First of all, this sub is amazing. All of you guys though strangers give amazing advice and I have binge read on this sub. I really don't have anyone to share this with, I'm read there are amazing working woman on this sub. Would love your advice!
I'm a BSc graduate, who had applied for masters (parents forced)but didn't attend college as I got busy preparing for competitive exams(ssc/banking etc). I thought I'll get selected soon and would immediately take my leaving certificate from my msc college. But two years passed, I'm still jobless. I'm soon going to turn 24 in November. I'm getting tensed day by day. I was extremely ambitious, thought I would be earning and become one of those independent ladies whom people don't give their unsolicited advices.
I'm of a marriageable age acc to the society and aunties keep asking when I'm getting married. One went to an extent where she called my mother with a suitor. He was some group b assistant in railway. My mother denied. Met the same lady in a function, she said she called because I was perfect as I have a bsc and still preparing for a job. They are the perfect matches for guys with group b services. I felt bad tbh.
I don't feel like I belong to this government job thing. I'm so sick of getting failures. I never imagined I would end up like this. I always thought, I would be independent woman who would wear what she wants, would be articulate, make choices of her own whether it be love, marriage etc.
I can still do it but again, I have no respect at my place. I suck at grammar, I fumble while speaking English. I'm not financially independent and I'm tired of it.
I decided maybe I should try giving CAT and get into MBA, I absolutely love the leadership roles but I am getting less scores constantly. I'm trying my best everyday to get over this depressing feeling but nothing is helping. My friends have already completed their respective masters this month while I'm at home studying but no success.
I tried looking for internships, but again with just a bachelor's that too in biology, I got none!
When I see woman, creating an impact, I feel wish I could be there too! I'm losing patience. I don't know if this post makes any sense but I wanted to put my feelings out there!
Any career advice from you guys would be appreciated. I really don't have anyone to talk to.

Disclaimer: This is NOT financial advice. Everyone trades with different goals, on different time frames, and has a different risk tolerance. Trade your own account and DO NOT blindly follow others into a trade.
-----
What is Option Flow Trading?
Flow trading is my preferred style of trading. Simply put, you look at options trades that are being placed and use it to help make determinations about where a stock might be headed (or if it may stay range bound). You look at various calls, puts, the size of the trade, and the timeframe of the trade.
Option flow can (but like anything in life/trading, doesn't always) work if done correctly. Think about it- there are professionals with way better technology, way better research, way better algorithims than we will ever have access to. Lets say they have information that a certain stock will trade to XYZ price. Well, they can profit off of that by buying the underlying options- and that's what we follow. This is the "smart" money.
Just Follow the Flow?
Not blindly. Remember, options flow show us the order but NOT THE WHY. Yesterday someone posted about NVDA July $500C being bought. Great! But what if that trader is short 12,000 shares of NVDA? On a 0.06 delta trade, that's a perfect hedge. The reality is we do not know what the intention of the trade was. Maybe it was a long bet. We don't know.
Then What's the Point?
Like everything, option flow trading is a TOOL. Nothing more. Identify where the smart money is positioned, and incorporate the other techniques to select high probability trades with positive reward/risk ratios.
An Example of What I Look For:
Yesterday, I went long NFLX out of the money calls. Why? As I posted many times, the technical setup was superb. The stock was consolidating its gains after a move up and ready for the next leg.
But why now?
They were buying longer dated calls for a few days. But yesterday I saw something very unusual. Someone came in and sold 100x weekly $425 in the money puts for $27 each while the stock was at $397. Selling puts is a major bullish sign that someone thinks the stock is going to go higher, and go higher quick.
Today we woke up to two street high price target upgrades. Hmmmmmm.
IT DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK:
Let's look at the Boeing (BA) weekly chart. This is one of the most beautiful bull flags I've ever seen. More often than not, bull flags DO resolve to the upside, hence the term bull, after the moving averages catch up to the price.
Well, on Friday, June 2, the "smart" money observed the same thing I did. They came in and bought a few million dollars worth of calls.
Yesterday (June 6th) BA got some negative news and the stock sold off -3%. Subsuquently, the "smart" money dumped all their calls for a 7-figure loss.
Does this mean the stock won't go up? Who knows. What it means is this trader was betting on immediate upside in the stock based on the technical pattern and that did not happen. This trader capped his/losses and moved on.
What I Look For:
As previously stated, option flow trading IS NOT a holy grail; it's merely a tool.

1. Find a few stocks you like, learn how they trade, learn how the premiums move, study it. Become familiar with 10-15 names.
2. Find a few chart patterns you like and have success with. I know Yolo_sense is a "super duper mega breakout" guy. I love that pattern as well! It has a high success rate, moves quick, and often goes higher than you expect. I also love trading bull flag breakouts- I've had a lot of success with them, but doesn't mean it's for everyone. Find what works for you and stick to those 2 or 3 setups.
3. Then, after you've found a setup you believe in, look at what the "smart" money is doing. For anything OTHER THAN WEEKLIES (swing trading for a few days / weeks), I like to see multiple repeat orders into the same strike, same expiration, and I want to see the IV increasing. This shows the buyer wants to get in.

If you see a consistent bull setup, you see option flow that supports your thesis, you should take the trade.
----------
There's no way to backtest all this since that would be literally hundreds of millions of trades. However, in 2020 I started tracking my P/L in Excel. Using this method I've found that ~ 63% of the trades I take are profitable.
----------
I DO NOT HAVE ANY CONNECTION WITH THE FOLLOWING SERVICES BUT I HAVE USED THEM ALL IN THE PAST AND CAN VOUCH FOR THEM IF ANYONE WANTS TO LEARN THIS:

1. Black Box Stocks- great service. Great people who run this. They live stream the entire session and give commentary on what they look for, why, and how it works. I would recommend this for beginners.
2. Options Hawk- I used Joe's premium service for 6 months. Ultimately, there is too much information for my need, but he is le crem de le creme of the options flow world. Spend a week in his live chat studying market dynamics and flow with him and you will learn more than trading yourself for a year. Very expensive, but cannot vouch enough.
3. Cheddar Flow- This is just the one I use, but they're all the same. Just need some type of consolidated option flow platform to navigate all the trades. Once you know what you're looking for you don't need an expensive service.

​
NFA.

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https://www.halloessen.de/en/restaurants/city-pizza-service-gera

By user request, I'm recreating this thread in an effort to allow /norfolk's members to update & improve the information. Please comment as needed and I'll do my best to revise the main text as quickly as I can. Thanks!
Welcome to /Norfolk! Our subreddit gets a lot of questions about relocating to the area, so be sure to search the subreddit to see if your specific questions have already been answered.
Here's a quick list of the top tips and most frequently repeated advice about moving to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area:

• Live on the same side of the water as you work. Our many bridges, tunnels and bridge-tunnels frequently experience heavy traffic volume and become chokepoints even on days without incidents or accidents. Commuting from the Southside (Norfolk/Virginia Beach) to the Peninsula (Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg) and vice versa is not recommended. Additionally, many water crossings are now or will eventually be tolled. Get an EZ-Pass to pay the lowest rate.
  
• This area floods. Look at FEMA flood maps for the area you want to move to and be aware of possibly needing flood insurance. Similarly, our area occasionally experiences hurricanes. Know your Evacuation Zone and learn more about Hurricane Preparations.
  
• Hampton Roads has a lot to offer. Obviously there is the beach. But there is also a surprisingly good and growing food & craft beer scene. A great many museums and activities. And an easy drive to the mountains and other major cities. Career wise the medical center is growing year over year, and is only expected to continue expanding into a major hub for the region. Norfolk offers a slightly more urban feel, with lots of great food joints and cultural amenities, all while being walking and bike friendly. Virginia Beach is more suburban in feel, and has a large amount of great neighborhoods at a decent price not too far from the beach. Chesapeake is even more suburban, but more affordable. Suffolk is growing, but still by all rights could be considered mostly rural. (credit to Here4thebeer3232)
  
• Check crime reports. Crime can happen anywhere but some areas see more reported incidents than others. Great areas can be adjacent to bad neighborhoods, sometimes separated only by a road or a few blocks. When buying or renting a residence, try to visit the area at different times of day and strike up conversations with locals to get a feel for the location. Use Norfolk's Crime Mapping tool to view crime reports and statistics.
  
• Norfolk Neighborhoods of Note
  

  Chelsea/West Ghent: Small former industrial area that is now home to 2 top tier Breweries and is a central part of the Elizabeth River Bike Trail. Has a growing culinary scene. Limited residential options. Colonial Place: Upscale residential neighborhood with waterside access. Flooding is a concern in this area, but neighborhoods are family friendly and homes are gorgeous. Downtown: the urban center of our region. Growing residential population to match established barestaurant, entertainment and financial scenes. East Beach: Newly constructed high end beach condos right on the Chesapeake Bay. Has abundant docking for boats, fishing holes, and beach access. A more quiet and older community. Fort Norfolk: Growing area adjacent to EVMS and Sentara Medical Center. The unofficial midtown of Norfolk, that is slowly becoming a part of the city skyline. Floods often. Freemason: straight-laced & upscale enclave adjacent to downtown and built around cobblestone streets. Ghent: trendy, historic and filled to the brim with character, culture and delicious cuisine. The neighborhood’s main thoroughfare, Colley Avenue, and adjacent 21st and 22nd streets are lined with eclectic eateries, unique shops, art galleries and antique stores. Larchmont: High end homes in a family friendly neighborhood. Adjacent to ODU, but without the noise, Larchmont is home to incredible homes in a very green and quiet part of the city. Also has waterside access. Oceanview: Affordable community right on the beach. Still considered more working class, it is slowly looking to compete with the Virginia Beach Oceanfront as a tourist attraction. Home to the Bold Mariner Brewery and Jessy's Taqueria NEON District: Growing Arts district, adjacent to downtown. Home to a variety of arts shops and artisan restaurants, as well as the Chrysler Museum of Art and the Harrison Opera house. Park Place: Park Place is a historic neighborhood centrally located to the north of Downtown Norfolk. Park Place offers multimodal access to health and fitness facilities, dining, coffee shops, retail, visual art, live music, and community for people from all walks of life. This historic residential neighborhood is a diverse and inclusive community, and is comprised of a mix of single detached houses, condos, luxury, market rate, and affordable rentals homes and apartments. Located between 23rd street and 38th street, and between Granby street on the east, and Colley ave on the west, the Park Place area neighborhood includes two business districts, the 35th Street Business District and the Railroad District, and is walkable to the North Colley, Ghent, and Riverview business districts. Railroad District: Rapidly growing former warehouse district located between Ghent and Park place. Home to the majority of Breweries in the city. While could be considered gentrified, is still home to novel cultural centers such as 757 Makerspace and Nomads Clothing Exchange. Riverview: Immediately adjacent to the Norfolk Zoo and Lafayette park. With waterside access and a small commercial corridor, Riverview is a good area for all ages. Also home to MJs Tavern, the largest LGBT bar in the metropolitan area. St Paul's District: Under construction West Ocean View: Turns into a parking lot for HRBT traffic every time the base lets out. Willoughby Spit: Quiet residential sandbar. Remains somewhat isolated from HRBT traffic, but offers a commanding presence along the Chesapeake Bay.
  

• /VirginiaBeach Neighborhoods of Note
  

  Chesapeake/Chic's Beach: "locals only" beachside community. Oceanfront: touristy stretch of beach + boardwalk, hotels, and trinket shops. Town Center: VB's Central Business District including Pembroke Mall and other high-end shopping, dining, and entertainment.
  

Please also view the 2021 EDITION for additional context & information, especially in the comments.

Anyone knows the name of that one Netflix show ( got removed) in which there was this friend grp and a guy and girl were into each other but two other guys kind of SAd the girl and no one believed her and called her a s*** and all. They were in highschool. The SA took place in a taxi. I think it was set in NY.

Hi guys, two days ago I had an allergic reaction to penicillin, which resulted in hives appearing on the palms of my hands, feet, and small portions of my face. My doctor prescribed me bilastinum - an antihistamine, to treat it. I'm doing my best not to scratch the affected areas, although it's quite challenging, and I'm also making sure to moisturize them regularly. I'm seeking advice on any additional measures I can take to prevent scarring. I already have visible acne scars from the past, and I'm concerned that the hives might leave additional marks. As a precaution, I've temporarily stopped using my skincare routine, which typically includes salicylic acid, niacinamide, glycolic acid, etc., to avoid further irritation. Here's a photo showing the current state of my hand: https://im.ge/i/hvSVqJ. I would greatly appreciate any input you have on managing this situation.

It is well known that the Aishi aren't originally from Japan per YandereDev. The Aishi couple emigrated to Japan in 1797, when the Sakoku was still in effect. Sakoku, in effect between 1603 and 1868, marked a time where Japan didn't allow foreigners or emigration from the country. But not all exchanges vanished: trade between Japan and China was still extensive, and there was a literal Chinatown in Nagasaki, while the Rangaku policy allowed to Japanese to stay scientifically afloat with Westeners via the Dutch. As the Aishi were originally foreigners, what are their origins? (dates and names are random)
​

#1: Dutch

YandereDev has been G E K O L O N I S E E R D. Seriously, you should all give credits to the Dutch, as without the Rangaku policy, Japan had similar scientific knowledge as the Westerners despite the isolationist policy. After the Portuguese were expelled in 1639 following the Shamibara Rebellion, the Dutch replaced them in Dajima in 1641, with very regulated trade between Japanese and Dutch. However, the Dutch were privileged, as they were the only Westerners who had access to the Japanese culture, goods and society until the reopening of Japan. However, after the bankruptcy of the East India Company in 1795 and the number of Dutch boats allowed on Dejima reduced to one per year in 1790, immigration to Japan was harder than it was before (which was very hard). Here's my theory on how the First Aishi was capable of emigrating from her hometown Netherlands to Japan (sorry for the names' butchering):
A certain Dutch girl called Anneke Smeets (1780-1853) met her "Senpai" Pit Vaessen (1779-1847) when she was 16. They ended up together before moving to Japan in 1797, where Pit's father, Henrik (1746-1814), was working as a astronomer in Dejima, as per Henrik's request to have the two of them to help him in his office. Because astronomy was a space of interest for Japanese, Henrik Vaessen had the opportunity to go to Edo to pay homage to the shogun and to actually talk to learned Japanese.
In 1798, the three of them (Henrik, Pit and Anneke) were part of the delegation that would visit Edo for the first time. However, because Japanese aren't Dutch, they had a hard time to pronounce the word "Vaessen" (it's Vassen and not Vaessen, and there's no V in Japanese unless if you count the letter "Vu" ( ヴ ) as a Japanese letter). So the shogun instructed one of the scribes to translate his name to Japanese in Ateji (because Katakana was used for official documents until post World War II and hiragana was used for unofficial documents, thus Ateji was used for loan words during that time.)
However, the scribe butchered the translation: he removed the V, changed the ae to ai and the ssen to shi, transforming the Vaessen to Aishi, which doesn't match the name's meaning in Japanese (because it's Ateji, like Sushi (寿司) because Su (寿) means "lifespan" and shi (司) means "to administer"). The word, however, was approved by the Shogun and the family became officially known as Aishi in Japan.
Thus, Gerlinde Vaessen (1800-1882) was technically the first one who bore the Aishi name. However, they were still Dutch, and they had to wait until 1871, after the reopening of Japan following the treaty of Kanagawa and the end of the Boshin civil war which ended the Shogunate in 1869 that the Aishis would acquire Japanese nationality through marriage of 4th Aishi Gertie Vaessen-Aishi (1853-1921) and her Senpai Muichiro Hirose (1852-1895), and the rest is history...

#2 Chinese

China was the other whose relations with Japan were under direct jurisdiction of the Bakufu who were the de facto rulers of Japan. Extensive trade between Japan and China happened during the sakoku, and there was residences for Chinese people within Dejima. However, Chinese people weren't allowed to enter Japan even for delegations (unlike the Dutch), so we can consider that the first Aishi's (Liu Aizi, 1780-1855)'s family name was " 愛恣" (àizì, the name means selfish love) emigrated to Dejima in 1797 with her fiancée (Jiang Zhou, 1779-1832) to work as a merchants. The àizì would become Aishi once Japan would reopen during the Meiji Restauration and the 4th Aishi (Jia Aizi, 1853-1899) marries her Senpai (Muichiro Hirose, 1852-1895) in 1871, even though the first Aizi/Aishi born in Japan is Hui Aizi (1800-1875).
​

#3 Other Nationalities

While there was some trade between Japan and Korea, it didn't reach the heights of Dutch and Chinese influence on Japan during the Sakoku. There was some contact between Ayutthaya and Japan during the sakoku, though it faded quickly. Russians were the ancestors of some Japanese people, but no recorded trade between the two countries.
​

Conclusion

Ayano Aishi has a big probability to have Dutch ancestry, although her chances of being Chinese aren't negligible. However, Ayano is unlikely to have non-Dutch or non-Chinese origins, as the Sakoku forbade any non-Dutch Westerner to enter Japan, and trade between Japan and Korea was very limited. As always, criticism is accepted, and debate peacefully. Sayonara

I beat the men again :) This was a super fun and well-run meet.
photo for cover

Background and training

I compete in USAWA, the US All-Round Weightlifting Association, best known for its many wacky odd lifts. This meet had just two official lifts, the Hackenschmidt Floor Press (a floor press done with the bar at 15" off the ground) and the Dinnie lift (weights in two stacks with ring handles, one heavier than the other, to mimic the famous Dinnie Stones of Scotland). After the competition was over, the organizer held a "record day" where lifters can pick anything they like from the rulebook and attempt to set or break records.
I've been competing in USAWA since 2019 and have been the undefeated women's champ at all the in-person meets I've done--although in many cases I was the only woman competing. Usually men and women are scored separately, but I asked ahead of time if the HackenDinnie organizer would be able to use a formula that combines men's and women's scores. Because, I told him, I'm competing to win. (He said yes.)

Meet prep

The first time I tried the floor press, I was only able to move 75 kilos (about 160 pounds). u/BenchPauper suggested using the Gillingham bench template to train it, which involved one day each week with a heavy single and backoff sets, and a second day with lighter lifts. After a few weeks I figured out the right grip width and bar placement and was able to hit 85 kilos (about 185 pounds). This remained my 1RM for the rest of training. I deviated from Gillingham in the last few weeks, but it was a solid structure to keep me in practice for most of my training time.
The Dinnie lift I've done before. Back in 2020 I got up to 503 pounds with straps. But in USAWA, no straps are allowed, nor even thumb tape. You just chalk up your hands and go for it. My best without straps had been 418 pounds.
When I trained the Dinnie lift, I kept getting little tweaks and aches and pains. One time I took two weeks off of Dinnie lifting because I was convinced I'd sprained my left ACL. (That's the ACL I tore and had reconstructed many years ago, so it kind of spooked me.) Later I had an issue with my hip. I was kinda bummed about all of this and didn't train this lift as heavy as I would have liked. Fortunately, by the time the meet rolled around everything was feeling better.
I had a total of 11 weeks between my last big weightlifting meet (Masters Nationals in olympic weightlifting) and the HackenDinnie. I did 3 days/week of normal weightlifting training, and 2 days where I practiced these two lifts and a few other lifts that I selected for the record portion. I pulled my last heavy Dinnie lift 8 days out, at about 440 pounds. My heaviest in the whole training cycle had been a hook grip PR at 470. On u/just-another-scrub's recommendation I bought a pair of Versa Gripps to get in more volume without worrying about my thumbs, but in the end my lower body injuries (or fear thereof) limited me more than my grip.

Meet day

I drove down to Kentucky for this one. The meet was held in Clint Poore's very nice garage gym and he put on an extremely well run meet. I refereed when I wasn't lifting.
The guys at the scoring table called me over to ask what my opener really was on the floor press--maybe it was my handwriting, or maybe they weren't expecting me to open at 180 pounds. Out of 11 people there, I was 4th to open on the floor press. And of 9 people who did the Dinnie lift, I was second-to-last to open. One lifter bumped up his own opener to match mine (430).

The lifts

Hackenschmidt floor press

• 180 pounds - good lift, and set a record in my weight class.
• 185 pounds - had to follow myself. Good lift and an all-time women's national record.
• 190 pounds - I believe I followed myself again. I didn't quite wait long enough for the down command, but got white lights and a warning.
• 200 pounds - 190 moved so easy I knew I had more in me, so I went for the big 2 hundo for a 4th attempt for record. Looking at the video I think I may have even had a bit more.

(This lift is not eligible for world records in our international organization, IAWA.)

Dinnie lift

Had to wait a while to open this one. My hands began to slip on my last warmup at 400, so I made a note to chalk the heck up and to believe in the magic of the taper.

• 430 pounds - good lift and set a record in my weight class.
• 480 pounds - good lift and beats the record in the 70kg weight class. (I had chosen to be in the 75 to make sure I wouldn't have to worry about whether I could beat this number--but here I am beating it anywaay.)
• 500 pounds - good lift and a women's all time national record.
• 510 pounds on a 4th attempt - good lift at a poundage that beats all the IAWA women's world records as well. Sound on for this one!

There are several women who have either lifted the real Dinnie stones or the Rogue replicas, at 734 pounds, so it's not a world best lift. But 510 is higher than any woman's Dinnie lift in our record books.
I also had the second-heaviest Dinnie lift (by raw poundage) of the 9 of us. The only person who lifted heavier than me was a highland games athlete who said he had planned to do 500/550/600 but bumped his attempts when he saw mine. He did 550, 650, and broke 700 off the ground but didn't get a complete lift. I pointed out that a 300+ kg lift is all you need to book an appointment to lift the actual Dinnie stones, so even though the competition was over at that point, everybody supported him to get his qualifying lift in. We loaded 671 pounds, weighed it out and documented the scale weight, and he pulled it to massive cheering.

Results

When age and bodyweight were taken into account, I had the 4th best total on points. Our international org, IAWA, uses a 1.33 multiplier for women when they combine men's and women's scores, so we did the same to determine the overall winner. That turned out to be me.
Honestly, I believe several of the men there were strong enough to beat me, but they weren't as familiar with the lifts and/or underestimated themselves when it came time to choose attempts. I, meanwhile, had been able to train on very similar equipment (I have Dinnie rings at home) and had a strong sense of what attempts would be strategic and doable for me. What can I say, I came to win!

Record portion

One of the first things the meet organizer showed me when I arrived that morning was a foot press he had just gotten. Sort of like a primitive leg press, but the idea is that you just need to break the weights off the supports (no need to fully lock out your legs). I almost couldn't reach the footplate, but with my heeled lifting shoes on I was able to participate.
The foot press had 350 pounds on it when I first gave it a try. I lifted that, and so did a bunch of other folks. Then four more plates got piled on, and we all did 530. Next up, a bunch of the guys did 580. When it was my turn, I said...well, why not 600? So that was my third. And I finished up with a 4th attempt at 700. Felt that one in my shin bones (ew), but no problem lifting it.
I also did a clean rack Sots press (James Lift is the USAWA name). 75, 80, and set a record and a small PR at 85 pounds.
I had planned to do a snatch, but there were no weightlifting bars in the place, and I forgot how weird it is to have a bar without your usual landmarks and to have so much knurling. I scraped up my legs enough on the Sots press that I scratched the idea of snatching with it.
Somewhere in there I took a first attempt at a normal bench press (IAWA/world lift but not USAWA lift). Did 150 pounds, then got distracted and never bothered to come back for more.
It was kind of chaotic, okay? At some point I stumbled across an axle loaded with 275 pounds. Pulled that for a beltless deadlift, because I didn't have my belt on when I impulsively grabbed it and told a ref to watch me. One attempt one record. Moving on.
Last one was an Apollon's Lift, which is just an axle press anyhow. I have not attempted to clean an axle in years and kind of forgot how. I no-contact power cleaned it and then did a split jerk at 115 pounds. Easy. So I went 135 next, couldn't remember how to clean it, managed to get it up to my shoulders continental style, then shit the bed on the jerk. I'm for sure good for more if I practice this someday. But the record book had a blank space on that, so 115 was good enough.

Aftermath

I'm working toward getting into the Century Club of people with 100 or more records. (We love our records in USAWA. The Century Club has many members, in part because you can keep setting different age group records as you get older.) I'm on track to make it this year.
Next meet is USAWA nationals in Missouri in three weeks, so once I recover I'll jump right back into training. I've actually taken two whole days off from training so far, which is weird for me. Stay tuned for the next meet, which includes a Steinborn squat and a hip lift, among other things.
I'm not always sore after meets, but mannn is my body feeling this one. Everything hurts, including some bruising on the back of my leg and a superficial skin tear on top of my thumb from hook gripping so hard. Still have never torn a callus on my palms or fingers. File those suckers down, kids.
PS. I'm lifting the real things someday. Only 224 pounds to go.
Happy to answer questions about joining us at USAWA meets. They're for everyone (my daughter even lifted at Nationals at 6 years old) and are always a blast.

PRICE DROP $300 to $200 - Raider 2.0, $80 $70 - Valken Plate Carrier
Hey there guys! Just a repost with a price drop and more freebies!Looking to upgrade some of my gear and have a few things I want to sell.
G&G Raider 2.0 + accessories - $300 $200 obo
How old is it: Bought within the last 5 months. Used for maybe 3-4 games at Panther airsoft.
Reason for Selling: Saving for a Sniper
INCLUDES:
1 hi cap mag
3 mid cap mags
Nimh battery charger
Nimh battery 9.4v nunchuck
​
Valken Plate Carrier Tan Color - $70
Also bought within the last two months, and used twice at Panther. Realized I wasn't a fan of the type of Plate carrier it was and got one with fuller coverage. Has three m4 mag slots in the front and three pistol mag slots in top pocket. Laser cut by my understanding.
If both interest you I can let go of them as a package for $250!!I'm based in Edmonton and would prefer to sell local.
Willing to ship but it'll be on the buyer.
I'd love to get this sold asap, so if you are interested I can hold the item for you for 24 hours before moving on to the next buyer.For more info or more photos please let me know! :)
Photos: https://imgur.com/gallery/mH1OsYU

I beat the men again :) This was a super fun and well-run meet.
photo for cover

Background and training

I compete in USAWA, the US All-Round Weightlifting Association, best known for its many wacky odd lifts. This meet had just two official lifts, the Hackenschmidt Floor Press (a floor press done with the bar at 15" off the ground) and the Dinnie lift (weights in two stacks with ring handles, one heavier than the other, to mimic the famous Dinnie Stones of Scotland). After the competition was over, the organizer held a "record day" where lifters can pick anything they like from the rulebook and attempt to set or break records.
I've been competing in USAWA since 2019 and have been the undefeated women's champ at all the in-person meets I've done--although in many cases I was the only woman competing. Usually men and women are scored separately, but I asked ahead of time if the HackenDinnie organizer would be able to use a formula that combines men's and women's scores. Because, I told him, I'm competing to win. (He said yes.)

Meet prep

The first time I tried the floor press, I was only able to move 75 kilos (about 160 pounds). u/BenchPauper suggested using the Gillingham bench template to train it, which involved one day each week with a heavy single and backoff sets, and a second day with lighter lifts. After a few weeks I figured out the right grip width and bar placement and was able to hit 85 kilos (about 185 pounds). This remained my 1RM for the rest of training. I deviated from Gillingham in the last few weeks, but it was a solid structure to keep me in practice for most of my training time.
The Dinnie lift I've done before. Back in 2020 I got up to 503 pounds with straps. But in USAWA, no straps are allowed, nor even thumb tape. You just chalk up your hands and go for it. My best without straps had been 418 pounds.
When I trained the Dinnie lift, I kept getting little tweaks and aches and pains. One time I took two weeks off of Dinnie lifting because I was convinced I'd sprained my left ACL. (That's the ACL I tore and had reconstructed many years ago, so it kind of spooked me.) Later I had an issue with my hip. I was kinda bummed about all of this and didn't train this lift as heavy as I would have liked. Fortunately, by the time the meet rolled around everything was feeling better.
I had a total of 11 weeks between my last big weightlifting meet (Masters Nationals in olympic weightlifting) and the HackenDinnie. I did 3 days/week of normal weightlifting training, and 2 days where I practiced these two lifts and a few other lifts that I selected for the record portion. I pulled my last heavy Dinnie lift 8 days out, at about 440 pounds. My heaviest in the whole training cycle had been a hook grip PR at 470. On u/just-another-scrub's recommendation I bought a pair of Versa Gripps to get in more volume without worrying about my thumbs, but in the end my lower body injuries (or fear thereof) limited me more than my grip.

Meet day

I drove down to Kentucky for this one. The meet was held in Clint Poore's very nice garage gym and he put on an extremely well run meet. I refereed when I wasn't lifting.
The guys at the scoring table called me over to ask what my opener really was on the floor press--maybe it was my handwriting, or maybe they weren't expecting me to open at 180 pounds. Out of 11 people there, I was 4th to open on the floor press. And of 9 people who did the Dinnie lift, I was second-to-last to open. One lifter bumped up his own opener to match mine (430).

The lifts

Hackenschmidt floor press

• 180 pounds - good lift, and set a record in my weight class.
• 185 pounds - had to follow myself. Good lift and an all-time women's national record.
• 190 pounds - I believe I followed myself again. I didn't quite wait long enough for the down command, but got white lights and a warning.
• 200 pounds - 190 moved so easy I knew I had more in me, so I went for the big 2 hundo for a 4th attempt for record. Looking at the video I think I may have even had a bit more.

(This lift is not eligible for world records in our international organization, IAWA.)

Dinnie lift

Had to wait a while to open this one. My hands began to slip on my last warmup at 400, so I made a note to chalk the heck up and to believe in the magic of the taper.

• 430 pounds - good lift and set a record in my weight class.
• 480 pounds - good lift and beats the record in the 70kg weight class. (I had chosen to be in the 75 to make sure I wouldn't have to worry about whether I could beat this number--but here I am beating it anywaay.)
• 500 pounds - good lift and a women's all time national record.
• 510 pounds on a 4th attempt - good lift at a poundage that beats all the IAWA women's world records as well. Sound on for this one!

There are several women who have either lifted the real Dinnie stones or the Rogue replicas, at 734 pounds, so it's not a world best lift. But 510 is higher than any woman's Dinnie lift in our record books.
I also had the second-heaviest Dinnie lift (by raw poundage) of the 9 of us. The only person who lifted heavier than me was a highland games athlete who said he had planned to do 500/550/600 but bumped his attempts when he saw mine. He did 550, 650, and broke 700 off the ground but didn't get a complete lift. I pointed out that a 300+ kg lift is all you need to book an appointment to lift the actual Dinnie stones, so even though the competition was over at that point, everybody supported him to get his qualifying lift in. We loaded 671 pounds, weighed it out and documented the scale weight, and he pulled it to massive cheering.

Results

When age and bodyweight were taken into account, I had the 4th best total on points. Our international org, IAWA, uses a 1.33 multiplier for women when they combine men's and women's scores, so we did the same to determine the overall winner. That turned out to be me.
Honestly, I believe several of the men there were strong enough to beat me, but they weren't as familiar with the lifts and/or underestimated themselves when it came time to choose attempts. I, meanwhile, had been able to train on very similar equipment (I have Dinnie rings at home) and had a strong sense of what attempts would be strategic and doable for me. What can I say, I came to win!

Record portion

One of the first things the meet organizer showed me when I arrived that morning was a foot press he had just gotten. Sort of like a primitive leg press, but the idea is that you just need to break the weights off the supports (no need to fully lock out your legs). I almost couldn't reach the footplate, but with my heeled lifting shoes on I was able to participate.
The foot press had 350 pounds on it when I first gave it a try. I lifted that, and so did a bunch of other folks. Then four more plates got piled on, and we all did 530. Next up, a bunch of the guys did 580. When it was my turn, I said...well, why not 600? So that was my third. And I finished up with a 4th attempt at 700. Felt that one in my shin bones (ew), but no problem lifting it.
I also did a clean rack Sots press (James Lift is the USAWA name). 75, 80, and set a record and a small PR at 85 pounds.
I had planned to do a snatch, but there were no weightlifting bars in the place, and I forgot how weird it is to have a bar without your usual landmarks and to have so much knurling. I scraped up my legs enough on the Sots press that I scratched the idea of snatching with it.
Somewhere in there I took a first attempt at a normal bench press (IAWA/world lift but not USAWA lift). Did 150 pounds, then got distracted and never bothered to come back for more.
It was kind of chaotic, okay? At some point I stumbled across an axle loaded with 275 pounds. Pulled that for a beltless deadlift, because I didn't have my belt on when I impulsively grabbed it and told a ref to watch me. One attempt one record. Moving on.
Last one was an Apollon's Lift, which is just an axle press anyhow. I have not attempted to clean an axle in years and kind of forgot how. I no-contact power cleaned it and then did a split jerk at 115 pounds. Easy. So I went 135 next, couldn't remember how to clean it, managed to get it up to my shoulders continental style, then shit the bed on the jerk. I'm for sure good for more if I practice this someday. But the record book had a blank space on that, so 115 was good enough.

Aftermath

I'm working toward getting into the Century Club of people with 100 or more records. (We love our records in USAWA. The Century Club has many members, in part because you can keep setting different age group records as you get older.) I'm on track to make it this year.
Next meet is USAWA nationals in Missouri in three weeks, so once I recover I'll jump right back into training. I've actually taken two whole days off from training so far, which is weird for me. Stay tuned for the next meet, which includes a Steinborn squat and a hip lift, among other things.
I'm not always sore after meets, but mannn is my body feeling this one. Everything hurts, including some bruising on the back of my leg and a superficial skin tear on top of my thumb from hook gripping so hard. Still have never torn a callus on my palms or fingers. File those suckers down, kids.
PS. I'm lifting the real things someday. Only 224 pounds to go.
Happy to answer questions about joining us at USAWA meets. They're for everyone (my daughter even lifted at Nationals at 6 years old) and are always a blast.

Monahan's retirement plan. He's a slimy fuck, we can all agree on that. Two-faced, immoral, careless, reckless, and soulless. We know it. But he just wants his payout and as we've seen with the quotes yesterday, doesn't care what people have to say.
"I know they are going to call me a hypocrite" is the most apathetic statement we've heard from him and we should be able to see now that this is his exit. He knows it. He wants it. He just figured he'd get some extra generational wealth (that he probably already had) out of this.
We don't know all of the details yet so I'll withhold jumping all the way to a conclusion but this is about as close as I'll come without knowing every nuance to this merger. My view is that he knows he is leaving so might as well leave with a fat wad of cash to shove so far up his ass he could brush his teeth with $100s.
What the fuck is going to be said by any anti-trust committee NOW!? If this was ever an issue with the PGA's monopoly on golf, what do we call it now?? Is this not a monopoly to the umpth degree because now no one can even hold a candle to the payouts any golfers would get from this new entity??? Where are they at?
Fuck that guy. I wish I had the testicular fortitude to cut watching golf out of my life like some of you might.. and maybe some day I will. But right now I'm pissed and confused and want the golfers to stand up, unionize, and shut this shit down in its tracks.

Hey guys,
I'm a producer and I mainly record Pop Punk/Alternative Hardcore bands.
Until then, the only bass I used for recording was a Music Man Stingray borrowed from a friend, and with fresh strings before every session, it got me very close to the sound I want to achieve (Blink 182, BMTH, Linkin Park type sound.)
By the end of the month, I won't have access to that bass anymore.
I got two basses, a basic affinity Squier P-bass that I don't really ever use, and an active Charvel Jackson 3b from the late 80s.
The Charvel feels like a really solid bass, it was a gift from a musician friend, it sat unused for a decade before he gifted it to me. I never got it set up, never even changed strings since then. I tried recording it but couldn't really get close to that growly SVT Mark Hoppus, Linkin Park style sound. It always felt kind of weak and sloppy. The pickups are 35 years old, maybe they're starting to die?
Do you think getting it set up + fresh strings could get me close to the sound I'm looking for? Honestly, I'm not a bassist so I'm a bit confused, It's a bass from the 80s so maybe it's just not the right bass, but I would love for it to work because feel-wise, it's one of the best bass I've handled!
Thanks, here's a photo of a Charvel 3B :)
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Hi - I'm just looking for clarification on the Reused Content Policy as the policy seems kind of vague at times.
So earlier this week - my channel was removed from YouTube Partnership due to YouTube saying it was Reused Content. For context my channel is a Best Moments/highlights/Top 10 Moments channel for another YouTube channel TheRunawayGuys and I have their permission to do what I'm doing.
While I do get YouTube's policy from the point of "clips of moments from your favourite show stitched together" as not being allowed - they also state that "transforming the original work by adding your own unique value" is allowed. I'm trying to argue that my work is transforming the original work as each video is edited thoroughly by myself - I'm not just editing and uploading each video in a few minutes. Especially the top 10 videos which I am very proud of my work I've done on them.
Basically what I'm asking is what would your guys opinon be on this matter - I feel very 50-50 on whether this is correct or incorrect due to the two policies above. I tried an appeal video but that didn't work either - stating that I didn't show enough of my editing process - I did but not extensively I'll admit but I am just forced to wait until I can re-apply again which I'll guess will be turned down again anyways. I'm really just looking for clarification from YouTube as their exact reason for why this happened and I keep getting vague reasoning.

Hi guys. Not sure if I'm missing something but:
Have a two handed axe equipped which is assigned to Rend. I then equip a legendary two handed sword and Rend reverts to my 2x one handed swords. Unable to change with my middle mouse button.
Can anyone assist with where I'm going wrong?