Dealing with FBMP is roughly equivalent to dealing with Microsoft Word. 50% of the time it's fine, works as it should, then the other 50% is a lesson in frustration.
I'm in the process of moving so I'm getting rid of lots of stuff. Some of it ranges from higher priced electronics, down to things like weights and random Ikea furniture. The first few items went off without a hitch - the buyers proposed fair prices, or there was no haggling at all. We arrange a time to meet, make the exchange and that's it.
Then the rest, oh the rest. First it's people seemingly interested in buying, even going as far as arranging a pickup time, only for them to disappear off the face of the earth (if you are one of the people who do this, get fucked). Then the lowballers. Hell they'd try and ask for a discount if it was free. Get bent. Then the scammers. Oh you want to send me an etransfer and pick the item up in a weeks time? Then I get a text message with a weird link when they have my email address and I have auto deposit set up. Get wrecked. Follow up text from a number with an area code from the other side of the country. If I wasn't so busy packing I would hunt you down.

I got a contract role at a fortune 500 company. I live in California so they had to state the pay rate on the job app, but this is a new law so I don't know the start from the end of it. The stated rate was $40-50. I'm entry level, but I do have 1.5 years of solid experience in a similar and some internship time before that. So not a complete beginner. This role is also a slash role as I call them (Jr job a/ job b with a little job c when we need it) so they expressed how there was only one other interviewee and it was a bit difficult for them to find someone with this skillet.
With that being said they offered me $35. I want to ask for $45 since the job description listed the range as $40-50, I do have a bit of experience, you expect better pay with a larger company, and as best as my research can show (this is an odd role, and hourly contract whereas pay rate websites usually list expected salaries) that's an acceptable rate. Is this a reasonable pitch? Is there more I should say? I WANT $45 so should I request $50 and negotiate down or is that too much since they offered $35?
For anyone who knows about it the role is Jr. Creative produceproduction manager. Jr.PM is around 59k per year (and that's across the US. Pay is usually higher in LA) and Jr. CP is around 50k. If you multiply those by 1.4 (to account for no benefits) and divide out the hours you get 36-43 an hour. And I added $2 to the top rate for my prior experience and California.

For a candidate who is looking to follow up after an interview and the company doesn’t provide any updates, do recruiters get annoyed by candidates contacting them and does it play a factor in determining if they get the job? I gotta wonder that some candidates are afraid, as it may come off as bothersome. On the flip side, the candidate has waited months without any updates. Is there an understood grace period after the interview process?

Originally posted in lunchmoney

Background

This is a common sports betting method that goes over how you can make $500 per day, risk-free by capitalizing on mispricing in the sports betting market. Although legalization only happened recently, sports betting around the world has seen a significant amount of new sportsbooks starting up every year. This, along with the complexity of adjusting to the supply and demand of bettors means that sportsbooks often have very mispriced odds.
This creates a significant opportunity for people to bet on both possible outcomes of an event and guarantee themselves a profit! Before I show you more, check out my other guide here, which goes over how to make $5,000 - $10,000 risk-free by signing up for new user bonuses with various regulated sportsbooks!
*This guide assumes you know the basics of sports betting. If you do not, please follow this link to find a quick online guide

What is Arbitrage Betting

• Arbitrage betting (arbing) involves betting on both sides of a line at odds that will guarantee a profit no matter the outcome of the event
  • Because we are placing bets on both sides of an event, this method is risk-free and should be looked at as an investment rather than a gamble!
• Arbitrage betting is like counting cards, it allows you to gain an edge on the house and guarantee yourself a profit!

Example:

• Let's say the Bruins play the Rangers and Fanduel has the Bruin's moneyline at -150 while DraftKings has the Rangers moneyline at +200
• By placing a $180 bet on the Bruins moneyline (through Fanduel) and by simultaneously placing a $100 bet on the Rangers moneyline (through Draftkings), we can make a $20 profit, no matter what happens!
  • If the Bruins win, we get winnings of $120 and because we bet $100 on the Rangers (who lost), we get a $20 profit. We also get our initial $180 stake on the Bruins back since they won
    • Another way to look at is we go from having $280 ($180 on Fanduel and $100 on Draftkings) to having winnings of $120, and our initial stake of $180 totaling $300. Overall, a $20 profit!
  • If the Rangers Win, we get winnings of $200 and because we bet $180 on the Rangers (who lost), we get a $20 profit. We also get our initial $100 stake on the Rangers back since they won
    • Another way to look at is we go from having $280 ($180 on Fanduel and $100 on Draftkings) to having winnings of $200, and our initial stake of $100 totaling $300. Overall, a $20 profit!
  • This would be a 6.7% arb opportunity which is very good and if we bet a larger amount of both sides (say $450 on the Bruins and $250 on the Rangers), we would have a guaranteed profit of $50!

How to Find Arbitrage Opportunities

• Generally speaking, finding arb opportunities like the one above is extremely difficult and time-consuming when doing it manually
• Online software and tools have revolutionized the sports betting game. The differences in odds for any given line can be upwards of 50% which can result in drastically different outcomes for your bet. Using software to screen odds can save you a lot of time and money.
• My favourite tool for arbing is OddsJam, which screens millions of odds per second on hundreds of sportsbooks. Using the OddsJam platform has saved me thousands of dollars and is the reason I was able to make $500 per day when I arbed.
  • If you decide to start arbing, using OddsJam is a must and you can use my link and promo code “Firebet” at checkout for 25% lifetime discount (to ensure you get the discount, press on my link before signing up and enter the promo code at checkout)!
• Without software like OddsJam, you will basically never find arb opportunities. If you somehow manage to find one, it will probably be gone before you can blink because you found it 30 seconds slower than OddsJam (most arbs last 30 seconds to ~2 minutes).
• On OddsJam, you can consistently find 1.5% - 5.0% arb opportunities. Assuming you read and completed my Sports Betting Bonus Guide here and made up to $6,437.50 risk-free, and assuming you can double those winnings with your existing bank balances, you'll have a bankroll of $19,312! When I was arbing, I would usually hit a 2.5% daily return, so you can make about $500 per day, risk-free using this strategy! If you don't have that kind of bankroll, you can start out with as little as $1,000!

How to Avoid Account Limits

By arbing, you guarantee a profit for yourself, which guarantees a loss for the sportsbooks, something they are not very fond of. It is important that you read the T&Cs of each sportsbook because many will put certain clauses that target arbers and other undesirable customers.
If you are playing only on regulated sportsbooks in your country, you should never have any problem withdrawing your money unless you do something very wrong. Remember, arbing is legal so this alone will not warrant the sportsbooks to hold your funds.
Below are some tips to stay off the radar of your sportsbook for as long as possible:
1. Round Bets to a Reasonable Number:

• If you are betting $98.29 to cover a bet, this looks really odd, instead round up to $100
• If you are betting $935 to cover a bet, this also looks strange so round up to $950 or down to $925

2. Don’t Deposit/Withdraw Frequently:

• Most sportsbooks see bettors who try to keep their balance at a certain level ($2,000 for example) as arbers because it indicates they’re sending winnings to the sportsbooks they lost on

3. Stick to Main Markets if you are in it for the Long Haul:

• To fly under the radar, avoid betting on alternative markets (especially very alternative markets, for example if the oveunder for a hockey game is 5.5 goals, don’t bet on the 9.5 line)

4. Don’t Make Repeated Bets:

• If you find a 10% arb opportunity, don’t keep making $100 bets. If your first one cleared the sportsbooks trading team, take it as a win and move on

5. Bet Only on Major Leagues:

• In North America, I would only bet on NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL, and International Soccer (World Cup, Euro Cup, UEFA Champions League, and the Big European Leagues)

6. Deposit/Withdraw to One Bank Account:

• Many books will accuse you of accepting funding from other people if they see you depositing and withdrawing to multiple bank accounts
  • Make sure to only fund your account with your funds from one bank account to avoid confusion with the sportsbook

7. Never Cover Bets on the same Sportsbook

• If you initially made a bet on the Rangers to win on Fanduel at +100. Now lets say a bunch of players on the Bruins got injured or traded which moves the Bruins line to +200 on Fanduel.
  • Don't bet on the Bruins on Fanduel, even if they have the best odds. Take them on DraftKings, even if the line is only at +180.
• If sportsbooks see you covering bets, they could limit your account because they recognize you as an arber.

By doing all this, you will most likely fly under the radar for a significant amount of time and if you are consistently betting each day, you can make thousands of dollars. For reference, I made almost $20,000 from arbing and about $5,000 from sign-up bonuses and I wish I had this guide when I started!

Tips to Maximize Earnings

1. Keep an Optimal Amount of Funds in Sportsbooks with the Most Arb Opportunities

• Sportsbooks like Fanduel, DraftKings, Pointsbet, Pinnacle, BetMGM, Bet365, and Betano all have very competitive odds and consistently pop up when using the OddsJam software
  • If you have $5,000 you can spread it across all sportsbooks, don't put $250 into 20 different ones as most of these will provide no arb opportunities. Instead, put $500 into the top 10 books that consistently have the most arb opportunities

2. Take Advantage of Boosts

• Since you will be betting in such high volumes, sportsbooks will consistently give you bet credits and boosts to try and retain your business. Make sure to take advantage of these because they can be the most profitable bets you can make per day.

3. Place your First Bet on the Sportsbook that is Heavily Mispriced

• If Pointsbet has the KC Chiefs moneyline at +200 when most other books have it at +140, this is a significant mispricing by Pointsbet. If you see that most other books have the Eagles at -160, you should try to bet as much as you can on Pointsbet because this bet is most likely to get stopped by the trading team
  • Trading teams take manual action when specific lines start getting an abnormal amount of betting
• If you are able to get a $1,000 bet on KC at +200 (on Pointsbet), you know with certainty that you can cover this on most other books at -160 (on the Eagles)
  • Once you are sure you've bet on the sportsbook with the mispricing, then you should bet on the side that has no mispricing because you know your initial bet will go through

Summary

• If you haven't already read my Sports Betting Bonus Guide here
• If you haven't already, sign up for the OddsJam platform here and use my promo code “Firebet” at checkout for 25% lifetime discount (to ensure you get the discount, press on my link before signing up and enter the promo code at checkout)! This software will allow you to screen millions of odds per second to consistently find 1.5% - 5.0% arb opportunities, allowing you to make $500 per day
• Start arbing and track your progress using the built-in OddsJam tracker or use my custom excel sheet in my google drive here

Feel free to comment and ask questions below! Also, let me know if you want me to do any other betting guides!
*This document is for entertainment purposes only and is not financial / investment advice. Please read the T&Cs of each book to make sure you are complicit with their rules and your local regulators' laws. This guide is not intended for real money betting and it is only intended for adults. If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER

This current market is tough for me as a new grad (graduating in May). Even though my resume is on a good enough level that passed this sub before as well as from industry professionals, I am applying for both internship and FT roles for my time after graduation and have had no offers so far.
recently got a part-time offer for a no-name startup internship that matches my desired skillset but has no one on the team to guide me on the area I work on (no FT employees, no seniors, granted the product they have is already built but will need continued development). The stack will be something for which I know the basics but still needs plenty of learning. I am thinking of using this opportunity for resume building and applying with this experience on the side for actual internships and jobs.
Could someone who had a similar background share how that went for you? If I am making the same technical product, will companys pay more attention to that as an internship experience than as a personal project?
Doing this also means I will have to spend time outside my classes to work, and less time spent on leetcode and personal learning of other stacks that are important to my area.
My alternative will be to keep applying with what I have and keep grinding the leetcode for an actual job after graduation. But it is tough out here, I dont have the best leetcode abilities and I am barely getting interviews. And I am highly afraid I will fuck up the existing few interviews that I have in the pipeline.

Originally posted in lunchmoney

Background

This is a method that goes over how you can make $5,000 - $10,000 risk-free by signing up for new user bonuses with various regulated sportsbooks (earnings depend on your location). Because I am in Canada, I will cover the Ontario market, but if you live in other regulated areas you can still use 99% of this guide to learn how to make money on sportsbooks. I made another guide on Sports Betting Arbitrage here, where I show you have you can make $500 per day, risk-free. I have personally made over $25,000 from sports betting and will answer any questions you have in the comments!

Basics of Sports Betting

Here are some common sign-up bonuses, terms and conditions (T&Cs), and sports betting lingo:
Different Sign-Up Bonuses:

• Deposit Match – A deposit match is what it sounds like, when you sign up for the sportsbook and make a deposit, the sportsbook will match your deposit in bet credits or cash.
• Bet & Get – When you sign up and place qualifying bets, the sportsbook will grant you a certain amount of bet credits (usually significantly more than your initial bet).
• 2nd Chance Bet – Some sportsbooks will offer a 2nd chance bet where the bettor only gets a bet credit if your initial bet LOSES. To make the most of this bonus, you should intentionally lose on the initial sportsbook and cover your loss on a different sportsbook and then use your 2nd chance bet.

Common T&Cs:

• Minimum Odds – Some sportsbooks will implement a minimum odds clause in their T&Cs for bets placed in connection to a promotion. If the book sets the minimum odds to -200, this means you must bet on odds of -200, -150, +150, +200, … etc.
• Wagering Requirements / Rollover – A rollover clause means that you must bet the amount of your deposit a certain amount of times. For example, a 5x rollover on a deposit of $100 means you need to wager $500 to claim the bonus. Be careful because sometimes you need to rollover both the deposit and the bonus.
• "Stake Not Returned" – When a book does not return your stake, this means that for the bet credits you are granted, you only get the winnings and NOT the stake. For example, if you use $100 of bet credits that don't return the stake, and you bet it on a +150 event that wins, your account balance will go up by $150. If they did return the stake or if it was just a cash bet, your account balance would go up $250 (because you would get the initial $100 stake back).
• Flexible Bet Credits - if a bet credit is flexible, it means you can bet in any increment you want, for example: if you get a $100 flexible bet credit, you can place 100 bets of $1 each, 2 bets of $50 each, 4 bets of $25 each, etc.
• Semi-Flexible Bet Credits - if a bet credit is semi-flexible, it means you can bet in the increment that the sportsbook allows, for example: if you get a $100 semi-flexible bet credit that is split into 4 bets of $25 each, you cannot place 8 bets of $12.50 or 10 bets of $10.

*These are just a few confusing T&Cs. You must read the T&Cs of each promotion to ensure that you understand what the bonus entails because that could change your strategy to maximize each bonus!
Common Sports Betting Lingo:

• Stake vs. Winnings vs. Payout - in betting, if you place a bet of $100 on the Raptors to win at +250 odds. If the Raptors win, you win $250 and are paid a total of $350. From this example, the $100 was the stake, the $250 is the winnings and the $350 is the payout.
• This guide assumes you know the basics of sports betting. If you do not, please follow this link to find a quick online guide.

Maximizing Winnings on Each Sportsbook

• Although all of the following sportsbooks are in Ontario, if you live in the US or Europe, many of these same books will have identical (or very similar promotions), so this will still apply to you.
  • If you are in the US or Europe, go to my google drive resource here and download my bet tracking excel sheet. Under the "Bet Credit Retention" tab, you can customize your own bet credit terms, and my excel sheet will tell you exactly how much you need to bet to get a risk-free win! Remember to read the instructions for the excel sheet (also in my google drive) because it can get a little tricky.
• I will also put a ⭐ rating (out of 5) which only rates the sportsbooks sign-up bonus, which is not the same as what I would rate them overall!
• As a note, in the title of each credit, I will specify whether the stake is returned, what the rollover is (assume no rollover if I say nothing), and whether the bet credits are flex, or semi-flex (assume just neither if I say nothing).

⭐⭐⭐ 888Sport - 100% First Deposit Match (up to $250) - Stake Not Returned

• Deposit $250 and bet in $50 increments on odds of -200 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Claim your $250 bonus and wager it on a +300 event, wager $562.50 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• When the credits don't return the stake, wagering your bet credit on the highest possible odds will allow you to make the most money off your credit (in this case I chose +300 odds because they are quite high, and going above that is tough to find, even with the screening software I explain later on in this document)
• I explain why betting your credit on the highest possible odds is optimal later on, so keep reading!
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $187.50
  • Reasoning: If the +300 wins, you get the $750 of winnings and since you bet $562.50 on the opposite side, your net payout is $187.50! If the -300 event wins, you get the winnings of $187.50 and you get your original $562.50 stake returned (since you used bet credits on the +300 side, you have no cost so you are still up $187.50 regardless)!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bet365 - Bet $1 and Get $250 in Bet Credits - Stake Not Returned & Flex

• Deposit $10 and bet in $1 on any odds (this must be done according to the T&C) – no need to hedge on this as its only $1
• Claim your $250 bonus and wager it on a +300 event, wager $562.50 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
  • Remember, because these are flex credits, you can place a smaller bet using your credits (on the +300 side) so you don't have to cover so much on the -300 side. And this goes for every other flex credit too, not just Bet365!
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $187.50

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bet99 - 100% Matched Bonus on First Deposit (up to $500) – Stake Returned, Flex & 5x Roll

• Deposit $500 and wager your deposit 5 times on odds of -125 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook (since these are covered, you make nothing on these initial bets)
• Because the stake is returned, you can treat the bonus as a cash bet so you can bet the bonus on a +100 event and cover a +100 bet on another sportsbook (by betting $500 on the other sportsbook)
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $500

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Betano - 100% Matched Bonus on First Deposit (up to $500) – Stake Returned, Flex & 5x Roll

• Deposit $500 and wager your deposit + bonus ($1,000) 5 times on odds of -200 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Claim your $500 bonus and wager it on a +100 event, wager $500 on the opposite side of the original line at +100 on another sportsbook
• Betano is a great sportsbook for hedging because it has a “MAX” button which tells you how much you can bet, allowing you to execute on another sportsbook first with high confidence that Betano will accept your bet on the opposite line!
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $500

⭐⭐⭐ BetRivers - 2nd Chance Bet (up to $500) – Stake Not Returned

• Deposit $500 and wager your deposit on odds of -200 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bet on another sportsbook
• The goal with 2nd Chance Bets is to intentionally lose on the original sportsbook because you only get the credit if your bet loses. So you should try and bet on the highest odds possible (+400, +500, +600, +700 … etc.) and cover your bet on another sportsbook. I'll explain this later in more detail.
• Once you’ve intentionally lost on BetRivers, claim your $500 bonus and wager it on a +300 event, wager $1,125 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $375

⭐⭐⭐⭐ BetVictor - 100% Matched Bonus on First Bet (up to $300) – Stake Not Returned & Flex

• Deposit $300 and wager your deposit on odds of +100 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Claim your $300 bonus and wager it on a +300 event, wager $675 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $225

⭐⭐ Betway - 100% Matched Bonus on First Deposit (up to $200) – Stake Returned, Flex & 10x Roll*

• Deposit $200 and wager your deposit 10 times on odds of -150 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Claim your $200 bonus and wager it on a +100 event, wager $200 on the opposite side of the original line at +100 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $200

⭐⭐⭐ Caesars - 2nd Chance Bet (up to $500) – Stake Not Returned

• Deposit $500 and wager your deposit on any odds (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Similar to BetRivers, you want to intentionally lose to claim the bet credit, so bet on the highest possible odds where you can find a hedge on another sportsbook
• Once you’ve intentionally lost on BetRivers, claim your $500 bonus and wager it on a +300 event, wager $1,125 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $375

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ DraftKings - Bet $5 and Get $200 in Bet Credits – Stake Not Returned & Semi-Flex

• This promotion is unique because you need to deposit $10 and bet $5 on a winning pre-game moneyline for any College Basketball game and then you get 8x $25 bet credits (totaling $200). Pick a heavy favourite to maximize your chances (there are no minimum odds for this)
• Claim your $200 bonus (of 8x $25 bets) and wager each bet on a +300 event, wager ~$450 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $150

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fanduel - 2nd Chance Bet (up to $1,000) – Stake Returned & Flex

• Deposit $1,000 and wager your deposit on any odds greater than -300 (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Similar to BetRivers and Caesars, you want to intentionally lose to claim the bet credit, so bet on the highest possible odds where you can find a hedge on another sportsbook
• Once you’ve intentionally lost on Fanduel, claim your $1,000 bonus and wager it on a +100 event, wager $1,000 on the opposite side of the original line at +100 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $1,000

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ LeoVegas - Cash Bonus on First Three Deposits (up to $500)

• LeoVegas offers a unique sports welcome bonus that will require some explaining
• The bonus is claimed in three different deposits. Firstly, you are going to want to deposit $300 and wager it 10 times on odds greater than -125 and hedge your bets on another sportsbook. Once you’ve done this, you claim a $300 cash bonus straight into your account balance.
• Next, you are going to deposit $100 and wager it 10 times on odds greater than -125 and hedge your bets on another sportsbook. Once you’ve done this, you claim a $100 cash bonus straight into your account balance. Repeat this one more time for another $100 cash bonus and then you are all done!
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $500

⭐⭐⭐ NorthStar Bets - 100% Matched Bonus on First Bet (up to $150) – Stake Not Returned

• Deposit $150 and wager your deposit on odds of -500 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Claim your $150 bonus and wager it on a +300 event, wager $337.50 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $112.50

⭐⭐⭐ PartySports - 100% Matched Bonus on First Deposit (up to $100) – Stake Returned, Flex & 5x Roll

• Deposit $100 and wager your deposit 5 times on odds of -200 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Claim your $100 bonus and wager it on a +100 event, wager $100 on the opposite side of the original line at +100 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $100

⭐⭐⭐⭐ PointsBet - 2nd Chance Bets (up to $1,000) – Stake Not Returned & Semi-Flex

• Pointsbet’s welcome offer gives you a 2nd chance bet offer for your first 10 days as a participant. You can get $100 in bet credits (broken into 2x $50 bet credits) each day!
• To claim this, deposit $1,000 on your first day and wager $100 on any odds greater than -200 (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Similar to BetRivers, Caesars, and Fanduel, you want to intentionally lose to claim the bet credit, so bet on the highest possible odds where you can find a hedge on another sportsbook
• Repeat this step for 9 more days and claim your $100 bet credit each day!
• Once you have all 10 of your $100 bet credits, wager them on a +300 event, wager $225 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $750

⭐⭐⭐⭐ theScore Bet - 2nd Chance Bets (up to $500) – Stake Not Returned & Semi-Flex

• Deposit $500 and wager your deposit on any odds and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Similar to BetRivers, Caesars, and PointsBet, you want to intentionally lose to claim the bet credit, so bet on the highest possible odds where you can find a hedge on another sportsbook
• Once you’ve intentionally lost on theScore, claim your $500 bonus (10x $50 Credits) and wager it on a +300 event, wager $1,125 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $375

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sports Interaction - 100% Matched Bonus on First Deposit (up to $1,000) – Stake Not Returned & Flex

• Deposit $1,000 and wager your deposit on odds of -200 or greater (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Claim your $1,000 bonus and wager it on a +300 event, wager $2,250 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $750

⭐⭐⭐ Unibet - 2nd Chance Bet (up to $200) – with Stake Takeback

• Deposit $200 and wager your deposit on any odds greater than -300 (this must be done according to the T&C) and hedge your bets on another sportsbook
• Similar to BetRivers, Caesars, and Fanduel, you want to intentionally lose to claim the bet credit, so bet on the highest possible odds where you can find a hedge on another sportsbook
• Once you’ve intentionally lost on Unibet, claim your $200 bonus and wager it on a +300 event, wager $450 on the opposite side of the original line at -300 on another sportsbook
• Guaranteed risk-free profit: $150

---
Summary: Summing all of these guaranteed profits up, you can get $6,437.50 by completing all of these sign-up bonuses! Many of these same sportsbooks also offer promotions for active users that you can use as well (reload bonuses, boosted odds, refer-a-friend promos, etc.) so you can continue making money once you have done the sign-up promotion.

Finding Odds

How the Previous Section Assumes that Odds Work: If the Lakers play the Warriors and the Warriors moneyline is +100 on Fanduel, and since the Warriors will win 50% of the time (based on those odds) then the Lakers will also win 50% of the time. Because of this, based on expected payoffs, we assume Fanduel will have the Lakers moneyline at +100.
How Odds Actually Work: Fanduel obviously wants to make money, so if they put the Warriors at +100, they will put the Lakers at -150 to give Fanduel a nice chunk called a spread. This is inevitable in the sports betting industry because sportsbooks need to make money. Assuming the spreads are 20% (which is like a tax on each bet), instead of making the original $6,437.50 from the sign-up bonuses, you will only make $5,150.00, meaning you would lose $1,287.50 if you took that 20% spread!
How can we Save the 20% Tax: Software! Odds change every second of the day and after months of searching for odds manually, a very inefficient and time-consuming task, I finally found a tool called OddsJam. OddsJam screens millions of odds per second on hundreds of sportsbooks, including all the sportsbooks I’ve mentioned above. Using the OddsJam platform has saved me thousands of dollars and is the reason I was able to make so much off sign-up bonuses.
If you decide to start harvesting bonuses on sportsbooks, using OddsJam is a must and you can use my link and promo code “Firebet” at checkout for 25% lifetime discount (to ensure you get the discount, press on my link before signing up and enter the promo code at checkout)! Remember, this software can increase your earnings from the signup bonuses by $1,287.50💵❗You can make even more if you use the arbitrage tool, which I cover in a different guide (linked here).

Example of Doing a Sign-Up Bonus

Steps:

1. Log into OddsJam and go to the Arbitrage Betting Tool (this tool comes with the industry plan)
2. Once on the Arbitrage Betting tool, use the filters to find odds

https://preview.redd.it/ldre9efnx4pa1.png?width=990&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9aae7abb7c0b2b2f6a524433d77144c2bd7fdcb

1. Find an opportunity on OddsJam and press the calculator to find how much to bet on each sportsbook

https://preview.redd.it/ikl6kh7ox4pa1.png?width=988&format=png&auto=webp&s=0c46adbe829180beb5a321ae876588b6c2533295
https://preview.redd.it/6yhztilox4pa1.png?width=988&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b853af0b89b47ce0ac6a9c696b36a229d6a91f9

1. Log into each sportsbook and place the bets!

https://preview.redd.it/l0rbk5ipx4pa1.png?width=1031&format=png&auto=webp&s=a1edc10a99159d3fcc11497ec1ce40aaa9d3b63f
https://preview.redd.it/58pb963qx4pa1.png?width=1030&format=png&auto=webp&s=619754015376ed51eff412b3af6e99561c09dc38

1. We have now completed part of our wagering requirements for Fanduel and Betano. We can repeat this process to harvest the sign-up bonus!

The Math Behind the Bets:

• If we bet $50 on Fanduel on under 195.5 at +850. To covehedge this bet, we need to bet $410 on Betano on the over at -625
  • Since there are only two possible outcomes (and we have bet on both of those outcomes), we are guaranteed to win $15.52! On top of that, we are also completing our bonus wagering requirements!
• With this particular bet, if the over wins, we get our $50 stake back and we get the winnings of $425 on Fanduel. Since we also bet $410 on Betano and this bet did not win, we lose our stake. Because the winnings of the initial bet are greater than our stake for the opposite bet, we come out on top!
  • If the opposite happens, we get our stake back on Betano and we get winnings of $65 which covers the $50 stake we do not get back on Fanduel.

Why we Want to Lose our 1st Bet for "2nd Chance Bet" Offers

• For 2nd chance bets, we only get the bet credit if our first bet loses
• So to give us the highest chance of losing our first bet, we should bet on the highest possible odds (+300, +500, +1000, etc.) where we can find opposite odds on another sportsbook
• For example, below we see odds of +250 on Betrivers and odds of -238 on Betano for the Pelicans – Mavericks game. The +250 odds imply that there is a low chance that this will occur so we take this bet because we know we have a $500 2nd chance bet on BetRivers
• Using the provided calculator, we bet $500 on the over using the Betrivers and we also bet $1,232 on under using Betano
• If the over loses, which it should ~75% of the time based on those odds, we win $517 on Betano and we lose our initial stake of $500 on BetRivers – so we still come out with a $17 profit
• We are then awarded with our 2nd chance bet of $500 on BetRivers which we can use as described in a previous section of the guide

Why we Use Bet Credits on the Highest Possible Odds

• When given bet credits (that do not return the stake), we want to maximize our guaranteed earnings
• You may be wondering why I keep saying you should bet on odds of +300 (which are high) for each sportsbooks bonus guide
  • The reason is that we want to maximize the potential payout-to-credit ratio, which gives us a higher retention of the bet credit
• As you see in the chart below, the higher the bet credit odds, the higher retention of the bet credit!

https://preview.redd.it/rqrx7r6rx4pa1.png?width=770&format=png&auto=webp&s=2079602f75b5841adb94c30a24c6cdf38b877ed4

Summary

• Sign up for each sportsbook and participate in their sign-up bonus (following my advice for each book and for each type of sign-up bonus) and make $6,437.50, risk-free!
• Sign up for the OddsJam platform here and use my promo code “Firebet” at checkout for 25% lifetime discount (to ensure you get the discount, press on my link before signing up and enter the promo code at checkout)! This software personally helped me make $1,000's and can help you save $1,287.50 by finding odds that have no spread!
• Go to my google drive resource page here to get my excel tracker that helps track everything (deposits, bets, credits, profit per day, week, quarter, etc.)! I also provided instructions to the excel sheet that should help
• If you want to learn more about how I made $500 per day (risk-free) by doing arbitrage betting, here is another Reddit post I made showing you how you can do the same thing as me!

Feel free to comment and ask questions below! Also, let me know if you want me to do any other betting guides!
*This document is for entertainment purposes only and is not financial / investment advice. Please read the T&Cs of each book to make sure you are complicit with their rules and your local regulators' laws. This guide is not intended for real money betting and it is only intended for adults. If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER

There's a girl I've been speaking to for months with an on/off period. We're very much into each other, or at least, I think we are, but we haven't met in person yet, more on that later. We met on a dating app, had great synergy, into the same hobbies and looking for a serious relationship as our past ones weren't the best, and conversation flowed. At one point when we had plans to meet, she disappeared. Ghosted without word or a trace. Forward to 4 months later, as of two weeks ago. I kept noticing her watching my Instagram stories even though we weren't speaking and I, at the time, never chased anyone that ghosted me on dating apps because there's always a better guy, and people lose interest, which I understand.
I asked her in a direct message if she hated me and her response was no. We took a bit to catch up and come to find her reasoning for ghosting me was a medical reason. I get emergencies happen, but at the very least she could have reached out to me when she was done. I told her I still had feelings for her and I'd like to try again, she felt the same.
Over the course of the past two weeks, things have been great. We still hadn't met yet because she said that she wanted to complete the rest of her program before seeing me, which I agreed to so we could get to know each other better than months prior, and I assumed she wanted to commit to her own personal issue before being comitted to me. Until at one point she asks me if it's okay if her guy best friend can come over to her place to watch movies. She told me they knew each other since elementary and he's part of the small circle of friends she has that consists of multiple guys and girls. I told her I was fine with it because me having any gripe about it would seem insecure and controlling especially when we're not in a relationship yet. I also included that as long as he's not an ex and they'd never had sex and he'd respect what was going on between me and her. She denied all of those claims as he's "like a brother to her" yet she said they hug and play fight and have sleepovers and watch parties with their mutual favorite show. She has never mentioned any of the other friends doing it. She would not text me back for hours on end when with him and I don't say anything about it because me double or triple texting would seem needy.
I've respected her space and never questioned anything she said with suspicion and let it go. But in her free time, she was always with him. Either at his place or getting food or doing some errand. Whenever we do text, it's "my best friend this, best friend that" and it got annoying to me. I mainly talk to her most at night because once she's off from work, we play games together online for hours until I'm ready to sleep for work/school the next day.
Skip to yesterday, I had left my phone in the car to do a side job working on a friend's car for extra money to go out with her to some place special when we finally meet. I had gotten a new phone case I didn't want to get dirty, and I had no gloves with me or my smart watch to tell me I was missing text messages. She had gotten sick recently and would sleep for hours on end, while staying home from work, while also at the same time that best friend of hers would drop off care packages to her. I had gotten started on the car around 7pm and wasn't done until almost 9pm due to lack of tools and hardware and back and forth to stores. When I was done, I also had time to quickly put on a new part for my car as it was a 5 minute job. When everything was done, I saw I had multiple missed texts from her every 20-30 minutes I didn't answer and the last message from her was "you're changing a woman's brakes at 9pm?"
When I had cleaned up and was going home, I was trying to understand why she would say what she did and her response was that she was fine and she'd talk to me the next day. I didn't want to argue and seemed my explanations went over her head and she was upset. Today, she still seemed upset with me and we had a small argument over what I am and am not doing for her and the case of me not helping her financially until she can go back to work instead of looking forward to seeing her and worrying about trivial matters such as having gifts for her ahead of time and she pleaded me not to get her anything, and if I wanted to get her something then it should be money into her cashapp. I'm not sure if I should pursue something serious with her; as she's not reciprocating the energy I give, in which I remind her she's beautiful inside and out, she's strong for bettering herself, and thing along those lines but it's like I'm constantly praising her whole she doesn't say any good things about me.
TL;DR girl I want to date and have a strong connection with is spending all her free time with her guy best friend even though she said she wants to work on herself first but is seeing him every day. She doesn't want me to do anything for her, gifts, food, medicine while she's sick, but let's her friend do it. She prefers a relationship where the man is supporting mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially, but I haven't offered to help pay her bills or help her with her rent so now I feel insignificant like I don't do enough to show I want to be with her. She got upset for me not answering my phone while working on a car, but she disappears for hours at a time with her friend daily and I don't say a word.

Have you ever been tail down the side of a mountain by a band of angry machete-wielding onion people with Jack o’lantern like faces and major territory issues?
Have you ever been followed through the woods by a mysterious hooded figure crunching through the brush and stalking your every move from just beyond the tree line?
Have you ever been stabbed through the center of your palm by a stumpy little demon shrub with needle like spikes hiding beneath the leaves and running down its trunk like exterior? Not to mention the erratic demonic tendencies some of the plants around here seem to sometimes possess.
Well, if you have experienced any and or all of what I had just mentioned, then you probably already have a good idea of the place and some of the things I am about to tell you.
If you haven’t, however, then are you in for one heck of a tail. Because the stories I am going to be sharing with you during my free time moving forward, might just be some of the craziest things you've ever heard. But before that, there are a couple things you should know about me first.
My name is Blake, and I live on a farmhouse.
It's nothing fancy (obviously) just a big old building right in the middle of nowhere surrounded by layers upon layers of thick bushes, trees, and mountains high as the eye can see. The kind of place where cellular towers are practically non-existent, and the nearest civilization is at least a gazillion miles away. That kind of farmhouse.
I also work here. Making around eighty bucks an hour. Which I guess is a little above average for most gardeners, but I did let the owners know I was just about ready to work for free. All I needed was a roof over my head and a place to sleep. But they insisted I take the money or go find some other place to sleep. And so I did.
Other than being a full-time gardener at the farmhouse, I am also a part time forest runner on most days. Although it's not my second job of choice, it's just something I do on the side whenever I want to. Plus it bumps up my salary a bit, and I appreciate the extra money I get from doing it. Despite how crazy and insanely dangerous it almost always gets.
What is a forest runner? Well, on the one hand, I want to say it is one of the easiest things in the world. Since it mostly involves walking into a single patch of forest, making a loud noise, and immediately turning back to run in the opposite direction. But what you run from is what makes it tricky. And whether or not you are fast enough to outpace whatever hears you, also makes the difference. I can't believe I am about to say this, but I also run away from monsters for a living.
Ferocious, blood thirsty creatures ready to tear you limb from limb The second they grab hold of your jacket and pull you towards them. Those kinds of monsters. But I don't just run away from monsters in the forest. I also run away from other things too. Wildlife. Creatures of different shapes and sizes. Spirits. Ghouls. Ghosts. Goblins. And my list favorite of them all: Mermaids.
Okay. Maybe mermaids aren't supposed to be on the list. I just had that one "experience" with a particular mermaid a few weeks ago, which almost scarred me for life. I kinda have most of the memories a bit blurry but let’s just say because of her, I was literally almost seafood. But before then, I've never actually seen one in person. But I've heard stories.
Stories of how they rarely swim up to the surface and whenever they do, you are not to approach any of them, under any circumstance, unless invited. I wasn't. And I approached one anyway. Safe to say, it really didn't bode well for me when I did that. Lesson learned that's for sure. But do you know what? Let that be the first story I tell you.
The first thing I remember from that experience was the image of a blonde girl sat crying by the riverbank. It was a Saturday evening, and I was out raking a bunch of leaves when her incessive sobbing was carried over to the farmhouse by the wind. At first I chose to ignore it. Hoping that, it was just that. Incessive sobbing carried over by the wind and nothing more. But then the sobbing grew louder, and I promise I had a very good reason to go check it out.
At this point, it was just me at the farmhouse and no one else. My boss "Frank" was out hunting with the farmhouse dog, and his wife "Linda" was out supplying a fresh batch of mixed herb to the nearby villages and markets. Which reminds me.
Remember how I said the nearest civilization was at least a gazillion miles away? Technically, that's not entirely accurate. The nearest civilization is not a gazillion miles away as I initially had you believe. Sorry about that. The nearest civilization for real this time, is actually just a couple walks downhill. Past the field of murdering bush lilies, and through the enchanted trees of killer mushrooms. Then, voila. Civilization. But the nearest 21st century civilization however, that's the One that is at least a gazillion miles away. The place where the rest of present-day humanity lives. Yeah. Super far from wherever this place is. Anyway, back to the story.
So there I was. Standing in the middle of a clearing in front of the farmhouse, a small pile of dried grass and leaves sitting in front of me and starting to Russell over from the wind. I placed the bud of my rake on top of the heap, preventing it from spreading any further and causing me to start over, while I lifted my head up to listen intently to the sounds in the wind. Again, it was just as I described. Sobs. Someone crying. Soft sniffles, coughs, and everything. You didn't need an otolaryngologist to help identify what your ears were picking up in that moment, it was just so clear that the person doing the crying might well have been right next to you.
I jumped at the thought of something sneaking up behind me while I was distracted and began searching my immediate environment for any potential anomalies that might have gotten past the wooden fence surrounding the farmhouse. Poltergeists. Trolls. Ogres. And a sumo sized demon gorilla with red eyes and muscles the size of bowling balls. Believe it or not, but these are just a few of the abominations that have somehow managed to cross on to the compound one too many times before, and if it weren't for the intervention of Frank and Linda, the power couple currently running the farmhouse, the aberrations would probably have done a lot more than break a few things while also nearly giving me a heart attack in the process.
But after a few quick nervous glances over my immediate environment, and finding not one thing out of place, I turned my attention over to where the sobs sounded the loudest. It was coming from a fairly large crack in the fence on the west side of the farmhouse. A demarcation that when gazed through, revealed a whole new world consisting of a deep gray sky, rocks, a bunch of trees that were hopefully weren't harboring zombie tree people, and its most alluring feature of it all. A great body of water that is almost as gray as the sky itself. That is where the sobs were coming from. And like any reasonable person in that situation, my initial thoughts were NOT to check out the strange noise emanating from beyond the fence.
I mean, just think about it. I was all alone, on a hill. In a farmhouse located right in the center of a very large, very enchanted mystical forests, capable of hoarding a huge amount of very dark, very demented creatures, which are seemingly on a never-ending hunt for lonely gardeners, and farmers, and small groups of villagers to torment, or possess, or straight up consume whenever they are feeling a bit frisky.
So yes. I most definitely wasn't about to leave the comforting embrace that the squarish wooden structure around the farmhouse provided, to go investigate a strange sound that just so happens to be coming from the same place I was warned on multiple occasions never to visit. And whenever I asked, I was straight up told mother nature herself was sleeping at the bottom of that very river and waking her up was asking for trouble.
I never could tell when Linda is joking, or when Frank is being serious. But when it comes to things concerning the forest and around the farmhouse, I always listen. So if mother nature herself is sleeping in that very river, then mother nature herself is sleeping in that very river. And instead of investigating the strange sobs, I ignored it. But then, it got worse.
There was a sudden ear-piercing screech as whatever was crying by the river, let out a scream that almost blew out my eardrums. The intense whale only lasted for about a moment, but every second was an excruciating eternity, causing me to let go of the rake I was holding and cover my ears in reflex. It was so loud it must have reverberated round a good chunk of the forest, sending a few hundred birds scattering into the air, and a dozen more rodents dashing for cover. When the screeching finally stopped, it was as if the world fell silent, and nothing moved.
It took a few seconds for me to be comfortable enough to uncover my ears, setting my hands by my side in the process. I blinked a couple times before scanning my environment once more, searching for anything out of the ordinary. For some reason, I was certain a display of such fierce vocal capacity, especially one of such intensity, was bound to disturb the mother of forest, rousing her up from her slumber. But instead of waiting around to find out, I gathered up my equipment, abandoned the rest of my work for that evening, and began marching towards the farmhouse where it was safe. Ish.
Besides. I run away from monsters for a living. I don't face them. If anything, I want to say that was consistent with my character. Also, when that monster is essentially a superpower of the forest resting in your backyard, it kind of puts a lot of stuff into consideration. Plus, I was all alone so. Yeah. Definitely wasn't waiting around to find out.
Approaching the farmhouse in a haste, I made a beeline for the equipment's shed positioned on the east side of the compound, almost directly opposite where the strange sobs were initially coming from. Now, the sobs were quiet. But that doesn't mean something was not still back there.
Reaching for my keys in my lower right pocket, I pulled them out in a flurry of clinks and jingles, while instinctively feeling for the specific key I needed with the tips of my fingers. As the farmhouse is situated in a very remote area of the forest, we don't often get that many unwanted visitors from the nearby villages and settlements who want to take things from us without asking. But it is still advised we lock up anything of value because, well, where do you think some of the creatures around here get their weapons of callus destruction from?
Nearing the doors of the shed, I finally picked out the key I needed from the bunch, then used that to flick open the rusty metal lock and entered the belly of the Makeshift storage unit. Inside were rows after rows of very sharp, very blunt instruments of numerous shapes and sizes, with each one Easley being the perfect leading murderous tool for any band of pissed off bulbus shaped vegetable people to ransack, steal, and utilize to illegally carve out any portion of the forest and claim it as their own.
They were knives. Blades. Scissors. Hoes. Clippers. Shovels. Diggers. Daggers. Slicers. Splicers. And of course. A big ass sword standing in a stone on the opposite side of the far wall. The rest of the stuff were just scattered haphazardly, with some of them still hanging on the metal rings connected to the woodwork lining up the ceiling, while others were resting on the tables, and some lying on the floor.
I dumped all of my equipment, then stepped out closing the doors behind me and remembering to lock it. I continued my march toward the farmhouse, but just as I rushed up the flight of small stairs and placed my hand on the doorknob, I heard it again.
The crying from before.
This time however, it was different.
This time, it sounded more human.
I don't know what came over me. It was as if a million little metal fists shot out of nowhere and punched me right in the gut. The creature's pain became my pain, and its worries became my worries. I did not like the feeling.
The crying took me back to a point in my life I really did not like to think about. It made me sick to my stomach and made my eyes want to water. Every cough. Every sniffle. Every audible inhale I now heard emanating from just beyond the fence, made me felt gross to my core. I wanted it to stop.
But instead of running upstairs and throwing on a pair of earplugs, I decided to do the opposite.
I went to go investigate the strange sobs coming from beyond the fence.
And before you role your eyes at me, I promise. I had a very good reason for doing so. I just can't tell you about it at the moment. Brings up too many unwanted memories. Just know I needed to confirm that whomever or whatever was crying by the river, wasn't going through a similar thing I ones did. And if he or she wasn't peaceful, or friendly, then I will simply not approach them.
That's it.
So after releasing the doorknob and taking in a few deep breaths, I backed away from the front door and took off down the flight of stairs, turning in the direction of the west side of the farmhouse. To where the sobs were coming from.
Although now it wasn't full on sobbing, it was more of a blend between sniffling and coughing. Which was starting to decrease in frequency and intensity as I got closer.
I was halfway across the yard, mere feet away from gazing through the crack in the fence when I suddenly remembered the vicious scream from earlier, which then prompted me to do a quick u turn to go grab a pair of earmuffs from the top of my desk within the farmhouse. Sometimes, strange noises emanate deep within the forest at night, and the earmuffs primarily helps to preserve my sanity whenever that happens. It also helps to block out sounds like annoying chattering crows, shadow whisperers, and sleepwalking inducing river sirens. Amongst other things. But the main reason why I went back for it that evening, was to help protect my ears from the screeching.
I used the opportunity after snagging the pair of blue earmuffs, to gaze out my window overlooking the river on the west side of the farmhouse. I didn't quite catch a glimpse of whatever was crying by the water, on the count of my window not being in exact focus to the sobs, so I threw on the muffs, went downstairs, and headed out the front door.
I once again turned in the direction of the sobs which, I could no longer here as much. But blocking out the crying like I said, wasn't really what I was going for. I wanted to make sure whoever was crying was okay. And just as I was approaching the fence, ready to peer through the crack in the wooden structure surrounding the farmhouse, someone got in my way.
There was a sudden pressure against my back as something had landed so gracefully behind me, that it completely escaped my sense of hearing, bringing me to a literal standstill. I didn't even need to turn around to find out who it was. The scent of fresh blood in the air. The waves of dark aura pushing against my back. The ability to move as fast and as silent, so as to completely evade the senses. There was only one forest aberration I knew could do that.
"And just what do you think you are doing?"
I heard the voice of Sebastian ask from inside the back of my head, sending ripples of dread down the length of my spine. I turned around slowly and came face to face with the thing that would forever be the number one reason why I find owls to be one of the scariest species of birds on the planet.
Sebastian was a part man, part owl hybrid thing, with a ghostly white face, deep black eyes, and a feathered, makeshift winged cloak that was just as deep, dark, and menacing as his eyes. He has no beak. But lips. And it doesn't really matter because when he speaks, they don't move. At all. No matter the circumstance.
"Have you suddenly lost your tongue boy? I asked you a question. What do you think you are doing?" he added, his cold voice bouncing around in my head and his gaze frozen solid.
I tried saying something, but I was so captivated by fear I forgot how to speak. My entire body was shaking like a leaf, and I was pretty sure I was about to piss my pants.
Among all the aberrations in the forest and Frank just so happen to pick the creepiest looking one of them all to serve as my babysitter. Thanks Frank. I really appreciate it.
"Don't make me repeat myself boy," Sebastian said, his tone dropping to sinister levels.
"SPEAK!" he ordered, and the ferocity of his pitch almost caused the inside of my skull to split in two.
I swallowed the fear stuck in my throat and finally spoke.
"There's... It's... Someone needs our help," I said. My words somehow managing to form a cohesive sentence. "I just wanted to..."
Sebastian jerked his head to the side to glance over my shoulder. More specifically, he glanced over my shoulder to stare through the crack in the wooded fence behind me.
We both heard the sniffling noises simultaneously.
After a second or two, Sebastian then snapped his head in my direction, returning his soulless gays back on me.
"Were you invited?" he asked, a hint of calm resignation in his tone.
"What?" I replied, genuinely confuse at his question.
"Were you invited?" he asked again, with his voice starting to shift into enraged annoyance.
In fear of not wanting to piss him off any more than I already did, I simply shook my head in response, hoping that was enough non sassy, non-disrespectful way of indicating I was still at a loss of what he was asking.
Letting out a sigh, he said, "Take a look." And I began to slowly step backwards while keeping my eyes trained on him. It was not until my back connected with a flat wooden surface behind me that I finally broke eye contact in order to turn around, crouch, and gaze out the crack in the fence standing on the west side of the farmhouse. And the view was just as I described.
There was the deep gray sky with all its glory. The smooth dark rocks. The towering trees looming overhead. And the large body of water that had her swampiness resting underneath. Everything was as I described with one exception. Now sitting on one of the rocks by the left side of the river, with her back turned and both of her legs stuffed into the water, was a girl. Or more specifically, a young woman.
Her hair was a mixture of white and yellow, with rows of beads running half circles along the back of her braid, decorating her already very colorful, very voluminous hair all the way down to her lower back. Her shoulders each held three sets of clothing strips, which appeared to act as the primary (hold me up support) for the rest of her slim green looking attire, and the tone of her skin was a pale shade with a hint of Olive undertone. She looked hunched over in her sitting position, with her hands, each one decorated with rows of transparent blue bangles, lifted up to her face, cupping her eyes and nose as she continued to sniffle and sob quietly into the morning breeze. I didn't even have to sight her tail to know what kind of creature she already was.
Some of the creatures in the forest, especially the mermaids, take great pride in the kinds of accessories they wear, and in the way they look. If you were to ask me why, I would say it probably has something to do with ethnic origins or simple personal aesthetic choices. Suddenly, the question Sebastian kept repeating to me made a lot of sense. If you don't ask a mermaid for permission before approaching, things for you can become really painful. And for a brief moment, I wondered if the screeching noise from earlier had anything to do with the kinds of things they are capable of.
So, in light of the sudden Discovery that I was in fact dealing with a potentially hostile mermaid, my drive for wanting to help her process whatever grief she was going through suddenly plummeted. Especially now that I knew she was capable of letting out a screech that could easily rip apart my skull if she wanted to. And because of that, I ceased staring through the gap in the fence to lean back and look up at the frozen stature of Sebastian looming just behind me. He kept silent as always, and continued to observe me with a steady gaze, waiting for me to speak of my findings. I gave myself a second to process the image I had just witnessed before speaking.
"It's a mermaid," I said, perplexed at my Discovery.
"Yes," Sebastian replied, his lips shut, and his voice reverberating around the inside of my skull.
"I can't believe it. I've never seen a mermaid before," I said.
"You should count yourself lucky then rabbit," Sebastian said, unmoving. "Those who sight a mermaid for the first time from such close distance don't usually walk away to tell about the tail," he added. "They always end up doing something stupid."
"Stupid?" I asked, flashing a nervous smile.
Sebastian picked up on my former intentions and shot me a disappointed angry stare.
"Stupid like trying to get nearer for an even closer gander," he said, his pitch-black eyes narrowing and warning. "What were you thinking?" he asked, and luckily for me I did not have to answer the question.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash as if a tree had toppled over in the distance. Sebastian spun his head around, twisting his neck so the back of his head was now facing me. I squirmed at the site of his forward backwards appearance, never having gotten acquainted with most of his characteristics and capabilities in the short time I've known him working at the farmhouse. After a second or two, Sebastian then twisted his neck back into place, returning his dark gaze back on me.
"What is it?" I asked, standing up from my crouched position by the fence and allowing the thought of the mermaid disappear from my mind for a moment.
"You should get inside. Now," Sebastian replied, taking a step back before opening his massive dark wings and spreading them to the sides.
He arced his knees a little bit, and with a single downward flap of his wings, he was airborne. Off the ground by a total of eight feet, before coming to a halt midflight to stare down at me.
"Get inside and lock the doors. Now!" he barked, eyes narrowed, and his wings flapping up and down by his sides keeping his suspended state.
"But you still haven't..."
I never got the opportunity to complete my sentence.
Just then, an almost invisible ball of spiraling blue energy, shot out from somewhere behind me and collided with the body of Sebastian, sending him flying across the front yard and expelling him from the premises entirely.
I immediately took out my earmuffs and was hit with an eerie silence. My heart was pounding. My brain was starting to enter a hyperactive panic mode. And my breathing became ragged and intense. What the hell just happened?
I didn't have to wait for my answer.
I spun around to the sound of rapid approaching footsteps, and almost had a heart attack from what I saw.
Running towards the farmhouse from the other side of the fence. Bare feet. With the lower half of her dress dripping with river water, and the top part of her attire and voluminous hair flowing in the evening breeze, was the mermaid. In full spectacle.
Her eyes were the color of midnight. Her gait, although a little hindered by her dress, seemed just like the way a normal girl would run. The rows of transparent blue bangles on her forearm and wrist, were now a bright luminescent glowing color. And they were streaks of dried-up black makeup tears running down the sides of her cheeks, prove she was indeed the one crying moments earlier.
She resembled something straight out of a marionette's horror movie running towards me and I was a deer caught in headlights. I couldn't believe it.
I started to back off slowly and she snapped her head in my direction, causing my heart to almost leap out of my chest.
"Hey! No! Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!" she yelled, rushing towards the fence, and lifting up her hands defensively. "I just want to help," she added, finally coming to a halt, and staring at me through the gap in the fence.
"Something terrible is coming this way and it's all my fault," she said. "Please. We need to leave"
She continued to stare at me through the crack in the fence, a look of genuine concerned plastered across her face. Her dark blue eyes held a tinge of guilt behind them, and her cheeks and lips were flushed with honest worry. She reached out an arm through the fence, as if physically showing she wasn't a threat. That's when I looked down and found that the rows of bangles on her hand, the same ones that were glowing a bright luminescent color only seconds before, were now dimming back into their original shade, almost as if they were in a state of powering down.
"Please," she whispered, and I lifted my head up to meet her gays once more.
For a second, I didn't move. I was frozen in fear and contemplating weather to Make a run for the farmhouse and lock myself in, or run away with this stranger offering to take me to a new location. The safety of the farmhouse had already been compromised thanks to her, and it was about to become a hotspot for major forest aberration activity.
I took a moment to consider my options. I really did. But the renewed sound of trees toppling over from somewhere behind me, accompanied with the ground shaking rumble of a dozen legs digging into the ground and barreling towards the farmhouse in a rush, suddenly made my decision that much obvious.
"Please. We need to go. Now!" she said, with her arm still stretched. And without a second thought, I carefully placed my hand on hers, and the instant my palm came in contact with the inside of her hand, the rows of transparent blue bangles on her arm lit up, and she immediately let go of my hand and grabbed my forearm instead.
I looked up at her face in horror, but before I could utter a word of protest, the insides of her eyes grew brighter, and she lifted her arm up, flinging me over the fence sooner than my mind was able to comprehend what was happening.
I was airborne. For like 2 and a half seconds. But it felt like a lifetime. And while I was busy somersaulting over the fence, the world around me seemed to slow down, giving me plenty of time to catch an upside-down glimpse of the humongous forest creature now climbing its way into the compound from the other side of the fence.
If none of what I've said so far has remotely sounded crazy in the slightest, this is the part where shit should really start to hit the fan. Because climbing into the compound from the other side of the fence, in a downwards arc of its massive body, was the biggest forest crab I have ever seen.
The thing was huge. Like, really huge. It possessed a dirty brown colored appearance, with some parts of its shell-like armored plating covered in green splotches. Its legs were long and pincer like, and its two main frontal claws were massive, reinforced gauntlets ending in scissor like appendages. It had tiny, jagged needles coating almost every inch of its crustacean, with the most vicious looking ones located on its arms, its legs, and the sides of its shell. And other than the overall monstrous sea creature vibes the think presented, there was another disturbing aspect to the thing.
On its back. The topmost part of its shell. Sitting on what resembled a saddle and wielding a slag of rope that somehow connected to the giant crab's antenna, was a rider. Donning some kind of yellow, red ceremonial armor.
The mermaid had planned to catch me as she already had a hand stretched upwards, ready to somehow break my fall the second I cleared the compound and was falling on the outside part of the fence. But she might have thrown me further than she can catch me because our fingers barely even brushed the top of one another before a look of horror flashed across her face, and I mentally braced myself for the inevitable rough landing.
What followed was almost instantaneous.
The world around me sped up and I watched as a ground littered with sharp rocks and stones rushed towards my face. And the last thing I remember as I fell onto the ground was smashing the side of my head against something hard before going blank.
This next part might have Played out as if in a dream sequence, but it was just the symptoms of my brain going into shock.
I was sprawled on the floor. Unmoving. But I could still perceive most of my surroundings. The side of my face in the ground was warm, and I could make out the sound of something growling and bashing against a wall, and the voice of someone crying out over the noise in the distance.
"Hey! Are you okay? I'm sorry I did not catch you. Please. get up. Hey! Can you hear me? Please. Get up. Please!"
"Easy stone breaker. Easy." A second voice spoke out over the noise, and the bashing stopped. So did the growling.
"Look princess. What you've done."
The second voice belonged to a man. And if I were to guess, I would say it belonged to the same person I saw riding the giant crab.
"Please. Get up," the girl said.
“Disappointing,” the man said. ”You see princess, this is what happens whenever you do this. Death. Destruction. And innocent people suffer for it.”
There was a pause.
“I mean, I try my best to minimize the second one, but you can't seem to stop yourself from causing the first one," the man continued. “If you would just come with me back home princess. Watermeena misses you. Your parents miss you. And I’m sure you must be tired of all this constant running?”
I couldn't quite see what was happening mainly because I had fallen facing a patch of bushes, but the rock my head was now resting on beside a nearby tree, provided enough elevation for my peripheral vision to catch some of the action.
First was that the mermaid was still standing outside the wooden fence surrounding the farmhouse. However she was now in some kind of forward leaning stance, with her arms pushed out in front, holding steady a giant transparent blue dome that had seemingly appeared from nowhere and enveloped the compound. Trapping the giant crab and its rider inside.
Second was that she seemed to be getting tired. She had her head lowered, staring at the ground. Her arms were shaking. Her legs were quivering. And the bangles on her arms were starting to blink on and off, indicating that they were probably stressed and overheating, or were simply losing power. Either way, she looked like she was about to pass out and I felt like I needed to do something.
I slowly lifted my head up and was immediately rewarded with a sharp ache shooting through my skull. I lowered my head and winced in pain, before waiting a few seconds and trying again.
This time, I was able to lift my head up and also shuffle my first step forward. And my second. And my third. Other than what I was certain was a broken knee, twisted ankle, and a bruised rib, which were all yelling at my brain for my body to stop moving, I had no other injuries. At least, so I thought.
“Huh,” the voice of the man said. “It seems as though your pedestrian casualty survived after all.”
Still laying on the ground, I lifted my head up and turned in the direction of the farmhouse. The mermaid had also lifted her head up to stare back at me.
There were fresh tears running down the sides of her cheeks. But she now had a smile plastered across her face. A smile of relief. With a little worry sprinkled in.
“Well, isn't that just wonderful,” the man said. ”Now princess,” he continued, “the ball is in your court. You either bring him along and we all go in search of a healer to help dress his injuries, in which case we leave him there and continue onward to Watermeena. Or you leave the poor fellow here to bleed out, and instead do what you've always done. Run. With whatever charge still left in those rings of yours. Just know I cannot guarantee his safety if you do choose to run. Stonebreaker gets a bit agitated when he hasn't had his dinner. And guess who hasn't eaten all day because of you.”
The mermaid looked up at the rider on the crab, then look down back at me. The smile had disappeared from her face and was now replaced with the familiar flush of worry. I turned my attention away and continued to press forward on my elbows and remaining good knee. And after a little while, I was able to make it to the trunk of a tree and lifted myself up to rest my back on it.
Wait. Did he just threatened to feed me to the crab? And did he just say I was bleeding out?
I looked down and was mortified when I saw a trail of blood smeared along the ground from where I sat, all the way to a collection of rocks sticking out of the ground which must have been my point of impact. I lifted my hand and felt a deep gash on the side of my forehead, and a sticky warm liquid was now between my fingers and running along the side of my face. I was suddenly like headed, and unable to focus on anything around me but the voices speaking in the distance.
“Hey! No! Open your eyes! Stay with me!”
Wait. When did I close my eyes?
“He is going into shock. It's now or never princess. Make your choice.”
“No. Please. Wake up,“ I heard the voice of the girl ask, reminding me of that particular memory I really did not like. I opened my eyes to a blurred mess of the things around me, then turned my attention over to where the blurred figure of the mermaid still stood holding together the blurred dome wall.
“Time is running out princess. A few more minutes and he is going to lose consciousness. You should make your choice now.”
“Promise me you won't hurt him,” the girl said, her voice restrained. “And promise me your beast wouldn't lay a single claw on him either.”
“As the commander of the royal army, you have my word princess.”
There was another pause. And just as I began lowering my head and shutting my eyes closed, I made one last attempt in hopes of saving my ass and also preserving the mermaid's independence since it really seemed like she didn't want to go with him.
“Screech,” I said, mustering some of the remaining ounce of energy I could to say that one word.
“What? The mermaid replied,” sniffling.
“That thing you did earlier. Do it again,” I said. “Scream.”
“But that was an accident,” she replied, “and it can hurt you.”
“Just do it,” I said. “Please.”
"Don't bother princess," the man said. "Your disorientating song might have led us to you, but it is not going to drive us away.”
“Good,” I replied, lifting my head up to stare in their direction and blinking a few times to clear my vision. "There is someone I would like you guys to meet."
I turned so I was now facing the mermaid.
“Do it,” I said. “Now.” And with a reluctant nod of her head, she let out three consecutive wails that were not as vicious as the first one, but still packed enough punch to force My hands to cover my ears in response. Even stonebreaker seemed to stumble on his legs a little, before shaking his head to the sides and brushing off the noise. When she was finally done, she lifted her head to stare up at me, with the look in her eyes begging the question. What now?
Her answer came in form of The River beside us starting to bubble over, with a large dark humanoid shape slowly rising up from the deep.
She was awake.
Suddenly, the bangles on the mermaid's hands sparked a bright flash, forcing her to flinch in pain before releasing her grip on the blue dome and dropping to her knees. The bangles began dimming back into their original shade and the blue dome surrounding the compound evaporated.
The man did not cease the opportunity to steal the mermaid in that moment. Instead he was transfixed on the entity now emerging from the water.
The figure in the river continued to rise, until it was out of the water to its waste and was facing the direction of the farmhouse.
It was big. Very big. Its body was made entirely of dark brown roots and tree bark, and its eyes were hollow circuits of glowing lights. There was a greenish bluish swamp like slime covering its entire body, and the hair on its head was long, dark, drenched, and coated with seaweed. Its overall visage was akin to the top half of a woman, and when she spoke, it was with a thousand voices that came before her.
“I am Kiai Ohana. Mother of nature. Guardian, and protector of all living things in the forest. Crab fender.” The thing lifted her hand to point at the man sitting on the giant crab, which was now 10 times smaller in comparison. “You are currently violating the sanctity of this land with your presence and putting the life of yet another of my own at risk. As you and your men have done on multiple counts before,” she said, lowering her arm. “No longer should I allow such acts from you go unpunished. Leave now and consider this to be your final warning.”
Without saying another word, the crab fender pulled at the rains of his beast, steering his massive crustacean away from the mermaid and exiting the compound by crawling over the same fence he crawled in.
“You too little one,” the spirit said. Turning her attention over to the mermaid. “I must continue to recuperate. You must be on your way. Now.”
The mermaid got to her feet and rushed over to where I had my back against a tree.
“But can you please help him,” she said. “He is like this because of me.”
She tore a piece of her dress and pressed it against my forehead.
I want to say it hurt like hell, but I was already slipping back into unconsciousness, and everything was becoming numb. The girl kneeling in front of me was but a blur again at this point.
“I know,” the spirit replied. “I will see to it that he is treated. But you must go. Now. Like the crab fender, you have also caused a lot of trouble and are now trespassing on private land. And I cannot have that.”
“Okay,” the mermaid replied. “And I'm sorry for all I've caused. I really am. But thank you for accepting to help him. She said. Thank you."
“It's my duty little one,” the spirit said. “Don't thank me. Besides. I know this one. He is a sapling in training. Hopefully he is able to blossom before the start of the dark days, or a simple head injury would be the list of his problems. Now go little one. And don't come back.”
“Okay,” the mermaid replied.
Before leaving, the mermaid ended up wiping the blood from my face with the piece of fabric, then tor another piece from her dress and wrapped it around my head like a Makeshift Band-Aid. After that, she took my hand in hers and leaned in closer.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
And with that, she got to her feet and began bolting down towards the river, and just as she jumped into the water, I blinked a few times to clear my vision, and caught sight of her transformation as she dove into the water. Headfirst, tail last. Then, she was gone.
But the spirit was still there.
“Don't worry little sapling,” the spirit said, as my vision began to tunnel. “Help is on its way,” she added. “Save your strength and get well soon. The dark days are almost upon us. And I am going to need every man and woman of the runners, prepared to trade their lives for the forest. Including you.”
I could only mutter a silent "what?" Before I completely blacked out. And when I woke up a few hours later, the first thing to cross my mind was an echo of what the spirit had said.
"The dark days are almost upon us. And I am going to need every man and woman of the runners, prepared to trade their lives for the forest. Including you."
What the hell are the dark days?

So the conversation first started around my possible carpal tunnel because I've been having symptoms and haven't gone to the doctor yet and it's just getting worse. Numbness, tingling, pain, randomly feeling like my hand got electrocuted when doing something, and worst of all I can't get proper sleep anymore because I'll wake up in the middle of the night and my whole arm will be killing me because I layed on it wrong. I don't even have to be laying on my side very long resting on my elbow before my arm starts tingling and going numb. It's worse in my right arm and hand but it happens a little in my left too. It doesn't feel the same as when a limb falls asleep and it feels like you're getting stabbed by needles, it's a numbness with aching pain. I'm 21 and a couple of my older family members said they got carpal tunnel in their 20's so they say that's most likely what it is. I've been talking about going to urgent care but one of them told me they'll do tests and probably do surgery on me so I need to just go to the chiropractor because it's probably a pinched nerve and they'll adjust me and it'll probably fix it and they'll see if my hip is out of place or if one of my legs is shorter than the other and if either of those are true I'll need to put an insert in one of my shoes to make up for it. Then they told me I need to get gel inserts with arch support anyway because I'm on my feet all day at work and my feet and ankles are always hurting. I recently got the Prio all day Xero shoes and I love them, I had previously been wearing water shoes which are nearly like socks and I loved them but if I stepped in water well they're not water proof so my socks would get soaked and it would drive me nuts. I don't know what to do anymore, I can't do any kind of exercise outside of work because of all of this not to mention that my back hurts, probably more than it should for my age. I refuse to wear inserts in my shoes and they call me stubborn but they're the ones that are stubborn because I keep telling them I don't need it and that I definitely don't need arch support because cushioning and arch support actually make your feet weaker. People who wear shoes with cushioning and arch support still complain about their feet hurting so tell me how it really helps. One of my family members who was on their feet all day at work tried everything, all of these fancy shoes with support and cushioning and tried different inserts and nothing worked, their feet were still always in pain. And I'm supposed to believe it'll help me when it's obvious it won't? I first started going barefoot about 2.5 years ago and I rarely ever wore shoes. I walked and jogged a lot, did all kinds of exercise, hiked for miles, and yeah my feet would hurt but I let them rest so they never hurt as bad as they do now. I've had this job for a half a year and my feet have always hurt from it but not this bad. It's gotten worse these past few months because I'm doing more work because people have quit and we have less people, half the time I work six days a week and on my days off I have chores to do.

Below shows the option I had sold awhile back and it hit 50% profit today to only see it can no longer be traded on the put side yet it still can be on the call side. Is there a way to close this trade or do I have to ride it out till expiration now?
https://preview.redd.it/87e8y3qbw4pa1.png?width=1470&format=png&auto=webp&s=6125ff4d259ba48dac446b2e747660a271ea80b3

I went to college close to my hometown, and then moved away for several years while leaving plenty of stuff in my room at my parents' house. A couple months ago, I moved to near my hometown which corresponded with my parents moving to a new house nearby, and I took most things from my old room into my new house since their new house doesn't have a lot of storage space.
Later, I asked my dad about the husband pillow that had previously been in my old room, but wasn't there when I picked up the stuff. They told me that their dog had peed on the pillow when it was on the floor, so they threw it away. I told my dad that I would send a Venmo request for the pillow that my dog peed on, and that it's not just about the money but also the time I would have to spend finding another pillow like that, since Walmart and Target don't sell husband pillows like that anymore, and I find their current selection uncomfortable. I told him that I always closed my room door when I was in town and staying at their house BECAUSE of the dog, and that they should have kept my room door closed.
My dad told me that it was my fault for leaving so much stuff on the floor after I left their house, but the pillow was always on the floor in my room since I couldn't use it on my bed since the side of the bed was too far from the wall. And that even if the husband pillow was on my bed and nothing was on the floor, their dog still could have come into my old room and jumped on the bed and peed on it there.
I also play the marimba (like a big wooden xylophone) that I had to leave at my parents' house when I moved away because it was too large to bring with me. A couple years ago, they sold the marimba for around $1000 (a lot less money than it’s worth), despite me telling them that I still wanted to keep it, and they didn't even need the money. They had initially told me that when I moved into a more permanent place, they would buy me a new marimba as a housewarming gift. While my current house is not a permanent place for me, it is still big enough that it could have fit a marimba - either the old one that they sold, or a new one, but they are refusing to buy me a new marimba, saying that it was never mine since they bought it. I told my dad that the marimba is the instrument that brings me the most joy, and how would he feel if he never got to ride his bike anymore? He told me that when he was in school, he paid for his bike with his own money from his job. But I was also working when I was a kid - babysitting from age 11 to 18 and volunteering. Maybe I didn't buy the marimba with my own money, but it's not like I wasn't doing anything, so I don't think his point is valid. And they had bought it for me, so I thought was mine - no one else ever played it. Later he told me that they would buy me a new marimba for the holidays as a gift, but when the holidays came he changed his mind.
So, AITA for asking my parents to pay to replace the pillow and marimba?

I am a patient access representative in a very large medical health plex and there have been an overwhelming amount of changes happening lately. The building is getting a re-model, we only have 2 kiosks for checking in but we are adding a ton more. We are now using facial recognition biometrics and have to ask patients if we can take their picture. I’ve been told in the past that my job was safe with technological advances and had lost it 2 weeks later. I’m getting the same familiar feeling at this job. I’ve been here almost a year, and I’ve considered working from home and focusing on the side of scheduling/referrals, etc. I have been heavily weighing on getting my medical billing and coding certification and I know those jobs are hard to get into, but I’m very certain I’d get in after the program through the job I have now. We’ve had several people do so with our backgrounds here. But I’m even scared that would eventually be taken over by some form of technology. I don’t know what to do, I guess I’m just looking to have my mind eased.

I need to get in touch with my provider this week to refill my 0.5mg or write a new Rx for 1mg and I'm not sure what I want to do. I have been on 0.5 for two weeks and Thursday will be my third 0.5 injection. I am not having any significant side effects, just mild fatigue some days, mild constipation that is being well managed with magnesium supplementation. I am losing weight - about 2.3 lbs/week on average. My appetite suppression, satiety and cravings on 0.5 are much improved from 0.25. I'm eating between 1300-1500 kcal/day most days. I have a lot of weight to lose - about 90 lbs. On the one hand, I've read that some people like to stay on the lowest dose possible to maximize the effectiveness of that dose before moving up to the next dose. On the other hand, there isn't really any data or studies (that I know of) that shows that strategy is associated with greater weight loss than going up to the next dose after 4 weeks. I am highly motivated to lose the next 20-50 lbs as I have a bunch of things coming up this summer that will be much more enjoyable with that weight gone - so I really want to keep up my weight loss momentum between now and September. I'm OK with the last 40ish lbs taking longer to lose. Thoughts? I am also hoping to maybe switch to Mounjaro at some point this summer if/when it is approved for weight loss.

I have what I suspect is contact dermatitis on my wrists- both of them. It has slowly spread across my left wrist onto the top part of my hand near my thumb, and the right wrist it started from the right side and spread across the whole wrist. I DO have an appointment with a dermatologist but it is far out.
It is ugly. It is red, scaly, dry, and bumpy. It also sucks up any type of lotion I put on it ( and I have tried a LOT of different creams/lotions. ) I’ve started to put a cream on it, then a bandage or bandaid over top to lock in that moisture, and that seems to help. However, now I have big ol’ bandages over both my wrists and the side of my left hand and people keep questioning me about it. Due to the cream I put on it, I can’t keep peeling back to bandage to show people my weird rash thing because the bandage won’t stick good after I peel it back. These bandages also keep me from wanting to itch it, which I tend to do right in the morning when I’m half asleep. The itching has also caused me to break skin a few times which makes the rash / dermatitis look even worse.
Is there any possible way to make the bandaged wrists look less like an.. unalivement attempt coverup? I’ve had good-willed strangers at my job try to talk to me, concerned professors at school, classmates. All of my friends know what it is cuz I’ve had the dermatitis for months and they’ve seen it uncovered. Do I just tell people to mind their business?
Also, any advice on how to treat it is also appreciated. My appointment with the dermatologist is still 2 weeks out. Can provide pictures if necessary.

Week 31. Mission: "Take Back The Farmstead"
first 2 waves were easy, team survived with atleast 90% HP each
wave 3: lost the shieldbreaker
i then asked myself: "am i really ballin that hard to fight the miller with only 3 characters? Of course i am!"
boosted dismas to levels that rival umm... shambler i guess
of course the damage kept piling up on both sides, the point blank shots were easily dispatching all the enemies spawned in with "The Master Beckons"
eventually paracelsus died. things were looking grim.
finale was not enough to end the miller (bro still had 50 HP left) but i had to be stubborn and play blackjack with RNGesus for the lives of Sarmenti and Dismas.
then they both got the deathblow from "The Reaping"
TURNS OUT THEY ARE DEAD FOREVER
the guilt was too much and i eradicated the entire save file.
should have remembered that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

First Previous
Chapter 2: Now Is Found
​
The moment the Into the Black entered Sol, the human’s home system, various transmissions and radio signals poured in. At first, the captain and the rest of the crew thought that humanity was well and truly alive. But upon closer inspection of the deluge of signals they were receiving, they realized they were nothing more than automated warnings, echoes, and ghost signals bouncing around the countless derelict ships, stations, habitats, and arcologies that surrounded nearly every world and moon in the system. The place was a mass grave, far greater than any of the previous systems. In fact, this system was the most developed Ohmata had ever seen. The Galactic Union’s capital is the most advanced system in the GU, and it pales compared to the level of development of the human home system!
The sheer amount of death and destruction was frightening. Entire fleets worth of ships clumped together in the void of space. Their own mass creating a small gravity, pulling them together and fashioning massive hulks. While also creating hazardous clouds of metal debris, more than a few moving fast enough to rip the Black to shreds, should they not be vigilant. Constructs the size of cities floated aimlessly, stuck within the confines of the star’s influence. Mobile defense platforms, which once bristled with the finest weapons humanity could field, lay battered and broken amongst the many wrecks that called Sol home. Humanity did not go down without a fight, that much was for certain. If anyone ever called them cowards, Ohmata would simply show them the recorded footage of their home system to prove the naysayers otherwise.
There looked to be more metal strewn about from the battles and destroyed ships alone than in every GU fleet combined, and more than a few worlds, too. The difference in the ships was obvious. The human vessels were boxy, utilitarian. They did their jobs, and they did them well. Many of which appeared to be nothing more than massive guns someone built a ship around, then put more guns on that.
The Nemesis were different; they weren’t boxy and rigid angles like the humans, but not totally smooth either. They had a far more organic look with multiple bends and curves, but the surfaces seemed to be rough and bumpy, and unlike the human ships, almost none were symmetrical. But though they were asymmetrical, there existed patterns in the various derelicts. As if they were variations of preexisting models, updated and expanded upon with time. In comparison, most GU ships were a happy medium. They had the bends and curves like the Nemesis, but were neatly symmetrical like the human ships.
Looking past the destruction and death, the system was fairly average. Four rocky worlds, four gas giants, and several smaller bodies here and there. The gas giants still had the broken remains of floating cities scattered across them, while their moons contained colonies and stations galore. But what was most interesting were the third and fourth rocky worlds. The fourth one had depressingly little green on it. It was mostly red, with an occasional white streak indicating clouds. It was highly developed, ruined cities ranged across its surface freely. But it bore the marks of war none the less. It would be a prime candidate for collecting samples, as long as the surface wasn’t too hazardous. Humanity did have a fetish for nuclear annihilation towards their end, after all.
The third planet, the third planet was something else. It was a grey husk devoid of life. Its moon had a massive crater denting its facade, with many smaller ones marking its surface. They stood out prominently. Fresh wounds of war contrasted against natural meteor strikes. The debris from the lunar surface and whatever had caused the impact was already starting to form the semblance of a ring around the planet. And like everywhere else, the surrounding space was choked with battle debris, though most had collected in the planet’s “proto ring”. There was so much debris that they could barely scan the planet, and what parts they could get to was so irradiated that a signal couldn’t penetrate from such a distance. Which meant if they wanted to scan the home world of these legendary humans, they would have to get closer. Which, frankly, was currently impossible.
“Nix’Fa, can you maneuver through that debris field?” Ohmata asked, while peering down at her console.
“No ma’am. A shuttle may get through, but it won’t have any of the equipment necessary to scan the planet. At least, not at any reasonable rate,” Nix’Fa replied. She, too, was looking over her console at potential flight paths.
First Lieutenant Qhaax spoke up from her station. “We may not need to actually scan the planet to learn more about humanity, captain. Most of the planet is a flattened, irradiated death pit, but the debris field around it still contains warships from both sides, some in remarkable condition. In fact, several derelicts appear to still have power, even after thousands of years. We may be able to board them using a shuttle and extract data from any intact computer systems we find. And while not exactly human, there is a Nemesis ship relatively close to the edge of the field. It would be a good first target.”
“Then we’ll change our plan to that. Qhaax, contact Kitern and tell her to get her marines suited up, send a techy or two and some researchers with them as well. You’ll have to contact Tentzonta to get her to let some of her engineers loose for once, and Glevar for her researchers. Though you won’t have to convince her, she’ll be jumping at the opportunity. Nix’Fa, start plotting them a course, and we’ll go from there, understood?”
The two responded with a crisp, yes ma’am, and got to work on their respective tasks.
-
“Kitern, can you hear me?” Ohmata’s voice called out from Kitern’s suit’s comms.
“Loud and clear, cap, whatcha need?” Commander Kitern responded as she stowed away several more energy cells for her weapon. She was a digitigrade, feline like mammal known as a Lioranian, with thick paw like hands that held deadly claws within them. They were still thin and nimble enough to manipulate objects accurately, but most importantly, pull a trigger. Her kind also had a slightly elongated snout, long tail, and top forward facing ears. Their eyes were dark, but a few bore mutations which lightened the iris to a sky blue. And their pupils are vertical, but would dilate periodically to give better depth perception and low light visibility. Her species’ coats ranged from a dark tan to a bright yellow gold and had multiple coat patterns of varying intensities. She personally had a dusty tan coat with slight stripe markings originating from her spine, but quickly fading as they reached around to her abdomen and chest.
“You already have a basic rundown about what to do. But I just wanted to remind you, we marked an entrance for you through some old battle damage on a derelict Nemesis ship that is close to the edge of the debris field. Enter, make your way to the power source, secure the area, and set up a pressurized zone if possible so the techies can work in peace. If you can’t, oh well, they can work in their suits. Also, you see anything living, as unlikely as that is, don’t go shooting it. Try to capture or reason with it, but if it does anything stupid, then do what you and your girls do best.”
Kitern smiled maliciously. “Aye, aye, captain. We’ll keep the civvies alive and kick’n, get the goods and be back in no time.”
“Then I leave the rest to you. Oh, try not to mess with the shuttle’s controls while it’s on autopilot this time. It’ll be weaving through a debris field too compact to get the Black into. Any rescue efforts will take a long time, longer than what you’ll have, so don’t touch the throttle like last time!” Ohmata raised her voice jokingly, playfully reminding Kitern of the last time they were on a shuttle together in such conditions.
“Ha! Dontcha worry, I’ll be in the back. Onsa will be in the pilot’s seat for this go. She’s a better flyer anyways,” Kitern played.
“Alright then, get done and come back, preferable alive. Ohmata out.” There was a click as Ohmata closed the channel.
“Hmph, always do.” Kitern had been staring at a random wall while talking to Ohmata. With the call over, she turned to her squad. “Alright girls, get your shit together and get to the shuttle. Oh, and keep your hands to yourself, Hran is coming along, I don’t want any complaints from him, or hands where they shouldn’t be, got it?” she barked, eyeing each of the three other marines, more specifically the youngest two.
“What if he lets us?” one of said marines asked jokingly.
“It’ll be a cold day on Ca’tab before that happens, Asteli,” Kitern replied.
“You never know, we might just wear him down finally, right Gre’Namra?” the perky Venanian replied.
“How many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Namra, and I doubt it. Men like to be wined and dined. Take them out, pay for a fancy meal, maybe buy them something. You know, the usual,” her counterpart, a Drae’Ildan, responded.
Kitern sighed. “Or how about not harassing anyone and act like a decent sentient, you hornbags? Now, shut it and get to the shuttle. Dentala you’ll have your work cut out for you keeping track of these two today.”
“Not as big of a job as keeping track of you, I pity Onsa,” Dentala said as she lifted a heavy kinetic slugger with a red hand, another Venanian.
Kitern chuffed deeply, her species version of a chuckle. “Me too! But, you might wanna put on a glove before we go out. Might help with the whole vacuum thing.” Dentala looked at her hand, surprised that she had forgotten it, before slipping one on. It attached to her bracer and made an airtight seal, forming an armored gauntlet. With that, the four marines left to join their fifth member in the shuttle.
As they left the locker room, Asteli mumbled under her breath. “We wouldn’t do that. We’re not assholes,” she said, addressing Kitern’s assertion of harassment.
“Well, you sound like one,” Gre’Namra replied quietly. After that, they kept their heads down and trudged along with their commanding officer.
A short jaunt later, they were passing through the hangar bay’s airlock. They were greeted by the Black’s only two shuttles. One, small and cramped, meant for scanning dangerous locations that they couldn’t get to with the ship. Logically, that would mean it was best suited to scan Earth. But even its equipment was not powerful enough to breach the radiation. Not without descending into the planet's atmosphere and becoming so irradiated they would practically glow in the dark. And while they could get Aphosi to remotely pilot the shuttle, its scanners aren't able to scan such a broad area like an entire planet. They were more meant to target small, specific locations.
The second shuttle was much larger. It was built to transport supplies and the handful of rovers they had in storage, to make excursions to planets. The smaller shuttle had permanently extended wings and large thrusters on the rear. The larger of the two, simply dubbed Shuttle One, could fold its wings. And had a variety of thrusters located across the ship for better maneuverability in space, and atmospheric thrusters embedded in the center of each wing for flight in atmo. But it also had two large engines in the back for forward thrust, just above its rear ramp.
Walking over to shuttle one, Onsa, the other Lioranian in the squad, was already waiting for them in the pilot’s seat. In the rear seating area were two engineers and two scientists, wearing grey, lightly armored EVA suits that looked to be made of cloth, but were instead a variety of advance polymers and flexible but insulative materials. Most of the helmet was a large, one way transparent material, allowing for increased awareness while sacrificing protection. In comparison, the marine’s helmets had no exterior window, instead a suite of miniature sensors embedded in their black armored helmets allowed them to see through an internal display screen. The helmets appeared to be smooth metal from a distance, only up close could you see the microscopic sensors embedded in them.
The marine’s suits held many of the same features as the civilians, but were black and had thick armored plates over vital areas and on select parts of their extremities, with thinner, non-metal armor segments filling in the gaps. Both suit types had an array of pockets and hideaways, each holding their respective tools of the trade. Regardless of the accessories, or level of protection, each was specially crafted to accommodate for the unique physiologies of the different species.
Had the ship and its equipment not made with each of their species in mind, they would have worn generic multi species suits. Instead of the pre-built features tailored for their specific anatomy, they would be covered with a thick insulated, pliable material that fitted over the horns, tails, and crests and shrank until it was tightly pressed against every nook and cranny. Aside from personalized helmets, each species’ leg sections and gloves/gauntlets catered for whether they were plantigrade, digitigrade, or for how many digits they may possess.
Hran being a male Venanian, had small horns jutting out from his temples. But because his horns were so small, his helmet did not need any special features. Thus was fairly plain. It looked like a sphere that had been slightly squished in on the sides. Unlike the females of his species, who had much larger, curved horns, their helmets were marked with two twin armored segments sticking up like antenna. Otherwise, their helmets were just as “stubby” as his, for their flatter faces. At least, in comparison to the other species onboard.
The Shednae with their elaborate head crests and long faces, had a stubby mohawk like metal protrusion for their crests to fit in, and longer helmets to account for their heads. The Drae’Ildan’s helmets were similar to the Shednae. In fact, they could be mistaken for one another if not for the lack of a head crest. Lastly, the Lioranian helmets were quite plain, aside from the extended “snout” for their slightly longer faces and two nubs to house their ears located on the top of their heads.
Those with tails were likewise afforded a special area to put them, instead of the shrinking material normal for such species. The Shednae have a small knob like space for their short tails. While the Venanians and Lioranians had long thin tails, they could be coiled in the suit. Drae’Ildan suits had a much longer and thicker tail section that looked burdensome but was quite flexible. Their suits were also equipped with a much larger array of sensors to assist them, as the Drae’Ildan’s natural sensory organs were significantly dulled in such tight confines.
“I see the grunts have finally made their appearance. Why did you bother bringing so many guns with you? It’s a derelict that has been floating dead in space for thousands of cycles. There won’t be anything living on board.”, one of the engineers nagged, as the marines ducked into the shuttle. Though her helmet was on, it was clear she was a part of engineering by the orange stripe running along the left of her suite, and left sleeve. Mimicking their uniforms.
“And a fine hello to you Kass, you too, Hran,” Kitern said as she sat down across from the two Venanians and buckled in. Hran simply nodded silently. Kitern continued, “And as for your question, we have no idea what we’ll find. You want to be stuck out in space with no way of protecting yourself if something is there? Yeah, I’m sure it’s empty too. Doesn’t mean I’m taking any chances.” Kass snorted at her reply.
“Shavizi, Jurwa, what about you two, think we’ve over prepared?” Kitern asked the two scientists to her left. Their stripes were blue.
“One can never be too prepared! Though the heavy slugger seems a bit excessive, but as long as you don’t drop it on me, I have no complaints,” Jurwa, a Shednae, said gleefully, practically bouncing in her seat.
“I agree, organic enemies aside. The ship may have automated defenses still functioning. If so, they will have to be dealt with accordingly.” Shavizi added. Yet another Venanian.
“See Kass, they get it,” Kitern grinned smugly underneath her helmet as she leaned back and buckled herself in.
As the others sat down and buckled in, Onsa turned in her seat to see if they were all ready. Everyone confirming they were. She turned back around and started up the shuttle. Quickly putting it into autopilot, but still keeping her hands on the controls just in case. The shuttle slipped out of the bay, passing through the atmospheric retention field, and pitching down and to the left, heading for the derelict Nemesis ship.
As the debris field is so dense and dangerous, the Into the Black was several hundred kilometers away, clear of any potential danger. As such, the trip would take around five minutes before they reached the field, another six to navigate the debris, as it was so hazardous. The Nemesis ship in question was near the edge of the debris field, but still mostly intact, with some power readings emanating from within, a perfect target for research.
-
“We’re coming alongside it now. Once we have successfully magnetized to its hull with the docking clamps, I’ll decompress the shuttle and you can open him up,” Onsa called out, just barely turning her head back in their direction.
Kitern activated her comms so everyone could hear her clearly once the air was siphoned out. “Gotcha. Scans show two distinct points of power readings. Both look to be in the same place, or at least really damn close. We’ll take a right once we get into the ship and follow the corridor until it leads to a three-way intersection. Then we make a left, then a right, and we’ll be on track. The room in question will be along that corridor. Keep your eyes and sensors open for anything that looks Nemesis-y.”
“Oh, like the entire ship?” Kass chimed in.
Kitern rolled her eyes. “Onsa, give a countdown.”
Onsa nodded her head. “Affirmative. Decompression commencing in three… two… one… starting.” There was an audible hiss that slowly faded away as the air in the shuttle was pulled back into storage tanks for later use. “Decompression complete, safe to open the door,” she confirmed over their comms.
“Opening door. Don’t go floating off,” Kitern joked as she pressed a button near the hatch, causing it to slide open silently. Before them was a gaping hole in the side of what looked like a ship that had grown large warts. The human beacons had mentioned that the Nemesis ships weren’t smooth, but the reality was a bit more unsettling up close. The humans weren’t sure why the Nemesis ships were so… bumpy. But they knew it wasn’t actually part of the building process, as newly refurbished or repaired Nemesis vessels lacked the warty exterior. But they had seen no importance in investigating the reason, so it remains a mystery to this day.
Kitern lifted a foot, causing the magnetic lock on that boot to disengage automatically, then re-engage when she put pressure on it. Allowing her to walk forward until she was looking down into the hole. Kitern put a foot on the lip of the shuttle, and bent forward, pushing herself into the opening.
As Kitern floated into the ship, she could see the corridors were circular, with strange partitions along the edges. The partitions didn’t seem to move or close, so she guessed they were more decorative support beams than actual doorways. A second later, she put out a hand to stop herself from colliding with the far wall, and pushed downward, boots magnetizing to the floor. Upon magnetizing, she immediately lifted her weapon. It was a small energy-based firearm, similar in size and function to an SMG.
Looking down both directions of the corridor showed nothing of interest other than more of those strange support beams and closed bulkhead doors on either end. She noted the twisted metal and battle damage in the corridor caused by whatever had impacted the hull.
Before everyone had touched down, she started making her way toward their objective. She continued on until she reached the bulkhead door at the end of the corridor. It was not fully closed, only partially, allowing someone to grip between the two sections and pull them apart. She did just that. As the door slowly opened, Dentala came up behind her and lent her strength to the task. Grunting in exertion, they pulled the door apart until they could easily walk through. Kitern silently fist bumped Dentala on the shoulder in thanks before she continued on, weapon held at the ready.
As they proceeded through the derelict, signs of battle began to appear. At first, it was only a few scorch marks or kinetic impact craters on the wall. Then, what looked like dried blood from some ancient creature. It had aged into a sickly dark green color with a hint of yellow. A quick scan showed that no genetic material could be retrieved, it had long degraded into nothing. Though some sort of information could certainty be gleamed from the stain if they searched long enough, but the sample was unimportant, as it was not a focus of the mission. Pressing on, the signs of battle intensified, as well the amount of spilled blood. At one point, an entire corridor looked like it had been painted in viscera.
The team could only speculate on what had happened. Was it a mutiny? Civil war between surviving Nemesis forces trapped in the Sol system? Or perhaps the humans had something to do with it? But there was one thing on everyone’s mind as they walked through the ancient carnage. Where were the bodies? They hadn’t passed a single corpse yet, just blood stains.
“Captain Kitern, do you suppose we can slow down and so I can scan the ship a bit more? I can’t get a proper reading while moving like this,” Shavizi requested from the back. She had some sort of tool and was waving it back and forth across the surface of the corridor.
“You can scan the ship when we stop, and that will be when we get to those power signals. And once we make sure the place is secure,” Kitern responded, weapon still up at her shoulder as she swept the hallway.
“If that is your order,” Shavizi relented, but still attempted to scan everything they passed, incomplete or not.
It didn’t take long before they arrived at where the Black said the power readings were. They had weaved about the ship a bit more than desired. Several bulkhead doors were completely sealed shut, causing them to detour, but they managed it in the end. They were now standing in front of a large single door; it was nowhere near as large as the bulkhead doors that sealed off entire corridors, but it was large enough to allow passage with room to spare on all sides.
It too bore damage from whatever conflict had occurred within the ship. The door’s access panel was damaged, and the surrounding wall panels warped. Preventing them from directly interacting with the door.
“This is the place; my scanner is already picking up power readings from here. Hran, be a dear and get out the interface tools. We’ll see if this door has power first, instead of brute forcing our way through first thing,” Kass stated. Hran silently carried out his orders, unpacking a variety of tools they may need.
After pulling off several of the panels to see if they allowed access to the door’s wiring, they eventually found the right one. Sadly, a closer inspection revealed that the door, like nearly the entire ship, had no power, meaning it couldn’t be opened by the press of a button like they wanted.
“Oh well, do what you do best, Kitern,” Kass shrugged as she and Hran began packing up their tools.
“Eh, worth a shot. Privates, if you please,” Kitern motioned to the door for the two young marines to take a crack at it. They both replied with a crisp, yes ma’am, and quickly got to work trying to pry open the door.
It took a little more effort than they thought, but over time it slowly slid further and further open, until Gre’Namra wedged herself in between the door and frame, and used her entire body to push it open. Asteli joined in when it widened enough for the both of them. Together, they pushed it fully open, the door slowly recessing into the wall. Revealing an old dusty room with several long bed-like pods.
“Thank you, girls. Now clear the room while you’re at it. Though by now any baddies would have chewed you up,” Kitern ordered. The two did just that. Thankfully, the entire room could be seen from the doorway, so there really wasn’t any clearing. Just looking behind the pods for anything not so friendly.
During their little search, they noticed one bed had several lights flickering on its side. They pointed it out to the others. Immediately, Kass and Shavizi pushed them aside to get to it. Drooling over it like children being offered sweets.
“I wonder what this is?! After so many thousands of years, it still has power. I thought those beacons were incredible enough, but this is something else!” Kass said to no one in particular.
Shavizi had been scanning the bed, as well as its neighbors, while Kass looked it over. “Hmm. The pods have a sliding covering that encloses the occupants. All the others are open, yet this one is closed.” Shavizi tapped at her scanner a bit. “Wait… the other energy signature… it’s coming from inside it!” she said astonished, while moving a hand over the top of the slid that covered the pod. As she did, thousands of years’ worth of dust floated away from where she dragged her hand. Allowing a small amount of light to break free from within.
Noticing this, Shavizi leaned forward and peered inside the pod. Her eyes went wide as her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing. “GET BACK! DON’T TOUCH IT!” she screamed, but was too late. Kass, who was now crouched down near the base of the bed, had pressed a finger to one of the flickering lights just as Shavizi yelled her warning. All Kass had time to do was turn her head up and mutter a confused, “huh?”, before the covering of the pod slid open, unleashing its occupant onto the galaxy.
First Previous
Hello once again! First things first. If you see the name Osan, please point it out to me. It is supposed to be Onsa, but the program I use to write the story changed the name to Osan for some reason. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger! This chapter is meant to help further detail the various species and their features, and of course set up for many things to come!
Also, in my last story. I had a lot of flashback sequences to add in fluff and give backstory to the MC. While I don't want overuse it in this story, I do want to have flashback esque sequences that are basically just battles of the Human-Nemesis war (recorded combat footage recovered from human ships and installations), introduce new characters, or maybe give further development to preexisting characters. The flashback sequences will be called Orphan: Tales of the Past and won't begin until a certain point in the main story. Once that point is reached, the side stories will pop up every once in a while in place of the main story chapters. Or, if I fell as if its safe to push the story ahead, you'll get the main story and a side story in one week.
That's it for the week folks! See you next week!

If you're a pharmacy tech in the LA, or the surrounding areas, or interested in becoming a tech in these areas, and are interested in working in an independent pharmacy (not a chain), please DM me!
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When I was a 16 y.o. pharmacy clerk, I never expected that my journey would take me to where I am today, founder of a company that gets to work with independent pharmacies throughout California. It's no secret technicians are in high demand, but I frequently get asked by independent pharmacies for "good technicians", which extends well beyond the test-prep education many pharmacy tech programs provide.
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Having gained my certification through work experience, almost 20 years ago, I'm interested in learning more about your experiences with these pharm tech certification programs. There is a push by local associations to fill these gaps between "test prep" and "good techs". The only way to help them is to understand the problem from both sides. So now I want to hear from other technicians like myself, to see what resources you need to (1) find jobs at these independents and (2) feel valued in your role there.
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Please, don't be shy. If you are even remotely interested, it doesn't hurt to ask your questions or share your experience.

Hello, I'm mason and As of lately since the start of grade 11. We where told we basically had to choose are pathway as in our job, or related field anyways as of late I wanted to follow in my uncles path and become a personal investor, and since he's already high up I'd have a job lined up for me as i get outta high school and more, the only catch. " I knew i had anxiety but ever since i choose what I wanted to do math is now associated with anxiety" to make it worse I was labeled a troubled kid when i was younger in life so as a result we moved a lot, and I never had a long friendship making me easy targets for people who love drama. So as i was growing I was taking speical classes since I had bad adhd aswell, so I wasn't getting the right credited for really anything in life and was basically labelled a special needs since they never put time into me. as a result i started trying better and Finally was able to upgrade to college level everything in grade 10 keep and keep in mind I was in high school in grade 8 due to this special program, and now they they teach me like any other kid. I've found it very hard to do anything since i grew up getting 1-1 attention, now since High school math is broken and 50% u will most likely never use in real life depending on the career you pick although the one i wanted to get into was "money related" I most diffidently don't need trig, etc anyways " I really need help finding out how to coop with anxiety, this only happens during math aswell, So i know the trigger, and i know hen i clam myself down and I'm very happy before math i do better during math. but for some reason anytime my teacher ignores me for example today " I rasied my hand to kep my practice quiz checked nobody else had their hand up" so i wait she see's says one second and goes to 5 different people none of them had their hands out and forgot that i eveen asked so i promptly left teh class and went outside to get air or i was gonna start crying for the stress, angry anxiety and everything why are my emotions 10x whenever i'm in math is their even any way to fix this issue?"

I'm working on my taxes. Along side a part time job, I have a small hobby business that I made about $6000 from in 2022. In 2021 I made about $3000 from it and claimed it as hobby income with no expenses. Since I still made under 10k I was planning to do the same this year. Expenses from 2022 would include a website, supplies, and vendor market fees (think farmers markets-- I only take cash at these events and don't charge tax) and maybe gas to drive to them. (I want to be clear that I've kept track of all the cash I made which is what I'm claiming) My husband started our taxes (turbo tax) and without my hobby income we were at a $3900 return. When I added this income, the return dropped down to $3000. My husband thinks I should be claiming business expenses because we're technically being taxed almost $1000 on that $6000 and claiming expenses would bring the taxes down. But I think with such a low income amount it's not worth claiming expenses. I also think we're being taxed that amount simply because my hobby income brought our household income to >120k and adding expenses isn't going to necessarily give us a higher return here. I also would need to upgrade my tax account to a business one which will cost more and just I think it's unnecessary at this point in time. With all that said, would claiming business expenses really make a difference here?

Hello! I was planning on giving an update about what happened but a lot happened since my original post so I haven't been able to get on here.
*It wont let me post on the relationship subreddit and I'm not sure why so I am posting to my profile*
First off, thank you to everyone who commented with advice and support, my boyfriend and I read through every comment and we appreciate you all.
Another thing, I spoke to my manageteacher. after what had happened, and basically read my initial post. She was very understanding and told me that nothing that happened was my fault, and I have never given anyone the impression that I would do side work for free. She said she would keep an eye out for anyone that comes in asking for me and would help out if I needed anything else
Before I get into this, I did ask my boyfriend if he was okay with me posting this and he said he was.
After my original post, I spoke to my boyfriend about what happened. He showed me the texts between him and his mom and everything else that has happened. Things have been very tense between him and his family. His mom quit her job and decided she wants to be a "housewife". His family, however, does not make enough money for her to live out her housewife fantasies. They have been comfortable with the amount they have but with one kid in college and another heading to college in 2 years, quitting your job and relying on a single income is not a smart move. My boyfriend has expressed this to his parents and he continues to get 2 responses: his mom says that its not his business, she gave up so many years taking care of him and his sister and she should be able to relax and do things she wants to do. His dad, although stressed about having to work more, says to leave his mom alone and just focus on school. This has been happening since September of 2022, and my boyfriend has been dealing with all of this. He said that he didn't tell anyone because he was embarrassed by her behavior and the idea that down the line, he might not be as financially stable as he was promised he would be. In the past months, he has been staying at my place as well as his teammates places more. I thought it was because of his season coming up and him wanting to spend more time with him but he apparently isn't welcome at his home. (apparently, his mother said to him "I don't need a hater like you to tell me how to live my life, if you're going to be a drag, you can leave." He only goes there to pick up his sister and drive her places and drop her off to school.
As for Wednesday, I decided to go. I know a lot of people had mixed feelings about whether I should go or not, but I explained later on that this dinner was kind of a family tradition where all extended family came to one house and see each other. I know that despite what was going on with his mom and dad, this meant a lot to my boyfriend and I know how close he is to his aunts, uncles, and grandparents. He said that he wanted to just lay low during dinner and not contribute to anything his mom says/cause a scene. He did say though if she brings up what happened at the salon or tries to do anything about me, he will do something about it.
The dinner was at his house. We went around saying hi to all of his extended family and just hanging out with his sister. During dinner his mom started talking about “doing things for the family” and how she can't imagine someone in this family refusing to help another if they needed it. Her father (my boyfriends grandpa) asked what she meant by that and she looked at me and said, “well you know, if you're looking to marry into a family, treating family members like regular, nobody customers really lessens your chance of being accepted in.” I could not believe the audacity of this woman. I was reading through your comments and saw that a lot of you told me to not bring it up and to just take the higher road/ not give in to her nagging. I was planning on ignoring the comment but she was staring at me while she was saying it and didn't look away so I just kind of smiled and said, “oh Im not sure what you mean”
During this, most if not all the extended family was now paying attention to this conversation and were looking at his mom for her response. She scoffed and said, “ I know what it's like to work a job, and still be kind and treat family with respect”
My boyfriend looked at her and said very calmly, “ What do you mean? You don't have a job, you quit”
Apparently, no extended family and even my boyfriend's younger sister knew that his mom quit her job and doesn't work anymore. Apparently when a family member calls her, she responds saying that she's at work and she'll call them when she's done. My boyfriend's grandpa asked him what he meant and his mom tried to cut him off but my boyfriend basically explained what's been going on since September. The whole family started questioning his mom and asking why she would do that. She only repeated that she wants to have a life and she's allowed to do whatever she wants. My boyfriend's little sister was really upset because she has a dance coming up and was looking for a dress that was a little out of her price range. She doesn't have a job but she told her parents that she was looking for one so she could pay for her own dress. Her mother assured her that she didn't have to get a job and that her mom is working overtime so she can get the dress for her as a gift. His sister started crying and said that she could have been working for months had she known that her mom lied to her about getting that dress.
My boyfriend and I left with his sister in the middle of the conversation because they were both getting very upset. As we were leaving the whole family was still yelling at his mom about lying to the whole family and kicking her son out of his house. His sister and him stayed at my place for the weekend before she went back to her house. She is currently staying at her friend's house for a little bit because she doesn't want to go home to see her mom. Some of my boyfriend's aunts and uncles reached out to him and apologized for making him feel like he had to keep this secret. They said that if he needs anything in terms of college, food, and anything upcoming games, they will cover it.
His dad reached out to him last week and said that his mom is upset with him for calling her out at dinner. He said while he doesn't think that what his son did was bad, he had to have known that this would have started up a whole thing and it's better to just keep the peace. My boyfriend did not respond to him and says he probably won't for a long time.
My boyfriend is doing much better, and says that he feels like a weight has been left off of his chest now that he's finally spoken about it. We are having a lazy day right now which is what reminded me that I forgot to update this post so I'm doing so now.
Again, thank you for all the support and all the good advice, I am really grateful!

Would you guys say that you are happy with your career choice and/or feel like this job pays well enough for the work that you do? (Also if you’d like could y’all please leave what type of electrical work y’all do, roughly wage/salary and union/nonunion orrr if y’all work for yourself or on the side)
I just keep battling back and forth with myself about whether or not I wanna proceed/continue with electrical and getting my license and possibly working for myself full time or going union.
So I would really appreciate your guys thoughts/comments/life advice and stuff
Also like knowing what you guys know now , if you could tell your 20yrs old self something what would you say? To choose a different career ? Start earlier ? Union , non union ? Etc

25 countries? 50? 100? Or it simply can't be done?

• A "successful" invasion will be considered occupying a California-sized chunk of continuous American land, and not allowing Americans to reconquer any of it for at least one month. That means 164K square miles or 424K square kilometers.
  
• Nukes don't exist. More specifically, anything a reasonable person (not Dick Cheney) would consider a weapon of mass destruction does not exist. Everything else that is present in our timeline is fair game.
  
• Canada and Mexico cannot be part of the coalition and do not allow the coalition to land in them or move through them. Every other one of the 194 (?) countries is fair game.
  
• For the sake of simplicity, let's ignore Alaska, Hawaii, and other territories. They will continue to ship oil and resources to the continental US, any American service members currently serving there will stay there twiddling their thumbs, while ships and planes will be moved back to the mainland. Those places will not be attacked, and the US will not actively try to defend them.
  
• Every American military service member currently abroad is immediately banished back to the US (including those in neutral countries).
  
• The US cannot use its intelligence apparatus to be alerted of an invasion, but can use it for anything else that it would be useful for. Naturally, it loses all the allies it currently has (meaning other countries' intelligence organizations).
  
• The US will be alerted when: 1) It sees an inordinate amount of ships, planes, troops, or equipment moving towards it (which also means that there can be no Pearl Harbor 2.0... at least not one without a fair bit of warning); or 2) Fighting breaks out. In the case of #2, the US will only think it's at war against the countries that attacked it at first, not necessarily the whole coalition. The US will treat anything as a defensive war, and will never try to invade a country overseas.
  
• There is minimal infighting and minimal mistrust between members of the coalition. They're united in their one goal - punch the US in the gut by invading and occupying a chunk of it. All countries outside the coalition will remain completely neutral to both sides, and continue trading with both sides as normal. The coalition is also happy to wait for as long as it takes to reach their goal.
  
• Trading will remain as it is in our timeline, except that coalition countries will tend to favor trading amongst themselves instead of neutral countries, and coalition countries will stop trading with the US when war breaks out.
  
• Let's pretend we're back in 2019 and there's no covid and no war in Ukraine. It is fair to use the lessons we learned in the war in Ukraine, however (e.g. that Russia's military had been grossly overestimated and Ukraine's underestimated).
  

R1: The coalition countries immediately begin mobilizing to invade the US.
R2: The coalition countries spend 10 years preparing for the invasion. They will plan to devote as many resources as they can towards the upcoming invasion, without jeopardizing the economy. They may reduce trade with the US, but not too much, so as not to arouse suspicion. In those 10 years, the US army, navy, and air force will be just as strong as it is in our timeline, plus whatever upgrades those 10 years organically bring (such as technological advancements).
R3 and R4: Same as R1 and R2, except that now Canada and Mexico can be a part of the coalition to host allied troops and plan a land invasion. After it's alerted, the US can choose to pre-emptively invade Mexico or Canada if it wants to, but just as before, it's primary war goal is to defend itself. The US will be alerted the same ways as before, except now it will also be alerted if it sees troops and equipment moving from Europe and/or Asia towards Canada, Mexico, or anywhere elsewhere in the Americas.