I was having trouble coming up with a good justification for a nomination and since I had been messing around with ChatGPT recently, I decided to see what it would come up with. I used the criteria guidance from the Wayfarer website and came up with the following prompt:
Hello ChatGpt, I am trying to come up with a good justification for nominating a Pokestop in PokemonGO. Pokestops must meet the following criteria:
1. Be a great place for exploration. A place you love to venture out to; a destination or a placemark of local interest and importance and which makes our communities unique and shapes its identity. Somewhere or something that tells the unique story about a place, its history, its cultural meaning, or teaches us about the community we live in.
2. Be a great place for exercise. A place you'd go to get some fresh air, stretch your legs, or exercise. Places that encourage walking, exercising, and enjoying public spaces. Or something that teaches or encourages us to be our healthiest selves.
3. Be a great place to be social with others. A favorite gathering place for friends or strangers alike, where you can share a drink or meal, be entertained, or watch public life happen. Or something that draws us together to share an experience in a locally and culturally relevant way.
Justification text should include a thoughtful explanation of why a nomination justifies as a Pokestop in support of the criteria above and/or why it is important to the community. Think of it as what you'd tell a friend if you took them to visit that Pokestop.
Justifications should be no longer than 3000 characters.
Using this guidance, if I describe a location to you, could you create a justification for why it should be a Pokestop?
I then gave it the following:
The first location is a Disc Golf Course Hole Marker that is located in a wooded area.
This is what it returned:
This Disc Golf Course Hole Marker is a perfect candidate for a Pokestop nomination due to its alignment with multiple criteria outlined by Pokemon GO. Let me explain why this location is deserving of recognition and should be considered a Pokestop in your community.
Great Place for Exploration:
The Disc Golf Course Hole Marker serves as a fantastic place for exploration, attracting enthusiasts and beginners alike to venture into the serene and wooded area where it is situated. As players make their way through the course, they can immerse themselves in the natural beauty of the surroundings, discovering the unique landscape and diverse flora and fauna. This Pokestop nomination highlights a destination that not only offers recreational opportunities but also provides an opportunity for individuals to appreciate and engage with the local environment.
Great Place for Exercise:
Disc golf is a sport that promotes exercise and physical activity. By designating the Disc Golf Course Hole Marker as a Pokestop, Pokemon GO encourages players to embark on an active journey as they progress through the course. As individuals play the game and walk from hole to hole, they can enjoy fresh air, stretch their legs, and engage in a low-impact form of exercise. This nomination supports the goal of promoting healthy lifestyles and encourages players to embrace outdoor activities while enjoying the game.
Great Place to be Social with Others:
The Disc Golf Course Hole Marker is not only a gathering spot for disc golf enthusiasts but also a social hub for individuals who share a common interest in the game. It fosters a sense of community as players come together to enjoy friendly competition, share tips and strategies, and engage in conversation. This nomination recognizes the importance of creating spaces where people can connect and interact, promoting a sense of camaraderie and unity among local residents.
Furthermore, this Pokestop nomination acknowledges the cultural significance of disc golf as a growing recreational activity that is gaining popularity worldwide. By designating the Disc Golf Course Hole Marker as a Pokestop, the community showcases its commitment to embracing diverse hobbies and fostering a welcoming environment for both residents and visitors.
In summary, the nomination of the Disc Golf Course Hole Marker as a Pokestop fulfills the criteria for a remarkable destination. It serves as a place for exploration, exercise, and social interaction, enhancing the unique character of the community and providing an opportunity for individuals to engage with their surroundings and fellow players.
What do you all think? Would detailed justifications like this help sway you to provide a higher rating? Interested to hear your thoughts.

I'm looking for an ongoing, primarily sexual, mutually beneficial, relationship. Friends with benefits is probably the best approximation of what I want. I want to get to know you, but at the same time we are playing. Ideally you live close to me, otherwise, if you want something strictly online, then I'm not going to wait days or weeks for us to get down to business.
None of this means I don't want to fulfill the role of a daddy. I want to take care of you, praise you, make you feel special. I just want to meet new people, have fun with them, and see where it takes us. I want to be honest about this because I don't want hurt feelings. It would be great if it developed into something more substantial or ongoing, but let's just feel ourselves for the time being.
I'm 6'2", big arms, broad shoulders, thick wavy brown hair that falls over my ears, brown eyes, salt and pepper short trimmed beard, tattoos. If you're the right size, I could easily toss you around or just hold you in my arms if you're into that. I have some GWA content too, if you want to check out my profile and listen to my voice.
Prefer an ongoing arrangement where we're willing to share more with each other as we go. It doesn't have to be strictly sexual, I'd like us to get to know each other as well. Of course, it depends on our chemistry. I won't be sad if it's only a one-off, but I would prefer more. Would just like to keep someone company especially someone who needs nurturing and in turn feels the urge to satisfy my needs. I love making someone feel special and protected. I love love to praise and provide emotional and physical support to my partners.
Please be able to share pictures, especially if the arrangement is primarily online. I want there to be a mutual attraction especially if it will be ongoing. I want to be mindful of your comfort levels but I think we would do ourselves a disservice by getting to know each other only to discover later on we aren't attracted to each other.
I also know that considering the potential age difference and just being a girl on the internet, especially Reddit, it's important for you to be cautious, and I promise you I will respect and do everything I can to accommodate that. It's important to me that we have open, honest communication. Whatever you need from me, I am willing to provide it. This is just as much about you having a fulfilling experience as it is about me.

I'm a firm believer in the cliché love story. I yearn for a deep, passionate connection that transcends boundaries, entwining our hearts in a tapestry of shared dreams.
My entire adult life has been consumed by school. Growing up, I was told that if I worked hard in academics, everything would fall into place, but what they didn't mention was how long it would take and what I would be giving up. Now, I have a PhD and work an amazing job, but I'm still missing the most important piece: you.
If what I've written sparks something in you, keep reading. If you get to the end and still like what you're hearing, reach out so we can finally embark on our journey together.

Basics

• Late 20s.
• Live in the US but grew up in Canada. Been in the US for 7 years.
• PhD, educated, but not snooty about it. I have degrees in English literature, education, and technology.
• Passionate about my work, but not a workaholic. I am fiercely protective of my work/life balance.
• Not religious.
• Non-smoker, non-drug user.
• I want children someday.

Appearance

• Photo of me and my dog.
• 6'1".
• 190lbs.
• White.
• Dark brown hair, a beard, and piercing hazel eyes.
• I go to the gym at least once a week. I lift and take care of myself, but I'm not obsessed.

Interests

• Anything and everything nerdy.
• Tabletop RPGs, D&D.
• Video games. Will you be my Minecraft girlfriend?
• Movies and TV series, especially fantasy, horror, sci-fi, drama, and romance.
• Music. Mainly heavy metal, but I like a bit of everything. Tell me about your favourite bands.

What I'm looking for

• Age is not a factor, but I am looking for someone who isn't too far into their journey. I've been in school for so long that I feel like I am behind other people my age, so I would prefer someone younger than me who can relate to where I am in life.
• Based in US or Canada.
• University educated, attending, or planning to attend. I don't care what your major is as long as you're passionate about something.
• Nerdy, introverted, and shares my interests.

Dealbreakers

• Being divorced or having children from previous relationships. I am looking to build something new with someone who is in a similar situation to me.
• Religion. I was raised in a religious home but do not practice. I strive to be a good person on my own accord. I consider myself agnostic.
• Child-free. I want to have children.
• Asexuality. Physical/sexual intimacy is very important to me, and touch is one of my primary love languages. I consider myself demi (sexual attraction based on a strong emotional bond).

I apologize for any offense here, but I want to be honest so as to not waste anyone's time.

Please read before you reach out

If you made it this far and want to chat, please send me a message with:

• Your age
• What you look like
• Your educational and career goals
• Your hobbies and what you do for fun

Our life together is one message away.

While candidates in the listed locations are encouraged for this role, candidates in other locations will be considered.
At Databricks, we are passionate about enabling data teams to solve the world's toughest problems — from making the next mode of transportation a reality to accelerating the development of medical breakthroughs. We do this by building and running the world's best data and AI infrastructure platform so our customers can use deep data insights to improve their business. Founded by engineers — and customer-obsessed — we leap at every opportunity to solve technical challenges, from designing next-gen UI/UX for interfacing with data to scaling our services and infrastructure across millions of virtual machines. And we're only getting started.
As an engineer working on large language models (LLM) at Databricks, you’ll work closely with the teams behind Databricks’ Dolly LLM to build intelligent systems to democratize AI across a wide range of industries, from healthcare to energy, finance to government. Our teams work on some of the hardest, most interesting problems facing the business, ranging from designing large-scale distributed AI/ML systems, to optimizing distributed GPU model serving or developing novel modeling methodologies that scale to production use cases. Our work is necessarily cross-functional, and successful individuals on our team embody an unusually high degree of empathy and ownership, demonstrating an intuitive ability to understand how individual technical decisions shape Databricks’ business strategy.
Databricks has a long-standing commitment to research and open source, and though our teams are focused first and foremost on business impact, we work hard to foster a creative, intellectually stimulating environment featuring visiting speakers, academic partnerships, and industrial collaborations.
The impact you'll have: Engineers working on LLMs may specialize in different areas. Below are examples of the kinds of activities that different members of our teams perform on a daily basis.

Drive the development and deployment of state-of-the-art AI models and systems that directly impact the capabilities and performance of Databricks' products and services. Architect and implement robust, scalable ML infrastructure, including data storage, processing, and model serving components, to support seamless integration of AI/ML models into production environments. Develop novel data collection, fine-tuning, and pre-training strategies that achieve optimal performance on specific tasks and domains. Design and implement automated ML pipelines for data preprocessing, feature engineering, model training, hyperparameter tuning, and model evaluation, enabling rapid experimentation and iteration. Implement advanced model compression and optimization techniques to reduce the resource footprint of language models while preserving their performance. Collaborate with product managers and cross-functional teams to drive technology-first initiatives that enable novel business strategies and product roadmaps. Contribute to the broader AI community by publishing research, presenting at conferences, and actively participating in open-source projects, enhancing Databricks' reputation as an industry leader. 

What we look for: BS+ (M.S. or PhD preferred) in Computer Science, or a related field. 2+ years experience developing AI/ML systems at scale in production or in high-impact research environments. Strong track record of working with language modeling technologies. This could include either: Developing generative and embedding techniques, modern model architectures, fine tuning / pre-training datasets, and evaluation benchmarks. Experience deploying and scaling language models in production; deep understanding of the unique infrastructure challenges posed by training and serving LLMs. Strong understanding of computer science fundamentals. Contributions to well-used open-source projects.
Benefits Comprehensive health coverage including medical, dental, and vision 401(k) Plan Equity awards Flexible time off Paid parental leave Family Planning Gym reimbursement Annual personal development fund Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
About Databricks Databricks is the data and AI company. More than 9,000 organizations worldwide — including Comcast, Condé Nast, and over 50% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Lakehouse Platform to unify their data, analytics and AI. Databricks is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices around the globe. Founded by the original creators of Apache Spark™, Delta Lake and MLflow, Databricks is on a mission to help data teams solve the world’s toughest problems.
Read more / apply: https://Jobhunt.ai/machinelearning-ml-ai-job-bdy-Sr-Software-Engineer-Large-Language-Models-San-Francisco-Databricks.html

Hi all,
I’m 27F, 5'4", about 155lbs (recent loss of about 20lbs in the past month or so due to incredible loss of appetite).
History of anorexia and bulimia (in teens and early 20s), PTSD, depression and anxiety. Also diagnosed with potential POTS and/or SVT as my heart rate ranges from ~40 anywhere to ~210 bpm. Gluten intolerant, if that matters at all.
Current meds: Lamictal (200mg bid), Adderall (20mg bid), Abilify (5mg), clonidine (0.1mg), Vitamin D (mega dose 1x per week). No recreational drug use, no smoking, occasional alcohol consumption.
I have no idea what is happening to me and it feels like all of these symptoms have been getting progressively worse in the last year or so (sorry if some of these are not related):

• Bad headaches
• Discolored (sometimes bright red, sometimes blue/purple), extremely hot then cold, and swollen hands (pain, burning, itching, tingling/stinging)
• Numb hands and feet (on and off)
• Leg numbness, tingling, and pain
• Face numbness (on and off)
• Joint pain and heaviness
• Unbearable fatigue
• Low blood pressure then high blood pressure
• Low/normal systolic with high diastolic blood pressure (ex. 93/80)
• Dizziness and sometimes fainting
• Sleep paralysis on and off
• Eye floaters and blurry-ish vision (this is more recent I think?)
• Insane sweating while feeling cold
• Inappropriate temperature reactions (sweating in cold temperatures, shivering in hot temperatures, etc.)
• Low body temp when feeling hot
• Shortness of breath randomly
• Frequent urination !!! (like 15+ times per day)
• urinary incontinence (more recently)
• Neck pain (sides)
• Sometimes feeling like I imagine it would feel to have a pinched nerve (right elbow, then other areas)
• Recent blisters on hands, fingertips, and face
• Severe diarrhea then constipation, nausea, and stomach aches accompanied by mucus discharge
• back pain
• Very visible veins on right thigh (looks like blue and purple webs maybe?) -heart rate ranges anywhere from 39-211bpm -terrible memory, especially recently

Mayo Clinic appointment in a few weeks but really struggling mentally and physically and I have no idea what to expect. Driving is scary because legs sometimes fall asleep. I'm horrified of what all of this could be. I have a recent fear that some of this sounds like MS but I could be WAY off (I am really hoping this is incorrect). I know I am driving myself nuts, but this feels like SO much more than POTS and it's honestly feeling unbearable to live because I just can't function normally (yes, I'm in therapy thank God). I of course will explain everything to the doctors, but I also don't know what to expect and what questions to ask. Does this sound like anything in particular? Any suggestions as to what this could be or what I should ask at the Mayo Clinic would be so greatly appreciated.

People online tell me that women like men more than men like women, in a more well rounded way and across the world and throughout history
I gave some examples of what I read online to my parents, sister and psychologist and they told me:
That most people believe that sexism is more common towards women than men, but not sooo much more common. Maybe 70/30 or 60/40. And that most people believe that sexism towards men is not just a thing as backlash because of sexism towards women
That most people believe that sexism is not about hating women, it was about men exerting physical strength to get roles of power through history. But that women were not seen as inferior, lesser, nor incapable. That traditional roles were seen as different, but equal. So women raised families and had an important role doing that. While men worked. And women weren't seen to be catering to men, serving men, owned and controlled by men, nor defined by their relationships to men. Because men were expected to marry and serve their wife and kids by working too. And some men may have wanted to spend more time with their kids
That most don't believe that men objectify women while women don't objectify men. Nor that women respect men more and treat men better. Nor that women/girls want friendships with men/boys and gay BFFs, while men want sex from women and no friendships
That most don't believe that women nor girls are attracted to men in a more well rounded way than men and boys are attracted to women, nor that "men only want one thing", nor that if you took sex away, men would prefer men in all other ways and see them as superior
That most don't believe that women in Muslim countries or women through history like men more than the men like women nor treat them better and respect them more. And also that women don't have to accept more about men than men do about women
That most think violence towards women is not about hating women but about power, control, testosterone, and women being easier targets due to being physically weaker. And that the same men who commit d omestic violence would also be the types to start pub fights with other men, or to target kids
That most people don't think that women nor girls hate each other, compete, get jealous, form cliques and put each other down, while men have stronger bonds, friendships and camaraderie. They instead think that women mostly support each other
That most people don't think that men who do female jobs, hobbies and roles are held to lower standards, supported, praised and celebrated for the bare minimum, for the novelty of being men. While women who do male jobs/roles are held to higher standards and have to prove themselves/are not supported and praised as easily. Also that most people don't think that all workplaces like the police are a big boy's club and they also think there are places where it's a girl's clubs too
Also that most don't think that women are held to higher behavioural and physical standards/expectations than men nor judged harsher for being flawed or unlikeable, etc. Nor that female celebs and characters are trolled/threatened, bullied and hated more online than male ones are
That most people don't think that men prefer and need father figures, male role models and male idols and lead characters, while women can appreciate either gender in all of those things
And that most don't think that women support, praise and celebrate gay men/the men of LGBT more than they do lesbians/the women of LGBT and more than men support, praise and celebrate lesbians. And that most don't think boomer humour and comedy is about men hating their wives while their wives don't hate them nor do most think that teen girls are boy crazy, write in diaries about boys and love boybands...while teen boys don't have the equivalents
What do you think?
Why does the online world say differently? And also how do women and f eminists accept this and stay attracted to men while/despite believing that women like men more and in a more well rounded way and that take sex away and there's not much left keeping men interested in women? That's the biggest turn off to me, reading online put me off men for life. I mean why would you be okay with unrequited love or imbalanced love from one gender to another? Being okay with finding the needle in the haystack is pathetic. People online made me reclusive/avoid people and not wanting to associate with people ever again. I won't accept being surrounded by a society where most believe and accept it.

​

Introduction Post
Chapter 1: Lessons from Vietnam Veterans
Chapter 2: Revolutions In Understanding Mind And Brain
Chapter 3: Looking into the Brain: The Neuroscience Revolution
Chapter 4: Running for Your Life: The Anatomy of Survival (You are here)
Chapter 5: (Coming Soon)

Welcome to Chapter 4 of our reading/discussion of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
You can download or bookmark the STUDY GUIDE in PDF format which was created by The Trauma Research Foundation. Their TRF website is a great future resource as well for programs, book clubs, events, newsletters etc. You can also follow the author on Facebook as well as TRF.
Recommended VIDEO TRF Book Club Week 2 is a 90 minute recording of their book club meeting on chapters 3-6.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 4 - Running for Your Life: The Anatomy of Survival. Go here for the study guide PAGE 1 and PAGE 2 in an image format as it might be easier on mobile than a PDF.
3 Salient Points:
• 1. When someone is experiencing symptoms of PTSD, they are likely trapped in their reptilian brain.
• 2. Successful treatment of trauma requires bringing brain structures that were “damaged” during the traumatic experience back online.
• 3. Individuals respond to trauma in different ways and effective treatment necessitates an understanding of how an individual has been impacted.
Credit to Educator Insights for highlighting the following section and linked video:

“The emotional brain has first dibs on interpreting incoming information. Sensory information about the environment and the body state received by the eyes, ears, touch, kinesthetic sense etc...converge on the thalamus, where it is processed and then passed on to the amygdala to interpret its emotional significance. This occurs with lightening speed. If a threat is detected the amygdala sends messages to the hypothalamus to secrete stress hormones to defend against the threat”
“It’s important to have an efficient smoke detector: You don’t want to get caught unawares by a raging fire. But if you go into a frenzy every time you smell smoke, it becomes intensely disruptive. Yes, you need to detect whether somebody is getting upset with you, but if your amygdala goes into overdrive, you may become chronically scared that people hate you, or you may feel like they are out to get you”
“The second neural pathway, the high road, runs from the thalamus, via the hippocampus and anterior cingulate, to the prefrontal cortex, the rational brain, for a conscious and much more refined interpretation. This takes several microseconds longer. If the interpretation of threat by the amygdala is too intense, and/or filtering system from the higher areas of the brain are too weak, as often happens in PTSD, people lose control over automatic emergency response, like prolonged startle or aggressive outbursts”

Check out this video from Dr. Dan Siegal where he speaks about the ’low road’ and ’high road’ responses to stress, its links to triggers and dysregulation of emotions and behaviour.
My personal thoughts. Looking back on this chapter (I'm towards the end of the book and working on some of the various methods in it) the words I highlighted at the bottom of page 51 jump out. "Black circle." The trampolines for the 9/11 jumpers and how that did something for the traumatized boy who watched them jump. Is it possible to go through terrible memories, body feelings, panic attacks and just add trampolines? How? On the following page I highlighted how the boy used his imagination to process what he had seen. The author talks about imagination a lot as being important...one of the best parts of your thoughtful brain...something trauma harms but something that can actually heal that same trauma.
I don't know why this picture of me is on page 53 but I guess I'll let it go. It's a diagram of all of the parts of me that burn, choke, squeeze, and hurt when I have trauma-related stress. On that page I highlighted "continuing to organize your life as if the trauma were still going on" as every new encounter is "contaminated by the past." WOW. It's my feels. I never knew how very specific all of my body feelings tie into my emotions and memories before reading this book.
As the chapter goes on the author talks about the brain structure in great detail...probably more detail than you need, but fascinating...about all of the lower structures that run our body before you get to the higher functions like imagination. The brain stem and hypothalamus which controls breathing, pooping, etc.. The limbic system aka the "mammalian brain" that is the "seat of emotions, monitor of danger, judge of what is pleasurable or scary, the arbiter of what is or is not important for survival purposes. And finally, the frontal lobes that make us so unique and give us language, abstract thought, absorb and integrate information and attach meaning to it. And of course plan, reflect, imagine, and play.
On page 58 the author talks about the frontal lobes being the "seat of empathy" that allow us to "feel into" someone else. Yeah...this is something I've been struggling lately at work because a portion of my job involves a very simple task of telling people something they don't want to hear and giving them a tiny bit of empathy and I'm telling you I CAN'T DO IT. OK, I can. It's just very hard and I'm working very hard to have my brain stem shut up and my frontal lobes take over with my feelings and imagination so I can stop being scared and simply be a f---king functioning adult (please?)
Many sentences on pages 58-59 are highlighted in my book...about trauma damaging these frontal lobe functions because trauma often involves not being seen, not being mirrored, and not being taken into account. 100%. I think everyone on RBB can identify with that.
On page 60 the author talks about the smoke detector concept. Dangetrauma causes memories of sights, sounds, smells, and touch to be become isolated/dissociated fragments. Time freezes...the present danger feels like it will last forever. (Yes).
Page 62 is lovely because it talks about how our brain SHOULD function to restore our peace when our alarm bells sound. This makes me hopeful because the whole idea here is to bring that back in a way that medication may not necessarily...our bodies are designed/evolved to return to a peaceful and creative state. Your frontal lobe helps you realize you are responding to a false alarm. Our "watchtower" tells us that other people's anger and threats are functions of their emotional states. Mindfulness can use our brain and body's abilities to regulate.
Page 66 has a brain in flashback mode...how about that. It looks like a nightmare and feels like one too.
On page 69 I highlighted "scared that people hate you" and "are out to get you" because I feel like that...all of the time. At least historically I have. Getting better, I hope. On these pages I highlighted portions stating that knowing that whatever is happening is finite makes it tolerable. Situations are intolerable when they feel interminable. Being anchored in the present while revisiting trauma opens the possibility of deeply knowing that terrible events belong in the past.
The portions on "depersonalization" are heartbreaking. Is that something all of us who were raised by borderline parents feel or do, at least sometimes?
This chapter, like many others, what interesting and makes me feel hopeful but also exhausted. I have read several places online that reading this book is very hard because he talks about trauma very frankly...and I definitely feel that. I have struggled through it, figuring maybe learning will help me help others someday.
For me...learning exactly how it works, I think, will help be more committed to the methods that might work.
Hoping to read your thoughts and feelings!
Discussion Questions:
• 1. What is the difference between top-down regulation and bottom-up regulation?
• 2. How might we utilize mirror neurons to facilitate our interactions with individuals who are dysregulated or experiencing overwhelming emotions?
• 3. In what ways might treatment for Stan and Ute look different?

People online tell me that women like men more than men like women, in a more well rounded way and across the world and throughout history
I gave some examples of what I read online to my parents, sister and psychologist and they told me:
That most people believe that sexism is more common towards women than men, but not sooo much more common. Maybe 70/30 or 60/40. And that most people believe that sexism towards men is not just a thing as backlash because of sexism towards women
That most people believe that sexism is not about hating women, it was about men exerting physical strength to get roles of power through history. But that women were not seen as inferior, lesser, nor incapable. That traditional roles were seen as different, but equal. So women raised families and had an important role doing that. While men worked. And women weren't seen to be catering to men, serving men, owned and controlled by men, nor defined by their relationships to men. Because men were expected to marry and serve their wife and kids by working too. And some men may have wanted to spend more time with their kids
That most don't believe that men objectify women while women don't objectify men. Nor that women respect men more and treat men better. Nor that women/girls want friendships with men/boys and gay BFFs, while men want sex from women and no friendships
That most don't believe that women nor girls are attracted to men in a more well rounded way than men and boys are attracted to women, nor that "men only want one thing", nor that if you took sex away, men would prefer men in all other ways and see them as superior
That most don't believe that women in Muslim countries or women through history like men more than the men like women nor treat them better and respect them more. And also that women don't have to accept more about men than men do about women
That most think violence towards women is not about hating women but about power, control, testosterone, and women being easier targets due to being physically weaker. And that the same men who commit d omestic violence would also be the types to start pub fights with other men, or to target kids
That most people don't think that women nor girls hate each other, compete, get jealous, form cliques and put each other down, while men have stronger bonds, friendships and camaraderie. They instead think that women mostly support each other
That most people don't think that men who do female jobs, hobbies and roles are held to lower standards, supported, praised and celebrated for the bare minimum, for the novelty of being men. While women who do male jobs/roles are held to higher standards and have to prove themselves/are not supported and praised as easily. Also that most people don't think that all workplaces like the police are a big boy's club and they also think there are places where it's a girl's clubs too
Also that most don't think that women are held to higher behavioural and physical standards/expectations than men nor judged harsher for being flawed or unlikeable, etc. Nor that female celebs and characters are trolled/threatened, bullied and hated more online than male ones are
That most people don't think that men prefer and need father figures, male role models and male idols and lead characters, while women can appreciate either gender in all of those things
And that most don't think that women support, praise and celebrate gay men/the men of LGBT more than they do lesbians/the women of LGBT and more than men support, praise and celebrate lesbians. And that most don't think boomer humour and comedy is about men hating their wives while their wives don't hate them nor do most think that teen girls are boy crazy, write in diaries about boys and love boybands...while teen boys don't have the equivalents
What do you think?
Why does the online world say differently? And also how do women and f eminists accept this and stay attracted to men while/despite believing that women like men more and in a more well rounded way and that take sex away and there's not much left keeping men interested in women? That's the biggest turn off to me, reading online put me off men for life. I mean why would you be okay with unrequited love or imbalanced love from one gender to another? Being okay with finding the needle in the haystack is pathetic. People online made me reclusive/avoid people and not wanting to associate with people ever again. I won't accept being surrounded by a society where most believe and accept it.

So the Rockets are seemingly ready to blow up their rebuild and go back to contending or at the very least aiming for the playoffs by bringing back a franchise player in James Harden in free agency and allegedly pairing him with another star player along with the Rockets young core and presumably a few veterans either acquired in a trade or brought in via free agency. It's not an overly surprising move, as it's one that is likely motivated by the Rockets not owning their picks for the next 3 years and said picks having very light protections so they can't tank without a significant chance of giving up sai picks to the Thunder.
Keeping in mind that the 4th pick and likely one of the young guys from the Rockets would be move in a deal for one of the above co-stars along with KPJ for salary to maintain the necessary cap space if Harden is getting a deal close to the max:

• There's been some murmurs of the Timberwolves wanting to move on from Karl-Anthony Towns and recoup some of their drained asset pool post-Gobert trade and a recent piece of news from Pincus suggested this is more than just a rumor. Towns isn't exactly known as a great rim protector and his ability to guard the perimeter is...well we saw how bad it got with him at the 4 and Rudy at the 5 so one would presume Sengun is either going to the bench or coming with the 4th pick if KAT is the one on the move. The fit is intriguing on the offensive end but the defensive issues are very hard to ignore.
• Zion Williamson is a Top 15 player in the league when he's healthy...well, if he's healthy which become a rarity over the past few seasons. He's still very young and extremely talented but there's been some noise coming from the Pelicans camp that a growing number of people within he Pelicans organization who are getting fed up with Zion. There's also been noise coming from elsewhere of people who are fed up with Zion for...non-basketball reasons but i'll leave that for you to look it up if it peaks your curiosity. That, coupled with the upcoming cap crunch the Pelicans are headed for and the new CBA, makes a trade for Zion the easiest way to kick that can down the road, but while he might no longer be considered untouchable due to aforementioned health concerns and growing frustration...of all the candidates who've been brought up for Harden co-stars, Zion is by far the riskiest one.
• Pascal Siakam is...interesting? There was a rumor a while ago that the Raptors made a call for the 4th pick and there's a lot of executives who believe one of the Raptors star forwards will be traded in the offseason, with his name and O.G. Anunoby coming up as prime candidates for a trade with the Portland Trailblazers centered around Anfernee Simons and the 3rd pick. Then again, executives also thought the Raptors would be sellers at the deadline and they ended up buying Jakob Poeltl for a pick with worse protections than the one they shipped out for Kawhi Leonard. It is possible they could trade Siakam or but if it's Anunoby, they probably are only giving up the pick and maybe KPJ or Tari Eason if they want to try and bring in a second star with a separate blockbuster deal. Then again, Masai and Bobby have higher prices for their players than a stick of butter goes for at Loblaws. Seriously, the price gouging at groceries here in Canada is getting absurd.
• Jaylen Brown is only really being thrown in should the very slim chance that he doesn't get a supermax deal; realistically he's not going to sacrifice all that money and it makes more sense for him to request a trade after securing the bag if he doesn't want to be in Boston, plus the Celtics still want to contend so it'd likely require a third team involving one of the above players.

Does a duo of Harden and one of the above really make waves in the West? I'm skeptical that they'll go far in the playoffs unless they make further additions to their roster, especially with Harden's well-noted history of struggling in the playoffs couple with his age and the wear and tear as a result of injuries.
I feel like this is a similar situation to the current Blazers, where the Rockets have a slew of young guys and should be continuing to rebuild with a new core (in the case of the Blazers, they should start it instead of doing two timelines) and that simply adding in two stars, one of them an aging guard, to the current core sans-one of the whippersnappers is the wrong move unless they plan to go all-in and upgrade the roster i.e. its starting 5 and bench. The Rockets have a bevy of picks beyond the ones of their own that they're missing - including an additional 1st in this year's draft at 20th) to bring in further veterans around the dynamic duo of an aging Harden (21 PPG & 11 APG on 44/38/87 splits this season) so they're not incapable of filling out the roster with a greater veteran presence and rounding out the bench unit instead of calling it a day at just selling the 4th + 1-2 young guys for another All-StaAll-NBA player and, to be blunt, leaving their two stars to a second round exit. At best.
Lastly it's also worth keeping in mind that this a pretty poor free agency class to splurge on where Harden is the best free agent on the market so there aren't a lot of non-trade options to improve the roster at key positions.

I don't take almost anything from the lore into consideration
this post is just me being boring and using my zero knowledge
​
the monster hunter franchise is interesting, and known for its "realism"
which in my opinion is quite forced, you can say "it's realistic for that world" then that's right
but to say that they could actually exist is a stretch
​
and they make me question the logic of this world a lot because: if evolution is something real in monster hunter, how at some point the human species (or any other species) had the opportunity to evolve
Also, even on islands there are enough resources for monsters like these to exist.
you know, oxygen is not everything for something to get big (and if I'm not mistaken this only works for arthropods) it takes resources, and everything in monster hunter is huge , everything, even what would be "sheep" are too big
​
deviljho is a very chaotic case because, as a species like this, which the only thing it does is devour, it has not been extinct before
because this critter is very likely to be cannibals and they seem so uncontrollable that I doubt they have the patience to take care of their eggs or at least lay them
​
another thing, is the reproduction of herbivores
or they have a very fast reproduction and an even faster growth or they are very lucky
because 90% of big monsters are carnivores (I know that in cases where the herbivores are big, they are the strongest but) besides the almost null defenses of the herbivores, several of them have tails to defend themselves (like aptonoth, larinoth and apceros) but most of the time there is not enough time to use them
​
in addition to the physics in monster hunter being very doubtful, because an animal weighing three hundred kilos jumping (anjanath, deviljho among others) and leaving with bones intact is impressive
the ability of monsters to dig the ground at absurd speeds and without any problems is also incredible
the lava part bothers me a lot, I know that monster hunter animals are made of titanium and such, but even so, they can swim and use a thing that has more than 1000 degrees celsius as armor is too strange
the "static" excuse to explain zinogre's rays seems strange to me, because I didn't know that static is enough for lightning to fall from the sky
i hate fatalis, but I do not refuse to defend the fact that somehow a species of reptile with 6 limbs managed to evolve to the point of becoming the most powerful species in the world, that's overcoming
​
the "fanged beasts" class is just confusion
because her idea is to have the mammals
but then why duranboros, banbaros, zinogre, some herbivores and other mammals are not in it, (this is a stupid question)
​
Why do amphibians have scales? isn't that the point of being an amphibian, not having scales so you can "breathe" through your skin?
​
this post was just a test, and I know I'm going to be hated, but ok
​
goodbye

I'm a grade checker by trade. I recently injured my back setting hubs in the ground. Not bad or anything but I've thought this many of times... It's 2023 and in my state I'm still using hubs and lathe. Is there anything easier? I'm currently using d60 nails with whiskers while my back gets better but I am looking for some physical display of grade that is easier and faster. I'm at a warehouse rn and total stations aren't easily available to me, gps is not accurate enough, laser takes too long. For instance curbs in place rn I'm shooting end of curb, getting y for slope then I've already got length and intervals from gps that I laid everything out on so I don't use a tape measure at all. Then i set nails but that's slow. A good blade hand can easily catch me if we were in a rush. I want to know if there's betteeasier way other than total station/prism/mmgps. Mainly for visually displaying grade to blademan or 613 scraper

It is now becoming a thing in the fellow HCOL city of Los Angeles for people to rent out RVs parked on the street because it's the cheapest option.
https://abc7.com/los-angeles-vanlords-rv-renters-rvs/13322319/ for those out of the loop.
I have mixed feelings about this, on one hand it's pretty exploitative of those with little options, but on the other hand, it's providing housing at a cost where the supply doesn't really exist, and if it becomes widespread it would make it harder for police to harass them since it would be harder to single out in one RV when there's dozens. If worked in DC I would definitely rather pay $800 for an RV than whatever it costs to rent a room out in Arlington I definitely would, hell I'd pay that to rent one in Fairfax.
Although I say nova, because while the above phenomenon is happening in the city, I don't see it happening in DC here because most of the streets wide enough have some sort of federal building on them, and I could definitely see the police harassing tenants because of "national security" or whatever, so if does end up happening here, I'd imagine it would be in suburban areas like Arlington, Alexandria, or Fairfax.
Just curious what everybody's thoughts are.

First Chapter
Chapter Eighteen
Chao peered at the holographic display at the front of the landing boat as she talked to an international audience. “Okay, folks! You can now see the Coalition Exploration Bureau’s ship Exultant Finger of Rithro. It’s missing its usual armor configuration; normally, this corvette would have triangular cones of armor at the front and back. But they re-configured that armor material into a shell to prevent us from seeing them as they flew towards Earth. Merely as a precaution; they flipped the shell around a few weeks ago to display their ship to us. They even extended their radiators towards our planet, which to them is a signal of surrender.”
She smiled at Parvati, who floated next to her. “Pretty cool, right?”
“Very cool indeed!” exclaimed Parvati. “So where is the damage?”
Chao pointed. “See these toroidal tanks around the middle of the ship? They hold hydrogen for the ship’s fusion drive, but after tangling with that Breaker some of them got punctured. You can see the holes there, there, and there. That means they’re now limited in how long they can burn the reactor. Plus the FTL drive is now pretty much kaput. It apparently uses a lot of energy.”
Parvati pondered the display. “Faster than light,” she mused. “We need that. After we get the fusion drive technology, of course. Assuming that ever comes out of committee.”
Chao laughed. “Well, that’s why we’re here, right? To show all of humanity what could be ours.”
“Will we go outside? I mean, for real outside?” The actress reached towards the display, halting when she realized there was no physical screen.
“We’ve got pressure suits. Should be okay, we did plan for going out for a few minutes to get some direct video. It’ll be limited in time, those suits aren’t really meant for proper EVAs…”
“Oh, that’s no problem!” said Takh from behind them, causing both women to do the equivalent of a zero-g jump. For someone so big, he somehow managed to just…arrive on the scene. “We’ve got plenty of components on board, we can make you all some proper hardsuits!” He grinned at the camera on Chao’s chest; watching an udhyr grin was an awe-inspiring sight, what with all of the teeth and mandibles. “It’s all snap-together for any body type, it works just like your Legos!”
Parvati, of course, was the first to regain her composure. “Thank you Takh, I’m sure that will be very welcome. One thing has occurred to me; even if our material is successful in allowing you to patch your tanks, you will still require hydrogen to fill them, yes?”
The XO’s cheer didn’t fade. “Of course. We’ll find a nearby ice-containing body and extract us some hydrogen. We already have a few candidates chosen. You can all come and ride along! It should be fun to watch.”
“Yes, very fun.” Parvati met Chao’s eyes in a clear unspoken message of is this guy for real?
A much smaller hand crept its way around Takh’s leather-armored shoulder. “Now, my dear,” said McCoy. “We mustn’t interrupt the PR people. They’re half the reason we’re out here, after all.” She winked at the two other women; both of the latter winked back.
“Oh, of course!” Takh bowed formally to the two. “Forgive me.”
“No worries,” said Chao.
“There is nothing to forgive, my good sir,” replied Parvati with an equally formal bow.
The huge alien and petite corporal vanished, leaving the two women to watch the ship as the boat headed for its docking cradle.
“They are utterly adorable,” said Parvati.
“So are you two,” said Chao.
“Sorry?”
“You and Ravindar. I’m not saying to make your move right now. We’re gonna be on camera for a while, and I know I just made a bunch of people on Earth go squee. But you need to tell him how you feel.”
For once the actress looked flustered. “I…I couldn’t, he’s so brave and strong…”
Chao’s voice sounded out like the slamming of a vault door. “Stop. I had the same problem. I was into someone who was brave and strong. Not as big as Ravindar, but then again few people are. Then I found out he was into me too, but because he thought I was smart. I’m not as smart as he thinks I am, but I’m not going to tell him that.”
Parvati glanced into the rear of the landing boat, where Martinez was in the midst of puttering around with the human and alien crew. The actress now looked thoughtful. “I see.”
“All I’m saying is, you don’t need to be exactly in-sync in terms of what you see in each other.” Chao smiled. “Heck, you might even find out that you’re in-sync in ways you didn’t see coming.”
The dark-haired Indian fixed Chao with a stare. “I sense there is a story somewhere in there that you’re not telling me. Ah well, as you say it can wait until we are all no longer under the camera’s gaze.”
__________
Master Sergeant Wilkes smiled down at the spidery alien. “Kifa, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. Consider it part of your helping us to train. This person made a living while driving one of the highest, fastest aircraft we’ve ever made.”
“Oooh!” Kifa looked very pleased at the idea. “That’s a good area to focus on! Where orbital mechanics and aircraft mechanics meet.”
“Indeed.” Wilkes nodded at the near door. “You may come in, sir.”
A man walked in, his face stretched taut in the way which only scar tissue can appear.
Kifa peered up at him. “Forgive me, this is probably very insensitive, but…were you injured?”
He laughed. “I sure was! Burned to a fare-thee-well!”
“Oh, I am so sorry!”
He smiled. “No need to be sorry. Hey, do you want a headpat? Word on the street is your species like that sort of thing.”
The xyrax rocked back and forth on its legs. “Well, a human headpat is always welcome….”
The man reached up and wiggled his fingers, making a great show that his pinky had full range of motion. “See this? Pure miracle that I can do that. The surgeon putting my hand back together, just on a whim, decided to put a pin in here so’s that my pinky finger can grasp properly. Good thing too, otherwise I would’ve never made it through the physical training.”
He then reached forth and with that rebuilt hand dispensed quite a few righteous headpats onto Kifa. After a mutual moment of happy bonding, the xyrax spoke again.
“What training were you pursuing?”
“The same thing you and I are gonna be doing for a week or so.” His eyes, narrowed with scar tissue, lit up. “My dear Kifa, I’m gonna make you into a Sled Driver. God willing and the creek don’t rise, we might get to do it for real and not just in the simulators. They’re already pulling a bunch of Blackbirds out of mothballs. Hell, even the Russians are offering us titanium for building new ones. Seems like everybody’s got a fire lit under their kiester.”
Kifa’s eyes, already big and black, got even bigger. “What is a Sled Driver?”
“Why, it’s only the best profession on the planet, my little blue-furred friend. We get to go fast.”
__________
Joachim regarded the cylindrical, human-sized tank with some trepidation. It looked far too much like a transparent coffin. “You want to stick me in that thing?”
Zawahir nodded. “I know it’s a lot to ask, sir. It is entirely up to you, in the end. But if this works…” He waved at the tank. “If this works, then you will emerge from that tank physically in your twenties.”
They both regarded the tank for a moment, which was full of a clear and, at the moment, a very exclusive liquid.
“Corina too, of course,” said Joachim as he leaned back in his wheelchair. “If it works on me first.” He still wasn’t quite sure where he was; there had been a lot of back-and-forth with planes and whatnot.
“Of course,” said Zawahir. “That goes without saying.”
“Then the two people injured in the DC attack. This will regrow their limbs, correct?”
“Well, naturally.” Zawahir smirked. “They’re the Borlaug Institute’s big publicity stunt, after all. Testing on two people before-hand should be enough to let us know if it’ll work on them.”
“Of course.” Joachim gazed at the tank. “I’ll do it, on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“If…if I don’t come out okay, I want everyone to know that I tried, right? And I do mean everyone. All of humanity.”
“I’m just one person. At the moment, I can only promise that I’ll say what I can.”
After a moment, Joachim nodded. “Then put me in there. I just need to talk to Corina beforehand.”
“Of course, sir.”
__________
The blue-suited woman with a blonde pony-tail smiled as she stared into the camera. “Welcome to Summit Technologies’s livestream of Point-Counterpoint, I’m Amy Coulson. We are currently talking about and debating the latest announcements in space-based systems. As everyone is aware, this has become a source of great concern in the last month or so.” She nodded to the beige-suited man next to her. “This is Walter Higgins, formerly of TRW and who now works for Northrop-Grumman. Walter, to start with can you tell us what the current status is of the repair effort for the alien craft?”
Walt leaned forward, putting his forearms on the desk in front of them. “Well, the main concern is if the plates we’re providing for patching will actually work. So only one of the Rithro’s boats was launched…the one with Chao Me Chu and Parvati Devdhar, they’re towing the fifteen-ton loft provided by ULA to avoid wasting too much energy. Just in case the patching doesn’t work.” He winked at the camera. “I assure you, as someone in the aerospace industry, ULA is going to be very proud of that for a good long while. Anyways, at the moment, they are approaching the L5 point and we should be able to get some spectacular pictures of, well, everything. Of the Earth from near the Moon’s orbit, of the Moon itself, and most importantly of the Rithro.”
Amy nodded in a comradely fashion, but Walt was not fooled. He’d dealt with reporters before. “Sounds intriguing, and I’m sure everyone on Earth looks forward to such sights. But mere patching will not be enough to solve the ship’s issues, correct?”
He sighed. “You’re right. One of the ship’s fusion engines was damaged, and that limits their top speed. Think of it as…you’re a big ocean liner with three propellers, and one goes down. You might still be able to steer using just the other two, but you’re not going to be as effective or fast as you might be.”
“Effective,” she mused. “I suppose that our helping fix their fusion drive is among those bits of alien tech currently prohibited?”
“Yes. I have heard some rumors that the Borlaug Institute in Iceland has had some great initial success, so I hope that soon we will be able to tackle the fusion drive problem.”
She stared at him a bit, which he knew was a bit of theatricality. “Such a repair would make them more capable against these so-called ‘Breakers’, correct?”
“So-called? Now, Amy. Don’t tell me you’re agreeing with those lunatics?”
In the weeks since the simultaneous attacks, a few manifestos had cropped up online. All mostly spouted the same nonsense; at least, nonsense in Walt’s eyes. They all said the same thing; that the Breakers were fake. That this whole rigamarole was a false flag effort by the Coalition, one intended to get all of humanity under their thumb.
“I don’t agree with them,” said Amy, to her credit. “I’m merely stating the other side of the conflict. Yes, I think most people agree that there is an alien ship up at the L5 point which has been grievously damaged. I do trust the evidence of my eyes. I’m sure our two…”
“Five.”
“…five brave souls heading out to that very point at L5 will see exactly the same thing as the Hubble did. But. Have you considered, just for the sake of argument, that evidence of an attack is not evidence of Breakers? Perhaps this is some local dispute, and the crew has set up some sort of fake attack. They could intend to use us as shock troops to settle it.”
Walt leaned back in his chair as he went through the longest twenty seconds of his life. He knew things, thanks to his role. He also knew that if he spoke them aloud he would be burning his entire career right down to the waterline. “That is somewhat possible. But not probable.”
She leaned forward, as if sensing she had him on the ropes. “Why?”
“Because they didn’t need to.” His gray eyes were calm as he stared at her and measured his words. “Do you have any notion, any single clue, of the firepower that ship possesses?”
“Um…well, no, that part’s still classified.”
“I will give you a hint. They have a spinal railgun that could, with around three shots, turn any metropolitan area on earth into a molten crater. They have nuclear-tipped missiles, even one of which could burn a city to the ground. They didn’t need to play nice, Amy. Those aliens could have stood off in orbit, smacked a few cities, and then gotten on the radio to dictate terms of our surrender. We’d have no choice but to comply.”
He stared daggers at her, half expecting some black-suited guys with earpieces to jump in and haul him away. But nothing happened, it was as if the world was holding its breath. “They did their very best to treat with us fairly, to treat us as equals.”
Amy looked away. “I…I hope that is true.”
“It is.” He glanced behind his shoulder for any Men In Black, but nobody was there so far. Maybe he should continue. He assumed a smile, one which he did not feel. “Anyways. We will see what they see, when they get there. There is, also, the international consortium’s proposal for the Sea Dragon.”
The reporter rallied, clearly grateful for the change in subject. “Ah, yes. You’ve reviewed the designs of this craft. Is it really necessary?”
“At the moment, yes. Starship holds a great deal of promise, but they’re still trying to crack the reusability and multiple-refueling issue. This design does permit reusability…of the first stage, if nothing else…but it isn’t strictly necessary for success. Success, in this case, consists of tons to orbit.”
“Why something so big, though? Won’t it be an issue?”
He chuckled, feeling surer of himself. “That’s why we’re launching it in the ocean, in the middle of nowhere.”
She actually looked troubled, so he figured he’d throw her a bone. “The first launch won’t have anything…controversial.”
“But Walt, the second launch is the issue! Nobody has launched this much radioactive material into space.”
“We need to, Amy,”
“But on an almost untested rocket? From a design which is decades old?”
“We have top people on it,” said Walt. “Including people from that era, who know exactly the pitfalls and also have access to modern technology.”
“Which people?”
“It’s still secret as to their identities. But like I said, I can confirm rumors that the Borlaug Institute is already paying significant dividends.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Over a billion dollars funneled into a figurative black hole in Iceland. Why would you believe anything they say?”
“They’re going to have some serious proof soon,” said Walt.
__________
Iceland. Joachim had never, ever expected to visit Iceland. But yet here he was…again. He stood with no cane, with nothing supporting him but his own two legs. He stared at a nearby volcanic massif, one covered with green lichen. The spring was coming in, and the ground around him was similarly strewn with fuzzy green growth. His beard and hair were now coming in dark again, with only a hint of gray at the tips to betray his true age.
He heard some light-footed steps coming up the trail behind him. It must be Zawahir.
“Why the hell am I back in Iceland?” Joachim replied.
"This is where the tech is, at least for the moment. How are you feeling, sir?”
“I feel…like my old self, Zawahir. I forgot what it was like to have knees that don’t hurt anymore. How is Corina’s, er, ‘tanking’ proceeding?”
“Very well, sir. I am overseeing the procedure of her ‘tanking’ myself, I just wanted to come and let you know that everything is looking good.”
Joachim looked down at the back of his hand. It was no longer wrinkled, no longer showed a welter of age spots. “When?”
“She should be out in…seventy-two hours. That’s how long it took you.”
“Good to know.” He turned to face Zawahir. “My friend, I am going to need every single internet connection you have for the next seventy-two hours. I have a lot of design work to take care of in that time frame; I will need to have a lot of meetings using those oh-so-clever ‘online’ apps. I’ll be indisposed after that.”
“Sir?”
Joachim stepped forth and placed a newly-strong hand on Zawahir’s shoulder. “My dear Zawahir. I am now physically twenty again. In the next three days my wife, the love of my life and she who I hold dear above all else, will also emerge from your magic alien goo and she will also be physically twenty years old. What do you think will happen after she is thus reborn?”
Zawahir’s eyes widened. “Oh. OH! Yes, of course. Please, follow me.”
Joachim chuckled to himself as he followed the man towards the low-roofed buildings of the Borlaug Institute in the distance.
__________
Chao was now clad back in her pressure suit; fortunately, the aliens were quite adept at helping the humans back into their cloth-and-glass cocoons. She looked over at Parvati. “Neil can bite us.”
Parvati grinned. “For sure. Neil was a very great man, but sadly he never got to see an alien starship.”
Chao checked the readout at her wrist, ensuring that she was indeed sealed up and pressurized. She looked over at her four fellow humans, and received nods in return. “We’re go, Captain Sadaf.”
The on-board crew of the Rithro were now back in their chromed, faceted hardsuits. “Depressurizing,” said Sadaf. “Please monitor those to either side, sing out if you see any stress.”
Chao reminded herself to breathe normally as things just got…quiet. Very quiet. She managed, through sheer willpower, to not have an utter panic attack as she realized that there was nothing between her and a life-sucking nothing except for a few layers of fabric and plastic.
She glanced over at Parvati, who looked to be also in the midst of trying (and fortunately succeeding) at combating her own panic attack behind her Plexiglas helmet. “Doing okay?” asked Chao, and immediately felt like an idiot for asking such a stupid question.
Still, Parvati nodded. Chao felt a tap at her shoulder, and looked over at Martinez. The corporal grinned at her from behind his own transparent head-cocoon. “Doing okay?” he asked with just the right bit of cheekiness.
Chao slapped his shoulder, but it was a playful slap. “Dipshit.” She forgot, in the moment, that she was begin transmitted live to the world. Her curse was thus broadcast to pretty much every kid on the planet, who then gleefully repeated her curse-word until they all got smacked by their parents.
She didn’t know that at the time, her entire world was the airlock door that now opened to reveal…black.
Utter black.
Chao had enough experience in zero-g maneuvering to push herself towards the door. “Oh. Man. Folks, this is it. Gonna step outside, for at least a little bit.”
She could feel both Martinez on one side and Sadaf on the other. The latter figured; the captain struck Chao as a ‘lead from the front’ type.
“Grip the frame,” said Sadaf. Through the translator bead her voice was deadly calm. “No big muscle movements, just kind of…drift where you want to go.”
Chao obediently swung herself up and out of the boat, reveling in the fact that now she was seeing the Exultant Finger of Rithro in real time. The long ship stretched alongside a clamshell-like shield, its radiators stretched out towards the Earth in a gesture of surrender.
Speaking of which…
Chao kept a firm hold on the doorframe as she looked behind her. A small, fragile, blue-and-white marble floated before her, a sphere which looked to be the size of her thumb-tip held at arm’s length. Chao did so with her free gloved hand, watching her thumb occlude that fragile-loooking sphere. And in that moment, her world was completely changed.
It is one thing to know a fact. It is one thing to meet aliens, to accept that they are from oh so very far away, that your world is but one little dust mote drifting in the vast and limitless cosmic ocean. But it is quite another to see that fact laid bare before you, where you can witness it in real-time through nothing but a Pexiglas helmet. Chao now knew. Everyone she’d ever known, everyone she’d ever heard of, every king or warlord or emperor or internet celebrity who anyone had ever heard of had lived down there, upon a sphere that looked to her like the most ephemeral of soap-bubbles. She had the crazy notion that she could just reach out one gloved finger and pop it.
She also knew that millions, perhaps billions, were watching this live via her bodycam. Perhaps they were going through the same epiphany.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she knew she was on the verge of tears. No, that was a bad thing. She was in freefall; there was no way for those tears to stream down her face. They would just collect over her eyes and blind her. So Chao breathed in deep and managed to tamp down those threatened tears.
“Chao?” called out Sadaf through her comm. “Are you all right?”
“I’m good, Captain. Just…next time…, we send up a poet.”
__________
Shaw hated, hated, hated having to use a wheelchair to get around. Most of the time he could wheel himself around using his substantial arms, but every so often the nursing staff would try to get oh so helpful and try to push him towards where he was going. Several of them had nearly lost limbs of their own thanks to such efforts.
Still, he was alive and that was a good thing. Although…watching Agent Milton Vila and his family, who were nearby as he went through his own convalescence, made Shaw reevaluate his life choices. It would be nice to have a wife and kid to hug while one went through the worst thing ever. But he was too old, such things were well behind him. While on autopilot, Shaw wheeled himself down the tiled and very off-white hallway with a sour air. One which told the entire staff that he was Not To Be Disturbed. He was thinking of a particular girl, one with the cutest pigtails and the sunniest smile. Yeah, she would have been the one, if he’d had his head on straight back then.
And then, in spite of his ‘Fuck the Fuck Off energy’, someone did block his path.
He stared at a pair of narrow legs, clad in narrow pants, then looked up with a distinct lack of humor. “I do believe you are in my way.”
The dark-skinned man blocking his path smiled, but it was a gentle smile. “I am. But, I am very sure you will want to hear my offer. Both you and Agent Vila.”
Shaw regarded him with gimlet eyes. “Oh, really? What’s your name?”
“I’m Zawahir Ibn Harith. I am the head of the…”
“I don’t give a single solitary fuck,” said Shaw. “I’ve had plenty of people trying to get me to tell them my life story since I got my leg removed with extreme prejudice. I don’t know how you got in here, but you strike me as someone just like them, Harith. So. I may be minus one leg, but I can still fuck you up but good. I can fuck you up so bad you’ll never shit right again. Do you wanna get out of my way now?”
The man’s smile didn’t change. “Borlaug Institute.”
“What. Really?”
“Really, sir. Both you and Agent Milton Vila. It sounds…very cynical, but you were the two that we wanted to heal first. As an object lesson to humanity. Do you understand?”
The notion made Shaw’s mind reel. “Heal?”
“Fully. We have successfully restored two people to the prime of life, and we are now certain that we can do the same for you and Agent Vila. With all of your limbs intact. We have done a great many tissue-sample experiments, and it appears that the regeneration also re-grows limbs.”
Shaw looked down at his missing lower leg. “And you’ll do the same for Milton?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Stop calling me sir, I work for a living. Call me Mack.”
“Very well…Mack. I won’t lie to you, this has been planned well in advance. But it turned out that limb re-growth for humans also unlocked certain regeneration within our cells, particularly the telomeres…”
Shaw held up a meaty hand. “Just…I’m a dumb grunt in such matters, don’t bother to tell me how it works. So you have some kind of magic goo that you slather over me and hey presto I’m twenty again?”
“That is more or less the shape of it, si…Mack. You will need to be immersed in the ‘magic goo’ for at least three days. Perhaps more, since this will also be regenerating a limb.”
“Either way, I go first,” said Shaw, with a flinty glare up at Zawahir. “I’m the test subject, and you need to test me good after I get re-birthed from your goop. I know you said you’d done it on two people, but we need to make sure this doesn’t give me some kind of bullshit super-cancer before Milton goes in. He’s got a wife and a kid. If he has to use a prosthetic instead of magic alien goo, then he has to use that instead. Understand?”
Zawahir gave Shaw a little bow. “Of course. I do believe you are quite the appropriate test subject.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself. Where is this shindig taking place, anyway?”

The term ontological shock is getting bandied about a lot and people are using it to mean “something shocking,” which doesn’t really capture what how it’s experienced. I think it’s important people know what causes it and what to do about it, because depending on how things develop in the next few weeks, some of you may experience it.
The best place to start is honestly with a bit of neuroscience: let’s talk about the job of the left half of your brain. The left brain has been called “The Explainer” because one of its jobs is to tell us stories about things that are happening. These stories are crafted from our worldview, which is a summation of all of our life experiences and education.

In an attempt to weave a consistent narrative, the left hemisphere will fabricate explanations.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-your-brain-lying-to-you/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-brain-and-value/202008/psychology-the-left-hemisphere-the-brains-interpreter
There is a psychological condition called Anton-Babinski syndrome. This causes people who are blind to believe they can see. That’s because their left brain is making up stories about what is in front of them, despite a complete lack of information. Normally the brain overrides it with sensory input which says “hold on, something is missing,” but with this disorder that is simply bypassed.

Our brains also unconsciously bend our perception of reality to meet our desires or expectations. And they fill in gaps using our past experiences.

https://neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/reality-constructed-your-brain-here-s-what-means-and-why-it-matters
https://www.brainfacts.org/Brain-Anatomy-and-Function/Anatomy/2014/Right-Vs-Left-Brain-Theory
This video does an excellent job of demonstrating what happens when you rid yourself of the left brain: https://youtu.be/PEzzZ__ccgQ
Many people know that the left brain is associated with logic and reason, and to a certain degree this is true (it’s been somewhat challenged in recent years), but that worldview is what really matters here. Your brain will not only use your worldview to explain things to you, it also protects that worldview vehemently. Information that directly challenges it is often discarded entirely. Our brain tells us that things are the way it expects them to be—period. https://theconversation.com/humans-are-hardwired-to-dismiss-facts-that-dont-fit-their-worldview-127168
https://neurosciencenews.com/facts-worldview-21233/
Ontological shock is what happens when you have an experience that confronts your worldview in such a way that it can’t be ignored. The left brain still tries to explain things, but those explanations start to become less and less likely (and reasonable).
It’s at this point that people start to genuinely wonder: “Am I going crazy?” They may seek out other people with a familiar worldview so that they aren’t challenged; or they may opt to explore the possibility that they were wrong, and that their worldview was incomplete or even entirely wrong.

The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds. — William James

Some of the news that’s eventually going to come out is likely to challenge your worldview:

Everybody involved knows it’s not just the nuts and bolts, and we are being very careful not dancing too far over that line because it will scare the bejeezus out of people if it gets too deep into the woo. And so, and yet all of us know that the woo is just around the corner.

The “woo” here is likely referring to things that may challenge Materialism, which is the foundation of nearly everyone’s rational worldview. It tells us that the fundamental nature of reality is based on physical matter. But suddenly people are starting to grapple with the idea of interdimensional beings that can seemingly pop in and out of our existence—and I promise you it will get a hell of a lot weirder from there, and from otherwise reliable sources.
The neuroscientist, Dr. Mona Sobhani, experienced ontological shock when the evidence she had compiled regarding the existence for psi (ESP) became so overwhelming to her that she could no longer deny it (this process took years, by the way). She described it one interview this way:

I didn’t want to get out of bed for a year. Every morning I would wake up, and I literally wanted to die. Everything I knew had been wrong.

That sounds dramatic, but it’s a common experience with genuine ontological shock. Because the root, ontology, means “the nature of reality.” When you suddenly realize that the world works in a very different way than you thought, you no longer have any way to rationally analyze things because your “prediction model” goes out the window.
For some people ontological shock can trigger severe anxiety, derealization/depersonalization, and depression. If you experience any of these symptoms please consider seeing a mental health professional. They may not be able to help you sort out the true nature of reality, but they can help you manage your symptoms while you go through it. I’m speaking from experience here.
I wish you all well in the time to come, and I encourage you to be willing to set aside your expectations of what is “real” and be open to the idea that our understanding of reality stops long away from the borders.

It's finally summer! Sounds to me like a great time for a summer fling! Time to meet someone and catch some feelings! I'm a 45 year old guy from sunny southern California. I'm looking for something long term and fun. I'm a laid back kind of dude who loves to talk and laugh. I'm a big fan of movies, the outdoors (especially the beach) and just having a good time. I'm pretty fun and I love joking around, but I'm also here for an emotional connection with someone special.
I'm looking to make a real connection with someone. Sense of humor and intelligence are the most important thing I'm looking for. On the physical side, I'm typically into women on the petite and a bit nerdy side of the spectrum. But those definitely aren't strict rules if we click. More than anything I'm looking for someone who can hold a conversation, is fun, and a bit adventurous. Although glasses are a definite plus!
I'd love to chat online for a while, leading into phone / video calls and potentially in-person if all goes well.
I hope to hear from someone soon! I'm looking forward to making that connection!

The first time I took the ACT was back in March, when I was required to take it at my school. I got a composite of 31 (technically a 30.75) with section scores 36-27-31-29, in order. I'd been studying pretty regularly then, though not too hardcore or anything. But after I got my score in late March, I stopped studying entirely. Now I occasionally help others with their ACT prep, which is better than nothing, I guess, but the only time I took a practice test after March was a week ago, when I got another 31 (this time, a 31.25). I guess at this point I just don't really care, but I'm still going to be taking the ACT for the second and last time tomorrow. So I wanted to know: is there anything I can do now to ensure that I at least maintain my score, or get a higher one somehow? Should I just go in tomorrow with zero expectations?
My target score has always been a 30, because there's no other benefit I can get unless I get a 36. But maybe I should've tried harder to go up at least a point or two... Is there any chance of that still happening for me?

29, F here
Background: I posted on here about a year ago about finding out my husband cheated on me (received a blow job) while we were engaged. I found out in July 2022, a few months before our wedding. He assured me that nothing physical had happened since the blow job which was Nov 2021, but he was still snapping and Sexting people which is how I found out. he was super apologetic and disgusted with himself. I really believed it. We decided to move forward with the wedding.
Since then, he’s been seeing a Certified sex addiction counselor biweekly. He assured me that the physical cheating was a one off mistake, but he always had a porn and KIK addiction. He decided that he was a sex addict. We established right away and wrote down our boundaries. He was not to get on the dark side of Reddit, download Kik, or etc, do anything that would trigger him to act out again. Our boundaries were very specific.
Fast forward to now. We’re married, we had a fantastic honeymoon, we are about to buy a house, been talking about babies, etc. we have a really great marriage outside of this problem. I had pretty much completely forgiven him for cheating on me and he just seemed to be doing so much better. A few weeks ago, He showed me a picture on Snapchat and whenever he was showing me I saw a chat pop up from someone.
I obviously don’t have to go into detail because his face said it all. He gotten on a Reddit thread for dirty Snapchat and was exchanging photos with men (my husband is bi). Obviously this was a shock to me. He had been going to therapy every week still and everything was really great between us. I tried to get everything out of him but he ended up lying to my face and saying that it only started that week when it actually had started months before. He still swears that he has not physically cheated on me since the first d-day a year ago in June 2022.
This happened a few weeks ago. He’s been going to SA meetings voluntarily, sometimes multiple times a day. Reading multiple books about sex addition, always listening to podcasts about it. He seems even more depressed this time. Lost 20lbs in 2 weeks, not sleeping. Truly distraught that he would relapse and break multiple boundaries. I hadn’t completely forgiven him obviously for breaking my trust for a second time but I was starting to heal because of his devotion to getting better on his own.
He has been taking the program and his therapy so seriously this time around. So seriously that he’s on one step where you have to come clean about everything that you’ve done.
He came clean that he not only cheated on me that one time in Nov 2021, but 4 other times before that throughout the course of our three-year relationship. 3 blowjobs and one physical sex. It was always with men and random people he met on sex apps. No emotions to it. He also admitted to have had sex one more time that happened after the original one that I knew about which happened in Jan 22. He told me that he had a man over at OUR apartment While I was getting my nails done who he had sex with without a condom. I was gone for less than an hour. This one obviously hurt the most because we were already legally married by that point, it was in my home, just makes me sick to my stomach.
My confusion comes from these facts. - all of these other times he admitted to physically cheating happened before the first D-day, which I had already moved passed - He’s obviously taking the program very seriously since he willingly admitted all that information to me. He had never willingly admitted information to me before, was always caught. - we have such a great marriage in all other aspects. We are physically intimate at least every other night. - I truly believe him when he says he wants to get better and never do this to me or anyone ever again
But at the same time I’m like distraught, I feel like I don’t know this person that I married. He still relapsed and broke almost every boundary. I love him so much but I don’t know how he could do this to us. We have such a great life and he acknowledges that. It’s always with men, I know that it’s a kink of his, but that obviously makes me have doubts that maybe I will never be what he wants, and this will happen again while I’m pregnant or just the rest of my life.
It’s so unfair that I chose this person to marry and I thought he was such a great guy and now it’s all out in the open and I feel like I have no control over my life.
Obviously I do want to stay with him. But I don’t want to have a lifetime of hurt. He’s gone too like 30 meetings in three weeks, has now clean clean about everything, and he is showing signs of actually wanting to change for himself.
I just want to be happy. And I wish it was with the love of the life.
Does anyone have experience of their partner actually changing?

Hi all,
27F, 5'4", about 155lbs (recent loss of about 20lbs in the past month or so due to incredible loss of appetite).
History of anorexia and bulimia (in teens and early 20s), PTSD, depression and anxiety. Also diagnosed with potential POTS and/or SVT as my heart rate ranges from ~40 anywhere to ~210 bpm. Gluten intolerant, if that matters at all.
Current meds: Lamictal (200mg bid), Adderall (20mg bid), Abilify (5mg), clonidine (0.1mg), Vitamin D (mega dose 1x per week). No recreational drug use, no smoking, occasional alcohol consumption.
I have no idea what is happening to me and it feels like all of these symptoms have been getting progressively worse in the last year or so (sorry if some of these are not related):

• Bad headaches
• Discolored (sometimes bright red, sometimes blue/purple), extremely hot then cold, and swollen hands (pain, burning, itching, tingling/stinging)
• Numb hands and feet (on and off)
• Leg numbness, tingling, and pain
• Face numbness (on and off)
• Joint pain and heaviness
• Unbearable fatigue
• Low blood pressure then high blood pressure
• Low/normal systolic with high diastolic blood pressure (ex. 93/80)
• Dizziness and sometimes fainting
• Sleep paralysis on and off
• Eye floaters and blurry-ish vision (this is more recent I think?)
• Insane sweating while feeling cold
• Inappropriate temperature reactions (sweating in cold temperatures, shivering in hot temperatures, etc.)
• Low body temp when feeling hot
• Shortness of breath randomly
• Frequent urination !!! (like 15+ times per day)
• urinary incontinence (more recently)
• Neck pain (sides)
• Sometimes feeling like I imagine it would feel to have a pinched nerve (right elbow, then other areas)
• Recent blisters on hands, fingertips, and face
• Severe diarrhea then constipation, nausea, and stomach aches accompanied by mucus discharge
• back pain
• Very visible veins on right thigh (looks like blue and purple webs maybe?) -heart rate ranges anywhere from 39-211bpm

Mayo Clinic appointment in a few weeks but really struggling mentally and physically and I have no idea what to expect. Driving is scary because legs sometimes fall asleep. I'm horrified of what all of this could be. I have a recent fear that some of this sounds like MS but I could be WAY off (I am really hoping this is incorrect). I know I am driving myself nuts, but this feels like SO much more than POTS and it's honestly feeling unbearable to live because I just can't function normally (yes, I'm in therapy thank God). I of course will explain everything to the doctors, but I also don't know what to expect and what questions to ask. Does this sound like anything in particular? Any suggestions as to what this could be or what I should ask at the Mayo Clinic would be so greatly appreciated.

Like is there any other option?... I will absolutely refuse Keppra, I get enough flashes of rage already.
I haven't read a single thing that makes me want to be on any of the meds I've read about.. seems to be mostly horror stories.
I've only had 3 major TCs in the span of 3 years.. that said, I broke my spine all 3 times and my back is now a mess, can't really work at the moment it's so bad, that and I've also been getting a lot of focal aware seizures...
The TCs and auras that can follow me around all day are fine as long as I have lorazepam, I can feel I'm in danger territory long before I actually get a TC, sometimes even the day before, the feeling is very distinct, if I take a couple mgs of lorazepam I'm fine, just a little drowsy.
I know I'll never be able to drive again, and don't feel safe doing it anyway, and will have to do a major career change as I mostly run heavy equipment/construction... was doing kitchen work right before my last TC, but I can't do that anymore either, it's harder on the spine than you'd think, it's stressful as hell, and if I do have a siezure in a kitchen, it could end really badly...
Anyhoo... most of my concerns are the actual epilepsy meds.. is it realistic to just kind of treat it as it comes with the lorazepam?
Can't remember the name of the drug my mom is on, but she used to get the siezures where your muscles go limp and then you just fall on the spot, no convulsions... she doesn't get those anymore, but trying to talk to her is almost impossible, she can't follow a conversation for more than like 5 seconds before talking about something else completely unrelated, at times I might as well be talking to a brick wall, this started shortly after she started taking them... this is the kinda shit I'm afraid of, I don't want to be like that... I'm kind of a space cadet already lol