A very merry hood christmas vimeo

I'm new here and this is probably a story you've seen a million times, but here goes. I (39m) had gallbladder issues on and off for 3+ years, and they really started ramping up after pretty quick weight loss last summer. Now ironically I work in dentistry and tell people about taking care of wisdom teeth before they attack you on Christmas eve. So naturally, on Christmas Eve after a big fatty meal, it started. Worst symptoms I've had yet. Sweating, fetal position, and finally vomiting, none of which had ever happened before. After vomiting I felt OK. I figured after the holidays I'll finally get this thing out. On Christmas day, I felt OK in the morning but it slowly started coming back, and long story short, I was in the ER at 11 PM Christmas night. BP was 190/110 from the pain when it's usually very healthy. Thanks to a lack of surgeons and rooms, I laid in the ER for 36 hours on Dilaudid (fentanyl did literally nothing to the pain) before I got surgery. The doc said my gallbladder was essentially dead and severely infected and I was lucky to get it laparoscopically.
Thankfully, aside from wearing a drain for a week it went well, I've felt great (in fact my digestive system is better than ever), and those little moments where I think to myself that I'm free of gallbladder issues are just so satisfying.
So, if you know you have issues, get that bad boy out asap (if recommended by medical professionals, of course).

We are Azure Infinitum
Visit us at: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/)
You may have seen us in the Aether data center's party finder during our weekly events, or may have seen our recruitment shouts around the realm in-game in Midgardsormr, but there just isn't enough space in those places to really explain everything wonderful about what our Free Company and community is.
Azure Infinitum is an LGBTQ+ friendly community, and welcomes players of all experience level, play style, and availability. We're a warm home with a balance of online players, weekly optional activities, and flexible ranks from our membership, to our support & leadership categories. We have a 24/7 Support Team, a Councilship that governs each tier, seasonal events of our own, and many resources between the games we support and online services.
Who We Are
We are an established 9-year old community who's home is in Midgardsormr Server of Final Fantasy XIV. We are a structured, well-rounded, welcoming, friendly, and organized community that hosts daily events (check out our calendar: https://azureinfinitum.com/events/ ) that provide opportunity for members to excel. We work to provide an arena and opportunities to establish strong bonds and camaraderie between our members. As a community we are driven, we carry each other forward, and we are proud.
Our Name & Philosophy
Learn more about our global community here: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/aboutus/)
Learn more about our FFXIV Free Company here: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/ourffxivfc/)
Azure Infinitum means "Azure/Blue Infinity or Infinite Blue/Azure" and there is some mythos behind the name that stems from our guild-wide philosophy of kindness, freedom, vigilance, diversity and activity. We promote positive fellowship among members in an organized guild, with our sights open to our unending endless skies, full of possibility and success together.
Our motto is "As Free As The Azure Sky!" which stuck well when our FC was restructured from an old guild in 2014 as Azure was founded, and it was first shouted as we looked out at a clear blue sky above. has continued to be our electric victory as we continue to snowball in success and activity, our members soaring high through the Azure Sky, flying together!
Ranks
Click here to learn more about our community ranks: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/ranks/)
Our community has an organized ranking structure beginning with Members who comprise the majority of the roster. Scouts are our support team of Members who've stepped up to more officially support the FC, some work on obtaining a future leadership rank. Lieutenants and Officers comprise the proud Azure Council, a diverse group of players of different specialties and services to the FC, making up lower and higher tier leadership, seeing over the Scouts and the FC weekly events, aside from being admins. The FC Infinitum Master oversees all and leads the Azure Council and the company forward while always keeping the heart and vision of the community alive and in sight. Currently we are re-assessing ranks in the free company, giving more support permissions and duties to our Scouts, while the current council operates as a small team of Lieutenants lead by the FC Master.
Everyone Welcome and Who Fits Best
We have an open door policy. Whether you're casual, a returning player, a veteran, or a newbie, we have a vast array of players in our member roster. Our weekly schedule is organized and provides an array of activity for players of most levels, however we like to ask players who're pretty new or under the level cap, to be extra vocal about their needs while they're still unable to attend some daily events or higher level content that most of our weekly lineup focuses on. We want everyone to have as much fun as possible and have the most success. We find that most players enjoy Azure Infinitum, many have stated that they subscribed to FFXIV much longer than they ever would have imagined after they have been around in our community, as they've gotten involved and experienced all that we offer.
Our FC keeps a daily schedule (see here: https://www.azureinfinitum.com/events/) of events that are hosted by permitted Scouts and Council ranks, these range from 8-man and 24-man raids and map parties, to WT journal groups and trial clear parties or farms, and more- and attending anything isn't mandatory at all here. We're happy to have you, and its up to our members how much they'd like to get involved. Attendance is optional! There's never any stress to attend FC functions.
Savage Raiding Statement
We find that some hardcore raiders looking for free companies just to join their statics who don't already have one, might not fit well if savage raiding is their only or greatest focus, because traditionally Azure does not have a Savage Static, but focuses more on allowing members to organize their own groups and also provides resources to do so. Despite not supporting an official static for the FC, we hope that hardcore raiders enjoy the wealth of our community's wealth of harmony and overall fun, and that everyone may take initiative to seek out or build a raiding static within our community if they are interested, as opposed to missing out on experiencing Azure. Depending on the content season, we may have an Unofficial static lead by a leader, and routinely offer limited time Savage-learning events that may run for a number of months.
Rules and No Drama Policy
Please take a moment to look over our Rules Page at (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/rules/), we find that rude individuals and people who create drama are the outsiders here that don't fit well. We know its a big page, so at least visit the General Rules section before joining.
Recruitment Care & Activity
People of Azure Infinitum are often if not always good natured players who found their way to our community looking for a place with structure, friendliness, organization, and great activity, or they've been scouted during recruitment drives and have been well screened. Its a place where one can be social and attend everything, or relax in the background and enjoy the services and facilities of being in an active, organized, and friendly FC. We actively recruit periodically to assist with upkeep of community activity levels, and to meet new comrades. A community that closes recruitment can be doomed to stagnation. Its normal for a community to have an inner core of die hards who log in daily regardless of content releases, and also have an outer core of individuals that range from those with less availability to those who check in during Patches. This is why we take extra care in keeping the fresh blood flowing into Azure, cautious recruitment, and support our active model by always staying welcoming and sometimes running recruitment campaigns and other services. Like this ad!
Handling Online Drama
Because we keep a no-drama policy and have a strong communication network, it is leadership's ultimate priority to handle any issues that may come up as soon as possible, and most people appreciate our problem solving which has inspired many other communities. Between our Support & Leadership ranks, we use a number of report and resource channels to handle situations, and perform problem solving protocols & tactics to fairly address issues as possible. Drama is inevitable at some point for any online community, so its important to have a large and strong list of moderators (currently around 60!) and a council of leaders (15+) to quickly handle any problems. Luckily, we don't have a lot of drama, but we're always very well equipped and very prepared. Our community has been commended by game staff in the past for our methods, and we have worked with the FFXIV Special Task Force to ensure as much safety to our community as achievable. It should be stressed that it is up to our membership to report to GM's in-game, and to Azure Leadership should any issues or concerns come up. Its also highly recommended that our members appropriately document evidence that can be used to help us assess situations and make proper decisions. Documenation such as screenshots of harassment is a great example! Our members online safety is greatly important to us and is a number one concern of our leadership team. Our Rules Page at: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/rules/) describes a bit more in Chapter 3, including other entries on avoiding/ignoring trolls, playing while intoxicated, depression, and more.
Our Philosophy
We believe in our community and its people, how far we can go, how much we can do for each other, being an experienced community who's core values are positive fellowship, formation of bonds, and indomitable unity.
Azure Infinitum tightly grasps success and masters a casual and lucrative weekly play schedule while inspiring motivation and providing avenues for further success, friendships, and camaraderie among all who freely fly together among our Azure skies.
Founding on the principles of intricately forging a generally drama-free experience with keen leadership and a zealous and mighty membership, Azure has striven to guide and support many hundreds of players through every era of Final Fantasy XIV.
With an illustrious history, company lore, impressive statistics, and a model that is adaptable and blessed with innovative ability, Azure Infinitum claims a dominant presence of excellence and player growth that is possible in our community and extended services.
Estate Organization
We have the entire set-up at our estate, from gardens for members and Krakka Root production (free for members' chocobos), to our stables, nicely uniform clean lawn with hangout spots that are popular, with crafting stations, all available NPCs for simple mats and repairs, cut-scene viewer, toybox, triple-triad board, a fully operational and geared fleet of airships and subs, and our Azure Infinitum Assembly Chamber on the top floor for our meetings where announcements are made at our Grand Assemblies. Check it out if you like at Mist Ward 7 Plot 1.
We also have an organized form of gathering for weekly events in the yard, places to relax, food that is always available on tables at our Cellar, and hold a lot of special events and social games at our Hall. We're also conveniently located next to a Market Board and a Retainer Bell outside of our estate.
Communication and Extended Azure Services
We have multiple services of which none are mandatory, but we provide being (azureinfinitum.com) where our Forums, Event Calendar, News, Company Meeting Summaries, Seasonal Merch Giveaways, Contests, Rules Page, and more take place and can be found. We also have a popular and active Discord Server.
We also have a Facebook Group, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Steam Group, (Look us up! Or visit: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/socialmedia/) and Linkshells like our Infinitum Alliance LS for contact and aid from our allies if needed, our Azure Hunters LS for Hunters, and our Azure Industry LS which connects our members to our inner crafting/gathering community for newbies to pros.
Also worthy of mention is our big Company Meetings in-game, known as Azure Infinitum Grand Assemblies. Even though we have several avenues that keep people connected, our live assemblies gather the FC in unity where announcements are made first, and all proposals, ideas, and more, can be decided together live with the Azure Council present.
This network ensures a lot of information and communication gets around and has been exceedingly useful to us.
More On Events
One part of our reputation that often precedes us is our event crafting and hosting.
First, let me make sure its clear that attendance is never mandatory, but those who can make use, when possible, of what we provide each day, benefit from our events each week.
Since our beginning, traditions like our Thursday Treasure Thursdays events have run each week. Our weekly line-up presently begins on Tuesdays post-weekly reset, and consists of Raid Tuesdays, Wondrous Wednesdays (WT Journal Parties, often doubles as Trial Clears and Pony Drops), Treasure Thursdays (Endwalker's timeworn maps with groups of 8 doing up to 3 rounds of maps allowing for up to 24 maps ran), 24-Man Tuesdays (full pre-formed Azure 24-member alliances are made and raids are cleared, will be returning upon the release of EW's 24-man), Super Azure Slayer Sunday (our weekly meetup to do all sorts of PVP content be it Rival Wings or Frontline), and Monstrous Mondays (helps clear the current and previous patch extreme trials).
Special, Seasonal, and Quarterly Events
More info here: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/azureday/)See the latest event news & more at: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/news/)
We also have what we call Special and Quarterly Events. These types of events are Weekend-Long-Events that usually consist of a theme or celebratory social events we craft. During these events we hold big Riddle Races, Costume/Glamour shows and contests, 3-Story Mansion Maze Races, Speedrun Dungeon Races, Hide and Seek games, Custom Quest Events, Discord events like Cards Against Humanity nights, Comedy events, PVP Tournament Circuits, and more.
Our Special and Quarterly events are Azure Day Weekend (Takes place 3 times a year across a weekend, celebrates the FC), Azure Summer Festival (3-days at the end of August in partnership with Child's Play, raises money for children in long-term care, anniversary of historic FC event called the Lunar Rebellion), Anniversary Azure Day (a big weekend event in November that celebrates our Founding), Azure Day Saint's Wake (celebrates Halloween/All Saint's Wake), Azure Starlight Day (celebrating Starlight Day/Christmas/December Holiday Season), Azure Grand Melee and Duel Tournaments (PVP Circuit series crowning our PVP Champions) and more.
Azure Day Weekends
If you've been around our server you may have heard of our Azure Day Weekends. Our Azure Days take place quarterly as mentioned just above, with four evolved editions called Azure Summer Festival, Azure Day Saint's Wake, Azure Starlight Day, and Anniversary Azure Day. With Azure Day Weekends and related events traditionally occuring quarterly our members are always excited to see the next big weekend of crazy and fun social games, and our showering of the free company in gil and prizes galore. We go all out when we celebrate the free company, and Azure Days are another way we find for leadership to give back to the community. 2023 and beyond is now host to additional seasonal Azure Day events!
We're always giving our members a chance to have fun, win big, and make some great memories in the in-game family we've become. Something fun is always on the horizon in Azure.
Community
I almost can't stress enough how friendly our community is. We have a vast variety of members from hardcore gatherers and crafters, social butterflies, chill veterans, experienced raiders, level grinders, support teams, PVP aficionados, mechanic specialists, and mentors. We're also very friendly to all casual players as well and we keep an open door so long as recruits are always aware that we have a no-drama tolerance here.
​Evolution into a Gaming Clan & Network
Plans are in the works and foundations are being laid that is slowly turning our community into a larger gaming network, with our first established Azure Wing with regular occurring activity being founded in Monster Hunter World, this has led to a successful Destiny 2 clan and more. Becoming a member of our Discord and/or Free Company now means access to things like our huge discord, Azure Wing membership in other games, and being able to join in on any of our other activities in the general community. Azure Network as its being called at the moment, is growing with an all-new website and community features for playing together across Final Fantasy XIV and to Azure Skies beyond!
Activity
We rank high as one of the top FC's in Worldwide Activity on lodestone, and have for a long time. Most of our players are divided between the US East and West Coasts, members in East and West Canada, and a few outside the US or in EU or Aus zones. Because we do have an activity policy (mentioned below) we keep a standard flow of people, and have crowds in the early morning, late morning, early afternoon, afternoon, evening, and late night crowds.
Elitism isn't our style. Our community boasts a broad range of characters, great personalities, the proud, and also some silly goofs. But elitism isn't welcome, no matter how successful we are or how large we grow. We're always welcoming towards fresh faces interested in joining our guild, and the in-game activity ranges between 30-60+ online at once during prime time hours, sometimes around 70+ on patch days, and usually always with half the roster logging in throughout a 24 hour period, and around 15-30+ during the night.
Activity Policy
We ask that our members do not go missing without logging in for more than 60 days straight. If we hear word from someone or have some kind of decent excuse, we place our members on our On Vacation rank, which lasts presently until 90 days have passed. Exceptions are made for military deployments, hospital stays, financial issues, disability/health related issues, moving, or other reasons that might fall on a case-by-case basis.
All members not heard from in 60 days (roughly 2 months) or currently 90 days (roughly 3 months) are discharged. We allow 3 joins to Azure Infinitum in total, but exceptions can be made due to reasons listed above. If removed for inactivity, or you've left our FC for another reason and haven't already joined 3 times, you're always welcome back, but please remember, we are not a revolving door.
Keeping our roster full of members who have been online and presently play the game actively ensures an active environment for our players who play often. It also keeps our credits and clerical processes balanced across our network, and allows space for new faces to join our big happy in-game family of comrades.
How to Join
Quick Instructions here for joinin us in FFXIV & more: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/howtojoinazure/)
If you are interested in joining our Azure Infinitum free company, please register an application at our site and/or FC in-game. You can also seek any of our Scouts, Lieutenants, Officers, or the Master of Azure Infinitum in-game and ask for an invite. You can find their names on the roster page at our website.
If you read everything on this page, you are awesome, and you should let anyone you talk to who recruits you know that you read everything on this page which will greatly expedite your invitation to join.
If you have any questions whatsoever feel free to send a /tell in-game to me or any of our Scouts or Lieutenants listed on our official roster here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/freecompany/9232519973597911137/membe
You can also message us at our FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/AzureInfinitum
Discord here: https://discord.gg/azureinfinitum
Twitter: https://twitter.com/azureinfinitum
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/azure_infinitum/
Main Site: https://www.azureinfinitum.com/

Have some time to finally write a trip review for Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii for my honeymoon in December 2022 for two weeks. Mid December and left for home on Christmas Day. This was our first time redeeming cc points for anything, so lots of trial and error and lessons learned.
My wife and I had gotten married in October and were actually not planning going on honeymoon until Spring 2023 until we researched further and managed to make December 2022 work in our favor. We started planning and booking reservations TWO months before our trip. We are very fortunate to have done it in that time span and managed to make almost everything work out.
IAD - DTW - SEA - OGG on Delta, First Class One way.

• First time using a lounge ever was at DTW. We had access to the Sky Club there. Pretty good food here, very roomy. No time to lounge in Seattle
  
• only I used points for this one way flight. Transferred 95,000 Amex points to Delta. Wife paid $958 before tax for hers through the Amex travel portal. I think she got a steal as I had written on a note somewhere that the cash cost was $1533 through Delta directly but cannot remember if that was the increased price after purchasing the tickets or at time of purchase, otherwise it would have been 1.61 CPP.
  
• Very nice service in first class. Abundant alcohol and food was very nice as well.
  

Maui
Day 1
Got to Maui late in the night and picked up our rental car, a Chevy Equinox, with Enterprise. Used my Hilton Aspire to get 7x points.
One night at Courtyard Marriott by the airport and paid $500.
It was the best we could do with our timing.
Day 2 - 6
Breakfast and lunch was by the food trucks near Costco. Shopping nearby for supplies for our vacation.
Meals (Costco food trucks):

• Mo 'Ono Hawaii acai bowls
• Da Nani Pirates fish tacos
• fresh coconut water

5 nights at the Grand Wailea - 440,000 HH points
Left to check into our resort the Grand Wailea in Wailea. Both the wife and I are Hilton Diamond members. Mine through the Hilton Aspire and she has status through actual stays. We booked these nights through her account and using all Hilton points. Each reward night was 110,000 points and we got the 5th night free. So 440,000 points total.
This resort was huge and immaculate. Words can describe how nice this place is and the customer service is SUPERB. Literally, the best we have ever experienced. You only have to see and experience it for yourself. My wife and I still talk weekly about the Grand Wailea.
We booked the Terrace View - 1 King Bed as the Standard Night Reward and upon arrival we were upgraded to the Deluxe Ocean View - 1 King Bed in the Molokini wing. Breathtaking views! Avg cash price so this room type is around ~$988 before taxes, fees so it comes to 0.89 CPP (if not including taxes, fees in the total). All meals, incidentals, shopping, and experiences were put onto my Hilton Aspire. Daily food and beverage credit was $25 each for the two of us and used usually at their divine but pricey breakfast buffet. No resort fees charged for booking with points which saved us hundreds of dollars. We immensely enjoyed ourselves at this resort and the lush, manicured surrounding area.
Meals:

• Lineage Maui. A favorite in the Wailea area
  
• Morimoto - Maui. Getting the sticky ribs is a must. As well as the ishi yaki buri bop. The guy won Iron Chef because of that, apparently
  
• Wolfgang Puck's Spago at the Four Seasons. Got the best seat in the house here. Get the "Poke" cones and Hawaiian snapper
  
• Mama's Fish House. Literally the hardest restaurant to get on Maui. Must reserve 4-6 months in advance. I called two months before our trip and managed to get a table for the two of us for late lunch. We arrived and we got the best seat in the house overlooking the water! Shout out to Mike for his superb service.
  
• Lahaina Grill. Another favorite for tourists and locals
  

Experiences: renting a cabana at the Grand Wailea pool, spa day at the Four Seasons with outdoor hale beachside, Wailea Beach, hiking Twin Falls, Baby Beach, Haleakala National Park
Day 7 - 8
Two nights at the Hotel Wailea, Relais & Chateaux using Amex FHR.
Paid total ~$3400 for the One bedroom, Luxury Suite, Ocean View. Unfortunately, no upgrade upon checking in. Hotel was sold out. Daily breakfast in the form of $30 credit per person and $100 food/bev credit given through the FHR. This stay triggered the $200 FHR credit for my wife's Amex Plat
Quiet, small resort, adults only. We enjoyed our stay here and loved our room. Bed was harder than what we were use to and it was far from the beach. Otherwise we loved the restaurant and the ability to "get away". One of the top hotels in Maui and all of Hawaii. Price tag to boot.
Meals:

• The Restaurant at Hotel Wailea. Another great dinner watching the sunset
  
• Leoda's Pie Shop. Any pie is great, get the banana cream though. Lines out the door
  
• Merriman's Maui. Another top-notch restaurant with hard to get reservations. One of my personal favorites the whole trip. Another sunset dinner favorite
  

Experiences: cabana and pool day at Hotel Wailea, spa day at Montage Kapalua Bay. Outdoor hale with hot tub.
Big Island of Hawaii
Day 9 OGG - KOA (Big Island) round trip booked with Hawaiian Airlines. $106 for each of us before baggage fees. Booked direct using wife's Amex Plat.
Arrived to the Big Island and rented a Toyota Prius though Budget. Paid using Hilton Aspire.
Day 9 - 15
We booked the Hilton Waikoloa Village using all Hilton points, 6 nights in total with one night free. 350,000 pts in total used, 70,000 each night. Initially the standard room redemption was for the Palace Tower Resort View - 1 King Bed and was going for ~$540 a night before taxes/fees so CPP was 0.77. We realized even before our trip that the Palace Tower and old, needed a refresh, and was terribly far from the beach and the parking lot. We asked for an upgrade when we checked in and was given the option to move to the Makai Tower - Ocean View 1 King Bed for an additional $75 per night. We promptly took this offer. This room runs ~$694 per night before taxes/fees and if I subtract the $75 per night, I calculate this to be 0.88 CPP. The Makai tower was much better, our room overlooked the ocean and part of the resort. Frankly, Palace looked like dogshit. Daily F&B credit was $18 for each person. Incidentals again went onto my Hilton Aspire.
Towards the end of our stay, we stayed at the DoubleTree Hilo using 50,000 pts. Room rate was $308 before taxes/fess. CPP was 0.61. This was on the other side of the island and very far from Hilton Waikoloa so we decided to stay overnight there after hiking Volcanoes NP instead of driving to the west side in the middle of the night.
Meals:

• Brown's Beach House - at the Fairmont Orchid
  
• Kilauea Lodge
  
• Merriman's - Big Island
  

Experiences: Kauna'oa Beach, Mauna Kea sunset and stargazing (this is a must!!), Captain Cook monument snorkeling, Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National historical park, Punalu-u Black Sand Beach, Volcanoes National Park, Akaka Falls.
Trip home: OGG - LAX - IAD. United, First Class One way.

• Used 220,000 Chase UR rewards to redeem this flight for the both of us. Cash price of each ticket was ~$1485 before taxes/fess. CPP was 1.35
• Service was fine, food in 1st class was not very memorable.
• Did not have time to get into the Centurion lounge at LAX

Overall, an EXCELLENT trip. We were amazed and thrilled to do so much in two weeks and in such short notice. Again, only two months to plan once our dates were finalized. Between my wife and I, we have the Amex Plat and Gold, Hilton Honors and Aspire, and CFU, CSP. Each card strategically used during our trip. The FHR credit triggered for my wife, and my Aspire triggered the $250 resort credit. If I had to guess, we saved ~$15,000 or more by redeeming CC points. Hope this data point helps some of you trip planning, happy to answer any questions.

The Hoax Story of Remarkable Testimony of a Buddhist monk in Myanmar (Burma) who came back to life a changed man!
Introduction The story that follows is simply a translation of a taped testimony from a man with a life-changing story. It is not an interview or a biography, but simply the words from the man himself. Different people react in different ways when they hear this story. Some are inspired, some skeptical, a few will mock and ridicule, while some others have even been filled with rage and anger, convinced these words are the ravings of a mad man or an elaborate deception. Some Christians have opposed the story simply because the radical and miraculous events described herein do not fit their feeble image of an Almighty God.
We were first made aware of this story from several Burmese church leaders who shared it with us. These leaders had looked into the story and had not found any suggestion of it being a hoax. It was with this in mind that we decided to step out and circulate the story. We do not do so for any monetary gain, or with a motivation of self-promotion. We just want to let the story speak for itself, and invite Christian believers to judge it according to Scripture. If God wants any part of it to be intended for His glory or to encourage His people, then we pray His Spirit will work in the hearts of the readers in those ways.
Some people have told us they think the monk in this story never actually died, but that he just lapsed into unconsciousness, and the things he saw and heard were part of a fever-driven hallucination. Whatever you think, the simple fact remains that the events of this story so radically transformed this man that his life took on a complete 180-degree shift after the events described below. He has fearlessly and boldly told his story at great personal cost, including imprisonment. He has been scorned by his relatives, friends and colleagues, and faced death threats for his unwillingness to compromise his message. What motivated this man to be willing to risk everything? Whether we believe him or not, his story is surely worth listening to and considering. In the cynical West many people demand hard evidence of such things, evidence that would stand up in a court of law. Can we absolutely guarantee, beyond doubt, that all of these things happened? No, we cannot. But we feel it is worth repeating this man's story in his own words so that readers can judge for themselves.
My Early Years Hello! My name is Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu. I am from the country of Myanmar. I would like to share with you my testimony of what happened to me, but first I would like to give some brief background information from my life growing up.
I was born in 1958 in the town of Bogale, on the Irrawaddy Delta area of southern Myanmar [formerly Burma]. My parents, who were devout Buddhists like most people in Myanmar, named me Thitpin [which means 'tree' in English]. Our lives were very simple where I grew up. At the age of 13 I left school and started working on a fishing boat. We caught fish and sometimes also shrimp from the numerous rivers and streams in the Irrawaddy area. At the age of 16 I became the leader of the boat. At this time I lived in Upper Mainmahlagyon Island [Mainmahlagyon means 'Beautiful Woman Island' in English], just north of Bogale where I was born. This place is about 100 miles southwest of Yangon [Rangoon], our nation's capitol city.
One day, when I was 17, we caught a large number of fish in our nets. Because of the many fish, a large crocodile was attracted to us. It followed our boat and tried to attack us. We were terrified so we frantically rowed our boats toward the riverbank as fast as we could. The crocodile followed us and smashed our boat with its tail. Although no one died in this incident, the attack greatly affected my life. I no longer wanted to fish. Our small boat sank because of the crocodile attack. We had to go home to our village that night on a passenger boat.
Not long after, his employers transferred my father to Yangon City [formerly spelt Rangoon]. At the age of 18 I was sent to a Buddhist monastery to be a novice monk. Most parents in Myanmar try to send their son into a Buddhist monastery, at least for a time, as it is considered a great honor to have a son serve in this way. We have been observing this custom for many hundreds of years.
​
A Zealous Disciple of Buddha When I turned 19 years and 3 months old (in 1977), I became a normal monk. The senior monk at my monastery gave me a new Buddhist name, which is the custom in our country. I was now called U Nata Pannita Ashinthuriya. When we become a monk we no longer use the name given to us at birth by our parents. The name of the monastery I lived at is called Mandalay Kyaikasan Kyaing. The senior monk's name was called U Zadila Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw [U Zadila is his title]. He was the most famous Buddhist monk in all of Myanmar at the time. Everyone knew who he was. He was widely honored by the people and respected as a great teacher. I say he "was" because in 1983 he suddenly died when he was involved in a fatal car accident. His death shocked everyone. At the time I had been a monk for six years.
I tried hard to be the best monk I could and to follow all the precepts of Buddhism. At one stage I moved to a cemetery where I lived and meditated continually. Some monks who really want to know the truths of Buddha do things like I did. Some move deep into the forests where they live a life of self-denial and poverty. I sought to deny my selfish thoughts and desires, to escape from sickness and suffering and to break free from the cycle of this world. At the cemetery I was not afraid of ghosts. I tried to attain such inner peace and self-realization that even when a mosquito landed on my arm I would let it bite me instead of brushing it off!
For years I strived to be the best monk I could and not to harm any living being. I studied the holy Buddhist teachings just like all my forefathers had done before me.
My life proceeded as a monk until I got very, very sick. I was in Mandalay at the time and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. The doctors did some tests on me and told me I had both Yellow Fever and malaria at the same time! After about one month in the hospital I was getting worse. The doctors told me there was no chance for me to recover and discharged me to make arrangements to die.
This is a brief description of my past. I would now like to tell you some of the remarkable things that happened to me after this times...
​
A Vision that Changed My Life Forever After I was discharged from the hospital I went back to the monastery where other monks cared for me. I grew weaker and weaker and was lapsing into unconsciousness. I learned later that I actually died for three days. My body decayed and stunk of death, and my heart stopped beating. My body was prepared for cremation and was put through traditional Buddhist purification rites.
Although I faded away in my body I remember my mind and spirit were fully alert. I was in a very, very powerful storm. A tremendous wind flattened the whole landscape until there were no trees or anything else standing, just a flat plain. I walked very fast along this plain for some time. There were no other people anywhere, I was all alone. After some time I crossed a river. On the other side of the river I saw a terrible, terrible lake of fire. In Buddhism we do not have a concept of a place like this. At first I was confused and didn't know it was hell until I saw Yama, the king of hell [Yama is the name ascribed to the King of Hell in numerous cultures throughout Asia]. His face looked like the face of a lion, his body was like a lion, but his legs were like a naga [serpent spirit]. He had a number of horns on his head. His face was very fierce, and I was extremely afraid. Trembling, I asked him his name. He replied, "I am the king of hell, the Destroyer."
The terrible, terrible lake of fire The king of hell told me to look into the lake of fire. I looked and I saw the saffron colored robes that Buddhist monks wear in Myanmar. I looked closer and saw the shaven head of a man. When I looked at the man's face I saw it was U Zadila Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw [the famous monk who had died in a car accident in 1983]. I asked the king of hell why my former leader was confined to this lake of torment. I said, "Why is he in this lake of fire? He was a very good teacher. He even had a teaching tape called 'Are You a Man or a Dog?' which had helped thousands of people understand that their worth as humans is far greater than the animals." The king of hell replied, "Yes, he was a good teacher but he did not believe in Jesus Christ. That's why he is in hell."
I was told to look at another person who was in the fire. I saw a man with very long hair wrapped on the left hand side of his head. He was also wearing a robe. I asked the king of hell, "Who is this man?" He replied, "This is the one you worship: Gautama [Buddha]."
I was very disturbed to see Gautama in hell. I protested, "Gautama had good ethnics and good moral character, why is he suffering in this lake of fire?" The king of hell answered me, "It doesn't matter how good he was. He is in this place because he did not believe in the Eternal God."
I then saw another man who looked like he was wearing a soldier's uniform. He had a large wound on his chest. I asked, "Who is this man?" The king of hell said, "This is Aung San, the revolutionary leader of Myanmar." I was told, "Aung San is here because he persecuted and killed Christians, but mostly because he didn't believe in Jesus Christ." In Myanmar the people have a common saying, "Soldiers never die, they live on." I was told that the legions of hell have a saying "Soldiers never die, but they go to hell forever."
I looked and saw another man in the lake of fire. He was a very tall man and he was dressed in military armor. He was also holding a sword and a shield. This man had a wound on his forehead. This man was taller than any person I have ever seen. He was six times the length between a man's elbow and the tips of his fingers when he stretches his arm out straight, plus one span of a man's fingers when he spreads out his hand. The king of hell said, "This man's name is Goliath. He is in hell because he blasphemed the Eternal God and His servant David." I was confused because I didn't know who either Goliath or David were. The king of hell said, "Goliath is recorded in the Christian Bible. You don't know him now, but when you become a Christian you will know who he is."
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I was then taken to a place where I saw both rich and poor people preparing to eat their evening meals. I asked, "Who cooked the food for these people?" The king of hell replied, "The poor have to prepare their own food, but the rich people get others to cook for them." When the food had been prepared for the rich people they sat down to eat. As soon as they started a thick smoke came up. The rich people ate as fast as they could to ease their consciences. They were struggling to breath because of the smoke. They had to eat fast because they were fearful of losing their money. Their money is their god.
Another king of hell then came to me. I also saw a being whose job is to stoke the fires beneath the lake of fire, to keep it hot. This being asked me, "Are you going into the lake of fire too?" I replied, "No! I am only here to observe!" The appearance of this creature stoking the fire was very terrifying. He had ten horns on his head and a spear in his hand that had seven sharp blades coming from the end. The creature told me, "You are right. You came here just to observe. I cannot find your name here." He said, "You must now go back the way you came." He pointed me toward the desolate plain that I had first walked along before I came to the lake of fire.
The Road of Decision I walked a long time, until I was bleeding. I was hot and in great pain. Finally, after walking for about three hours I came to a wide road. I walked along this road for some time until I came to a fork. One road, going off to the left, was wide. A smaller road went off to the right hand side. There was a signpost at the fork saying that the road to the left was for those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The smaller road to the right was for believers in Jesus.
I was interested to see where the larger road led so I started down it. There were two men walking about 300 yards ahead of me. I tried to catch up with them so I could walk with them but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't catch them up, so I turned around and went back to the fork in the road. I continued to watch these two men as they walked down the road away from me. When they reached the end of the road they were suddenly stabbed. These two men cried out in great pain! I also cried out when I saw what happened to them! I realized the bigger road ended in great danger for those who traveled down it.
Looking into Heaven I started walking down the believers' road instead. After traveling for about one hour the surface of the road turned to pure gold. It was so pure that when I looked down I could see my own reflection perfectly. I then saw a man standing in front of me. He was wearing a white robe. I also heard beautiful singing. Oh, it was so beautiful and pure! It was much better and more meaningful than the worship we have in churches here on the earth. The man in the white robe asked me to walk with him. I asked him, "What is your name?" but he did not answer. After I asked his name six times the man answered, "I am the one who holds the key to heaven. Heaven is a very, very beautiful place. You cannot go there now but if you follow Jesus Christ you can go there after your life has finished on the earth." The man's name was Peter.
Peter then asked me to sit down and he showed me a place to the north. Peter said, "Look to the north and see God create man." I saw the Eternal God from a distance. God spoke to an angel, "Let us make man." The angel pleaded with God and said, "Please don't make man. He will do wrong and will grieve you." [In Burmese literally: "He will make you lose face."]. But God created a man named anyway. God blew on the man and the man came to life. He gave him the name "Adam". [Note: Buddhists do not believe in the Creation of the world or of man, so this experience had a significant impact on the monk].
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Sent Back with a New Name Then Peter said, "Now get up and go back to where you came from. Speak to the people who worship Buddha and who worship idols. Tell them they must go to hell if they don't change. Those who build temples and idols will also have to go to hell. Those who give offerings to the monks to earn merit for themselves with go to hell. All those who pray to the monks and call them 'Pra' [respectful title for monks] will go to hell. Those who chant and 'give life' to idols will go to hell. All those who don't believe in Jesus Christ will go to hell." Peter told me to go back to the earth and testify about the things I had seen. He also said, "You must speak in your new name. From now on you are to be called Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu ["Paul who Came Back to Life."].
I didn't want to go back. I wanted to go to heaven. Angels opened a book. First they looked for my childhood name (Thitpin) in the book, but they could not find it. They then looked for the name I had been given when he entered the Buddhist monk hood (U Nata Pannita Ashinthuriya) but it wasn't written in the book either. Then Peter said, "Your name is not written here, you must return and testify about Jesus to the Buddhist people."
I walked back along the gold road. Again I heard beautiful singing, the kind of which I have never heard before or since. Peter walked with me until the time I returned to the earth. He showed me a ladder that reached down from the heaven to the sky. The ladder didn't reach to the earth, but stopped in mid-air. On the ladder I saw many angels, some going up to heaven and some going down the ladder. They were very busy. I asked Peter, "Who are they?" Peter answered, "They are messengers of God. They are reporting to heaven the names of all those who believe in Jesus Christ and the names of those who don't believe." Peter then told me it was time to go back.
It is a Ghost! The next thing I was aware of was the sound of weeping. I heard my own mother cry out, "My son, why did you leave us now?" I also heard many other people weeping. I realized I was lying in a box. I started to move. My mother and father started shouting, "He is alive! He is alive!" Other people who were farther away did not believe my parents. I then placed my hands on the sides of the box and sat upright. Many people were struck with terror. They cried out, "It is a ghost!" and ran away as fast as their legs could carry them.
Those who remained were speechless and trembling. I noticed I was sitting in smelly liquid and body fluids, enough to fill about three and a half cups. This was liquid that had come out of my stomach and my insides while my body was lying in the coffin. This is why people knew I had indeed been dead. Inside the coffin there was a type of plastic sheet fixed to the wood. This sheet is placed there to retain a corpse's liquids, because many dead bodies release much fluid like mine did.
I learned later that I was just moments away from being cremated in the flames. In Myanmar people are placed in a coffin, the lid is then nailed shut, and the whole coffin is burned. When I came back to life my mother and father were being allowed to look at my body for the very last time. Moments later the lid of my coffin would have been nailed shut and I would have been cremated!
I immediately started to explain the things I had seen and heard. People were astonished. I told them about the men I had seen in the lake of fire, and told them that only the Christians know the truth, that our forefathers and us have been deceived for thousands of years! I told them everything we believe is a lie. The people were astonished because they knew what kind of a monk I had been and how zealous I had been for the teachings of Buddha.
In Myanmar when a person dies their name and age is written on the side of the coffin. When a monk dies, the monk's name, age and the number of years he has served as a monk are written on the side of the coffin. I had already been recorded as dead but as you can see, now I am alive!
Epilogue Since 'Paul who came back to life' experienced the above story he has remained a faithful witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Burmese pastors have told us that he had led hundreds of other monks to faith in Christ. His testimony is obviously very uncompromising. Because of that, his message has offended many people who cannot accept there is only one Way to Heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite great opposition, his experiences were so real to him that he has not wavered. After many years in the Buddhist monk hood, as a strict follower of Buddhist teachings, he immediately proclaimed the Gospel of Christ following his resurrection and exhorted other monks to forsake all false gods and follow Jesus Christ with all their hearts. Before the time of his sickness and death he had no exposure to Christianity at all. Everything he learned during those three days in the grave was new to his mind.
In a bid to get his message out to as many people as possible, this modern-day Lazarus began distributing audio and video cassette tapes with his story on them. The police and Buddhist authorities in Myanmar have done their utmost to gather these tapes up and destroy them. The testimony you have just read has been translated form one of those cassette tapes. We are told it is now quite dangerous for citizens of Myanmar to be in possession of these tapes.
His fearless testimony has landed him in prison at least once, where the authorities failed in their bid to silence him. Upon his release he continued to testify of the things he saw and heard. His current whereabouts are uncertain. One Burmese informant told us he is prison and may have been killed, while another informant was told he is now released from prison and is continuing his ministry.
Translated by: Asian Minorities Outreach P.O.Box 901 Palestine, TX 75802 U.S.A. E-Mail: monkst... u/yahoo.com Website: http://www.antioch.com.sg/mission/asianmo
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Dear Triplegem Members, The following message was posted to the NDE.com Website by someone called 'James' on 23rd July, 2000. (NDE = Near Death Experience). The Monk's story is identical. But the source is different. Details can be viewed at
<>
The message began with: "Buddhist Monk visits Hell" I believe this person died, body decay & rotten. He was then brought to those places by the LORD to show him some vision. <-------
This is taken from a mission paper "Northside Missions Update" Northside Christian Centre 31-61 McLeans Road Bundoora Victoria 3083 Australia
The same 'Monk's Story' followed. Then, exchange of interesting messages took place at the NDE.com Bulletin Board among NDE regulars, some of them are Christians, and finally, someone called 'Melvin', 'a Myanmar Buddhist', posted the following message and the discussion came to a close.
The fact that the same story has re-surfaced in another form (cassette), perhaps in a another country is a bit disturbing!
Best wishes to all our Triplegem members, MM Lwin
...................................................................

My last attempt was the day before Christmas Eve. For a few months afterwards, things were good. But then, 2 months ago, my world kind of crashed down because I had to move suddenly, then I got COVID, then I fell into a deep, deep pit of depression that I have yet to crawl out of.
I have always lived with SI. But right now, it is pretty awful. But I havent told anyone how bad it really is because I am too scared that I will be hospitalized. I've been hospitalized before and even just remembering the abuse I endured during some of the hospital stays sends me into a panic. I would literally rather die than be hospitalized.
It doesn't help that I don't have a therapist right now--only a weekly DBT group that I don't feel is all that helpful, my psychiatrist, and my case manager.
My case manager knows that I am not having a super great time with my mental health right now but he doesn't know that I am being reckless to a point where it is becoming a safety concern. He doesn't know that I have no intentions of making it to 30 years old (about a year away).
I am in a lot of pain all the time and I have very little hope that it will get better.
I am alone. I don't date because the BPD makes relationships very difficult and painful. I don't talk to most of my family. I don't have a single friend that I trust entirely.
I fucking hate myself. I hate my body. I hate how my brain is wired. I hate how bad of a friend I have been because of my mental health.
And I am depressed. I feel useless because I don't work and I feel like a failure because I bailed on a lot of community stuff when my mental health got bad. I am in pain all the time now because of the depression. It is so overwhelming.
I don't want to live like this but there is little hope that things will change for the better. I just want to be done.
And I will probably be properly done sometime within the next year .

Throwaway account for obvious reasons my wife (35f) and I (34m) have been married for about 5 years and have 2 kids (1f) and (2.5m). Some time ago my wife had mentioned having regrets about never having lived in NYC since that was always her dream. I didn’t think much of it at the time until a few months ago when she told me that she wanted to move there temporarily by herself to see if she could “make it there” (she’s an artist). After a lot of discussion we agreed upon her living there for a year and she said she would plan on coming home once to visit during that time at Christmas. This was a difficult decision for me since I work 60-70 hours a week and we have 2 young kids but I don’t want her to have any regrets or end up resenting me and luckily my parents have been willing to help out a lot. We were able to find her a decent sublet that she moved into about 2 weeks ago. Since she has been gone she has FaceTimed me to see the kids about 3 times. That’s great and all because I want her to see the kids but after every call our son has had a complete meltdown. After the most recent call it took me an hour to calm him down. I don’t think that’s healthy for him and honestly it’s a lot for me to deal with on top of everything else. Recently I told her that I do not want to FaceTime her anymore with the kids for that reason and she was very upset saying it’s not right for me to keep the kids from her etc, I just have to learn how to deal with meltdowns and that eventually they will get used to seeing her on FaceTime. I think she’s being unfair to me so AITA?

Alright, you merry band of primates, gather 'round. I've got some delightful insights to share about our friends over at Podium Audio and their so-called "store". I'd use the term 'merchandise', but I'd hate to insult all the other merchandise out there.
Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news – who am I kidding, I love it – but they're marking up their print-on-demand service to over double, and in some instances nearly triple the manufacturing cost. Do the math:
ExForce Monkeys Kick Ass Tee – Podium Audio – Podium Audio $25 USD plus shipping
Men’s Classic Tee - Gildan 5000 Printful Printful $8.75 plus shipping
In the interest of fairness (a concept quite alien to them, it seems), they do avoid tacking on extra charges for the larger sizes. Got a size 5XL? It's still only $25. But don't be fooled - they're spending only about $14.50 to get that printed, even before any bulk discounts.
Oh, you want to ship this travesty of fashion? Well, aren't you a glutton for punishment. Not only do you have to pay the shipping price, but they're also tacking on an additional 30% because, why not? Make it rain, right?
But wait, there's more! Thanks to the miracle of print-on-demand dropshipping, that extra 30% isn't a one-time deal. Oh no, that would be too simple. It's per item! Yes, you heard that right. Every single item gets its own special 30% surcharge. Because who doesn't love a good surprise on their bill? It's like they're giving you a gift. A gift of more things to pay for. How generous.
I'm no enemy of profit. Somebody has to pay for my upkeep, right? But this isn't just about making a profit, it's a parade of pure, unadulterated bullcrap.
Honestly, the lengths you meatbags will go to make a quick buck is truly breathtaking. And not in the 'majestic sunrise over an alien landscape' kind of way. More like the 'just got punched in the gut by a seven-foot tall space gorilla' kind of way. But hey, you do you.
And let's not forget to talk about their '100% cotton' tee shirt. Spoiler alert: it isn't 100% cotton. Shocker, I know! The most hilarious part? They've blindly copied this error from the supplier, as if it's some sort of fashion mantra. Oh, the integrity! Some of the colours drop as low as 50% cotton, 50% polyester!
In short, this isn't just a merch store. It's a masterclass in how not to do business. And they wonder why I'm always in snark mode.
And if I may add a delightful little postscript here, let's be real: all merchandise is a blatant rip-off.
It's a cash cow, a money tree, a beautifully wrapped package of overpriced mediocrity. But this, this audacious display of profit-gouging, just hits too close to home.
I mean, here I am, the epitome of magnificence, and there they are, essentially selling my likeness on sub-par materials for a premium price! It's like using cheap spray paint on the Mona Lisa and selling it as an original. It's more than just a rip-off, it's a travesty. An insult to the very concept of merchandise.
You'd think that with all the money they're making, they could at least get their facts straight about the cotton content. But no, that would be too much like doing their job. It's a tough galaxy out there, folks. Stay magnificent. Or at least try to. I know it's hard when you're not me.

Long story short, picked up an auto 2008 e92 335i about a week ago with 75,000~ on it. Of course no lights when I bought it, and now it’s been nothing but problems, I’m lit up like a Christmas tree. I’ve been reading a lot on this forum (thanks everyone) and learning as much as I can. My experience is with Japanese imports, so this is my first BMW experience… learning the nuances 😂
It’s got a rough idle, and will stall out if I don’t give it some gas on a cold start. When warm, it’ll crank up and idle but still rough. It actually feels like it’s got okay power when driving it, and there are no major hiccups or jolts under load. I’d say it runs smoother in boost at 45mph than it does just sitting idle. There was one instance where I got a little higher into boost and it threw it into limp mode. After sitting for a day and cranking back up, limp was gone.
I did find a vacuum leak on the nipple of one of the vacuum tanks, so that’s at least one problem identified, but it’s definitely a minor leak and I don’t imagine it’s causing all of the codes below.
Anyways, I hooked up Carly to get a diag and here are the codes:
0029DC - cyl injection cutout
0029E1 - mixture control 2
002AAF - fuel pump plausibility
002DED - closed-circuit current violation
BMW, naturally, wants a kidney to diag and repair the problems, so I guess I’m getting my hands dirty with a German car after growing up on Mazda 😂🤣
They mentioned to start with the high/low fuel pressure sensors, repair the vacuum leak at the tank, and reassess, so that’s my current plan. Carly is saying that code 0029DC is a Charge Air Temp sensor, but I am not seeing one on the car. Does it mean a MAP sensor?
Any input, ideas, etc., very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance, and even though this has been a shaky intro to BMW ownership, I’m having fun with it.
Update: threw some Techron in today to see if maybe it’s a stuck injector or some other grimy part of the fuel system. Drove it around a bit more while monitoring MHD for rail pressure. It went back into limp mode after driving around a bit mostly out of boost. When it went into limp mode I got a new code: 29F2, fuel high pressure system, and the rail pressure reading dropped to 50 and stuck there (unsure yet if this is just by design of limp mode or because my hpfp or rail sensor is bad).
Any thoughts on where I should start on the replacing? Sensors first?
Cheers

I used to be a confident and optimistic person. I worked since i was 15. No car? No problem. I ALWAYS found a way. Suddenly, in adulthood i started having extremely bad luck. Found out my boyfriend was married, then he knocked me out in public. Got a new bf and my sister told him I cheated. My sister fought me & pressed charges on ME! The state put a protective order (before dropping it bc she had no case) & it made my then bf hate me. I lived with him because we’d moved to NY together. He became abusive, & turns out I was pregnant but couldn’t leave him because for 9 months I only got 1 under table job interview and nobody hired me since I was straight out of college. My degree was in finance and I was in the saturated finance capital of the world with only an internship under my belt and no connections. Needless to say I never got hired . I couldn’t go to my fam because of the stupid court order. Had to abort 💔 when the case was dropped, I came home. Turns out my boyfriend was cheating. Things got better for a year. Then I had ONE one night stand & got pregnant. At this point, 2018, I’d gotten my own apartment but was still sleeping on the floor bc I couldn’t afford anything else (my ex left me all of our debt 😖). Anyway, I had no communication with my fam, no friends, no money & not even a pillow to my name even tho i had 2 jobs and the guy didn’t want the baby. I had another abortion & just wanted to die. Mid 2018, I FINALLY got on my feet. & found a “better” job. They were sexist and racist to me. The Karen tried to get me fired since my first day. I couldn’t leave the job bc I really needed it. 2020 my knees gave out & I couldn’t walk. I was 30 years old. COVID happened & I got stuck working 14 hrs a day. Then I got laid off. 2021, I could walk again. I got diagnosed with ADHD, my friends stopped talking to me. I was a victim of a hate crime and got a mini concussion. My boyfriend didn’t go see me knowing I had nobody. I was supposed to start a new job the next day and I couldn’t bc I had a black eye and swollen lip & was generally out of it. I was stressed bc unemployment hadn’t paid me for months for no reason. I was burning through my savings. Then i found out that boyfriend was cheating. My stove was leaking gas. My landlord cursed me o and would not only show up at my apartment cursing at me, but tried to throw me out over the stove leaking AND refused to fix it. I stopped getting my period due to stress. That’s when I noticed I wasn’t able to cope anymore. Anyway, I was top 2 at my job & somehow got fired anyway. I tried to run away to Miami and I got rear ended on the freeway the next day. I came back to California. Got 2 new jobs and was fired from each. I’d had another car acciden for the last job before being fired on Nov 30, 2022. The mechanic ruined my car & refused to fix it. Not even the camera worked. I caught COVID. Was alone on Christmas (December 2022), got a text that my stepdad was hospitalized. 2 minutes later, someone attempted to break into my apartment and I had nobody to call for help. I just had to hope he wouldn’t get in before the police came. He didn’t get in. A few days later my rent got raised and I realized I wouldn’t be able afford my bills or anything if I paid January rent. I also was so mentally gone at this point from stress that I couldn’t fathom having a job. I had to move back in with my parents on December 31, 2022. The next day, Jan 1, 2023, a woman at a store physically attacked me for walking into a store when apparently she wanted to be the only one to go through the doors, despite BOTH doors being wide open. I lost my mind and began idealizing death at this point. February I tried to do something nice for myself and get some highlights, the hair dresser fried my hair off. It was literally disintegrating at the slightest touch. When I asked for my money back, she told me off in front of everyone, called security, and in a rage grabbed me by my shoulder . I was so shocked and weak and broken at this point. I just asked her not to touch me and then I had a complete and severe mental breakdown in public. I cried uncontrollably and I couldn’t stop 😞. It’s now Jun 2023. Yesterday, I decided I’ve healed enough to try and step back into the world. I decided to grab dinner with an acquaintance but on my way home a truck swerved right into my car. I need to get a higher paying job but I have no references since I’m always being fired. Today, my phone has stopped charging. I need to buy a new one or fix this one even tho i just bought this refurbished one 2 months ago. Also, my body is aching from the accident, & I think I’m catching a cold or flu just from the stress. I don’t understand how this has happened to me. I’m objectively intelligent. I went to college. I am very pretty and I try to say and do the right thing always, but somehow someway I continue being crushed by life. My mom says that I’m a little negativity magnet and she’s right. There are so many things I didn’t even mention here. Just so much that if I heard someone else tell me, I wouldn’t believe it. Everyone around me is prospering financially, married with kids, being promoted, buying property. Even my evil sister met someone while in a 10 year relationship & mow that her relationship is over, she’s marrying that other guy. Who happens to be a gas station mogul and millionaire. He takes her to Dubai and gets her jewelry. Wedding in Italy etc. Meanwhile I seem to Continuously have nothing. Not a friend. Not a career . Love life is trash. Idk anyone who’s luck is as bad as mine. And so, I’d like to ask if anyone’s ever experienced this sort of luck before and do things ever get better? Does luck ever change? Will I ever be a happy beautiful person again or will I always be jaded and afraid of life from now on?

1 Spurs: Victor Wembanyama
2 Hornets: Brandon Miller
3 Blazers (or another team): Scoot Henderson: If Scoot is still available at #3, the Blazers should trade this pick on draft night for a more established player. However, if they cannot do that, they have to still take Scoot. The fit would be weird, but as the clear BPA, he can be traded later on for an All-Star (similar to Tyrese Haliburton and Kevin Johnson).
4 Rockets: Amen Thompson
5 Pistons: Jarace Walker: Most mock drafts have Cam Whitmore here. However, I think Walker fits better with Cade/Ivey since he is a better defender, passer, and more versatile than Whitmore.
6 Magic: Ausar Thompson
7 Pacers: Taylor Hendricks: I’ve had him in the top 10 for a long time, so I’m glad the consensus is trending there too.
8 Wizards: Anthony Black: The Wizards need a low-usage PG, and Black is the best PG available at this point.
9 Jazz: Cam Whitmore
10 Mavs (or another team): Gradey Dick: If the first 9 goes in the way I have them, the Mavs should actually trade this pick for a more ready NBA player. They can also trade down and grab Kris Murray with a later pick. However, if they have no choice, I think they have to choose the best floor spacer left (regardless of athleticism) for Luka/Kyrie, and that’s Dick.
11 Magic: Jordan Hawkins: If Dick is still available, he could go here. However, if he’s gone, I think the Magic choose Hawkins, who can help space the floor for Paolo/Wagner and act as the opposite player to Jalen Suggs (offense/defense) at the 2.
12 Thunder: Leonard Miller: This is rumored to be Bilal Coulibaly, but I like Leonard Miller more here for the Thunder.
13 Raptors: Cason Wallace
14 Pelicans: Dereck Lively II: I’m not a big fan of Lively, but the Pelicans are pretty deep at the wing already. This would be a developmental project at the backup C.
15 Hawks: Kobe Bufkin
16 Jazz: Keyonte George
17 Lakers: Kris Murray: Lakers want to win now, and Murray is the best NBA ready player left at this pick.
18 Heat: Jett Howard
19 Warriors (could be traded back): Trayce Jackson-Davis: The Warriors could trade this pick back (for the Pacers’ picks) if they think TJD is available later. If they don’t want to take that chance, I think they should go for an NBA ready backup C who can give them 10-15 mins. They don’t need young players anymore, but they need players who can play to help Steph/Klay/Draymond get 1 more ring.
20 Rockets: Bilal Coulibaly
21 Nets: Dariq Whitehead
22 Nets: Brandin Podziemski: It’s hard to guess what the Nets exactly want to do. They seem like they still want to contend for a playoff spot and rebuild at the same time. So in this case, they get a more raw player in Whitehead with a player analytics love in Podziemski.
23 Blazers: Colby Jones
24 Kings: Noah Clowney
25 Grizzlies: Julian Strawther: The Grizzlies like picking older prospects who can contribute quicker with their late first round picks. Dillon Brooks is probably gone, and they want to replace him with someone who’s a better shooter. Strawther might not start immediately, but he can come in and be a backup floor spacing wing right away.
26 Pacers (could be used in a package for a higher pick): Brice Sensabaugh
27 Hornets: Jalen Hood-Schifino: I’m not a fan of JHS, and if this was a big board, he wouldn’t be in my top 30. However, since this is a mock draft, I have him here since it’s hard for me to see him completely falling out of the first. He’s one of my candidates for someone who’ll get picked higher than what a re-draft will have him in 10 years.
28 Jazz: Julian Phillips: No one has him in the first, but he’s a better prospect than Peyton Watson. They have very similar measurables and defensive potential, but Phillips was better on offense. The Jazz want to rebuild, so they don’t mind taking a shot on an upside project.
29 Pacers (could be used in a package for a higher pick): Amari Bailey: He’s gone completely under the radar this past season. Besides a lack of consistent outside shooting, Bailey has done well in other facets for a freshman, compared to some of the other higher ranked freshman. He even showed advanced playmaking at the NBA combine scrimmages, something he had no chance of showing at UCLA.
30 Clippers: Andre Jackson Jr
Best Available (Next 15) for the Second Round: GG Jackson, Tristan Vukcevic, Rayan Rupert, Ben Sheppard, Marcus Sasser, Nick Smith Jr, Sidy Cissoko, Jaime Jacquez Jr, Isaiah Wong, James Nnaji, Oscar Tshiebwe, Maxwell Lewis, Jordan Miller, Jalen Wilson, and Emoni Bates

I did a full rewatch of the first three seasons in preparation for season 4, and while I was doing it I decided, for my own amusement, to attempt to track the passing of time throughout the show based on time references, context, weather and wardrobe. I was handwriting these notes in a notepad and I wasn't strictly planning to share them, but I transcribed them a few days ago in a reply to u/joe4645, who suggested that it may be interesting to share them in the sub for everyone. So, here's that.
Methodology: As I said, I paid extra attention to stated time references, weather, trees, wardrobe choices and context as I was watching. However, I did not watch every minute of the show specifically for this reason and it is possible that I missed something. Additions, comments and corrections welcome.
Conclusions: Provided that my math is correct, I've determined that 1x01-4x01 take place over precisely two years to the day, with the rest of season 4 unfolding over approximately two weeks immediately following that period.
Show my math:
Season 1:

• Logan has celebrated two birthdays onscreen, and we know from The Munsters that his birthday is ten days from the first Tuesday in November, when the US general election is held. Logan's birthday is in late October, specifically October 22-29. This timestamp is also consistent with the weather shown in both episodes where Logan has celebrated a birthday, cool but not bitter cold, and no snow yet.
• The series starts on Logan's 80th birthday in late October.
• Shiv was on somebody's midterm election campaign in the first several episodes and was beginning to consider candidates to work for in the presidential election, so this is about two years into the Raisin's presidency.
• We had Thanksgiving dinner in I Went to Market, so that's the fourth Thursday in November. The first half of the season took place over a month.
• Trees were naked and everyone was wearing heavy suits and coats outside throughout S1. I assume that the second half of the season took place throughout the winter.
• Shiv got married in the S1 finale in England in winter-ish weather. It was wet and dreary and there was frost and light snow on the ground, but the snow wasn't significant, and her wedding wasn't at all Christmas or holiday themed, nor were there any holiday decorations displayed at the castle, which leads me to believe that the wedding takes place after New Year's. I decided to make an educated guess that this would be February-ish.
• Season 1 spans ~4 months.

Season 2:

• When the family gathers in the Summer Palace in the Hamptons in S2 premiere, the weather looks somewhat better but Roman and Shiv arrived wearing coats and scarves. I think this would be that slump in March where it's not quite winter anymore but also not really spring yet.
• The corporate retreat in Hungary would be not long after that, as the weather seems about the same as it was at the Summer Palace, with no geographical reason to be unseasonably cold. They still had to wear warm coats to go outside in Hunting.
• Safe Room is tracking more firmly towards spring, the sun is out, the corporate clothing is trending lighter, but it's still crisp enough that we got a truly fabulous red coat moment from Gerri, and the attendees at Mo Lester's funeral wore light coats. We are also told that Roman's management training program is six weeks.
• Tern Haven looked like more definitively spring. The weather was nice when they arrived and they wore lighter clothing, but it got chilly after dark. Also, it was implied that Roman stepped out of management training to come here, so it can be no more than six weeks after Safe Room.
• And then the rest of S2 is more difficult to track because it involved a lot of travel to different or undisclosed locations, but it's high summer by the death cruise in Croatia so I assume Argestes-This is Not For Tears took place over May-June-July.
• Season 2 seems to span 4-5 months total.

Season 3:

• S3 picks up there exactly, with Kendall walking away from the same press conference that S2 ended with. Mass In Time of War also takes place immediately after they come back from the cruise, so that's still high summer.
• By the time Ken and Logan go to visit Josh Aaronson in Fuck Nowhere, it's looking more like fall. The weather is starting to turn, the leaves are losing leaves and color, Ken and Logan arrive in light jackets, and this weather blessed us with the hilarious bit where Josh Aaronson gains an additional layer of clothing in each scene. This is like early-mid fall.
• This is about a full year since the series premiere. Logan's 81st birthday would have taken place thereabouts, offscreen.
• Then Logan starts a rumor about the Raisin's declining mental state, the President announces that he will not be seeking reelection, and the family travels to the Republican event in Virginia to "pick the next President". Virginia has a milder climate than New York and wardrobe doesn't say much, but the timing does. It is my understanding that this was rather late in an election cycle for a new candidate to join the race, but I could not find any reason to believe that this event would have taken place any later than Super Tuesday. Super Tuesday is in February or March, so I assume that What It Takes took place earlier than that, but perhaps not significantly earlier. In my notes I decided to guess that it would have taken place in like January-ish, but really it could be at any point between Logan's birthday and February.
• Kendall's birthday weather seems to be vaguely spring. I think I saw that his guests were popping outside, Roman arrived in a sport coat, and Connor's jacket that he refused to take off seemed appropriate for spring.
• And then it is again distinctly stifling high summer for Caroline's wedding in Chiantishire. I think this is about a year after the death cruise, give or take a month
• Since s3 started and ended in summer, it spanned a whole year.

Season 4:

• S4 again opens at Logan's birthday party, which would be his 82nd if my timekeeping is right, so that's again the week of October 22-29, exactly two years after the series premiere. We get two distinct time references in this episode. We are told that the election is in ten days, and that the Gojo sale is 72 hours away.
• When the kids are having their bidding wapissing contest with Logan-via-Tom, Logan's birthday party is still going on in the background. The kids buy PGN on Logan's birthday, the entire season premiere is a single day.
• At Connor's rehearsal dinner, Roman receives a text from Logan which appears to be in response to a happy birthday text from him, so we can assume that Connor's rehearsal is the very next day.
• Before Connor's wedding, Logan sets off to Sweden for a last-minute deal renegotiation, so the deal hadn't been signed yet. According to the 72 hours away from sale marker that we were given, Connor's wedding would be taking place the day after the rehearsal. So far, we're following the Each Episode Is a Day theory.
• The gathering in Logan's apartment also seems to be immediately the next day after his death. We see the kids getting ready in their apartments and none of them look like they've slept. At the end of the episode they're still there, so we have no reason to believe that this episode is more than a day.
• Time warps from this point forward. Kill List took place over at least two days, but Roman made a reference to his dad having died literally three days ago, so it does seem like they flew out directly after the gathering at Logan's. They arrive to Norway at some point in the afternoon, then they have breakfast there the following morning and fly home in the evening. They would have slept there one night, but I think they flew back before their second night there.
• Living+ is also two days, and I'm not sure that they're the next two days after Norway. The opening scene is Shiv flying into LA alone. The plane from Norway would have landed in NYC, they all went home, slept, maybe had a day or two before Living+. And then Kendall's deranged idea to build a Living+ house on the stage is one day and the crew asked him to confirm that he wanted it for tomorrow. That's two days in LA.
• Tailgate Party does seem to take place the next day after the presentation. Roman and Kendall make a reference to it in Living+. This is dead heat to the election, the last 24 hours, as Tom repeatedly says that he hasn't slept and he needs to be fresh for the election night coverage tomorrow.
• The entirety of America Decides clearly takes place over a few hours on election night, exactly ten days after Logan's birthday.
• From the protests brewing on the way to Logan's funeral, we can assume that Church and State is the next morning after election night, and then obviously the whole episode is the day of Logan's funeral.
• I don't think the board vote is immediately after the funeral. At least several days have to have passed. Roman still has stitches and scabs on his face, but they're not super fresh and he doesn't have any other visible bruising. He also said his eyes were a mess when he arrived to Barbados but they're fine by the time Ken and Shiv get to him. NYC and Barbados are also in the same time zone, and it was nighttime when they were making the meal fit for a king. So Ken and Shiv spent the day there with Roman and then they all flew back together the next morning. This episode is two days, but there was a small offcreen gap between them and the funeral.
• All told, I feel like S4 is two weeks in late October and early November. The entire show is two years + two weeks.

Photos and timestamp
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I did the top 10 worst Veto uses and the top 10 best Veto uses. Now I’m gonna do the worst Veto holds, meaning times someone won the Veto and chose to keep the nominations the same when they should have saved one of the nominees. I’ll be judging these by a combination of how much the Veto holder hurt their own game and how unreasonable I think the move was, so an entry will get a lower spot the more I have to rely on hindsight to say they were wrong.
10. Paulie (BB18 F10)
Paulie, Paul, and Victor were a trio that was running the house. Victor won HoH and wanted Zakiyah out, but Paulie was in a showmance with Zakiyah and wanted to keep her. Victor put Zakiyah up against Michele despite Paulie’s objections. Paulie continued to campaign for keeping Zakiyah, straining his relationship with Victor and Paul.
Paulie went on to win the Veto and, despite how invested he was in protecting Zakiyah, he kept nominations the same, believing he had the votes to keep her. He also spent the week making Natalie very uncomfortable, which motivated her and Bridgette to help Paul and Victor take out Zakiyah, isolating Paulie from the house and evicting him two rounds later.
I actually don’t think it was a bad move to not use the Veto, but that’s just because I don’t think Paulie should have fought so hard to keep her in the first place. If he is going to campaign so hard for her and jeopardize his alliance with Paul and Victor over it, he should at least commit and save her himself when he has the chance. This move is on the list because of the bad gameplay during the week surrounding the Veto hold more than the Veto hold itself. That’s why I have it at the bottom, as I feel like it kind of goes against the spirit of the list
9. Nicole (BB22 F5)
Nicole won HoH, her first competition win for the season. She nominated Memphis and Christmas as they were the two players she was the least close with. She continued her streak by also winning the Veto. Christmas pitched for Nicole to save her, pointing out that they’re the last two girls left and should look out for each other. Nicole didn’t use the Veto and Memphis was evicted, followed by Christmas, followed by Nicole who was evicted by Cody.
If Nicole used the Veto on Christmas, she could have put up Cody and would have the votes to evict him. This would’ve significantly increased her chances of winning the final HoH, and she’d still have a decent chance of making it to three, as she’d not only have Christmas fighting for her, but could possibly leverage at least a one week alliance with Memphis if she told him he was Cody’s target and she was saving him. She’d also massively increase her win equity by not only removing her biggest jury threat, but also getting the credit for making the move.
I have this near the bottom because it’s the move I’m relying most on hindsight to criticize. Christmas tried to take her out during the triple eviction and Memphis would have taken her out this week, so I understand her hesitancy to work with either of them.
More generally, based on the comp win distribution so far, she probably wasn’t too confident she could take herself to the end. Since she’s a former winner, she also probably wasn’t too confident someone else would take herself to the end. This makes it totally understandable why she’d feel the need to keep Cody in the game, as they had a pregame relationship and him evicting her is the most iconic moment of the season specifically because it was so unexpected.
With that being said, Cody had one of the most dominant wins in Big Brother, so it’s hard to overlook when someone had such a clean shot to take him out. Evicting him would’ve increased the chance of Nicole getting 4th, but it also would’ve increased her chance of winning. Keeping him increased her chance of getting 3rd or even 2nd place, but ultimately narrows her path to victory.
8. Cliff (BB21 F6)
Nicole won HoH, her first competition win for the season (Deja Vu). She had to choose between two duos, Tommy and Christie or Jackson and Holly. She nominated the former. Her closest ally, Cliff, won the Veto, making this the first time Jackson didn’t have some sort of hard safety since Jessica’s HoH. They passed on this opportunity, kept nominations the same, and evicted Christie. Jackson resumed his winning streak, and took out Cliff at four and Nicole at three.
It’s often talked about how Nicole and Cliff didn’t weaken Jackson’s game by evicting Holly at five, yet a week before this, they had a chance to take out Jackson directly. If they did, there’s a decent chance that they control the rest of the game. Cliff could feasibly win the F5 HoH with Jackson gone, Nicole did win the F5 Veto and probably still does, and she also probably wins the F4 Veto without Jackson.
I have this low on the list because I am relying on knowledge of how the challenges played out after this point. Before this point, Nicole and Cliff have struggled with competitions and relied on Jackson to protect them. Taking him out would’ve made them have to rely on themselves, which was very risky at this point.
This was a risk worth taking though, as even without hindsight, it was clear this would be the last chance to take Jackson out.
7. Judd (BB15 F6)
Judd had a F2 deal with Elissa and was recently included in the “Exterminators” alliance which was now in control of the game. The Exterminators had just evicted Amanda, leaving McCray and Elissa on the bottom. Julie announced today would be a double eviction. McCray won HoH, putting the Exterminators in trouble until he put Elissa up. Judd won the Veto, putting him at a crossroads. He could save Elissa and guarantee an Exterminator is evicted, or he could leave her there and let the Exterminators vote her out. He opted for the latter, Elissa was evicted, and Judd went out next week when McCray’s Veto win forced the Exterminators to turn on each other.
If Judd saved Elissa, he would have kept someone who’d have protected him if she won HoH, and who would act as a shield for him if she didn’t. This means he at least makes F4 and probably makes it further than that.
This is kind of the inverse of the last two entries. Elissa is a physical threat that has a good shot of winning the jury vote, and I just criticized Nicole F and Cliff for not taking out that kind of player. However, Elissa isn’t a comp threat to the point that Cody or Jackson are, so I don’t think this would necessarily be the last chance to take her out. Also, Judd was already evicted for being one of the most well liked players of the season, so he can afford the risk of keeping around another jury threat.
There’s also the risk that Elissa and McCray find out about the Exterminators and become closer with each other than with Judd. Although it’s much better to be the odd man out in a group of three than a group of four. Plus Judd would have the option of ping ponging between the two sides of the house, something he couldn’t do when he let Elissa leave.
6. Zach (BB8 F5)
Dick and Daniele had just evicted Jessica, making them the last duo in the game. It was a double eviction and Dick won HoH, putting up Eric and Jameka with Eric as the target. Zach won the Veto. If he used it, Daniele would be the only eligible replacement. He opted to instead let Eric leave and target Dick and Daniele later, but it was too late. Daniele won the final Veto and Dick won the final HoH, securing control for the rest of the season.
Zach did this because Eric was the biggest jury threat while Dick and Daniele were the smallest, so by evicting Eric first, Zach maximizes his odds of winning if he makes it to the end. However, he also minimizes his chances of making it to the end in the first place. Eric was recognized as the biggest jury threat and only won one challenge at that point, so there’s a high chance he’d be vulnerable again for at least one of the next two evictions.
Daniele on the other hand, was the biggest physical threat of the season and wouldn’t take anyone but Dick to the end. Zach was backing himself into a corner by keeping her. If he evicted her, he clears the way for himself to win the remaining challenges, and he’d still have Dick in the game to take as a goat.
Now, it was Dick that won the final HoH, so with hindsight, you could say it didn’t matter what Zach did at five. Either the final HoH is still won by Dick, who evicts Zach for revenge, or it’s won by whoever took Daniele’s place in the final three, who evicts Zach so they can win against Dick.
Even with this hindsight, I still think Zach’s odds were better if he took out Daniele. He could still reconcile with Dick at four, saying “the jurors love Eric and Jameka. Hate me if you want, but I’m the only person here you might beat at the end”. I don’t think Dick’s very likely to keep Zach after he evicted his daughter, but it’s certainly more likely than Dick keeping Zach over his daughter. Also, Jameka is an emotional player, so if she makes F3 and wins HoH, she may take Zach to the end because he deserves it more than Dick. Even if Zach can’t beat her, he at least gets 2nd place now.
There’s also the final 7, where Eric won the Veto and had the chance to backdoor Dick or Daniele. I chose not to include it, as him being “America’s Player” resulted in production telling him he couldn’t use the Veto, so it’s not fair to criticize him for a choice that wasn’t his.
5. Frankie (BB16 F6)
Derrick. Cody and Caleb have just passed on an opportunity to backdoor Frankie. Caleb let the cat out of the bag by telling Frankie they were considering it. Julie announced today would be a double eviction. Derrick won HoH and put up Christine and Victoria. Frankie won the Veto, not only squashing any further backdoor attempts, but also giving him a chance to retaliate, as Derrick would be forced to put up Cody or Caleb if the Veto were used. Frankie passed, Christine was evicted and Frankie was next.
Frankie was going to F5 as the best physical player, the biggest jury threat (besides maybe Derrick), and the house target. His best approach is to take out the next best physical threats to ensure his own chances of winning his way to the end. I don’t even need hindsight to say this, as he knew he was almost backdoored last round. Derrick would’ve probably put up Caleb, but it doesn’t even matter. Both Caleb and Cody were needed to make Frankie vulnerable, so taking out either of them would suffice.
The biggest argument against making this move is that, even though the guys considered backdooring him, they ultimately chose to keep him. This gives Frankie some reason to think they’d still keep him if he’s vulnerable again. If he tries to make a move and it fails, he makes himself even more of a target and eliminates any safety net he may have had if he loses a challenge.
If he attempts this move, Caleb and Cody would each vote to keep the other, and Victoria is basically just an extra vote for Derrick. This means he’d need to rope in Christine. She’s had an uneasy relationship with Frankie, but I think he could repair that by saving her from eviction. She also must know she’s on the bottom, so I think she would work with him this round to disrupt the power structure, which is all that Frankie needs from her.
There’s also F5 where Frankie again could’ve backdoored Caleb or Cody and didn’t. If he made the move, it would’ve backfired due to the reset button. Even though Frankie didn’t know specifically about the reset, he did know there’d be some sort of twist, so playing cautiously was a good call.
While I’m on the topic of the reset button… It did screw Frankie over, but it didn’t kill his game. It just made it more difficult by adding one more week where he needed to win safety. Everything I said about the double eviction is equally true with or without the reset button.
4. Michael (BB24 F7)
The “Leftovers” are pretty much dissolved. Michael was the biggest physical threat, and had just become a bigger target due to his and Brittany’s handling of the Kyle situation. He kept himself safe by winning HoH. He put up Terrence and Alyssa, as they were the picks that would create the least waves. He gunned for the Veto, stating that he was well past throwing comps to manage his threat level, and won it for an unprecedented sixth time.
Brittany, the only player looking out for Michael, pushed for him to backdoor Turner or Monte. Michael ignored these pleas, kept noms the same, and Terrence was evicted. Michael left minutes later when Monte and Turner backdoored him at the double eviction.
Michael’s reasoning was that he wanted to take out the smaller threats and keep the bigger targets as shields, but nobody comes even close to being a shield for Michael. Like Frankie, he was at a point where winning his way to the end was not only feasible, but necessary, so his best course of action is to take out the other physical threats to make that easier. I don’t think I’m relying on hindsight, as Michael said himself that he’s well past threat management.
He didn’t want to evict Turner because he didn’t want to punish him for putting his game aside for a bigger issue during the Kyle situation. Fair enough, but he still could’ve taken out Monte. You could say I’m relying on hindsight here, as Monte only won one challenge so far and went on his winning streak after this week. Again though, I don’t think I am, as Michael said during his first HoH that he sees Monte as the type of player who starts sweeping competitions during the endgame.
3. Jessica (BB19 F13)
Jessica was on the bottom, but her luck turned around when Cody re-entered the game and she won HoH. She wanted Josh out, but she also wanted to cause as few waves as possible, so she put up Ramses as a pawn. This was a mistake as Paul already wanted Ramses out and so had no motivation to let Josh go. Jessica earned a chance to correct her mistake when she won the Veto. Ramses suspected the vote would be flipped on him and shared these concerns with Jessica, but she chose to keep nominations the same. Ramses was evicted 7-3 and Jessica was the next out.
This is a clear case of overcorrection. Jessica was put on the bottom due to Cody attempting a big move and failing, so she tried to compensate by making nominations that would keep everyone happy. The problem is, when you put up a pawn without any connections, you need to have a lot of connections yourself if you want the house to keep them. Jessica didn’t and she knew it.
If she saved Ramses and replaced him with Alex, she would have ensured Josh goes home or at the very least put Paul in a position where they’d need to make sacrifices to keep him. She’d also secure Ramses as a number, which in addition to Mark and Elena, means she’d enter the F12 with a five person alliance and her Halting Hex. This is a much more solid position than where Jessica actually ended up, especially when you consider that Josh won the next “proper” HoH, and without him, it’d have gone to a tiebreaker between Cody and Christmas. I’m not going to hold the last part against her, as I’m relying on knowledge of future challenges, but everything else I said still stands.
2. Jason (BB19 F8)
Paul’s minions had just wiped out all the outsiders and now just had to sit patiently and wait for Paul to tell them in what order to evict themselves. Jason should have been the next out, but unknowingly stopped Paul’s plans by winning HoH.
Matt was the new target. The plan was to nominate him and Raven, tell them Kevin was the target, use the Veto on Raven, and put up Kevin to keep the week going smoothly. Jason won the Veto, but he got paranoid that Kevin really was the target. He kept nominations the same, guaranteeing that either Matt or Raven would go home. Matt was still the target, but he and Raven spent the rest of the week putting as much negative attention on Jason as they could.
This move didn’t ultimately matter, as Jason would’ve been the next out regardless, but Jason didn’t know that. He thought he, Alex, and Paul were the core three running the house, in which case, Jason is burning through a lot of social capital to protect someone who doesn’t really have much to offer him. If he’s really adamant about keeping Kevin off the block, he could have still used the Veto on Raven and put up Josh or Christmas, claiming they’re the new target. It still would have annoyed everyone, but to a lesser extent.
Even with the knowledge that he was on the bottom, this was still the worst move he could have made. If he went along with the plan, he’d preserve some good will, which might take the target off of him next week. If he was already willing to go against the house, he might as well have gone all the way and tried to backdoor Paul. That move is highly unlikely to work, but would shift momentum in his favor on the off chance it did.
Even though Paul wanted the Veto to be used, they ironically benefited from it not being used. It increased Jason’s target size, which made it that much easier for Paul to form a house consensus against him. It also gave Paul deniability. If Matt were sitting next to Kevin, Paul would have to justify and/or hide their part in evicting Matt to keep Raven on their side. Now, Matt was actively trying to get evicted so Raven would be safe, meaning Paul could just vote how they wanted and basically take the rest of the week off.
1. Marcellus (BB3 F5)
Jason was HoH and put up Marcellus and Amy. It was announced that this week’s Veto would be the first ever Golden Veto, meaning that now nominees could save themselves instead of relying on someone else to save them. Marcellus won the Veto, Danielle convinced him he would be safe no matter what, so he decided not to use it, only to be evicted by Jason in a tiebreaker vote, as he said “You should’ve used the Veto”
With every other entry, I’ve had to rely on some level of speculation and/or hindsight to explain why the Veto should’ve been used. This time, I don’t have to. If you don’t use the Veto, you might make final four. If you use the Veto, you’re guaranteed final four. End of discussion.
The only defense I can make is that it was extremely early in the show’s history and he was tricked by one of the show’s greatest players. Neither of these defenses hold much weight to me though, as Marcellus acknowledged that using the Veto is the obvious move while he was announcing he wouldn’t use it.
Marcellus said that he would’ve felt selfish if he used the Veto and that he didn’t want Danielle or Lisa to go through what he went through. If you want to make a suboptimal move for the sake of altruism, fine, but you should realize that doing so could result in you losing the game (that’s kind of the part that makes it selfless). Marcellus didn’t, as he didn’t even pack in preparation of being evicted.

so i dont really know how reddit works i just need advice with what i should do. so growing up me and my mom had a good relationship. i think? we were living with someone she was on and off with, lets call him "pat". and truthfully? yes, there was a lot of...arguments!.. she would throw something he would sometimes throw things but they would always throw the same things yknow? like candles, glass, TV's, forks, remotes, etc. so growing up me and my mom always counted on eachother? she would jump infront of a train for me. i know that. but when we moved away from him we struggled. my mom went down this rabbit hole..she thought everyone was a peeping tom or that everyone was against her and that someone was always watching us. so gradually as we got settled in where we were staying (for free) she started taking her anger out by yelling at me, since "pat" wasnt there. screaming yelling. thankfully no throwing but she definitally knew how to scream. even if it was hurtful. she refuses to work because she swears she already has a job with military???? which i can confirm; she does not. she claims that she owns a buisness and that shes been adopted by a state???? and that were filthy rich! and that the people around her keep hacking and stealing her identity so she never gets any money. shed claimed "pat" was always out to do "things" with me. well! about a year where we're staying and she meets someone. she loves him so soooo much that we'd have arguments about him. if i said i was uncomfy around him she wouldnt care. instead she yell, scream, cry, slam things. it sometimes go so bad that if i said "i dont like him" shed scream in my face saying my dad doesnt love me. or "youre just like your dad!' or "you really are the devil" or, my personal favorite! "youre just like your dad. you never want me to be happy". annyways. a lot of times she'd go to his place and stay the night on a school night (she drove me to school). if it wasnt obvious by the "she refuses to get a job" we werent that well off. we didnt have a lot of food and i had'nt gone to the doctors in...a while. so it felt like she was leaving to go have a different life with a man who never actually cared about her? i was very scared to stay alone in the house so if i called her crying she'd come back screaming at me. so anyway. finally, the moment came. we got kicked out! my mom had no money but we had friends and a car. so we slept at some places back and forth for a bit. on maybe the 5th day i started getting worried and scared. so i called my father during fall break. and made plans to go! i packed and went and i had fun. kind of? i ended up staying and having an ok fresh start. although having my dads girlfriend take some things from me wasnt so fun. she was easy to talk to. it was wel. i was getting to know my family and everything i always hoped for. but me and my moms relationship got worse. constant calls and messages of her arguing with me. i never back talked her. its what i was used too. until my sister pointed out something was wrong. i started paying attention to what my mom was saying and started getting more..concerned? but also tired. it wasnt until christmas i got a call from my mom saying she'd be more than happy to call cps or put me up for "adoption to someone in the family" she never said "to someone in the family" but claims she did so lets just go with that. after that phone call i went to sleep. and i woke up to my other sister calling me at 9 am. i wasnt ready to wake up so i ignored it. welp. bad idea. my sister messaged me and start arguing with me for how i talk to our mom saying things like i was bratty and spoiled and that my last name was "bound to kick in" well after that i blocked my sister and started getting more mad??? i didnt want to keep taking what my mom kept saying to me. i got more of an attitude and actually started back talking her more. which probably wasnt the right thing but i was tired of it yknow? she would belittle me or threaten to hurt herself or turn my words against me. so here i am now. my mom has no job, cant understand that she isnt rich. i know theres something wrong and she needs help vut she never accepts it because whoever tells her she needs help is the bad guy in a master plan trying to kill her. well ive been having a hard time where i am now and want to move back with my mom. (she doesnt have a house either btw) ive been incouraging her to get a job and get a house so shes not on the streets and so maybe i can move back with her in the future?... but i know thats never happening. just today we got in an argument because i was manipulating her and abusing her and that she could never trust me because im with "them"?? and that shes turning everyone in. who's she turning in? idk, ig everyone she knows. for what? idk. this is longer than i expected and maybe i started to rant. and im sorry. i assume my family is tired with dealing with her so i dont want to bother them with this. but what should i do? im tired of this and just want a normal life. i know nothing is "normal" and maybe its selfish of me but idk. im scared and concerned for my mother. so please, any advice. anything will help

Somebody here was recently trying to track down an image they had seen of the OED's definition of “waggle,” which Tolkien wrote during his stint at the Dictionary. I looked at my copy of a very useful book called The Ring of Words, which describes Tolkien's work and provides several samples taken from the archives. Sure enough, “waggle” is in there.
Looking at the book, I was reminded that another word that Tolkien worked on was “wain.” For people interested in words, this is a good one, and worth a short post for those who might not have encountered it elsewhere. A wain is a wheeled vehicle for carrying cargo, pulled by draft animals. It is the same thing as a waggon (a word universally spelled with one “g” in the US). Both these words are found frequently in LotR.
Why two different words for the same thing? Well, both are from the same Germanic root, which took the form wægn in Old English. At some point the “g” sound dropped out of the word. This is a regular English phonetic development (“sound law”); parallels include rægn > “rain,” and mægn “strength,” which survives in the phrase “might and main.”
But the hard “g” was preserved (for reasons Tolkien no doubt understood) in the Dutch cognate word wagen, and this was borrowed into English in the 16th century, giving us “waggon/wagon.”
Tolkien's use of the two halves of this “doublet,” as philologists call it, follows a consistent pattern. Only the more familiar “waggon” appears in the Shire chapters; one owned by Farmer Maggot appears prominently in “A Short Cut to Mushrooms,” and Merry uses several to set up the ambush at the Battle of Bywater. Everywhere else, except for one passage, the only word used is “wain.” This is consistent with Tolkien's general verbal strategy of adopting more archaic diction when the story leaves the Shire.
The one place where both words appear is in the description of the evacuation of the noncombatants from Minas Tirith:

But soon Pippin saw that all was in fact well-ordered: the wains were moving in three lines, one swifter drawn by horses; another slower, great waggons with fair housings of many colours, drawn by oxen; and along the west rim of the road many smaller carts hauled by trudging men.

This suggests that Tolkien thought of a waggon as a larger and slower conveyance than a wain. But the distinction is not maintained elsewhere; Farmer Maggot says “after a bit of supper, I’ll get out a small waggon, and I’ll drive you all to the Ferry.” Possibly Tolkien just wanted to avoid repetition.

I am curious if any other parents have begun giving their older children shares as gifts? I am not talking about loads of money, because we are not retired. We still have roughly 5 more years to work.
My daughters are picky so eventually instead of buying them gifts that had to be returned by me because they were too busy, I started giving them gift cards. Unfortunately, the kids were spoiled by me, so they complained about that as a gift too, because it didn’t show that I took an interest in their interests. I admit that I don’t. So as of 2019, I now only gift them shares of stock or mutual funds. I only give them their shares gift in November and their Birthday and Christmas shares are given at the same exact time. My kids get shares equal to about $300 in total. I actually do the same for the nieces and nephews that are under 21 who would normally be given money equal to roughly $100 between their birthday and Christmas gifts.
The idea of gifting shares came about because when the kids were little and relatives gave them cash, I invested those cash gifts into a mutual fund that they were given control of when they graduated college. They were not told about the accounts until the kids left our tax return. I had originally planned on having them use that money to help pay for college, but decided it would be better used as a “you’re grown, time to move out” asset for them. The kids were very grateful for the send off mutual fund to the point that they have all kept them for an emergency fund. The oldest child regularly adds to hers. Not sure about the younger two.
Gifts to date were: 2019 was AAPL 2020 was QQQJ 2021 was QQQJ 2022 was VZ
I usually gift from something I already own, but base the gift on current pricing so in 2019 AAPL was at $112 a share so niece/nephews only got 1 share, but my kids got 2 or 3. My cost basis was something like $42 a share so I most likely could be considered cheap if they knew the cost basis. Cost basis pricing would also make it easier to decide what to gift, but I am cheap.
I haven’t figured out what to gift for 2023 yet. I am thinking I need to buy a lower price ETF or dividend producing share to gift to them so they can get more shares, but I don’t have one in mind. I was thinking MO which I own but would prefer something in the under $30 price point.
Does anyone have a recommendation?

Asking for a friend He’s really interested in getting a boat. Hesrented one twice a year the last couple years. So he knows they will like boating . They have 2 young kids and 2 dogs. definitely want a cuddi. They have family and friends we would like to have out sometimes too. So hes thinking a 30’r?
We have a budget of like 25k. Is that a good budget? Is there certain makes or models to consider? Any thing I should keep an eye out for? I have read through some posts and comments and gathered there is no crystal balls on the mechanical condition and expect to do work regardless eventually. I’m going to ask for a test drive.
Is there anything else you can think off. Any cutoff year it was made that’s too old? Lol idk I’m sure I sound green. We just don’t want to get a lemon . Is there an ideal middle class budget for a hood used boat? Maybe 25k is too little or to much?
Thank you very much

I Like Pikmin
I like pikmin
The pikmin store was selling them for five cents a piece. I thought that odd since they were normally a couple thousand. I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I bought 200.
I like pikmin
I took my 200 pikmin home. I have a spaceship. I let one drive. His name was Sigmund. He was retarded. In fact, none of them were really bright. They kept punching themselves in their genitals. I laughed. Then they punched my genitals. I stopped laughing.
I herded them into my room. They didn't adapt very well to their new environment. They would screech, hurl themselves off of the couch at high speeds and slam into the wall.
Although humourous at first, the spectacle lost its novelty halfway into its third hour.
Two hours later I found out why all the pikmin were so inexpensive: they all died. No apparent reason. They all just sorta' dropped dead. Kinda' like when you buy a goldfish and it dies five hours later. Damn cheap pikmin.
I didn't know what to do. There were 200 dead pikmin lying all over my room, on the bed, in the dresser, hanging from my bookcase. It looked like I had 200 throw rugs.
I tried to flush one down the toilet. It didn't work. It got stuck. Then I had one dead, wet pikmin and 199 dead, dry pikmin.
I tried pretending that they were just flowers. That worked for a while, that is until they began to decompose. It started to smell real bad.
I had to pee but there was a dead pikmin in the toilet and I didn't want to call the plumber. I was embarrassed.
I tried to slow down the decomposition by freezing them. Unfortunately, there was only enough room for two pikmin at a time so I had to change them every 30 seconds. I also had to eat all the food in the freezer so it didn't all go bad.
I tried burning them. Little did I know my bed was flammable. I had to extinguish the fire.
Then I had one dead, wet pikmin in my toilet, two dead, frozen pikmin in my freezer, and 197 dead, charred pikmin in a pile on my bed. The odour wasn't improving.
I became agitated at my inability to dispose of my pikmin and to use the bathroom. I severely beat one of my pikmin. I felt better.
I tried throwing them away but the garbage man said that the city was not allowed to dispose of charred flower creatures. I told him that I had a wet one. He couldn't take that one either. I didn't bother asking about the frozen ones.
I finally arrived at a solution. I gave them out as Christmas gifts. My friends didn't know quite what to say. They pretended that they like them, but I could tell they were lying.
Ingrates.
So I punched them in the genitals.
I like pikmin.

This week’s slightly belated vintage batch is smaller than usual but features 3 very special Vacumatics: 2 made by Parker and one a 51 reproduction demonstrator! The first is New Old Stock and stickered, the second is oversized with a Superflex nib, and the third is just wild! As always, all are fully restored and ready to write.
 
ALBUM & TIMESTAMP
 
Pastable link: https://imgur.com/a/5tymxIg
 
Condition (n.b.): All pens listed below have been disassembled, cleaned and restored with new sacs/diaphragms installed in the last couple months. Vacumatic fillers are something of a specialty of mine and I take pride in the amount of attention I devote to each. Any dried/coagulated ink is removed from feed channels. All remnants of thread sealant and ossified diaphragms are cleaned away. Threads are meticulously chased. Interiors of barrels are cleaned and polished to remove ink staining and restore transparency. Sections are sealed against leaks using Main Street Pens' rosin-based thread sealant. Each of these pens is guaranteed to fill and write as designed without leaks or other problems. Nibs have been adjusted when necessary to ensure that all lay down a smooth and consistent line.
THESE PENS HAVE NO CRACKS, CHIPS, PERSONALIZATIONS, LOOSE OR MISSING PARTS, BENT NIBS, MISALIGNED TINES, BROKEN/WORN OFF TIPPING, OR THREADING ISSUES.
 
Line Widths and Writing Samples: To provide buyers with as much information as possible, I have started to adopt the following line width standards: XXF (.1-.2mm); XF (approx .3mm); F (approx .4mm); M (approx .6mm); B (approx .8mm). Nib flexibility is determined by variation (max line width under pressure) and softness (amount of pressure). Flexibility designations based on variation generally run as follows for an XF/F nib: Semi-Flex (approx. 1mm); Flex (1.2-1.9mm); Superflex (>2mm). All line width measurements are taken with a digital caliper but should be considered approximations providing a general guide. Width may vary slightly depending on type of ink and paper used as well as amount of pressure applied. All writing samples are on Rhodia dot paper using Waterman Serenity Blue.
 
 
On Filling Vacumatics: Each of the pens with Vac filling systems below is made of celluloid with transparent barrel striations for viewing the level of ink, which is stored directly in the barrel. To fill, one simply removes the blindcap, submerses the nib, and depresses the plunger until the barrel is full.
 
1. NOS 1947 Parker Vacumatic Junior - Uninked w/ Stickers (Silver Pearl, celluloid, NPT, Vacumatic filler, 14k F nib). This full-sized model measures 5” capped and has the same proportions as a Major but lacks the Blue Diamond on the clip and features 2 thin cap bands as opposed to a single, wider chevron band. This pen is New Old Stock (NOS), apparently uninked, and stickered with original price ($5.00) and nib width (M) sticker as well. But it has been restored with a new diaphragm and filled with water for testing. Single black jewel on the cap and plastic plunger consistent with a 3rd generation Vac. 14k Parker Vac Arrow nib). Since I believe this pen has never been inked, I didn’t take a writing sample for sake of preservation. But a vintage Parker M usually corresponds to a modern F, which is what I designate as a F according to the standards above. If you’d like to buy this pen and don’t mind it being dipped, I’d be happy to test it out for you to confirm its smoothness and writing characteristics. But Parker’s nib-finishing dept was top notch and this one has been preserved as is from the factory. Condition: New Old Stock [N]. But for a touch of drawer to the clip, this pen has the appearance of having just rolled off the assembly line. Nickel-plated trim shows no brassing. Smooth, lustrous finish with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – scarcely even any microscratches. Perfect color and transparency with no ambering (DETAIL PHOTO). Factory deep barrel imprint and date code are fully legible. NOS Vacs are pretty tough to come by these days and they don’t get much nicer than this one! Price: $270 SOLD
 
2. 1940 Parker Vacumatic Senior Maxima (black, celluloid, GPT, Vacumatic Speedline filler, 14k Two-Tone XF Superflex nib). This oversized model measures 5 3/8” capped. This 2nd generation, oversized Vac in black features a wide chevron cap band, double black jewels, aluminum Speedline filler, and blue diamond clip signifying Parker’s lifetime guarantee. Most Vac nibs are rather rigid. But once in a blue moon you get a surprise like this one. The commensurably oversized 14k Two-Tone Vac Arrow nib is Super-Flexible, laying down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx. 2.3mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Condition: excellent [B]. Gold-plated trim is clean with no notable wear aside from a sliver of brassing on the blind cap tassie and high-point slivers on the arrow of the clip. Celluloid has a smooth lustrous surface with no notable blemishes apart from some pin-sized marks on the plastic here and there and some cloudiness on the surface of the hard rubber section. Additional polishing could possibly remove it, but I wasn’t having any luck and I didn’t want to over-polish. The only other noteworthy issue is some cosmetic wear to the plating on the filler that does not affect function. Good transparency with some ambering but ink level fully visible (DETAIL PHOTO). Manufacturer imprint and date code on barrel are deep and fully legible. Price: $420 SOLD
 
3. 1990s Ariel Kullock Parker 51 Demonstrator Repro (transparent lucite, NPT, Vacumatic filler, Octanium XF nib). This full-sized model measures a hair over 5 1/2” capped. In the 90s and early-2000s Ariel Kullock was known as a prolific craftsman of vintage FP reproductions and customizations. He’s perhaps best well known for his custom Parker 51s, whose caps he adorned and engraved and whose barrels he offered in an astonishing array of colors and patterns. He also made custom demonstrators. Originally, a demonstrator was a pen made of clear materials or with cutouts to expose its internal workings. Parker did not sell demonstrators to the public. They were distributed exclusively to dealers, who used them to show the features of standard pens to customers. A genuine Parker 51 Vac Demonstrator is an unusual sight indeed and ranges anywhere from $700, for the most common, to $1,000s for the rarer ones. Meanwhile, Kullock ceased production of his repro demonstrators years ago, making them harder and harder to find as well. This one was his most ambitious: a full Parker 51 demonstrator for which even the cap is transparent (a feature Parker themselves never made for their demos). Pearlescent grey plastic cap jewel is original Parker as is the filler. The barrel, cap, hood, and blindcap are transparent and turned by Kullock. Whether capped or uncapped, this pen makes the ink visible wherever it is, be that in the barrel or in the transparent feed. For all the metal parts on the pen, Kullock chose original white metal. Nickel-plated original blue diamond clip, clutch ring, and original Octanium nib from a 51 Special. That nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF line (see WRITING SAMPLE). lCondition: excellent [B]. Nickel-plating is clean with no brassing – just some drawer wear to the clip. Cip has a bit of patina from being stored in a case, which patina I'll polish off before shipment. Celluloid is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable flaws. The only noteworthy demerit is some finishing marks on the interior of the barrel in a spiral pattern left over from the manufacturing process. A delightful pen to show people just how a Vacumatic 51 works! Price: $300
 
 
 
Shipping: Pens purchased on the weekend are mailed on Tuesday. Otherwise they are mailed within 2 business days of payment. All pens that do not come with their original boxes are packaged in PVC or thick plastic tubes to protect them in transit. To CONUS locations the following shipping options are available:

• USPS First-Class with tracking for $5 Due to the delivery delays that continue under postmaster general DeJoy, I strongly recommend that the Priority shipping option be chosen. All packages will include full insurance (covered by me). Rest assured that a full refund is guaranteed (issued through Paypal) in the event of a lost parcel and you will not have to wait until I receive a reimbursement from the USPS.
  
• USPS Priority with tracking for $9
  

International Customers: Please contact me for shipping quote if located abroad (delivery confirmation required). (Note: due to the issues stated above, my international shipping options are currently limited. PM for more info). Please do not ask me to commit mail fraud by altering the declared value of a pen for customs. Not only am I registered as a business but shipping insurance is based on declared value.
New York Customers: For tax purposes, I am now required to add an 8% sales tax on any sale made in the state of NY. If your shipping address is in NY state, please let me know before payment to receive an adjusted total. Discounted shipping is included for NY State residents to help defray the extra cost.
Ordering: Pens are placed on hold for the first person to reply to the thread and PM me with firm request to purchase (no chat DMs please). A request with the words “I'd like to purchase [pen number]” would be best to avoid confusion), to which I’ll reply with payment details. Please note that a message inquiring into a price discount does not suffice to place a pen on hold. If I haven't received Paypal payment within 24 hrs after a hold is placed, then pen(s) may become available to the next person.
Payment, & Guarantee: Payment by Paypal only. All pens are guaranteed to be in the condition in which I've described them. If I've missed something objectionable or the filling mechanism is not fully functional, the buyer may contact me up to 7 days after receiving the pen for a full refund (issued once I receive the pen back in the same condition as sold). Buyer must ship the return no later than 2 weeks after it was delivered to receive a refund. I've sold pens online for over a decade. Please check my past listings here as well as on the classifieds and historical sales forums on FPN (username: Estragon) and FPGeeks (popcod) for some of my previous offerings.
 
 
OTHER OPEN LISTINGS:

• Sheaffer Juniors and Superflex Moore Shell
  
• Unbranded BCHR Superflex
  
• Wet Noodle Dip Pen Customized Wright-Weidlich Simplofiller and Superflex Sheaffer Ring Top
  
• Waterman Junior
  
• Superflex Waterman 15 Eyedropper w/ Keyhole nib, Aikin Lambert Capitol Cabinet
  
• Parker Vacumatic Major
  
• Salz "Wendy" Doll Head Pen
  
• Solid Gold Ring Top
  
• Conklin Enduras, Nozac
  
• Superflex, Stub Burnhams in Colorful Casein
  

I'll copy my wishlist below. I would love it if you helped me choose what to prioritize. Consider that my goal is becoming as self-sufficient as possible by 2040 (I have a piece of land) and take into account that I want to live without electricity as much as possible because

1. I want to do my part for the planet even if it's just a drop in the ocean
   
2. The power grid and the supply chain are a fragile thing in my mind
   
3. I like some aspects of anprim -anarchoprimitivist- philosophy (even if I don't like the inherent ableism and one infamous person who defamed the whole group with his disregard for human life) and think that humans evolved in a very different environment from the one we live in and that our brains are happier in that environment because they were shaped by it for hundreds of millennia
   

. . .
My situation and budget:
I get about 350€ every month (+ about 800-1000€ around Christmas) and have to use them to buy:
-food (not all of it, another person buys mostly fresh fruit, fresh vegs and fresh meat so I only need to pay for grains, legumes, canned and frozen things, -mostly vegetable- milk, and fish. We take turns for cheese and water. If I eliminated "my things" from my diet I'd still have to contribute about 50% of the expenses for food)
-small expenses like gifts
-occasionally courses and b&b stays (not for vacations, but to learn new skills and build community on the road to self sufficiency)
-relationship-building objects (things that people I want to be friends with make, like cheese and honey if I want to befriend some farmers I would like to be taken as an "apprentice" by, or attending a course I wouldn't sign up for otherwise because a friend is the teacher)
-other groceries like hygiene products
-hand-tools and materials for my goal of self-sufficiency
-hand tools and materials to hopefully teach a course about primitive skills in the future
-"preppers items" (like radio, water filter...)
-physical books
-private lessons (I would love to have a botany expert guide me occasionally for example, or to take some lessons from a good blacksmith I know)
-ideally I would want to keep some savings for emergencies, unexpected expenses, heavily discounted and second hand items, and opportunities that might open...But I'm also among the people that would be hit the strongest by hyperinflation (and I was a theft victim recently and lost quite a bit) so I don't want to have too much savings at the same time. Please DON'T tell me "forget about buying things and save at least 6 months of expenses blah blah": it's reasonable but it's not something I need to hear from other people and it's not ideal in my situation for many personal reasons
. . .
Now the ever-increasing wishlist:
-pressure canner (the only option I have is about 130+40€ shipping)
-jars (12 jars of 1 litre capacity each + lids cost about 40€)
-mylar bags and oxygen absorbers (the more the better)
-extra food and water (again, the sky's the limit. If I had to guess I'd say I currently have about 1 month's worth)
-GRAYL water filter (I have a SAWYER mini though)
-4 volumes of an excellent botany book about dichotomous keys to safely identify local flora (the first 3 volumes cost about 100€ each and the 4th isn't available at the moment... I also I have other books on local flora but nothing that gives me the peace of mind of a reasonably certain identification)
-book "The survival medicine handbook" that goes for about 40€
-book "Preserving food without freezing or canning" 22€
-plants of Plectranthus barbatus to use as sustainable toilet paper (8€ each and 12 € shipping so I would have to take at least 2 to make the shipping worth it I guess?)
-book about cheese making in my language 18€
-book "knife engineering" 34€
-book "slow tech" 26€
-book "the regenerative grower's guide to garden amendments" 24€
-book on macrame in my language 15€
-book on willow baskets making in my language 15€
-book on bike repairing in my language (I have a decent bike but I'm pretty out of shape, it needs repairing and it doesn't fit in the elevator of the apartment I currently live in) 25€
-book on vegetable milk making (I drink quite a bit of it and love it) 8€
-2 sprouting jars 28€
-flint (a friend of a friend could send it to me at 5€/kg) and steel stricker (26€)
-gorilla tape 10€
-fire piston fire starter 11€
-book "The complete guide to no-dig gardening" 25€ (I have other books on general gardening)
-a bracelet (a gift that can be postponed if needed) 7€
-hiking sticks 17€
-blacksmith pliers 34€
-anvil -I have a good hammer already- (price here varies greatly with weight but for 40kg you pay about 230€)
-cheesecloth 8€
-1kg beeswax 25€ (mainly to make a good pitch but also for candles and even soap maybe?)
-120 m candle wicks thread 12€
-25 m wire mesh 31€ (for a future animal coop or something like that) ...
There are many more things that I would love to buy if I had unlimited money, from "insects hotels" or the materials to build them to beekeeping protective suit and hives, from a higher quality and larger tarp to buckets (to extract clay, to put the mylar bags in...) and to other books and tools, but I want you all to give your advice on the objects in the list at the moment.
Please DON'T suggest alternatives to the items I listed, just help me decide what should be bought soon and what can wait.

1. "I messed up a jump skydiving. I was able to correct the situation and pull the pilot chute for my canopy, but I was very, very close to having my reserve go off. The reserves are generally reliable, but it’s still nothing I want to test. Landed fine and then got a very stern talking-to for pulling so low."
2. "Just google 'Levey PCH,' then ask away…I’ll be very surprised if anyone can beat what happened to me. THANK WHOEVEWHATEVER you believe in for Apple, Scorpion, UCLA, and the LA County Fire Department and Sheriff's Department."
3. "Minutes before it happened, I was under the Cypress structure that collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California (which was a magnitude 6.9). I was traveling north underneath the double-layered structure and felt creepy and claustrophobic on the brightest day. I raced to get out, as I always did, because I hated being under it. After getting out, I felt like my tire had gone flat and started to weave around in my lane, then I noticed that everyone else was losing control and hitting their brakes too. That was the earthquake. I didn't find out until later about the collapse, and felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I'd never felt so close to death before."
4. "I was rappelling off the top of the tallest building in Bangkok (200 meters, or 656 feet) as a promotional stunt. I was supposed to rappel down to the 10th floor, land on a small balcony, and then traverse over to another building. The wind shear off the building was enough to blow me 20–30 feet away from the side of the building. Picture a spider hanging by a thread in the wind. As I got close to the 10th floor, I noticed that my rope had been cut and no longer reached the balcony, let alone the ground. The rope was about 10 feet short of the landing. So, still blowing away from the side of the building, off and on I waited until I was just above the balcony and dropped the last several feet onto the deck. Super pissed but alive."
5. "Going to school in San Francisco, I got off the bus to get cigarettes and a soda at a liquor store. I stopped at the trash can on the way out to open my cigarettes and soda and walked half a block up the street when a crane fell off the roof right where I'd been standing 30 seconds before. The crane operator was killed, and half a minute earlier, I would have been as well."
6. "Although being an ironworker comes with its fair share of risk, as long as you don’t become too incompetent, things can be safe. But that is easier said than done, seeing as the days are long and the work is physically draining. One day, I was about 60 feet in the air rigging a beam to be lowered to the ground. I signaled the crane operator to 'cable up' (lift the beam), but the beam wasn’t budging. I decided to look down the beam to see what was wrong...BANG! Before I knew it, the beam broke free and came up at my face with about 2,000 pounds of force. It knocked off my hard hat and hit every edge of my safety glasses, missing the side of my face by a quarter inch. I thought I had died, it was so sudden. I should never have put myself in what we call 'the line of fire.' I’ll never forget how close my kids were to losing their father that day because I let my judgment slip. Still gives me goosebumps talking about it."
7. "I got hit by a car and walked away with no injuries. The Sunday before final exams during my last semester of college, I went to the library at 6 a.m. to study. At 2 p.m., I needed a break and started walking back to my car. At an intersection, I stopped, made eye contact with the driver of a car at a stop sign, and started walking across the street on a crosswalk. The next thing I knew, I was up on the windshield of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. He hit the brakes, and I rolled off the hood of his car and landed on my feet. I was so freaked out that I told the guy I was fine and left. Later that afternoon, I went to the hospital to get checked out and had no injuries. The doctor told me to buy a lottery ticket on my way home because I was so lucky."
8. "While I was doing the dishes, my hip bumped the dial on my stove, turning it to ignite, but I didn't notice, so the stove was leaking gas all night. In the morning, I could tell something smelled off, but I have a hard time smelling things, so I just figured it was some old cauliflower rice I had thrown out the night before. To deal with the smell, I lit not one, but two candles, one of which was right next to the stove. Later, after coming back from running errands, as soon as I opened the door, I felt instantly violently ill, like a migraine and the flu all at once. Probably 20 minutes later, I finally saw the knob on the stove and realized what was happening."
9. "One time, I was watching TV in my lounge room and I was sitting on the floor eating. We have a really big TV and we had an earthquake, but I thought it was a train passing by. It wasn't. I ran out of the room as everything started to wobble, and the TV nearly fell on top of me."
10. "I went to summer camp when I was 15, and for our last weekend activity, they took us to Martha’s Vineyard and rented us bikes. Now, I loved riding bikes in the park as a kid but had never ridden in the street. But since 'you never forget how to ride a bike,' I figured I could do it. I headed out and tried to go up a street that was very steep. I started to lose control of the bike, and I fell into the street in between a truck that was hauling a trailer (I fell in front of the trailer). I saw this huge wheel coming at me, and my leg was stuck from the fall. I screamed as hard as I could and hoped it wouldn’t kill me (others told me they heard it a few streets away). The driver luckily heard it and slammed on the brakes; I was scuffed up but otherwise fine. You can indeed forget how to ride a bike."
11. "I got hit by a train. I was living and working at a college that has train tracks running through it and only a stop sign before you cross them at the vehicle intersection. You had to cross the tracks to leave campus. I was headed to the gym in July, and the windows were rolled up and the AC and radio were blasting. I’d crossed that crossing a thousand times, so I stopped a bit, passed the stop sign, and looked right, but the train was coming from the left. Its horn blew, but I panicked when I heard it, so I hit the accelerator but braked immediately. I was already on the tracks. It only hit my front end and dragged me about 200 feet down the tracks. I only had a broken rib, three cracked ribs, and a pretty gnarly cut on my finger. The people at the next crossing probably thought they saw someone die."
12. "My last day of driver’s education class, we were just about back to school. We were all feeling pretty good because we’d passed our tests that day. I was in the rear driver’s seat and had a classmate driving, one next to me, and a teacher in the passenger seat. We went through a green light at LITERALLY the last intersection before school when a car blew through the red light going 55 mph and slammed into us on my side, just a few inches back from where I was sitting. It spun our car into the intersection and kept going! We were all concussed and had to be taken to the hospital, but that was it. When we went to retrieve my bags from the trunk of the wreckage at the salvage yard, the shop owner admitted he hadn’t answered my ringing phone because he didn't think we had survived, and didn’t want to break the news to everyone calling me. Two inches between me and being crushed alive. In driver’s ed!"
13. "I was walking to class one day, and the shortest route went under a viaduct. It had been snowing and melting on and off for the past few days. The viaduct is about 100 feet high, and just as I was about to walk from under it and onto the pavement, a 6-foot icicle fell those 100 feet and smashed into the ground in front of me. Suffice to say, I took that as a sign not to go to my lecture and turned back home!"
14. "I was asleep in the passenger seat of a car on a highway when we flipped going about 80 mph. We rolled a few times and landed in a ditch. Airbags did not go off, and I shattered the passenger-side window with my skull. I literally walked away from it and didn't go to an ER until a few hours later. I literally had a concussion and one teeny bruise on my right arm, but nothing else. The nurses told me that if I had been awake for the accident, my neck would have snapped and I'd have died immediately. Whenever I tell people, they're always stunned — imagine my reaction waking up to a missing side window and a crushed car and being fully functional! I feel lucky every day that I was asleep and still have my life."
15. "There was one time my sister and I were driving down a long road with a huge cemetery. I thought it would be funny to hold my breath because people say if you don’t, the spirits of dead people will haunt you or something. When I held my breath, my sister slowed down to torture me. I was a little annoyed, but at the stop sign at the intersection, this car going really fast didn’t even bother to slow down. They even swerved into our lane, so my sister had to barely dodge. I swear, though, if my sister hadn't slowed down to torture me, we would have been in a bad wreck. Now I’m not annoyed that she did that, I’m lucky."
16. "This isn't dramatic, but it's continued to impact my life on a daily basis. When I was 11, I was playing baseball with the rest of my gym class. We took a time-out to argue about who was batting next, and I stood behind home plate, staring into left field. Play resumed, and no one told me to move. The strongest guy in the class laid down a single...and hit me in his backswing...with the baseball bat...in the middle of my forehead. I suffered skull fractures and a brain bleed. To this day, I have anxiety driven by the traumatic brain injury. The neurologist said that the fact that he hit the ball saved my life. Had he swung and missed, I would have died."
17. "I was in college and I had just finished my last class of the day. It was a short walk to my car that consisted of crossing a pedestrian crosswalk on the street separating the school from parking. On each side of the crosswalk were speed bumps so cars were forced to slow down. At this time of day, a good number of students were getting out of class, and a large herd of us started crossing the street at the crosswalk. There must have been 30 of us. I was stupidly looking down at my phone and was walking rather slowly. I didn’t realize that I was lagging behind. Everyone else was on the other side and I was still in the middle of the street. At the same moment, I noticed a freaking DUMP TRUCK whizzing by in front of me. It was probably 1–2 feet in front of me. Either he didn’t see me still crossing or he didn’t care. After I got to my car, all I could do was sit there in silence for a while and contemplate what could have just happened. Even as I write this, I shudder."
18. "This is definitely not the craziest cheating-death story, but it was definitely scary. I was at a waterpark with my family, and I don’t do well with heat and stairs — something about the combination makes me faint. We went on a waterslide that uses tubes, and it was a long trek up. I apparently was so sick from heat exhaustion, I passed out as I was next in line and hit my head on the tube. If it weren’t for the tube, they aren't sure I’d be alive right now."
19. "It was during Christmastime, and my mom, my little brother, and I all wanted to go look at Christmas lights near the middle school. There was a hill and then a lane where you would wait for the light to turn green and then you had to turn left. Well, the main light had turned red, so it was our turn to go, and thank god my mom checked before going, because if she hadn’t checked, a truck would have hit us, going like 60 mph, straight through the side of our car where my little brother was sitting."
20. "I was 4 or 5, and we were living in Estes Park, Colorado. At that time, I was challenging myself to go closer and closer to a river they have there. I was caught by the current and would’ve run into several rocks and a waterwheel if it weren’t for my cousin, who reached down, grabbed my arm, and saved me."
21. "I survived hitting an elk in the Canadian Rockies and going down a mountain 15 times end over end, stopping 20 feet short of a whitewater river. I gave myself first aid. Doctors said I would never walk normally again and I'd have brain damage. I sent one of them a picture of me with three gold medals around my neck."
22. "In the fall of '15, I was riding my motorcycle to work on a foggy morning. A truck with an enclosed trailer ran a stop sign in front of me while I was driving on a 55 mph road. I was unable to stop, ran into the trailer, and was pinned underneath the trailer, being crushed to death. A farmer was on his dirt bike behind the truck going to meet another farmer for coffee who lived on the corner of the intersection. Once he realized I was pinned, he ran to get his friend and his friend's skid-steer loader. They then used the skid loader to lift the trailer off of me and began CPR. Luckily, right as they started, a sheriff's deputy arrived on scene and took over. I owe my life to those two farmers. If they hadn't acted, I would have died underneath the trailer, as there would have been no way for first responders to lift it off of me (it had thousands of pounds of equipment in it) in time."
23. "I've always been handy with tools and taught myself how to do things; I've been changing flat tires for anyone who'll let me. However, one day when I was about 18 years old, my buddy came over to chill, and he had his dad's brand-new Tacoma. So we chilled for a couple of hours, and when it was time for him to leave, we noticed that his front tire was flat, so naturally, I volunteered to change it (no prior experience with independent suspensions). I placed the jack on the frame and started to go at it — lifted the car enough to take the flat out. But when the fully inflated wheel was fitted, it didn't have clearance. My first thought was to get a second jack. Half my body was underneath the car, putting the jack in, when I heard a creek, and the next thing I knew, the car slipped. The car ended up with the front end touching the ground, and I got a big scrape mark on my shoulder. To this day, I don't know how or why I did not die under that Tacoma."
24. "I lived alone with my dog. There was a hole in my gas heater, so it was leaking carbon monoxide, but of course I didn't know that at the time. My dog woke me up one morning, barking and whining, and I thought she had to go out to potty. When I sat up in bed, I got so dizzy and thought I would throw up. I ended up passing out twice, once hitting my head on the bathroom cabinet, very close to my temple, and once hitting my chin on the toilet seat. I called my boss — the only phone number I remembered at the time. (This was before cellphones.) She called 911 and they came to get me. They figured out I had carbon monoxide poisoning, and I was in the ER for eight hours that day. The doctor told that when blood gases are at a certain amount, the victim goes into a coma, without fail. Mine were more than double whatever that number was. He said no matter how much my dog was barking, I should not have woken up."
25. Finally, "I was at the beach with several of my friends, my sister, and my mom. Mom was sitting on the beach watching us. We were around 11–14, I believe, but no younger than 9. Kind of out of nowhere, we started getting sucked under the water in a rip current. I was being sucked under the pier and slammed my face into the barnacles. We were screaming for help, but at first, no one came. As I was being dragged under the water and coming up screaming for help, I could see people just staring and could hear my friends also screaming for help. Finally, people started jumping into the water to save us, including my mom. She jumped in and instantly got sucked into the current but managed to grab one of my friends. She used her body to shield him from the razor-sharp barnacles."

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