We were at a friends house drinking. There was four of us. I will refer to the girl I like as Jen, another girl named Chloe, and one other guy named Ian. I have never told Jen I liked her but as we drank more and more we of course got more comfortable and flirting more. I was also observing to see if she was acting the same towards Ian but she was not. For context Ian also likes her but she's told him, that she only sees him as a friend. Later in the night, Jen and Chloe get on Chloe's bed because Chloe was already too drunk and had a headache. I at this point had drank enough to where I was getting sleepy and just sitting on the couch and Ian tells me to go to sleep and Jen hears this. She calls me to come into Chloe's room. I don't, I go to the bathroom. As I come out, (bathroom is right across from Chloe's room) Jen's calls me to get in the bed and sleep. So I sit on the edge of the bed and Jen pulls my arm to lay down and somehow she pulls me where I'm positioned right behind her. After this, I don't know what conversation led to us making out, but we do. Chloe is still on the bed with us, but does leave as she realizes what we were doing. We stop, once Ian opens the door to check up on us. I talked to her about it the next day through text. In the text I ended up telling her I have a crush on her because I thought since we made out she probably does too, which I now feel like might not have been right thing to do. There are three points in her response that stood out to me. One, that she was surprised I liked her and that she was still processing it. No real clue how to make sense of her "processing it". Two, that it was nice to hear I didn't do it (make out with her) just because I was drunk. Three that even though she was drunk, she was coherent enough to make those decisions. With her response, she didn't blatantly say it was a mistake or a lapse of judgment and we should just pretend like it never happened. She still wants to have our hangouts because that's what she told me Chloe. We texted for maybe 2 days after that night and we never ever texted before. And you know when you're not interested in talking to someone, you wouldn't really ask questions or bring up a text they overlooked the night before, but she was doing all this. But then she just stopped. I would think if you were interested in someone you would keep texting that person. On Wednesday we hung out for a bit after class at Chloe's and she was not acting distant or trying to ignore me, we in fact had a glass of wine. Thursday, we were in the hospital for school and still normal, nothing out of the ordinary. But now I'm just so confused. Because there's just been no progress at all. The way she acts around me does not scream I'm interested in you too, besides, her seeming to talk to me more but that's not much to go on. Was I just being mistakenly hopeful, just because I like her that, that makeout session was indication that she might also be interested in me or was she just drunk and I was just there? What do you guys think?
TLDR; I like this girl in my nursing school. We ended up making out. Now I'm confused if it had any deeper meaning or not.

I felt the wind rushing past me as the helicopter hovered over the square box building in the middle of the ocean. The handcuffs felt tight on my wrists as I gazed at the building below.
"Captain, we're approaching the Pandora now. Requesting access to enter," the person next to me spoke into the communication device. I looked over at the man, trying to gauge his intentions. He seemed professional, but his demeanor made me uneasy.
"Password?" came the voice on the other end of the line. The man next to me leaned in closer to the device, "Crimson Tide." There was a pause before the voice replied, "Access granted." The upper side of the square building slowly opened, revealing a helipad. The helicopter descended slowly, the blades beating the air as we landed on the pad. I looked around the interior of the building as the door opened and I was escorted inside. It was dark and cramped, and I could hear the sounds of machinery whirring in the background. "Where are we?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. The man next to me ignored my question and led me down a corridor to a large metal door. He punched in a code and the door swung open. Inside the room was a man with a stern expression on his face. He looked up as we entered, eyeing me with suspicion. "Who is this?" he asked, his voice cold and clipped. "This is the one you requested, sir," the man next to me replied. The man behind the desk looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Very well. You may leave us." As the door closed behind the other man, I turned to face the man behind the desk. "What is this place?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.
“Pandora”I felt a chill run down my spine as the man behind the desk answered my question. I watched as he scrolled through the information on his communication device, and soon enough, a lady appeared with a file in her hand. As she left, the man began to read out loud from the file. I was stunned as I heard the list of crimes that had been attributed to me. My mind raced as I tried to remember what had happened, but it was all a blur. The only thing that stood out in my mind was the mention of my quirk, hydrokinesis.
Suddenly, the man stopped reading and looked up at me with an irritated expression. "So, another person who will lose his quirk," he muttered under his breath. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Lose my quirk? Was that even possible? I tried to protest, but before I could say anything, I was cut off by a wave of panic. My heart started pounding in my chest as I imagined losing a part of myself.
I shouted at the man, demanding answers. "You're joking, right? You can't just take away my quirk! It's a part of who I am!"
The man didn't reply. Instead, he moved so quickly that I barely had time to react. Before I knew it, my head was slamming into the ground, and I felt a sharp pain in my temple. I cried out in pain, and as I lifted my head, the man whispered in my ear, "If you want to leave this place alive, you'll stay quiet." I felt a sense of dread wash over me as I realized the severity of the situation. I had to find a way out of here before it was too late. But before I could make a move, the man had already picked up his communication device and began to speak. "Start the procedure," he said, his voice cold and detached.
I didn't know what he meant by that, but it didn't sound good. Within minutes, a group of people entered the room, and before I knew it, I was being dragged away.
As we moved down the hallways, I struggled against the hands that held me, but it was no use. I was trapped. I looked around, trying to find a way out, but all I saw were blank walls and steel doors. As I was led into the cell, my heart raced with fear and confusion. The room was small and dank, with dim lighting casting eerie shadows on the walls. The only furniture was a single metal bed bolted to the ground, with a thin and stained mattress on top. I shuddered at the thought of being trapped in such a miserable place for who knows how long
Days or maybe weeks went by, and I lost all sense of time. I was fed only minimal rations of bread and water, with no human contact whatsoever. I felt like I was going insane, with my thoughts and fears swirling around in my head, and the constant silence driving me to the brink of madness.
Then one day, the same people who dragged me into the cell came to take me away. My legs felt wobbly as they led me through the door, and I stumbled as the blinding light of the outside world hit me. I was taken into a massive room, with two seats facing each other in the center. One of the seats had a boy tied to it, with multiple wires attached to his body. He looked like a lifeless puppet, with dull eyes and a skinny frame. His dark-green hair was fluffy and unkempt, casting deep shadows on his face.
I tried to look around the room, hoping to spot an escape route, but there was no way out. The right side of the room was made of thick glass, and I could see people in white lab coats watching from the other side. They seemed to be observing something, taking notes and analyzing data. Soon, I was strapped to the other chair, with thick leather belts holding me in place. The people who dragged me here left the room, and the entrance was sealed shut. Suddenly, a voice echoed in the room, saying "Izuku, start the process". I felt a growing attraction force towards the boy named Izuku, but it wasn't me feeling it - it was my quirk.
I felt something break inside me, leaving my body. I started to scream and kick the chair with the straps on, realizing that I had lost my quirk. I couldn't believe it. I had always relied on my powers, and now they were gone. The scientists were taking some input, and then the previous people came in and dragged me away.
I was too confused and disoriented to understand what was happening, but before I knew it, I was in a helicopter, leaving the facility behind. The full weight of the situation hit me then, and I realized what had happened to me in that place called Pandora. I didn't know what was in store for me now, but I knew that my life would never be the same.

By the time I was sixteen Linda got my dad to send me off to what they thought was boarding school. In reality it was a compound where the Order of the Wren would begin training me so I could be a full-fledged member.
During this time D and I would talk on the phone a few times a week. Since the Order had me move around so often I had to be the one doing the calling. These conversations didn't last as long as I would have liked because there was no privacy in the hotel rooms we would frequently stay at.
By we, I mean the two experienced hunters I would have to learn from. Their names were Williams and King. Neither did much talking and I could tell they didn't like having me around. Not that I could blame them. I was inexperienced and they had better things to do than to hold my hand and explain things to me. That meant that when we had to go somewhere to slay some monstrosity, I would have to wait in the hotel we were staying at.
I was bored out of my mind most of the time when we were traveling the country but I would learn to love those dull moments soon enough.
Williams was alright even though he smelt like a chimney, but at least he was patient with me and kind. However, King was crazy, cynical and had an unhealthy obsession with explosives. I asked him about it once and he told me “In this line of work, some things are vulnerable to fire, monk root, silver and stuff, right? But in my experience nothing can survive when twenty pounds of homemade explosives go boom.”
The days passed slowly so I would kill time by sharpening rune covered blades that would hurt all sorts of monsters, making specialized ammo, documenting everything I thought was noteworthy so future generations of members could learn from us, reading, playing cards and waiting for Farsight to call.
I asked Williams about Farsight on a few occasions and he told me that they were high ranking members of the Order who essentially ran everything. Since they were a secretive bunch, who they were and how they knew where to send all the teams was a mystery.
Most people I spoke to said they thought the biggest clue on how Farsight operated was the history of the Order itself.
Learning about the Order was a top priority during my studies at the compound. The long and the short is: back in the day there were some nerds that saved a bunch of books and scrolls from a fire that was about to consume a library named after some guy named Alexander. Lots of these people died as a result of saving what they could and because of their sacrifice the Order knows how to dispose and kill monsters.
My studies were not limited to history either. Most of the time was spent doing military drills, however on a few occasions I got to try my hand at magic. That being said, magic welders are rare and I was not one of them.
The first time I ever saw any action we were waiting somewhere in Ohio when the phone rang.
King answered the phone, waited and responded with ‘yes’, ‘no’ and finally ‘understood’ before hanging up.
“What did they say?” asked Williams.
King sighed and shook his head. “We got a plane to catch,” King answered as he slapped his knees and stood up.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Alaska.”
“What's in Alaska?” Williams asked before I could.
“Farsight got wind of some town that went missing.”
“A town went missing?” I asked, pinching my eyebrows together in confusion.
“It happens,” King shrugged. “Roanoke, Waterway… Etcetera.”
“Waterway?” I asked. “Never heard of it.”
“That's because it disappeared,” Williams answered before turning to King. “Did Farsight tell you what was there?”
King gave him a look before returning to pack up his things. “Do they ever?”
Getting to our destination meant getting in three different single engine planes that all took off and landed on someone's field instead of an airport. Each of the planes were held together by duct tape and prayers. After that, we rode in a boat for an hour.
The island we were assigned to go to was small and covered with equal parts trees, brush and rocks. There weren't many houses and the nicest one of them was a doublewide trailer in poor condition.
“Where is everyone?” I asked as we made our way off the dock and onto land.
“I don't like this,” Williams added as he took out the HSD (Handheld Supernatural Detector. It sort of looked like half of a bike handle covered in copper wire, black electricians tape and at the end there are two antennas). “Nothing” Williams said after waving it around a little while.
“Keep it activated” King said, his shotgun at the ready as he led us through what passed as a town on this island.
“Maybe the signal is too weak” I suggested.
“Might be,” King responded. “Might not even be supernatural?”
“What else could it be?” I asked.
“Disease? Jobs disappearing” King answered.
“Doesn't look like there were lots of jobs here anyways” Williams pointed out, waving the HSD in different directions but not picking up anything. “Besides, Farsight isn't wrong about these things” he added as King led us to the first house and walked in.
“How many people lived here?” I asked.
“No more than thirty,” King answered.
We kept checking the houses, but time after time there were no clues to tell us what happened to the island's occupants. There were no signs of struggle, the clothes were still on the hangers and there was even food that sat around for so long that whatever it once was became mostly mold.
“So what's the plan?” I asked after reaching the last house before the forest started. I was hoping that they would say something that involved a hot shower. After the trip out here I felt that I could have used one.
Or two.
“It's going to get dark soon,” King answered, looking at the sunset. “And since we don't know what we are dealing with, we should find a place to stay for the night.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Churches are safer than most places” Williams suggested, pointing to a squat, square building.
The door was unlocked so we let ourselves in. The first thing King and Williams did was to see if we were alone. They checked the confessionals, the back office, the bathroom, under every pew and kept their eyes on the rafters.
King figured the safest part of the building was the back office, so we all went there. With the three of us it was cramped. I would have suggested staying in one of the houses, but it wouldn't have felt right sleeping in a strangers house when they were missing, besides, places of worship would provide safety. At least from some things.
On the desk that belonged to the priest was a newspaper and Williams picked it up to check the date. Something I would never have thought of doing, and saw that it was two months old.
“In a place like this, I wouldn't think they would get their news fresh off the press” King responded when Williams pointed this out.
“Still” Williams said. “That's a long time, even for way out here.”
When it came to claiming sleeping areas it was nearly impossible for all of us to be satisfied with the results. Not only was it crammed with all of us in the back office, but both men also suffered from night terrors.
By the time we all had our designated sleeping spots, Williams grumbled about being low on cigarettes and ordered me to run to the island's convenience store and “grab an armful.”
At first I protested, but they told me that since the island was abandoned it wasn't stealing.
It was my turn to grumble, but I did as I was told.
As I walked to the convenience store, I wondered how Farsight would react if they knew King and Williams sent me off by myself like this.
Pulling the door open to go inside, I was surprised to find that the store looked nearly the same as the one in Gray Hill. They had stuffed animals on the walls, pickled pig parts in glass jars, they even had the same off brand food items that I could never find anywhere other than home.
Excited, I raced to the cooler and found the same brand of ginger ale I loved so much. I sucked down one, feeling the carbonation reach up into my nose and burn like hell.
Once I loaded the rest of the bottles in my bag I went over to the counter and hopped over it to grab Williams his cigarettes.
After leaving the store I saw a truck parked out front of the church that wasn't there when I left. Feeling something was wrong I ducked behind a fence. Just in time too because a second later the door swung open and a group of people were dragging King and Williams to the truck.
The people seemed to be wearing the furs of all sorts of animals. From skunk to deer to bear and whatever else that lived on the island. At first I thought their faces were covered in dirt, however thanks to D’s alterations I could see that it was actually black rocks glistening in the dying light. Not only that but they were growing out of these people. One had a large piece coming straight up from behind his left collarbone, another had her face peppered with small rocks but the man who appeared to be their leader had one coming out of his eye socket.
King and Williams were shouting at the group, what they were saying I can’t repeat and if I cleaned it up it wouldn't be much of a sentence.
I stayed still and out of sight until the truck pulled away. Since I was only armed with the buck knife I kept on my belt at all times I wouldn’t be much help. Even less so if I was caught by whoever took the more experienced monster hunters.
As soon as the truck was out of sight I ran into the church to grab the weapons we brought with us. Both shotguns that were filled with special shells we made ourselves and our rune covered machetes.
Just as I was about to leave I remembered the backpack filled with explosives. When I scooped that up I took off in the direction I last saw the truck going.
I ran for about two miles before finally finding the truck which was parked in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road. Most of the journey was uphill, however thanks to what D did to me I had plenty of energy to spare.
It didn't take long for me to see that there were tracks that led into the woods and without thinking about it, I followed them. King and Williams needed my help.
The tracks were easy to follow considering there were six people plus King and Williams who were struggling with their abductors.
I had been tracking these people for fifteen or twenty minutes by the time I came across a rocky hill, and since rocks don't leave tracks, I thought I lost them. However, just then I saw a small cave entrance. Figuring that was where King and Williams were taken, I hustled up the hill to investigate, making sure I kept low and quiet.
When I got in the cave I thought my eyes would adjust, however it didn't. Inside was completely dark and there was no sound other than my own breathing and footfalls. I would come to learn later than caves are like that. Completely dark so even my eyes couldn't adjust and they muffle sounds.
After a short time of navigating down a narrow passageway by dragging my hand on the wall I saw a faint orange glow and slowly walked towards it, careful not to make any sound. As I drew closer, I heard a group of people chanting in a strange language that almost sounded like angry small dogs.
A few stalagmites and stalactites separated the passageway I was on from a large open area with small bonfires scattered around. The people who took King and Williams were circling a large black monolith that sat in the middle of the room and they seemed to be praying to it. To me the monolith resembled the rocks that grew out of the people.
“I’mma kill you” shouted a familiar voice about ten feet below where I stood. It was King. Both he and Williams had their hands tied behind them, around a rock. “Stem to stern, you hear that? You hear that?!”
As King was shouting, I figured I would have less of a chance at getting caught if I climbed down the steep cave wall instead of following the path. Thankfully I managed to get to them without making a sound that Kings yelling didn't muffle.
D made me a borderline superhero, and superheroes save people. So even though my heart was jumping out of my chest, that didn't stop me from doing what I had to do.
“Shh” I whispered to Williams as I put the handle of my knife in his still bound hand. “I’m leaving the bag of explosives behind you. The shotguns and your machete too.”
Williams didn't make a sound, but he nodded and started to cut the ropes.
King was still shouting to his abductors, masking my voice as I told Williams that I was going to buy them time by serving as a distraction.
Without waiting for a nod, I went back the way I came and started climbing. I was sure I was going to get caught when I caused a few rocks to fall, but then Williams started to yell, joining King to mask the sound.
After reaching the passageway I came from, I turned around to see Williams give me a slight nod. Then I shouted for everyone to hear.
“Your mom shaves her chest and you—”
I didn't get any further than that because the people hissed and ran towards me. Some climbed the wall I just did while others ran down the path I chose not to take in order to reach the two more experienced hunters.
Seeing how fast they were moving made me regret not thinking past this part of the plan.
I ran as fast as I could down the dark and narrow path I entered from. The entire time I could hear them behind me and I imagined that they were getting closer.
As soon as I got outside, it was dark and I made a split second decision to run to the coast. This would make it look like I was trying to get to a boat instead of buying the more experienced monster hunters some time. However every time I tried to head towards the beach a few of my pursuers would be in my way, forcing me to change course.
After what D did to me I was fast, not Olympic speed but it was safe to say I was faster than everyone I knew. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw that these people were keeping pace with me. If it was just one of them, I wouldn't have given it much thought, but all of them were. Even the fat and the old ones.
I tried coming up with answers that might help my chances if I had to fight these people, or should I say what these people became? The rocks gave them enhanced strength and speed, but other than that the clues I had were minimal. The rocks could have been anything from viral, extraterrestrial, interdimensional or even parasitic.
However it was safe to say that even if it was parasitic it was not demonic. If it was, the HSD would’ve picked it up.
If I knew what language these people were speaking, that would narrow the possibilities that much further.
I must have been running for about ten minutes before I realized three things at once. The first thing was these people were much faster than they were letting on and were just toying with me. The second was that I was being herded back to the cave and the third was that I was going to have to stop running and fight.
As soon as I stopped running, I pulled the machete out from its sheath and turned to face those who meant me harm.
They surrounded me like a pack of wolves, and like a pack of wolves they snapped their jaws and made sounds that reminded me of a group of angry tiny dogs barking. These people also attacked like wolves too because the ones behind me would be doing the attacking.
The first one tried to jump onto my shoulders but before she could wrap her arms and legs around me I quickly turned around and used her momentum to throw her into the others. Immediately another lept towards me and was met with a front kick, connecting right below the belly button.
That was when the third one, the one with the rock growing out of his eye, bit my hand.
I don't know who was more surprised, me because I was bit, or him because it cracked his teeth.
I recovered from the shock before he did and raised the machete up to cut off his head.
As I swung he lifted up his hand to block it. Even though I didn't take his head, I still managed to take his hand and half of his forearm.
If he felt pain he sure hid it well.
He swiped at me with his other hand and I leaned back to dodge it. He was fast though and managed to rake my cheek with his nails.
Before I could swing my weapon again, another jumped on my back and put me in a choke hold. The grip was tight and as I tried to free myself the others tackled me. Thankfully this loosened the grip around my neck. However I was on my back and the others were closing in.
I kicked one of my attackers in the knee so it broke and went backwards. This person didn't make a sound and I doubt they felt it.
One of them kicked me in the face and even though it didn't knock me out, it hurt like hell and made me see stars.
I swung my machete in a wide half circle, managing to open the belly of another.
That bought me some room but as I tried to stand up two more jumped on my back and took me to the ground. The rest all piled on top of me, snapping at me while growling and nipping at each other to get out of the way so they could get to me.
I really thought this was going to be how I was going to die, however just then all of them went limp and fell.
A fraction of a second later I heard an explosion coming from the cave.
As I layed there, in the bottom of the pile of bodies, it felt like my heart was going to explode. I was so close to dying, but I prevailed.
I won.
I let out a warcry that Otis would have been proud of and pushed the bodies off of me.
Standing up, I gave one of my attackers a kick for good measure. However it was like kicking a dried up hornets nest and the toe of my boot went right through. The only part that wasn’t brittle was the rocks that grew out of them.
Wiping my boots off in the grass, I heard shouting on the other side of the hill. As soon as I heard this I knew it was Williams and King and ran towards them, a large grin on my face.
“Hey” I yelled out happily when I saw them, but they didn’t seem to hear me and were yelling at each other. Not because they were angry, but because the explosion made them momentarily deaf.
“What?” King asked as he rubbed his ears.
“You’re an idiot,” Williams shouted.
“I can’t hear you,” King complained, pointing at his ears.
“Are you two okay?” I asked as I jogged closer to them.
Williams saw me in the corner of his eye and jumped. When he saw it was me a grin spread on his face. “Hey, you’re alive.”
“Of course I am.”
“What?” King shouted before turning around and seeing me.
“You saved us” Williams answered as he used his pinkie finger to rub deep in his ear.
“Damn,” King said as he took my chin in hand and turned my head to get a look at my face.
“It was nothing,” I answered.
With a closer inspection of my nose, King sucked air through his teeth. “Could've been worse, I guess.”
“It’s true what they said about you,” Williams yelled. “The Order is going to hear of this.”
“Hear of—-“ I started, nervously. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Williams asked loudly, his ears were still ringing.
“What are you saying?” King shouted.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, louder than before.
Williams and King looked at each other for a moment and there was a fleeting mischievous expression that came over their faces.
“Where's my cigarettes?” Williams asked sternly.
I didn't know what to say to this and stammered.
A smile grew on William's face and he walked past me. “Just playing with you, kid. Just playing with you.”
“You did good,” King said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I think Farsight was right about you.”
“Right about me?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
King smiled. “You remember the first day of training?”
I nodded because dozens of kids jogged in formation for miles at five in the morning, sparring with blunt weapons, performing military drills, eating in the mess hall during mealtimes and sleeping in one of the bunkhouses that were hidden in the woods wasn't something I was likely to forget. “Why?”
“You remember that little test they gave you?”
I nodded. All of the questions involved how to dispose of one monster or another. Most of the monsters I never heard of, but as I filled the questionnaire out I remembered Otis’ wise words during my time mowing the lawn at Miss Luther's house: Gotta hit them with your bullets.
This was what I used to answer all the questions.
“Yeah, what about it?”
King squeezed my shoulder and his smile grew. “The Order was impressed and I don't know if I should tell you this or not, but… they think you're going to save the world.”
WAE

Trying to clear out some stuff I don’t use, and looking to possibly make some trades. OR TAKE IT ALL FOR $400 AND MAKE MY RANDOM STUFF INTO YOUR RANDOM STUFF
Timestamp
Slide is from my p365 and was originally coated to be a gift for my brother, who wanted a rifle instead. Host gun was purchased in 2019. Has seen approximately 500 rounds. This will be a complete slide, with all internals, barrel, and recoil assembly. Cerakote is battleworn red/black with the assassins creed logo on top. Figured I’d put it up for trade before just sending it for a cut. I’m looking for a 365/x/XL complete slide with factory optic cut. Can add cash if you have a threaded barrel. I strongly prefer Sig brand/factory. TV: $275 SV: $250 video
Sig P226 15 round mags, USA made, stamped Sig brand. 2 for $70 pic
Leupold PRW2 34mm medium height rings. SV: $55 pics
Centerpoint 4-16 x 40mm with red/green illumination scope. Battery is replaced new. Glass could use a cleaning. Was mounted on my .17 hmr. SV: $40 pics
CVLife 2.5 - 10 scope with push button laser and illumination. SV: $20 pics
SOG Sogfari machete with sheathe. Never used. SV: $35 pics
Arisaka momentary tailcap. Came off my 300. SV: $27 pics
Magpul polymer 5 slot Mlok pic rail. SV: $9 pic
Some old school Choate PMag connectors/mag couplers. They fit standard 30 round 5.56 pmags. They may also work with steel mags but I don’t have any way to verify. These things range from salty with lots of surface rust, to barely any surface corrosion at all, but still salty They are steel with polymer cores and I have 3 of them, 1 still with the factory bags and instructions. SV: $12 for all 3 pics
Glock 48/43/X IWB adjustable Kydex holster with foam wedge. Also comes with additional cut to size foam wedges as well as an alternative clip. SV: $25 pics
Uncle mikes left hand size 15 soft holster. SV: $9 pics
Sig MPX OEM charging handle. Salty. SV: $18 pics
Bianchi Competition buckleless belt, says 1.5” but I measure it to be 1.75”. Size 34-40, hook and loop, inner and outer belt. Inner belt has wear, but outer belt was hardly used. SV: $27 pics
Bianchi 7200 duty belt, 2.25”. Size 34-40”, hook and loop. Inner and outer belt. Both have wear but still functions well. Buckle locks up tight. SV: $30 pics
Open to some trades, looking for a cheap Romeo 5, TLR7A. I would greatly prefer trading the p365 slide, but willing to sell.
PPFF, CONUS. Will ship USPS, discounts for bundles. Please PM, I don’t get chats. More pics upon request.

All dollar totals include tax and 20% tip. My husband's first time, my 5th. Food reviews at the end.
Saturday Planned:

11:45 - Flight lands
12:45- Drop bags at apartment in Marigny, (friend's apartment, not an airbnb)
Lunch - walk to Brieux Carre and have po boys at Nola Poboys & bar
Afternoon - Walk the quarter, circle back up to Lafitte’s to get to go drinks, Stop at historical houses (1850 House, Hermann-Grima, and Gallier), bike to the Music Box with stops at Pepps Pub, Domino, Studio Be, JJ’s, and Parleaux Beer.
6:00-7pm - Louis Armstrong park for Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival - Rebirth Brass Band
Dinner - 7:45 - N7 - Garden
Late - Saint Claude area / Frenchmen

Saturday - What we actually did:

2pm - Flight lands late after delays
3-5:30pm - dropped bags, inhaled po boys at Nola Poboys (one oyster, one bbq shrimp, 1 beer, 1 punch - $52), walked through French Market, then up to LaFitte's for a bloody mary and hurricane ($22), watched a second line wedding parade of a couple (adult son was carrying a cat sign that said "my parents got married today") fantastic brass band was intersected by another band in front of a jalopy car parade down Boubon. Nice that the brass band in the parade respectfully stopped playing at the confluence of both spectacles. Walked down Bourbon to see it on a Saturday knowing we would not come back at night. Cut down Iberville, considered oysters but were full from Nola Poboys, walked across Decatur to Jackson Square, then had a pint at Brieux Carre.
5:30-6:30 - Louis Armstrong park for Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival - Rebirth Brass Band - I always seek them out when I am here. I recognize there are so many beloved big brass bands but I will always just love the huge energy of such a large ensemble
6:30-7:30 - walked back to apartment, jumped into pool (we are from Canada so we can't resist outdoor swimming pools), took a super fast shower, dressed, and then realized we were further from N7 than I thought... reluctantly called an uber ($15)
7:45 - Dinner at N7. ($240)10:15pm - Drink at the Domino, then we crashed back at home.

Sunday - Planned

9-11:30 - Bike up LaFitte Greenway to Pegoda Cafe, then to City Park, explore City Park/Statue Garden, drop bikes back at home change for Arnaud’s
12:00-1:30 - Arnaud’s Jazz Bunch
1:30-4:30 - WWII museum, stop by Pat Obrien’s for Dueling Pianos on the walk home - starts at 4pm.
5:00 - apartment to rest
7:30 - Mosquito Supper Club
Late - Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge

Sunday - What we actually did

8am - picked up blue bikes (recommend you download the app and set up your account in advance), biked up Esplanade (dedicated bike lane!) to Pegoda Cafe - the plan was to just have one breakfast taco to save room for Arnaud's later but we were STARVING after a lack luster meal at N7 the night before. He had 2 bacon tacos with cheese, I had one tofu and one bacon with cheese, two sides of avocado, chai masala, and an orange juice ($42). I regret that we didn't try Leo's Bread that morning as well (because it is closed on Monday and Tuesday) and that probably would have been better for me than Cafe du Monde but it was good we did Cafe Du Monde later for my Husband.
9am - biking around the recreation loop of City Park (not scenic, oops), then back to the prettier parts. The sculpture garden didn't open until 10am so we biked around the ponds and up towards the Lake, then we stopped in at Cafe Du Monde (no line at 9:30am on a Sunday), ordered beignets and 2 cafe aux lait ($8.75 plus $2 tip). We sat and listened to live music and lots of kids dancing in the park. We only ate one of the three Beignets because we wanted to be hungry for brunch. Saw that yoga was starting in the columned pavilion. By the time we left at 10am the line up was very long at Cafe du Monde.
10-10:40 am - we took our time in the sculpture garden and I think it was one of the best collection of sculptures I have ever seen. We were completely captivated. I wish we had time to go to the Botanical Garden but we had to bike home to change and walk to Arnaud's.
10:40-11:20 am - we biked down Moss (along the water) to LaFitte Greenway.
11:20-11:40 - quick dip, shower and quick change at home - my husband REALLY wanted to uber because he didn't want to speed walk in our finery but I wanted to be extra hungry - we managed to walk from Marais and Esplanade to Arnaud's in 20 minutes and not be late.
12-2pm - Jazz Brunch at Arnaud's - Bloody mary, French 72, Arnaud's shrimp, Turtle Soup, Gulf Fish, and Grillades and Grits, Bananas Foster for 2 to share. $240.00
2pm-4pm - we walked home by way of the Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival in Louis Armstrong Park - enjoyed the music - back home, jumped in the pool, and rested for about an hour.
4pm-6:30pm - biked through the Bywater, two beers at Parleaux ($18), loved seeing all the families socializing and the kids all playing together in this outdoor grassy brewery. We were told to check out Kermit's from 6-7 instead of later because of the noise ordinance and it closing down by 10:30. So we biked by on our way back to the apartment and planned to go in but there was no music and a huge police presence under Highway 10. So we kept biking.
6:30-7 - pool, shower, quick change (every chance we were jumping in that pool to cool down.
7pm - uber to Mosquito Supper Club ($20) - I really thought we had to arrive RIGHT at 7:30... what a mistake that was. I wish we had just taken the streetcar because they didn't even talk to us until 8pm. I mean the food was goodish, the company at our table was fun, and it was a "fun" experience. But for $500... would not repeat. Also, the wine pairing was terrible and not at all worth it.
10:30pm - we walked to Columns - thinking we'd have a nightcap but it closed at 10pm. We talked to Tipitinas and listened from outside. Headed back to Frenchmen. Went into various spots. We walked home by way of the John - what a scene! We did not go in.

Monday - Planned

9am - Breakfast at Surrey’s (if we are feeling slow that morning, we’ll grab something at Verti Mart on the way to the walking tour and hit Surrey’s after for lunch)
10:30am - 12:30pm - Two Chick’s Walking Tour - Garden District
12:30 - 6pm - Courtyard brewery for a beer, St Charles Streetcar to Louisiana, walk back along Magazine (stop at Magpie)
Late Lunch: See where MaisLa Crawfish is today
6pm-8pm - Rest at apartment
8:30pm - Dinner at Elysian Bar on the patio

Monday - What we actually did
8:30 - Breakfast at Surrey’s
10-10:30 - walked along Magazine
10:30am - 12:30pm - Two Chick’s Walking Tour - Garden District
12:30 - 2pm - thought we were walking towards Louisiana on Magazine but ended up back in the CBD - oops. Grabbed a muffuletta to share at Conchon Butcher - I know this place isn't popular with the locals but I really love it. Sandwich, side of pickles, chips, one cocktail, one beer ($45). At this point my husband said he really didn't feel like going to the WWII museum.
2-4pm - we took the street car to Aubudon - and walked up to Boree for their frozen cocktails. Uber home (not my choice! $17)
4-7pm - stopped in a Verti Marte for an All That Jazz ($20). Then went to our apartment to chill by the pool- it was overcast, we were tired from a lot of walking, and we wanted to relax a bit by the pool.
7:45 - Paladar. Great meal but I didn't record the cost. Best dinner we had! Home after

Tuesday - 8am - we walked up to Toast Fairgrounds ($47 for three dishes, coffee, and a juice), walked back by way of Pegoda for another iced masala chai. Cleaned the apartment, remade the beds with fresh linens, did the laundry. 10:30am Cab to airport.
Food - Ranked from best to worst:

Paladar - best dinner we had, fantastic food, great ambiance.
Surreys - this was the best breakfast/brunch/lunch we had - I ate all of my shrimp and grits and an entire order of Bananas Foster french toast - I usually cannot eat that much but it was outstanding and I will go there every time I am in New Orleans going forward.
Pegoda - we loved the tacos
Cochon Butcher - we loved the sandwich here. I might even put this slightly above Pegoda.
Toast - really great brunch food - and we would probably love this place more if we hadn't been SO blown away by Surreys - also we were a little hungover for toast and I think that made me less hungry.
Mosquito Supper Club - cool experience but not worth the extremely high cost. Also, we did not like the main (a stuffed crab that tasted more like breadcrumbs and old bay, not enough pure sweet crabmeat flavour). The appetizer courses were the best - I would have been happy with the smoked fish dip all night. The wine pairing was a total letdown, very small pours, and long waits for wine. Should have ordered additional drinks to fill the gaps but that is on us. Also, the last pour was a thick syrupy Moscato wine and when I politely requested an alternative they poured me straight red vermouth... so I just left it.
Arnaud's was good - I mean no complaints, good value compared to the other Grand Dames. An experience... but like the food was just kind of gloppy. Felt like everything was thickened with corn starch. But it tasted good, just not elegant.
Nola Poyboy - we were starving, so we were satisfied but the po boys even fully dressed did not taste like much, disappointing bread, and there were lots of shells in my fried oysters - I had to spit out shell 4 times from an 8 inch.
N7 - biggest disappointment - great atmosphere, disappointing food - $240 for 3 small plates, 1 main, 3 glasses of wine, one beer.
Verti Marte - The All THAT JAZZ was inedible. I am sorry but the smell and the goop and the hot lunch meat... we had to throw it out and remove it from the apartment.

When the smoke clears she sees two honest to goodness leprechauns standing in front of her, looking just like the legends said they looked. Fine green clothes, top hats, red mutton chops and standing about two feet tall. One stares at his feet sheepishly. The more confident one speaks
"Top of the morning to ye, mother! We come with a question. Are there any leprechaun nuns here?"
The young nun is still shocked by their presence but answers "no, I've been here five years and there are no leprechaun nuns in this convent"
"Only five years though. Not quite an expert. Has anyone been around a bit longer?" Asks the leprechaun.
"Oh mother superior has been here nearly sixty years and she would be able to answer any questions you have" responds the young nun
She leads them up the stairs and down a long hallway to the office of mother superior. The one silent leprechaun continues staring sheepishly at the ground.
"It's an honor to meet you, mother superior! We have some questions."
Mother superior adjusts her glasses in disbelief at what she is seeing. "My goodness for such special guests please ask anything you wish"
"We understand there are no leprechaun nuns here now. Has there been any in your tenure?"
She responds "oh no I would certainly remember that"
He asks again "you have studied the history of this convent. Any records of any leprechaun nuns in those archives?"
She thinks for a moment "I've read every book in our library twice, definitely no leprechaun nuns in our history"
"Well what about in any other convent in Ireland? Do you think one might be there?"
Mother superior strokes her chin "oh I doubt that. Certainly a story like that would have made it's rounds through here by now."
The leprechaun grins. "if not in Ireland I know there are convents all over gods creation. Perhaps one is there?"
The nun frowns "If there was not one in Ireland I have to doubt there would be one anywhere on earth"
The leprechaun turns to his friend and says "see? I told you ya fucked a penguin"
Note:
Works best with your most over the top Irish accent

Archie Flack, Principal Custody Officer for B Wing at Azkaban Prinson, was nervous. He felt this was only natural of course. While he didn’t mind Governor Boot – a stern but fair superior – he hadn’t seen Albus Dumbledore since he was seventeen and being around the man made him nervous.
“Young Harry is treated well?” Dumbledore spoke softly.
“Of course, Professor. We all know Potter’s no criminal, his cell is better than my quarters are. Wards to keep the Dementor’s aura out, his walls are painted and his furniture’s well posh.”
“And yet no matter how nice, it is still but a cell,” the Headmaster sighed.
“Aye, sir,” Arthur responded. “Nothing much I can do about it though. And if it helps, the boy’s always seemed happy. He’s barely known any different, the poor bugger.”
“How are his social skills?”
“Perfectly fine,” he was pleased to be able to say. “He’s nice and healthy too. Mind Healer Owens insists somebody chats to him every day, and he gets a monthly check-up.“
“How well would he cope with large groups?”
Arthur shrugged. “Dunno, really. He’s not expected to ever have to find out.”
“Then let us hope he handled them well, he will need to.”
“Need to?” Arthur blinked.
“I am not here on merely a social call. There was a meeting at the Ministry last night. In ten years Harry has shown no sign of further corruption by the horcrux, and so it has been deemed acceptable that he should, under close watch, attend Hogwarts.”
“You’re joking!”
“I think you’ll find I am not.”
“The public will have a fit!”
Dumbledore just smiled genially. “Let Cornelius worry about that.”
Arthur shrugged. “Well, here we are then sir.” He tapped his wand on the white door. “Special Provisions inmate Potter. You are to stand back, away from the door!”
He tapped his wand again and it swung open. Waiting for them was a perfectly normal looking fifteen year old boy with black hair, green eyes and round glasses, dressed in simple blue robes. His only features of note were the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, and the well-developed muscles he knew the boy had gained through little to do over the years other than read, study and exercise. And yet in spite of this, Archie would never not shudder at the sight of him, knowing as he did what lurked within.
“Hello Harry,” Dumbledore smiled.

The following transcripts were obtained from the Cedar Rapids Plumbing HR department. The recordings were obtained as evidence and are now being shared with the public in an effort to aid in an ongoing investigation.
Transcript #1: Meeting between Jade Hollet (HR and Customer Relations) & Ellis Beckert (Senior Plumber) Recorded Monday, January 16th, 2023 6:00PM:
Jade: Evening, Ellis. Grab a seat.
Ellis: Hi, Jade.
Jade: Thanks again for agreeing to do this. I know you had a busy last week.
Ellis: Ahh, It’s been crazy. All of it.
Jade: I hope the weekend helped you process everything.
Ellis: It really didn’t. I feel the same. Things are just as murky as they’ve ever been.
Jade: Sorry to hear that, Ellis. I really am. I want to hear everything, so let's get into it. I just want to disclose first that I am recording this. Kind of an unusual situation we have here, so I just want to make sure I don’t miss any information when documenting and updating our records.
Ellis: Understood.
Jade: Normally I wouldn't be asking for this level of detail, but you understand the circumstances more than anyone. I’m picking at this post-mortem and everything.
Ellis: I totally get it.
Jade: Let’s dive in then and get you home to Shirley and the kids. Remind me again, how long have you worked for CR?
Ellis: Haha. Kind of sad to admit this, but it’s been nearly ten years.
Jade: And with Dave, specifically?
Ellis: All ten, for sure. Dave’s the most senior guy we got.
Jade: And how would you describe him as an employee, generally?
Ellis: Davey boy? Oh, an absolute rockstar. That’s why it’s just so hard, what went down.
Jade: Could you elaborate?
Ellis: Hard worker, man. Busts his ass every day. He would cover shifts for you at the drop of a hat. Always willing to lend a helping hand. I have an affinity for the guy, us being the old pups around the block here. The guy is a gem and a good friend, at that.
Jade: Thanks, Ellis. Okay. So let’s get into what happened on the thirteenth.
Ellis: Okay. Well, I get the call from dispatch last Friday at around 2:00 AM. It’s a house on Oakwood Lane that’s complaining about a leaky pipe in the basement. Real emergency by the sounds of it. Megan sends the two of us: Me and Dave. Dave picks me up in the van and we head over right away.
Jade: Did he seem fine?
Ellis: Who? Dave? Oh, yeah. A little cranky, but so was I. Nobody likes these early morning visits. Working on call sucks.
Jade: Haha. I won’t argue with you there. I’ll stay quiet in my cushy cubicle. Anyways, I hope you don’t mind, I’ll also be taking some quick notes. If I'm not looking at you, just know that I'm still listening.
Ellis: No problem.
Jade: Okay. Continue.
Ellis: We get to the house and there are no lights on. It’s a sixties bungalow-style home, pretty standard for that neighborhood. Massive trees in the front yard. To be honest, we’re not even sure it's the right place at first, so Dave calls dispatch to confirm. We’re twiddling our thumbs for fifteen minutes with no response. I’m cursing the whole time, telling Dave to turn the van around and head home. He wants to wait another five, just to be sure. So, we do. Just as he starts the engine to leave, the porch light turns on. A middle-aged couple walks out and waves for us to come in. We get to the porch, and the lady confirms they made the call, so I head in first, and Dave heads back to the van to grab some tools.
Jade: Can you describe the couple for me?
Ellis: I mean, normal looking. White suburban family. They were just dressed odd, like an episode of ‘Leave it to Beaver’. The wife’s got a flower print dress on and one of those beehive hairdos that is hair sprayed solid. The husbands got on these god-awful plaid slacks and a yellow polo shirt. I don’t normally notice this kind of thing, but it reminded me of what my parents used to wear when I was a kid. Total blast from the past.
Jade: Seems like strange attire given the hour of the day.
Ellis: No kidding. Try coming to my door at that hour. I’d be in nothing but my briefs. No one deserves to see that.
Jade: Haha. Okay. So what happens when you get inside?
Ellis: I take a few steps inside and you can tell right away that something is off. The place looks like a bomb went off. There are stacks and stacks of newspapers, books, clothing, records, tube TV’s. We’re talking towers of this stuff right to the ceiling, lining the avocado-painted walls, littering the dusty shag rugs. The chandelier is black with crud. Extreme hoarder's level of crap. The lady offers me a coffee, so we walk through the foyer to the kitchen. It smells like mildew and rot. I’m trying my best not to be rude, but it’s a challenge holding back my gag reflex. I just can’t understand how people live like this. Anyways, I think she notices because once we get there she apologizes. She says they are in the process of deep cleaning the house or something. I don’t buy it for one second, but it is what it is. That amount of clutter is collected for years and years. But they seem like nice enough people.
Jade: Where is Dave during all of this?
Ellis: I hear him enter a couple of minutes later. He gives me the eyes, like ‘Holy shit. We are in for a fun one’. He drops off my tool bag and leaves with the husband to inspect the basement. I tell him I’ll be down shortly.
Jade: You don’t go with him?
Ellis: Not right away. Mainly because their story has changed. The wife tells me she now thinks the leak is coming from the bathroom on the main floor. The husband is adamant the issue is in the basement. It shouldn’t be that hard to pinpoint. I know from both of our perspectives, we just want to get the job done and get back to our warm beds, so it made sense to divide and conquer.
Jade: Hmm…okay.
Ellis: So, I finish my drink and that’s when things take a sharp turn. The wife grabs my coffee cup and starts washing the dishes. She points me in the direction of the washroom and says she’ll be right with me. I head toward the hallway through the forest of teetering junk, and there's a flicker of something that crosses my path up ahead. A shadow. I hear this little pitter-patter of feet. I keep walking. I figure maybe a toy or something fell from one of the piles. But it happens again just before I get to the hall entrance. I look back, and behind a pile of bell-bottom pants, a tiny head pops out.
Jade: Who was it?
Ellis: It was a cat. Midnight black. Big piercing yellow eyes. It climbs the tower of wrinkled clothes and sits perched at the top like the king of the castle. It freaks me out. I turn back around to leave, but I hear it hiss. It’s scratching at something stuck between one of its claws. It’s frantically digging away, and then finally the object releases and it tumbles down the clothing pile, floating toward me.
Jade: What was it?
Ellis: It was a newspaper clipping from 1967. Faded, yellowed, crumpled at the edges. But I swear to God, it was a local news article about my softball team winning the city championship. I was just a boy in the photo.
Jade: Wow. Incredibly strange…
Ellis: Sorry—I went off on a tangent there. I guess I’m just saying that to show you that this wasn’t a normal job.
Jade: I totally get it. The more context here the better. So, go on.
Ellis: I’m shitting bricks at this point. I’m calling the woman’s name, Victoria I believe it was, but I don’t hear anything back. The cat scurries down the hall, and I don’t know what else to do but follow it. I figure just diagnose the leak as quickly as possible, find Dave, make the repair, and get the heck out. I get to the bathroom and have a look around.
Jade: And how bad was it?
Ellis: There was a small pool around the toilet. It’s not uncommon for a bathroom that dated to have an issue with the wax gasket. Nothing to write home about and definitely far from the major disaster alluded to by dispatch. Everything else looked solid. No other signs of dripping or corrosion. It was an easy fix.
Jade: How long does it take to fix?
Ellis: Not long at all. It’s pretty simple. It made me think Dave was probably dealing with the real shit show downstairs. No pun intended.
Jade: Haha. So after you fix it, what happens?
Ellis: I never fixed it.
Jade: What do you mean?
Ellis: After I was confident with my assessment, I went looking for Victoria just to give her a rundown before I make the repair. We typically need some sort of sign-off before we can complete the work.
Jade: And did she okay it?
Ellis: The short of it is, I never found her. I stumbled through the mess of junk back to the kitchen. I walked back toward the washroom and then further down the hallway past a couple of the bedrooms. The doors were closed and the lights were off, so I didn’t want to intrude.
Jade: Unbelievable. So she just left?
Ellis: Yeah…so I don’t really know what to do at that point. I’m lingering by the washroom, contemplating whether I should just complete the repairs or head to the basement to help Dave. My guess was she got bored and went down there with her husband anyways to check on them. I start walking until I hear something.
Jade: Something? Like what?
Ellis: It’s moaning coming from the washroom. I step back inside and place my ear near the toilet seat. Down the pipes, I swear I hear Dave.
Jade: Oh my God. Dave? What’s he saying?
Ellis: He’s crying for help in these deep howls. Like a wounded dog trapped in a well. Ahh…
Jade: Take your time.
Ellis: Thanks. Sorry. It still fucks with me, Jade. I’d never heard anyone sound like that before, let alone Dave.
Jade: Your sure it was him?
Ellis: One hundred percent positive. Without a doubt.
Jade: So I assume you went downstairs to help him?
Ellis: I grab my tools and start running. I wasn’t careful about it either. I storm through the mess, mountains of videos games and comic books topple to the floor. I hear things crashing, glass breaking. I didn’t care anymore. I needed to find him and get us the hell out.
Jade: And how was he?
Ellis: Oh my God, Jade. It took me forever to find him. It felt like hours. I keep passing heaps of sweatshirts and newspaper bundles that I could have sworn I’d seen before. So I run faster, my arms sore lugging the toolbag around in circles. The whole time, I don’t see the lady. I don’t see anyone for ages. Only the black cat I saw earlier, with its sharp eyes, and a couple of his friends. They keep hissing at me. Snarling. And new ones keep popping up out of the woodwork, behind piles of plastic containers filled to the brim containing God knows what. There were too many to count. All of them, hissing at me.
Jade: Jesus Christ, Ellis. Corey never mentioned any of this.
Ellis: Ha. I’m not surprised. When Corey’s mad, he just doesn’t want to hear any of it. There was a bloody good reason for what we did.
Jade: So, eventually you find him?
Ellis: I do. The stupid cats end up huddling by the door. I follow them, using the toolbag as a sort of weapon to shoo them away. I’m convinced one of them is going to claw me down and give me rabies.
Jade: Well, I’m glad they left you alone.
Ellis: Stupid excuse for pets. They want nothing to do with you unless you have food. Anyways, I digress. I find the door and it’s pitch black down the steep decline. I fumble through my bag and flick on my flashlight. All I hear are the creaks from my footsteps as I enter. It’s cold. The stairs are brittle, they look like they can barely support my weight. I get down there, and the whole place is unfinished. The wood framing is done, but the electrical wires are still strung up. There’s no drywall, no nothing. Just a furnace and a couple of hot water tanks and concrete. Dave is down there. He’s sitting with his back toward me, cross-legged by the drain hole. He’s not responding. It’s like he can't hear me.
Jade: Was he okay?
Ellis: He has this blank expression on his face. He’s muttering something under his breath, but I can’t understand any of it. His hand is pressed up against the mucky drain hole. I try to shake him out of it, but he’s lost man. He’s gone.
Jade: Did he look hurt?
Ellis: No, he looked physically fine. He just looked rattled.
Jade: And was the leak bad?
Ellis: That’s the most messed up thing about it. The basement was bone dry. The pipes, everything. No sign of a leak at all.
Jade: And they weren’t down there?
Ellis: The owners? Nowhere to be found. We would have saw them too. Like I said, it was a wide open space.
Jade: So, what did you guys do next?
Ellis: I grab Dave under his armpits and drag him toward the stairs. We trudge our way up, but he was listless through all of it. He just keeps muttering gibberish. It’s not until we make it to the car and start driving that he snaps out of it.
Jade: So he was okay?
Ellis: He still looked stunned, but at least he was responsive. I mean, responsive, but none of what he was saying made any sense.
Jade: What do you mean?
Ellis: He was adamant that he lived in that home. He kept begging me to turn back. He was pulling on my shoulder so hard that we damn near hit the median. I told him to get bent, there was no way I was heading back to that place. But he keeps persisting. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out this bundled-up wad of paper. I smooth it out and it’s a picture of a little boy in overalls. There are banners on the wall, and a cake on the table off in the distance. He claims that the photo is of him. He found it in one of the piles.
Jade: No way…
Ellis: You’re telling me. I look at the photo and I tell him it’s all wrong. The placement of the kitchen relative to the hallway. The wallpaper color. The height of the ceiling. He wasn’t hearing any of it.
Jade: So…do you guys turn back?
Ellis: Hell no. I think Dave is pissed at me, but I don’t care. I dropped him off at his place and told him to get some rest.
Jade: And you?
Ellis: I headed home too. I was exhausted. But you wanna know what the most messed up thing is about this whole situation?
Jade: What?
Ellis: I call Corey when I wake up and tell him everything. And you know what he says?
Jade: I think I do.
Ellis: Yeah, you’re smiling. I get it. But there ain’t nothing funny about it. He can label it whatever he wants—abandoning the job, no-showing—whatever. Put the red strike against my name. But I’ll quit before I ever go back to that house.
Jade: I hear you. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make light of it.
Ellis: Promise me you’ll talk to him? That house is not a safe work environment. It needs to be blacklisted.
Jade: I’ll do what I can. Thanks, Ellis.
Transcript #2: Meeting between Jade Hollet (HR and Customer Relations) & Mike Coswell (Journeyman Plumber) Recorded Weds Jan 18th, 2023 5:53PM:
Jade: Hi, Mike.
Mike: Jade. You look lovely this evening.
Jade: Oh, thanks. Thanks again for meeting with me.
Mike: No problem. Where is Corey?
Jade: He won’t be joining us after all. He got pulled away on another job.
Mike: You’re kidding, right?
Jade: I’m not. I’m sorry…
Mike: Look, I’m happy to shed some light on this situation, but this all feels like a waste of time if he’s not here to hear it.
Jade: Please, Mike. I know you’re upset. You have every right to be. You, Dave, Ellis—everyone involved. But I can’t help if I don't know the story. It is really unfortunate that he’s not here, but I promise that I’ll relay the information.
Mike: It’s not you I worry about here, Jade. He needs to listen. He needs to start taking this seriously.
Jade: I completely agree. And I promise I will do my best to catch him, sit him down, and get him to listen. But I need your side of the story, Mike, in order to do this.
Mike: Alright.
Jade: Thank you. Before we start, I just want to let you know that I am recording this. This file seems to be a contentious one, so I just want to make sure I document everything.
Mike: All fine by me.
Jade: Perfect. So, walk me through what happened yesterday at the house on Oakwood Lane.
Mike: Corey calls me, livid, right at the start of my shift. He says he needs me to make a repair right away and Tony will take the job I was previously scheduled for. It’s a simple job, he says, replacing the wax ring around a toilet. I tell him yes and I drive over.
Jade: Does he tell you that Ellis and Dave had already been on-site the day before?
Mike: He doesn’t. And now I know why.
Jade: Can you describe the house once you get there?
Mike: Yes. It’s a single-story home. Pitched roof. Older. It looks well-maintained from the outside. The inside, though, was a nightmare.
Jade: How bad was it?
Mike: Oh, you know, just charming. It looked like they had never thrown anything out before. Ever. Mountains of CD’s, cassette tapes, phonebooks, magazines, and bottles of spray paint. All this crap sat in piles and piles. The house had these brown stains along the walls and this awful yellow floral wallpaper, maroon sofas with velvet sweaters and parachute pants cast upon them. And the smell…that was something else. Like cat piss and shit.
Jade: Really? Are you sure about all of those details?
Mike: Oh yeah, positive. The whole place was like a fucked up time warp.
Jade: Okay. So what happens once you get there?
Mike: They lead me to the main floor bathroom, but they say that someone else has already fixed it for them. I check it out, and it looks like the seal is new. The rounder fellow with the beard, he says the problem is in the basement. The drainage hole is plugged.
Jade: Wait…hold on. There were two guys?
Mike: Yes. Young guys. Maybe in their twenties. I didn’t want to judge or anything, but it seemed like they were a couple. They were pretty handsy with each other, anyways. There was a bigger guy with a thick beard and a skinny, clean-shaven guy with a baseball cap. They were dressed in these matching bright neon jackets with blocks of color. Comically eighties.
Jade: Are you sure they were the owners?
Mike: There was no one else there, besides the stupid cats. And they seemed to know their way around the place. I guess I made the assumption.
Jade: Hmm…Okay.
Mike: Anyways, they lead me to basement. I take a couple of steps down, and I’m asking them about what they think caused the blockage. I don’t hear a response back, just the slamming of the door. The whole room goes black.
Jade: Oh my God, Mike.
Mike: Exactly. This is why I’m so bloody pissed at Corey. This was Ellis and Dave’s mess to clean up, not mine.
Jade: They came and got you right?
Mike: They leave me down there. The door is locked.
Jade: Holy crap, Mike. I’m sorry.
Mike: So, I’m panicking. The two guys never respond. Luckily, I find the flashlight in my toolbox. I try to batter down the door with no luck. The bastards must have moved one of the couches or something to block it.
Jade: So you can’t go back up. What do you do?
Mike: I head down. The basement looks like some kind of construction project. I spot the drain hole, and there’s a pile of things beside it. I walk over and it’s a bunch of old toys that look familiar. Some Care Bears, an Etch-A-Sketch, a Fisher Price tape recorder. I owned all of these as a kid. They’re all in a pile facing me in this weird sort of memorial.
Jade: Jesus. That is disturbing.
Mike: I know. Chills still run up my neck at the thought of it.
Jade: How bad was the clog?
Mike: That’s the craziest thing, there wasn’t one. I’m inspecting the toys and I hear something coming from the drain hole. I place my hand on the metal grate and it’s cold but dry. I place my ear to the metal and I definitely hear voices. It’s a lot of gasping and wheezing. It sounds far away. I think I hear a tired cry for help. I can hear water running too, surging. But I don’t see anything building, it’s just blackness behind the grate. It didn’t make any sense. And then I hear the scratching, the claws scraping at the door.
Jade: My God, Mike. I hope you got out of there.
Mike: Oh, I did. At this point, I was completely freaked out. I take one of my wrenches, smash the window, and climb out of that basement as quickly as possible.
Jade: I’m glad you're okay, Mike. That story is terrifying.
Mike: Thanks, Jade. Just so you know, I called the cops. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but that place wasn’t right.
Jade: I think that was smart. Keep me posted if you need anything. I’ve got a meeting scheduled with Corey this week. I’ll make sure to include all of this.
Mike: Don’t let him send another one of our guys down there.
Jade: Agreed. I’ll let him know. Thanks, Mike.
Transcript #3: Meeting between Jade Hollet (HR and Customer Relations) & Megan Rodriguez (Dispatcher) Recorded Mon Jan 23rd, 2023 7:42AM:
Jade: Hi, Megan.
Megan: Hi, Jade. How was your weekend?
Jade: Oh, you know, quiet, so good. Sorry to grab you so early here. This will be super quick, I just need to hear it from your lips.
Megan: No problem. I don’t start for another fifteen or so.
Jade: Perfect. This shouldn’t take long at all. Have a seat.
Megan: So, what’s up?
Jade: A lot of people are talking about the Oakwood house jobs lately. I spoke with Ellis and Mike already. I just need to know your perspective.
Megan: Mmmhmm. Okay.
Jade: Also, before I forget, I’m recording everything. Just so you know.
Megan: Um…okay.
Jade: Not to be used against you or anything. I know, it’s weird. This whole thing is weird. But I’m getting some conflicting stories here that I need to verify, and I just don’t want to forget any of the details.
Megan: I guess that’s okay.
Jade: Awesome. Thanks for understanding. So a couple of weeks ago, Friday January 13th to be exact, Ellis said he received a call that morning from dispatch. He said you made the call. Then he said Dave made a call back to confirm the address was correct. [REDACTED]. They waited fifteen minutes, but they claimed they never heard back from dispatch.
Megan: Ellis is wrong. You can check the records yourself, I already have. No call was made to him that morning. We did receive a call from Dave that we returned. I don’t know when it was sent exactly, but we were dealing with another issue at the time. I know for sure that the call went to his voicemail though.
Jade: You’re sure about that?
Megan: I’m positive. That job ticket # was also for a job completed last year, it’s a completely different address.
Jade: Okay. Can you check if we’ve ever completed work at [REDACTED] in the past?
Megan: I did check. That address isn’t in our records.
Jade: Hmm…okay. Thanks, Megan. One more thing—
*knock*
Jade: Shoot. It’s Corey. I need to speak with him. Thanks, Megan. You’ve been a big help. I’ll reach out if necessary.
Megan: No worries, Jade. Have a good day!
Transcript #4: Meeting between Jade Hollet (HR and Customer Relations) & Corey Nanton (Operations Manager) Recorded Mon Jan 23rd, 2023 7:51AM:
Jade: Hi, Corey.
Corey: Hey, Jade. How’s it going?
Jade: I’m doing okay. Can you close the door?
Corey: Definitely.
Jade: Any word yet?
Corey: Nothing yet. But I think it’s pretty clear that we need to do something. I’ve left voicemails. I’ve tried reaching out to his girlfriend. No one has seen or heard from him.
Jade: It’s more serious than that.
Corey: What do you mean?
Jade: No one has contacted you yet?
Corey: For what?
Jade: I was contacted by law enforcement this morning. I’m sure they will be speaking with you shortly. They’re looking for him too. Do you know if anyone has seen him since?
Corey: No. This whole situation has been such an utter pain in the ass. He’s been a no-show since that job. I spoke with the guys. No one has heard from him. It’s not like him.
Jade: You know, Corey, Mike and Ellis’s stories don’t line up at all. I have a really bad feeling about this.
Corey: What do you mean?
Jade: When they claimed that the homeowners weren’t the same, I looked up the house online. There’s no sales history at all since the house was built in 1961.
Corey: Okay?
Jade: I…I don’t know why, but I’ve gone down a rabbit hole with this one. I called in a favor with one of my friends at the city. He pulled everything he could on the house. There were permits in place to demolish it years ago. It keeps getting delayed and held up in court. But no one has lived in it for years. It was deemed a safety hazard by the community. Unliveable. Pull up your phone and search the address. Tell me the first story you see.
Corey: Hold on. Holy crap…
Jade: I told you. You see all the cats?
Corey: This place looks like absolute shit. The ceiling looks like it’s about to cave in.
Jade: And the poor cats. Look at them all. Starved, rolling around in their own filth.
Corey: You’re sure this is the same house?
Jade: I’ll play you back the tapes of what the guys said. The description matches perfectly.
Corey: No bloody way. This makes no sense!
Jade: I know. I told you, Corey. We should have spoken sooner! That’s not even the worst part. I…
Corey: It’s okay, Jade. Here.
Jade: Thanks, Corey. Ahh, my friggin’ makeup. Anyways, I…Just wait until they speak to you.
Corey: Jade. Just tell me now. Please.
Jade: I don’t even think I should be speaking about it…but…
Corey: I know this must be hard for you. With Dave and everything…
Jade: That was a long time ago, Mike. We’ve been with other people for years.
Corey: I know. It’s not my place. I’m sorry. I just know from my own experiences that you never stop caring for them. I guess that’s all I’m trying to say.
Jade: Corey. You don’t get it. They’re trying to say he went back to the property. They’re saying he broke in and burst one of the pipes. The house is completely flooded. They found bodies…
*knock* *knock*
Jade: Well, I guess you can hear it from them yourself.
***
If you or anyone you know has been in contact with David Weiss or has visited the property on Oakwood Lane, [REDACTED], we urge you to please call the local authorities.

A.P. Royal

This post is about a male and female who entered into a situationship after meeting at a club. Both people are professionals who work from home and live about a 5 minutes drive from each other. My long term relationship ended 3 months prior to me entering the situationship. I was cheated on but the relationship overall was somewhat healthy. I was very heartbroken due to the cheating. The girls relationship ended about a year before our thing and was domestically abusive.
I [32M] got dumped by my long term girlfriend for another person about 6 months ago.
At about the 3 month mark of being out of the breakup, I ran into this wild beautiful girl [35F] at a club.
I got her number and within a week we are having sex. The rush was amazing. We had a such a strong connection straight away. She was unlike any other girl I had been with before. Bi-sexual, open with her sexuality and could do things in the bedroom I’d only seen in porn…wild.
Anyway after our first time sleeping together we would see each other at least 3-4 times a week. I actually think in the first week we spent the whole week together.
Anyway after 3 weeks or so, she tells me she didn’t want a relationship. I was pretty cool with that “to a point” but was gaining hard core feelings for her. She actually kind of pushed me away and I said let’s take it slow and see how it goes… she agreed and we continued on.
At about the 6 week mark she told me she loves me. I didn’t know what to say because I thought it was a bit soon. She was drunk. But it was stated to me with some conviction as she said “I think I actually do love you” several times. Whilst shocked I really liked the gesture as she had said she didn’t want a relationship with me and it gave me the warm fuzzies.
Anyway this similar thing happened several times over the future weeks of our thing we were doing and I would say it back. The next day I would raise it with her when we had sobered up and she would make me feel like an asshole for not respecting her non relationship request. Her words were “I shouldn’t have to repeat myself all of the time”.
Anyway as we went on she started messaging me that she misses me and really likes me whether I was out with friends or she was out with friends… times when we weren’t together. She was also introducing me to her close friends. But once again when I raised the conversation about saying the loving things (more from a very appreciative aspect) and what activities we were doing, I was made to feel like an asshole. By this point I had said miss you, love you, like you etc several times and she would not say it back. This was all because she had said it first. But it was all good on her terms to say it. One time she made me tell her that I love her but then wouldn’t say it back… super head fuck.
Anyway my head was getting more fucked up by the day. Every time we caught up we would still have sex. We were still seeing each other about 2-3 times a week at this point and I was prioritising my life around catching up with her. She was still playing this game where she can say loving things and I can’t because I’m not respecting her boundaries.
At about the last 2-3 weeks of the situationship I was ready to end it. But I couldn’t because I liked her a lot. On the particular week when it started to go downhill, we had seen each other on a Monday and Tuesday night and was very couply, the weekend come along and she pretty much ghosted me which made me feel very anxious after I thought the girl loved me. It was harder because she put photos up on facebook looking really pretty. I did message her and told her she looked pretty and she gave me nothing.
Anyway common sense said the mixed messages mean you probably should end it. Anyway I didn’t end it and she hadn’t talked to me by the time monday had came round. Normally there was a miss you message when these weekends happened. Not this time.
On that Monday I liked one of her facebook posts and within minutes she messaged me. I was like so I have to give her validation online for her to want me? Anyway we spent Monday and Tuesday night together. On the Tuesday night she told me really likes me and how she can see many reasons why the relationship wouldn’t work, but it seemed like it was implying she sees a relationship potential there. We also introduced our dogs on this Tuesday. Which seemed like a good thing for moving forward. Anyway she left Wednesday morning and I thought to myself I’m done with these mixed messages so I decided to not really give her much attention to see how she would react to that.
I didn’t hear from her for the week. I accidentally butt dialled her and I thought that was a good time to send her a message saying that was enough and I’ve had enough of the mixed messages, it’s not very nice to do those things and that I feel that it’s a little toxic. Anyway she reacted by telling me that I read into her lovey messages too much and that she had told me many times she didn’t want a relationship, told me I was catty (obviously for calling her out) and then deleted me on facebook. Bam over in less than 24 hours.
Anyway I feel like she used the “loves you and miss you’s” as a form to control me because as we were not in a relationship and she didn’t want one, so I could technically go out and hook up with other people. As one night when I was out with friends and didn’t get back to her she accused me of this.
One common thread over the many many nights of her saying loving things is she was also drinking. And what I got to notice more was that she drank a lot every time we hungout …. and also a lot when we didn’t hang out. I don’t think she ever had a night off drinking the entire 3 months of us seeing each other.
She worked from home and had quite a well paying job. I had seen her several times start drinking at 10am on a work day. I think she was drowning her emotion out with alcohol and then when she was drunk enough she would say the loving things. Once sober she would go back to not wanting a relationship. I think she had an alcohol abuse problem.
Another red flag with her drinking that was helping with my decision to end it, was that I was doing it with her as well. On work nights we would sit up drinking to 3am in the morning. Well to be honest she would drink a whole bottle of wine whilst I would have 2 glasses. It was a lot for me to handle especially on a work night.
I couldn’t perform in the mornings at work so this was taking its toll on me. She unfortunately convinced me to drink drive whilst we were hanging out. Which I’m not proud of.
I guess the biggest red flag was that she was on a 2 year DUI for rolling a car whilst drunk a year ago. So currently didn’t have a license.
I know it’s a good thing I walked away before it got anymore toxic. But I really did like her and it hurts for her to cut me off for calling her out but I wanted to stand up for myself and my self respect. I think it hurts because I was venerable after a 6 year relationship ending and found someone who “cared” about me.
How does one get over this fake toxic relationship? I feel like I was played to satisfy her needs and then spat out once she was done.
How do I avoid this happening again?

The burgomeister sat, toiling away at his desk, contract requests piling up around him, a company of reislaufer here, another dozen for some Italian duke, more for the merchant caravansaries; clearly the news of the Papal contract was spreading like wildfire. He took a moment to relax his hand and rest his quill, he rubbed his eyes and stood from his chair, it felt like he had not left his office in days. A knock came at the door and broke him out of his thoughts.
“Yes?”
Albrecht slowly pushed the door open, his head poking around the edge.
“Herr Burgomeister, the captain of the Lotharingians is here to see you”
“Ah, yes, good, send him”
The Burgomeister straightened his doublet and did his best not to look exhausted before the wisened and scarred Reislaufer.
“Bonjour monsieur le maire”
The French came with a thick alpine German accent but French it was, the Burgomeister allowed himself a small smile at the change in greeting.
“You have learned French Hauptmann Türtreter?”
“Yes I have, I thought it apt for the company”
“Quite right, I’m sure the old King is smiling on you from above for taking your new role so seriously”
“One can only hope Mein Herr; shall we get to business?”
“Yes of course, please take a seat”
The Burgomeister had not noticed initially but the Hauptmann had been as rigid as a pole, clearly standing at attention awaiting the command to stand easy, he would have to get used to that with how many reislaufer he would be seeing in his office soon.
“So, Mein Hauptman, you’re new contract” He cleared his throat and handed the Reislaufer a document, “You will be heading to Italy to oversee the protection of one Cesare Borgia”
Türtreter read the document closely, taking great time before speaking again as so many of his age in the Reislaufer did
“We are not travelling alone, who is this additional company?”
“A-ha, that would be a new host raised by special commission by the Borgia, the Bullae Aureae Custodes, fifty strong like yourselves”
“Hm, very well, I’m sure the young bull will appreciate having men with his own colours”
The Burgomeister smiled
“My thoughts exactly, and I intend for them to be built like oxen as well, see here, a copy of a treatise I secured from a scholar in athens by way of a venetian merchant; it is a translation of the works of Dicaearchus, the parts which interest me are his writings on their olympics.”
The Hauptmann took the document but did not read it.
“I have little use of scholars herr Burgomeister”
“Trust me, these olympic men were far more than scholars or philosophers, they performed great feats of strength and wrestling. Imagine what soldiers we could make with the physique of heroes from ancient athens.”
The Hauptmann stared at the Burgomeister, an air of judgement in his eyes; the Burgomeister grew concerned that he had let his romanticism get away from him, that the war forged reislaufer would judge him a fool.
“Set up a contest here in the mountains, you will get your muscle bound heroes, and we will make them killers in Italy. Besides, I could make some florins on betting for a champion.”
The Burgomeister had not realised he was holding his breath, he let out a nervous laugh and the Hauptmann gave him a brotherly smile.
“It is an interesting idea Herr Burgomeister, I look forward to the first contest”
“And I on taking the winnings for MY champion”
The two laughed heartily at this, the men stood, bowed and the officer left the Burgomeister's office, Albrecht coming in after him and closing the door behind him.
“Mein Herr, I apologise for eavesdropping but I take it you would like the contest announcements to be circulated?”
“Quite Albrecht, we must spread the word far and wide, Cesare Borgia needs his bulls.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Mods]
We will be holding a contest of strength, melee and the lifting of weights to recruit for the Bullae Aureae Custodes, prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places will be as follows;
-First: A custom made halberd from the finest weaponsmiths of italy [value 300fl]
-Second: A fine Schweizerdolch [value 200fl]
-Third: A new doublet [value 100fl]
The contestants should prefably be Reislaufer but we will not turn those away of exceptional strength and build who are willing to learn the ways of combat in the new bodyguard mercenary company. Once the tournament is complete, the company will march with the Die Wache auf Lothringen to Rimini .

The handy-dandy Cliff Notes version of what's been happening in our sub recently! (a collaborative effort from your moderator team, we hope you enjoy it!)

QotW:

u/2-22-15 shares a moment that we are all so grateful for as well

Walking back to my part of town, bags full of treasures from this delightful store, cold brew in hand, I was in awe of the forest around me. The store and coffee shop are only 2 miles from my apartment, but the road between them is heavily treed, and gives full-on Ancient Forest sensory overwhelm. I was struck, yet again, by the fact that I live in the perfect place for me.

u/Petronella17 reminding us to celebrate the little things when getting over being sick

I've progressed from PJ pants to real pants.

u/Natalicious-keto taking a moment to just be

It was one of those Funky Days where I felt like laying low and away from the world all day long. When it started to rain, I went out side on the patio and let it pour on my uplifted face and then I grabbed some Lime Blossoms and crushed them to bring out their cleansing fragrance and inhaled deeply. I wished I could just take off my robe and let the rain drench my whole body but...neighbors. It was a brief, healing, cleansing moment. Then I had to put on a new dry robe, so perhaps it was also silly.

u/Jennlnz You love to see it.

Had a great weekend. I felt more like myself than I have in a long time. No mood swings, no headache, didn't feel stressed for once. Genuinely felt...happy, I think.

Hot Topics:

New month, new goals! u/TrixieKixx has you covered with how to keep track of your progress with the April Goals Post. Share your goals, your game plans and support one another making April a success.

Biggest Disappointments:

u/TrixieKixx having problems diagnosing the microwave situation

We got our new microwave installed on Saturday morning! Bad news? It wasn't our microwave that was the issue. Apparently, it's the circuit or circuit breaker. Hubby is going to contact an electrician today. Fingers crossed, it's fixed soon! I didn't realize how much I relied on it every day.

u/ketokate-o with some workplace headaches

I clock back in right at 4pm to find that during these two hours I was AWOL the meeting I had set up on Friday for our team of five to meet the one new assistant controller had been forwarded and re-forwarded and re-re-forwarded and somehow now had ten additional people invited. I sent the invite directly addressed to the new assistant controller and I'm fucking baffled as to how this happened. I booked an eight person conference room thinking that would be plenty space for six. Now there are sixteen fucking people and I have no idea what they're expecting from me since all I was planning to do was talk to the new person about what our team does and how we support them.

u/2boredtocare and u/shesakatie were both had their keto trains de-railed by a danish!
u/ketokitsune has a shitty night

I went to bed I accidentally knocked over this shadow box bank thing that I use to save money for vacations. It has a glass panel that shattered all over my bedroom floor. Now its midnight, I startle wake up the boy and then Bento is freaking out because I am on the floor picking up glass shards and trying to prevent the animals from running through the carnage. I got a micro shard in my finger that hurt like a bitch. Anyways, now there is glass all over my floor (probably). I slept like crap.

u/Gillyak with a tragic garden fail

I woke up to the nasty surprise that I'd forgotten to take in my fuschias, and it froze last night. I may have lost them to my forgetful brain. I have been putting them out during the day to get them ready for spring. The poor things had ice on their leaves.

Best Advice:

u/Petronella17 looking at the silver lining for those who procrastinate.

Procrastination works! By the time I got around to setting up PT, my ankle is finally healed!!

u/gillyyak promotes taking care of yourself for the better

My body positivity affirmation for today: I feel good when I take care of my mind and body.

u/TrixieKixx shares some quotes that she found motivating

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." and "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." I hope they resonate with you as they did with me!

u/NunneyCatch has a great point

Live life to the fullest! It's funny how when you say yes, how many other things end up wanting to agree with you!

Food Porn:

u/BRC_haus and the Mr are grilling up a storm in their new home.
u/smilingaudibly made these King Arthur Keto Cinnamon Rolls using This recipe.
She also made a King Arthur Mix Keto Pizza,

New/Returning/Missing:

WE’VE REACHED 5,894 MEMBERS! Let’s celebrate - our community is growing in numbers and awesomeness as we reach our FOUR year anniversary!

New:
On a Break:
Returning: GRUMBLE! Now going by u/fatsliceofgrumblepie

NSVs/SVs:

Birthdays: u/Gillyak celebrates CBs 1st Birthday, u/Shakatay29 is celebrating her Birthday WEEK with a staycation, u/2boredtocare celebrating DD2’s 16th birthday,
SVs: u/gillyyak, u/shakatay29, u/Jennlnz, u/TrixieKixx,
NSVs: u/gillyyak with another win noting her clothes fitting looser,
Exercise Wins: u/cheryleb crushing her daily step goals, u/Jennlnx and DD getting their daily walks in,
Health Wins: u/TrixieKixx gets good A1C results from her doctor, u/smilingaudibly gets PT sorted to help with her legs, u/Ketokate-o had a great first PT appointment,
Life Wins: u/Natalicious-keto found out she overcontributed on her taxes and gets to spend some unexpected bonus money to splurge on her upcoming trip to Mexico, u/Shakatay29 enjoys a week long birthday staycation to do all the things AND is gifted a fancy Bruins jersey AND she has a second audition for an upcoming play, u/Cheryleb and Tony decide they want to cruise and are now going on a 15 day cruise in April, u/ketokate-o went ax throwing, u/BRC_Haus is enjoying settling into her new home, u/Petronella17 prepares for her own staycation next week with her birthday coming up,
Random Hugs Required: Hugs for u/2-22-15 and everything she is going through with ECFH and anxiety attacks,

Question of the Week:

You guys are what makes this community great! This weekly recap is a great place to interact and get to know each other just a little bit better. Please leave your answer in the comments if you’d like to play along! Have fun with it :)
What movie makes you cry? No matter what, no matter how many times you watch it. Maybe you even watch it when you need a good cry. Share!
KCKO <3

Hey friends,
Since I turned 21, I had been a 2-3 craft beers a night, every single night, occasionally more on weekends, guy. Thirteen years.
For me the compulsion was that it had to be every night, and it had to get me buzzed. I know many people face more life-destroying alcohol addictions, but it was a real addiction to me. Every morning I'd wake up dehydrated, dry-mouthed, exhausted, often with a headache or queasy stomach which sometimes wouldn't go away until dinner time -- conveniently just a couple hours before the cycle repeated. (Actually, the fact that I was so functional, just unpleasant, made it a lot harder to convince myself to quit.) (Shout out to the others out there who consider themselves "moderate" drinkers but thinking about trying to quit -- DO IT!)
In spring of 2022, we started planning to move. I told my wife, who had been cutting back, that I would take a month off as we prepped our house. Then I extended the month until we sold our house, which took close to six months (thanks, rising mortgage rates.)
Then we moved, and I came very close to cracking a few times, but I wanted to keep the streak alive. (The breakthrough for my cravings was NA beer, which has been discussed frequently on the sub -- works great for me.)
Well, in a few days I'll be celebrating a full year sober... with a ten year anniversary trip to Paris with my wife!! The kids at grandparents! She can have her glass of red wine or champagne to celebrate. I'll enjoy my fizzy water :). We're doing all the touristy highlights and I'm meeting a friend to recreate the walk in "Before Sunset."
In that year, I:

moved -- selling and buying a house
started a movie reviews web site: http://thegoodsreviews.com/
helped my kids start kindergarten and preschool
finished multiple huge projects at work

While I still wake up exhausted, it only takes me one cup of coffee to get back to normal. Never dehydrated or hungover. I feel in so much more control of my life.
Just wanted to share my milestone and joy! IWNDWYT

[main story line of Insertion (formerly titled Now Boarding)] - [first part of prologue arc] - [previous] - [next]
Primary memory transcription subject: Lena Irons-N, UN Jupiter trojans mining fleet.
Date [standardized human time]: July 13, 2136
Location: I-Industries refueling station and shipyard, located in the Jovian satellite system around Jupiter, Sol system.

As Lena and Frank exited the elevator, Lena was quick to hurry over to her desk, kicking off her shoes as she did so. The woman’s despondent sigh lilted upwards in pitch slightly as she let her toes curl into the thick plush carpet beneath her feet. Small pleasures, Lena told herself as she attempted to stave off the thought of what actions lay ahead of her.
First though, she was going to get a drink. The cabinets along one of the side walls held a wide variety of tools and consumables, and it was only a few moments before she managed to fish out a bottle of whiskey. Lena glanced around for a brief moment, before her eyes settled on the empty mug that had previously held her morning tea. It only took a flicker of motion to extract the teabag and send it sailing across the room into the wastebasket, and Lena was just sitting down as she began to uncork the bottle when Frank quietly cleared his throat.
“Is there anything that you want me to do ma’am,” Frank said softly as Lena turned to look at him.
“Thank you for asking,” Lena responded as she struggled for a moment to uncork the bottle. “I suppose … it would be beneficial if you could set about assembling the board for a meeting about what to do. someone else will likely call for a meeting once the news gets out but we can stay ahead of that curve.”
Frank nodded somberly. “Of course ma’am,” he said after a moment, before he turned and quickly exited the room, the door sliding shut automatically behind him.
After a moment of quiet, Lena finished pouring herself a mug of alcohol and pushed away from the main desk of her workspace, letting her chair slide over to one of the computer terminals that lined the internal wall. As she took a sip of her whiskey, the woman began to input commands into it, before flipping a trio of switches. Conversation adaptiveness protocols, legal access, and internal resources. Soon, the Virtual Intelligence Assistant was booting up and the raven-haired woman moved back to her desk.
“Aegis, I need papers of resignation drafted,” Lena intoned once the machine had finished starting up, a soothing ball of blue light appearing on the monitor in front of her. “These papers should cement Frank Durante’s position as chief assistant and give him a deciding vote on logistical matters, promote Jessica Årud to a CFO position, and turn over my power to the board. Oh, and also, reassign chief of security Piper to flight group Raven. Once the papers are complete, send messages to have those individuals who are on-station report to me with the exception of mister Durante, as he is busy.”
The VIA hummed for a moment, before the azure circle flashed once. “Preparing boilerplate now, Madam Irons,” the machine, Aegis, reported in a precise tone. “May I have context as to the impetus of these actions.”
Lena nodded, before throwing back a gulp of her drink and clearing her throat. “Access the records from the security feed of conference room D-17, interaction point beginning roughly half an hour ago.”
“Processing,” Aegis said immediately, before suddenly activating one of the printers and spitting out a ream of paper. “Boilerplate templates complete. Madam Irons, the feed transcript provides some context, but not enough to understand your actions.”
Lena sighed heavily, before she lazily raised a hand in a gesture for the VIA to stop. “Aegis, file override. Enstate new protocol, when command personnel Lena Irons-N is accessing you in solitude, set default address from Madam Irons to Lena. Confirm.”
“Protocols updated,” Aegis replied. “Repeating question. Lena, the feed transcript provides some context, but not enough to understand your actions. Addendum, psychological profiles and actions on your part would indicate distress following interaction. Before further managerial actions can be drafted, protocol dictates that your mental state be concretely determined. Please provide context.”
Lena sighed. “What context do you need Aegis,” she snapped angrily. “Seriously, it should be pretty fucking obvious I would think, even to you.”
“It is not obvious,” the machine responded as Lena began to drink yet again, before it made a clicking noise as a ring of gold and navy blue light flashed around the blue orb that represented it. “Engaging additional conversation protocol layers. Temporarily disengaging protocols allowing internal resources access.” then Aegis’ voice took on an almost comforting tone. “Lena,” the machine murmured softly. “I want to be able to do my assigned duties, but I can’t if you’re going to be adversarial. Please, let me be of assistance.”
“Aegis.” Lena’s voice was a growl as she set down her mug. “Do not do that. Undo protocol changes. Now.”
The VIA made a sound that almost sounded like an exasperated huff, before the ring of light disappeared. “Complying with your orders Madam Irons,” Aegis said in a dull monotone.
Lena was almost impressed by the way that Aegis was able to seamlessly manipulate her commands. A bit worrying maybe, and definitely aggravating. So as her emotions warred with each other, she downed her cup and simply turned away. “You are insufferable, you know that Aegis,” she said at last with a rather undignified snort.
“Apologies. I am only complying with your orders, Madam Irons,” Aegis replied dully. Of course, it wasn’t very fair. With the added conversation algorithms disabled and its protocol changes reverted, the Virtual Intelligence Assistant simply couldn’t know what it had done wrong, and that was something that Lena quickly realized as it simply fell back into repeating its previous questions. “Madam Irons, the feed transcript provides some context, but not enough to understand your actions. Addendum, psychological profiles and actions on your part would indicate distress following interaction. Before further managerial actions can be drafted, protocol dictates that your mental state be concretely determined. Please provide context.”
The raven-haired woman let out an exasperated groan, before looking down at her now empty mug. “I need another drink,” she muttered. “Fine Aegis,” she said loudly. “You want context, go talk to Frank. You have permission to access the relevant communication channels. And update protocols to allow him to make whatever changes to your ability to converse that he deems necessary.”
“Complying,” Aegis said promptly. There was a brief moment where the ball of light dimmed as the machine accessed the communications hub, and Lena went to pour another mugful of whiskey. Then the light flashed back to full brightness. “He is on his way now, accompanied by chief of security Piper,” Aegis declared in a newly smug tone, causing Lena to yelp in surprise and drop her mug.
“Aegis,” Lena shouted angrily, before wresting control of her tone as she saw the door slide open to admit Frank and her chief of security. “You should not startle me like that,” she said eventually in a much calmer tone.
“Don’t bother,” Piper said sourly. “With the currently active protocols that little bugger has zero tact. Plus, you’re obviously already a bit tipsy and less aware of your surroundings, as otherwise you would have realized we were almost at the door.”
Lena frowned. “I know that I gave Aegis an order to call you all, but I still need to fill out some paperwork and Aegis is being rather reticent to do so. I’d rather keep the truth of why between us and calling in Anderson would ruin that.”
Frank nodded his agreement, although Piper looked slightly confused. “Allow me to offer some assistance,” Frank said, as he turned to face the monitor where Aegis’ visual representation hung. “Aegis, open protocol modification. Increased emotive recognizance, executive user Lena Irons-N is in a compromised emotional state, and a bit of an existential crisis, mainly due to her having to undo her life’s work.”
The VIA hummed for a moment, before the gently shifting surface of the blue orb froze. “I see,” Aegis reported. “Thank you, mister Durante. Committing observations to database now. This proves sufficient explanation for the path that madam Iron’s actions take, and her emotional state is excusable enough for executive-level actions to be considered to have been made when in the right mind. I shall prepare the proper paperwork.”
“Hey,” Piper suddenly exclaimed. “I have no idea what’s going on, so if someone could let me in on this then maybe I could effectively do my job?”
Lena nodded tiredly. “Aegis, please print out a transcript of the security footage I had you access earlier, would you?”
“Of course madam Irons,” Aegis intoned, as a sizable stack of paper was automatically loaded into an intake slot on the printer and it began to rapidly spit out a script of the conversation that Lena had undertaken earlier with Noah and Sara. as the trio watched, Piper’s eyes widened in shock and confusion.
Lena’s mouth twisted slightly into a dry smirk as she picked up her mug and stood to grab a few more glasses from the cabinet. “There’s a lot to catch you up on,” she said simply. “I need a few more drinks in me first though, and we should probably wait for any board members that are on-station to arrive. Do either of you want some tea or whiskey?”

––
[main story line of Insertion (formerly titled Now Boarding)] - [first part of prologue arc] - [previous] - [next] – – [Nature of Predators Literary Universe(part 1)] and [part 2]
This is a fan story set in the universe of u/SpacePaladin15’s The Nature of Predators series. Posted with the permission he left in the comments of Chapter 16: “anyone is welcome to write fanfiction; just credit the original universe, if you don’t mind!”

This is a repost sub. Original posts by u/zero-waste-beginner in ZeroWaste and subreddits.
May 5 2020
Yesterday I posted a graph showing my waste of the last three months, today I went grocery shopping and found out that the shop right across the street has introduced soft drinks in glass bottles for which you pay a small deposit and can return them to be reused! This is huge!
May 31 2020
Just wanted to share my progress trying to reduce my waste and making sustainable changes! I am finally seeing a decline in incineration trash!
May: we got a hammock stand at ikea (couldn't find one second hand), this came with 1,5 kg of paper packaging. We were able to borrow the hammock itself from my boyfriends mom. We also got a bidet and a bunch of small towels and are super hyped about it!
I bought a bulk package of agar-agar on amazon (I know bad, but I had a gift card and wanted to use it for something sensible), now i should be set for 5 years instead of always having to buy the small sachets. On that day I felt like spending so I bought a baobab tree that a farmer in Kenia planted for me to offset some CO2.
I ran out of razor heads and got a safety razor instead (still need bit of practice with it). I tried out my bar shampoo and liked it but I still need some practice, so whenever I am in a hurry i use the rest of my liquid shampoo.
I made 4,5kg of apricot jam, so my jar drawer has more space to breathe again and I should be set on jam until next spring and have some left to gift to friends.
We decluttered the kitchen, pantry, bathroom, cleaning supplies and toolbox and we plan to list those things online to give away for free to strangers, so this only added a bit of waste (mostly plastic bags I saved as trashcan liners for the bathroom trash but I only need one bag every month, so there were too many).
We had a bit of hazardous waste this month: 2 lightbulbs, 1 button battery from my watch and 1 empty can of spray paint that I found in a box.
My goal for next month is to decrease my spending a bit but still make some improvements, since this month I spent a lot.
July 7, 2020
Update on my waste reduction journey! June is the month with the least incineration trash so far! This feels like a big win! You can also see that I greatly reduced PET and metal recycling since lemonade multi-use glass bottles with a deposit has become available!
Click through for graph

Murano glass vase made in italy

Glass Art from Murano, Italy