to give it up, so I'd really do anything haha.
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I have 2 non violent felonies from 2011 and PTD from 2022 for possession. I've been upfront and honest with my recruiter. He sent me to test today and I scored 63 on Asvab and GT of 113. Is there a chance for me? Thanks in advance. 30 and in great health and shape.
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What bases would you do bmt if your in cyber security and aviation mechanics?
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I ship out in a week. Went to meps and signed in March. Can I change my MOS? Or is it too late ?? I want something language related because I’m fluent in Arabic (already passed DLPT)
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For anyone that has done OSUT at Fort Moore, how long does it typically take before they’ll tell you where your FDS is?
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I have read a few horror stories where someone enlisted with X,Y, or Z in their contract, but after basic they where told something else and could not confirm the original. For example, someone claims they had a specific location through Option 19, only to later be told they are going somewhere else.
My first question is: has this happened to anyone here, and if so and how was it resolved?
My second question is: after signing your contract, how do you gain acess to it later? Do you receive a physical copy for yourself? Can you download a copy? Is there someone you can ask in the Army to retrieve it for you? Will it be acessable on a portal of somekind?
I am considering enlisting with option 19 and the location is very important to me. Thank you!
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Is phone use in BCT only delegated to calls? Also does phone use depend on what phase you're in, like, red phase 20 minutes, blue 30 minutes? Going to jackson
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Not the best time to swear in, waivers
I have all of my waivers approved, however, I won’t be swearing in due to job circumstances. If things change, can I still go back into the army or will I blocked out of it forever?
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I have an AAM and 3 COAs which S1 has been tracking for months but which have yet to reflect on my PPW. Do I have any recourse?
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my recruiter says that I can't get option 4 in my 35W contract but I really want to be airborne as a 35p/m so I have a higher chance of having my skills be put to use. Can i put in for airborne at DLI or AIT? what is the earliest I can do this and how would I go about it? I just went through the normal MEPS process not the airborne physical fyi
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Is a bonus worth choosing the Army over the AF?
In general, I’ve heard that the army’s QoL is less than that of the Air Force. However, the army has way more jobs w bonuses that I’d be interested in. And it’s the same or similar jobs as the Air Force, but w a bonus. I know the Basic Training for army is also longer, but a bonus can be convincing. I have the same question, but in regards to joining the navy as well. I want to focus on my education during my enlistment & get my bachelors & id also like travel opportunities. I haven’t taken my ASVAB yet, it’s scheduled the 16th. I scored rlly well on the PiCAT, and according to those scores I qualify for some army jobs w a bonus. I know it’s not as simple as that, and it’s a whole process & based on what’s available. Just want some opinions on if I was offered an army job w a bonus as opposed to the same/ similar Air Force job without, would you consider it worth it based on your experience?
I already got some answers from a post I made about this, but moderator deleted it and said to comment here. But any additional info/ insight is greatly appreciated. I want to make the best choice for my future in the case that I don't want to do 20 years.
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I'm joining up rn and working with a recruiter. We've got my waivers and everything. Pretty much just have to pick a job. For background I was an IET separation back in 2009. From what I've read and what me and my recruiter have gone over I am glossary non-prior service. I could have sworn I read (albeit a while ago) that business rules did not apply to GNPS, so I should be free to pick my MOS. However, I talked to my recruiter earlier today and he wants me to sit with his 1SG and go over the job options available for prior service. Am I wrong and I just get what I get?
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Please help!
I was looking to join the guard but in my medical records it shows I had Guillan barre. I was feeling some numbness in my legs, but looking back at it, it was very cold outside and I was just a bitch who would try to get out of school by any means possible. They did a spinal tap and never found any trace of the disease however. I was in the hospital for a couple of days, the gave me immunoglobulin and then I went home and nothing ever came of it. I am currently completely asymptomatic This was when I was 12 or 13 years old. Now I’m 18 and want to join but my recruiter said I have to get all the records and stuff. What is the chance that I will still be able to join? I tried looking it up online but I couldn’t find an answer. Also if I’m able to join, will I need a medical waiver?
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My MOS is 68W, I'm shipping out in June and I'm taking the OPAT in a couple of weeks. I'm 5'2 and 115ish pounds. I'm pretty fit. My biggest worry is the standing long jump. I want to pass the OPAT with flying colors and keep my MOS. Is there any advice or tips y'all can give me?
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I’m looking to graduate and enlist in a month but can’t decide on what MOS I want. I think 11B because I don’t want to individuate and do army shit or 68W but I’m not sure if I can get advanced combative training or other schools I want. I want to do something that’s “high speed” and meaningful while working my way towards Ranger reg. Is the 82nd Airborne a good pathway to that? How is civil affairs? Can you enlist directly into it while being active duty?
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Thinking about reenlisting to army with 8.5 PS in USMC. Been out < 5years. Will I have to repeat AIT if I keep my same MOS? I know this is the wrong channel for USMC feedback but also considering going back there if it would mean not repeating AlT. Thanks in advance!
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Hi everyone! I’m a high school student planning on joining the military. I’m Muslim, so I want to be sure that whichever branch I join is accommodating to Muslim needs. If it changes anything, I’m planning joining through the ROTC route.
My main concerns are, does the Army give beard waivers for Muslims? Is it possible to take short breaks throughout the day to pray? Can you fast during Ramadan? Can you be provided with halal (no pork/no alcohol) food?
Also, I’m interested in infantry or armor (or any kind of ground forces officer in general). Would these accommodations interfere with being selected for these careers or being mission ready? (Such as a beard, fasting, etc.)
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i’m a current nasty girl and i’m looking to transfer to Active duty. i understand i need a conditional release in order to sign a new contract and need my G-1 to sign off on it. i’m looking for info on the process from someone who’s gone through the process.
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What are the odds of getting a waiver for ulcerative colitis? I was EPTS’d out in march 2023 after being diagnosed while I was at 30th AG. My GI said I was in remission as of jan of this year. I take 4 Lialda pills a day and get an entyvio infusion every 2 months. I feel perfectly fine now though. Scored a 74 on the asvab.
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Medical record
In the navy currently and getting out in a year. I had a back injury prior to enlisting that I didn’t disclose. I plan on entering the army after my contract. If this comes up will my discharge from the navy be lowered or my benefits revoked?
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So my recruiter told me that I have to get a lease first, but the thing is, is that we don't have one with our landlord. It's more like an oral lease and he's a slumlord who never tries to communicate with any of us. That being said, my recruiter then said that I should find a lease online and edit it to where I state that I'm paying the rent to my sister instead (who has a valid ID) He also stated that my sister and I have to go to a check-cashing place to get it notarized. Is this all ok to do and will the BHA be approved? Also if it's approved, does this mean that the rent we pay which is $1,365.50, is going to be paid for while I'm away and how exactly??
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Can I enlist if I have a Mexican highschool diploma? (I am american, just finished highschool in mexico) And don't have a address in the USA???
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I am thinking of finishing up my bachelors and joining as an officer, my question was whether it was possible or not to guarantee mos 17c in the army if I join as an officer.
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I just got told that I cant enlist for 2 years after my waiver got denied for a history of depression. I stopped feeling depressed last August but got officially cleared into remission in February. I was told theres no point in a consult and the most I can do is reach out to a congressman. Other than reaching out to a congressman, is there really nothing I can do?
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Questions about Virginia National Guard
I want to do OCS! Now here’s my confusion. My recruiter is saying that the moment I swear in is the moment my contract is going to start and will count towards that 6 year! So, if he is right, I will basically complete 2 years training if I do state OCS. But I would like to have more control on what branch I get! My top 3 are: cyber warfare, signal, and intel. Should I do accelerated in that case? Also how likely am I to get one of those aforementioned three if I do state OCS of 18 months? My bachelor was in Computer Engineering, and I am currently enrolled in ASU for master’s pursuing Computer Science! Will I get that 24k a year tuition fee because he said there’s a possibility I might get it since it’s fully online? Can I get tuition assistance and loan repayment both? Does getting either one incur additional service time?
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im thinking of joining as a officer and going into ocs, what is the best branch for a well paying civilian job after completing my service, for context my major right now is relg studies plus maybe bio.
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I leave for Future Soldier Preparatory Course for the fitness aspect on the 21st, has anyone gone through it recently? There’s not a whole lot of information on it online, I was just wondering what it’s like, and what to expect. Do you get issued all of your gear since you will be going to bmt after? What is reception like? Any and all information and tips is greatly appreciated!
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So my husband is going to meps next week. he has 2 different sets of scars on his left arm. He works at a mobile home plant building houses. One was from when he got caught on a nail so it's a little deeper looking and another was from some sheet metal at work. He didn't disclose it to his boss because he works on a line and it would've put his team behind so he just put some bandaids on it and went about his day and cleaned it up when he got home. This was about 1-2 years ago. What is his meps experience going to be like? They aren't self harm obviously but we've heard horror stories about the doctors at meps not believing people and DQ them. He honestly forgot about telling his recruiter and his recruiter has already sent in all his medical history and got him scheduled for meps. Should he still go ahead and tell his recruiter or just wait and disclose it at meps?
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Should i go in as 17c or try my luck at ocs?
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I'm currently in process Enlisting in the Reserve, while holding an associate's degree in mechanical engineering technology, with some side education in programming. While I am working towards my bachelor's degree, I'm looking to pick an MOS that will help my career, or at the very least, be interesting. I don't remember my scores, but my Recruiter told me whatever I pick, my score won't be the limiting factor.
Top of the list for career jobs is 15 series, from what I've heard from currently enlisted in my friend group, wrenching on aircraft in general is a fast track to a cushy job on the outside with my education. 25 series looks boring but useful as anything IT/electrical complements my degree. On the more interesting side, I was looking at 91 series, either 91F or 91P.
Am I going anywhere wrong with any of these jobs? Anything I should be keeping in mind?
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25D or 35T I just wonder which MOS would be better for career. I am really interested in IT. I know 25D is not entry MOS. Let’s say you meet requirements for both MOS. If you stay as enlisted side, what would you recommend?
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I’m heading to ait now at fort Moore for 91M do I get my phone and am I in a dorm how is that like
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Hi all,
I am a permanent resident here is the US, and last week I finished my ASVAB mock test with a 95 on my AFQT. The recruiter says I am eligible for everything that doesn't require a security clearance which is kind of a problem as my dream MOS are the 35-series and 17-series (As both of these are locked behind clearance requirement)
After some thinking, I narrow down to the following, but there are still too many so I hope I can get your feedback on what I am doing. My aims are: a/I want something that will translate into the civilian world well if my time in the army doesn't go well, b/I want an MOS that can advanced through warrant or becoming a commission officer if my time in the army does go well, and c/I want to push myself to the limit and break out of my comfort zone to see where I can go. If I sound arrogant, please forgive for that: I am just trying to be as careful as possible. I am nearly reaching my thirty, and I want to take deliberate steps because I no longer have the luxury of youth and family to try and fail.
The MOS are:
11-series, 12B and 12D: I have a soft spot for these despite knowing they don't translate into the civilian world. But in my heart somewhere is a wild child that wants to test my physical prowess and wants to blow things up. I do know my knees and lower back will hate me for picking this.
15 series: With exceptions to 15C, 15J, and other works related to flying or being mechanics of sensitive equipment, I can be an aircraft technicians. I read that there are demands for airplane mechanics but I don't know much about this field other than a/I got to repair planes, b/people seem to hate it because you have to sign a long contract if you become a warrant.
68A: I did see this MOS getting recommended a lot but after reading its description, I am not very sure if I want to do it either both in the army or afterwards. I must also admit I don't have a good insights onto the day to day life of this job. Can someone shed some light about this MOS for me?
68C: Becoming a nurse seems like a very safe choice out of the military given that the BLS projects nurse to be in high demand and being able to take care of your family sounds like a big plus to me; however, I don't know if I like being a nurse. My parents were doctors, and having seen the hospital environment I can say I am not a fan. I also look into 68A but BLS prospect for it didn't seem good, and the training on 68E, 68D, and 68V look a little bit too short. Do you really become a dental assistant just with 10 weeks of training?
68W: I must admit, I have a soft spot for 68W as it allows me to be both learn some medical skills and be on the field. However, I do notice that 68W only translates to paramedic/EMT post-army, while 68C translates to becoming a nurse (which is more valued and regarded as "better" than paramedic or EMT and thus in higher demand)
88H, 92A, 92F, and 92Y: I pick these because, according to BLS, there is a projected increase need for people in warehousing and transportation. From my limited understanding of the fields, you will be in charge of handling logistics such as maintaining unit inventory, ordering supplies and weapons for your units, etc. but I am not very sure on the difference between, say, 92Y and 92A.
So, can you give me a suggestions? May anyone who has been in these MOS share their experience to help me pick? What are some of the MOS I miss?
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
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Is the 09m program ending at the end of may?
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How does one secure a religious exemption before basic training? My recruiter said we would talk about it down the line but it’s getting down to the wire and I’d rather it not get forgotten.
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Hi my duty station is at JBLM I’ll hopefully be there around May of 2025. I still have too go through basic and AIT but I was hoping that I could get some info about the barracks and hopefully get in touch with some of the people that are getting stationed/ already stationed There that are aviation, specifically 15Y. Thank you
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How can i improve my chances of success after the military?
I'm going to meps in 2 weeks and im shooting for a 25 series mos. 25H was what was available at the recruiters after i took my practice asvab. I'm not the brightest bulb but, hey, I'll take it. Aside from college ,which i want to continue to pursue throughout my time in the army (or after depending on my mental fortitude once i'm actually in,) how can i set myself up for success in the civilian world? Any input from past 25h or 25 series who somehow translated their career into decent paying jobs will be much appreciated.
I'll add I'm only joining the army for the college benefits and free training as i come from a poor household and have no other feasible way to pay for it.
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Hello everyone,
I was recently laid off from a $64k job, and honestly, I'm not too upset. I was already feeling burnt out and unhappy, staying primarily for the promised educational benefits to facilitate a career change, which obviously fell through with the job loss. Now, I'm considering my options and the military as a new path has been sounding appealing to an extent. The VA loan and GI Bill are particularly enticing because they would help me pursue a degree without getting into debt, and enabling the career change I've been considering. And the thought of being able to buy a house at this age/economy seems awesome.
At 28, I'm weighing the implications of joining now, especially considering the pay cut and spending four years AD without the guarantee of going overseas which for me would make it much more worthwhile. Also, I'd likely be one of the older members among younger peers, which is another factor to consider. My entry rank would be E3 due to my associate degree told by the Air force recruiter I met, but I'll need a moral waiver for a misdemeanor I had at 18, which might limit my job options not to mention she told me I would have to be at the disposal of whatever the Air Force wanted me to do? Which I am assuming means that I could enlist for one thing that they tell me nope get your doing this.The Air Force recruiter told me that I would be just fine and I would be able to get in as long as my ASVAB score is high enough.
I'm torn about whether to commit to AD and save myself or a longer term in the military via reserves but still stuck in the same loop of feeling in fulfilled, unable to afford university and in a place I would rather leave. Insights from anyone who joined the military later or faced similar decisions would be incredibly helpful.
Thanks for any advice!
P.S I am also ok with the idea of the military as a career as I would still be able to retire earlier than many of my peers if I pursue the 20 year route..
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I’m reenlisting at the end of this month (was NG but going active). My husband is also active and I was wondering how likely is it that I can be in the same battalion as my husband? I know married couples aren’t supposed to work directly together but would that still be considered “working together”?
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Hi All, I'm 23F graduating college with my bachelor's in international relations at the end of July. I speak intermediate Spanish and would be open to learning more languages. I am looking for a mos that doesn't restrict me to behind a desk or sitting on my ass all day. I was thinking of something intelligence related. I would appreciate any advice/help.
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So i have hemorrhoids right now and I go to MEPS monday. I have a Drs visit from about 2 years ago where she prescribed me the cream to use. The cream says to only use it when you have hemorrhoids. I still have the cream. Will I pass MEPS if I bring that the Dr visit. or should I get a new one the day before? It's Saturday so my recruiter won't answer.
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So I enlisted on Friday. (25H) and I ship to BT in August. I’ve made my mind up before enlisting that I was going to make a career out of it. So now I’m here before you all to ask… what’s some advice you could give someone looking to do 20. Like what’s steps would you take if you could go back to make the most of your Army career? I remember my dad who served in the navy would always say “choose your rate choose your fate” and I think I started off on the right foot. Any suggestions to help make the correct steps in my new career path?
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Going back in. Needing some suggestions on different MOS.
So when I was in the first time I was a 25U. I was 16 when I swore in to secure my mos and left at 18YO. I’ve decicided to go back in. Im picking between 19 jobs, I qualify for all of them as I keep my old asvab scores. I scored over a 105 in everything so I have a pretty big list to pick from. These jobs have good jobs outside of the army and that’s my angle, I know 25U translates to a good job outside of the army but it’s not my cup of tea. So any info on the jobs in the army and civilian life for these mos would be greatly appreciate. The jobs are: 68L 68X (specifically because I want to help vets who are/have suffered) 88H 35F 25B 35M 35G 35L 88K 88N 88U 27D 31E 12M 15Q 15N 25U 88L 88M
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Already signed my contract but I really really wanna change my MOS by the time I ship out for BCT in mid-July, what would be the best way to approach and ask my recruiter to change my MOS? The one that I want is really in demand (19K) so maybe that might help?
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Background: Greencard holder, 6yr+ experience in IT field. No degree. Married.
Always wanted to join the military and finally have the opportunity to do so.
What I want to experience from the military;
I want the opportunity to grow in the IT field and have military experience and later on attain a contractor job in overseas installations. Very interested in being able to move overseas for a few years specially Japan.
My biggest interest is to grow in my career + experience other countries.
Recruits have also told me that for active duty they are allowing first duty station to be chosen because the army apparently has a shortage of people joining so they want to motivate people to join by allowing them to choose duty stations. This has made me consider going active IF they aren't lying about this + the job security has always been a plus to me.
My primary plan was :
Going reserve, getting my citizenship while in basic training, changing my mos to 25B then finding government contracting job overseas preferably (Japan) and changing my unit to Japan to drill there (Camp Zama). Overall my biggest goal is to move overseas and be in the IT field.
What is the best route? Advice is greatly appreciated in advance:)
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I want to enlist as a 19D Wont be for a year or so still but trying to do my research and evrything and make sure this is what i want, So far it looks like it is but i have a couple of questions that i need answering before i decided to enlist. 1. as a 19D with 19C coming will 19D still be manning Bradleys 2. What are my chances of being assigned to a cav unit i really dont wanna be assigned to an infantry or god knows what else 3. Am i able to enlist as active at 17?
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Is it hard to get a self harm waiver? It happened one time three years ago. My recruiter is pushing for it now
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I'm going to MEPS this week and I was told that the Job I'm really interested in (12w) is rare and to not get my hopes up. I'll be doing research about some other jobs, but if I really want that job should I just wait for a slot to open up or go with alternate choices?
Does anyone have any experience with this job and how often slots show up?
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Vision Waiver Acceptance Probability
So I’m wanting to enlist as an 11x OP 4in the army, went to MEPS a few weeks ago, and am currently waiting on a current injury to be waived. I’m just kind of worrying about my vision waiver. Recruiter said we have to wait for this to be cleared first, then we can launch the vision waiver.
What’s the probability that a vision waiver will be accepted with Visual Acuity of 20/30 20/50 corrected vision. I understand everything is case to case, I’m just kind of worrying that it’ll end up being denied.
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Is there a list of all the different Options in contracts? Like Option 40, Option 4, Option 19, etc?
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In the process of renegotiating my contract before shipping out and I'm seriously considering 19K (M1 Armor Crewman). Recruiter told me that anyone can volunteer to go to airborne school at BCT and I really want to go airborne but it seems like 19Ks don't really do it as much as other MOS's. Is it true that i will have the opportunity to volunteer myself for airborne school at basic? If not, how can I attend Airborne or any other specialized school as a tanker?
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Leaving for BT in 2wks. First stop Ft Lenwood and then ft sill for AIT. Then off to Ft Drum for my 1st duty station. Can anyone offer insight on what to expect at each location/stage? 13F if it matters. Much appreciated.
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Just reserved mos 88L Water craft engineer.
Was excited at first as I’ve e heard a lot of good things about this mos, but i have a wife, 6yr old and another on the way and am worried that i wont be home that often given this mos. Im supposed to go to meps in 4 days and swear in. Im really not trying to be away from my family all that often. Is this mos bad for family life? Have i made a mistake? Or should i keep it and roll with it. Any recommendations on what i should do?
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Hello, I’m in ROTC right now but I’m about to go to CST. I have been looking into branches as much as possible and am pretty set on ADA but I wanted to ask if anyone here has been on a HIMAD or SHORAD deployment that can give me some insight on what it’s like, more specifically SHORAD but I do want to hear both sides.
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Joining the army
hi, I am 17 turning 18F, and im joining the army and going to boot camp soon. What are some advice or anything you would tell someone before they go to boot camp or thinking about joining the army?
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Hello, I'm currently a high school senior who is interested in joining the ROTC. I've reached out to ROTC recruiters in the colleges that I will be attending however, they never picked up their phones nor responded to their emails after multiple attempts. I've also scheduled appointments with them only for them to not show up multiple times. I've also called the army and they said they would have someone call me but they never did either. I was wondering if anyone could help me get in touch with an ROTC recruiter as I got a few questions about the Army ROTC as well as the process to proceed.
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Can you go to an maritime academy before your service then get it paid when you join? Can you take maritime academy while active duty?
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What are possible first duty stations for Army officers out of ROTC by MOS?
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Hoping someone can give me some advice here.
About a year ago I called T-Mobile because I had a really old phone that was not working correctly anymore (it was like a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 that I had for 5+ years). I didn't have a ton of extra money and was asking if there was any way I could get a discount since I've been in my account for 20+ years. The person I talked with originally said no and I told them that if I went to a different company, the new company would just pay for my new phone and since I didn't have extra money that I would need to do that since that was a current deal with a few carriers at the time. They still said no for any deals on a new phone.
I asked to then be put on with someone who could help cancel my account and was put on with the retention team who started offering me a ton of deals to stay. I was told that I could get a free new phone for being a loyal member and checked multiple times to make sure there would not be any payments later and re-assured that this would not happen.
Fast forward to last week when my mom told me her plan was getting too expensive and asked me to look into it, it turns out they have been charging her a ~$40 credit to pay off the phone this entire time.
I sat on the phone with customer support for over an hour that night and they promised me a call back on Friday between 3-4pm local time. Didn't call.
I got a voicemail when I was out of town (two days after they said they would call me back) now telling me that the original agreement was that I needed to add a line to my plan in order to get the deal I was offered. That was not something I agreed to and I feel like they are lying to me to get rid of me and get my money. It also would make no sense for me to add another line and I told them that during my conversation.
I would like to have the charges I have not agreed to reversed but am feeling like it might be easier to:
Report to the FCC
Check to see how my Mom has been paying and put in some sort of reversal with her bank
Accept a buyout from a different company
I would prefer to have this settled with a credit, does anyone have any experience with a situation like this and have any advice to offer?

Inquisitive Universe: Good evening guys. This one should be short but I'm sure that it'll interest a lot of gamers out there. Especially those who play Warzone but generally all gamers.
So I was looking for hot fixes on the graphics bugs that Gentle was facing only to run into a rabbit hole of how Warzone Mobile is literally killing batteries around the world.
It is not a joke.
And I'm like daaaaaaamn bruh!
Why would Warzone Mobile be killing batteries around the world?
It is simple really and this also applies to any other game that you play on your phone. Whether it be eFootball mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile etc.
These games are all High Definition 3D games with a lot of assets, files, textures etc. that a CPU has to decode and a GPU has to render.
These are very intensive tasks that would push your SoCs to the limit. Warzone Mobile is especially worse because instead of using a Mobile optimized game engine to build the game, they used the same engine that they used for the PC and console game.
Whilst this does give the game very mature graphics unlike what you'll see from native Android titles, the load on the SoC is immense!
The launch of the game was probably the worst launch that I have seen of any mobile game.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones were struggling to run this game. Surprisingly mine ran it well but the heating was unbearable. I quickly had to slap my cooler on the back to protect my battery.
And that will take us to the real point of this evening's talk.
Why is Warzone Mobile destroying batteries world wide?

1. Over heating (but this isn't a WZM problem alone. Genshin Impact and Fortnite are also notorious for heating phones up too). The immense CPU + GPU load from this game is what is making these phones to overheat.
   
2. Persistent gameplay: As soon as my phone crosses 45°C, I stop whatever it is that I'm doing to protect my battery or put my cooler on the back. Doesn't matter if I'm gaming or not.
   

Too many people keep using their phones despite the fact that it is hot.
There are too many people who keep playing without paying any mind to how do I cool my phone down or find a way to do so?
The battery will be the casualty of such nonchalant attitude.

1. Charging while playing: Even with bypass charging now becoming a bit popular, I still don't trust it. I charge when it's time to charge and game when it's time to game. I don't do both at once.

The phone is already hot from gaming then some people would still plug in a charger. Haba! 😳
The battery will be otilorized (going, going, gone).
So yeah. That's the story of what gaming, especially WZM has been doing to people's batteries. Especially iPhone users are feeling the drain. Literally and figuratively.
I do not joke with my battery health and as you can see, despite being an active gamer, my battery health is still okay.
Please, whether you're a gamer or not, be more proactive with your phone and take care of your battery.

1. Watch your phone's temperature.
2. Keep your phone cool.
3. Set time outs for yourself
4. Leave phone to charge or only use lightly while charging.

That's my bit. Cheers!

There have been a number of new Bank Switch offers out over the last week. Anyone new to bank switching could make up to £1145 from these offers (or £1345 if you are in Northern Ireland!). Remember: It's not a heist if they are giving it away
Note: The Virgin offer ends on 31/05/2024.

As always with the Bankedex, we need your help.

This is the the ultimate guide to UK bank switch offers - the collective knowledge of ~140k BeermoneyUK members. Switch your bank account, get a cash reward for doing so. But don't switch your main account, open up a second account and switch that to get the money! Or open a second and a third "burner" and grab many switch bonuses at the same time.
The post has been updated with the newest offers, and tips commented in the previous Bankedex posts, and those in other posts on beermoneyuk. **But it is a difficult task keeping on top of all the questions. Please continue to share your experience with Bank Bribes. I will add questions/answers and update the offers as and when they appear. Special thanks to those who highlight the latest offers. u/Fajandar1 caught the latest Lloyds bank addition.

Current bank switch offers (Max £1345 to be made, but likely less for most...)

Bank	Bonus	Offer Deadline	Comment
Barclays	31k Avios for £48 spend	None	£100 profit, Requires premier banking
Danske Bank	£200 to switch	None	Northern Ireland only
First Direct	£175 to switch	None
Nationwide	£200 to switch		Get £200 for a solo and £200 for a joint account
Lloyds	£175 to switch	30/07/24
Santander	£175 to switch	None	£15 extra available
TSB	£160 (£100 to switch, + £60 cashback over 6 months)	Complete switch by 05/07/2024	Up to £20 Extra cash via TCB & Quidco
Virgin Money	£100 to switch	31/05/2024	10% gross interest rates boost to 12% on £1k for 1 year (~£120 total) + extra £30 via Snoop

Total: £1345 if you are in NI and can switch both a solo and a joint account to Nationwide.

No switch, just sign up bank switch offers

Bank	Offer	Comment
Tide (click for details)	Spend £100, get £75 cashback	A beermoneyuk staple
Monzo (click to search)	Spend £1, get £5 or £50	£50 is for a business account
Starling (click to search)	Free National Trust Day Pass

Never switched a bank account before?

You should consider it. It is one of the easiest and most efficient ways of earning a little beermoney. It is advised to leave your main bank account alone. Instead, switch a secondary bank account, or open a new account at your current bank to be used just for switching. Recommended steps:

1. Open a second current account with your main high street bank (must be part of CASS service)
2. Set up direct debits on the second account (if required).
3. Add £1 to your second account. This will be transferred to your new account, allowing you to see when the switch has been completed.
4. Apply for a new account and arrange to switch to your second bank account (sometimes this is during the application process, other times it is after the account is opened).
5. Let the current account switch service take care of everything.
6. Make sure all other terms are met (e.g. pay in money if needed).
7. Receive your bank switching bonus.

You will hear about lots of people rushing through all of the switch bonuses available. These offers have been coming and going for years, my advice is to do an offer that tickles your fancy and try out a new bank. Then, if you decide you do not like your new bank you should sample another bank and get paid again!
​

Are there some bank accounts worth keeping?

Why yes. Some are quite good, and give ongoing rewards. For example, Club Lloyds gives free Disney Plus. See the "don't leave us please" bank rewards post. Some also give access to the best savings accounts (e.g. regular savers).

Detailed switch offer information

Whilst we do our best to make sure things are correct, sometimes errors do slip through. Always do your own research. Also, it may not be possible to work through all of these.
​

Barclays

Current offer: 31k Avios for full switch to Premier Banking, and paying £12/month for “Avios Rewards” for 4 months - works out around £100 profit when converted to Nectar points.

Direct link to offer (scroll down)

• You must switch to Premier Bank account.

These are premium accounts, supposed to be for those with £70k+ salaries. However, cycling £4201 each month also appears to do the job

Offer end date: None listed
Requirements:

• Open a Barclays Premier bank account & join Avios Rewards (£12/month fee), or
  
• Complete a full switch from a different bank (you do this from within the app, after opening the account).
  

Reward payable by: 1.5k Avios each month for Avios Rewards, 25k Avios paid in month 4 for the switch.
Available to existing customers: No.
Additional notes: it can be worth doing the Barclaycard Avios Plus offer at the same time, as you will get a discount on the credit card fee.

​

Danske Bank (Northern Ireland only)

Current offer: £200 for full switch

• You can switch to their Danske Reward, Danske Choice or Danske Freedom current account.

Offer end date: No end date given, may be removed at any time.
Requirements:

• Full switch (no direct debits mentioned).
  
• After opening account, pay in £1000 within 60 days (can be multiple deposits)
  
• You cannot have had a Danske Bank reward since 01/01/2024
  

Available to existing customers: only if you are a new personal current account customer. .
How long does it take to pay the bonus: paid within 10 days of meeting requirements.

​

First Direct

Current offer: £175 when you switch

• You can switch to their First account.

Offer end date: No end date given, may be removed at any time.
Requirements:

• Full switch (two direct debits or standing orders are required).
  
• After opening account, log in to mobile banking, pay in £1000, and make 5 debit card payments within 30 days.
  
• You cannot have had a 1st Direct account before.
  
• You cannot switch if you have an HSBC account opened after 01/2020
  

How to do it: Once your first direct account is open, simply log into your first direct app, select the account you wish to transfer into, tap ‘switch to us’ from your account menu and follow the instructions.
Available to existing customers: No. Also can't have had a HSBC account opened since January 2018.
How long does it take to pay the bonus: paid by the 20th of the month following that in which you met all of the criteria.

​

Nationwide (must have been a NW customer on 31/03/2024)

Current offer: £200 (for a solo AND a joint account - £400 total)

• You can switch to either the FlexAccount (free), FlexDirect (free) or FlexPlus (premium) current account.

Offer end date: 30th July 2024 (start switch by)
Requirements: Full switch with:

• 2 Direct debits transferred as part of the switch

• You cannot have had a Nationwide bonus since 18/08/2021.

Reward payable by: within 10 days of the switch completion.
Available to existing customers: Yes but must switch an account held elsewhere.

​

Lloyds Bank

Current offer: £175

• You can switch to either the Club Lloyds, Club Silver, or Club Lloyds Platinum account.
  
• These are premium accounts with a minimum £3/month fee. Can downgrade account after getting the bonus.
  

Offer end date: 30th July 2024 (start switch by)
Requirements: Full switch with:

• 3 Direct debits transferred as part of the switch

• You cannot have had a bonus from Lloyds, Halifax, or Bank of Scotland since April 2020.

Reward payable by: within 10 days of switch completing.
Available to existing customers: ~~Yes (must switch an account held elsewhere into a new account if you have one already).

​

Santander

Current offer: £175
Extra £15: You can get an extra £15 by signing up to a Santander Edge account via Topcashback. If you don't have a Topcashback account, you can sign up here:

Topcashback sign up + Additional £10 Bonus You can switch to any of these paid current accounts: Santander Edge current account, Edge Up, or the Private Current Account Offer end date: None given Requirements: Full switch. * Apply to switch when you apply to open the account (or existing customers can just switch into an existing qualifying current account). * Complete switch of a non-Santander account, set up 2 active direct debits, and pay in £1500 within 60 days of applying/telling Santander you want to switch. Must keep direct debits active on account * Cannot have had a Santander-group bonus previously (Santander, Cahoot, Cater Allen) Reward payable by: between 60 and 90 days after opening the account. Available to existing customers: Yes (can switch a non-Santander group current account into a new or existing Santander account). Existing customers may need to visit a branch.

​

TSB

Current offer: £100 to switch, plus £60 double cashback offer (£10/month instead of £5/month for making 20 debit card transactions each month for 6 months), plus a choice of three additional rewards if you use the account in December 2024.
Extra £20: You can get an extra £20 by signing up to a TSB Spend and Save account via Topcashback. Read the terms - you must use the account for the cashback (pay in £500 each month, pay out two direct debits)! If you don't have a Topcashback account, you can sign up here:

Topcashback sign up + Additional £10 Bonus
You can switch to either of their Spend & Save or Spend & Save Plus accounts.

Offer end date: Full switch by 05/07/2024 (or closing date when announced)
Requirements for £150 switch bonus: Full switch by 05/07/2024

• Complete the switch, use your debit card 5 times, and set up/use mobile banking.

Requirements for £60 double cashback offer (£10/month instead of £5):

• Make 20 debit card transactions each month. Includes the month your account was opened.

Requirements for additional reward:

• Complete the switch requirements (for the £100), and do the 20 debit card transactions in December 2024. If you do this, you will get an additional reward of 1) a night away for two, 2) 6 Odeon cinema tickets, or 3) a 6 month Now Entertainment subscription.

Rewards payable by: £100 switch bonus paid by 31 July 2024, cashback paid monthly, additional reward dished out in January 2025.

Available to existing customers: Yes (must switch non TSB account, can't have had a switch bonus from TSB since 1st October 2022). ​

​

Virgin Money

Current offer: Extra 10% interest on £1k for a year (~£100 bonus)

Extra £30: You can get an extra £30 by signing up to Virgin via Snoop (you need to connect your Virgin account to Snoop). If you don't have a Snoop account, you can sign up here for an additional fiver too:
Snoop £5 sign up bonus

You can switch to their M Account (free, ~10% interest total, gross), M Plus Account (free account, ~12% interest total) or Club M Account (costs £12.50/month for insurance and stuff, ~12% total, is one of the best value package accounts - especially if a joint account)

Offer end date: apply by 31/05/24
Requirements:

• Full switch (two direct debits required as part of the switch).

Available to existing customers: No. And can't have closed an account since 30/04/2024
How long does it take to pay the bonus: interest is paid monthly, so a a year to get it all!

​

The most commonly asked bank switch questions:

1. I started to switch to XXX bank before the offer ended, am I still eligible for the bonus?

Yes, usually, most terms will state that a switch just has to be started (or applied for) before the end date or before an offer ends.

1. Do I have to transfer the required amount in all in one go, and does it matter if I pay money in before my switch is complete?

No and not usually, as long as the amount you pay in adds up to the required amount, and as long as you pay it in before the deadline stated in the terms. There has been one exception to this - Co-op - so check individual terms.

1. I need to switch "active" direct debits, does a payment need to have been taken before I switch?

According to Nationwide, an active direct debit is one that has been set up or had a payment taken from it in the past 13 months. So no, according to this. But why not just wait for the direct debit to be taken? You'll not have to worry about it then.

https://twitter.com/AskNationwide/status/1442939781491486720

1. How do I set up and switch an additional Chase current account?
   

   • See Chase instruction here to open an additional account.
     
   • The second account will be linked to the same card as your main Chase account.
     
   • Use the secondary account details and your original card details when switching.
     

2. What are the easiest/best direct debits to use for bank switching?
   

There are many: Paypal, Ebay, Moneybox savings account, Plum savings account, your credit card, Sprive Mortgage auto savings, Wealthify Robo Saving. We recommend ones that save money into an account in your own name. Here’s useful ones that have additional bonuses available via beermoneyuk

Site/App	Offer	Comment
Park Christmas (Search)	Save for Christmas via direct debit
Plum (Search)	A very useful direct debit	Easy and fast to set up
Sprive (Search)	Autosavings for mortgage overpayment direct debit (£5 bonus)	Easy and fast to set up
Wealthify (Search)	A very useful direct debit (£1/month min)	Easy and fast to set up

​

General Bank Switch Questions

Current Account Switch Bribes - Why do they offer them?

They want your business. Banks like fighting each other for customers. Most of them know they can't win by highlighting their outdated systems and products, so they fight each other by offering potential customers cash bribes (or equivalent) to switch their "main" bank account.

Can I switch any bank account to get a bribe?

No. You must switch a bank account that is part of The Current Account Switch Service (CASS). Most high street banks are included. But some Neo Banks are not (e.g., Kroo, Revolut, & Monese are not included). You should try to avoid switching your main bank account. You can always open an additional account just to switch.
See here for a full list of CASS banks.

Is it too much hassle?

No. The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) makes switching your account between most banks smooth and effortless. You do not have to do anything apart from apply for and set up a new account at a different bank and tell them you want to switch your account to them. Everything is transferred automatically (except recurring card payments).

Is there the best route to sample all the banks with switch offers?

Do the offer ending soonest first. Then you might switch again. If you complete all offers in this post, you could earn yourself >£1000.

Some of these end soon. Will the offers come back?

Banks have been offering bribes on and off for many years. We can't predict the future. But this is not a new thing.

How long does a bank switch take?

Approximately one week.

Do I have to switch my main account?

You could. But you don't have to. Many people have second bank accounts. One option may be to open up a second account with your current high street bank, add some direct debits to this second account and then switch it to the new bank you want to try out. On the sub, people also like Starling or Monzo as they are easy to set up (but you might want to switch back to them at the end - their functionality wins vs any usual high street bank).
High-street banks also let you open multiple accounts. If you already have an account with one, you might want to open an additional one with your current bank first (Halifax, NatWest etc are reported to allow several current accounts and to be fast to open).

I have savings accounts at the same bank as my current account. Can I still switch to this current account?

Yes. Only the current account will be closed (some linked regular savers may be converted to normal savings accounts). You might want to consider if switching to a secondary account is a better option.

I have linked savers attached to my current account. Can I still switch it?

Possibly.

Which banks let me open a second bank account?

Most of them.

Do I need to activate the card on the account I am going to switch?

Just do it anyway. Some banks require it

What details do I need to switch?

• Sort code and account number.
• Debit card information.
• Usually, but not always, 2 active DDs on the account you are switching.

Do you need to have money in the account you are switching?

No. But it might be a good idea - this will allow you to see when the switch happens (i.e. when the money is transferred!).

I do not have a bank card with my old current account as it is very very old, can I still switch it?

Most online forms require card details, but you can usually switch such accounts over the phone.

My new bank has not given me my account number (e.g. NatWest).

Usually, these are sent via post/email when you sign up. But some banks don't have the account numbers on the card, or maybe letters get lost in the post. If this happens, wait for the card to arrive and contact their support. If you get a bot on the chat thing, type "speak to a human" repeatedly.

My new bank account is a premium account and it has a fee. Do I need to keep paying for this?

No. You can downgrade the account. But you should probably wait until you have been paid the bonus.

I don't like my new bank, do I need to wait for the bank card before switching again?

Yes. See question above. Most banks require the card details of your existing account.

I made an account just to switch. Can I switch before my new bank card arrives?

Best not to. You are asked to enter the debit card information as part of the process.

The offer says I have to pay in £xxxx. Does it have to be in one go?

No. You can transfer in and out. The total sent in has to be equal to or greater than the stated amount. You should be careful with this though, sending money in and out of an account can trigger anti-fraud measures.

The offer says I have to pay in £xxxx. Can I pay it in before the switch completes?

Yes. You can pay it before, after, or during. You can manually transfer it, or it can be transferred automatically from your old account.

I've been asked to verify my identity. Is this normal?

Sometimes automated checks fail. If this happens, you may be asked to manually verify your application by visiting a branch or sending in a copy of your ID.

I switched from Monzo/Starling and want to return, can I?

Starling does not let you return within 12 months. With Monzo, it's possibly a shorter one month that you have to wait.

Do I have to switch direct debits?

Check individual offer terms.

What is an "Active" direct debit?

An active direct debit is usually one where a payment had been taken in the last 13 months. But some bank switch terms require direct debits to have been paid out of the account. If an offer requires an active direct debit, it's safer to switch to an account that has already paid out direct debits.**

What are good direct debits to set up on a second account?

There are many: Paypal, Ebay, Moneybox savings account, Plum savings account, your credit card, Sprive Mortgage auto savings, Wealthify Robo Saving.

I recently switched to XXX Bank, and I do not like it. Can I switch again?

Yes. If you are not happy with the new service, you may want to switch to a new bank that will pay you to give them a try.

Do I have to stick with my new bank for any length of time?

No.

If I switch away, will the bank claw back the bonus?

Very unlikely. They would have to specify this in their terms, and none have ever done so.

My switch is complete, but I have not yet received my bonus. Will I still get the bonus if I switch this account before it is paid?

Probably not.

My most recent switch is not quite complete, but I have already received the bonus. Can I start another switch?

You should probably wait for the switch to complete.

Can I get more than one bribe from each bank?

Sometimes. With some banks (e.g. Nationwide), you can get a bonus for switching one sole and one joint current account. Other banks will pay you to switch again, as long as you have not had a bonus in a specified amount of time. You will need to check individual offer terms.

XXX Bank gave me a bonus before, can I get a bonus again?

You need to check the individual offer terms.

Will this affect my credit score?

Credit scores are a funny thing, What is more important is what is actually in your credit file. Obviously, if you apply for an overdraft then it will affect your "credit score". However, if you do not have an overdraft or you make sure that you have paid off any overdraft before switching banks, then a single current account switch should not negatively impact your credit score. Nevertheless, typically all major banks (excepting Monzo and Starling) do a hard credit search, and this will be recorded on your file. If you plan on applying for a new mortgage soon then you may wish to exercise caution in switching between a load of banks. This is because the hard searches performed by banks will appear on your report and may have an effect for 6-12 months.

Which banks do hard searches and which do soft searches??

See here. Most banks do hard searches.

• Hard searches: Bank of Scotland (first account only), Barclays, Co-op, Clydesdale, Halifax (1st account only), First Direct, HSBC, Lloyds (1st account only), Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest, RBS, Santander, TSB, Ulster, Virgin Money.
  
• Soft searches: Starling, Metro Bank, and Chase
  

I have a bad credit score, will I be accepted to XXX bank?

Unfortunately, we do not know the acceptance criteria of the banks. You might be unlucky with one bank, but lucky with another.

My application was rejected. Why?

Nobody here knows. You could try appealing, but your only way to find out more is to contact the bank.

After switching my account, I still have online banking with my old provider. Do I need this?

No. You do not need to keep the online access (you could shut it down). But you may wish to retain these details in case your old bank suddenly appears with an offer that makes you want to switch back. Or open up a savings account.

Has anyone else been paid for switching to XXX Bank yet?

Check the terms of the offer you signed up for. Some banks have long deadlines and stick to them (e.g. Santander, TSB). Some are quicker. If you haven't been paid within the stated terms, then you should contact the bank's support.

(Sorry for formatting and post length. I’m on mobile and need to explain where I’m at.)
So I (23M) am feeling really trapped by the life that I’ve lived up until this point.
I’ve struggled with my mental health for years due to extensive childhood trauma/undiagnosed neurodivergence. It made school really hard, not necessarily in terms of content, I just could never find it in me to get my work done. I ended up institutionalized my freshman year of high school for several months and barely got my GPA up to a ‘College Admittable’ number by the time I graduated due to me failing all my classes for that year and having to work constantly to pay my dad’s bills from 16 y/o on.
I went to university for music on a scholarship, and racked up some student loan debt before I dropped out when my dad passed. Being fully financially independent already and suddenly responsible for my younger sister’s health insurance and phone plan, I just couldn’t keep my grades where they needed to be. So now I have experience in a field where you basically need to have a degree to make a living wage if you don’t have the network. And I sure don’t have the network.
Right now, I work for a company that does tuition reimbursement for a specific university, and I’ve tried going back to school online through this program, but the things I might possibly be good at are only for in-person students. The course load is so accelerated for online students, I’m struggling to find enthusiasm for any degree program, and I’m still just trying to financially keep my head above water. So once again my grades are suffering. Plus, working for this company for the past 2 years has had me running on empty for a long, long time. I’m losing my concept of who I am as a person because all I’m capable of doing anymore is working and sleeping. I just feel like I haven’t been able to climb out of this pit I was thrown in almost 10 years ago, and it makes me feel so helpless.
My partner (23M) is doing so well. He has a BS in a very lucrative, specialized field from a prestigious university and has a job where he makes nearly six figures now. I feel absolutely pathetic when I think about the disparity in our relationship. Both intellectually and financially. We’ve known each other for so long, and he saw a lot of the things that happened to me happen. He’s so very understanding, but it still makes me feel bad when I can’t even afford to help support our living situation. Or buy our cat food. It makes me feel like a pathetic, dead-weight leech.
All I want is to work somewhere that pays me enough to live while also not making me want to kick the bucket. To be able to function and thrive for literally once in my life. But I don’t have the grades, I don’t have the degree, I have no real skilled work experience… I’ve never had the opportunity to truly focus on anything aside from getting by, I guess.
I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’m so tired. Should I just take on more student loan debt (I lucked out and ‘only’ owe 18k right now) and try to find a degree program near me that fits my ability/interests? Should I try to scrape together enough money for a trade school or something? I’ve applied to 40+ random entry level jobs in the past week looking for an out, but I don’t know if giving up on the free schooling I have access to right now is the correct decision.
Any advice is appreciated. Before it’s brought up, I am in therapy. And have been for many years. I know what I need to do to make my life generally better, the issue is not having the energy or resources to actually do those things right now. I just need help and I don’t know what to do. Thank you.

Intro

It is me again, your friendly neighborhood Prismatic Build planner. I started to actually think of what I needed for The Final Shape (TFS) launch and a big thing is finding loadouts that work for the starting slate of abilities we get for Prismatic from the Prismatic Deep Dive. So here I want to list out some builds that I think will be useful.
Tl;dr: If you just want quick shots of builds check this album: https://imgur.com/a/9VINdU7
Here are the categories of Prismatic Builds:

• Starter builds:
  • You can use this the moment you get Prismatic. Generally we are working to slightly recreate a pre-TFS build but within Prismatic. So we want to go in with the current build to make swapping into Prismatic super easy.
  • I am making two builds for each class:
    • Starter Build: A solid build focusing on the starter fragments and assuming you have all exotic armors.
    • Base Starter Builds: a solid build assuming you only have exotics in the base game. Most fo these exotics are accessible from Ikora quests.
  • I have generally tried to balance stat bonuses and penalties from Fragments on pre-TFS builds so it should mostly feel the same on Prismatic.
• Refined Starter Builds: the starter selections aren't perfect so here's where they should get to if we unlock the rest of Prismatic during the campaign or shortly after. This if you want to maintain the starter build in general but improve it.
• Beyond Starter Builds: there's a lot of options. I will link some resources of mine for Prismatic Builds and Planning. But it would be a whole 'nother post to go into detail on.

Starter Builds

All Starter Builds use the same starting Fragments: Facets of Dawn, Hope, Protection, Purpose, Ruin. You may not be able to slot all 5 depending on fragment slots. Drop Dawn if the build isn't weapon focused. Drop Hope if you don't need class ability. Drop Ruin if you don't have Ignitions or Shatters.

• Hunter - Starting Prismatic Gyrfalcon.
  • We got Stylish Executioner so Gyrfalcon is a really strong general exotic. And spreading Volatile should generate lots of Transcendence.
  • Exotic: Gyrfalcon's Hauberk for Volatile Rounds on Void weapons when you leave invisibility. This exotic requires Witch Queen and can be obtained from Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Force event on Neomuna.
  • Melee: Withering Blade because it hits so much and helps us get Radiant and invisibility from Stylish Executioner. Fan of Knives is fine too though. Also want Dark abilities to balance out all the volatile kills.
  • Grenade: I'd lean to Swarm Grenade with the buff. Duskfield is nice but you already slow on melee and dodge.
  • Super: Golden Gun is probably nicer to get Restoration via Facet of Purpose. Silence and Squall is viable too if you'd rather get Frost Armor.
  • Class Ability: Gambler's Dodge for melee uptime.
  • Stats priority: Res and Str. Balance Mobility and Recovery as you can. Try to hit minimum of 30 in Int and Disc. Any leftover stats in Disc.
  • Pre-TFS DIM link: https://dim.gg/dsqgzha/Prismatic-Gyrfalcon
  • Prismatic Build Image:
• Hunter - Base Starter Graviton Ninja
  • Stylish Executioner let's us go invisible a lot and while invisible we get massive melee regeneration from Graviton Forfeit.
  • Exotic: Graviton Forfeit gives the following when invisible: 100 Recovery, 100 reload and 400-800% melee regen depending on how many enemies are nearby. This is a base game exotic and can be acquired from the Into the Abyss Void quest from Ikora.
  • Melee: Withering Blade for hitting many enemies and 2 charges.
  • Grenade: I'd lean to Swarm Grenade with the buff. Duskfield is nice but you already slow on melee and dodge.
  • Super: Golden Gun is probably nicer to get Restoration via Facet of Purpose. Silence and Squall is viable too if you'd rather get Frost Armor.
  • Class Ability: Gambler's Dodge for melee uptime.
  • Stats priority: Res and Str. As much Mobility as you can manage. Try to hit minimum of 30 in Rec, Int and Disc. Any leftover stats in Disc.
  • Pre-TDS DIM Link: https://dim.gg/t7e4vcq/Prismatic-Graviton-Ninja
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/dZp0wjX
• Titan - Starter Thunder Fist Lancer
  • We get Knockout and Diamond Lance so that is what we will use. Point Contact Cannon Brace helps a good bit with melee regen to keep us looping. Use lances to get some range and close the gap.
  • Exotic: Point Contact Cannon Brace for jolting on Thunderclap and melee energy refund on kills. This exotic requires Witch Queen and can be obtained from Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Force event on Neomuna.
  • Melee: Thunderclap for Point Contact Cannon
  • Grenade: Shackle Grenade for verb diversity. And we don't start with Facet of Dominance for grenade Jolting.
  • Super: Thundercrash for Amplified from Facet of Purpose. Amplified boosts Thunderclap damage by 50%.
  • Class Ability: your choice.
  • Stats Priority: Res and Str. Then focus on Recovery and Discipline. Try to hit 30 in Int. Dump Mob.
  • Pre-TFS DIM link: https://dim.gg/th6khfy/Prismantic-Arcfist-Lancer
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/9DOD9qO
• Titan - Base Starter Syntho Frenzied Puncher
  • Knockout works well with melee builds and Synthoceps are a solid melee exotic.
  • Exotic: Synthoceps for increased melee damage when near enemies. This is a base game exotic and can be obtained from the Exalting the Flame quest from Ikora.
  • Melee: Frenzied Blade. 3 charges and strong damage.
  • Grenade: Pulse Grenade
  • Super: Bladefury for good damage and Woven Mail from Facet of Purpose.
  • Class Ability: Your choice.
  • Stats Priority: Res and Str. Then focus on Recovery and Discipline. Try to hit 30 in Int. Dump Mob.
  • Pre-TFS DIM Build: https://dim.gg/wnbkr4y/Prismatic-Frenzied-Puncher
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/v1bEEeG
• Warlock - Starter Bleak Watcher
  • We get Bleak Watcher and Feed the Void so it makes sense to build into Bleak Watcher. That means Osmiomancy Gloves
  • Exotic: Osmiomancy Gloves for two Coldsnap charges and ability return on beaning enemies with coldsnaps. This exotic requires Witch Queen and can be obtained from Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Force event on Neomuna.
  • Melee: I guess Pocket Singularity because we don't need more freezing from Penumbral Blast.
  • Grenade: Coldsnap Grenade.
  • Super: Nova Bomb is generally more helpful than Winter's Wrath. Also gives access to Void Overshield.
  • Class Ability: Your choice but Phoenix Dive is nice for applying a subclass verb.
  • Stats Priority: Resilience and Discipline to max. As much Rec and Str as you can fit. Try to hit 30 Int. Dump Mob.
  • Pre-TFS DIM link: https://dim.gg/syes5aa/Prismatic-Bleak-Watcher
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/ZxvayOw
• Warlock - Base Starter Nezarec Spammer
  • We're all about slinging grenades and Nezarec's Sin is one of the best for throwing grenades. It does not require a void subclass but does require a strong void weapon.
  • Exotic: Nezarec's Sin for +300% grenade and melee regen and +200% class ability and super regen. This is a base game exotic. Should be accessible from Rahool or Xur fairly easily.
  • Melee: I guess Pocket Singularity because we don't need more freezing from Penumbral Blast.
  • Grenade: Coldsnap Grenade.
  • Super: Nova Bomb is generally more helpful than Winter's Wrath. Also gives access to Void Overshield.
  • Class Ability: Your choice but Phoenix Dive is nice for applying a subclass verb.
  • Stats Priority: Resilience and Discipline to max. As much Rec and Str as you can fit. Try to hit 30 Int. Dump Mob.
  • Pre-TFS DIM link: https://dim.gg/butluza/Prismatic-Void-Freezer
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/B1b17tw

Refined Starter Builds

• Hunter - Prismatic Gyrfalcon Refined
  • Aspect Changes: drop Winter's Shroud and replace with Gunpowder Gamble for more damage.
  • Melee Changes: can swap Withering Blade for Threaded Needle for slightly better uptime.
  • Grenade Changes: Arcbolt grenade for Jolting.
  • Super Changes: Silkstrike for Woven Mail though Golden Gun, Tether or Silence and Squall are fine.
  • Fragment Changes: We want Balance, Dawn, Dominance, Hope, Protection. This gives grenade and melee energy, Radiant, Jolting grenades, Class ability regen and damage resist respectively.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/s9c8CK6
• Hunter - Graviton Ninja Refined
  • Aspect Changes: Consider dropping Winter's Shroud for Gunpowder Gamble for more light damage.
  • Melee Changes: can swap Withering Blade for Threaded Needle for slightly better uptime.
  • Grenade Changes: Grapple Grenade might be more useful overall.
  • Super Changes: Silkstrike for Woven Mail though Golden Gun, Tether or Silence and Squall are fine.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/AyZHC0a
• Titan - Thunder Lancer Refined
  • General Changes: very few. the ability selections are all solid.
  • Grenade Changes: Glacier Grenade to add more shattering damage.
  • Fragment Changes: Balance, Dawn, Protection, Purpose, Ruin. These give grenade and melees energy, Radiant, Damage Resistance, Woven Mail, and better Shattering.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/A5hfTPh
• Titan - Frenzied Puncher Refined
  • Aspect Changes: Drop Diamond Lance for Consecration
  • Grenade Changes: go for Glacier Grenade so you can Consecrate it for Shatter and Ignition.
  • Fragment Changes: Change Hope for Bravery so you can get Volatile Rounds and Unraveling Rounds.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/MtjWYPF
• Warlock - Bleak Watcher Refined
  • Melee Changes: Arcane Needle for Unravel
  • Super Changes: Needlestorm.
  • Fragment Changes: Balance, Bravery, Protection, Purpose, Ruin for grenade and melee energy, volatile and unraveling rounds, Damage resistance, Woven Mail and Larger shatter damage respectively.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/FUk6hOR
• Warlock - Nezarec Ability Spam Refined
  • We will shift this build into full ability and verb spam. In ideal situations you can have Jolt, Scorch, Unravel, and Volatile.
  • Aspect Changes: Drop Bleak Watcher and take Hellion so our class ability does something. If Hellion ends up not being good, Weaver's Call may be a good alternative.
  • Melee Changes: Arcane Needle for Unravel
  • Grenade Changes: Storm Grenade for Jolting
  • Super Changes: Needlestorm for more damage and Woven Mail from Facet of Purpose.
  • Fragment Changes: Drop Dawn and Ruin. Pick up Balance for more ability Spam and Dominance for Jolting on Storm Grenades. Try to squeeze in Bravery for Volatile and Unraveling Rounds.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/8rVzOOZ

Other Prismatic Builds

I have a few resources here:

• Prismatic Build Planner google spreadsheet (click Use Template to make a copy and use): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zKOc0WErE0jfoMwtxraPTqXEWfiOHkQP3popHPbIrw0/template/preview
• Prismatic Builds Library of 5 or so builds for each class: https://imgur.com/a/Ke38FUI
• As always the Destiny Data Compendium is tremendously useful in build planning. It is being constantly update for the Final Shape as we learn more. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WaxvbLx7UoSZaBqdFr1u32F2uWVLo-CJunJB4nlGUE4/edit?usp=sharing

Hopefully this helps people out. Let me know if you have questions or comments. More build guides to come.

I've read the thread on prioritization and on the different offerings (https://old.reddit.com/NoContract/comments/1d175jg/switching_away_from_google_fi_due_to_customel5ueoq7/ very helpful).
I'm currently on Mint, which has been adequate (aside from no coverage at certain beaches), and was previously on Visible (which had horrendous speeds and bad coverage in NY metro). Consumer Cellular was ok, but more expensive I think.
T-Mobile Connect appears to fit the bill, but the $25/line connection fee is a turnoff. Any other suggestions?
P.S. Does anyone have an opinion on Mint vs USM service quality on a 5G iPhone in the NY metro area?

Intro

It is me again, your friendly neighborhood Prismatic Build planner. I started to actually think of what I needed for The Final Shape (TFS) launch and a big thing is finding loadouts that work for the starting slate of abilities we get for Prismatic from the Prismatic Deep Dive. So here I want to list out some builds that I think will be useful.
Tl;dr: If you just want quick shots of builds check this album: https://imgur.com/a/9VINdU7
Here are the categories of Prismatic Builds:

• Starter builds:
  • You can use this the moment you get Prismatic. Generally we are working to slightly recreate a pre-TFS build but within Prismatic. So we want to go in with the current build to make swapping into Prismatic super easy.
  • I am making two builds for each class:
    • Starter Build: A solid build focusing on the starter fragments and assuming you have all exotic armors.
    • Base Starter Builds: a solid build assuming you only have exotics in the base game. Most fo these exotics are accessible from Ikora quests.
  • I have generally tried to balance stat bonuses and penalties from Fragments on pre-TFS builds so it should mostly feel the same on Prismatic.
• Refined Starter Builds: the starter selections aren't perfect so here's where they should get to if we unlock the rest of Prismatic during the campaign or shortly after. This if you want to maintain the starter build in general but improve it.
• Beyond Starter Builds: there's a lot of options. I will link some resources of mine for Prismatic Builds and Planning. But it would be a whole 'nother post to go into detail on.

Starter Builds

All Starter Builds use the same starting Fragments: Facets of Dawn, Hope, Protection, Purpose, Ruin. You may not be able to slot all 5 depending on fragment slots. Drop Dawn if the build isn't weapon focused. Drop Hope if you don't need class ability. Drop Ruin if you don't have Ignitions or Shatters.

• Hunter - Starting Prismatic Gyrfalcon.
  • We got Stylish Executioner so Gyrfalcon is a really strong general exotic. And spreading Volatile should generate lots of Transcendence.
  • Exotic: Gyrfalcon's Hauberk for Volatile Rounds on Void weapons when you leave invisibility. This exotic requires Witch Queen and can be obtained from Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Force event on Neomuna.
  • Melee: Withering Blade because it hits so much and helps us get Radiant and invisibility from Stylish Executioner. Fan of Knives is fine too though. Also want Dark abilities to balance out all the volatile kills.
  • Grenade: I'd lean to Swarm Grenade with the buff. Duskfield is nice but you already slow on melee and dodge.
  • Super: Golden Gun is probably nicer to get Restoration via Facet of Purpose. Silence and Squall is viable too if you'd rather get Frost Armor.
  • Class Ability: Gambler's Dodge for melee uptime.
  • Stats priority: Res and Str. Balance Mobility and Recovery as you can. Try to hit minimum of 30 in Int and Disc. Any leftover stats in Disc.
  • Pre-TFS DIM link: https://dim.gg/dsqgzha/Prismatic-Gyrfalcon
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/r05aE12
• Hunter - Base Starter Graviton Ninja
  • Stylish Executioner let's us go invisible a lot and while invisible we get massive melee regeneration from Graviton Forfeit.
  • Exotic: Graviton Forfeit gives the following when invisible: 100 Recovery, 100 reload and 400-800% melee regen depending on how many enemies are nearby. This is a base game exotic and can be acquired from the Into the Abyss Void quest from Ikora.
  • Melee: Withering Blade for hitting many enemies and 2 charges.
  • Grenade: I'd lean to Swarm Grenade with the buff. Duskfield is nice but you already slow on melee and dodge.
  • Super: Golden Gun is probably nicer to get Restoration via Facet of Purpose. Silence and Squall is viable too if you'd rather get Frost Armor.
  • Class Ability: Gambler's Dodge for melee uptime.
  • Stats priority: Res and Str. As much Mobility as you can manage. Try to hit minimum of 30 in Rec, Int and Disc. Any leftover stats in Disc.
  • Pre-TDS DIM Link: https://dim.gg/t7e4vcq/Prismatic-Graviton-Ninja
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/dZp0wjX
• Titan - Starter Thunder Fist Lancer
  • We get Knockout and Diamond Lance so that is what we will use. Point Contact Cannon Brace helps a good bit with melee regen to keep us looping. Use lances to get some range and close the gap.
  • Exotic: Point Contact Cannon Brace for jolting on Thunderclap and melee energy refund on kills. This exotic requires Witch Queen and can be obtained from Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Force event on Neomuna.
  • Melee: Thunderclap for Point Contact Cannon
  • Grenade: Shackle Grenade for verb diversity. And we don't start with Facet of Dominance for grenade Jolting.
  • Super: Thundercrash for Amplified from Facet of Purpose. Amplified boosts Thunderclap damage by 50%.
  • Class Ability: your choice.
  • Stats Priority: Res and Str. Then focus on Recovery and Discipline. Try to hit 30 in Int. Dump Mob.
  • Pre-TFS DIM link: https://dim.gg/th6khfy/Prismantic-Arcfist-Lancer
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/9DOD9qO
• Titan - Base Starter Syntho Frenzied Puncher
  • Knockout works well with melee builds and Synthoceps are a solid melee exotic.
  • Exotic: Synthoceps for increased melee damage when near enemies. This is a base game exotic and can be obtained from the Exalting the Flame quest from Ikora.
  • Melee: Frenzied Blade. 3 charges and strong damage.
  • Grenade: Pulse Grenade
  • Super: Bladefury for good damage and Woven Mail from Facet of Purpose.
  • Class Ability: Your choice.
  • Stats Priority: Res and Str. Then focus on Recovery and Discipline. Try to hit 30 in Int. Dump Mob.
  • Pre-TFS DIM Build: https://dim.gg/wnbkr4y/Prismatic-Frenzied-Puncher
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/v1bEEeG
• Warlock - Starter Bleak Watcher
  • We get Bleak Watcher and Feed the Void so it makes sense to build into Bleak Watcher. That means Osmiomancy Gloves
  • Exotic: Osmiomancy Gloves for two Coldsnap charges and ability return on beaning enemies with coldsnaps. This exotic requires Witch Queen and can be obtained from Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Force event on Neomuna.
  • Melee: I guess Pocket Singularity because we don't need more freezing from Penumbral Blast.
  • Grenade: Coldsnap Grenade.
  • Super: Nova Bomb is generally more helpful than Winter's Wrath. Also gives access to Void Overshield.
  • Class Ability: Your choice but Phoenix Dive is nice for applying a subclass verb.
  • Stats Priority: Resilience and Discipline to max. As much Rec and Str as you can fit. Try to hit 30 Int. Dump Mob.
  • Pre-TFS DIM link: https://dim.gg/syes5aa/Prismatic-Bleak-Watcher
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/ZxvayOw
• Warlock - Base Starter Nezarec Spammer
  • We're all about slinging grenades and Nezarec's Sin is one of the best for throwing grenades. It does not require a void subclass but does require a strong void weapon.
  • Exotic: Nezarec's Sin for +300% grenade and melee regen and +200% class ability and super regen. This is a base game exotic. Should be accessible from Rahool or Xur fairly easily.
  • Melee: I guess Pocket Singularity because we don't need more freezing from Penumbral Blast.
  • Grenade: Coldsnap Grenade.
  • Super: Nova Bomb is generally more helpful than Winter's Wrath. Also gives access to Void Overshield.
  • Class Ability: Your choice but Phoenix Dive is nice for applying a subclass verb.
  • Stats Priority: Resilience and Discipline to max. As much Rec and Str as you can fit. Try to hit 30 Int. Dump Mob.
  • Pre-TFS DIM link: https://dim.gg/butluza/Prismatic-Void-Freezer
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/B1b17tw

Refined Starter Builds

• Hunter - Prismatic Gyrfalcon Refined
  • Aspect Changes: drop Winter's Shroud and replace with Gunpowder Gamble for more damage.
  • Melee Changes: can swap Withering Blade for Threaded Needle for slightly better uptime.
  • Grenade Changes: Arcbolt grenade for Jolting.
  • Super Changes: Silkstrike for Woven Mail though Golden Gun, Tether or Silence and Squall are fine.
  • Fragment Changes: We want Balance, Dawn, Dominance, Hope, Protection. This gives grenade and melee energy, Radiant, Jolting grenades, Class ability regen and damage resist respectively.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/s9c8CK6
• Hunter - Graviton Ninja Refined
  • Aspect Changes: Consider dropping Winter's Shroud for Gunpowder Gamble for more light damage.
  • Melee Changes: can swap Withering Blade for Threaded Needle for slightly better uptime.
  • Grenade Changes: Grapple Grenade might be more useful overall.
  • Super Changes: Silkstrike for Woven Mail though Golden Gun, Tether or Silence and Squall are fine.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/AyZHC0a
• Titan - Thunder Lancer Refined
  • General Changes: very few. the ability selections are all solid.
  • Grenade Changes: Glacier Grenade to add more shattering damage.
  • Fragment Changes: Balance, Dawn, Protection, Purpose, Ruin. These give grenade and melees energy, Radiant, Damage Resistance, Woven Mail, and better Shattering.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/A5hfTPh
• Titan - Frenzied Puncher Refined
  • Aspect Changes: Drop Diamond Lance for Consecration
  • Grenade Changes: go for Glacier Grenade so you can Consecrate it for Shatter and Ignition.
  • Fragment Changes: Change Hope for Bravery so you can get Volatile Rounds and Unraveling Rounds.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/MtjWYPF
• Warlock - Bleak Watcher Refined
  • Melee Changes: Arcane Needle for Unravel
  • Super Changes: Needlestorm.
  • Fragment Changes: Balance, Bravery, Protection, Purpose, Ruin for grenade and melee energy, volatile and unraveling rounds, Damage resistance, Woven Mail and Larger shatter damage respectively.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/FUk6hOR
• Warlock - Nezarec Ability Spam Refined
  • We will shift this build into full ability and verb spam. In ideal situations you can have Jolt, Scorch, Unravel, and Volatile.
  • Aspect Changes: Drop Bleak Watcher and take Hellion so our class ability does something. If Hellion ends up not being good, Weaver's Call may be a good alternative.
  • Melee Changes: Arcane Needle for Unravel
  • Grenade Changes: Storm Grenade for Jolting
  • Super Changes: Needlestorm for more damage and Woven Mail from Facet of Purpose.
  • Fragment Changes: Drop Dawn and Ruin. Pick up Balance for more ability Spam and Dominance for Jolting on Storm Grenades. Try to squeeze in Bravery for Volatile and Unraveling Rounds.
  • Prismatic Build Image: https://imgur.com/8rVzOOZ

Other Prismatic Builds

I have a few resources here:

• Prismatic Build Planner google spreadsheet (click Use Template to make a copy and use): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zKOc0WErE0jfoMwtxraPTqXEWfiOHkQP3popHPbIrw0/template/preview
• Prismatic Builds Library of 5 or so builds for each class: https://imgur.com/a/Ke38FUI
• As always the Destiny Data Compendium is tremendously useful in build planning. It is being constantly update for the Final Shape as we learn more. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WaxvbLx7UoSZaBqdFr1u32F2uWVLo-CJunJB4nlGUE4/edit?usp=sharing

Hopefully this helps people out. Let me know if you have questions or comments.

So I have been using the 2a for over a month now . It has its ups and downs . If you are considering to buy , I hope this helps .
Color : Black I went for this color because I thought glyphs would be better with the black color . But the glyphs , when paired with audio volume or timer has a weird greenish , like algae color .
I regret getting the black color , since it fades out the nothing phone design and is barely noticeable with the phone cover . I would recommend white .
Gaming I have ran a few high setting mobile games , MLBB . It does not support ultra graphics . The phone is slower compared to my iPhone 12 which I got 4 years ago . ( Or feels slower ) It cannot handle heavy gaming which is kinda sad for me .
The CPU and most components are all , located on the top of the phone , so the phone doesn't feel hot ( even if it maybe heating ) and there has not been any heating issue for me .
While gaming , if you receives notifications , the frame terribly drops and freezes for a moment . So I have to disable notifications while I am playing .
Camera I love the camera but it has 1 big issue . The AI processing ruins photos , especially in low light , or sometiems even in bright light. It does bring objectively good photos but the processing can be a big issue .
Battery Battery is great ! I can use it for a whole day from 100%. 45W original charger from nothing charges really fast (even though not comparable to 100W chargers from one plus ) .
What I am using the phone for , Light gaming ( Clash of clans , etc ) Hotspot for my ipad ( it has great connection) Photos and social media
What's great about nothing is the aesthetics and the uniqueness and the OS . and the phone is one of the cheapest phones I have used and it brings great functionality for daily life . I love the software . Customisation is filled to the brim and it just feels great using the phone as a phone .
Do I recommend the NP 2a? Depends , if you are able to buy within higher budget . There is no reason to get the nothing phone 2a ( expect for the uniqueness or just pure aesthetics)
If your budget is low , and you are deciding within , low budget phones , nothing 2a is a great choice . Since , there aren't many phones , like the nothing 2a . When I was looking at other phones around this budget , they just didn't have what nothing has.
Overall rating , ( from me ) 6.5/10.
Also , nothing phone 3 is coming ? Poggers.

As the title states, I was with AT&T back when it was Southwestern Bell Cellular. I never left. Over 30 years I had my entire family with AT&T. Coverage and service were excellent but the pricing reached the point where it was vulgar. I finally had enough and started looking.
I research everything to death. I went with US Mobile because:

1. Customer Service: Everywhere I went online, everyone swore the customer service with US Mobile was outstanding. Every time I would almost pull the trigger with a different provider I would find so many horror stories, nope. So, I took a chance. The stories here are true. My wife's phone got hung up transfering and we used this very Reddit sub forum to post asking for help and they had it resolved very quickly. My daughter broke the rear camera on her iPhone (I'm making her suffer with it for a while to make a point!) so we could not "scan the QR code" to activate your iPhone. No problem, I used the chat feature on their website and that poor man was so patient and refused to give up, stayed with us and got it resolved. The customer service has been outstanding.
2. The Price: This is why I left AT&T, I'm sick of being robbed. I was paying $95 per line after the long list of "taxes and fees" that they won't quote you until after you sign up. I'm not getting Verizon service with US Mobile for $25 PER LINE all in. WHAT?!?!?! I'm saving $75 per MONTH PER LINE and the service has been very close to AT&T (more later)
3. The CEO and founder of the company is available to the customers in a Reddit subforum. Yea. How epic is this? I came so close to moving to T Mobile back in the day because I loved their old CEO. But, their service was crap. Here, you get the epic CEO and great cellular service.
4. The data is PRIORITY DATA. This is huge for me. THIS was the main reason I stayed with AT&T for 30 years. If I need data, I need data. Period. I have no interest in deprioritized data.
5. THE PLANS ARE PERFECT FOR US! We went with Unlimited Starter. Get this! You get 35gig of PRIORITY High Speed Data and 10gig of HOTSPOT data that is also high speed! WHAT??! Oh, and you get this for $25 per line if you have 3 or more lines. That includes all taxes and fees!!!!!!!! Oh, how mad I got at AT&T for quoting a price, then adding in $30 worth of a million taxes and fees and recovery charges and blah blah blah. WAIT, If you need more data, go with Unlimited Big Dog or whatever they call it, and you get 100gig of priority high speed data and I think 50 gig of hotspot or something crazy like that. It is also so cheap I'm not worried about it.
6. Does it work? YES. I have Warp 5G on all our devices and it is priority data. Same speed, same everything as if I was paying $100 per line to be a direct Verizon customer. You get certain domestic roaming if you go with Warp 5G that I do not think you get with the other plan (you need to confirm). But I'm unsure if you get allllllll the same domestic roaming you get if you are a regular Verizon customer. We were in a very rural area recently and has zero service but I've never been a regular Verizon customer so I don't know if that area would have had coverage or not. Even with AT&T you will find small pockets of very rural areas with no coverage. I wasn't upset, I'm just being transparent. It has been a non issue for us.
7. How do you transfer? Log into your OLD cellular provider and get your OLD account number. Then, you will need to generate or find a TRANSFER PIN. This is NOT the same PIN you tell the rep when you call in for help. A transfer PIN is a separate specific PIN that tells the two cell providers that yes you did indeed give permission to transfer your old number. I use the US Mobile web site to transfer all our phones and set up the service because I'm old and prefer to type on my laptop keyboard. Just create an account then click on "eSIM activation" and follow the very clear step by step instructions. If something blows up, ask for help here or use their chat on the website (I'm sure their app has chat too). Then, get killer service, killer cellular service, and save a fortune each month.

I hope someone finds a gold nugget in there somewhere. I was VERY cautious and skeptical of all the MVNO's. If I had found a post like this, it would have made me feel better about trying US Mobile. I hope I help someone to do the same.

TLDR: Mortgage company failed to pay homeowners insurance, twice resulting in dropped coverage, 6 month lapse, and $64k minimum in damages. Attorney General currently working the case. Mortgage Company called friday and told me "We can't officially admit fault yet, but it does look like it might be. We wanted to call you and inform you prior to the holiday weekend so you don't continue to worry."
Good Afternoon,
The initial incident that led us to the understanding that our homeowners insurance was cancelled occurred around July of 2023. My wife and I realized that we were losing 1 gallon of water per second, brought to our attention by the water company. Subsequently, while researching and resolving this issue, we were faced with over $1,000 in additional water bill payments. Upon investigating the leak, I found standing water in a crawlspace access at a depth of approximately a foot, both under my crawl space access and under my home. We promptly had the water company shut off water to the house while we investigated the issue. After locating the source of the problem, I immediately contacted Farmers Insurance, only to my dismay to find out they were no longer insuring me. Farmers informed me that they had cancelled my policy due to non-payment. Several months prior to this, when my loan was sold from Amerihome Mortgage to freedom mortgage, they failed to pay my homeowners insurance. Fortunately, I caught this in time, and Farmers reinstated my policy backdated as a courtesy. The only requirement was that I pay around $350 to reinstate. I paid the fee, had a DEC page sent to Amerihome Mortgage, and everything was supposed to be taken care of since I was escrowed. Fast forward to the initial incident, and when I found out that I had no homeowners insurance (for the second time), I started conducting research as to what was going on, thinking to myself this must be a mistake. I spoke to both Freedom Mortgage (who told me that because this issue happened prior to them obtaining my loan, I should contact Amerihome) and Amerihome (who told me I need to contact Freedom Mortgage). I got both parties on a 3-way call at the same time and begged and pleaded with both mortgage companies, as well as Farmers Insurance, to fix this. Upon conducting this research, I was informed by both an agent of Amerihome and Farmers that Amerihome failed to make or even send my payment out in the mail for 3 months following the phone call where I fixed their error the first time. This resulted in, once again, my insurance being dropped. I was not notified. I was informed that both parties have several notes in their system showing who and how the ball was dropped. However, nobody felt the need to make it right or fix the issue. This resulted in no water in my house for approximately a week. I have 4 children, my youngest being disabled. We resorted for a week to dragging all of my kids out of our home to shower at other people's houses so my kids didn't stink when they went to school, and I could remain working. I'm a disabled veteran rated at 80% service-connected disability partly for back injuries incurred in the line of duty. Due to the ball being dropped here, I was forced to either live without water until this was resolved, pay over $8,000 to have a plumbing company come out and fix it (I got an estimate), or figure out a way to fix it myself. The only sensible choice for my family's financial well-being here was to work through my back pain, dig a hole about 4 feet down in mud, muck, and dirt, about 4 feet in diameter, to a pipe that was split, uncovering enough of it to figure out how to complete the job myself. I did so, only to find out that the pipe busted again in the same spot. At this point, due to my back problems, I was in no position to dig another hole. I got a tractor and dug the hole again. I got down to the pipe, and this time hired a plumber to do a side job for me; this resulted in me being charged $600 to have the pipe replaced after I did the manual labor.
The second incident, the biggest here, occurred a few months down the line when winter came, and we had frozen pipes burst under the house over Thanksgiving weekend. This resulted in water spraying out of a pipe directly up at my floorboards for a day straight. We realized this was happening after coming home from work and realizing the hot water heater located inside my back door had continuously been running. Again, resulting in another very large water bill. While researching the problem, we were again left without water for a week, showering at friends' houses, and filling a 10-gallon water safe bucket so we could cook, clean, and use the bathroom due to no insurance, and still trying, and hoping for a resolution to the initial issue. Eventually, we found the pipe that was spraying out under the house. Due to my house's small crawl space, there was not enough room to get to the location of the busted pipe. This resulted in, again, myself digging through a very small hole in the floor underneath my stairs, filling a storage tub with dirt, and dumping it outside. Tunneling through the dirt under my house until I could reach the pipe that had burst, cut it, and replace it with a new section. Again, all with a back injury. After finally fixing this issue, we were tasked with water damage in 1 bedroom with carpet, and a bathroom. The bedroom's carpet was soaked, and so were the floorboards underneath the carpet. I peeled back the carpets for 2 weeks in my son's room while blowing fans to keep air circulating and promote a healthy, mold-free environment.
I want to caveat this entire issue with the fact that my wife and I had no information or contact that told us we were without homeowners insurance. We paid our mortgage on time every month, including our escrow. When we found out this issue was happening, I immediately was proactive about getting a resolution. I expressed to all parties that this could be a RESPA case and begged them to make it right so that my family wasn't put out. I did everything right; I corrected the initial issue where Amerihome failed to make my payment. I caught the issue when they dropped the ball. I spent HOURS away from my family sitting in my car outside my home talking on the phone with the mortgage company, begging and pleading to make this right. We were a month away from Christmas, and I was facing the potential of being bankrupted due to the error of a bank. I called and called and called, expressing to them that I am ATTEMPTING to give them a good faith opportunity to resolve this for me. ALL conversations have been said to be recorded with these companies. Every bit of information I have expressed here can be backed up by factual evidence. My phone calls to Amerihome, Freedom Mortgage, as well as Farmers have all been recorded on the company's end. All discussions between Farmers and Amerihome were documented on Farmers' end.
My wife and I had given up. We went through bankruptcy years ago, and we decided that if we went and got a lawyer that one of two things were going to happen. We would fight the bank and win, or, we fight the bank and lose, resulting in our family being financially buried, and our lives as we know them will change at no fault to us. We couldn't accept this due to the fact that we spend 50% of our time caring for our youngest child, our first daughter, who just so happens to be disabled.
After about 4 months or so of deciding to bite the bullet, I was standing at work, completely forgot about the issue at hand, and recieved a call from the Attorney General's office informing me that based on the evidence at hand, I am not at fault. She sent emails and documents off to the respective parties, alot of time passed, I wasn't liking how slow things were moving, so i looked up EVERY executives name from both mortgage companies on google, searched them on Linked In, and direct messaged everyone of them that had a profile. Furthermore I found the Chief Executive Attorney in Charge at Freedom Mortgage along with the corporate HQ's phone number, at the crack of openning I called and asked for him directly. Mr. ROESKE is his name. The desk surprising transferred me to him. I preceded to barade this man for half an hour on my drive to work informing me on how his company and Amerihome dropped the ball.
Well... needless to say within a week of sending those messages and calling that man, I recieved a call from Amerihomes "CEO Office" informing me that they recieved EVERYTHING all at once. My LinkedIn messages, the attorney general notice, and a direct call from Freedom Mortgag's "CEO Office" . This lady informed me that based on the research she's done so far it looks like the company they subcontracted the servicing of my escrow out to failed to initialize the payment. She said she can't say for certain yet because she doesn't have access to that companies notes. But it looks to her as if that was the case. She said to me as soon as we get a response we're going to get your house back in order. We ended with me asking for a DIRECT POC phone number and a deadline of this coming Friday.
When this lady called me.... I absolutely busted down in tears. The emotional toll that my family and I have been through. Had I not kept pressing... the mortgage company would have never acknowledged this.
They have until Friday.
Assuming they acknowledge fault and error, per RESPA they are required to make me "whole" again, but what does that really look like? How can they replace the hours I spent fighting, the christmas we had to cut in half, the holidays spent away from home, the nights we drug our family out in the snow?
Should I seek out a private attorney and pursue this further?

tl;dr: My wife wants to foster her sister's four children (including a newborn with significant medical issues). This won't be our first time because she lost her parents after we'd been married only four years and were the guardians of her much younger siblings and raised them to adulthood. We delayed starting our own family for years as a result.
I wish I could be clearer with the below, but I just found out the timetable has been expedited. This post might seem very polished. That's probably because I began drafting it two weeks ago.
I also wish I could have reviewed more posts to get the "feel," but I don't think I can because of the timing.
My wife and I have been married for more than thirty years. We have been through an awful lot of horrible things, but have come out the other side. Our history began in the early ’90s when we were in college. The way we met was quite unconventional for the time. She attended a university about 250 miles away from the one I was going to. We were more like electronic pen-pals on the fledgling internet of the day. I was working on a US government-funded research project involving computer networks, which is part of how we were able to keep “connected” that way. I was a senior, and she was a freshman. We fell in love. Hard. We knew we were a solid match even before we met each other face to face six months later. Our first meet-up happened only two weeks before I graduated. We met again the weekend before my commencement. After graduation, I moved more than five hundred miles farther away from her college town. We were able to get together only three or four more times before I proposed to her during the fall semester of her sophomore year. I flew to the city nearest her college and dropped to my knee in the middle of the airport's concourse. We were married the following summer.
Life was awesome. I had my dream girl, the one I’d prayed to find for years. Financially, we were incredibly blessed. We were able to pay off my wife’s student loans, lived frugally, and saved money hand over fist. Because of all that, we were able to move out of our single bedroom ~800 sq. ft. apartment into a newly built 2,200 sq. ft. house before our second anniversary. Gen-Y and Z’ers: Don’t judge. Please. Us X’ers do understand your plight caused by massive inflation. We knew from conversations we’d had before I proposed that two children was our ideal. By our third anniversary, things were still going great, and we decided we were ready to start our family. She surprised me when I got home from work one night when she handed me a pregnancy test showing a positive. I was so happy! Then “Round 1” happened. My wife of barely four years was taking night classes to complete her bachelor’s. She’d earned her associates the year before. She was in class when I received a call from her younger sister, age 13. What she told me was devastating: their father had been killed in a wreck on the highway on his way home from work. Cell phones weren’t exactly affordable back then, so I had to wait until my wife came home two hours later to tell her what had happened. Her father’s injuries were so severe that the funeral had to be closed casket. My wife stayed at her former home for a few weeks to try to help her mom and her three other siblings find some kind of normalcy. Then came “Round 2.” Barely two weeks after my wife returned home, our phone rang in the middle of the night. To this day, I still remember the clock reading 2:03 AM. I answered and heard a voice I didn’t recognize. It was one of my wife’s aunts calling to inform us that my MIL had been found dead in their house with an empty prescription vial of Valium sitting next to her. My wife's siblings had been with other relatives, so at least they hadn’t witnessed her suicide in person. As we drove to her hometown for the second time in a month, my wife decided in no uncertain terms that we were going to bring her siblings home with us. She had not one ounce of trust that anyone else in her extended family would step up to take care of them because most of them were below the poverty line and could barely provide for their own families. The following week, we brought her siblings, aged 13, 8, and 4 back home with us. We’d gone from being carefree young marrieds of less than four years to suddenly being the legal guardians to her siblings while also dealing with the legal hurdles of settling an intestate estate. My wife miscarried at the end of her first trimester. That loss devastated us as much if not more than we’d already endured. We got the kids (and ourselves) into grief and trauma support groups which were certainly beneficial. But we also knew our plans to have our own biological kids had to be canceled, or at least indefinitely delayed. A few years into the new adventure, my wife and I agreed she could quit her job and be a stay-at-home “mom.” Years passed, my eldest SIL graduated high school, and went on to quickly get a certificate in a health-care field. Barely a few months after my SIL moved out, my wife again surprised me with the news she’d tested positive for pregnancy. To abbreviate the history, but not to understate it, our first baby came healthy, graduated with an IB diploma, and is now a junior in college, ready to tackle the world when she graduates. Back to my SIL back then. She was able to find immediate employment in her field, with competitive pay, but within a year, got pregnant. She was unwed, and the father bolted. Over the following seven years, she had two more kids by other men who also bolted, leaving her as a single mother of three with no child support. The state appears to not give a crap because it's done nothing. She’s been unable to hold steady employment and has been on welfare the majority of the time. I can’t remember the number of times we’ve paid her rent to avoid her family being evicted. Granted, it wasn’t a bank-breaking amount because she’s in Section Eight housing, but still. The middle of the other B/SILs began developing mental illness in high school. No one (meaning us, teachers, etc.) recognized it at the time, but it became obvious in hindsight after things which transpired later. He became incredibly rebellious at home, and decided during his senior year to leave our home and live with a friend. Thankfully, he decided to enlist in the military after graduating HS. When he returned from basic training, we saw a changed man. He’d become incredibly respectful to the adults he’d before rebelled against (especially us) and was incredibly disciplined and orderly in the construction job he took after his service ended. Things were looking good for him. Apparently, he also looked good to a girl he’d met in high school. They got married while he was still active and had two kids of their own before she went bat-shit crazy. She served him with divorce papers, and, no surprise, was given primary custody of their children because family courts in most US states are insanely biased to the mothers. Right before the divorce decree was finalized, she went on a rampage in their co-owned house and caused about $40K in damages. Despite all of this, my BIL had the fortitude to earn a bachelor’s degree. He graduated summa cum laude at a major state university and found a fantastic job with one of the most recognizable construction equipment companies in the metro area. If you live in the same area, you’d see their trucks everywhere. That’s how big they are. He reported to the Chief of Operations and was changing the shape of that business in good ways. “Round 3.” He began to spiral into and was clinically diagnosed with bipolar disorder after he went to a shopping center in a seedy part of town, stark naked, waving a pistol around. Thankfully, the responding police officer recognized that his behavior was abnormal and was likely suffering a mental crisis. He and the other responding units were able to get him under control with no lasting harm. My BIL was institutionalized at the VA hospital for almost a month while they titrated his medications. Things were “normal” for about a year until his ex decided to sue him for increased child support and sole custody of their kids. He rightfully fought it, but he went off his meds and began another spiral that cost him his well-paying job. His attorney told him he was going to stop representing him because of how far behind he was on payments (almost $15K). Because we didn’t want him to lose his family, we paid the bill, plus another $10K retainer, knowing we’d not likely ever see the money again (It’s been five years now and we haven’t seen a penny, but it worked. He still has joint custody). Then, he married another woman with three kids of her own who turned out to be just as heartless and crazy as his ex. He started spiraling once again, and instead of helping him, she called the cops on him, took her kids, abandoned his children, and demanded us to come and “deal with his kids.” My wife was dealing with him at his house, alone, because I was in charge of their children at our house. Her youngest brother, then about 25, insisted he go with her to the hospital. Thank GOD, because, on the way there, the older BIL opened the door of the car and tried to exit it on the interstate at 60+ miles per hour. If his younger brother hadn’t been in the back seat, my wife would likely have been the witness to a successful suicide. You can imagine the hysteria in the voice I heard when she called me afterward. The trauma and anxiety of dealing with that drama weighed heavily on all of us, including our children, and still does to this day. “Round 4.” The eldest SIL became pregnant again, but this time, the father didn’t bolt. Their baby came right before Thanksgiving ‘23 but was kept in the hospital until last month because of medical problems. The doctors decided the baby needed a tracheotomy because of a defect in her larynx. My wife attended training classes with her sister which taught them how to change the trach tube, which will have to be done every week for three years. The baby requires constant attention because she can’t audibly cry. Her mom and the father are exhausted, of course, and their own children are also exposed to this and probably feel some abandonment as a result. Fast forward to two weeks ago. The baby had a seizure and stopped breathing. EMTs were called. The mother and father performed CPR for almost a half hour before an ambulance showed up. She was kept in the NICU overnight but was discharged the next morning as they couldn’t find a “root cause” other than a “minor infection.” Last week, CPS showed up at their door. They took the baby back to the hospital and the other siblings to separate foster homes. From what we’ve been told so far, the baby’s urine was collected during the NICU visit and later tested positive for drugs (I don’t know what kind), and they believe one of the parents is to blame. My wife decided that we’d get a foster house check by CPS and take in her sister’s children, including the baby when she’s cleared to leave the hospital. This is a baby that requires 24-hour observation. As fosters, we “might” qualify for a home nurse. Sounds great, but that means we’d have a total stranger basically living in our house in room we don’t have. My SIL’s initial court hearing isn’t for another month. I’m at my wits end. I’ve given the last thirty years of my life basically supporting my wife’s family. My gut knows that I could have otherwise provided more to my own kids if not. My childresn are going to be exposed to the chaos. For a year or two after my wife decided to bring her siblings into our home and delay our own family, I seriously considered a divorce. We didn’t have a lot of community property to split, none of our own children to impact, whatever, but I held to the vows we gave each other. I’ve come to that same point now. I’m only a few years away from retirement. If I agree to my wife’s terms, it’ll possibly lead to resentment just as it did after Round 2. If I don’t agree to my wife’s terms, I know she’ll resent me. I just found out that CPS is coming next week, and we might have SIL’s kids all summer. I don’t know if I can do it again and maintain my sanity. What should I do?

Hi ShopifyeCommerce - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of the week's top stories, which I cover in depth in the newsletter. Let's dive in...
STAT OF THE WEEK: Two-thirds of U.S. consumers said that higher prices have made their financial situations “worse” or “much worse”, according to a new Federal Reserve study. The data shows that inflation continues to be the nation's top financial concern, despite the inflation rate's decline from past levels.
Last week Google held its annual Google Marketing Live 2024 event where the company showcases its newest innovations via live keynote speeches. Announcements include AI Asset Production (faster ad generation), AI Powered Shopping Ads (new video and 3D ad types), Ads in AI Overviews (we all knew it was coming), Public Launch of Ads Data Manager, Merchant Brand Profiles, and PMax Profit Optimization Goals (please use PMax they say!).
Walmart is expanding its Neighborhood Market store format with two new prototype stores in Santa Rosa Beach, FL and Atlanta, GA. The new omnichannel-focused locations are larger than previous Neighborhood Markets, spanning around 57,000 square feet of sales floor, pickup, and delivery space. The new store formats include wider aisles, expanded fresh offerings, health services room for vaccinations and consultations, and a breastfeeding room for moms.
Google Pay is rolling out a number of updates: #1) Shoppers who checkout with Google Pay will be able to see their card benefits and perks before selecting a card so that they can pick the best one for the transaction. #2) BNPL will be introduced as a purchase option to more users. #3) Google is making it easier for Chrome and Android users to verify their card details using their fingerprint, face scan, or screen lock PIN instead of always having to enter their CVV number.
Amazon is upgrading its decade-old Alexa voice assistant with generative AI and plans to charge a monthly fee to offset the cost of the technology to its customers who are already feeling nickel and dimed by Amazon's monthly service add-ons (*cough* ad-free Amazon Prime Video). CNBC reported that Amazon plans to launch a more conversational version of Alexa later this year to compete with new AI chatbots from Google and OpenAI, and the subscription will not be included in the $139/year Prime offering.
Walmart launched a new virtual e-commerce platform called Walmart Realm that lets customers shop for digital doubles of select products sold at real-life Walmart stores via virtual bazaars designed to look like outlandish, make-believe worlds. The metaverse shopping mall exists as its own independent platform built on Emperia, a virtual shopping company that has constructed digital stores for retailers including L’occitane, Bloomingdale’s and Boss. Walmart Realm can be accessed on desktop or mobile and shoppers can click on various objects in the virtual stores to learn more about the product and purchase it on Walmart.com. You can also click on videos that play welcome messages from digital avatars who are based off real life influencers, and collect Sparks as you shop, which can be redeemed for rewards.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finally issued a rule that confirms that BNPL lenders must provide consumers the same key legal protections and rights that apply to conventional credit cards, including the right to dispute charges and demand a refund from the lender after returning a product. They must also provide periodic billing statements like the ones received for classic credit card accounts. The new regulation effectively labels BNPL lenders as credit card providers and says they must now meet the respective criteria under the Truth in Lending Act.
Forrester named Shopify a leader in its 2024 Forrester Wave™: Commerce Solutions for B2B Vendor Assessment, beating out legacy B2B first commerce platforms like Intershop, BigCommerce, Sitecore, VTEX, and others. The “ludicrous” position struck a nerve with B2B expert Jason Greenwood, whose LinkedIn post calling out Forrester for its report garnered hundreds of comments and engagements, leading Forrester to threaten Greenword with a copyright violation for posting a screenshot of the Wave, according to Greenwood. The overwhelming majority of commenters agreed and expressed similar sentiment, saying that Forrester has become "pay to play."
Target plans to cut prices on 5,000 popular items across grocery, household, health, and beauty categories, including national brands and Target's owned brands like Good & Gather. The company plans to signal the price cuts with red tags in its stores and online. But they aren't the only one… Amazon Fresh cut prices on 4k products, Walmart cut prices on 7k products, McDonald's and Burger King launched $5 value meals, and Wendy's followed suit with a $3 meal. But don't get too excited -- the cuts come off the back of a 26.6% rise in prices compared to 2019. So if anything, it's just a mild price correction. They'll get you again later.
A group of content creators and developers created a satirical service called Amazon Dating, which looks and feels like Amazon's website and allows users to “buy” people they want to date as easily as they would a product on Amazon. Every person for sale on Amazon Dating comes with a price, reviews, and a bulleted description of hobbies. It's dumb, but it's kind of funny. Chuckle-worthy at the least. I have no idea what the point of it is though.
Home Depot partnered up with Instacart to offer customers same-day delivery on home improvement products from its 2,000 stores nationwide. The partnership follows a pilot collaboration that began earlier this year, with the program now being expanded nationwide.
Not to be outdone by its delivery rival, DoorDash partnered up with Ulta Beauty to provide delivery services from its more than 1,350 stores across all 50 states. Customers will be able to access Ulta Beauty's more than 25,000 items from 600 brands covering cosmetics, fragrances, skincare, and other beauty products through the DoorDash app.
Amazon India announced a new program to help tribal artisans from Visakhapatnam sell authentic handcrafted products to a global audience via its marketplace. The company will train tribal members in packaging and branding of goods to be sold online and setup an e-commerce hub within the tribal area for packaging, storage, dispatch, and order processing.
Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce joined together to form the Symbiosis Coalition, which pledges to reduce the companies' carbon footprint by supporting nature restoration projects. Collectively the companies have committed to contract up to 20M tons in nature-based carbon removal credits by 2030, which equates to paying external companies to conduct carbon-negative projects, such as planting more trees, to cancel out their emissions.
X is planning to make likes private by default to encourage more people to engage with “edgy” content on the site. Here's the thing about Elon Musk's X though… Your likes will be private, until they're not. And then one day all the “edgy” stuff you liked on X that you thought was private will become public. Because that's how Elon rolls.
Salesforce announced new AI, Data Cloud, and Commerce Cloud features at its Connections 2024 conference last week including a personal shopping assistant in the form of a chatbot, abandoned cart alerts via WhatsApp, and an update to its Salesforce Checkout that allows one-click checkout across various areas of its platform. Salesforce President and CMO Ariel Kelman said that there are “islands of trapped data” and when it comes to using data for AI processes, everything starts with getting it all in one place.
Amazon AWS is investing €15.7B to expand its data centers in Spain, extending its commitment to the country until 2033. The move extends AWS's expansion efforts across Europe, following recent similar investments in Germany and France.
Apple is offering big discounts on iPhones in China to boost sales amid intense competition from Huawei and other domestic brands. JD.com and Tmall will have select iPhone models up to 20% off for the 618 festival, which is China's second largest shopping event of the year.
Sysco launched a Sysco Marketplace for selling third-party suppliers' products, built on Mirakl technology. The marketplace will let customers access over 15,000 niche products across categories such as grocery, canned food, and dry products to supplement its regular offerings.
Shopify convinced a Delaware federal court to overturn a jury's decision that it owes $40M in damages for infringing on patents related to website-building technology. The judge said on Friday that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's findings that it infringed on the patents that belong to Express Mobile. Shopify called the decision a “significant victory in the battle against patent trolls.”
Meanwhile, speaking of patent trolls, Shopify has applied for a patent for “tuning AI-generated images” that will enable users to personalize AI-generated images used in advertising. The patent involves Shopify's collection of data from a merchant's store, which it uses to train a deep learning generative model, and then allows merchants to generate and edit photos of their products — which sounds like every other AI generated product image tool, so I'm not sure how that'll be patentable.
Mercari, the Japanese marketplace that allows users to buy and sell new and used items, which took heat last month (story #1) for its new nontraditional fee structure, launched Ethereum trading on its app. In recent years the company has pivoted towards crypto, adding a crypto exchange to its marketplace app. The exchange is proving to be a success, as customers say they are more comfortable to use the crypto exchanges of Mercari or its rival Rakuten than traditional crypto exchanges.
Linktree is launching a social commerce program that lets creators add storefronts to their link-in-bio pages and takes a 12-15% commission on sales. The experiment initially launched with a few brands earlier this year and was only available to select creators, but now the program boasts over 2,000 brands and is open to more users.
Meta is rolling out a new automated video ad option called Catalog Product Ads, which enable advertisers to upload their entire product catalog into Meta's system, with Meta's ad display process then showcasing the most relevant products to each user. Up until now, Catalog Product Ads, formerly called Dynamic ads, could only include still image placements, but now can include video.
Oh Polly, a UK-based women's fashion retailer, is implementing a new return fee policy that's based on a consumer's rate of returns. Shoppers will be required to pay up to £8.99 depending on how much of their order they want to return. Additionally, customers with high return rates will be subject to an increased fee that will only decrease once their return rate falls below a certain threshold.
Plus 12 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest including Google's $350M investment in Flipkart.
I hope you found this recap helpful. See you next week!
For more details on each story and sources, see the full edition:
hhttps://www.shopifreaks.com/alexas-monthly-fee-bnpl-regulation-that-controversial-forrester-report/
What else is new in e-commerce?
Share stories of interesting in the comments below (including in your own business) or on shopifreaks.
-PAUL Editor of Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter
PS: Want the full editions delivered to your Inbox each week? Join free at www.shopifreaks.com

Hi - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of the week's top stories, which I cover in depth with sources in the full edition. Let's dive in...
STAT OF THE WEEK: Two-thirds of U.S. consumers said that higher prices have made their financial situations “worse” or “much worse”, according to a new Federal Reserve study. The data shows that inflation continues to be the nation's top financial concern, despite the inflation rate's decline from past levels.
Last week Google held its annual Google Marketing Live 2024 event where the company showcases its newest innovations via live keynote speeches. Announcements include AI Asset Production (faster ad generation), AI Powered Shopping Ads (new video and 3D ad types), Ads in AI Overviews (we all knew it was coming), Public Launch of Ads Data Manager, Merchant Brand Profiles, and PMax Profit Optimization Goals (please use PMax they say!).
Walmart is expanding its Neighborhood Market store format with two new prototype stores in Santa Rosa Beach, FL and Atlanta, GA. The new omnichannel-focused locations are larger than previous Neighborhood Markets, spanning around 57,000 square feet of sales floor, pickup, and delivery space. The new store formats include wider aisles, expanded fresh offerings, health services room for vaccinations and consultations, and a breastfeeding room for moms.
Google Pay is rolling out a number of updates: #1) Shoppers who checkout with Google Pay will be able to see their card benefits and perks before selecting a card so that they can pick the best one for the transaction. #2) BNPL will be introduced as a purchase option to more users. #3) Google is making it easier for Chrome and Android users to verify their card details using their fingerprint, face scan, or screen lock PIN instead of always having to enter their CVV number.
Amazon is upgrading its decade-old Alexa voice assistant with generative AI and plans to charge a monthly fee to offset the cost of the technology to its customers who are already feeling nickel and dimed by Amazon's monthly service add-ons (*cough* ad-free Amazon Prime Video). CNBC reported that Amazon plans to launch a more conversational version of Alexa later this year to compete with new AI chatbots from Google and OpenAI, and the subscription will not be included in the $139/year Prime offering.
Walmart launched a new virtual e-commerce platform called Walmart Realm that lets customers shop for digital doubles of select products sold at real-life Walmart stores via virtual bazaars designed to look like outlandish, make-believe worlds. The metaverse shopping mall exists as its own independent platform built on Emperia, a virtual shopping company that has constructed digital stores for retailers including L’occitane, Bloomingdale’s and Boss. Walmart Realm can be accessed on desktop or mobile and shoppers can click on various objects in the virtual stores to learn more about the product and purchase it on Walmart.com. You can also click on videos that play welcome messages from digital avatars who are based off real life influencers, and collect Sparks as you shop, which can be redeemed for rewards.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finally issued a rule that confirms that BNPL lenders must provide consumers the same key legal protections and rights that apply to conventional credit cards, including the right to dispute charges and demand a refund from the lender after returning a product. They must also provide periodic billing statements like the ones received for classic credit card accounts. The new regulation effectively labels BNPL lenders as credit card providers and says they must now meet the respective criteria under the Truth in Lending Act.
Forrester named Shopify a leader in its 2024 Forrester Wave™: Commerce Solutions for B2B Vendor Assessment, beating out legacy B2B first commerce platforms like Intershop, BigCommerce, Sitecore, VTEX, and others. The “ludicrous” position struck a nerve with B2B expert Jason Greenwood, whose LinkedIn post calling out Forrester for its report garnered hundreds of comments and engagements, leading Forrester to threaten Greenword with a copyright violation for posting a screenshot of the Wave, according to Greenwood. The overwhelming majority of commenters agreed and expressed similar sentiment, saying that Forrester has become "pay to play."
Target plans to cut prices on 5,000 popular items across grocery, household, health, and beauty categories, including national brands and Target's owned brands like Good & Gather. The company plans to signal the price cuts with red tags in its stores and online. But they aren't the only one… Amazon Fresh cut prices on 4k products, Walmart cut prices on 7k products, McDonald's and Burger King launched $5 value meals, and Wendy's followed suit with a $3 meal. But don't get too excited -- the cuts come off the back of a 26.6% rise in prices compared to 2019. So if anything, it's just a mild price correction. They'll get you again later.
A group of content creators and developers created a satirical service called Amazon Dating, which looks and feels like Amazon's website and allows users to “buy” people they want to date as easily as they would a product on Amazon. Every person for sale on Amazon Dating comes with a price, reviews, and a bulleted description of hobbies. It's dumb, but it's kind of funny. Chuckle-worthy at the least. I have no idea what the point of it is though.
Home Depot partnered up with Instacart to offer customers same-day delivery on home improvement products from its 2,000 stores nationwide. The partnership follows a pilot collaboration that began earlier this year, with the program now being expanded nationwide.
Not to be outdone by its delivery rival, DoorDash partnered up with Ulta Beauty to provide delivery services from its more than 1,350 stores across all 50 states. Customers will be able to access Ulta Beauty's more than 25,000 items from 600 brands covering cosmetics, fragrances, skincare, and other beauty products through the DoorDash app.
Amazon India announced a new program to help tribal artisans from Visakhapatnam sell authentic handcrafted products to a global audience via its marketplace. The company will train tribal members in packaging and branding of goods to be sold online and setup an e-commerce hub within the tribal area for packaging, storage, dispatch, and order processing.
Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce joined together to form the Symbiosis Coalition, which pledges to reduce the companies' carbon footprint by supporting nature restoration projects. Collectively the companies have committed to contract up to 20M tons in nature-based carbon removal credits by 2030, which equates to paying external companies to conduct carbon-negative projects, such as planting more trees, to cancel out their emissions.
X is planning to make likes private by default to encourage more people to engage with “edgy” content on the site. Here's the thing about Elon Musk's X though… Your likes will be private, until they're not. And then one day all the “edgy” stuff you liked on X that you thought was private will become public. Because that's how Elon rolls.
Salesforce announced new AI, Data Cloud, and Commerce Cloud features at its Connections 2024 conference last week including a personal shopping assistant in the form of a chatbot, abandoned cart alerts via WhatsApp, and an update to its Salesforce Checkout that allows one-click checkout across various areas of its platform. Salesforce President and CMO Ariel Kelman said that there are “islands of trapped data” and when it comes to using data for AI processes, everything starts with getting it all in one place.
Amazon AWS is investing €15.7B to expand its data centers in Spain, extending its commitment to the country until 2033. The move extends AWS's expansion efforts across Europe, following recent similar investments in Germany and France.
Apple is offering big discounts on iPhones in China to boost sales amid intense competition from Huawei and other domestic brands. JD.com and Tmall will have select iPhone models up to 20% off for the 618 festival, which is China's second largest shopping event of the year.
Sysco launched a Sysco Marketplace for selling third-party suppliers' products, built on Mirakl technology. The marketplace will let customers access over 15,000 niche products across categories such as grocery, canned food, and dry products to supplement its regular offerings.
Shopify convinced a Delaware federal court to overturn a jury's decision that it owes $40M in damages for infringing on patents related to website-building technology. The judge said on Friday that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's findings that it infringed on the patents that belong to Express Mobile. Shopify called the decision a “significant victory in the battle against patent trolls.”
Meanwhile, speaking of patent trolls, Shopify has applied for a patent for “tuning AI-generated images” that will enable users to personalize AI-generated images used in advertising. The patent involves Shopify's collection of data from a merchant's store, which it uses to train a deep learning generative model, and then allows merchants to generate and edit photos of their products — which sounds like every other AI generated product image tool, so I'm not sure how that'll be patentable.
Mercari, the Japanese marketplace that allows users to buy and sell new and used items, which took heat last month (story #1) for its new nontraditional fee structure, launched Ethereum trading on its app. In recent years the company has pivoted towards crypto, adding a crypto exchange to its marketplace app. The exchange is proving to be a success, as customers say they are more comfortable to use the crypto exchanges of Mercari or its rival Rakuten than traditional crypto exchanges.
Linktree is launching a social commerce program that lets creators add storefronts to their link-in-bio pages and takes a 12-15% commission on sales. The experiment initially launched with a few brands earlier this year and was only available to select creators, but now the program boasts over 2,000 brands and is open to more users.
Meta is rolling out a new automated video ad option called Catalog Product Ads, which enable advertisers to upload their entire product catalog into Meta's system, with Meta's ad display process then showcasing the most relevant products to each user. Up until now, Catalog Product Ads, formerly called Dynamic ads, could only include still image placements, but now can include video.
Oh Polly, a UK-based women's fashion retailer, is implementing a new return fee policy that's based on a consumer's rate of returns. Shoppers will be required to pay up to £8.99 depending on how much of their order they want to return. Additionally, customers with high return rates will be subject to an increased fee that will only decrease once their return rate falls below a certain threshold.
Plus 12 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest including Google's $350M investment in Flipkart.
I hope you found this recap helpful. See you next week!
PAUL Editor of Shopifreaks E-Commerce Newsletter
PS: If I missed any big news this week, please share in the comments.

Hi everyone. It’s always the elephant in the room to me, but this… this is a lot later than I hoped and expected the revamp guide to come out. I know many of you are still waiting patiently for it and I thank you for that, but no matter what you say it’s still not really right its been so long (don’t start me on Ireland, but that is next) and I am very sorry for that.
But it’s here now, so let’s take a look at the Revamped Ukraine Soc Lib and Soc Dem Republic Paths!
Actually a note first. The paths are pretty event heavy since a lot, and I mean a lot, of events affect Idealism/Wing Influence or the junior partner’s Coalition Attitude. That means more slides and unfortunately because of space can not show everything here. So for the events that trigger from the focus tree and the history file (so the ones that will spawn at a certain date), they all are included as a link. A few other slides in different sections I'm about to touch up as well, but you can see all of it together when I port it over to the Wikia later on tonight.
As always, any questions, comments, concerns, but more importantly corrections and suggestions, are always welcome and encouraged!
---

Republican Victory in the AHR

UKR AHR Republicans Victory

Victory as the VDR
With defeat imminent, the Hetman will abdicate and flee Ukraine. The O-M will take control of the government, immediately entering negotiations with the VDR. A few days later Symon Petliura will declare the second Ukrainian People’s Republic, successor to the short-lived one during the Weltkrieg, and assume leadership of the country with the soc dem Republican Council until elections are called.
A little over two weeks after victory, Land Reform and Industrialization will start, and many foci in the focus tree will help advance these. More about Land Reform and Industrialization below. If Land Reform is not handled correctly, the government may find itself on the wrong side of history, which may lead to its ousting.

Runup to Elections

Pre-Election Events
In the run up to elections, the Socialist Bloc (the alliance of moderate and left wing socialist parties), with its goal of ousting the Hetman achieved, will dissolve. The two major factions of the old Bloc will now have to compete with each other in the upcoming elections.
The constitution of the original People’s Republic will be restored, and amended as needed. A unique national spirit will be given based on the two changes possibly made to the Constitution.
To replace the Hetman, the position of Chairman (of the Republic) will be created, which will be elected by the National Zbory once elections are held. Whichever party or alliance comes out victorious in the upcoming elections will all but guarantee its candidate will become Chairman.

1937 General Election

Start of the 1937 Election
Election Events
The first elections to the National Zbory (or Assembly), successor to the Soim, will take place over 150 days, with the campaigns kicking off a little over a month from the victory in the Anti-Hetman Revolt.
Players will take control and play as one of three parties:

• Ukrainian Radical Democratic Party (URDP, Soc Lib)
• Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers' Party (USDRP, Soc Dem)
• Workers’ Democratic Union (RDS, Rad Soc). The RDS is made up of two parties, the UPS-R (Ukrainian Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries), and the R-RB (Council-Revolutionary Bloc).

The election will be won by the party with the most support at the end of the 150 election season. All start at zero and will increase or decrease from a series of events over that time. The election event chain options will be unique depending on the party being played as. (Though covered below in the party’s victory, mini-game variables are set up at this time, and the event options may influence them as well). The leading party and projected election result can be seen in the decision tab.
In addition to the main event chain, Germany (whose AI will always choose to do so) and the Commune of France (a 50% chance) may choose to influence the elections. Germany’s effects will differ depending on the party the player is playing as, while the Commune will throw its support behind the Workers’ Democratic Union.
There are two instances the party may make promises to the people concerning Land Reform and Industrialization. If they are not kept (ie. each Score is not above a respective threshold), the new government will ‘pay the price’ (loss of PP, stability, and ruling party pop), later on down the road.
While there are many situations that can lead to a specific outcome, once all the votes are counted and meetings held, the election will end in three ways:

• The URDP forms the government (in a coalition with the USDRP) (Radical Victory)
• The USDRP forms the government (in a coalition with the URDP) (Mandate for the Workers)
• A RDS victory, but in appeasement to Berlin the Workers’ Democratic Union will become the junior member of a coalition with the USDRP in charge. (Revolution From Within)

Radical Victory

Radicals Form the New Government
URDP Events
A Radical Touch Focus Tree Effects
(Full Focus Tree and History Events can be seen here)
If the URDP (Ukrainian Radical Democratic Party) manages to take reins of government, it will do so as the head of a coalition with the opposition USDRP as the junior member. When the National Zbory votes for the inaugural Chairman of the Republic it will choose between Party Leader Oleksandr Shulhyn or surprise candidate Archduke Wilhelm/Vasyl Vyshyvanyi.
Whoever is elected Chairman will have to balance both the inter-party relations in the coalition (the USDRP) to keep it going, but also the intra-party factions of the URDP itself. Note that the balancing act will last until the war with Russia starts. Once this happens the attitude and influence levels will be frozen.
The USDRP’s attitude can be seen in the decision tab, and has four levels: Uncooperative, Indifferent, Cooperative, and Amenable. Each level will give bonuses associated with it, with +/- 0.10-0.20 Political Power Gain initially. Through various foci and events more bonuses can be added to them, such as consumer goods factories, construction speed, and even industrial score. But supporting causes in opposition to the USDRP may cause its lower attitude levels to give worse and worse negative buffs. If the USDRP holds an Uncooperative attitude for too long the coalition will not be able to last. Generally speaking, what is good for the URDP is bad for the USDRP and vice-versa; it requires a delicate balancing of the two to keep the coalition going.
The URDP is made up of three factions: a Right wing, Centre wing, and Left wing, with three levels of influence, Low, Moderate, and High. Having one or more of the wings with a High influence will grant increased focus bonuses. But, keeping a faction's influence High will lower the other two wing’s influence after some time (Seen in the Failstate section below). And if a wing has Low influence for too long it may break from the government.
Decisions are available to increase the influence of each of the factions. During the period of Land Reform and Industrialization, increasing the influence of the Left or Right will spend those Scores, respectively. Increasing the Centre will cost PP. If one of the wings’ influence is Low, the costs to increase it will be doubled. After Land Reform and Industrialization is over, increasing Right influence will temporarily cost Consumer Goods Factories, while the Left will cost Base Stability.
Hovering over the first focus in the branch (dynamic to the party, in this case A Radical Touch) will give an overview of what to expect from a URDP playthrough. Hovering over the first focus in the post-war tree, A New Sunrise, will give an overview of how the URDP can stay in power once the post-war elections are held. This is also explained below under Post-War Elections.

URDP Failstate

URDP Failstate
Ukraine will enter a failstate if one of the URDP’s factions revolts, or the USDRP leaves the coalition. A number of events and foci will become unavailable, and the URDP will not be able to win the post-2WK elections.
If one of the wings hit Low influence, there will be a 140 day window to get the influence back up to Moderate. This can be done through decision, events, or foci, but it must be completed or else the faction will revolt. If more than one is low at the same time only one will be in that 140 window: first the Right, then the Left, and finally the Centre.

• If the Right revolts, the Right wing of the party (shown as the Market Liberals) will leave the coalition and form a new political party, the Ukrainian People’s Peasants Party. The USDRP will stay in the government but it will only give bonuses if its attitude is Amenable.
• If the Centre revolts, the URDP will fall into disarray. It will not leave the party like the Right wing, but will no longer be the voice of reason and responsibility against the left and right. Shulhyn will gain a new, negative trait, and will replace Vyshyvanyi as Chairman if Vyshyvanyi was previously elected.
• If the Left revolts, it will start to obstruct the party’s initiatives. The revolt will take its toll on the Prime Minister, Andrii Nikovskyi, who will gain a new, negative trait.

If the USDRP’s attitude lowers to Uncooperative there will be a 180 day window to get it back up to at least Indifferent. This can be done through foci and events, but must be done or the party will leave the coalition. If it ends up leaving the government will no longer have a majority in the National Zbory and will become a Minority Government. As such, no bonuses pertaining to the coalition will be given, and the influences of the URDP’s factions will be frozen.

Mandate for the Workers

Social Democrats Form the New Government
USDRP Events
Ascension of the Workers' Party Focus Tree Effects
(Full Focus Tree and History Events can be seen here)
If the USDRP (Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers' Party) manages to take reins of government, it will do so as the head of a coalition with the opposition URDP as the junior member. Party Leader Isaak Mazepa will be elected by the National Zbory as the inaugural Chairman of the Republic.
Mazepa will have to balance both the inter-party relations in the coalition (the USDRP) to keep it going, but also the Idealism of the party. Note that the balancing act will last until the war with Russia starts. Once this happens attitude and Idealism levels will be frozen.
The USRDP prides and positions itself as the only (major) republican party in Ukraine that is united in its platform and not to have fallen to factionalism … on the surface that is. There is a tug of war between the pragmatists and idealists inside the party that will take its toll on the idealism (the commitment to its principles) of the USDRP. Idealism will start at zero (or 1 if an election event choice was taken) and will raise and lower between -4 and +6. It will lower by 1 every 100 days but every 250 days may be increased by 1 (up to three times). Various events and foci will increase and decrease Idealism. Generally speaking, if the action is against the Party’s principles it will cost a point of Idealism. If it is inline with it, a point won’t be spent and instead a bonus will be given based on the number of Idealism points at the time.
The stronger the Idealism of the Party, the stronger the bonuses will be from various foci. Conversely, the lower the Idealism the lower the bonuses that will be given (if at all). If Idealism falls to -4, it will have a negative effect on the government and on the Party’s Leader.
Note, a few months after forming the new government, Symon Petliura, interim head of state after the ousting of the Hetman, will become available for military duty (as a Military High Command Advisor). His trait, the Chief Otaman, will change based on the current level of Idealism. With low Idealism (0 or less), he will give boosts to stability and war support. With +1 or +2 Idealism, he will boost factory output and the recruitable population. With Idealism at 3 or more, he will boost Land Reform Score, and political power gain. Depending on what is needed, it may be wise to hold off hiring him until Idealism is at the level you’d like his trait to be. Hiring him and raising his skill as a General may see him make a political return post-war.
The URDP’s attitude can be seen in the decision tab, and has four levels: Uncooperative, Indifferent, Cooperative, and Amenable. Each level will give bonuses associated with it, with +/- 0.10-0.20 Political Power Gain initially. Through various foci and events more bonuses can be added to them, such as consumer goods factories, construction speed, and factory output. But supporting causes in opposition to the URDP may cause its lower attitude levels to give worse and worse negative buffs. If the URDP holds an Uncooperative attitude for too long the coalition will not be able to last. Generally speaking, what is good for the URDP is bad for the USDRP and vice-versa; it requires a delicate balancing of the two to keep the coalition going.
Hovering over the first focus in the branch (dynamic to the party, in this case 'Ascension of the Workers’ Party) will give an overview of what to expect from a USDRP playthrough. Hovering over the first focus in the post-war tree, A New Sunrise, will give an overview of how the USDRP can stay in power once the post-war elections are held. This is also explained below under Post-War Elections.

USDRP Failstate

USDRP Failstate
Ukraine will enter a failstate if Idealism hits -4, or the URDP leaves the coalition. A number of events and foci will become unavailable, and the USDRP will not be able to win the post-2WK elections.
Having hit +4 Idealism, Mezepa will realize just how far the party has strayed from its core principles. No longer is it a mass movement of the working class, but now is a rational and responsible people’s party. He will gain a new, negative trait, and the Idealism mechanic will be disabled.
If the URDP’s attitude lowers to Uncooperative there will be a 180 day window to get it back up to at least Indifferent. This can be done through foci and events, but must be done or the party will leave the coalition. If it ends up leaving the government will no longer have a majority in the National Zbory and will become a Minority Government. As such, no bonuses pertaining to the coalition will be given, Idealism will be set to zero and frozen.

Franco-British-Ukrainian Trade Deal

Eyes to the Left: An Internationale Trade Agreement
In October 1937 the USDRP government will reach out to the Internationale in an attempt to negotiate a trade deal. The purpose is to loosen the grip of the Germans as they use the economic pact Ukraine is in, Mitteleuropa, against it to force their views.
Ukraine will send either URDP member Arnold Margolin or USDRP member Mykhailo Yeremivv to Paris to negotiate. Sending Margolin will spend a point of Idealism, but will increase the chance of a deal by 20%. Conversely, sending Yeremivv will gain a point of Idealism, but will decrease the chance of a deal by 20%, though any successful deal will be greater than Margolin can ask for.
Once he arrives in Paris, the negotiator can propose one of three deals:

• For Industrial Assistance - Land Reform Score increases and Civilian Factories
• For Consumer Goods - Gives PP and Soc Dem Party Pop
• Choose to sell Oil - This option combines both Industrial Assistance and Consumer Goods, but decreased the deal’s chance by 20%.
  • This choice can only be selected if the Industrialization Decision ‘BASF Petroleum Development’ was already completed.

When the German government hears of the negotiations it will demand an explanation. Ukraine has a few options on how to deal with the Germans (hovering over the options will show Germany’s acceptance rate):

• Limit the scale of the agreement: the success or failure of placating the Germans will be affected by who the negotiator is, the current government of Germany (DU is better), and the level of Idealism (having 1 or less is better).
• Cancel the deal: It will not go through and a point of Idealism will be lost, but the URDP’s attitude will approve.
• Sweet talk the Ambassador: the success or failure of placating the Germans will be affected by who the negotiator is, the current government of Germany (DU is better), and the level of Idealism (having 2 or more is better).
• Revisit the German-Ukrainian Treaty signed after the overthrow of the Hetman: This will guarantee the deal goes through, but will also increase the German Minor Privileges national spirit to Moderate, or from Moderate to Major, or if already at Major, will add negative base stability and PP.
  • This will make it impossible for the USDRP to win a major election victory.

If the Germans accept, the deal chosen in the second event will be signed and the bonuses given.
If the Germans reject it, no deal will be negotiated, two points of Idealism will be lost, will add negative base stability and PP, and worsen the attitude of the URDP.

URDP Party Conference

URDP Party Congress
Also for the USDRP, a couple months later in December 1937, the player will be warned that PP should be saved up to combat the future rise of the URDP’s Right wing. This comes at a critical time as Land Reform and Industrialization is ongoing which use up much of the country’s PP, so plan carefully.
Three months later the URDP is planning to hold its yearly Party Conference in three months. During this time the party’s three factions (the Right, Centre, and Left) will jostle for influence, for whichever has the most at the end of the three month period will take control of the party. This can help or hurt the USDRP as the URDP is the junior member of the governing coalition.
It is the Right’s race to lose as it holds the most influence going into the three months, at 4. Next is the Centre at 3, and then the Left at 2. Every 10 days the Right’s influence will increase by 1.5 automatically until the end of the Conference is held. This can be combated every five days by spending 10pp to reduce its influence by 1. In addition, the Centre’s can be increased by 1.5 every 10 days for 10pp as well. To increase the Left’s (also every 10 days) initially costs only 5pp, but each time the decision is taken five more pp is added to the cost, capping at 50pp.
At the end of the three months, whichever wing has the most influence will see its leader become the new URDP Chairman:

• Having the Right take over will be detrimental to coalition relations, and will start to drain PP and Base Stability, even at the best of relations. The only way to remove the debuffs is to complete a focus at the bottom of the focus tree: ‘A President for the People’.
• Having the Centre take over will smooth over URDP relations and give a PP boost.
• Having the Left take over will be beneficial to the USDRP, having a more cooperative junior member in the coalition.

On National Defence

On National Defence
For both the URDP and USDRP, as long as the government coalition did not collapse, at the very end of 1938 the National Defence Bill will be proposed in the National Zbory. Over the next 13 months, a number of conditions will have to be met to increase the chance (or guarantee) the Bill will pass.
There are seven conditions in total, and ar checked when the Bill is put up to a vote at the end of the 13 months:

• Stability is higher than 70%
• War Support is higher than 50%
• Coalition Attitude is Cooperative or Amenable
• Land Reform, AND Industrialization Scores are above 90
• The focus Ukrainian Land Fund, AND Progressive Tax Policy have been completed
• At last three foci from the military tree, branching from but including Expansion of Kyiv Military Academey have been completed
• Party Specific:
  • For the URDP, the Centre wing’s influence is Moderate or High
  • For the USDRP, Idealism is 1 or more

Having only two or less will guarantee it fails. With three there is a 20% chance it will pass. With four, 40%. With five, 60%. With six, 80%. All seven guarantee it passes.
If the Bill passes, a national spirit will be given reducing the production cost of various equipment by 10% for two years. If Ukraine is a German puppet, has the best trade deal with Germany (Minor German Privileges) AND had previously negotiated the Franco-British-Ukrainian Trade Deal, it will see its autonomy raised, becoming independent.
If it fails there will be a PP loss, and the USDRP will not be able to win a major election victory.
Pass or fail, three months later, if any URDP Wings are at Low influence each will be raised to Moderate.

War with Russia

Russia Prepares for War
In the immediate period before Russia (socialist or not) declares war, Ukraine will receive a difficulty setting event regarding the upcoming war. A player may choose to make the war harder by stopping German (and its allies’) troops from defending its border specifically, or even harder by stopping those troops from any country that took part in the Eastern European Defence Cooperation. This player only event is given to all countries in the Eastern European Defence Cooperation, and Ukraine/Poland if either had joined the Donau-Aribund.
When war does break out there will be a proposal to form a National Unity Government by allowing the opposition RDS into government. Forming it will set the coalition’s attitude to Indifferent, but will make it impossible for the URDP or USDRP to win a major election victory (attitude must be Amenable). But, not forming it will take its toll on the populace if the war starts to go south. For every core state lost to Russia, the National Opposition national spirit debuff will grow by -2% Recruitable Populace Factor, and -1% Core Territory Division Defence. Retaking the states will reverse the debuffs.

A Dream Come True

A Dream Come True: Post-War URDP and USDRP Content
URDP/USDRP Epilogues
With the 2WK over and the peace conference completed, the post-war content for the URDP and the USDRP will unlock, and elections held. See directly below for the elections as the outcome will unlock one of the four mutually exclusive in the tree.
With the post-war elections out of the way, one of four mutually exclusive foci will unlock in the tree. While giving a national spirit to the situation Ukraine finds itself in, each will give a sort of epilogue too. With three outcomes per focus, all twelve can be seen above, and in two of them for the USDRP, Petliura will have his leader description updated. Finally, 'Testament Fulfilled' gives an overall ending event, which is also included above.

Post-War Elections

First Post-War Republican Elections
With victory over Russia, elections to the National Zbory postponed due to war can finally be held. The government (either the URDP or the USDRP) will have had to get through three or four hurdles, respectively, to stay in power. If the conditions are met the party will win a minor election victory.

• Land Reform and Industrialization Scores must both be above 90,
• Ukraine did not reach 60% surrender progress in war.
• Party Specific:
  • For the URDP, it must not have suffered any internal revolts of its wings
  • For the USDRP, it did not let Idealism hit -4, AND did not allow the URDP-Right wing to take control of the URDP.

If the URDP only met one of its conditions it will be shut out of the new government completely. If it met two conditions it will become the junior partner in a coalition with the USDRP.
Meeting all three conditions, Volodymyr Dolenko of the URDP-Right may be elected the new Chairman, switching to Market Liberal (but the Right wing’s influence must be equal to or greater than the Left’s). If the Left’s is greater than the right, Andrii Nikovskyi may be elected Chairman instead.
If the USDRP only met one or two of its conditions it will be shut out of the new government completely. If it meets three conditions, it will become the junior partner in a coalition with the URDP.
Meeting all four conditions means Mazepa or Prime Minister Panas Fedenko may be (re-)elected Chairman, if Petliura was NOT hired as an advisois a level 4 or more Marshal. If Petliura was hired and is of appropriate rank, he can be elected instead.
There are three extra conditions that, if met, will result in a major election victory for the party (and it will get to choose which parties it allows into the coalition).
For the URDP:

• The National Unity Government must NOT have been formed.
• The Centre wing has High influence.
• The USDRP’s attitude is Amenable.

For the USDRP:

• The National Unity Government must NOT have been formed,
• The National Defence Act and a Trade Agreement with the British and French was agreed to and Germany has only Minor Privileges (the national spirit Minor German Privileges)
• The URDP’s attitude is Amenable.

For the URDP, if all six conditions are met, either Dolenko or Nikovskyi may be elected without conditions. In addition, Shulhyn and Vyshyvanyi may be (re-)elected Chairman.
For the USDRP, if all seven conditions are met, Mazepa, Fedenko, or Petliura may be elected without conditions. In addition, Mykola Kovalevskyi can be elected Chairman.

Later Republican Elections

Later Republican Elections
Four years after the first post-war elections the next scheduled elections will take place. Unlike the first these will be two separate events.
The first will be the election to the National Zbory, which will change the ruling party:

• If the USDRP is in power, the URDP can form a centrist coalition and shut the USDRP out of the government.
• The URDP can lead a new coalition with the USDRP
• The USDRP can lead a new coalition with the URDP
• The USDRP can form a left-wing coalition allying with the RDS (which will form the Revolutionary Bloc), shutting the URDP out of the government.

Note the URDP-Right can only take power in the first elections, and will not be able to form a new government in the second and succeeding elections.
The second event is the election of the CHairman of the republic.

• Oleksandr Shulhyn - Available to a government led by Andrii Nikovskyi
• Vasyl Vyshyvanyi - Available to a Soc Lib government
• Opanas Fedenko - Available if the government does NOT have a coalition with the Soc Cons
• Symon Petliura - Available if the government does NOT have a coalition with the Soc Cons
• Nykyfir Hryhoriiv - Available if the government has a coalition with the Rad Socs

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For those of us in the US, a very Happy, but solemn, Memorial Day today!
Thank you!

I, like many people I know, own a tractor. I find myself frequently in need of implements I dont own, and that I can't borrow or rent. Most of these are niche tools I'd only use once or twice, such as a wood chipper, trailer mounted backhoe, power rake, rock drills, stump bucket, chisel plow, rock picker, etc.
Most rental yards only cater to common tractor attachments that people already own, things like box blades, post hole diggers, etc.
So far the qualities I see are:
Pros:

• Low startup cost (most implements are under 4k new, the rest 4k used, and I can always fabricate some if I choose to)
• Hard for renters to abuse: most are basically just simple machines that are intended to be drug through the ground by a high powered machine
• Self-use: most of these I could use when they were not hired out and accomplish my own tasks. In a sense, I'd be making money off the tools I'd purchase for myself
• Low operational cost: implements don't tend to have many wear items aside from cutting edges and bearings. I'm very mechanically inclined and can easily maintain the implement through the life of the business.
• Easy asset disposal: if something stopped making money, I can always offer it for sale to clients. Depreciation is low with implements and essentially stops once they stop being "new." I'd buy used implements where possible anyways so not really a factor- in essence, I could just recoup most of my cost selling the implement as I did paying for it.
• No real overhead: wouldn't need to hire anybody, implements don't incur bills sitting idle like a car that would need registration and insurance, I can store the implements without issue. Would also be a very straightforward and fully detatched LLC.
• Low time investment: basically just need to perform occasional maintenance, bookkeeping, scheduling, and answering the phone. Maybe delivery and pickup of implements. I could easily do this on the side and have an effective full time job.

Cons:

• Liability risk: Heavy equipment is dangerous when operated carelessly. Simply no way around that. Wood chippers in particular can kill if not operated with dilligence. While it is generally understood that with reasonable safeguards in place, and informing the client of hazards, the owner is typically not liable for injuries, that does not eliminate the filing of lawsuits. Same for tillage and excavation tools- something hits a utility and bang, that's a major expense to the responsible party. Any party who is involved in the story of the accident could be held liable, and that's a risk I'm hesitant to take. Or a negligent operator could damage their property, IE shooting a rock through a window with a mower, uses a loader bucket like a dozer and breaks their loader, etc. Then I get that call and have to deal with their ignorance.
• Theft: There could be a high risk of somebody paying for a day's rental of an implement and just disappearing with it. I'd need to keep a verified address on file and a credit card deposit, and probably some permanent branding on implements to prevent unauthorized resale. Even then, some idiot is bound and determined going to try and sell something for meth money.
• Demand: I see it as being very difficult to determine the profitability of such a business beyond just eyeballing it. Demand would be basically at the whim of the nature of people's projects, and while one guy needs a chipper, the other needs a backhoe, and they probably need it *right now.* Like with U haul trucks, they're gonna sit idle 85% of the time.
• Deadlines: it could end badly if person A reserves an item for X time with contractual obligation to return by Y time, person B wants it at Z time but A just stops answering phone calls and doesn't show. B would obviously get a prompt refund and an apology, but B will probably still be angry, and within their right. I'd probably need to set in some sort of fee system where early returns get a 50% refund (my lost time and money not being able to offer tool) and late returns charge a double rate. It'd be one thing if the customer calls and asks to extend the date out, in which case that could be arranged at the regular rate, but bad scheduling would be a substantial problem.
• Customer skills: an incompetent customer is likely to experience unsatisfactory results and would blame the tool "you rented me a piece of crap, I want a refund!" though they were trying to run a tiller through a pile of rocks. I imagine it very difficult to walk the line between appeasing the inevitable angry/insatiable customers and not going broke in the process.

Thoughts? Could this be a reasonable "side business?"

Hi there,
Edit1: swapped * for x and added some spaces for readability
Edit2: tl/dr: Dazzle's Nothl Boon + Final Promise + Voodoo Restoration (+ Tether) = 10.000-25.000 physical shield with 0.33sec refresh rate.
First time poster to this subreddit. I played AD actively for a moderate amount of a time a good while back and took a break for other games/normal dota. I'm thus not familiar with the exact interaction of whether Oracle's ultimate, Final Promise (FP), counts as healing done by the caster, recipient or assigns healing done to those that cast the actual heal spells/abilities.
I presume that the ownecaster of FP is assigned all the healing done when proposing the following niche build:
Dazzle Facet 1 (overheal = shield - I bet you see where this is going)
First ability (the build is useless without): FP - With the Facet, this can very quickly build a >10.000 damage barrier if you assemble the build completely
Second ability: Voodoo Restoration (VR) - the continous healing will refresh the duration of the physical shield barrier continously, overwriting the timer, but not the shield amount. Getting stunned won't break this either, neither does silence I believe? Works incredibly well in charging up a chunky facet shield if you manage to pick up tether aswell.
Third ability (semi-optional): Tether - Turbo charges your aoe heals - Voodoo restoration for a full 10 seconds on both heroes with Holy Locket (HL) passive (30%) heals you 130% which converts x 1.2 and then gets the 30% from HL again through tether into a now x 2.028 heal which is doubled by Final Promise, and then gets the 30% from HL yet again (I think) for a multiplication factor of 5.2728 on the 10 x 46 heal (460 x 5.2728=2425 health) + 460 x 1.3=598 from the direct voodoo restoration (+30% from HL) for a total shield value contribuition of 3023 from VR alone.
Fourth ability (optional): Any heal to further boost the shield, if opponents manage to draft absurd physical comboes like enchant totem assassinate/walrus punch etc., or more utility based like saves, pushes, mobility or counters to potential mana burns.
Items: Holy Locket (442 x 2 x 1.3=1149), Urn (400x2x1.3=1040), Healing Salve (400 x 2 x 1.3=1040), Greater Healing Lotus (900 x 2 x 1.3=2340 or 2340 x 1.3=3042 if the healing lotus itself counts as healing that gets buffed by HL), Roshan Cheese (2500 x 2 x 1.3=6500), Guardian Greaves ((350 x 1.3 x 1.2 x 1.3 x 2 x 1.3 + 350 x 1.3)=1845+455=2300
Now use all the items on yourself aswell/instead (several greater healing lotus if you feel spicy) if you have tether for absurd increases (cheese = 2500 x 1.3 x 1.2 x 1.3 x 2 x 1.3=13182 by itself if HL is applied at all stages (consumption, tether, FP)
Just VR+Tether and the listed items on/by your FP target (excluding items on yourself and a heal as your fourth optional ability) is 11594 (no cheese), 18094 (cheese on target) or 24776 (cheese on yourself given that HL applies the 1.3 at each step).
Now get the tier 5 item unwavering condition to take 95% less magic damage so your opponents don't go under your physical shield, and keep refreshing your 25k barrier (your base regen will push the 24776 over 25k) every 0.33 seconds with VR.
Been cooking this in my head for so long I had to get it off my chest haha!
Any heals your teammates throw into the FP should also increase the heal assigned to Dazzle to further boost the shield.
The best part? Once you've built your barrier, you can find a teammate and do it all again on them when FP is ready, until your entire team is practically immortal save absurd burst from the enemy team.
Cheers!