Rice paper room divider

I have terrible anxiety from exams. Especially after the exam is over, I make scenarios in my head like I’m going to fail or get accused of cheating by the monitor because they told me to stop talking twice. This time, I forgot to write down the time I came back from the bathroom (they have this paper we have to write when we left and came back from the room). Usually they write the time after we give ID but this time for some reason we had to do it all. I did write down the time I got out but I didn’t write down the time I came back (left twice and yup forgot twice). Usually we don’t have to do this so that’s why I forgot. I’m worried this might get me in trouble because there’s no way they can know the time I actually came back to the exam room… ugh I know it’s dumb but dammit if they notice this it might actually get me in trouble 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Hi all! Years ago, I've bought the Gavi precon deck and after some upgrades, this became my current deck list: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3327812#paper
I would like some advice from you to know if I can improve it more and how. I've found some interesting cards over the years, but I don't know if they would work well in my deck and especially what I should remove to make room.
The list of cards I was thinking about is as follows:
[[Abandoned Sarcophagus]]
[[Alhammarret's Archive]]
[[Approach of the Second Sun]]
[[Cyclonic Rift]]
[[Crucible of Worlds]]
[[Change of fortune]]
[[Containment Priest]]
[[Escape Protocol]]
[[Ethereal Investigatori]]
[[Glint-Horn Buccaneer]]
[[Hall of Heliod's Generosity]]
[[Jace, Wielder of Mysteries]]
[[Leveler]]
[[Laboratory Maniac]]
[[Niv-Mizzet, Parun]]
[[Teferi's Ageless Insight]]
[[Aven Wind Guide]]
[[Chasm Skulker]]
[[Dream Trawler]]
[[Elixir of Immortality]]
[[Gamble]]
[[Impact Tremors]]
[[Improbable Alliance]]
[[Irencrag Pyromancer]]
[[Mad Ratter]]
[[Mystic Remora]]
[[Nadir Kraken]]
[[Propaganda]]
[[Rielle, the Everwise]]
[[Rebuild]]
[[Sacred Excavation]]
[[Smothering Tithe]]
[[Sweltering Suns]]
[[Tocasia's welcome]]
[[Talismano of creativity ]] [[Talismano of progress]]
[[Wild Research]]
[[Yidaro, Wandering Monster]]
[[Conspiracy Theorist]]
[[Thassa's Oracle]]
[[Teferi, Master of Time]]
[[Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim]]
My playgroup is opening to proxies and raising the Power level, so I also thought I could add some of these cards:
[[Academy Rector]]
[[Consacrated Sphinx]]
[[Deflecting Swat]]
[[Dockside Extorsionist]]
[[Mana Drain]]
[[Mystical Study]]
[[Rhystic study]]
[[Esper sentinel]]
[[Force of Will]]
[[Jeska's Will]]
[[Pact of Negation]]
[[Purphoros, God of the Forge]]
[[Swan Song]]
[[Sea gate Restoration]]
[[Valakut Awakening]]
[[Emeria's Call]]
[[Windfall]]
Last but not least, would it change the base mana? If yes, what did you change?
[[Mistveil Plains]]
[[Bloodstained Mire]]
[[Febled Passage]]
[[Misty Rainforest]]
[[Prairie Stream]]
[[Prismatic Vista]]
[[Arid Mesa]]
[[Scalding Tarn]]
[[Training Center]]
[[Specator Seating]]
[[Raugrin Triome]]
[[Rugged Prairie]]
[[Cascade bluffs]]
[[Tundra]]
[[Volcanic Island]]
[[Plateau]]
If I have forgotten any staples for the archetype or you have advice on other cards, they are welcome. Thanks in advance

Returning to the present tense, I have a few questions for you. Have you ever wondered why Azalia hasn't been found yet? Have you ever wondered how they came to know who all of Naason's victims were to send the council of bishops and Joram Núñez to shut them up? Or who gave the order to hide Becky, Yareth, MJ, Karina (Ana Karina), Ishah, etc. Or who gave the order to have the evidence in Naason's office burned as well as in his Bethel home, to destroy the evidence of the abuses committed by NJG? Have you ever wondered who helped put Silem García in his place as spokesperson? Or why Leonardo Baltazar, the rapist pedophile who has accusations in Chile, is still in charge of the second largest lldm church, La Bethel, after 5 years? How did Mizraim go from being an ordinary member to being a Pastor? Or why all of Azalia's family and even her husband's are “well off” in lldm?
Azalia was one of the only ones who knew each of the victims, because through her, the office was scheduled for sexual parties and dances. Susana only came to clean the remaining trash that would be left, like the maid, and to order the pizza from Pizzeria Halcón as always. And Alondra was the one Azalia sent to buy her clothes along with Dina Trejo and her daughter, both from East LA. Although Dina's daughter also spent time between GDL and Los Angeles because her husband Jaciel Alegria was Naason's all-star chef in the big house, that in fact Naason made him leave Los Angeles for Mexico when he knew he did not have legal papers and that he was not going to be able to return to the US, so that later the ungrateful Naason would send him to the rubber for someone else. You know, the typical.
Silem, Hamlet, Israel, and all those little politicians were close to Azalia because they were best friends with her husband Gadiel. Victoria García, who worked in Naason's finances, was also named by Azalia, since she was her comadre from Torreón. Leonardo Baltazar is sure to say "nobody takes me away from Bethel", because since he became Azalia's godfather when she was little, she backs him up. Azalia's sisters, María José and Leonor also enjoyed sexual blessings with Naason. And also for the same reason, María José "MJ" as they called her, also worked in finance and Leonor as human resources at Naason's home and office. Azalia's father, Javier, sent him to the labor, obviously near the province, in a church that gave a good allowance ($) and the teacher Roció was the one who reviewed and corrected Naason's studies for his apostolic presentations. And how to forget Mizraim Rangel, Azalia's only brother. The architect, author of building the sexual room or dungeon for Naason in his office, similar to the "red room" of 50 shades of grey. The one who placed the Kamasutra chair in Naason's room. Mizraim went from being a simple commoner who at 2 or 3 years as a missionary was given the Pastorate, he never had to be a deacon, and more importantly, notably he never had a career like other ministers who deserved that degree and never obtained it. After so long, Azalia is still a fugitive and probably using the money from the off shore bank accounts that Naason had in countries considered tax havens, such as Switzerland, the only one who had access to them, was her, and not even Naason's children, much less his wife enjoyed those privileges.
This is the person the authorities should be using all their resources to find. This is Naason's main accomplice who while Naason is in prison is the one who is controlling the church. This criminal pedophile must be found and brought to justice. How is it possible that there are videos of her raping minors and she is still free? How is it possible that she continues to commit crimes by obstructing justice, destroying evidence, intimidating victims, and still being free?
To all of this mentioned, nobody told me, I know.
Azalia, Azalia, where are you? We are no longer afraid of you, we are already talking and speaking about what you have done and continue to do. Sooner or later we will find you, we are already close.

**I am NOT OP. Original post by u/TheLightningCount1 in /talesfromtechsupport
mood spoilers: He wins
 
Lets escalate directly to the head of HR. Or how I stopped being apathetic and actually gave a crap about my job. (For once.) Part 1 - Nov 16, 2017
Actors in this play are as follows. This happened yesterday by the way. Today's events will be posted tomorrow.

$HHR=Head of HR
$Me = ME
$HIT = Head of IT
$T = Tech
$U = User

I got an email this morning with a scathing report about one of my techs.

$HHR - I need to inform you of a situaiton I have been made aware of. It seems one of your techs massively violated the IT data policy and security policy last night. I have gone ahead and submitted the termination paperwork to your boss $HIT.
Please be aware that this kind of behavior will never be tolerated. I hope that I never have to remind you of this again.

Around this time one of the accounts team comes over and asks about this. I told them that it was not approved by me and to keep it quiet while I discuss it with $hit.
The discussion did not take long as the event in question was already flagged for defense. IE I personally flagged it because the tech told me it may come back to bit him in the ass.
I re-review the call logs and oh boy is it dumb. I will just skip to the part in question.

$U - Yes I need that mapped to the B drive (branch drive).
$T - I can do that for you, however you should know that this location is already mapped to the S drive for scanning.
$U - ...OK? I am not understanding what you mean.
$T - The drive you are requesting access to is already mapped to a different drive letter.
$U - No I need access to the B drive not the S drive. Talking to coworkers thinking she is out of earshot. Wow when did they hire idiots to work on the helpdesk? ... I know right. Its like we are the dumb ones or something.

Had to clean up the audio in free audio tool everyone uses first but I was able to get it by compressing it twice.

$T - OK I will just map the drive for you.
$U - You do know you are speaking to a member of management right?
$T - Mutes mic noise Lady I don't care. You are not my manager and are not involved in my management chain. Unmutes mic noise Yes mam I do understand that. I apologize if I have come across as terse. I have mapped the drive here.
$U - Wait...this is the same as the S drive.
$T - mutes mic again I just said that...you know what? unmutes mic Yes I had said that earlier that you already had the drive mapped.
$U - YOU CANT HAVE! ... You cant have 2 access points to the same data. This is a HUGE violation.
$T - Umm no it is not. Everyone who is on citrix has an "access point" to the same data.
$U - No they do not. No one has access to MY computer.
$T - Well mam we actually do cause citrix does not run on your computer. It runs off of a server here in our city. See watch this.

He placed a text file on her desktop named "test."

$U - YOU JUST ACCESSED MY SYSTEM!!! I did NOT authorize that. What is the name of your manager.
$T - I just sent you an email with the contact information for $Me and $HIT
$U - I am sorry but I have no choice now. I have to report this massive violation to your managers. hangs up

I emailed $HHR back with this lovely gem.

$ME - After reviewing the event in question, it has been determined that the fault lie 100 percent with the user here. Her clear lack of knowledge in regards to basic server technology led to her thinking she had her machine breached.
I have canceled the termination order on my end as well as the emergency maintenance ticket she put in to the orders team.
In the future all concerns about my team are to come through me. We have a process for terminating an employee, which you set up, that you violated. The employee in question did nothing wrong and was unjustly judged by people who have no understanding of basic computer technology.
Please do not violate the policy you set in place for terminating an employee in the future...I hope that I never have to remind you of this again.

I sent a copy of that to $hit the CIO and the EVPIT. (Or the executive vice president of IT and Technology)
About 2 hours later I get an email back from the EVPIT. He apologized for the way that the head of HR acted and promised me that the tech in question will not receive any punishment as he listened to the call himself.
Two hours later I am being told that my anual employee review is being pushed up to tomorrow by the head of HR.
Editor note: In the comments OOP adds some context that they work with confidential financial information
 
Lets escalate directly to the head of HR. Or how I stopped being apathetic and actually gave a crap about my job. (For once.) Finale - Nov 17, 2017

$ME = ME
$hit = Head of IT.
$HHR = Head of HR
$EVPIT = Executive Vice President of IT and Technology. (Yes… I know)

So yesterday was strange, to say the least. The meeting was scheduled for noon so the beginning of my day was pretty mundane. Handled a few issues with users who had purchased their own machines because “ours were not fast enough,” even though the ones they bought were supplied by us. But cest la vie.
At noon I walked into the conference room for the video review. $HIT was in there as well as the executive vice president of IT and technology. (yes I know) The conference started hilariously as the head of HR, or $HHR, could not get her video working.
I walked her through how to fix that as it was a simple error.

$ME – Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?
$HHR – Oh duh. Should have known it was something stupid like that.

We started the conference and HOOO BOOOY. She was gunning for me hard.

$HHR – So I have in front of me 19 complaints against you this year. Can you explain these?
$ME – That’s it?
$HHR - Clearly not expecting that. Uhh yes. How do you explain it?
$ME – Well as you well know, each complaint is different and most do not have merit.
$HHR – So you are saying these complaints were made…incorrectly?
$ME – Yes that is exactly what I am saying.

I pulled out the same folder she probably had.

$Me – On Feb 12th User complained that I refused his request.
$HHR – Good one to start with? Explain it.
$ME - user wanted me to put a folder on his desktop that would allow him to transfer items between his local desktop and citrix. This is not possible unless he works on the domain…which he does not. I offered him several alternative options but he refused each one. He only wanted the original option of a folder on his desktop.
$HHR – So this was impossible?
$ME – Technology wise of course it is possible. We could have set him up with an FTP option to direct into his session. But that would never EVER get the approval.
$HHR – Lets move on to the next one. Different user Claimed that you were rude to her on the phone and hung up on her.
$me – Lets play the call log.

The call log is me being professional while she politely berates me on the phone…until she cusses me out. I terminate the call and send it to HR.

$Me – That call is the reason why SHE is fired. Your predecessor said I handled it well.
$HHR – Ok lets move on to the lady who had to wait 4 extra days to get her laptop back from you.
$ME – Name?
$HHR - lady who yelled in my face said you helped her 3 days in a row and finally took an extra 4 days to get her laptop back to her.
$ME – You mean the lady who yelled in my face and got fired because of it? Yeah I remember her. I had to go to the hospital that Friday so none of my work got done.
$HHR – I see the note here. You thought you had a hernia but it turned out to be a UTI?
$ME – Thanks for repeating it here… Yes. Anyways the point is her laptop was finished within 2 hours of me returning to work. The 4 days she is talking about is because we had a 3 day weekend.

The meeting went on like this for well over 30 minutes as we ran through each complaint with only 1 that was legitimate. I misread a technical error and had to fix it 30 minutes later. Oh well. Then came the real kicker.

$HHR – Lets talk about the fire you started.
$ME – I STARTED!?
$HIT – HE STARTED!? (same time.)
$EVPIT – Wait what?
$HHR – Per your report. The fuse box was overloaded when the third rack of servers plugged in and started a fire inside the wall that ended up burning out most of the building.
$ME – Yes that does sound correct. What your report failed to mention on the report, which I have in front of me because I FUCKING sent it. (Yes I did say that.) The circuit breaker was not an actual circuit breaker. It was a bypass installed to bring the building up to code. The fuse box had cabinets built over it so that the owner could hide it. When too much was plugged into a mains line, which was rated to handle it, the fuse should have blown. But there was about 50 cents worth of pennies shoved in there.
$HHR – How was this missed.
$ME – I don’t know. I am not an electrician, I am not a state building inspector, I am not omniscient, and I am certainly not omnipotent. I went in to set up an office.
$HHR – You appear to have an excuse for everything.
$ME – Yes its called CYA. You literally have that on a poster in your office.
$HHR – Now lets talk about your language to me yesterday.
$ME – How about lets talk about your blatant disregard for the termination procedures you set in place. You created a paper snafu for my worker because you could not help yourself but to stick your nose where it does not belong. If you had followed procedure and not sent the termination paperwork through, he would have health insurance right now. Instead you decided to play tech and fired someone in the system. I spent 4 hours yesterday chasing paperwork and trying to keep this knowledge from him.
$HHR – I Do not appreciate your attitude.
$ME – And I do not appreciate you taking actions on your own. You may be HR but even you are not allowed to terminate employees without
$EVPIT – OK That is far enough you have made your point $me. Remember that $HHR holds your job in her hand.
$hit – Like a small bird.
$EVPIT – Thank you $hit. So you do need to show her some respect…that being said. $HHR? He is right. You violated company policy, you tried to terminate an employee when it was not called for, and you created a mountain out of a single email. (Turning to me) Do you want to keep your job?
$Me – Yes.
$EVPIT – Then never take a disrespectful tone or cuss at a member of the senior management again. I expect a written apology to her by the end of the day. No further action needs to be taken here. (Turning to the monitor that has $HHRs face on it) As for you.
$HHR – Yes?
$EVPIT – You will apologize to both him and the employee you tried to terminate by the end of the day yourself. While he was disrespectful, cussed, and generally made an ass of himself, he is not wrong. You did overreact and wrongfully terminate a good worker forcing $ME here into overdrive trying to stop it in its tracks. You could have solved this by going to $ME when you first heard about it. I heard the call log and read everything about this incident. Simply put the end user was an idiot and needs to trust the people she calls to fix her computer.

EVPIT stood up and gathered his things.

$EVPIT – Hopefully this is the last I hear of any animosity towards upper management, or animosity coming from upper management. Good day people.

EVPIT left and I went back to my desk apologizing for the attitude I took with the head of HR. At 4:55 PM the email came in from the head of HR apologizing for her role. I then had 5 minutes to explain to the tech what happened. He decided he owed me a lunch.
I miss the Wahoo Lady.
 
Reminder - I am not the original poster.
this user has a great backlog of stories, a lot of them related to tech, but almost always mainly concerning interesting characters. Including recounting the event of the fire, and if you go back far enough you start to see stories referencing the mentioned "Wahoo Lady" (Previous head of HR, who had a nickname for a certain registered trademark name of search engine and webmail host)
Side note, this story is obviously embellished and edited for the sake of the narrative, and I'm sure there's some editorializing in favor of OOP, but head of HR in this case is indefensible and why I found it particularly fitting this sub as it reminds me of similar stories here.

We're designing a 200' / 16 story high rise residential building where the client wants a large roof deck and all the building's amenities on the top floor. We're doing some preliminary code analysis (USA, IBC 2018).
I'm assuming I have to classify both the roof deck and indoor amenity areas on this floor as A-2/A-3 Assembly with an occupant load of 15/net. There may be some fixed seating areas. That puts my occupant load at 700 for the floor (after I've reclassified all spaces below 750 SF as R-2). This would be impossible to provide egress; both my stairways would be required to be 105" wide.
I've looked into accessory use classification but it doesn't appear to work because the entire top floor is amenity and roof deck, thus all assembly. If only 10% of the floor was assembly I could reclassify. I could divide all the indoor amenity areas into rooms less than 750 SF but that isn't great.
Is there something I may be overlooking? I don't understand how residential towers could provide rooftop amenity floors and roof decks without having massive stairs.
Thanks.

Thnks

July 2005, Science Magazine Article: https://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/misc/webfeat/125th/
John Eccles - How The Self Controls Its Brain
Colin McGinn - The Mysterious Flame
Jaegwon Kim - Philosophy of Mind
Wilder Penfield - Mystery of the Mind
Richard Leblanc - The White Paper: Wilder Penfield, the Stream of Consciousness, and the Physiology of Mind
Can functional brain imaging discover consciousness in the brain? https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2001/00000008/00000003/1089?fbclid=IwAR0S3Ipv4l2VpkKkLZOy-EZVQFta-AxsGioKwh49rxylBW-0yhkTWsgslW8
Jerome Feldman - The neural binding problem(s) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538094/
Michael Shermer - “What Is Pseudoscience?” Scientific American, 1 Sept. 2011, www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-pseudoscience/.
Neural Decoding of Visual Imagery During Sleep: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/340/6132/639
Dreamed Movement Elicits Activation in the Sensorimotor Cortex: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(11)01031-1
The fusiform face area: a cortical region specialized for the perception of faces: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1857737/
Constraint-induced movement therapy to enhance recovery after stroke: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4361809/
Jeffery Schwartz & Sharon Begley - The Mind and The Brain
Systematic Changes in Cerebral Glucose Metabolic Rate After Successful Behavior Modification Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8629886/
Neuroanatomical Aspects of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy Response in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. An Evolving Perspective on Brain and Behaviour: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9829025/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12495527/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3579194/
: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11549754/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12595193/
Rodolfo Llinas & Patrica Churchland - The Mind-Brain Continuum
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8423485/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282871198_Sight_and_blindness_in_the_same_person_Gating_in_the_visual_system
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24922512/
J. M. Quen - Split Minds/Split Brains: Historical and Current Perspectives
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/47ec/decc2ac8073516914dd1eeb2dbf4e7ad9ac3.pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6678535/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2760599/
https://journals.lww.com/jonmd/Abstract/1991/03000/Optical_Differences_in_Multiple_Personality.3.aspx https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2014/10/07-worlds-largest-near-death-experiences-study.page
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2333357
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6678535/
Can be updated i delete the tags so you'll exactly go through the links Never accuse me of not saying my sources update one
Identification and characterization of diverse coherences in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson complex: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4155...
Quantum Effects in Biology: Bird Navigation: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Molecular Vibration-Sensing Component in Human Olfaction: https://www.pnas.org/content/108/9/3797
How quantum entanglement in DNA synchronizes double-strand breakage by type II restriction endonucleases: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Visualizing transient Watson–Crick-like mispairs in DNA and RNA duplexes: https://www.nature.com/articles/natur...
Quantum Jitters Video: https://today.duke.edu/2015/03/quantu...
Can quantum probability provide a new direction for cognitive modeling: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journa...
Quantum Structure in Cognition: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Is there something quantum-like about the human mental lexicon? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Stuart Hameroff , “Quantum Cognition and Brain Microtubules”
Dr. Stuart Hameroff - Quantum Cognition and Brain Microtubules: • Dr. Stuart Hamero...
Aberrant parenting and delayed offspring development in rats exposed to lithium: https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjourn...
Matthew Fisher “Quantum Cognition - Theory and Experiment” • Quantum Cognition...
Are we quantum computers, or merely clever robots? https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/sites/defau...
Information processing in brain microtubules: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Live visualizations of single isolated tubulin protein self-assembly via tunneling current: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep0...
Atomic water channel controlling remarkable properties of a single brain microtubule: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Deep inside cells, a clue to the mind: https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/...
Anesthetic Alterations of Collective Terahertz Oscillations in Tubulin Correlate with Clinical Potency: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...
Henry Margenau - The Miracle of Existence
Henry P. Stapp - Mind, Matter, and Quantum Mechanics
Bruce Rosenblum & Fred Kuttner - The Quantum Enigma
Paul Davies & John Gribbin - The Matter Myth
"Change the mind and you change the brain”: effects of cognitive- behavioral therapy on the neural correlates of spider phobia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12595...
Jeffery Schwartz - The Mind and the Brain
Donald Hoffman - The Case Against Reality
David Chalmers - The Conscious Mind
Jaegwon Kim - Philosophy of Mind
Frank Jackson - From Metaphysics to Ethics
J. P. Moreland - "Substance Dualism and the Unity of Consciousness" in The Blackwell's Companion to Natural Theology
Robert Koons & George Bealer - The Waning of Materialism
Colin McGinn - The Mysterious Flame
Daniel Dennett - Consciousness Explained
Andrei Linde - Universe, Life, Conscious
Dr. Edward F. Kelly: Consciousness is More Than a Product of Brain Activity
Ian stevenson https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/who-we-are/history-of-dops/dr-ian-stevenson/
ir Roger Penrose. Quantum Consciousness Theorist — Co-creator of the Orch OR model of the quantum nature of consciousness and memory. http://GF2045.com/speakers/
Knighted in 1994 for his contributions to science, Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS, is an English mathematical physicist, mathematician and philosopher.
The extraordinary scope of his work ranges from quantum physics and theories of human consciousness to relativity theory and observations on the structure of the universe. Penrose is internationally renowned for his scientific work in mathematical physics, in particular for his contributions to general relativity and cosmology. His primary interest is in a field of geometry called tesselation, the covering of surfaces with tiles of different shapes.
Among numerous prizes and awards, he received the 1988 Wolf Prize for physics, which he shared with Stephen Hawking for their contribution to our understanding of the universe.
He is the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford, as well as an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College.
"There is a current view that consciousness is something which arises from some complicated computation. So we have our computers, and people think that because they can do things amazingly fast, and they can calculate very quickly, and they can play chess extremely well, that they are superior to us even, and it is only some complicated aspect of this computational activity that somehow consciousness arises from that. Now my view is quite different from this. I think there is a lot of computational activity going on in the brain, but this is basically unconscious. So consciousness seems to me to be something quite different."
For more information about the GF2045 congress, please visit http://www.GF2045.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WXTX0IUaOg
This is the paranormal study division / https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/our-research/
This is the field girl a evidence of awareness frome doctor burns https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/22/1165131907/neuroplasticity-plasticity-glass-half-full-girl is this woman has lost half brain of her left side it showed not to hold her back it made her better and shes perfectly aware angst all odds showing the mind is stronger than most think
This is my study welcome
This part is different someone has passed away and there getting part of my studies mrs holly the teacher that played a big role on who am today rest in peace i hope your in a better place she was the one she will be remembered forever
Near-Death Experiences are intensely vivid and often life-transforming experiences, many of which occur under extreme physiological conditions such as trauma, ceasing of brain activity, deep general anesthesia or cardiac arrest in which no awareness or sensory experiences of any kind should be possible according to the prevailing views in neuroscience. View Dr. Bruce Greyson’s informative personal Website.
A near-death experience, or NDE, is a common pattern of events that many people experience when they are experiencing intense threat, are seriously ill or come close to death. Although NDEs vary from one person to another, they often include such features as the following: feeling very comfortable and free of pain a sensation of leaving the body, sometimes being able to see the physical body while floating above it the mind functioning more clearly and more rapidly than usual a sensation of being drawn into a tunnel or darkness a brilliant light, sometimes at the end of the tunnel a sense of overwhelming peace, well-being, or absolute, unconditional love a sense of having access to unlimited knowledge a “life review,” or recall of important events in the past a preview of future events yet to come encounters with deceased loved ones, or with other beings that may be identified as religious figures While these features are commonly reported, many NDEs differ from this pattern and include other elements. For example, some near-death experiences may be frightening or distressing rather than peaceful. We are interested in hearing about all kinds of near-death and similar experiences, and in studying their effect on persons who have them. Veridical NDEs We are particularly interested in studying NDEs that may bear on the question of whether the mind can function outside the physical body, and on whether we may survive bodily death. One such type of experience is the so-called veridical NDE, in which experiencers acquire verifiable information that they could not have obtained by any normal means. For example, some experiencers report seeing events going on at some distant location, such as another room of the hospital; or an experiencer might meet a deceased loved one who then communicates verifiable information the experiencer had not known. Other kinds of NDEs that may bear on the mind/body question include those in which mental functioning seems to be enhanced despite physiological evidence that the brain is impaired. The causes of NDEs are complex and not fully known. While many medical and psychological explanations have been offered, they remain speculative and often fall short of explaining the entire phenomenon. Participate in Research:
1) Investigating physician barriers to acceptance of near-death experiences-IRB-SBS Protocol #5305 Call for research with physicians who have had a near-death experience. Dr. Marieta Pehlivanova and Dr. Bruce Greyson are recruiting physicians who have had a near-death experience (NDE) for an online study. The purpose of the study is to learn about physicians’ attitudes toward NDEs. These are personal and deeply transformative experiences that patients can experience when they are in a medical crisis or close to death. Patients sometimes report the feeling of leaving their bodies, going through a tunnel, strong positive emotions, and a sense of having a life review, among others. Because of the impact of NDEs on experiencers’ lives, patients sometimes talk about these experiences with their physicians. This research aims to improve these interactions. We are interested in your participation even if you have not had patients who have reported an NDE. Participation in the study will take about 15 minutes of your time and will consist of an anonymous online questionnaire. You are eligible to participate if you are 18 years of age or older, are a physician in any specialty, have had a near-death experience, and are fluent in English. This research project has been approved by the University of Virginia’s Institutional Review Board for the Social Sciences (protocol #530 If you are a physician who has had a near-death experience, are fluent in English, and you are interested in participating in this study, please contact the investigators at [email protected] and [email protected] .
2) Near-Death Experiences, IRB-SBS Protocol #3365: Bruce Greyson and Marieta Pehlivanova are conducting ongoing research into NDEs. If you are over age 18, currently healthy, and would like to share a near-death experience of any type with the researchers at the Division of Perceptual Studies, please share your experience via Contact Us. 3) Near-Death Experiences: Comparing Two Scales of Near-Death Experience Features, IRB-SBS Protocol #4885 Call for research participants who have had a near-death experience Dr. Bruce Greyson and Dr. Marieta Pehlivanova at the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies are recruiting individuals who have had a near-death experience (NDE) for an online study. These are personal and transformative experiences that sometimes happen when one is close to death or under the threat of death. This research asks for your opinion about the wording of questionnaires about NDEs and will allow researchers to improve these questionnaires to better reflect the experiences people have. Participation in the study will take up to 20 minutes of your time and will consist of a single online questionnaire. You are eligible to participate if you have had an NDE, are 18 years of age or older, and are fluent in English. You will not be paid for your participation. If you are interested in enrolling in this study, please contact Marieta Pehlivanova for the link to fill out the survey ( [email protected]). Please do not fill out this questionnaire more than once, if you receive it from different sources. Thank you for your support of this important research. Near-death experiencer Anita Moorjani and Dr. Brian Walker
Dr. Bruce Greyson, Anita Moorjani and Dr. Brian Walker visiting DOPS, May 2019 Author and NDE experiencer Anita Moorjani, and her former doctor at the time of her profound NDE, Dr. Brian Walker, visited Dr. Greyson in May of 2019 to exchange rich, thought-provoking ideas around the fascinating topic of near-death experiences. Dr. Brian Walker and Anita recorded an interesting interview while they were visiting us at the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies. We invite you to watch this video of Anita Moorjani and Dr. Brian Walker. Dr. Walker was a witness to Anita’s severely deteriorated medical condition before she had her profound near-death experience. In her best selling book “Dying to Be Me“, Anita writes about the life affirming changes she experienced after her NDE. In the book she describes the events and serious medical illness which led to her profound near-death experience. Near-death experiencers Anita Moorjani and Dr. Authors and near-death experiencers Eben Alexander and Anita Moorjani had complex, medically documented illnesses at the time they experienced their profound, life-altering near-death experiences. Both were gravely ill and their recoveries in both cases astounded and perplexed the attending medical professionals. Eben wrote a best selling book describing his transformative near-death experience and the dire medical circumstances leading up to them. His best selling book is called “Proof of Heaven“. Eben Alexander granted Dr. Greyson permission to review his medical records resulting in Dr. Greyson’s academic analysis of this case which can be seen here (pdf). Anita and Eben attended a meeting of the DOPS researchers to talk about their NDEs. We enjoyed a fascinating discussion with them regarding the many layers of life affirming aftereffects of near-death experiences. https://www.everystudent.com/features/is-there-a-god.html

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1. Chore schedule
   1. Agree about what’s needed, how often, who does it
   2. Dishes
      1. Do dishes a week after using them?
   3. Vacuuming
   4. Cleaning bathroom
   5. Throwing away spoiled things in fridge
2. We will have private cabinets and shared cabinets
3. What to do about shared consumables and replacement rules (paper towels, trash bags, dish soap)
4. Mailbox key and where to leave mail?
5. Vacuum use and cleaning of vacuum?
6. Energy efficiency measures (lights, fans, water)
7. Thermostat settings?
8. Food storage?
   1. No open food stored outside kitchen, dishes should be returned to sink within 12 hours
9. Do we want to have a guest policy?
10. What do we want to do about shared furnishings
11. What do we do about improvements and who pays for them?

Is there anything else I should think about while making my roommate contract? I plan on giving this agreement to ppl that I am interested in rooming with haha

That's probably a very unconvincing title, but yeah, I mopped my floor. Took me about a month of struggling with executive dysfunction as the floor slowly accrued foot garbage, but I finally cleaned it up today, a full year after it started accruing when I moved into the room I live in.
And it's doubly significant for me right now, cause some of the mess on my floor was put there by my feet being dirty from living in my mom's filthy hoarder garbage pile of a house. Her house was and probably still is filthy, and that filth followed me and landed on my floor.
But I cleaned it up now. One more stain on my life cleaned up with a mop and a paper towel.
And it didn't actually take that long to do when I finally up and did it. No more than 10 minutes at most. Has me thinking about how many other problems in my life I can fix in a matter of minutes as long as I can functionally act on the fact that I am allowed to fix them.

We live in Alabama, so when my son (just turned 7 in Feb) 41 pounds and 45inches tall got sick on last Friday I thought it was allergies. Runny nose, throat hurting. I treated with nasal decongestant. Around Sunday He started getting fevers but with meds they would go away. started getting worse. I thought the allergies turned to a sinus infection and I called his primary, they couldn’t get him in so on Wednesday. 6 days after treating at home and him not getting better I took him to urgent care so we could get some antibiotics for what I thought was a sinus infection. We get there and they do swabs, urine test, and x rays twice. And tell us to wait while results come back. We sat around, and the next time we saw someone the sheriff and two child services workers were standing in front of me, saying I needed a safety plan or him and my other son would be taken to a foster home. The DOCTOR called them for medical neglect/malnutrition, and nothing that was wrong with my son. my kids will go into my friend’s custody and I will have to be supervised at all times.
The doctor got zero patient history nor were we asked if he had any prescriptions. he is a twin, premature, and is on Adderall. He is small for his age, always been at the bottom of the growth charts but that’s his normal. He sees a primary doctor monthly for his adderall and his doctor has never raised concern about his size because he is steadily growing.
Child services insisted my kid get taken over an hour away to a hospital when we were 5 mins from a different hospital. The paramedics told me he was still in my custody so I could pick the hospital that I wanted my son to go to. I picked the closest one since my son was very sick and I just wanted him to be treated.
My son leaves in an ambulance, while I have to sign papers for DHR before I was allowed to go. When I get to the ER room my sons in, all that’s been done was he was given fluids from the paramedics. Doctors there get urine, came 3 separate times for vein and 1 time for artery blood, chest X-rays, and can’t find what’s wrong with him. Doctor said they want to admit him for dehydration for the night and just watch him since all the tests were negative.
I finally asked if they had reran the tests the urgent care center had ran and said were Negative. Boom tests were rerun he has strep/mono, an ear infection. And they put him immediately on antibiotics. He was admitted at about 11pm for overnight and was ready for discharge at 9am. But we weren’t allowed to go because The hospital couldn’t contact DHR since they were involved. They finally get in touch with the hospital at 2pm saying that my friend has to come get my son because I don’t have custody for the alleged medical neglect/malnutrition. Even tho I was cleared from any wrong doing by the hospital.. DHR called me while my friend was getting my son released saying the case worker and her had an off day and I’ll probably be able to end the safety plan the next day. Friday (today) she calls the friend 9am and says the kids can go back to me. I have to have house inspections and they aren’t closing the case but ending the safety plan.
I know DHR can’t be sued but can the doctor at the urgent care that decided to call child services instead of treating my son have charges brought against her? Civil action? Malpractice? Discrimination.
All I was doing was trying to get my son some help/get him better and the doctor uprooted everything over my son just needing antibiotics for strep/mono.
My son made a full recovery and feels 100% better today.

There are many ways to invoke, and not all of them require ritual work. However, rituals can be very helpful, especially when you're trying to establish contact with a spirit you haven't communicated with before. I'm going to outline a basic ritual that can be used to facilitate invocation. I have used rituals like this to satisfactorily invoke Beleth, Bune, Vapula, and other goetic demons.
1. Do your research
Before invoking a named spirit, learn as much as you can about them. Study old grimoires like the Abramelin, Lemegeton, and Grimorium Verum, and look them up in contemporary guides like Jake Stratton-Kent's Pandemonium and David Crowhurst's Stellas Daemonum. Prioritize scholarly research over individual UPG. You want to get a good sense of the spirit's history, key attributes, and personality.
2. Choose the right time
Most spirits will have associations with particular astrological signs or decans, or specific days of the week. In my experience, you will often get better results by factoring these associations into the timing of your ritual.
3. Set up your ritual space
Choose a space for your ritual where you will have some room to move around and will not be interrupted. Then set up the ritual implements you will be using. I suggest the following:

• A lamen bearing the spirit's sigil. This can be a piece of paper or more durable material. If you're using a metal plate, choose a metal that has the correct planetary associations with the spirit. Draw, paint, or etch the sigil yourself.
• Candles and incense. Again, choose the colors and scents according to the associations you have researched. If you don't want to use open flames, use LED candles and a spritz of perfume instead.
• Offerings. Candies, fruits, milk, and alcohol are appropriate for most spirits. Place them in an offering bowl during the ritual, or if you're outside, pour liquids into the earth.

As we are not trying to compel evocation with this ritual, there is no need for circles or triangles.
Most spirits are associated with one of the cardinal directions (north, south, east, west). Arrange your space so that you will be facing the appropriate direction during the ritual.
4. Extend the invitation
Take a shower, put on clean clothes, and you're ready to begin. Perform the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram (instructions can easily be found online, and you can adapt or simplify the ritual if you want), light the candles and incense, then call out to the spirit. You can say (out loud, or mentally) something like this:
"Prince Stolas, I invite you to make your presence known to me, remain with me for a while, and teach me all I should know about astronomy, herbalism, and precious stones. Please accept the offerings I have prepared for you, and allow me to benefit from your wisdom."
The specific wording doesn't matter. I'd say to try to make it sound semi-formal but not corny. Sincerity is the note you want to hit.
5. Meditate
After you have spoken, stand in silence for a few moments. Take a few deep breaths, let the incense and candles burn for a bit.
When you're ready, put out anything that's still burning, dispose of the offerings (you can eat them yourself once the ritual is over, it's fine, really), put away the implements, and go sit down to meditate.
Try to let your mind go blank so that you can receive communication from the spirit. It takes time, practice, and experience to get good at discerning spirit communication from your own thoughts. What you want to pay special attention to are images and concepts that come to you fully-formed, without having been shaped by your conscious cognitive processes.
In the days ahead, you may receive signs and synchronicities related to the spirit. Make a note of these, they are indications that the ritual worked.
Over time, the spirits you work with will get easier to invoke, and you will be able to communicate with them more clearly.
A final note
It's entirely possible that you will perform a ritual like this and feel nothing. No presence, no communication. This is not uncommon, especially for new practitioners. It takes a good deal of knowledge and grounding to invoke named spirits, and while some people may be inherently better at it than others, it almost always involves a long learning process. Be patient, stick with it, and keep up a daily meditation practice.

So i’d like to share a story with you guys. Yesterday i scored a bottle of 25mg Promethazine i was told to take 250mg and i’ll feel pretty good i did and about 2 hours later i felt nothing. i said fuck it and smoked a joint (1 1/4 paper probably a .7) not enough to get me very baked but i was at the bottom of my bag. well that’s where i was very very wrong i guess it mixed with the promethazine and it felt… weird. my face felt all “melty” and hot and i felt like i was floating and i kept talking to people that weren’t there i was with one other person but felt like there was multiple others in the room my 1 friend i was with told me that i kept interacting to “other people” who where not there. anyone know what exactly happened?

Chapter 23: 2008: A Shawn Odyssey
Boys: Shawn
Girls: Courtney, Heather, Shawn
Episode 23: 2008: A Shawn Odyssey
"Last time on Total Drama Action," Chris said over a shot of the film lot. "In a world they didn't create," the four teens were shown waking up in the forest, "two honorable warriors," Shawn and Lindsay's fight was shown, "and two foes battled it out for Kung-fu supremacy," Courtney and Heather were shown fiddling with their joysticks.
"No mountain was too high," Heather and Shawn were shown climbing. "No aquatic creature too viscous," Courtney was shown fighting a jellyfish.
"In the end, Shawn won the reward," the theorist was shown fighting the Sasquatch, "but lost his alliance with Courtney," he and Courtney were shown ending their partnership.
"But it's gonna take more than puny alliances to survive this week," Chris told the camera as it flashed to his close-up, "on Total! Drama! Action!"
XXXXX
The episode opened on a shot of the full moon. A rat walked on-screen in front of the camera as a grandiose tune started to play. The rat sniffed the air then scurried along what was revealed to be the top of a large speaker. The music reached its climax, and the speaker shook so much the rat fell off behind it.
The shot pulled out to show the cast trailers, both flanked by speakers as tall as they were. Further to the left was a tall blueish-green monolith-like set piece. The lights inside the trailers flicked on and the complaints of the castmates echoed out of them. The doors opened, showing the girls filing out; Courtney, then a hunched over Heather, then Lindsay at the end, all three in their pajamas. The camera cut over to the guys' trailer as Shawn exited similarly. The survivalist paused briefly to yawn and stretch his arms, and the camera moved back to the girls.
"What is wrong with those mattresses?" Lindsay asked. "It's like they were full of rocks."
Confessional: Shawn
"I slept on Noah’s bed, so I don’t have the same back problems that the girls do," Shawn said. "The layers on it are super soft."
Confessional Ends
The remaining four met up as a group. Heather looked over to see the lone male scratching his butt and armpit at the same time.
"Can you believe this guy?" Heather commented.
"What a neanderthal," Courtney said.
They looked over at Lindsay, who noticed the monolith off to the side, and pointed at it with a few animalistic grunts.
The shot cut to the top of it, the moon still visible behind it. The camera panned down to its base where Chef sat in a leopard-print loincloth banging on an upside-down soup pot with a couple bones as though it were a drum. Both the castmates and Chris, also wearing a leopard-print loincloth and with his hair unkempt, approached the monolith at the same time.
"Good morning, cast!" Chris greeted as Chef stopped playing. "Or should I say, good middle of the night? Hope you're all well-rested and ready to boldly go where very few men and even fewer ladies have gone before!"
"Wait," Shawn spoke up. "Didn't we already do the caveman movie?"
"We did, Shawn," Chris answered, "but we had to reuse the costumes since my astronomical salary accounts for oh, roughly ninety-seven percent of the show's budget."
"Chris," Heather said, "it is the middle of the night. Can't we do the challenge in the morning?"
"No can do Heather," Chris replied. "While today's movie genre may start at the dawn of time, it quickly moves up, up, and away!" The camera panned up to the night sky as a shooting star flew in front of the moon.
"So we're doing space movies today?" Lindsay asked as if she already knew the answer.
"What was your first clue, Linds-iot?" Heather told her.
Confessional: Lindsay
"I've been called a lot of things, such as moron, dimwit, idiot, and much more," Lindsay said. "I've been trying to prove myself, and no way am I letting Heather drag me down."
Confessional Ends
"Awesome!" Shawn cheered. "I love sci-fi movies."
"Don't you get enough science fiction from those movies you binge watch?" Courtney half-insulted, half-asked the boy.
"Don't you get enough pleasure from looking down and nagging on us?" Shawn retorted.
"Listen up, space cases," Chris interrupted. "You'll soon be facing some out-of-this-world challenges, but first..." He quickly ducked away, and the camera cut to him pushing away the monolith to reveal four small boxes set on a table behind it. "I have a very special surprise for you," he told the cast. "Each of you has received one special item sent to you from the outside world. Which by now," he picked up one of the packages and tossed it to Lindsay, who caught it before Heather was tossed her own gift, "must feel like a distant planet."
He tossed another one like a football and it was caught by Courtney, with Shawn also shown to have received his gift.
Shawn opened his, and looked at a silver tinfoil hat shaped like his beanie with excitement. "My tinfoil hat!" he cheered. "Nice!"
"You have a tinfoil hat?" Lindsay asked.
"Yup," Shawn answered. "It keeps the aliens from reading my brains and what I think."
Confessional: Shawn
"I used to wear this thing all the time," Shawn told the audience. "Unfortunately, my dad confiscated it since it made me look weird and unusual to others. Afterwards, I decided to get the beanie I’m wearing right now."
Confessional Ends
The shot cut to Lindsay as she opened hers and smiled. "My pom poms!" she exclaimed. "My cheer team didn't forget about them!"
The camera cut to Courtney and Heather, both having opened their boxes. The former took out a picture frame and let out a choked sob.
"What's wrong?" Heather asked. "Did you get a photo of a bad hair day?"
"Just… I need a minute," Courtney claimed.
Confessional: Courtney
Courtney had her picture with her. "When I was head of the school debating team, my partner walked out on me during the biggest debate of the year because she felt I wasn't being a "team player". I went on to win it without her! Take that, Brittany Reed!" She revealed her picture, which was her in the middle of a speech. "This photo is a reminder. If you want something done right, you do it yourself!"
Confessional Ends
Heather finally managed to open her box and pulled out a green jawbreaker. "A jawbreaker? How is this a prize?" She asked in frustration.
"I don't know, but sweet things usually go to sweet people," Courtney insulted.
"Damien must have delivered this to me!" Heather growled.
"Who the heck is Damien?" Courtney questioned.
"He's my little brother," Heather answered. "That twerp likes to pull pranks on me every chance he gets. He's almost like Sadie."
"What else were you expecting?" Courtney wondered.
"He could've given me my trophy for the annual ballet contest I participated in when I was eight," Heather grumbled.
Confessional: Heather
"I'm still going to keep this jawbreaker," Heather said as she held it. "Damien may have sent it as a joke, but I won't let him have the last laugh."
Confessional Ends
"Alright gang," Chris addressed the cast, "time to blast off to the great unknown. Everyone knows a good outer space movie has three things in common. One, the zero gravity is always a trip. Two, the G-forces are killer! And three, everything is recycled in space. Including number one, and number two."
"Gross," Courtney winced.
"Eww," Heather said in disgust.
"Which brings us to our first challenge," Chris continued. "I'll meet you at the thrill ride set in ten minutes."
The cast looked at each other in confusion. "Did he say thrill ride?" Lindsay asked.
\
The scene briefly flashed to the full moon behind the water tower for a moment before flashing away again to a close-up of the host, back in his normal clothes.
"The way to achieve zero gravity," Chris explained to the contestants, all of whom have also gotten dressed, "is to fly a jet on a parabolic course. With large vertical climbs, and even larger vertical drops." The camera panned across the faces of the cast, all of which looked freaked. "But with the price of jet fuel today," the scene flashed to a makeshift space shuttle tied to what looked like a roller coaster cart at a boarding platform, "we're gonna simulate the effect on this makeshift space shuttle!"
The shot flashed away again, the camera now panning up a spaceship-themed roller coaster set among several other theme park attractions. "Which will hit the optimum speed needed to keep you all in a perpetual state of zero gravity," the host explained before the shot cut back to him and the cast.
"Are we going to get killed?" Lindsay asked. "I won't go in if it will."
"Is that thing even up to code?" Courtney wondered.
"Your first outer space challenge will be to spend the rest of the night on the shuttle sleeping in zero gravity conditions," Chris told the cast.
"That doesn't sound so difficult," Shawn said with a pleased expression.
\
The footage flashed ahead to a close-up of an intercom speaker as the host's voice came in over it. "Y'all might wanna hold on to something bolted down," Chris told the cast as the camera pulled back to show them holding pillows in their hands, "'cause we're almost ready to launch!"
"Yes!" Lindsay cheered.
"He said launch," Heather told her, "not lunch."
"I know," Lindsay explained. "I just can't wait to be flying inside a spaceship."
The shot cut back to the intercom as an engine was heard starting up over it. "In five! Four! Three! Two! One!" The camera cut outside as the space shuttle strapped to the roller coaster cart shuddered to life. "Blast off!" At Chris' ecstatic signal, the shuttle's engines flared on and the contraption took off along the track. It quickly reached the main peak as the castmates screamed in terror, and the scene cut back inside.
"If I'm gonna die, at least make my death look cool!" Shawn yelled as he clenched his eyes shut. The camera began to pull back from his close-up as he slowly opened his eyes, looked around, and smiled. He and the other three were now floating inside the shuttle's cabin. "How about that? We're floating in mid-air!"
"Alright astronauts," Chris told them, the camera cutting from a close-up of the intercom to the host lounging in his chair at the monitor room watching the cast on the monitors, "it's gonna be a long night. Better get some sleep!" He pressed a button on the keyboard and added "If you can!" The monitor screens switched from Heather and Shawn to Courtney and Lindsay, and the host accepted a cup of coffee from Chef with a laugh.
\
"Can I borrow any of your pillows?" Courtney asked as she floated around. "I lost mine."
"That's your own fault then," Shawn relaxed on his pillow. "You lose it, you deal with it."
"Fine," Courtney looked away from his former ally. "We are floating in mid-air, so I won't complain… much."
Confessional: Lindsay
"Courtney and Shawn are at each other's throats just like me and Amy," Lindsay said. "There's only one person who could've made them split, which is obviously Heather."
Confessional Ends
The scene returned to a shot of a jawbreaker floating in the air, then panned out to show that Heather was chasing after it. "If that jawbreaker wasn't so big, I would be able to stash it into my pocket!" She said as she floated past Lindsay who was looking at her pom poms.
"At least what you got is tasty," Lindsay said. "I can't eat or lick my pom poms."
"Good thing you're smart enough to know what's edible," Heather snootily responded.
"If they were taffy, I'd likely eat them," Lindsay responded.
Confessional: Heather
Heather was focused on filing her nails. "I assume I'm the favorite to win. I mean, look who's left. A control freak, a smelly nut, and a dumb blonde. And the only thing Lindsay has going for her is that she hasn't made any enemies. Whoop-de-doo! We're not here to make friends. We're here to win." As she talked, she snapped her nail filer in half. "And that is exactly what I plan on doing."
Confessional Ends
The scene cut forward to the castmates as they slept peacefully with their pillows. This only lasted for a couple seconds before an alarm started to sound off loudly, and the lights in the cabin flashed red as the four teens woke up. "This is Houston," Chris said over the loudspeaker, "and you have a problem. You've been hit by an asteroid, and your guidance system is toast!"
"What do we do?!" Lindsay asked in a panic.
"I've watched Race to Save Space 3 before I came to this show," Shawn said. "We have to override the navigation controls."
"Quick!" Heather cried. "Someone grab the joystick thingy!"
Courtney sprung off a nearby wall and darted towards the shuttle's main computer. She grabbed onto a central joystick as she floated by, then planted her feet on the desk and pulled. The camera zoomed in on it and after a few moments of effort the stick moved to the side, shutting off the alarms and returning the lights to normal.
"Way to go Courtney!" Lindsay cheered.
"Nice job," Shawn said.
The camera zoomed in on Heather's jawbreaker as it drifted closer to a small window. It hit the window, cracking it slightly. The camera pulled back again to show it pushing back forward, but the force of its push-off caused the glass to shatter soon after it floated away. The air immediately began to be sucked out of the cabin, and the lights flashed red once more as Heather looked at the broken window with a shocked look.
Confessional: Heather
"At the very least, I can say that I'm not to blame for the window breaking," Heather claimed.
Confessional Ends
Heather, Courtney, Lindsay, and Shawn were shown floating in front of the shuttle controls. "Uh-oh!'" Chris announced jovially over the intercom. "Looks like you have a hole in your fuselage!" He laughed, and the camera panned across a closer shot of the four teens' faces. "You have exactly t-minus-ten minutes to plug the hole, or you'll run out of precious oxygen."
"We have to plug the hole!" Heather yelled.
"We just need something big and form-fitting!" Courtney replied.
They all turned to Lindsay. "Why are you looking at me?"
"We can use your pom poms to fill the hole," Heather said. "It's either that, or death."
Lindsay gave them a brief look and sighed. "They are valuable, but I can get new ones after the show ends."
The scene flashed back outside, the sun already up and the shuttle-coaster still flying along its track. The camera cut to the boarding platform as it finally came to a stop, and Chris was standing in wait as the shuttle door burst open with a puff of steam. One by one, the castmates fell out of it. Lindsay was first, then Courtney, then Shawn; all landed on top of one another in a heap. Heather was the last, and was the only one who maintained her balance.
"Will somebody help me down, or will I have to do it myself?" Heather huffed.
"Go with the second option," Lindsay replied. "There's a ladder in front of you."
Heather rolled her eyes, but climbed down the ladder.
The camera cut to Chef standing outside of the broken window, Lindsay's pom poms sticking out of it. "That was smart, sealing the breach with those pom poms," he said while pulling them out.
"It was my idea," Courtney claimed. "No sweat to it."
"You just love to pat yourself on the back," Shawn rolled his eyes.
Confessional: Shawn
"I really hope that I can get Courtney and Heather out," Shawn confessed. "Lindsay's the only one I'd like to face in the finale."
Confessional Ends
"Nice going Lindsay," Chris told her. "It was your pom poms that saved the group."
"Yes!" Lindsay jumped in Victory with her pom poms on."
"What?" Heather gaped. "I was the one who suggested we fill that hole!"
"Lindsay was the one who actually plugged in the hole," Chris said. "As a reward, she'll get to decide the order of who goes first to last at the next challenge!"
"I got it," Lindsay exclaimed. "The order is me, Courtney, Shawn, and Heather."
Confessional: Lindsay
"I don't know what the next part of the challenge is," Lindsay confessed, "but making sure Heather participates last was just too good to pass up."
Confessional Ends
\
(Commercial break)
\
The footage cut forward to a shot of the sun over a few of the film lot's fake buildings near one of the studios. The wind was shown blowing a few pieces of paper along the road between the studios, then the shot cut to and upward pan of the fake hill. The camera cut back to the front of a studio as its garage-like door began to open.
A few feet were briefly shown behind the door before the camera moved inside, showing the silhouettes of the four castmates against the light flooding in from outside. The feet were shown again in an angled profile as they began to walk outside, and the shot moved up to show the four staring forward. Lindsay was first, then Shawn, then Courtney, then Heather.
The camera switched to a face-on shot, panning right across the castmates and stopping at Lindsay. A record scratch was heard as Chris ran across the shot with a scowl on his face, the teens following him with their eyes.
"Enough messing around," Chris said before the scene changed to the usual side-view as he addressed the contestants. "Alright gang, if you thought spending the night in zero G's was a stomach-churning experience, then you're gonna love this next challenge! Who can last the longest on the G-force Trainer?" The castmates were shown watching cautiously. "Or as I like to call it," Chris said before the shot quick-panned further to the right, "The Vomit Comet!" The machine he was referring to looked like a bulbous, oversized, and legless space suit attached by a hefty arm to a smaller wheeled cart.
"If you thought you were under pressure before," the host said giddily as the camera panned up a close-up of the suit, "wait 'til you feel the effects of four times Earth's gravitational force!"
"We just ate chili for lunch," Heather said. "This won't be good."
"That was a bad call," Lindsay agreed.
The shot quick-panned over to Chef Hatchet who was standing by a bubbling pot on a small table. "Plenty more where that came from," he told the camera while tapping the side of the pot with a ladle. The camera zoomed in for a close-up, showing a foul-looking vomit-green stew filled with a variety of bones, old socks, and octopus tentacles.
The focus moved back to Chris. "Remember crew, Lindsay's already picked the order, so she's up first."
"Wonderful," Lindsay said with a smile as she approached the machine. "I didn't know we were gonna barf inside this thing, but now that I know the order and I'm going first, I don't have to worry about getting covered in other people's barf."
Courtney quickly grew uncomfortable. "Uh, what's the order she picked for us."
Chris donned a villainous sneer. "You're not going to like this. After Lindsay goes Courtney, Shawn, and last but not least, Heather."
"WHAT!!??" Heather screeched. "Can I trade places with someone?"
"Too late," Chris said. "The order is set."
Heather shot daggers at Lindsay, who smiled innocently and shrugged in response.
Confessional: Lindsay
Lindsay was shown laughing to herself for a couple of seconds. "It's going to take a long time for her to wash the puke off!" She resumed her laughter.
Confessional: Heather
"When this is over, I'm going to kill Lindsay…" Heather shot the camera a deadly glare, "...right after I take a long shower!"
Confessionals End
The scene skipped to Lindsay as she was about to climb the G-force training suit. She looked over and said "This will almost be like the Hurlinator back at the carnival."
"But unlike that heap of junk, you’ll actually hurl inside that suit if you’re unlucky," Chris taunted.
Lindsay dropped into the suit and closed the helmet shut. "Have a nice spin, Lindsay!" Chris said with a wave before pressing the buttons on his stopwatch and remote control simultaneously.
The machine immediately started to move, and Lindsay began cheering out of fun and enjoyment. A bird's-eye view showed the arms rotating rapidly about the wheeled cart it was attached to. The camera cut to a close-up of the viewing window on the helmet, where the blonde's face could clearly be seen. Her happy expression changed to struggling to contain her vomit. She forced it down and exclaimed "Let me out!"
Chris obliged by pressing both buttons again, and the machine slowed to a stop. The helmet swung open and Lindsay pulled herself out. She was frazzled, but she didn’t throw up on herself.
"15.4 seconds!" Chris read off from his stopwatch with a grin. "Pretty impressive for a first run, and despite my theory, you did not hurl!"
"I did not want to smell bad," Lindsay groaned and fell over.
Confessional: Lindsay
"So I have this friend who ate twenty corn dogs as a dare," Lindsay confessed. "When we were inside the car, she started to throw up, and some of it got on us. I'm never eating a corn dog again."
Confessional Ends
"Alright Courtney, you're next," Chris told the control freak who approached him and the training suit. "Lindsay managed to keep her lunch down, so at least you'll have a dry run."
\
The scene flashed forward to Courtney in the suit, already looking nervous. "Let's get this over with," she said before the helmet swung down over her head.
Chris smiled and pressed the button on the remote control, and the camera switched over to the bird's-eye-view of the machine. The rotating arm rapidly built up speed, and unlike Lindsay before her, Courtney immediately screamed in terror. Another viewpoint change showed the panicking type-a through the helmet's viewing window, then back to the bird's-eye-view. The sound of vomiting was heard and the shot cut back to the host.
"27 seconds on the dot!" Chris announced.
"Am I in the lead?" a messy Courtney wondered after climbing out the suit.
"No," Chris answered. "I'm deducting ten seconds for puking."
"That was totally disgusting!" Courtney muttered. "I hope you can handle it, Shawn."
"I've dived through garbage and covered myself in fish guts once," Shawn shrugged her off. "This is nothing I can handle."
"I don't want to say it, but your determination is admirable," Courtney said.
"It's down to you two," Chris told Shawn and Heather. "Shawn, your slightly soiled chariot awaits."
\
"Ready or not, here I come," Shawn got in the suit.
"He's got high confidence," Chris told the camera. "Confidence that's going to disappear." The helmet closed, the buttons were pressed, and the machine began to spin.
The camera cut to the window of the helmet, showing Shawn screaming in panic. Sooner or later, ominous rumbling came from inside the suit and his cheeks bulged.
The scene cut back to Chris just as the sound of puke was heard, and the host stopped both watch and machine. "Whether Shawn will shower or not is up to him," Chris commented as the conspiracy nut exited the suit covered with vomit. "But he will definitely smell like his own lunch now. After the ten second deduction, he comes in at a grand total of 20 seconds."
"Thanks for choosing me to go last, Lindsay," Heather spat at her. "Two people threw up, and I have to be surrounded by their puke."
"Heather, you're the last one," Chris slyly said. "Unless you want to lose out on winning invincibility, I say you get inside the suit now."
Heather looked at the others and narrowed her eyes. "I'm not forfeiting."
Confessional: Heather
"The things I do to keep myself in the game," Heather rolled her eyes.
Confessional Ends
"This is so gross," Heather said in disgust as she got in the vomit-covered suit. "Start it already!" Heather yelled before slamming the helmet shut.
Chris pressed his two buttons. As with the others the camera switched first to a bird's-eye view of the machine as it began to move, then to a close-up of Heather's face through the helmet. Though she was wincing from the bits of vomit dripping down her face, she kept her determination still and wasn't about to quit.
The shot cut outside to the host and the other three castmates as they watched. Chris was focused on the stopwatch in his hands, Shawn was uninterested, Lindsay was nervous, and Courtney was scared.
"She's going longer than I thought she would," Chris said.
"Just barf already!" Courtney shouted.
The sound of vomiting was heard. The camera zoomed in on Chris again as a smile formed and he clicked his buttons, and the machine came to a stop. "That's time!" he called.
"Did I win?" Heather asked after swinging open the helmet and flopping over the side, vomit all over her head, chest, and mouth. "I know that was more than 27 seconds."
"35 and a half seconds! A new Vomit Comet record!" Chris told her.
"I know what this means," Heather grinned in victory.
"Since she lasted the longest inside that machine, I declare Heather the winner of today's challenge!" Chris announced.
"In your face, everyone!" Heather taunted the other three contestants.
"Can you mock us from far away?" Lindsay held her nose.
"We would like to be away from you," Courtney said.
"Never thought I'd say this, but I agree," Shawn stepped back. "You stink really bad, and I have horrible hygiene."
"That's just the smell of victory," Heather said.
A sudden whistle caught the group's attention, and they looked over to see Chef standing on a stepladder calmly slicing a carrot over the open suit. "Hope y'all like gumbo!" he told them before resuming his work.
The camera panned across the castmates and host as all wretched in sheerest disgust.
\
The scene flashed to Lindsay in the girls’ trailer alone. She had a pencil and paper and was seen writing on the paper but what it said was unknown.
"This should be about it," Lindsay said once she was finished.
She folded the paper hamburger style and left her trailer.
Confessional: Lindsay
"You're probably wondering what I'm doing," Lindsay said. "Courtney and Shawn can't stay mad at each other forever. They are a great duo, even if they're total opposites. This may cost me my spot in the game, but if it means repairing a friendship, I'll take that risk because friendship is magic and more important than money."
Confessional Ends
It was soon night time, and after focusing on the moon, the camera panned down to reveal that Shawn was standing near the tree he slept in.
"Lindsay said to meet here," Shawn said. "I don't know why, but I ain't gonna question her."
Soon Lindsay and Courtney both walked to the scene together and Lindsay smiled. "Good to have you both here."
Shawn was stunned to see Courtney. "Why is she here?"
"Why is he here?" Courtney asked in a startled tone.
"I brought you both here so you two could talk," Lindsay smiled brightly.
"I don't want to talk to a deadbeat survivor who can't act normal for more than a minute!" Courtney complained.
"I refuse to be with an uptight politician that thinks only about herself!" Shawn shot back.
"At least I have public decency!" Courtney shouted.
"At least I don't complain when things don't go my way!" Shawn yelled.
"SHUT UP!" Lindsay cried out furiously, earning her shocked looks from both Shawn and Courtney. "You two are clearly crushed and hurt over something really upsetting because if you were not, you wouldn’t be fighting! I’ve seen how close you both are, and I know that a small argument couldn’t be the reason you broke up." Courtney and Shawn's anger diminished as she spoke. "Something big happened but if I were to guess, Heather had something to do with it. Now please just tell each other what happened without screaming at each other!"
Shawn took a few deep breaths before speaking. "Last challenge, Heather told me about Courtney using me in order to make it to the finale."
"Why did you listen to her?" Courtney asked.
"She had a recording of you talking about it with your own voice," Shawn said.
"What exactly did the recording say?" Courtney demanded.
"Don't act so confused," Shawn said. "You said that working with me and Noah was practically torture for you and that you’ll be glad to ditch me once you claim the million!" he brought up angrily.
"If that's what you heard, then you're way wrong," Courtney glared. "I have a vivid memory, and I don't recall saying those things."
"But I heard your voice in the recording," Shawn raised an eyebrow, starting to rethink what he heard.
"I'm starting to think that someone impersonated Courtney's voice just to make her look bad," Lindsay chimed in.
"Shawn's a boy, and no way can you match my octaves, so that means Heather set me up!" Courtney grit her teeth.
Shawn then widened his eyes before groaning. "Your voices are pretty similar."
"See I told you. Heather caused a rift between you guys just like she did to me and Amy," Lindsay said.
"And I fell for her lie," Shawn admitted. "How stupid could I have been?"
Courtney’s gaze softened a bit before saying, "Well… you’re not the only one who’s fallen for it before."
"We've let her come this far," Lindsay continued. "And now that she has invincibility, we can't kick her out today. I just want you two to make up and vote together again."
Shawn and Courtney both turned to Lindsay and Shawn piped up, "But that means you’ll be on the chopping block."
"Friendship is worth more than a briefcase filled with dollars," Lindsay said. "Courtney, you can be really bossy. And Shawn, you can be really messy. But you've come this far. Don't break up your partnership just because of a mean girl."
Shawn looked at Courtney. "I shouldn't have let myself be tricked like that."
"I don't blame you," Courtney said. "I have been acting crazy the last few days. I just wanted to win."
"If I’ll be honest, I missed working with you. It’s not as fun working alone as it used to be once I started putting my faith in others," Shawn admitted.
"You want to patch up our alliance again?" Courtney held out her hand.
"Absolutely," Shawn shook her hand. "I won't let anything break us up again."
Lindsay watched the scene with happiness. "It's nice to see you two comfortable around each other. Jo and Brick are really lucky to be dating you two, if you're actually dating."
Confessional: Courtney
"That was really cool of Lindsay to patch up my friendship with Shawn," Courtney admitted. "I've been taking her for granted up until this point, and I won't think ill of her again."
Confessional Ends
[A grand theme played as the camera zoomed in on the amphitheatre. Several film strips of the host's highlights from the previous season flew past the screen, then the camera panned out from a solid gold screen to show a Gilded Chris.]
\
The camera flashed into a shot of the night sky. "And four," Chris said as the camera panned down to the amphitheater, "shall soon become three, as we bid farewell to another cast member. Everyone, cast your votes."
The shot cut to the cast members in the bleachers. Courtney and Shawn were on the top row and Heather and Lindsay on the bottom.
Courtney sighed before casting her vote.
Lindsay thought for a second before she made her vote.
Shawn shrugged and casted his vote.
Heather smirked deviously and then made her vote.
The scene flashed to a close-up of the three gilded statuettes on a tray held by Chef, who was wearing his formal pink gown once again.
"And the Gilded Chris goes to...," Chris began to read from his envelope, "Heather and Shawn," the two were shown catching their awards. Courtney and Lindsay were shown in a split screen and they both braced themselves.
"And the last statue goes to…" Chris said slowly as the music reached its peak, "No one yet!"
"What's going on?" Lindsay wondered.
"It seems we have a situation similar to episode fifteen," Chris told them. "Courtney and Lindsay got the most votes at two per contestant."
"Not again!" Courtney moaned.
"Is there going to be a tiebreaker?" Lindsay asked.
"You bet your boots there is," Chris said and turned to Chef. “Got any gumbo left?”
“Two pots full of it!” Chef cackled. “What do you want with it?”
“In order to stay in the game, Lindsay and Courtney have to eat a pot filled with Chef’s very own gumbo!” Chris declared to them.
“You do know that Chef made it with our own vomit!” Lindsay proclaimed.
“I know. That’s what makes it fun. For me!” Chris laughed.
“If I have to do this, then bring out the barf-bo,” Courtney shivered.
\
The scene switched to Courtney and Lindsay on the stage of the amphitheater. They were sitting on chairs while holding pots of gumbo and large spoons.
“Now remember,” Chris walked over to the two. “If you don’t finish your pot, you’re not going into the final two. Got it?”
“I did come this far,” Lindsay said.
“I’ll accept the challenge. I won’t give up when I’m this close to the finale,” Courtney said.
Heather and Shawn were watching from far away. “I’m rooting for you, Courtney!” the latter cheered.
“Whoever loses or wins, I don’t care,” Heather said.
"And… go!" Chris started the tiebreaker.
As soon as he said those words, Courtney and Lindsay began putting gumbo into their mouths. Courtney was rapidly scooping the meal while Lindsay was sipping on it. Both girls were repulsed, but they still wanted to be in the game.
Lindsay saw that Courtney was halfway done with her pot, so she started to follow her path and scoop up the gumbo in hopes of catching up to her.
Just when it seemed like Courtney was about to finish, her stomach started to grumble from what she'd eaten. She tried to fight it, but eventually, she puked inside of her pot.
Seeing that she had an opportunity to win, Lindsay opened her mouth widely and poured the gumbo in. Afterwards, she placed her pot down.
"I'm finished!" she declared, only to feel nauseous and barf into her pot.
"Man, you girls are sick!" Chris teased them. "Regardless, Lindsay's still in the game, and Courtney just went from 22nd to 4th place in two seasons!"
"Drats!" Shawn complained.
Both girls have finished throwing up. "Looks like you have to go," Lindsay told Courtney.
"I know," Courtney moped. "I almost got to the million dollars, and I've never been in 4th place before."
"At least you did much better than before, and you're not wearing a chicken hat this time," Shawn said.
Courtney smiled in response. "I wanted to win the season, but I did learn to value friendship and cooperation, and like Lindsay said, those are more worthy than cash."
"I'm just glad you're not being mean to me for once," Lindsay said.
"We'll take down Heather and be the final two," Shawn said. "We promised Noah, and we're also promising you as well."
"Not sorry to interrupt," Chris got between them, "but Courtney should be getting going right about now."
"Shove it, McLean!" Courtney shoved Chris to the floor with one hand. "I'm saying goodbye to my friends, but I will enter the Lame-osine soon."
\
The footage skipped ahead to Courtney standing near the limo. She saw Lindsay and Shawn waving goodbye to her. After returning the gesture, she entered the limo with a smile on her face. The limo's tires revved up and sped off into the night, leaving behind two trails of fire.
Just as Shawn and Lindsay were about to go to their trailer, they were stopped by a snobby voice.
"Love to stick around, but it's been a long day and I'm gonna hit the showers," Heather bragged and got off the stage. "Great work, everybody."
While Lindsay rolled her eyes and left, Shawn stayed back, but had a face filled with anger and vengeance.
\
The scene cut to a shot of the washroom. Inside, Heather was bathing herself and humming a tune.
Unbeknownst to her, Shawn snuck to the side of the bathroom. He had a barrel filled with gumbo with him. After placing it down, he hooked the shower pipe to the barrel, wrapped it with tape, and turned the wheel to let the gumbo flow through.
Heather was heard screaming once the gumbo rained on her. "What the... Ew! Ugh, oh! Is this sewage?! Stop it! Stop! Oh! No!"
Seeing that his job was done, Shawn laughed to himself and turned in for the night as Heather continued to scream in anguish.
Chris popped up into the camera's view. "And you'll see how our remaining contestants suffer next time on Total Drama Action!"
(Roll the Credits)
\
(Bonus Clip)
"I want Shawn to win Season 2, but I won't mind if Lindsay does the job for him," Courtney said inside the limo. "She's pretty capable of handling herself, and I did hear about her plan to become the Queen of France, which I kinda want to see come to fruition." The C.I.T. laughed for a few seconds. "I know my parents want me to succeed and thrive for victory, but I'm certain that they'll see how far I've gotten in the competition and be proud of it. That's not to say I won't quit trying. I just have to never give up."
16th/15th: Harold
16th/15th: Dawn
14th: Lightning
13th: Sky
12th: Jo
11th: Beth
10th: Brick
9th: Duncan
8th: Mike
7th: Amy
6th: Rodney
5th: Noah
4th: Courtney

Double feature this time, since I forgot how pitifully short chapter seven was.
Chapter Seven
Snowfall attempted to follow Polestar. It was fairly easy to hear him; the human was still crying and IceWing ears were notoriously sharp. But then she heard dragons shouting from the chamber containing the Gift of Order.
“Guards!”
“Someone stop that scavenger!”
“It stole the Gift of Diplomacy!”
This was followed by Poley letting out a terrified scream and Snowfall knew she needed to pick up the pace in catching up to him. She reached the room and found a crowd of dragons in a circle, with Poley shivering with fear at its center.
“Your majesty, you’re just in time,” Narwhal said with a sigh of relief. “We just caught this creature making off with a priceless Animus gift!”
“He didn’t steal it, Narwhal.” Snowfall entered the circle to shield Poley with her wing, though the cub attempted to shimmy his way out of the hug, “I gave it to him.”
Tundra, who was standing next to her husband, gave Snowfall a blank look. “You gave a scavenger the Gift of Diplomacy? That’s rather… unlike you.”
“The scavenger has a name, everyone. He’s called Polestar. And he is under my protection.”
Several dragons in the circle scoffed loudly. “Now that’s very much unlike you,” Narwhal commented.
“Snowfall!” Mink ran into the chamber, “What’s going on? You—” She saw Poley beneath the Queen’s wings. “Snowy, what are you doing with that scavenger?”
Snowfall sighed. “Remember what you said about that dead scavenger having a family?”
Mink tilted her head. “Well yeah, but is he really…?”
Poley looked up at Snowfall. “What are they all saying?”
“You can’t understand them?”
Poley shook his head. “Only you.”
“Understand what?” Narwhal asked, “Snowfall, are you talking to the scavenger?”
Snowfall’s face immediately blushed bright blue. “Uhh, well, I…”
Mink ran up to Snowfall and slapped her across the face. “You pretended to not care about scavengers and this whole time you spoke their language!?”
“That’s not exactly the case, if you could just listen! I put on a bunch of animus gifts in the secret royal vault and one of them apparently lets me talk to scavengers!”
Several dragons gasped. “So the Forbidden Treasury actually exists!?” Tundra yelled.
Mink glowered at her. “Snowy, you said yourself a lot of the Gifts in there were too dangerous!”
“I know, but there’s this strange dragon that showed up and I was scared and—”
“Again with the invasions, then?” Narwhal sighed, “I should have guessed you’d eventually get this desperate.”
“Anyway, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get Polestar back to safety!”
Snowfall picked Poley up in her talon and shoved her way back through the crowd and back to her bedroom.
“I’m confused,” Poley said as Snowfall laid him down on her bed, “If you killed Eagle, why are you so determined to protect me? You could have just let those other dragons kill me.”
“Because I didn’t kill your brother, Polestar. I would have explained it to you, but you jumped to conclusions and ran off.”
“So then… why do you care so much about me?”
“Like I said, there’s a dragon I know who for some reason really wants me to protect you.”
“Can I meet this dragon?”
“Not… Exactly.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s basically a ghost. She lives inside this ring I’m wearing.” She pulled the Gift of Vision up to Poley’s face.
Poley squinted suspiciously at the ring. “So are you actually going crazy like those dragons seemed to think or…?”
“I’m not crazy!” Snowfall shouted just a little bit too loudly. “The IceWing royal family had a long lineage of dragons who were capable of magic. This ring has a very powerful enchantment on it.”
“Like, actual magic? Could you enchant me to have my brother back?”
“No… For two reasons. First, no one in the family has magic anymore… And second, dragon magic can’t resurrect the dead.”
Poley’s face drooped upon hearing that. “So where am I going to sleep in here? The only bed in here is made out of ice!”
“Who said you’d be sleeping in my bedroom?”
“Logic and reason did. Do you want me to get eaten up in my sleep? You’re literally the only dragon here who won’t see me as a snack!”
Much to Snowfall’s exasperation, the kid had a point. “We’ll have to go back to your igloo and get your bedding, I guess. But for now, I need to go meet someone.”
“Can I come with you?”
“Absolutely not. The dragon I’m going to talk to… It could be dangerous.”
“If you say so. But leaving me all by my lonesome might be just as dangerous.”
“This room is guarded. No one gets in here without my permission.”
“Ugh, fine.”
Snowfall gently patted Poley’s head and left the bedroom. Chapter Eight
She hoped the dragons in the infirmary were keeping the intruder on lockdown. There was no telling what this new tribe was capable of.
But she recalled her words to Polestar just moments ago. I told him that he ‘jumped to conclusions,' just like Lynx keeps telling me I do the same thing. It honestly felt hypocritical. But being falsely accused of scavenger murder and being the forerunner to an invading army are two completely different things. If my fears are true, no one in the Ice Kingdom is safe, and it’s up to me to protect everyone!
She finally reached the infirmary. As she guessed, two burly IceWing guards were posted at the entrance. “I’m here to see the newcomer,” she told them.
“Down the hall, first door on the left,” the guard on the left told her.
Snowfall went inside, not knowing what she was going to see at all. It could be anything, though she was told it was yellow and had four wings, somehow. For a second she feared the dragon would be some Darkstalker-sized monster with the capacity to wipe out everything, but obviously that couldn’t be the case if they were able to fit this dragon into the infirmary.
She reached the door, and without bothering to knock, she went inside. Lying on the bed was a dragon who very well fit the description she was given.
Moons above, this dragon really is an unknown tribe… Everything about it resembled an insect crossed over with a dragon, with scales bearing alternating yellow-and-black stripes, and quadruple wings that were clearly very much like those of a bug. Its tail ended in what looked like a stinger, which made Snowfall nervous.
“Hello?” The dragon called to her, in her language no less, “Who are you?” Her voice indicated she was female.
Snowfall stood up straight, trying to make herself look intimidating. “I am Queen Snowfall, ruler of the Ice Kingdom. You are intruding on protected land.”
“Oh… Sorry about that. I didn’t know you weren’t open.”
Despite the dragon’s terrifying appearance, her voice was very gentle and kind. How deceptive. “We almost were driven extinct seven years ago. Ever since then our borders have been closed to everyone.”
“That’s terrible! I’m so sorry about that.”
“So then, who exactly are you?”
“I’m Vespa. My tribe calls themselves HiveWings.”
“Okay then, Vespa. Are there any more of you coming?”
“Moons, no. I’m the only one left who has any… Control over themselves.”
“Excuse me?”
“The continent I come from… Had a terrible disaster. I don’t know much about it, but our Queen Wasp… Lost control over herself.”
“And?”
“She used a plant called the Breath of Evil to force direct control over her entire population, and she subjugated the other tribes. But something happened that caused the plant to go haywire… Now every dragon on the continent is a braindead zombie.”
“And only you escaped?”
“I’d show you how, but your guards have me chained to this bed.”
Very clever. “I’m not going to unchain you just yet. How should we trust that you yourself aren’t a ‘zombie?’”
“Because I’m outside the range the Breath of Evil works in. If I’m too far away from its closest vine, it can’t control me anymore. I’m entirely myself.”
“So then how do we know there aren’t others chasing after you?”
“Because only I have the map that allows dragons to safely fly across the ocean to your continent.”
She gestured as much as the chains would allow to a satchel seemingly made out of a huge leaf that was sitting on a table on the far end of the room. “Look inside there.”
Snowfall walked over to the table and began looking inside the satchel. The only thing inside of it was a rough, tiny thing seemingly made of paper bound within a blue protective cover. She read the beginning of it, which seemed to be a letter from someone to her people. She reached the end of the letter…
All my love, Clearsight.
Snowfall went pale. Clearsight… That’s a NIGHTWING name!!
“You dirty liar,” Snowfall growled.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You’re working with the NightWings!”
“I have no idea who that tribe is.”
“Don’t lie to me! The letter at the beginning of that weird scroll is from a NightWing!”
“Clearsight? You know about her?”
“Not her specifically. But the NightWings were the ones who tried to kill us all!”
“Oh no, not Clearsight. She was the kindest dragon our tribe knew. She wrote that book with an eternity of prophetic visons so that we could be safe even after she died.”
Snowfall groaned. “So… Who is she then?”
“She lived two thousand years ago, we were told.”
“So she wouldn’t have had anything to do with any possible invasion plans?”
“Moons, no. She would never want anything like that.”
“So you said this weird…”
“Book.”
“This ‘book’ told you how to get here?”
“Look inside the back cover.”
Snowfall turned the book over and noticed that the back cover was thicker, and seemed to contain an additional piece of paper. She unfolded it and saw that it was a detailed map of the seas between Pyrrhia and this strange, unknown continent, with a safe path across it marked in deep ink.
Snowfall sighed deeply. “So you have nowhere to go?”
Vespa shook her head. “I’m all alone. I’m terrified for my family back home, but it’s far too dangerous to return to Pantala.”
A tiny voice sounded from next to Snowfall’s talons. “That dragon sounds really sad.”
Snowfall did a double-take down to her feet, and saw a terribly familiar ball of polar bear fur standing between her front talons. Vespa noticed him too.
Vespa gasped. “Oh my, you have humans here too?” Her voice shifted gears into the familiar human-ese squeaking. “Hello there, little one!”
Polestar gasped. “You speak my language?”
Snowfall face-taloned, both at her little cub’s disobedience and at the revelation that this “HiveWing” might actually know more about humans than she did.
“Yes, I do,” Vespa continued squeaking, “We HiveWings have a very close partnership with your kind.”
Poley’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s awesome! Our dragons… they…”
“I learned in history class how bad things used to be between us. It’s such a shame that the dragons here haven’t learned to get along with humans.”
“Well they kind of have,” Snowfall explained, “But only recently, and, well, my kingdom refused to acknowledge the partnership.”
Vespa tilted her head. “Oh no, that’s not good at all. But this boy, are you friends with him?”
Snowfall and Poley both gave conflicting “yes” and “no” answers, with Snowfall being the negative and Poley being the affirmative.
Vespa paused for a few seconds. “…I’m guessing you two just met?”
This time both Poley and Snowfall responded with “yes.”
“I see you’re really in sync with each other despite that.”
Poley walked up closer to Vespa. Snowfall raised her talon to stop him.
“Hold on, Polestar, it’s not sa—”
“She won’t hurt me. She just said her tribe doesn’t hurt humans.”
Snowfall turned a flustered blue. “But how do we know she’s not lying!?” She blurted out.
Both Vespa and Poley stared at her silently. “Oh my,” Vespa whispered, “Such a troubled soul."
This caused Snowfall to blush even further. Unable to take any more, she did an about face and fled the room, leaving Poley behind.
“Wait, Snowfall, I…” Poley looked up at Vespa, “Snowfall, wait up!” And then he dashed off after her as fast as his two legs could carry him.

This whole post revolves around paying off my $96K house. I owe 88K on it now. I put $10 to principal. It’s now worth $145K-$160K. My mortgage is $384.50 a month. Two bedroom 1 bath single family home.
My gosh I had it made lol. I was making 100K a year and was making $32.10 an hour with Overtime after 45 hours. In a cheap area in VA. Was terminated for time theft. Crazy. Stopping at restrooms and taking breaks got me fired despite not being late to deliveries. I’m a truck driver. I was contributing about 9% or $185 a week to 401K. I was contributing $115 to Roth IRA and maxing out a year.
Now that my pay has dropped. I found a new job making about 88K a year. I’m wondering how to navigate contributions. The 100K job gave me more room to contribute and still pay off house in 2024!
I now find myself having to lower contributions as I don’t make as much to contribute over 15% without compromising on paying off house. Plus, do I rollover to new company with 401K or Rollover to Roth IRA. Should I still do pre-tax option now my pay has dropped?
So new company offers 3% match. I plan to hit that mark. I’ve maxed Roth IRA for 2022 and plan to max Roth IRA for 2023 in Jan 2024. So Roth IRA is good. I’m struggling on 401K. 9% feels like it will take a considerable amount away and I’m trying my best to muster all the cash I can to pay this damn house off. Most I can put in is $60.17 a week for 3% match.
I can’t stand trucking anymore I’m desperate to pay this house off and get out. I feel like I’ll be free without a mortgage and can reduce my hours. But I don’t want to neglect retirement but I’m worried I’m making a huge mistake.
The 3% match seems good on paper but should I try and muster it to at least 9% or 10%? Or go all in and pay house off. House should be paid off by August 2024. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll enjoy driving trucks. Only doing it until house paid off and I want to go back to school. Which trucking will allow as I can work three days a week making 49K.
But I want to be as secure as possible with house paid off. Advice.

More than being creative, a good artist must also consider subtleties like composition, colors, size, what to include, and — perhaps more importantly — what to leave out. That’s no easy feat, which is why we hold the masters like da Vinci and Van Gogh in such high regard.
Web UI designers must do the same. A website is a form of visual art in its own right, and follows many of the same rules as more traditional artforms. It is the science of aesthetics, mixed with the principles of business, and an extraordinary website interface must feel effortless yet enticing. We’ll explain how to create a visual hierarchy and use UI patterns as a starting point.

“A website is the science of aesthetics mixed with the principles of busieness.”

Creating Visual Organization
In his paper Communicating with Visual Hierarchy, Luke Wroblewski, author and Senior Principal of Product Design at Yahoo!, explains that the visual presentation of a web interface is essential for:
Informing users — Like an invisible hand, the interface should guide users from one action to the next without feeling overbearing. For example, payment processor Square leads you through its value propositions as you scroll down, with relevant calls to action each step of the way.
Communicating content relationships — The interface should present content in a way that matches how users prioritize information. For example, popular design website Abduzeedo includes broad categories at the top, featured content in the middle, and detailed categories in the footer.
Creating emotional impact — People visit restaurants for more than just an edible meal. They want taste, texture, presentation, and a memorable ambiance. Interface design is no different, and people may actually be more prone to forgive your site’s shortcomings if you produce a positive emotional response. For example, Wufoo is a perfect example of a site with an interface that’s usable and pleasurable.
The end goal of your UI design is to answer three questions:

1. What is this? (Usefulness)
2. How do I use it? (Usability)
3. Why should I care? (Desirability)
   
4. Scanning Patterns: The Predictability of the Human Eye
   

Just as with a scurrying movement in the corner of your eye or a sexy walk from someone across the street, the human eye is drawn automatically to certain points of interest. While some of this depends on the person, the majority of people tend to follow definite trends — including how they view a web page.
In an article on visual principles, Alex Bigman, Design Writer for 99Designs, talks about the two predominant reading patterns for cultures who read left to right.
Photo: uixwithme

How Hierarchy Works in UI Design
1. F-Pattern
Typically for text-heavy websites like blogs, the F-Pattern comes from the reader first scanning a vertical line down the left side of the text looking for keywords or points of interest in the paragraph’s initial sentences. When the reader finds something they like, they begin reading normally, forming horizontal lines. The end result is something that looks like the letters F or E. As shown in Web UI Patterns 2014, CNN and NYTimes both use the F Pattern.
Jakob Nielson of the Nielson Norman Group conducted a readability study based on 232 users scanning thousands of websites and elaborates on the practical implications of the F-Pattern:

Users will rarely read every word of your text.

The first two paragraphs are the most important and should contain your hook.
Start paragraphs, subheads, and bullet points with enticing keywords.
How could this impact the interface design of your website? Take a look below.
You can see in the above image that the most important content can be seen in a few seconds, with more detailed content (and a call to action) presented immediately below for quick scanning. The F-pattern can be very helpful for sites that want to embed advertising or calls to action in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the content. Just remember that content is always king, and the sidebar exists to get users involved in a deeper level.
As with all patterns, the F-Pattern is a guideline — rather than a template — because the F-pattern can feel boring after the top rows of the “F”. As you’ll see below, Kickstarter adds in some widgets (laid out horizontally) to keep the design visually interesting beyond the first 1000 pixels.

1. Z-Pattern

Z-Pattern scanning occurs on pages that are not centered on the text. The reader first scans a horizontal line across the top of the page, whether because of the menu bar, or simply out of a habit of reading left-to-right from the top. When the eye reaches the end, it shoots down and left (again based on the reading habit), and repeats a horizontal search on the lower part of the page.
Photo: uixwithme
The Z-Pattern is applicable to almost any web interface since it addresses the core website requirements such as hierarchy, branding, and calls to action. The Z-pattern is perfect for interfaces where simplicity is a priority and the call to action is the main takeaway. Forcing a Z-pattern for a website with complex content may not work as well as the F-pattern, but a Z-pattern can help bring a sense of order to simpler layouts (and increase conversion rates). Here’s a few best practices to keep in mind:
Background — Separate the background to keep the user’s sight within your framework.
Point #1 — This is a prime location for your logo.
Point #2 — Adding a colorful secondary call to action can help guide users along the Z-pattern.
Center of Page — A Featured Image Slider in the center of the page will separate the top and bottom sections and guide the eyes along the Z path.
Point #3 — Adding icons that start here and move along the bottom axis can guide the users to the final call to action at Point #4.
Point #4 — This is the finish line, and an ideal place for your primary Call to Action.
Predicting where the user’s eye will go can be a huge advantage. Before arranging the elements on your page, prioritize the most and least important ones. Once you know what you want your users to see, it’s just a simple matter of placing them in the pattern’s “hot spots” for the right interactions.
You can even extend the Z Pattern throughout the entirety of the page, repeating Points 1-4 if you feel that more value propositions are needed before the call-toaction. As you’ll see below, this is exactly what Evernote does by starting with a “Sign Up Now” call-to-action, guiding users through a few selling points, and finishing their “repeated Z pattern” with payment option calls-to-action.

1. Contrast: Generating Interest

To best explain the use of contrast, let’s go back to Luke Wroblewski. Plainly put, contrast is the occurrence of two different elements positioned close together. In web UI design, these elements can be colors (more in Chapter 5), textures, shapes, direction, or size, to name the important ones.
Alternating between different sized fonts and colors creates an instant hierarchy to your interface. For instance, as you can see below for Constant Contact, changing from a light background to dark background immediately separates the primary call to action of “Try it FREE” from the navigation menu and secondary “Call Us” call to action. Combined with the Z-pattern of the site, the treatment provides a clear visual hierarchy that highlights the email submission form followed by the mid-page navigation menu.
Brandon Jones, looks at how the use of color and size affect first impressions of objects in an interface. Using the below image as an example, most people won’t just see two circles on first glance — instead, they’ll likely see “a black circle and a smaller red circle”. In this sense, contrast in interface items is very powerful since differentiation is the default human response.

“differentiation is a default human response.”

1. Tools of The Trade: Color, Size, and Space

When “painting” the web interface, don’t forget to use your most powerful visual tools: color, size, and space. Alex Bigman believes that colors and size manage attention, while spacing helps manage visual relationships.

1. Color

In a nutshell, bright colors stand out from muted colors. This may seem obvious, but the important takeaway is its application: you can exploit this to draw your user’s attention where you want. Additionally, certain colors can help set the mood of the entire site (blues are tranquil, reds are aggressive, etc.).
Psychology of Colors in UI Design
Fitbit’s use of color in their Z-pattern interface above is especially clever. The bright use of magenta immediately places the calls to action near the top of the visual hierarchy, but also matches the color of the “Get Active” button — subconsciously signaling that the two concepts are related. Similar shades of blue are also used in the fitness goals and product sections, which cleverly creates an association between the two (and draws clicks to the most valuable parts of the interface).

1. Size

Size, particularly for text, is a powerful tool in that it circumvents the traditional rules of left-to-right and up-to-down reading. That means a large word or phrase in the bottom right-hand corner might be the first thing a person reads. Moreover, size can add emphasis to the actual message or content, making it more significant.
Photo Credit: uixwithme
When it comes to the size of text, a typography study conducted by Smashing Magazine on 50 popular website interfaces found that headings usually stay between 18 and 29 pixels with body copy ranging between 12 and 14 pixels. Of course, this is just a guideline (and will apply more to content-heavy sites), but shows that you still want to maintain a sense of proportion.

1. Space

One of the most important tricks in making something pretty is the absolute absence of something pretty. Cluttering too many attractive images together is a quick way to ruin them all. It’s important that your web interface has breathing room and that you space everything out. Reducing the amount of “visual noise” will make the points you want to keep even stronger.

“One of the most tricks to making something pretty is the absence of somthing pretty.”

In fact, Dmitry Fadeyev, founder of Usaura, advises that white space actually improves comprehension. A 2004 study found that strategic use of white space improved comprehension by almost 20%. While spacing didn’t affect how people performed on the website, it did affect user satisfaction and experience (which is equally, if not more, important). As you can see above, the large content margin, padding, and paragraph spacing used by Houzz makes the content easier to read (and encourages interaction with links and sidebars).

1. Test Your Visual Hierarchy: Blur Technique

Now that we’ve discussed how different interface elements affect visual prioritization, let’s look at a simple way to test your hierarchy. Designer at Rackspace Lee Munroe offers a great method we’ll call the Blurring Technique.
Basically, look at a blurred version of your site and see what elements stand out. If it’s not what you want to stand out, it’s time to go back and make some revisions. The blurred version will present a bare bones representation of your visual hierarchy, allowing you to evaluate your interface fresh without any distractions. To spare your eyesight (or a trip to the bar), take a screenshot of your site and add a 5-10 px Gaussian blur in Photoshop.
Photo: uixwithme.com
Wufoo’s homepage passes the blur test because the prominent items are the sign up and product feature buttons, both of which should be priorities on any homepage. The shape of the sign up bar makes it stand out, while the white space around the features buttons draws the eye by creating “breathing room”.
Selecting and Applying Web UI Patterns
Once you’ve determined the overall visual hierarchy of the website, you still need to determine the fine details of your web interface such as how users can input data, how the site provides feedback, and many other functional and aesthetic factors. The best ways to consistently address these needs are UI patterns. You’ll rarely be able to create an interface just by stitching different patterns together, but they are a great foundation for customization.
In Web UI Design Patterns 2017, we explained the proper application of web UI patterns by looking at 63 examples from sites like Facebook or Pinterest. A UI design pattern is a reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem — not just a feature that can be plugged into your design or a finished design ready to be coded. It’s best to think of them as best practices for core site functions such as:

Getting Input — How will users provide you data, and how will the site give them feedback?
Navigation — What menus and tabs will guide the user along?
Content Structuring — How is your content presented and accessed?
Social Sharing — How can your site encourage more social sharing and interaction?
Photo: uixwithme
Anders Toxboe, designer at Benjamin Interactive in Copenhagen, theorizes that patterns can aid a site in three ways: context, flow, and implementation.
The broadest benefit of patterns, implementation, is the most cut-and-dry. A search box should be in the upper right-hand corner, form labels should be directly under the field box, etc. Instead of recreating the hierarchy for each page, a UI pattern ensures site-wide consistency.
When using patterns for flow, things get a bit more interesting. Patterns of this type force the designer to answer critical questions about their site. Would my site benefit more from lazy or account registration? What is the best way to get input from my users, given my target audience and the type of site? (Answering these questions will be easier by referencing your personas and scenarios from the previous chapter.)
Last (but in the grand scheme of things, first) we have patterns of context. This is basically choosing what type of site you want, and following patterns specific to that type. For example, let’s say you’re building a site for a professional entertainer: you’ll need to include things like an event calendar, biography, and portfolio. If you’re making a ecommerce site, you won’t get very far without a checkout system.

“UI Patterns help a site in 3 ways: context, flow, and implementation”

1. Selecting The Right UI Patterns

The process for selecting a UI pattern can be simplified as:

1. Figure out the problems that need to be solved.
   
2. Find out how others have solved it.
   
3. Examine a good example of its use on other sites.
   
4. Detail the patterns proper usage.
   

The criteria for determining the right pattern is elaborated on by Melissa Joy Kung, Editor-in-Chief of Technori, in her post about the topic. While the above process is focused on finding the right patterns, hers discusses how to decide whether or not a pattern is right for you. She illustrates her points through the example of a “ratings” style pattern used by Rotten Tomatoes:
1. Define the pattern — Understand what the pattern does. As shown above, the ratings patterns gives users quick feedback and allows their voice to be heard, plus it is useful in collecting user data.

1. Find a strong example — Search the web and find a site that uses the pattern well, in this case, Rotten Tomatoes.
   
2. List the problems the pattern solves — For the ratings example, it creates more reliable and direct feedback, it makes the site more interactive and fun, and it gives the users’ opinions more weight, which they appreciate.
   
3. Know when to use the pattern — Be aware of when the pattern is appropriate. A ratings pattern is used when your product requires additional feedback, or when you want to expand on existing feedback like a written review.
   
4. Know how to use the pattern — Know the technical details. A good use of the rating pattern will include an aggregated average of the user ratings, an option to change the rating later, a display that lights up when you hover on it, a cue to let the user know their rating is accepted, etc.
   

1. Pattern Libraries

Unless you’re a hardened UI designer with years of experience, it’s hard to keep track of all the patterns at your disposal. Missing out on a useful pattern can waste your time with finding a solution that others have thought of already. In order to stay up-to-date, below are some quick references for pattern libraries.
UI Patterns — A convenient web pattern library with patterns organized by category; however, it has not been updated recently.

Pattern Tap — A community of designers for web design education and resources.

Web UI Kit — Collection of 30 patterns compatible for Axure, Omnigraffle, Photoshop and Sketch.
For a comprehensive source of UI patterns, you can check out this listing of over 40 online pattern libraries from Smashing Magazine.
Takeaway
Understanding visual hierarchy and applying design patterns are two of the most important skills in good web UI design. They are fundamental and interconnected: once you know how to visually prioritize information, you’ll have a better grasp of how to apply existing design patterns.
Prioritize your interface based on how people scan for information. Then, apply color, contrast, color, size, and spacing for further accentuation. In the next chapter, we’ll delve deeper into design principles, specifically more of the “why” behind the hierarchies and patterns we’ve discussed.
Reference: uixwithme & Web UI Design Best Practice
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Hierarchy in UI Design
Spacing in UI Design
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Hi, I'm a 19 year old guy from Germany and I'm currently in this situation where I live in a living facility for young adults who need support, where unfortunately I'm the only German and the other 5 guys are all refugees who barely speak German. Recently this super annoying guy moved in the room directly over me who is loudly talking to his phone in his language (and constandly makes loud noises in general) all day and night. Due to the paper-thin walls I hear every word from him in my own room which makes me as a sensitive person feel super uncomfortable, triggered and deeply affected in my privacy. This is why I can't sleep, learn/work for school and enjoy things anymore. He basically forces his very different culture on me. Unfortunately these German supervisors here are not doing anything because they don't care about someones life getting invaded and impaired which is why I am the one now who has to move out even though I originally felt very comfortable in this home before this guy moved in. It's like having no rights in this country when it comes to personal freedom/privacy/peace etc. This one supervisor even said the guy also has his right to be loud! Since I thought these values (freedom, independence etc.) have an important role in America, I was wondering if this would be handled similar or differently in the US and how you Americans think about that? How would You react in my situation?

Hi all,
I've just become a first time home owner and I had a question about sorting my kitchen.
I've needed to move things around quite a bit because some of my cabinets are small and I keep adding new necessities after going shopping.
What's a good way to keep track of things in a brand new kitchen with a layout you're not familiar with? Today, I couldn't find my cooking paper set because I had to move it out of the lower cabinet to make room for the cutting boards.
Thanks!