I’m graduating from an anesthesiology program, and will be starting private practice in August. My residency enrolled us in a 401a FICA alternative, and mine is valued at ~20k in a target date fund (RFKTX), and fully vested. I’m married, with children, on a single income. I’m estimating that my income for 2023 will end up around 200-250k between residency salary through June (~35k) + per diem at my home institution for July ($15k) + private practice ($150-200k).
My group offers a Roth and traditional 401k. I was thinking of rolling my current 401a over to a Roth IRA, and also making my 401k contribution for 2023 as Roth, as we’ll likely be in the 24% tax bracket. I figure the Roth IRA will have better investment options, better estate planning, and to my knowledge, is protected from creditors in my future state of practice (Michigan), just like a 401k would be should a malpractice or other judgement come against me.
However, there are some downsides to this, and I have related questions:

1. Roth = taxes, and I’ll need to pay federal taxes on my rollover, about $5k out of pocket to make the 20k into Roth money. Plus taxes on my Roth 401k contributions, obviously.
   
2. Question: if I convert the 401a into a Roth IRA after I move from Florida (no state tax) to Michigan (4.25% tax), will I have to pay state income tax on this rollover? Do I need to make this maneuver before leaving Florida (in the next couple months) to save $850?
   
3. Is the consensus to take advantage of the lower tax bracket and do the things I’ve listed here? I have 400k in student loans at 3.3% interest (unfortunately refinanced just before Covid). This means that starting January 2024, I’ll have ~7k/month payments x 60 months per my refinancing contract. We’ve mapped out our financial plan and expect to live off 120k, which gives us 3k left over at the end of each month after all expenses, retirement contributions, insurances, etc…but it’s still daunting to think about. We have 60k in savings from selling our residency home, but I’m a bit anxious about spending any money before we get a feel for our new life and income. There will be several thousand in costs associated with moving and setting up a new, larger rental home, as well as adapting to life in a new climate (wardrobe).
   

On paper, the Roth makes sense. But part of me wonders if it’d be better from a peace of mind perspective to go tax deferred now, put the tax bill money in the bank, and keep it on hand for all the changes and expenses coming our way. Thoughts?

$20 LVL 40 Mystic PTC Account: 96IV Shiny Shadow Articuno. Ho-Oh. Thundurus. Shadow Mewtwo. 1.79 Million Stardust. 27 Rare Candy. Recovery eMail and In Game Name Changeable. All Pokémon Tradeable. Ref#:JH117
Photo: https://i.imgur.com/ow9SMMm.jpg
All tradeable Pokémon in the account are tradeable.
PTC Pokemon Trainer Club account recovery email and in game name changeable.
Contact me for more details.
PayPal, Alipay, WeChat accepted.
I also have no team selected PTC level 40 accounts for $13.
Cheap ($14) Shiny Noibat, Shiny 100IV Tyranitar, Shiny Tyranitar, or 1 legendary of your choice level 40 starter accounts.
Level 40 -> 50 stacked accounts.

So let me start by saying this is about a charge back that I just filed earlier today.
The story: So I went to the casino on a business trip and took out $200 and I had 150 something in Cash which I was fine with losing- just wanted to have a fun time.
I ended up getting a lot of free drinks while sitting at the tables and got a little drunker than I was anticipating.
Anyways, my last real memory from that night was getting into the Uber, leaving the casino. My next memory that I recall was getting a notification, my card was charged and searching my wallet, and realizing that I did not have my debit card.
I instantly froze and reported the charges and texted back YES, they were fraudulent on the text notification.
When I originally dispute it, I didn’t have any doubt in my mind that I went right back to the hotel after the casino. However, after I made the dispute charge, I tried to put together what happened that night, and I really can’t recall if anything else happened.
So my question for legal advice is since I put in this dispute charge can I face any legal repercussion if I actually happen to be the one that made the charges.
This is the first chargeback I’ve ever done on my debit card and I really have zero recollection of the night. It was $500 worth of charges but it was from an ATM machine so I am not sure how they would’ve gotten that to work. My main convincing point that makes me think that it was not me was that I woke up without my debit card.
I pretty much just want to know if when they do the investigation, if they find out it was in fact me, could I just accept the charges and move on or would their be additional issues or punishment?
$500 really isn’t that big of a deal but I don’t want to get charged for someone else’s benefit.
This may be very dumb but I am just worried about potential fees or frozen accounts or even fraud accusations.
Happy to provide anymore information I can to help better understand the situation.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the charges were at a different location than the casino. I think it was a strip club but I don’t recall going anywhere else and that’s not something I would usually do. I have only been to 1 before for a friends bachelor party out of state.
Thanks

List has been updated with additional SNES, N64, and Gamecube games. Paring down some parts of my collection. Happy to post pics of anything that you might be interested in. Shipping is $5 for the first game or 2, and then goes up from there as needed. Shipping for consoles will be around $15, depending on where you live.
Check out my Playstation games post here (with new PS3 games added):
https://www.reddit.com/GameSale/comments/13uw65n/usaco_h_playstation_games_ps1_ps2_ps3_ps4_psp_w/
Check out my Sega and Xbox games here:
https://www.reddit.com/GameSale/comments/12r9dbv/usaco_h_sega_and_xbox_games_genesis_dreamcast_og/
NES (Cartridge Only)
NES console, power cable, AV cable, controller $80 (I have 2 bundles available)
Racket Attack $5
SNES (Cartridge Only)
Acme Animation Factory $15
Championship Pool $5
Claymates $15
Final Fantasy II $60
King of the Monsters $15
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past $40
Lion King $15
Mario Paint $5
MLBPA. Baseball $5
Monopoly $5
NHL Stanley Cup $5
NHLPA Hockey $5
P.T.O II $25
Pinball Dreams $10
Populous $5
Roger Clemens MVP Baseballe $5
StarFox $20
Super Mario World $25
Super Metroid $80
Tecmo Super Bowl $20
Tom and Jerry $15
Top Gear $10
Utopia $20
WWF Super Wrestlemania $10
Nintendo 64 (Cartridge Only)
N64 Console, power cable, AV cable, controller $100
N64 Console w/expansion pak, power cable, AV cable, controller $150
Memory Card (x5) $10/each
Rumble pak $20
Doom $35
Jet Force Gemini (No label) $5
NFL Blitz 2001 $30
Perfect Dark $20
Pokemon Snap $20
Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA (Label Issues) $15
Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer $10
Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire $15
Super Mario 64 (Faded label) $40
Superman 64 $15
Gamecube (CIB unless noted)
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 $10
Donkey Konga (Case and Disc) $20
Dragonball Z: Budokai (Case and Disc) $20
Dragonball Z: Budokai 2 $50
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles $20
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Case and Disc) $260
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (Case and Disc) $30
Lego: Star Wars: The Video Game (Case and Disc) $10
Mario Superstar Baseball (Case and Disc) $60
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System $35
Metroid Prime (Case and Disc) $30
Namco Museum (Case and Disc) $10
Nascar Thunder 2003 $10
NBA Street Vol 2 $35
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door $100
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (Case and Disc) $180
Pokemon: Colosseum (Case and Disc) $160
Power Rangers: Dino Thunder $10
Sonic Mega Collection $15
SSX 3 $25
Super Bubble Pop $10
Yu-gi-oh! The Falsebound Kingdom (Case and Disc) $20
Wii (CIB unless noted)
Wii Console, power, A/V, and sensor bar cables, Wiimote and Nunchuk $70
Ben 10: Galactic Racing $5
Ben 10: Protector of Earth $5
Build 'n Race $5
Call of Duty: Black Ops $5
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Case and Disc) $5
Carnival Games $10
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 2 $15
Disney Sing It: Family Hits (Case and Disc) $10
EA Active: Personal Trainer $5
Family Fest presents Movie Games $3
Game Party $5
Ghostbusters: The Video Game $10
Guinness World Records: The Videogame $3
Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock $25
Guitar Hero: World Tour $20
Just Dance $10
Just Dance 2 $10
Just Dance 3 $10
Just Dance 4 $10
Just Dance 2014 $10
Just Dance Kids (Disc only) $5
Just Dance: Summer Party $10
Kirby's Epic Yarn $20
The Last Airbender $10
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword $25
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess $15
Lego: Batman: The Videogame $5
Lego: Batman 2: DC Super Heroes $5
Lego: Pirates of the Caribbean $10
Lego: Star Wars: The Complete Saga $5
Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (Case and Disc) $5
Madden 11 $3
Major Leage Baseball 2K12 $5
Mario Party 8 (Case and Disc) $30
Mario Strikers Charged $15
Mario Super Sluggers $35
Minute To Win It $5
Monkey Mischief! (Disc only) $3
My Fitness Coach (Case and Disc) $5
My Sims: Agents (Disc only) $3
My Sims: Kingdom $5
My Word Coach $5
Neo Pets: Puzzle Adventure (Disc only) $3
Nerf: N-Strike $5
Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day (Disc only) $3
Petz: Crazy Monkey (Case and Disc) $5
Puzzle Kingdoms $5
Rapala: We Fish $5
Rayman: Raving Rabbids $5
Rayman: Raving Rabbids 2 (Case and Disc) $5
Rockband $20
Skate It $5
Skylanders: Giants $5
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure $5
Smarty Pants (Case and Disc) $3
Speed Racer: The Video Game $5
Squeeballs Party $5
Star Wars: Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels (Disc only) $3
Super Paper Mario (Case and Disc) $15
The Price is Right: Decades (Case and Disc) $5
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces (Case and Disc) $5
Thrillville: Off the Rails (Case and Disc) $5
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Case and Disc) $5
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 $5
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09: All play $5
Ultimate Band $5
Wacky Races: Crash & Dash $15
Wii Fit $5
Wii Music $3
Wii Play $10
Wii Sports (Disc only) $20
Wii Sports (Cardboard Sleeve and Disc) $25
Wii Sports Resort $30
Wonder World: Amusement Park $5
Zoo Hospital (Case and Disc) $5
Zumba Fitness 2 $3
Wii U (CIB unless noted)
Disney Infinity (No manual) $5
Disney Infinity 2.0 $5
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (No manual) $5
Family Party 30 Great Games: Obstacle Course (No manual) $5
Just Dance 2015 $5
Just Dance 2015 (Disc only) $3
Just Dance 2016 $5
Just Dance 2016 (No manual) $5
Just Dance 2017 (No manual) $5
Lego: The Movie Videogame $5
Madden 13 $10
Minecraft: Wii U Edition $15
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventure (Disc and manual) $10
Skylanders: Super Chargers (No manual) $5
Skylanders: Trap Team (No manual) $5
Smurfs 2 $20
Splatoon $15
Super Mario 3D World (No manual) $15
Nintendo Switch (CIB unless noted)
Gundam G: Generations Crossrays (JPN) (Cartridge only) $40
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild $45
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Cartridge only) $35
Minecraft Dungeons: Hero Edition (JPN) (Cartridge only) $20
Paper Mario: The Origami King $35
Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond (JPN) (Cartridge only) $25
Pokemon: Shining Pearl (JPN) (Cartridge only) $25
Super Mario Party (JPN) (Cartridge only) $20
Gameboy (Cartridge only)
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle $5
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2 $5
Donkey Kong (1994) $20
Final Fantasy Legend $25
Game & Watch Gallery $10
In Your Face $5
Monopoly $5
Xenon 2 $30
Gameboy Color (Cartridge only)
A Bug's Life $5
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 4 $20
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX $45
Mario Tennis $15
Rampage: World Tour $5
Gameboy Advance (Cartridge only unless noted)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory $5
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe $4
Disney Princess $5
Finding Nemo: The Continuing Adventures $5
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events $5
Mega Man Zero 2 $35
Midnight Club Street Racing $5
Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction (Box and manual, no game) $10
Nicktoons Unite (Box and manual, no game) $7
Pac-Man Collection $5
Spider-Man (Box and manual, no game) $15
Spyro: Season of Ice $7
Star Wars: The New Droid Army $5
Street Fighter Alpha 3 $45
The Sims: Bustin' Out $15
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 $10
Nintendo DS (Cartridge only unless noted)
50 Classic Games (CIB) $5
Avatar: The Last Airbender $15
Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush $3
Barbie Horse Adventures: Riding Camp $5
Brain Age $3
Cars: MaterNational Championships $5
Deer Drive $5
Diner Dash: Flo on the Go (CIB) $15
Final Fantasy III (CIB) $25
Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue $5
Insecticide $5
Madden 08 $5
Madden 09 $10
Major League Baseball 2K11 $5
Mario Party DS $10
My French Coach (CIB) $5
Nintendogs: Dachshund & Friends $5
Nintendogs (PAL) $5
Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (CIB) $5
Puss in Boots (CIB) $5
Quest Trio (CIB) $5
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing $8
Spore: Creatures (CIB) $10
Zubo $5
Nintendo 3DS (Cartridge only unless noted)
Code Name: STEAM $5
Miitopia $20
The Legend of Korra: A New Era Begins $5
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Cartridge only) $15
Tomodachi Life (Case and Cartridge) $40
Wario Ware Gold $35
Wipeout 2 (CIB) $5

I have been a correctional officer for the past 7 years for my state (worked in medium and minimum security). I have a BA in criminal justice. My state allows people with a BA in any human resources field including criminal justice to transition into social worker by taking some online courses and also being in a social work position for at least 1 year (with certain client contact hours also met). The prison I work at has plenty of openings, and they are all in the substance use disorder field (I have my coursework done for the substance use disorder) (the prison I work at is a treatment facility as well as a prison for inmates who have been convicted of drug or alcohol problems).
Tbh I want the job but am wanting some input from people who work in the law enforcement field. It would be a pay cut. I work on average 2 shifts of overtime a week and suddenly I would be going down to just 40 hours. This is a good thing overall because humans are only designed to work 32-40 hours not 48, 56, etc. My intent to wanting to move to another area of work and transition into social work is that I just want to be M-F 8am-4pm and not work crazier hours. I have worked 3rd shift my entire career and I just had 8 days off of vacation and it was so nice being up during the day. If things do not pan out I say give it my 1 year as required and then move into probation/parole because the state I live in the correctional officers are as of 2022 being shipped to other prisons around the state in 2 week increments due to staffing shortages.
I won't lie and a big motivator for me is that I am a gay guy. When I tell men at a gay nightclub or on a dating profile what I do for work they sometimes slowly distance themselves because law enforcement/the justice system has treated gay men in particular poorly. I believe being a social worker will help me in ways I am not even aware of yet. If things go good I would plan on having my CSW all good and done by late 2024 and then consider getting my MSW (where there is more student loan debt taken on but way more opportunities). In fact me getting my MSW is almost needed eventually because with a BA in criminal justice and a CSW just through my state I am somewhat limited on where I can even move - I would probably have to stay in my state as a social worker until I got my MSW and then could feel free to move about the country.
What do you think I should consider before saying yes after my upcoming interview? And before I forget: Not all law enforcement or the like are homophobes but there is undoubtably a good ole' boys club in corrections and law enforcement and I just feel like SW is a better fit with the way I think and function. If push comes to shove as far as money goes I could just reduce spending a little bit and also possibly get a second job but that is not something I would even consider for the first 6 months. This is a big big change as far as hours, money and work goes but I deep down feel like it is the right thing to do. ANYONE who wants to chime in feel free but if anyone on here has worked in case management, social work, probation/parole before or now please say so and give me your honest answer. I know there is a ton of paperwork and the like - which I will adapt to after a few months.

I read through all of Amtrak's rules about bringing golf clubs. I want to know how strict they are about which trains accept them as a carry-on. Their site says only trains in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin accept them as carry-on, though I am traveling within New York (SDY-ROC and back).
Has anyone had success bringing their clubs as carry-on on a NY train? Otherwise, I have to cancel and book on Lake Shore Limited to get checked baggage each way (which doubles the ticket price).

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PLEASE READ:

Before you start reading this post, PLEASE comment down below your answer to this question:

"What is rocking?"

There are no wrong answers, I just want to know what you think. After that, please come back and read the rest of this post. You can edit your comment with a before and after so we don't get all confused.
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This is a long post, I hope you read through it and give it some thought.

TLDR: Americans seem to use the term rocking to describe a certain shuffle technique, and are partially right. Opinions on why this term exists also given.
I stumbled across this term while taking a shuffle class at my local dance studio. The instructor described rocking as placing the stepping foot of the Tstep in front or behind you. This was news to me considering I have been shuffling for 10 years using the Melbourne Rocker style or Clubstyle and had never heard the term used in that way. To me rocking was this, this, this, this or this.
I decided to take this opportunity to learn and grow my knowledge. Using Youtube I found a whole bunch of videos like this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one. These linked videos will be what I am basing this post on.

There are two key elements that a lot of videos like this state are rocking:

1. Microbouncing or small hops mainly without Tstep
2. Stepping with the active leg behind you, in front of you, and cross leg. Sometimes referred to as a sequence, other times referred to as rocking itself.
There are other videos that state rocking is either the back and forth motion of the upper body, or the transition between RM and Tstep. EmpowerMelbourneShuffle also brings up the idea of a Halfmoon or Figure 8 pattern that possibly emerges from the 8x2 count of most 4 to the floor EDM these days. This back and forth pattern is most likely an organic phenomenon that just matched with the musical structure of the music. Listen to this song and count the measures using 1 to 8. New elements and changes are introduced every 16 or 2x8 counts. Watching someone like Brenton, his left to right orientation changes every 2 counts or so. I would say this is not a supremely concentrated effort based on my own experience as well, just the natural flow of the music lending itself to it. A more exaggerated and clear example is that of AUS/07 style with the changes in spacing.
The history of the term rocking is also unclear. Gaara states: "The origins of the term "rocking" is still unclear. There are accounts that it wasn't used commonly in the scene until the filming of the Melbourne Shuffler doco. Yet we also have Gary Shepherd's accounts of it being in the late 90's. As far fetched as some of his claims were, he was there for the beginning of the dance in Australia. Sadly he is no longer with us."
Now according to the Melbourne OG's who were the pioneers of the Melbourne Rockers style, rocking means "going wild or don't think, just do it". The closest analogue I can think of in American English is jam, jamming, or jamming out/jam out. If you were to replace the vernacular, it wouldn't really make much sense right? Imagine if in hip hop/urban dance the word "jam" or "jamming" was used to describe a particular technique, and there were tutorials on how to "jam". If semantic satiation hasn't gotten to you yet I hope you can understand my example.
To further my point here, let's look at the verbiage of "break", "pop", "krump", "lock", etc. Each of these words can be modified to denote something specific. Breakers, breaking, popper, popping, krumper, krumping, locker, locking, etc. It would be a little strange to take a term like "pop" and use in waacking for example to talk about muscle contraction, but that is only half of the story. Therefore, this can also extend into shuffling so as to designate Rockers and rocking. While the argument could be made that this vernacular variety does not extend to the rest of the shuffle styles such as MAS, AUS/07, RUS, etc and so shouldn't extend to Rocker's style I would say that the usage of the term Rock and it's associated words have already been used to mean a particular style already.
Though there is no documentation or official history on where the use of Rocking to describe a technique in America exists, I can only speculate it was some kind of "game of telephone" phenomenon where as the years went on and Cutting Shapes and Cali style became more or less the dominant style in America someone somewhere misinterpreted Rocking and ran with it. With the explosion of Shaping on the internet and the new age of tutorials reaching millions of views, these videos pushed out the Melbourne Shuffle and its branches out of the cultural spotlight. Therefore, this meme ran off the races and thus become the dominant idea of what Rocking is, at least in America. Again, just my hypothesis. I can also speculate these people and most (not all) of those agreeing with the usage of Rocking in this way have not watched the original Melbourne Rockers but that's my personal bias showing. What is important to note is that when asked a lot of these shuffle tutorials point to Emylee Ratzlaf as where they learned this technique from. I've tried to reach her for questions, but no response so far.
Of course we could just drop it there and call it a day but one question lingered in my mind.

What if they were (kind of) right?

Let's look at some more footage of Rocker's style. ShuffleTimeline does establish that hops are part of Rocker's Style to "control direction and floor usage" to adapt to the tight spaces of Melbourne clubs. So let's look for that in the footage. If you use the . and , keys on your keyboard you can go frame by frame in a Youtube video. Looking at Matt, Brenton, Francis (TSW) and Josh we can see that Yes, they are microbouncing or using small hops in their Tstep. I highly doubt they were putting a whole lot of conscious thought into these hops, but I can speculate that it is an effective way to control direction and floor usage. Wait, that sounds kind of familiar....
What I mean is that if you tstep without microbouncing and only using the pivoting motion moving any direction that is not side to side becomes difficult and a little bit unnatural. Using the bounce in combination with the Tstep allows better repositioning on the dance floor to control your movement as you try not to hit other people as you dance. A keynote here is that the rockers in Melbourne 90% of the time still had the Tstep in their movement, and not the technique taught above which is sometimes solely microbouncing without tstep pivoting. The times they didn't could be attributed to a sticky floor not easily allowing a pivot at that time (has happened to me before), fatigue, or other factors. Not being able to pivot your foot against the friction of the sticky floor can result in a movement instead that has the foot move backwards in what is described today as a "microbounce". It's a lot easier to hop backwards rather than fight against the stickiness to slide your feet.
Have you really read this far? I thank you for continuing to read my post. As an Easter Egg, please mention how much you like coffee deserts in your comment.
Let's address the second point now of stepping behind, in front, and cross leg in a sequence or otherwise. This is a perplexing thought to me as there was no need before to distinguish the above as specifically rocking itself. As we can see in this Project Style video the placement of the stepping foot is a matter of creativity in the dancer. After all, it would be kind of boring if you just only Tstep to the left and right, reverse or regular. The placement itself is not a technique on it's own if that makes sense, nor a sequence. As Gaara says in his own comment, "Also Melbourne Shufflers didn't teach sequences. It's meant to be left to your own imagination what you can do with/outside the core steps."
As we can see, these tutorials are in my opinion partially right. They get some of the picture of what rocker's style is but for some reason use the term Rocking to describe it. Instead, make the distinction between microbouncing as a technique, and demonstrating step placement as a matter of creativity on the dancer's part, not labeling them both as "rocking" because that term means something else. Even so, microbouncing itself seems to be taking an environmental roadblock and turning it into a "formal technique".
To summarize, these tutorials are kind of misleading and in my opinion the nomenclature should more clearly reflect what's being taught to not muddy the history and terminology of this dance.

Hey all! Like the title says, I’m looking for long-term friends around my age.
A bit about me: I am from Michigan (the best state). I work in the automotive industry and am working my first full-time job after college! My interests include cars (duh), video games (casually), tv/movies, Formula 1, American football, history, politics, finding new music, taking long drives and walks, and a lot more that I either can’t think of or are more random. I’d also love to hear what your interests are, and even if we don’t have anything in common, I’m sure there’s lots to talk about. I’m pretty open-minded!
I have several different socials we can talk on as well if you’d prefer IG, snap, iMessage or discord instead of here.
If any of this interests you, hit me up!
P.S. Don't worry if you're super far away from me. Some of the best people I've ever met have been on the other side of the country (or world) and I've met some of them in person regardless of distance!

Hey! Like the title says, I’m looking for deep connection that potentially may lead to a relationship with someone around my age.
A bit about me: I am from Michigan (the best state). I work in the automotive industry and am working my first full-time job after college! My interests include cars (duh), video games (casually), tv/movies, Formula 1, American football, history, politics, finding new music, taking long drives and walks, and a lot more that I either can’t think of or are more random. I’d also love to hear what your interests are, and even if we don’t have anything in common, I’m sure there’s lots to talk about. I’m pretty open-minded!
I'm a slight bit introverted, especially early on, but I open up to people pretty easily after getting to know them a little. I like to think that I’m pretty kind, but nobody is perfect. I'm also a pretty good listener and a bit of a hopeless romantic, and would consider myself at least somewhat funny.
I have several different socials we can talk on as well if you’d prefer IG, snap, or discord instead of here.
If any of this interests you, hit me up!
P.S. Don't worry if you're super far away from me. Some of the best people I've ever met have been on the other side of the country (or world) and I've met some of them in person regardless of distance!

Hey! Like the title says, I’m looking for deep connection that potentially may lead to a relationship with someone around my age.
A bit about me: I am from Michigan (the best state). I work in the automotive industry and am working my first full-time job after college! My interests include cars (duh), video games (casually), tv/movies, Formula 1, American football, history, politics, finding new music, taking long drives and walks, and a lot more that I either can’t think of or are more random. I’d also love to hear what your interests are, and even if we don’t have anything in common, I’m sure there’s lots to talk about. I’m pretty open-minded!
I'm a slight bit introverted, especially early on, but I open up to people pretty easily after getting to know them a little. I like to think that I’m pretty kind, but nobody is perfect. I'm also a pretty good listener and a bit of a hopeless romantic, and would consider myself at least somewhat funny.
I have several different socials we can talk on as well if you’d prefer IG, snap, or discord instead of here.
If any of this interests you, hit me up!
P.S. Don't worry if you're super far away from me. Some of the best people I've ever met have been on the other side of the country (or world) and I've met some of them in person regardless of distance!

Hi all! As I’m getting into the routine of my first full-time job post-college, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to start looking for that special someone. So, why not try looking online as well? Leave no stone unturned, I say. The perfect person could be here and I wouldn’t have known! So, here’s a bit about me:
Background/Interests:
I graduated from college last year with degrees in both marketing and management. I work in the automotive industry. My interests include cars (duh), video games – albeit casually, tv/movies, Formula 1, American football, history, politics, finding new music, taking long drives and walks, and a lot more that I either can’t think of or are more random. I’d also love to hear what your interests are, and even if we don’t have anything in common, I’m sure there’s lots to talk about. I’m pretty open-minded! And learning about new topics or being introduced to new activities and hobbies is always fun. Love to hear new perspectives and people’s stories, as well as share my own. I believe that everyone has so much to offer.
Personality:
I'm a slight bit introverted, especially early on, but I open up to people pretty easily after getting to know them a little. I like to think that I’m kind and considerate, but nobody is perfect. I'm also a pretty good listener and a bit of a hopeless romantic, and would consider myself at least somewhat funny. I strongly value family, honesty, faithfulness, accountability, and loyalty, so you can expect me to be 100% dedicated to you and our relationship. I’m a creature of habit, so I love routines. If we end up developing a routine of calling/visiting/doing things together, then that is something I’ll take great pleasure in. I also can really geek out on things and talk your ear off if you let me.
Appearance: I’m pretty average appearance wise. I’m 5’11, so I barely missed out on the 6-foot club. I’m white, have brown eyes, and short, thick brown hair. I usually wear glasses since I have terrible eyesight. I’m in decent shape, working on trimming down a bit, but I’m around 170 lbs. I’m usually dressed super casually (hoodies, sweats, pajamas, t-shirts, shorts, etc.) unless I have somewhere to go or dressing up for work, which I’ll have to do quite frequently.
What I’m Looking for in a Partner:
Firstly, being around my age is ideal (18-25). I find it easier to connect with people similar in age since we are all in similar parts of our lives. I’m not too picky so long as you take care of yourself and carry yourself well. I’m also looking for someone who has similar values as I do. You don’t need to have anything in common with me in terms of hobbies or interests, but it always is a bonus! You also don’t need to be close to me in terms of location! I have a car and some money to spend on travel. I’d be 100% willing to for that special someone. Most of all, I look for someone I can see myself spending my future with, through thick and thin.
Conclusion:
So if you made it this far and are still interested, I’d love to hear from you! No need to go crazy on introductions, just some basic information to get started is perfectly fine! And if we get along well, I’m more than happy to exchange pictures and other social media or numbers to communicate elsewhere. I’d also prefer not to rush into things. Taking the time to really get to know someone makes things work out better in the long run in my opinion.
Look forward to hearing from you!

Normally, discussions of voting theory discussions revolve around elections of positions of authority, or public referenda. I hope you don't mind the change of pace to something less consequential, but with much less entrenched interest in the status quo; the Eurovision Song Contest. I want to write a post on Eurovision to propose a new set of voting rules But I decided to present my ideas to people who know more about voting theory first.
The ideal voting system for ESC may be different from what's ideal for public elections. In public elections, a candidate that's passionately liked by 40% of voters should not be chosen over one that's preferred by the majority. But for a music competition, it may be better to select someone who is passionately liked by 40% of the audience over one preferred by the majority. One can be a good musician even if their work doesn't appeal to many people. Being too majoritarian may make entries too formulaic. Another consideration is that we want voting to be an enjoyable experience.
In the current system, half of the vote comes from public televoting, with the other half from juries of 5 music professionals from each country. If I understand correctly, voters from the general audience vote for entries using approval voting over the phone or internet. This is converted into a positional voting system, in which each country gives 12 points to it's most-voted entry, 10 points to it's second most-voted, and 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, & 1 to the rest of it's top ten. For the jury vote, each juror ranks their favourite entries. They use some kind of ranked voting system to determine the jury favourites in each country, possibly the one described above. Then each country gives points to others using the same positional system described above, but this time based on votes from their jury. Nobody is allowed to vote for their own country.
Instead of a 2-step process where people vote, and then countries vote based on how their people vote, I think a new system should be more direct, with less distortion based on where voters are located. Instead of each country being equally represented, I think it should be closer to proportionate, at least for the public vote. Perhaps the weight for each country could be ∛([voters]×[population]).
Here are the methods I have though of that can be used to select the winner in the grand final:
Approval Voting: Each voter gives one vote to each entry they would be happy to see as the winner, and 0 to everyone else. The winner would be the one with the highest approval percentage among voters eligible to vote for them. It can't be the sum, as people cannot vote for their own country. However, someone may still favour their own country by not voting for anyone likely to win, so there would need to be a mechanism to prevent this.
Schulze Method: This is a very majoritarian method. But the advantage is that it allows voters to freely rank entries from other countries, without significantly affecting their own country's chance of winning. We may limit voters to a limited number of tiers to reduce the impact of minor preferences. For each pair of entries, each country's contribution to the vote can be based on the following formula: ∛((a-b)×[population]).
Chiastic Score Method: This is a rather obscure cardinal method related to majority judgement. Each voter gives each entry a rating from 0 to 10. For an entry to get a final score of 1/10, at least 10% of voters must give at least 1/10. For a final score of 2/10, at least 20% must give 2/10. The final score for each candidate is the highest in which x percent of voters gave that candidate at least x percent of the maximum allowed rating. This method isn't majoritarian, but gives a measure of support more suited to a diverse music contest. This method is more strategy resistant than score voting.
But voters may not like that this method doesn't fully use their ratings over the full range. Giving an 8/10 is effectively the same as 10/10, as it's highly unlikely for any entry to get a chiastic score of more than 8/10. The following two hybrids are supposed to address this problem, and take more information from voters into account.
Chiastic pairwise hybrid: First it determines the chiastic score for each entry using the same 0 to 10 rating scale from voters. It then infers pairwise ranking from the scores given. For someone other than the chiastic score winner to win, they must beat them in a pairwise matchup by a larger margin than their difference in chiastic score. For example, if Entry A has a chiastic score of 7.6/10, & Entry B has 6.8/10, then Entry B must beat Entry A in a pairwise matchup by a margin of more than 8% in order to beat them.
Chiastic score hybrid: First it determines the chiastic score for each entry using the same 0 to 10 rating scale. Then, for each voter that gave a rating to a particular entry, it takes either the rating given, or the chiastic score, whichever is higher, and then averages all of them together. Therefore, if an entry gets a chiastic score of 5/10, it makes no difference if you gave them a 1/10 or 4/10, but giving them a 10/10 instead of 5/10 would make a difference. This method should be good at estimating the enthusiasm for each entry.
So there are my ideas. For the two hybrid methods I created, especially the latter, I would be interested in hearing if it has any characteristics which I may have missed.
For the cardinal methods, I would also like to hear ideas for mechanisms to prevent harsh ratings in order to favour one's own country. We would need to have a mechanism to determine if one's ratings are too harsh, and by what degree. We would then either reduce the voting weight of voters with excessively harsh ratings, punish entries of countries who gave overly harsh ratings, or a combination of both.

Was thinking about other organizations that operate similar to MCs and how the traditional cut works to show not only membership itself but hierarchy within the club without looking like a corporate uniform. So I was curious: aside from obvious things like YOUR club's logo, the MC patch or the diamond 1% patch, where would you draw the line on patch vests before you feel like it's encroaching on the MC tradition in an offensive manner?

Joining the club of you awesome people and am now officially A+ Certified! Wow the last couple of months of almost everyday studying has been quite a journey, I've always been a tech-centric person ever since I was a kid so going into this I thought should be a little easy right, yes and no, a lot of the basic stuff I already knew but there's so much more I've learned and am very grateful for the newfound knowledge that helped me pass the exams and even diagnose some recent computer problems.
Biggest thing that got me was the acronyms, so many acronyms but with patience and memorization of what they are and what they do, they stuck and that became a huge help because they are on the exam, it definitely helps you with process of elimination.
Biggest thanks to Professor Messer and his awesome, simple to view and learn videos that man is simply amazing and I'm glad y'all and local IT at my company suggested him!
Jason Dion's practice exams are great, as most have said they are a little harder than the actual exam but the knowledge you gain from them is well worth it!
Josh Madakor's Anki Flash Cards were also a good source of learning, memorization of things and what they are was a great way of helping me with all the acronyms, command line, and more.
Also, study in multiple ways. Videos, books, flash cards, podcasts, writing it down, saying it out loud, actually doing what you're learning on your own personal machine, installing many flavors of Linux on virtual machines, Installing Windows 10 & 11 (maybe even 7 and 8.1) on virtual machines, go to Best Buy, to the Apple Store, play around with the computers and familiarize yourself with what things are, what they do, how they work, it all helped me and hopefully it will help you too.
If I had to add anything else, going to reiterate what Professor Messer said in his last Core 2 study group video, download the exam objectives from CompTIA and study the objectives that are highlighted and bulleted, all of them were on the exam.
All the best to everyone in their studies, you've got this, believe and yourself and create your own destiny, don't fear failure!!!

Hey there! I’m going to journey through a classic and share my thoughts — I’d love to know your memories and impressions of this book!
Chapter 1: We begin with Claudia watching a fly during English class. Now, I was never a day-dreamer in school (I’m hyper focused and usually love school) so I loved this little glimpse into Claudia’s brain.
Farrow. Brilliant. I also love the Mixed Up Files and the Westing Game. Wish I read those in school!!
We’re also introduced to Ashley Wyeth in this chapter. Fun fact, I knew who the artist Andrew Wyeth was because my parents had a copy of Christina’s World in our dining room, and I was obsessed with it. So much so that I asked if I could have it when I moved out. I still have it, hanging in my kitchen.
Obsessed with Ashley’s manner of dress. I don’t know why, but something about the description reminds me of Olivia Davidson in SVH. Not the exact same, but ‘eccentric’. I went to a strict private school, and we were barely allowed to wear earrings, so a 13 yo with three piercings in both ears would’ve been extremely dibble to me.
Chapter 2:
Obligatory BSC description of club and members. Claudia mentions to Mimi that she feels like she’s just met someone significant on her life. Claudia gets a job with the Rodowsky’s. She concludes the meeting by reflecting on she doesn’t know what she would do without the club or her friends ……
Chapter 3: Ashley is in Claudia’s art class, which Claudia knows is probably not as impressive as the Keyes school in Chicago where Ashley is from (pretty sure this is a fictional school?) Ashley is very interested in Claudia and her work, but barely talks to or even looks at anyone else. Might there be a more advanced art school in Stamford for Ashley? Mrs Baehr announces the new gallery and art contest in four weeks. (PS I would not know how to pronounce Mrs Baehr’s name if not for Claudia’s spelling of ‘Bear’. Thanks, Claud.
Chapter 4: Claudia sitting for Rodowsky’s, and Jackie manages to spill Rice Krispies everywhere, then lock himself in the bathroom while getting his hand stuck in the bathtub drain. I really like the Rodowsky’s but sheesh. No wonder Claudia wanted to go play outside lol. Of course Ashley, the Rodowsky’s next door neighbor, shows up and implies babysitting is a colossal waste of time. Claudia counters by saying she will enter the sculpture contest.
Chapter 5: Ashley and Claudia sit together at lunch to discuss their sculptures, and the BSC is, well, NOT HAPPY. I mean, I get lunchroom politics, but it’s still painful to see the BSC slowly unravel into some exclusive group. I suppose it is important to note (as Claudia does) that in 7th grade, the club was a bit more separated. But starting in 8th grade, they become more of a squad.
The chapter concludes with Claudia getting to the club meeting late because she was looking at art with Ashley. And thus is the beginning of Claudia losing her nerve and failing to stand up for herself in order to impress Ashley. I’ve so been there lol.
Chapter 6: Side chapter about the Jeff Schafer troubles. Shout out to Mrs Bessar being like, cool, I’ll talk about your emotional problems with your 13 yo sister. Myriah and Gabbie’s beauty school sounds absolutely adorable. Love Mrs Perkins for that.
Chapter 7: Ashley decides to sculpt an inanimate object and gets inspired by a fire hydrant. Claudia asks Dawn to step in as VP (which ….. means nothing) because Ashley is her friend, too …. is she not? The tension brews….
Chapter 8: The tension spills over. Claudia misses another meeting and Kristy writes about “some people” being TRAITORS and getting all snarky about bell bottoms. I mean, it’s no sweater and turtleneck. The girls discuss their annoyance with Ashley, with Stacey stating she thinks Claudia doesn’t like her anymore. (I think it’s hugely important to remember that Stacey moves back to NYC in Book 13. No one knows this yet, but it makes me sad that Claud and Stace lose this time together.) I always think we don’t talk enough about friend breakups. (I know they reconcile, I’m just saying.)
Chapter 9: The club confronts Claudia to see if she’ll make the next meeting, and Ashley remarks that she’s Claudia’s mentor. Uh, ok. Did Claudia ask for a mentor? Who appointed you? And who are you that you can fulfill that role? Sorry, Ashley’s sense of arrogance there really annoys me. I take it back. “With gentle curves and tender feelings” validates her expertise.
Chapter 10: Stacey lays it all out in the notebook. Man, how I wish they’d just hash it out and have a heart to heart. Instead, the club responds by short-sheeting Claudia’s, hiding her junk food, and leaving snarky notes for her to find. I 100% find this very immature and 100% very relatable.
Chapter 11: Back at the Rodowsky’s. (Very little babysitting in this book overall). Ashley again comes over and calls Claudia’s interest and passion for babysitting useless. Cool bro. Claudia schools Ashley on how having hobbies and interests and a life outside of art actually helps the artist. GO CLAUDIA GO. Ashley then makes it about her because Claudia won’t abandon everything and everyone in her life FOR HER MENTOR. Jackie makes it all better by inspiring Claudia for her sculpture.
Chapter 12: Slow steps back to normal with Claudia and Mary Anne talking at the Rodowsky’s. Claudia starts separating herself from Ashely’s grip. How did Jackie break the doorbell?! lol
Chapter 13: Claudia starts putting the pieces back together by making lists to help catch up with school, work on friendships, and decide to pull out of the art show.
Chapter 14: Claudia finally returns to a BSC meeting and apologizes with, well, a cheesy poem lol. But they talk it out. BSC back on track!
Chapter 15: Surprise, surprise, Mrs Baehr submits Claudia’s unfinished sculpture into the art show as a work in progress. Of course it’s great. Of course Ashley’s fire hydrant gets first. So the book ends with some sort of resolution/reconciliation with Ashley and Claudia and the club that …… is never mentioned again.
I really like this book because it seems very realistic when a ‘new girl’ shifts the friend dynamics. But I gotta admit, it’s tough to read how poorly they all handle it! But again, pretty age appropriate and understandable.
On another note, my BSC in the future dream is that Ashley goes to an alternative arts high school in Stamford. After a year of floundering at SHS, Claudia decides to transfer and join Ashley where they cultivate a Rory Gilmore/Paris Gellar type friendship.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully it stirred some memories! What do you remember most from this book?

Houston Christian Houston Christian @ Villanova Villanova
Game Start Time: 12:00 PM ET
Location: Cape Fear Country Club, Wilmington, NC
Watch: ESPN2
Houston Christian Houston Christian

Total Passing Yards	Total Rushing Yards	Total Yards	Interceptions Lost	Fumbles Lost	Field Goals	Time of Possession	Timeouts
145 yards	165 yards	310 yards	0	1	1/2	14:34	3

Villanova Villanova

Total Passing Yards	Total Rushing Yards	Total Yards	Interceptions Lost	Fumbles Lost	Field Goals	Time of Possession	Timeouts
31 yards	146 yards	177 yards	0	2	0/0	13:06	3

Drive Summary
away for 4 yards in 34 seconds ending in punt
home for 16 yards in 74 seconds ending in punt
away for 87 yards in 42 seconds ending in touchdown
home for 10 yards in 115 seconds ending in punt
away for 30 yards in 133 seconds ending in touchdown
home for -8 yards in 49 seconds ending in punt
away for 34 yards in 120 seconds ending in field_goal
home for 15 yards in 83 seconds ending in punt
away for 25 yards in 35 seconds ending in miss
home for -10 yards in 2 seconds ending in end_half
home for 16 yards in 57 seconds ending in punt
away for 76 yards in 99 seconds ending in touchdown
home for -1 yards in 26 seconds ending in turnover
away for 24 yards in 76 seconds ending in touchdown
home for 7 yards in 31 seconds ending in turnover
away for 37 yards in 46 seconds ending in touchdown
home for 18 yards in 39 seconds ending in turnover
away for 0 yards in 15 seconds ending in turnover
home for 55 yards in 52 seconds ending in touchdown
away for -1 yards in 58 seconds ending in punt
home for 62 yards in 143 seconds ending in turnover

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Villanova	0	0	0	6	6
Houston Christian	7	10	21	0	38

Game thread
Plays

Game complete, Houston Christian wins!