Are CS students at Stanford truly that miserable? Apart from all these high fevers, asthma attacks, five rounds of antibiotics and lots of cortisone pills, my daughter's also been having a sadly severe facial acne issue, so I'm hoping she will have easy access to doctors (not sure if dermatologists are covered by the student health insurance though, despite its high cost).
We're concerned as we live on the other side of the world and we're not really well-off (she's been offered a scholarship), so as much as I would love to see my daughter there too, these are all issues we need to consider. So, I'd really appreciate it if you guys could tell me more about these things, and also if you can share what your e.g. housing experience was like in the first year (I've no idea what life as a Stanford undergrad is like).
Thank you, wish you all the best!

My sister (25F) and her child moved in with us to escape a relationship that wasn’t the healthiest by any means. Right, when she asked, I, along with my mother, dropped everything to remove her from that situation and move her 1,000 miles back home. Since then, we have had many issues that don’t seem like they’d snowball into huge arguments, but they do. The first month she was here wasn’t horrible; if anything, it seemed all good and suddenly everything turned upside down. She doesn’t care for the house in the sense of being a bad roommate- Dirty dishes, full trash but not taken out, cigarette butts littered, dirtying areas that were just cleaned. Any attempt to remind her to pitch in is met with max resistance I understand having a kid is hard, but there is no effort toward my feelings and These aren’t just little things either. I cannot tell you when or if she has cooked for her kid (McDonald's or microwaved meals), she’ll ignore the child for hours while he’s crying, and to top it off; she has abandoned her child for hours at home alone to go out and meet up with guys not once but twice and only fessed up to it when confronted. She complains that nobody is helping her when she isn’t helping anyone, not herself or her child. It hurts when that's all my mom, and I have been doing. To top it all off, she then bitches to me about my mom, who has - Moved her back home, bought groceries, cooks , does her kid's laundry, and has set up a college fund for him. All this while my sister is dropping hundreds of dollars on tattoos but then complaining about not being able to buy her kid any food or milk. I don't know what tf to do she doesn’t appreciate anything, not herself, not her family, and sometimes not even her child. I, along with my mother, have tried everything, and frankly, I’m lost. I am getting cameras set up inside and outside the house because, truthfully, I can't trust my sister anymore, and this seems like the only way to hold her accountable.

I'm also not sure if he'll do his part.
TLDR at bottom.
(Married 6.5yrs, together 7.5) We've been having a ton of issues lately, and I'm pretty sure he just thinks I'm being a bitch.
Things all kind of piled up for me when we had a tragic death on my side of the family. We were not that close to the deceased, but we are close to people who were very close to them. I asked my husband to request a day off 6 weeks out for the celebration of life and he refused to at first, saying there aren't a lot of extra people to cover for him and that he doesn't think it would get approved anyway. I got upset because this event is in lieu of a funeral, and there are SO many other, less important things people get out of work for, with or without coverage, it's ridiculous of him to say that he wouldn't get approved (I used to work there with him). He did end up asking for the day off later that night.
A day or two later, I told him there will be a vigil on X date at X time (not when he is working anyway) and that I would really like him to go with me. He was immediately irritated, and the first words he said were, "How long is it going to run because I have to work the next morning". That's something that I don't even know what I'd say if I went alone and someone asked where he was. We are a couple at every family party, but then he feels too weird going to be supportive of part of the family when it's not something fun. He did go with me, but he wouldn't go up and grab his own candle, and during the lantern lighting he was complaining to me about how late it was.
I just feel like he was disrespectful around the whole death of this person. The family is devastated, and he can't even hide how inconvenienced he feels about the few events arranged. We tried talking about it, and it turns out he feels like viewings and events like this are awkward and weird. But I have a hard time understanding this perspective, because I agree, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to support the people who were close to the person who died.
So all this is making me a lot more irritated about the small things my husband does/doesn't do. He piles recyclables in the corner or the kitchen until I get to move them, he always goes to my parents' house after work if I'm not home, because he doesn't like our house, yet he doesn't do anything about our living situation except say how much he doesn't like it. I told my friend about this, and she agreed it was pretty weird.
It was an argument to get him to stop wearing dirty work clothes in bed, and on that note, he always lounges in bed because he says he hates that the dogs squished down one side of the couch. He is always annoyed by the dogs and has said he can't wait to not have dogs anymore since he can live his life (he was 100% for getting the dogs). Other times, I can tell he loves them, but I can't keep doing this yo-yo.
Today he let the dogs out before work and when one wasn't coming in when called, I knew he forgot to out her recall collar on (she does not listen without it). I told him just a few days ago that she NEEDS to wear that AND be watched outside, because recently when I turned away for a second she was in the road and cars had to stop to avoid her. OR we have to build a fence, and he opted for the former option. I reminded him about her collar today, and he told me he said, "I don't need that from you this morning."
I'm so annoyed right now. We've had our ups and downs, but this is the worst I've ever felt about him and our relationship. I want to see if we can patch things up, but I don't know where to start. Too often I feel like I'm married to a child who is (other than financially) riding my coattails. He gets groceries, but I bring the rent check over each month, pay the electric bill, I notice when the furnace stops working. One time he waited all day for me to get home from work when he knew the sump pump broke and the basement has 3 feet of water in it, when he could've called the fire departmentand/or gotten a new sump pump. When something goes wrong, he either calls my dad to fix it or waits for me. (He does do laundry when it's full or he needs clothes, and he does dishes if he needs to use some, and he makes sure we have food and toilet paper.) I don't think he sees anything wrong with how we're living or acting. I don't want to give up on us just yet. I'm heartbroken even considering it, but something has to change. How do I even approach him about it without him getting defensive immediately?
TLDR: husband rude about being asked to help support grieving family members, and my opinion of him has changed drastically, and I can't look past the smaller things either. I want to fix things between us, but I don't know where to start or if he'll even be willing to try.

As I stood sipping a cup of green tea in the middle of the night, sitting on my porch and looking into the swamp beyond my house, sickly lights began to dance and flash in front of my eyes. I remembered my grandmother’s warning about the corpse lights.
“Teddie,” she said to me, sitting on the same porch twenty years earlier, smoking a cigarette and drinking a glass of wine, “do you see those lights? The ones that stay close to the ground, change colors and disappear or reappear constantly?” My small five-year-old self nodded.
“Yes, Grammie,” I said. “They’re pretty.” She nodded at this, taking another long drag off of her cigarette.
“Yes, they sure are,” she said gravely. “They’re also dangerous. You should never go into those woods at night, but especially when those lights are there. Where I’m from, we call them corpse lights. It means the fae are nearby. They like to hide behind the lights.” I nodded quietly at this. She had told me about the fae, how they sometimes kidnapped children and took them to their underground lairs, never to be seen again. She didn’t tell me what the fae did to those children, or why they wanted children at all. She simply said they were not to be trusted and that I should always avoid areas where they frequented, especially at nighttime.
“There are lots of fae haunting grounds near here,” she said to me. “It has been that way since before the Europeans settled this land centuries ago. The Native Americans used to consider that swamp sacred ground.”
But now I was an adult, and moreover, I was curious. I had looked up the scientific explanations for these lights that appeared and disappeared in flashes all over the forest and swamp, showing up in blue, green, red or white flashes that shimmered and vibrated. Supposedly it had something to do with the decomposition of plant matter and the resulting gasses that appeared. People had been seeing them for thousands of years, calling them by many names.
As I sat there, thinking about Grammie Greylock, who had died just a few years earlier, the old-style TV on the porch changed from some sitcom with too much fake laughter into the nightly news. A pretty young reporter sat at a desk, staring into the camera.
“And we start with some breaking news: the latest victim of the Westland Ripper was found today. Police say a woman in her thirties was found sexually assaulted and tortured to death by her father, who later told police he hadn’t heard from her in a week. This latest murder brings the known number of victims up to twelve. With us, we have Special Agent Ellis of the FBI. What can you tell us about this serial killer and the investigations?” The nondescript agent appeared on the screen, speaking deadpan into the camera.
“Well, unlike most known serial killers, this suspect targets both males and females. He is an equal opportunity killer. And he is extremely organized, planning his crimes in meticulous detail before…” I shut the TV off, rising and stretching out my arms and back. The news was always so depressing, and the latest crime had happened only a twenty minute drive from where I live, which made it even worse. My attention returned to those floating lights behind my house.
I got up out of my chair, chugging the last of my green tea quickly, and went inside to grab a flashlight. Without a second thought, I walked out towards the trail that wound its way through the swamp and deep into the forest.
At first, it was just a beautiful night hike. The stars were bright overhead, as there was no light pollution for miles in any direction. The moon looked nearly full, and my light caught many bats flashing through the trees, hunting bugs and squeaking in their eerie way.
Then I heard something that didn’t sound like any animal I had ever heard. It was a deafening screaming noise, but it wasn’t a fox or a fisher cat. I knew the cries of both of those animals, having heard them frequently living out here in the country. This was a sound like a woman overcome by the deepest grief, like the wail of a mother who just lost her only child.
“Hello?” I called into the darkness. The corpse lights began to drift towards me, floating a few inches off the ground and shimmering with colors. I stopped, an eerie creeping feeling coming over me. I immediately turned around and tried to walk back home as fast as I could.
But within a few feet of walking, the corpse lights started to cover the trail, smaller ones seeming to congeal into larger bubbles of flashing light. I saw flashes within, as if tiny bolts of lightning were flicking across the clouds.
Hesitating, taking a deep breath in, I put my right hand into the corpse light, the white shimmering seeming to lessen for a moment as I touched its surface. And then I could see every vein, artery and capillary in my entire hand.
Shrieking, I pulled it back out, looking down. My skin was back and my hand seemed totally fine. But my heart was still beating fast, and I felt eyes all over me.
“What in the hell was that?” I whispered to myself, regretting ever stepping foot in the woods.
I stared deeper into the corpse lights, and realized the surface looked like it was zooming into itself- as if it were a fractal image. I saw the same sparks of lightning arranged in the same way over and over as it moved faster, the white light on the outside shimmering as it moved towards the center.
And then a naked, sickly-looking woman stepped out of it, breaking my hypnosis instantly. At least, I thought it was a woman, until I looked at her face.
Her face was melting off, like candle wax. It deformed, beads of skin dripping off her nose and chin constantly, but it constantly reformed itself. Her eyes would be covered by the constantly shifting skin and muscle, but then reappear again, shining silver in the moonlight.
The body of the thing was thin and emaciated, looking like a cancer patient in the last days of life. I could see every single rib, and her hip bones stuck out over legs that looked like twigs.
But her hair was somehow the most disturbing part. It was stringy, black, and clotted together with what looked like blood. Drips of black fluid and dozens of writhing maggots constantly fell off the ends of each clump of hair, which was so long it reached nearly to her knees, being the only covering on her diseased-looking body.
Time seemed to slow down, and in a moment, I flashed back to a conversation I had with my grandmother.
***
“Never run from a fae,” she said as we sat on the back porch in the afternoon sunlight. “They will tear you apart. When I was a little girl, my grandmother told me the same thing, and it saved my life. I accidentally stumbled into one as a teenager.” I tried to think of her as a teenager, but my mind failed completely. I had always known her as a sweet, old woman. “And like my grandmother told me, you grab it, hug it as tight as you can, and it will hug you back.” I giggled at this, thinking of hugging a fairy. She smiled down at me.
“It’s not like a real hug, though,” she continued. “It’s like you’re hugging it with your mind, and its mind hugs you back. And it will take you someplace else, and if you keep hugging it long enough, it will be under your power. The fae cannot lie. You can even tell it to come to you if you ever need it, though I don’t recommend it. When it comes, it won’t be under your power any longer- it will be free, and it will be angrier and stronger than ever.”
“Why can’t they lie, Grammie?” I asked, snuggling closer to her on the bench, feeling her warm, comforting presence next to me. She shrugged.
“They worship the truth, live in the truth,” she said. “It’s like their religion. They don’t worship God, but they worship power, life and death and sometimes, evil. All those things spring from the truth- they have existed since the beginning of time. The fae cannot think except through that which has always existed, so it limits them and their minds.”
I shuddered, my small, five-year-old mind trying to comprehend it- and failing. I just hoped I would never run into one.
***
Trembling, a sickly sweet sweat starting to pop out all over my body as my adrenaline soared, I ran forward, arms out. I grabbed the thing across the chest, but part of me knew I was not grabbing it with my physical body at all. It was more like my mind wrapped around its heart. Its mouth widened into an O that took over most of its melting face, its silver eyes widened, and then I was out of my body completely.
We were descending through the ground together. I smelled the grass and leaves as we rushed through them like ghosts, and then we entered the dirt underneath. The corpse lights had expanded to become the entire world around us as we sped faster, forever going straight downwards. It felt as if I were descending through some gas giant, Jupiter or Saturn maybe. Multi-colored, thick gasses swirled all around us, huge lightning bolts sending white light shooting out in all directions, yet making no sound.
The melting face of the woman grinned up at me, lengthening fangs showing underneath the waxy dripping of her skin. I smiled back, even though inside I was terrified, and even thought I might die of a heart attack if this went on too long. I tightened my mind around her, seeing it like a rope twisting around her bony, naked chest, and I saw her grin turn into a grimace. She did the same back at me, and I felt my chest tightening, a suffocating feeling overtaking me. I couldn’t breathe, but the more anxiety and fear I felt, the more I kept tightening my consciousness around her body.
“Stop that,” she said in my mind, speaking telepathically instead of physically, her real mouth now opened into a silent scream. “You’re hurting me. You’re killing me. Release me now.”
“No,” I grunted through the suffocating tightness. “Not until you give up.”
“Release me, or I will drop you down here,” she responded, now yelling in my mind, sending all other thoughts scattering like scared fish in a pond. The corpse lights had begun to clear, and we were in some horrific landscape, deep under the Earth.
All around us, massive leeches crawled, ten feet long. Tortured beings of all kinds tried to run, but their tormentors were too fast. Some had massive holes on their chests and back and faces, clotted gore running out, but they healed again, and new swarms of leeches slithered over and lunged at them in turn.
Out of the ponds and lakes all around us, black water hid eldritch monstrosities underneath. But tentacles flew out anytime anyone ran too close to the water, fanged suckers ripping through the victims’ flesh, dragging them upside down and plunging them into the water. The echoing of the screams and the splashing of the water resounded back and forth across the light brown stones of the caverns, soft light spilling out from the rocks themselves. I saw other fae like the woman standing here and there, some of them sleeping in small nooks dug out in the cave walls, others helping to torment the beings and laughing about it as they did so.
“You… cannot…” I said through gritted teeth. She could not drop me unless I let go first. I felt her will beginning to give.
“I’m dying,” her voice screamed in my mind. “You’re killing me!”
“Then give up,” I whispered, though I also felt close to death. My vision was beginning to turn black, my head bursting with pain.
“I release you,” her voice said, and the pain was gone instantly. I kept hold on her for a few more seconds.
“Do you promise to do what I ask if I let go?” I said.
“Yes!” her voice said in my head, and I released her. Floating, I fell back a few inches, taking in deep, sweet breaths, my vision returning to normal, my heart no longer so tight it felt like a fist was closing over it.
“First, what is your name?” I gasped.
“My name is Lilin,” she said, her face melting faster, her eyes blazing with hatred and fury. Out of nowhere, an idea came to me- a dangerous one, but my instincts told me to go with it.
“OK, Lilin. Mine is Teddie. When I say ‘Come to me now, Lilin’ in the future, you will come.” She nodded, her eyes seeming to smile now, the look of hatred receding from her face.
“Yes, when you say, ‘Come to me now, Lilin,’ I will come.” Her voice sounded so spiteful and full of hate that I flinched slightly when she sent this message out.
“Now bring me back up!” I said, feeling relieved to have survived and not gotten stuck in this underground Hell on Earth. I drew close to her again, wrapping my mind around hers, seeing my mind’s projection of arms wrap around her strange, sickly body, and within moments, we were back in the dark woods. I was standing in my body at the same spot that I had been when I first saw her, hyperventilating as I swayed unsteadily on my feet.
“Get out of these woods,” she whispered in a low, demonic voice, “and the next time I see you, I will kill you.”
I walked out of there, pouring myself a huge glass of whiskey when I got home. But I still didn’t sleep that night. I was afraid of what I would see if I did. My hands were trembling so badly that, when I poured myself the fourth glass of whiskey around dawn, I dropped the entire bottle, seeing it shatter all over the porch.
***
A few weeks passed, and I began to wonder whether I had imagined the entire thing, maybe while sleepwalking or during some strange, isolated seizure event. After all, every day that passed made the encounter seem more and more like a dream.
The night that I saw Lilin again, I had just gotten home from work. I felt exhausted. It was Friday, and I just wanted to lay down and catch up on my sleep. I fell down heavily on the bed, and I was out almost instantly.
My dream was bizarre. I kept seeing that fae woman from the forest, her face dripping off the bones. When all the flesh was gone and puddled on the floor at her feet, she smiled at me, just a skull, and pointed up at the sky.
I looked up and saw a symbol I had never seen before- it looked like a backwards silver-colored seven with a diagonal slash through it, surrounded by a glowing white circle.
“Soon, I will be free,” she said to me, her skull chattering out of sync with the words, yet her voice still coming through loudly and clearly. “That symbol will guarantee it. And I will never stop hunting you until we are even.”
A crash brought me back to waking life. I sat up in my bed, looking at the alarm clock. 11:47 AM.
I heard footsteps crunching on broken glass in the kitchen. A few seconds later, a man with an executioner’s hood over his head walked calmly into my bedroom. On his forehead, he had painted the same symbol I had seen in my dream- the backwards seven with the circle around it. In his hand, he had an old-looking revolver, which he pointed directly at my face.
“Freeze, maggot,” he said, a tone of mirth in his voice.
“Who are you? What do you want?” I asked, now wide awake and frozen in terror.
“Well, the news calls me the Westland Ripper,” he said, giggling an insane, high-pitched laugh. “I guess it is as good a name as any.”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” I said coldly. He pulled the gun back, pistol whipping me across the jaw. I felt something in it give, my mouth filling with the warm taste of blood. I spit out a tooth.
“Why? What are you going to do about it?
“Now you’re going to be a good boy,” he said, his voice now as emotionless as a robot’s. “I’m going to tie you up, unless you want me to shoot your dick off first. Try anything, and that will be the result.” He pointed the gun at my crotch to emphasize his point, and then proceeded to pull out a coil of thick rope from his back pocket.
Though I rarely watched TV, even I had heard about the Westland Ripper. He had injected corrosive acids into the flesh of some of his victims, burned others alive, and the FBI allegedly believed he had killed dozens of people above and beyond his official body count. Not only was he a serial killer, but an extremely sadistic torturer.
I knew if he got me tied up, that would be the end of me. I did the only thing I could think of.
“Come to me now, Lilin!” I screamed, my broken, swelling jaw muffling my words slightly. I spit out small droplets of blood as I yelled. The killer raised his gun to pistol-whip me across the face again, but he never got a chance to bring it down.
The entire room filled with the corpse lights in an instant. Flashes of light shone on the insane, melting face of Lilin as she materialized behind the intruder, grabbing his gun arm and forcing it up higher with her bony, claw-like fingers.
In a flash, her mouth opened wide, and she bit into his armpit. Shaking her head from side to side like a rabid dog, she ripped off a huge chunk of skin and muscle. He was screaming now, blood pouring down his all-black outfit.
As she ate him alive, I got out of bed, sprinting out to my car. The screams of the man followed me, growing more and more desperate. When I reached the threshold of the front door, Lilin’s voice echoed in my mind.
“Where are you going, friend?” she asked in a mirthful voice. “I’m not done with you yet. You can run, but you can’t hide.” I pulled my phone out to call 911 and report the armed intruder, driving out of that town well above the speed limit.
The police only found a mess of gore in my bedroom when they arrived, an eyeball in one corner, a finger under the bed, and so on. Most of the body was just gone.
I never returned to that town. I sold my grandmother’s house that I had inherited, using the money to leave the state entirely. But I don’t think that will keep me safe.
Lilin isn’t gone. Despite moving three hundred miles away, I just looked out the window.
Under the streetlight outside, I saw the silhouette of a naked, emaciated woman with long, black hair.

last night was one of the worst nights I've had. I'm probably exaggerating but right now... it feels like it.
yesterday me and my boyfriend had planned for him to come over to my house after I got off of work at 5:00, and I was going to pick him up and everything. that didn't happen though because he was asleep when I got off work, but he woke up when I got home and said he'd be over after he was done with his chores.
when I got home my brother was talking to my mom. my brother was also having his bestfriend over because he wanted her to meet our grandparents who were in town. when my brother was talking to my mom, he was saying how he also invited my boyfriend's little brother. now, my mom was pretty pissed at my brother for this because he hadn't asked me mom before, and she already ordered dinner for the people she knew was going so she told him no and that he had to uninvite him.
well like an hour later, I find out my boyfriend's mom said he couldn't go. I ask why and he said it was because his little brother was invited and then uninvited. I explained the situation to him and told him to tell his mom because I did really want him over.
he said no and that if his brother couldn't come then he didn't want to go.
I told him that I really wanted him here since we hadn't hung out except for seeing each other in school because he's always busy with homework or I have work or his mom just says no. I told him that I really wanted him here because of that, and especially since my grandparents were here. I told him there was nothing against his little brother, my mom just didn't know my brother invited him, so that's why he was uninvited. I told him I really want him to still come because I want to hang out with him still.
he told me not to turn this on to him.
I then kept explaining to him how much it would mean to me if he could just come and fucking hang out with me, and I kept explaining how it had nothing to do with his brother, my brother just invited him without asking and my mom got pissed.
he still wouldn't hear it and told me "well we're staying. end of story."
I just stopped arguing at that point. I shut my phone off and I just couldn't stop crying. I don't understand why he's treating me like this, and punishing me because of something stupid my brother did. my mom even started to think that it was her fault, even though it wasn't at all. I was so mad at my boyfriend yesterday. I still am, but I just woke up and I'm mostly numb. I did text him again last night, saying that I loved him. I tell him I love him every night before I go to bed, and even though I was pissed (still am) at him I still love him and I wanted to make sure he knew that. he told me he loves me too but that was really all.
I just know that I'm not going to apologize, he needs to fucking apologize.

Hello and welcome back to DC Next! We will be posting our regular announcement for April issues later today, but first we wanted to share some exciting news.
This is the month we celebrate the fourth anniversary of our very first story, which is such an exciting milestone. Thank you for supporting us and we hope you continue to enjoy what we share here every month.
This is also a month where we have some very exciting news to share, announcing the launch of a myriad of new titles starting in the following few months. Do let us know what you think of these exciting new stories!
Justice Legion by Deadislandman1, Geography3 & Voidkiller826
President Cale backs a mercenary with a shadowy past to be her flagship superhero Prometheus, prompting an investigation by Donna Troy; Mal Duncan and Mister Miracle team up to investigate Apokoliptian influence on Earth; and Green Arrow is inducted into the Justice Legion proper after his close shave with the Joker. Meanwhile amidst the Reawakening, Jaime Reyes investigates rumors of a returned Ted Kord, and a Reawakened hero from another Earth helps Terry McGinnis adjust to his new reality after he finally decides to stop running through time.
Kid Flash: Born to Run (6-issue limited series) by JPM11S
With a new writer taking the reins of the Fastest Man Alive, now is the perfect time to bring you an untold story from the previous run! After becoming Kid Flash and moving to Central City, Wally West is ready to leave his old, boring life behind, only to start living with his boring grandparents, being forced to spend time with his boring Uncle Barry, and having to start a boring new high school part way through the year! It turns out superpowers don't make life nearly as easy as Wally thought they would – they probably make it harder.
Deathstroke (5-issue limited series) by Deadislandman1
After years of dealing death, Slade Wilson faces a ticking time bomb. The serum that was originally meant to create a unit of compliant super-soldiers - of which Slade was the only survivor - has landed him with a rapidly deteriorating brain condition that is stripping him of control of his body, slowly and finally turning him into the perfect, mindless mercenary, a killer with no restraint.
Determined to hold onto his faculties long enough to see to unfinished business and get his house in order, Slade searches for any trace of the government group involved in developing the serum decades ago, hoping he can be saved before he is reduced to a snarling animal.
Opal Knights by Fortanono
One night out at the family observatory, Jack Knight was viciously attacked and left in a coma by an unknown assailant. All evidence points to three facts: one, that he was attacked with a Cosmic Rod; two, that he was keeping a secret from the family, something that he was investigating without their knowledge; and three, that the attacker was a member, or an associate, of the Knight family. Meanwhile, Rick and Dee Tyler have returned to Opal City, refusing to answer where they have been, and Jennifer Knight, Darrell Dane and Courtney Whitmore must hold together a city that seems ready to explode while simultaneously questioning their predecessors... and each other.
Action Stories by JPM11S
Spinning out of the events of Superman: House of El, your favorite bimonthly series returns! With Superman unable to be contacted and the deadly Superboy Prime on the loose, it falls to Conner Kent, Guardian of Chicago, to apprehend him! But Conner quickly discovers he’s not the only one after Prime. His competition? Amanda Waller and the… Justice Squad?
Tim Drake: Rook (6-issue limited series) by PatrollinTheMojave
Maxwell Lord was left a shell of his former self after being consumed by the deadly AI Brother Eye. Tim Drake thought he had seen the last of the man who killed his father until a legal loophole tied to the Reawakening sets OMAX free from incarceration. Now, Tim must fight to ensure his father's killer doesn't hurt anyone else while getting to the bottom of the mystery that set him free.
Battlin’ Bug (6-issue limited series) by GemlinTheGremlin
He gave his name and his name was lost. His old identity cast aside and the world as he knows it still recovering from the Dream Crisis, Bug finds himself tackling a new crisis of his own - who are you once you give up your old life, and how do you go about starting a new one? In this 6-issue mini-series, Bug comes to terms with his past and attempts to forge his own future. From investigating those Reawakened thanks in part to his own actions, to acclimatising to a brand new Earth, Bug must learn that with great ability, comes great obligation.
Atom Academy by Dwright5252
Ray Palmer teaches only one class at Ivy University, a class that many students vie for but only four get. Strange qualifications are needed for it, and its true subject matter is shrouded in mystery. Ryan Choi, Jill Athron, Rhonda Pineda and Adam Cray are the lucky students chosen for the class.
One day, Palmer fails to show up, and evidence of a break-in is evident. Led by Karen Beecher, a former colleague and research partner to Palmer, the foursome take a journey into a realm of scientific wonder and horror as they unravel the secrets of the Microverse.
Cyborg and the Outsiders by Deadislandman1
After an electric finale, Victor Stone has found his place and his balance in the world, but now he feels a duty to help others find theirs. Beyond Detroit, Cyborg joins with the Monkey Prince, Capucine, Hack, and Nowhere Man so that they might all fulfill their potential and do true good in the world, first by solving the conspiracy of Basilisk.
Starling by GemlinTheGremlin & Upinthatbuckethead
Two years ago, Mar’i Grayson found herself stranded, sent backwards through time to a world she didn’t recognise, in a time she thought of as her past. Then, just as she had begun to adjust to her new circumstances and prepared to introduce herself to this world’s Dick Grayson as his ‘daughter’, the world was thrown into chaos. Hundreds - thousands - like her, stranded through time and space with little knowledge of how to get home. In this new series, a determined Mar’i strives to set things right and return home under the guidance of her ‘mother’ Koriand’r and her new colleagues in the Teen Titans - but can she do the same to all those just like her?
Zatanna: Mistress of Magic by VoidKiller826
Behold, the great and beautiful Zatanna takes center stage once again! And for tonight's show, the Mistress of Magic receives a mysterious letter telling her to head to New York for an odd case: the murder of a reclusive billionaire known for collecting magical artifacts, and a former friend of Zatanna’s father! Zatanna will have to navigate the billionaire's family who have come to seek his fortune and look over the family's past dealings with demons, ghosts and fairies. Will Zatanna solve this murder mystery? How exactly did he know Giovanni Zatara? The stage is set, and Zatanna will perform her magic show!
Adventures of Captain Marvel by Fortanono & Geography3
Countless ages ago, the wise man Solomon concocted a plan to steal the power of the gods and use them to empower a champion. Asmodeus, his adversary, bound servant and occasional friend, did the same with his demon brethren. Now, Asmodeus' champion has defeated Solomon's champion, but the Wizard has managed to gain the favor of a very different set of gods: the eternal Quintessence.
In the wake of Billy Batson's disappearance, Freddy Freeman just wants to forget about it all, but instead the Wizard has thrust upon him a cosmic power which greatly outclassed that of his friend's. Now, Freddy must struggle to take on the legacy of Captain Marvel, all while the Wizard promises that something big is coming. Meanwhile, Billy struggles to find his way out of the shifting worlds of Hell, but his escape could also mean that of Asmodeus. All in all, Billy and Freddy both have to wonder: do they matter? Or are they simply pawns in a game between old rivals which has played out a thousand times before?
Huntress (9-issue limited series) by ClaraEclair
Time is relative. Helena Wayne knows that all too well. Having jumped back and forth across time and space, through eras afore and yet to come, she expected that reintegrating into her home time would be difficult. It’s not everyday that one has access to technology from the distant future and must give it up when the journey is over, but the knowledge is what sticks to her most.
Helena Wayne knows time, and in order to stop a cataclysm she sees coming, one that threatens her own family, she must tread carefully in order to stop the upcoming tragedy without disturbing the Timestream’s delicate balance. Without access to the tools she once possessed and unable to warn those she wishes to protect, can the Huntress save those closest to her and avert the disastrous consequences of altering what is now the past, or will her actions cause fractures that she herself would have had to deal with as a Legend of Tomorrow?
Sideways by Mr_Wolf_GangF
Teenager Derek James has been working as the live streaming superhero Sideways for months when he discovers a brand new extension of his powers: the ability to open portals between universes. While practicing with this ability, Derek accidentally attracts the attention of Lexiac, a version of Lex Luthor who merged with Brainiac and took over his universe. Looking to use Derek to complete his functional but imperfect dimension travel technology, Lexiac begins to pursue the hero. This forces Derek on the run through the Multiverse, where he's forced to team up with other versions of famous heroes. Meet a broken Thomas Wayne who became the Dark Knight, a vengeful Lois Lane who became the Eradicator after Superman's death, and the happy-go-lucky Mary Maxwell who is the Flash of her world. Can Derek and his allies defeat Lexiac and return to their home dimensions or will the Multiverse swallow them whole?
Aquaman Incorporated by Dwright5252
In this sequel series, the warring rival factions of Atlanteans instead look to unite. Spearheaded by the King and Queen, Aquaman Incorporated is born - an initiative that inducts Aquamen from each of the Seven Seas to defend Earth and defeat evil wherever it surfaces. Follow Kaldur, Garth, Tula, Kwang-Jo, Lorena, A.J., Lagaan, the Sea Devils, and a mysterious new Black Manta as the world is saved one gallon at a time.
L.E.G.I.O.N. by Predaplant
In a far-off future, the Legion of Super-Heroes stands as the paragon of heroism, a force for good known throughout the Alliance of United Planets, inspired by Superman - remembered as history's greatest hero. But everything the Legion believes in is challenged when the Reawakening puts them on a collision course with a woman who claims to know the untold truth of the Man of Steel. In 2023, Jon Kent will fall to the dark forces of Hell and annihilate whole planets before being freed, and the universe will be none the wiser… until now.
Refusing to allow this terrible tale to come true, a team of select Legionnaires is sent back in time to the 21st century, led by Brainiac 5 and the emissary that delivered this warning: Kristin Wells of Earth-Nabla. With time running out, they must search for the truth of Superman’s supposed fall and do all they can to ensure the legacy of Man of Tomorrow - and that of the Legion itself - is protected.

Hi all,
Last night I was watching a very late night movie and decided to order food. Approximately 2 mins after the uber driver marked my food as delivered I opened the door to find my uber eats gone, car interior lights on and door open with my stuff strewn across the car (nothing worth stealing thank god).
Confused, I immediately contact the uber driver thinking it may have been them or that the uber eats is at the wrong house. They confirm that they dropped it at the door and that they noticed the car lights were on.
I go back outside and two short statured, dark skinned, male youths were walking 20m away from me towards a parked car. They were both dressed up in street clothes with ski masks and baseball caps.
Realising that they must be the thieves I watched them as they went towards their car and then tried to wave them down as they exited (townhouse complex with only one way in and out). They then drove their car straight towards me and tried to hit me but I was prepared for it and jumped out of the way and back behind my vehicle.
At this point they rolled the windows down and screamed out profanities and 'thanks for the uber eats' before speeding off.
Called the QLD police, told them this whole story. They said they would send someone. But nobody ever came?
Is it standard for police not to care about this kind of thing? Why would they let these kinds of brazen thieves get away with this crap?
This incident happened in Brisbane btw.

My in laws were planning on coming to Ann Arbor this evening so we could celebrate my MIL’s birthday. Will downtown and every restaurant be crazy busy with hash bash going on? Or will it be mostly confined to campus area?

We found a lovely small daycare we are excited by. It’s affordable and the owner is great. But as we get closer to starting we’re hesitant and we’ve been interviewing nannies. My head is spinning!
Daycare:
Pros: affordable (especially since I work in tech so layoffs are a risk), he’s out of the house while we work from home, reliable (no worrying about a nanny quitting), hard to get into if we don’t go
Cons: Sickness. He’s a VERY fussy baby bc he can’t communicate at 8 mo so being sick is a nightmare. We’re hoping at 2.5-3 when he starts pre k it won’t be as miserable. We also have immunocompromised family in the house who may not be there in 2-3 years. We have to do the whole commute and rarely see him at all during the day. Nap schedule isn’t ideal because it’s a mixed group of ages. No family to help and caring for a sick infant means a lot of sick days.
Nanny:
Pros: On our schedule, we can see him way more during the day. Less illnesses while he’s too young to communicate. More 1-1 attention which as a fussier guy he loves.
Cons: 2.5x the cost (we make great money now and can afford it but if we got paid off we’d have to reconsider). Our house is full with wfh and my parent I care for. Possibility a nanny quits unexpectedly and we have no family to help.
We know we are beyond lucky to even have this decision. We are even considering paying for a month of daycare as we test a nanny. But ideally we want to just pick a route, commit and make it work.

hi! i went to the sota open house today with a friend for fun, as we really wanted to explore their campus and attend the showcases and whatnot, but left feeling more interested than i was entering. i’m particularly interested in their literary arts department and would like to gain more insight into what the students learn (especially with sota’s new literary arts ib subject), and what were the contents of the LA students portfolios :)
would also greatly appreciate insight from those that joined in year 5 through non-dsa! as far as i’m aware there’s an entrance exam for non-dsa applicants, and i’m honestly frightened because i know the sec 4 olvl curriculum is much more difficult than what i’m used to (i study at an international school)

40M 5’11 200lbs no medical history or current pres. I am embarrassed this is even a possibility however a relative had dropped off a Tupperware with some homemade soup a few months back. I had moved the Tupperware with leftover soup to the laundry room in a rush to clean the kitchen. I ended up forgetting about the Tupperware and I woke up this morning to a smell I thought could be a cesspool issue. I narrowed the smell down to the laundry room and thought maybe the dog had peed somewhere as it was a strong odor. After about 10 mins I located the Tupperware which i had forgot about and the lid had popped due to the gases I assume. I threw the Tupperware outside and aired the house out. I did some searches regarding the fumes and found some info that there was likely some botulism toxin in the Tupperware. Should I be concerned about the odor as I have an 18 month old and a pregnant wife who may have breathed in the botulism toxin fumes?

I have an old 60s house with a small single bathroom. My (very basic scummy looking) laundry is in the garage section underneath the house (sloped block) and I've been tossing up its worth while partitioning off that section of the garage for a nicer laundry and a second bathroom but the ceiling would be just 2.1m high, minus any floor tiles and sloping required for bathroom
I'm worried it might feel a little cramped. And if there are any plumbers in here that can chime in, would adding additional drainage be an issue considering this would be on the main slab of the house? There is already a drain nearby for the existing laundry

this is an update to my last post, when i got them sent off school.
so these two girls had been sent off my school in my last post and have been harasing me at my house. somehow they got my adress and are now reguraly coming to my house. the last time that they came they threw a rock into my window. i kinda think it might have been better to deal with the bullying. but so my parents have called their parents and explaind that they had to pay for the damages or we would be calling the police. the convetation went like this, (for the sake of the story we will call my mom becky and the other mom karen)
becky: hello my name is becky do you have a minute
karen: yes i do why are you calling me
becky: your daughter has been harassing my son, thats also the reason your daughter got sent off school.
karen: my daughter would never do that!
becky: well she did and i need you to pay for the damages or we will sue you
karen: oh get over it, it cant be that bad.
becky: she threw a rock through our window.
karen: prove it. *hangs up*
so i had been listening in and had overheard the entire convesation. i cant believe that she could be such a karen. so now my dad is angry and he takes the phone from my mom and calles the karen back. now im not gonna quote what he said because it has a bunch of cuss words but i can give you the jif of what he said: he said that if she didnt emediatly come over to our house and pay he would be calling the police, he gives her our address and sure enough about 30 to 40 minutes later she comes up to our door and rings the doorbell. my dad is pissed and starts schreaming at her and her daughter saying that if she doent emeidiatly give the money he would call the police. i had already dialed 911 so all i had to do was press the call button on my phone, than the karen said: your bluffing. thats when i had enough. i schreamed through the hallway at this woman, saying that we werent bluffing and that i would call the cops, i show her my phone. than this karen smacked me and said: dont you dare talk to me like that. i had had enough i called the cops and sarah started pleeding with me to stop but i didnt. her mom said: come on my sweet baby lets go, my dad wanted to run after them but i asked him not to. of course i had the webcam and i had filmed the whole thing so when the cops got there i just showed them the footage. about three hours later we recieve money into our bank account that would be enough to fix our window, the police came by later and asked if we were going to press charges, we havent had any problams yet so we hope its over,
so am i the jerk for calling the cops on these karens

part 1: net worth
positive net worth

category	#shesworthsomething
💹 15,700	Roth IRA, not much but it’s honest work. I wasn’t able to contribute last year but sent $1400 this month. Don’t think I will max this year but will do what I can.
📱 1,400	457, not even sure why I contribute to this ($50/paycheck)
📈 25,100	Pension – cash value not super relevant here. 11% mandated contribution
💰 7,100	checking
🤑 3,000	HYSA @ 4.25%
➕ 52,300	we keep it positive around here

debt

category	oops, she’s in debt again
💷 -45,203	Private student loan @ 4.79%, paid biweekly but sending extra $
💸 -72,957	Undergrad Stafford + grad @ 5.2%. halfway done with PSLF!
➖ 118,160	😬 (but it looks worse on paper!)

casita

category	ah, but what about the house?
🏡 362,000	Purchase price, spring 2022, ginormous (income-restricted) condo
💸 -317,026.81	Mortgage #1 balance @ 2.75%
♊ -23,431.95	Mortgage #2 balance @ 0%, down-payment assistance paid in full at end of mortgage or resale
➕ 21,541.24	Equity including both mortgages, since not including #2 feels disingenuous

NET WORTH: -45,672.46
part 2: income
Nothing exciting here as a public school teacher. My salary is fixed and the entire internet can figure out exactly how much I make. Next year I will apply to be a new teacher mentor to move over a lane (6% raise while I do the job). We won a great raise in our last contract so we can finally be paid almost as much as everyone around us!
This is my 5th year teaching but am on step 6 of 11 due to a full year internship.
read my paycheck and weep
pay schedule: 24 paychecks a year (NOT 26), biweekly Fridays with the exception of holidays and the final day of school, where you receive paychecks 22, 23, 24 and are expected to make that last late June through early September
each paycheck is different, so let’s do paycheck #1

💹 2,935.83	gross
💊 -37.14	medicare (but not SS)
👩🏼‍⚕️ -325.65	PPO, I get sick often and in unexpected places
🦷 -42.97	dental
👓 -5.91	vision
📱 -50	457 contribution
🚕 -184.19	federal withholding
🚖 -114.32	state withholding
📈 -322.94	pension withholding
➕ 1,852.71	behold, how little of my take home I get to actually enjoy

Now paycheck #2

💹 2,935.83	gross
💊 -48.01	medicare (but not SS)
📱 -50	457 contribution
🚕 -323.86	federal withholding
🚖 -151.79	state withholding
📈 -322.94	pension withholding
💪🏼 -87	union power, baby
➕ 1,952.23	Also known at work as “the good paycheck”

For those keeping track at home, my monthly gross is typically 5,871.66 and my net is typically 3,804.94
Why typically?

• If we have 3 paychecks in a month: enjoy the big fat no medical or union deduction!
• …unless it’s April onwards, when they deduct health insurance from EVERY paycheck to cover your summer months (we call it double deduction season)
• in December we get a premium holiday (1/2 medical deduction)
• I also run an outdoors club at work, which I am paid $35/hr when I run the club and additional pay for certain trips (last month I was paid $375 alone for our annual weekend overnight before vacation). This can be wildly inconsistent but let’s just say I have an extra $100-150 to play with each month.

part 3: please enjoy my emoji'd YNAB categories

category 💲	PAY DEM BILLZ
🏡 1343.38	Putting the PIT in mortgage…or something like that. The other I is paid separately
⛲ 167	HOA
🔐 68.16	Was not required to have insurance at closing. Don’t be stupid like me.
🎓 0	fed loans, thanks Grandpa Joe. I think this will be about $250/m when it starts up again. PSLF date late 2028
⛽ 31	YNAB tells me this is my average since moving to my house. Grateful to have big windows and a “put a sweater on” childhood upbringing – touched the heat twice this year
🔌 50	Averaged to include spicy hot summer months (it was 34 this month)
💻 39.95	interwebs
🏫 412.92	Private loan, paid biweekly (so if it’s a rare 3 payment month it’s more). The minimum monthly payment is something like $316, but I’m sending an extra $50 to get some benefit from the power of compound interest. 4.79% is not a make or break rate. Payoff 2034 but hope this can happen sooner.
📰 12.50	NYT Academic rate
🚊 90	Monthly pass
🍿 15.99	Somebody needs to pay the HBO Max
➖ 2234.43	Assigned this month

⭐

category 💲	important semi-regular expenses
🎁 20	Averaged gifts and donations, we have a special scholarship at work
⛲ 167	HOA
👗 0	I haven’t bought new clothes in a while and it’s starting to show.
🤸🏼‍♀️ 85	trampoline class
👩🏼‍⚕️ 60	YNAB tells me my average is 60/mo, but this is overinflated due to an MRI in November that I will only have to do once more time. I’m usually at the urgent care or a specialist doctor 1x/month (this month: a UTI), so it’s more like 30
🪑 40	Hard to quantify. Since I moved in, I had a free couch moved ($200), bought a very nice TV ($750), a vacuum ($250), filters for vacuum ($30), and the world’s nicest washer ($1900). So YNAB is telling me a horrifying $400/mo, but let’s call it 40 going forward
🌷 0	I was a good urban balcony gardener, but no balcony. Waiting for a community garden spot, hopefully next year
🍉 250	Includes booze and small household things (TP, paper towels, dish soap)
🥾 30	Am avid hiker and rollerblader. Averaged cost of trip incidentals like carpool or snacks, admission to roller rink
💊 55	3 lifesaving medicines (25/mo + 10/mo + 30 as needed) + 10 for whatever medicine needed for illness of the month (10 for antibiotics this month). Every year I get a new epi-pen for 10 or 30. This month was more like 85 because my pharmacy accidentally sent me a med I have plenty of.
➖ 500	rough guesstimate

⭐

monthly 💲	annual 💲	annual expenses (save early, save often)
🤑 3.95	🕛47.33	Splitting YNAB with a friend on the new family plan
💇🏼‍♀️ 22.50	🕛 270	2x curly haircuts a year (cut + tip)
🩰 127.78	🕛 1150	Pair of opening weekend orchestra tickets + donor perks + volunteer dues
🌴 55	🕛 650	My part of family vacation with parents
🕶 33.33	🕛 400	Annual eye visit (exam + contact fitting + 12 months contacts)
📦 11.59	🕛 139	prime shipping, no car in a store desert + my mom likes videos
🎄 50	🕛 600	I love Christmas
💸 ?	🕛 6500	Roth IRA, we’re getting aspirational. I sent $1400 this month because it was a 3 paycheck month. Going to try to max and see how far I get.
🦷 86.35	🕛 2250	Saving ½ of estimated costs for Invisalign – never had braces as a kid and now my teeth are pretty bad. Hoping to start May 2024. There is unfortunately no savings for paying everything upfront so I’m saving ½ now and expecting a monthly payment around 150/mo during the treatment.
➖390.50	🕛 4,686	Ignoring the Roth IRA

⭐

category 💲	very big savings
🌆 428.57	3k goal by August 2023 (current balance: 850), “No August pay” – we don’t get paid in August and the first week of September so setting aside money specifically for this without feeling guilty for draining my emergency fund
🕐 300	(181.82 since I’m ahead) Homeowner’s 1% Warchest, it’s exactly what it sounds like. For any and all home expenses (things breaking or projects). Current balance: 2k
🛑 140.91	Building back EF, goal is 3k by December 2023 (current balance: 1.7k). I know this is low but my job is hilariously stable. I will try to add another month in 2024.

⭐

category 💲	fun money!
💻 50	Laptop replacement, just chucking money in there. I’d like to buy a Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5i since I love the 2 in 1 form factor. Currently have 100/600
🚝 70 (paused)	Travel fund contribution, but full at 350. BFF getting married in VT in August so hoping to turn it into a girl’s weekend with another BFF
🎮 65 (paused)	General video game fund – keep it topped up at 65 in case a new game drops OR if multiple games go on sale. I try to only buy games on deep sale
🎮 12.99	Final Fantasy XIV sub, I’ll retire someday
👯‍♀️ 50	Anything with friends, including eating out with them. usually 100 in the summer
🍦 30	“eating out” aka solo treats for myself (breakfast at dunks, small treats)
🎊 10	events happening that we want to go to not already covered, averaged.
➖ 202.99	Not including travel and video games since that’s topped up

If you add up the categories, I’m in the red and I’m well aware of it – not for much longer though, as I’m saving really aggressively. 😊
part 4: el diario
Day 1 – Saturday

🌅 gotta get dad to the ballet! 4.80
👯‍♀️ brunch with daddy-o before the ballet, I provide the tickets but he pays for brunch. his wallet is hurting because he only just got paid at his new job, so I kick in 20
👀 because brunch is attached to a swanky hotel and it’s PAX east wknd. 0 for free entertainment
🥤 my father requests a water bottle before the show. 6
🩰 don q, my 3rd time and dad’s 1st. Very good, but very long. 0 because these are volunteer comps
🚊 & 👋🏼
🧼 the casita before the week starts

total: 30.80
Day 2 – Sunday

💤 lazy Sunday morning (dw, I’m still up at 6). Read the NYT cover to cover then play 🎮
🚊 meeting a friend of a friend to help her do taxes but I’m early
📖 it’s gorgeous out so I photosynthesize in the BPL courtyard with my book club book
⛔ the wifi is too slow for us to do taxes so we pack up and 🚶🏼‍♀️ down newbury st until we settle at trident
👯‍♀️ I supervise her taxes, and eat a late lunch (grilled cheese w/ avo and tomato). 22.15
🍉 make the mistake of dragging this poor girl with me to the postage stamp sized TJ’s. and it’s 5:15. one does not shop here so much as get in line at the beginning & pick what you want as you go. a tall person fetches me frozen arepas. I come in right on budget so I’m pleased. 57.52
👋🏼 & 🚊 home to plan my week and decompress with 🎮 and 📖

Total: 79.67
Day 3 – Monday

🌅 it’s just before 6 and birds are happy, but now I am taking the 🚍 to work
🌉 stuck on the bus with my BOSS because a 🚢 is passing through the drawbridge. at least we can now fill out 90 second walk from the bus to dunks with acceptable new england small talk subjects (weather, transit, and sports) before she dips to get coffee
😡 the youth, because tomorrow & wednesday are standardized testing. sorry kids, I don’t make the schedule!
🙏🏼 “my plan is to read the questions carefully and ask God to help me know” – A+ testing strategy
✌🏼 2:30 and on my way home
🤸🏼‍♀️ take the 🚊 to go to bounce (0, see monthly expenses) and catch up with bounce buddy M.
🚶🏼‍♀️ walk with M. to the 🚊, go home for 🍜, 🚿, 📖, 🎮

Total: 0
Day 4 – Tuesday

🌅 hello, happy birds as I walk to the 🚍
🔥 the computers are not charged for testing. teenagers have been divested of all electronics and are not allowed to talk to each other. mayhem approaching in 3 … 2 … 1 …
🤬 nonstatus (male) colleague uses a work group text thread to refer to an unknown female colleague as the b-word. mayhem continues
❓ 2 hour (!) meeting after work due to snow day cancellations. male colleague doubles down on his comment before storming out. brain is mush
🚍 I remember nothing
🔐 as I am politely informed by my e-mail 68.16
👩🏼‍🍳 white bean & tomato stew & watch abbott elementary because it’s cathartic
🗣📕 ballet book club on zoom! we just finished a book about martha graham so we talk about it (I’m hosting next time about james whiteside)

total: 68.16
Day 5 – Wednesday

🌅 please go away, very loud mourning dove
🍎 computers are charged, the youth are not. Mr. Insult has decided not to come to work today (probably for the best?)
🤬 is there something in the water?! another nonstatus teacher informs me that two of my students are talking to each other in the hallway and are not following her instructions which tbh is a day that ends in Y. important context: her instruction is in English and they only understand Spanish. I send them back to their testing rooms and she says, “when students ignore me and continue to speak in a language they know I don’t understand, they are being assholes” UM! GOODBYE!!!
😡 before I say something I regret I turn heel and inform my boss of this interaction. she takes a breath and thanks me for letting her know
😤 this is me taking a calming inhale / exhale before returning to staring at children
🏹 when I am proctoring (read: not allowed to read, grade, do work, browse the interweb), I like to imagine how the hunger games would go down if these kids were in it. the odds are in this room’s favor overall.
👩🏼‍🏫 these miserable youth are forced into a half day of classes, so we conference about grades and I let them have some free time
🏕 run weekly outdoors club for the youth. one student informs me a teacher refuses to sign a permission slip & doesn’t know why. make mental note to find this person and politely inquire. students make a great poster of images from our last trip and practice map skills
✌🏼 at 3:30 to get the 🚂 to then get on the 🚊 to go to 🤸🏼‍♀️ … it sounds awful but it all goes pleasantly smoothly, especially given how the T has been. class is great, lots of one-legged kicking on the trampoline. this is my 2nd week in a row of going from 2x class a week to 3x and it’s a tough adjustment. 0
🚶🏼‍♀️ to the 🚊 with M., who can’t make it to class on Friday – sad!
💊 the medicine I didn’t ask for but keeps coming has arrived. Note to self to call pharmacy and ask them to stop, but says 0 refills. Not a total waste because I KNOW I will get bronchitis again & need this. 10
🍿 paid for to keep my mother happy 15.99
🍴 eat leftover stew and 📞 my mother and best friend T. to debrief this very strange day
🎮 and 📖 before bed

Total: 25.99
Day 6 – Thursday

🌅 ahoy! Run into coworker D. on the 🚍 who gets coffee at dunks. I am feeling weak and acquire some 🥑🍞 3.69
🤝🏼 find this teacher who refuses to sign permission slip (who is also new). his reasons are very valid and we agree on conditions the student needs to fulfill to attend trip. hooray, adults being civil!
🤬 that’s it, something is in the water. two best friends in 3rd hour begin a heated verbal altercation about … a girl? in the middle of my class?? One kid takes off so I call security to let them know he would benefit from a check-in. the other student begins texting threats to his buddy and goes off on me when I tell him to stop. what is happening?!
👼🏼 boy returns with security at end of class, so I walk him to dean to process. 35 minutes later dean says everything is gucci and no more problems. hormones, man.
✌🏼 please get me out of here
💻 bill is paid 39.95
👵🏼 our weekly call (she is my only grandparent and is not doing well)
👨🏼 weekly call with father, who still likes his new job
🍜 leftover stew and Mandalorian with my 👩🏼 (we live text each other). finally, a good space battle!
🎮 and 📖 to decompress along with a long hot 🚿

total: 43.64
Day 7 – Friday

🌅 I don’t think I can do this today.
🧘🏼‍♀️ It has been such a frustrating week (there was another incident that happened that I can’t even reference due to state law/FERPA) that was incredibly traumatic and draining.
📱 to best friend T. and work friend R. to ask what they would do. Both endorse me taking a day off after this wild week.
🎮 and 📖 along with some stretching. 📞 with best friend E. to catch up on her wedding prep and life
🤑 payday! Good paycheck since it’s the 3rd of the month, but it might be missing hours from club. I won’t know until I see my paystub on Monday. +2,183.48 (+50 to 457, +322.94 to pension)
💸 ah, but it’s also the 31st. easy come, easy go 🏡 (1343.38) and ⛲ (167)
🚊 to 🤸🏼‍♀️ to a really 🔥 class. Learn the name of the girl next to me on Fridays who also brings her inhaler and it turns out we’re both teachers!
🍦 take a nice mozzarella sandwich home from tatte 13.97
🚊, 🍴, 🚿, 📖, 🎮

Total: 1,524.35
Grand totals:

• food & drank: 65.81
• entertainment: 15.99
• home & health: 10
• clothes & beauty: 0
• transport: 4.80
• other: 1,618.49 (how I would class my house expenses)

reflection: typical week money-wise in terms of reflecting my non-house spending – I’m saving really aggressively right now and don’t have a lot of money for discretionary spending. Even if I did, I’m very much a homebody during the work week. My job is probably more stressful than most as a baseline but this week was truly unbelievably bad. Still, looking through the week and taking time to step back I realize just how quality my support network is and for that I'm very grateful.

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The Mountain - 1956
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The Mountain is a 1956 adventure/drama movie, starring the great (and sober for this role) Spencer Tracy, just coming off his success in "Bad Day at Black Rock" the year before (as well as over 30 other film roles under his belt), and the younger, but fairly recognizable up and comer at this point in his career, Robert Wagner (known to more modern movie fans as "Number 2" in the "Austin Powers" film series). Having acted alongside each other in multiple roles already, the chemistry between our two lead actors is evident and believable enough as they portray two brothers (although separated by what seems like 10-20 years in age, though this is more common in the real world than people want in film). The plotline follows these two brothers as they make a deathly high-alpine climb to the top of a nearby Mountain (Mount Blanc, France) where an airplane has recently crashed with plans on looting the dead. The movie is directed by Edward Dmytryk, recently back from being blacklisted from the film industry, as well as serving a short stint in prison with the other "Hollywood Ten" who refused to testify to the House of Un-American Acitivities Committe in their investigations during the Cold War\McCarthy-era "Red scare". Previously known for his 1940s noir films, particularly "Crossfire" from 1947 (one of the earliest films to deal with the subject of anti-semitism), upon Dmytryk's return to Hollywood, he solidified himself yet again with "The Caine Mutiny" in 1954 before bringing together our two leads for their first time in the same year with "Broken Lance", then going on to direct 3 more films before coming across French novelist's Henri Troyat's recent novel "La Neige en Deuil" (inspired by the true airplane crash of Air Indian Flight 245 in 1950) and deciding to bring it alive on screen, acting as both producer and directer for his first time.
We start the movie off with a bang, when a commercial plane crashes atop a snow filled mountain peak, leaving what seems like no survivors. Down below at the nearest village, Zachary Teller leads a simple life of a sheep-herder on his longtime family farm, while currently constantly dodging out a lovestruck neighboring widow who desperately needs a new husband. His younger brother however, Christopher Teller, is angry and envious with his position in life, working as a server\porter boy, waiting on rich skier and mountaineer guests at the village's local mountain resort, as well as sharing the family home with his more respected big brother Zach.
When word arrives of the downed airplane atop the mountain, a rescue party is put together to retrieve any possible survivors and their worldly possessions. Once having been the most experienced mountaineer in the area (and one of the only people to have ever even made the climb), Zachary is asked to lead to climbing expedition, to which he denies on the count of having lost a man over the edge on his last climb years ago.
Later that night at home, the two brothers argue over the ownership of the house, with Christopher wishing to sell it and Zachary wanting to keep it in the family for as long as possible.
The next morning, the unsuccessful expedition returns having lost their main guide (and Zachary's old mountaineering friend) Tsavos, in the midst of the climb.
Again at home that night, the brother's get into another argument, with Christopher this time trying to push Zachary to lead him up the mountain so as to loot the apparent rich, and now dead passengers. This would give Chris the means to leave the village and put to rest his hopes of selling the family farm. But Zachary shoots down the idea for the sake of both his brother's safety and soul, even offering to renounce his claim over the family farm. Already having the idea stuck in his head though, Christopher likewise denies Zachary's offer and stands firm on making the climb alone, forcing his brother to relent in leading him up the mountain. The two brothers pack their gear and start their way up to the base of the mountain at first light.
The next portion of the movie takes us on a spectacular scenic journey, using a combination of stock shots, matte paintings, and practical built rock walls to showcase not only the mountain and landscape itself, but also emphasizing on the physical capabilities of the plus 50 year old Zachary Teller. As the lead climber, Zach makes his way up and along frozen rock walls and narrow ledges, using the strength of his hands and feet alone, all while using hammer and stakes to fix a line of ropes for his less experienced brother to follow.
We're treated to a quick scare when Christopher takes a slip and goes falling down some way before Zachary finally gets hold of the rope and pulling his brother back up to safety, ripping his palms into a bloody mess in the process.
By now the tables have turned in the brothers' mindsets, Christopher now wishing to turn back out of fear, and Zachary now too far into his goal of conquering the mountain yet again, clear forgetting the reason why they started the climb in the first place. Zach convinces his brother to continue on and up to the summit, and that the worst of it is now over.
Together, now using their ice axes and crampon shoes, the brothers hike up the snowy (now on location) summit without problem, finally arriving at the top of the mountain and the plane wreckage in which they came for. While Zachary is full of pride and achievement at what they've accomplished together as brothers, Chris has no care for their triumphs, and shows his true colors as a man by immediately looting treasures from the dead, as well as breaking a cross which Zach puts together from wreckage to hide the evidence of anybody having even been there.
The underlying theme of this movie now finally surfaces in full (the massive feat of scaling the mountain acting as a metaphor for how difficult it is for Zach to accept how horrible his brother truly is, and to finally turn his back on him) when the brothers discover an Indian woman still alive in the back of the plane. Zach cares for her over night and hitches her up to a sled in the morning to drag her down the mountain, but Chris seeing this as a clear obstacle now in the way of him and his riches, throws his older brother down to the ground and tries to strangle the woman to death. Zachary now rises up and strikes his younger brother down to the ground with some good old classic Spencer Tracy style (starting onscreen and ending offscreen, complete with sound effects) punches to the face, before turning around and leaving Chris to get down the mountain on his own.
Zachary single handedly drags and hoists the surviving Indian woman down the side of the mountain, forcing him to use a different route from before, he comes to a pair of untrustworthy looking snow bridges. He inspects the first and decides against it, but still almost looses the woman while crossing over the second. An angry and frantic Christopher finally catches up to the pair and decides not to listen to his own brother's warnings about the remaining bridge, attempting and failing to cross it when the weight gives out, sending him falling to his death into an unknown depth of crevasse.
Zachary Teller, although completely heartbroken now from having lost his brother both in spirit and in body, wastes no time on mourning and continues on down the mountain with the injured Indian woman in tow.
Upon arrival back to the village, Zachary shoots down all claims that he is a hero of any sorts, and lies about his brother's inhuman actions on the mountain, telling instead the opposite story; that it was he, Zach Teller, who came up with the idea and continued on with his obsession of looting the dead, and that his brother Christopher Teller had only went along solely to aid in the safety of his Zach.
Though nobody believes it, they all give Zachary the benefit of not calling him out as a liar, and his brother as a bad man (all save for the village priest that is). He gets into the widowed neighbor lady's carriage with her and together they head "home" to live happily ever after. A final glance back at the mountain for old Zach Teller finally puts all his stored up inner strife's to bed for good, bringing us from the image of one mountain to another with the classic closing of all the Paramount Pictures movies.
To sum it all up, The Mountain (1956) is a truly amazing piece of retro cinema. Starting with a simple plotline on the surface, and changing into a more complicated family dynamic as the film goes on. This movie set the bar for the man vs. nature genre in film, as well as the common underlying theme in which these plotlines usually emphasize on, with the conquering and/or survival of certain physical hardships (in this case, the scaling of the mountain) simply acting as a metaphor for the deeper internal struggles in which our main charactes must finally come to face. Our two leads actors handle this all with extreme authenticity and sincirety, particularly Spencer in one of his most memorable and suitable roles of his entire career. The combination of both on location shots and special effect built sets make the setting for this movie more than believable enough (as long as you have an imagination enough for movies of both this time and this genre). All this being brought together and guided over by Dmytryk as both director and producer, making this (in my personal opinion that is), one of the greatest film achievements of his career as well. A classic film for all fans of the man vs. nature genre, and all around awesome retro movies in general.
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And that's all she wrote folks. Thanks for reading.
Ryan D. Hurley

Hi all,
I saw this USB TOF 3D scanner on aliexpress. My web-search-fu might be a bit off, as I can't find much online about hobbyists using it domestically. Please may I ask if anyone has any experience with it?
My main mission is to scan the inside of my house as soon as it can be done easily for USD <100 in hardware. Bonus points if I can get a point cloud I could send to canvas.io to outsource having it made into a model I can open using FreeCAD. I'd be thrilled if I could scan smaller things too. I'd be ecstatic if there was a way to scan a building exterior (I.E.: a quadcopter with a MaixSense A075V that automatically flew around the inside and outside of the house - it would make getting quotes by email for windows replacements - for example - way easier!).
I'm too cheap to buy an iPhone 12 pro for the task :P although it's TOF sensor (and the apps/services that resulted) inspired me to look for non-iPhone alternatives.
Obviously if there's a way to do this using their cheaper MS-A010 I'd be thrilled too! (I presume one would plug it into the phone's USB port using a male-male type-c adapter so it sat flush with the phone, calibrate the phone camera image to overlay the TOF data at the distance from which the target would be scanned, and then use the phone's accelerometers and camera to contribute to the required data set - I suppose it's unlikely anyone's done this and published it for free!).
My thanks for any thoughts anyone feels able to share, RLR9
P.S.: I had posted this with handy links, but reddit blocked it, so now it exists with links removed. Please do ask if you'd like me to add them in the comments.
P.P.S.: I'd completely accept advice like "just use a camera and open-source photogammetry software like Meshroom" (I.E.: use an established, non-Time Of Flight approach), or "just use a 360 camera and a less precise paid service like Metareal" - these are probably my fallback options.