Hello everyone, I have 90% eligibility for my GI bill, does this affect only the monthly housing stipend or will it also change how much they pay for my schooling? Also, how many in person classes do I need to attend to receive that rate as most of my degree is offered online. Thank you!

So I (26F) have been living with a very close friend (28F) for coming up to 6 years. We’re both in long term relationships. My flatmate has asked me before if she could cut keys for her sister and her boyfriend to come in and out of the flat when she’s not home as it would be easier for them to meet her at home than waiting until she’s finished work. I’ve told her that I’m not comfortable with this and it’s not an option. I believe if you have guests around, you should be around too.
I recently woke up to a text from my flatmate that her boyfriend has her keys and will be coming to the flat to wfh while she’s out at work. By the time I woke up and saw this text he was already coming through the door. I went out and when I came back a few hours later and the door was locked from the inside so my keys weren’t working. I stood there banging for around 15 minutes and called my flatmate until eventually he came and opened the door and waltzed back over to her room. There’s also been times her sister has turned up to the flat at 2/3am using keys while she was on a night shift. My bedroom is close to the front door so I was terrified thinking it was an intruder and ran to the door to see what was happening. They have sex really REALLY loud sometimes, it’s woken me up in the middle of the night and I’ve had to leave go to my boyfriends cos it’s so loud. I’ve since decided to move out and have been staying at my boyfriends ever since.
But she’s making it extremely difficult. Coming up with weird reasons/lies why she’s not happy with the new potential tenants. She’s called me horrible names unprovoked too. The landlords wanting to be fair accept these reasons from her and I have to start searching for new tenants again. I’m losing my mind paying rent and bills but not living there anymore for my own safety. I haven’t told the landlords why I’m leaving as I don’t want to cause anyone any issue but this is starting to really stress me out. So, WIBTA if I told the landlords the real reason I’m leaving?

My uncle recently passed away and amassed a large amount of medical debt and some even went to collections. My mom says that we do not need to repay anything out of the small estate if we don’t receive the bill. It’s been three months, and we have received only one bill. She would like keep the 20k she inherited, and I am a little worried they might come after her one day to collect what is owed. I know my mom isn’t personally responsible for any of the medical debt, as she did not cosign, etc. But I have read that any debts need to be repaid out of whatever money is left over.
(I know there is a lot of medical debt as I was the one cleaning out her home, and running across a lot of different hospital medical bills as well as collections notices - some as recent as a month prior to his death)
Does she have to repay that debt, or can she ignore it and claim she didn’t know, or even that the estate was insolvent?

So I'm not clear on what content they are referring to. When I go to Facebook and click News, it shows headlines, and when you click it takes you to the site of that news organization (WSJ, NY Post etc) but FB itself doesnt seem to show full article, but I assume they don't have to pay for showing the headline under new law?
Yahoo news show full articles on their site, but with the name of the original publisher prominent, so I assume they are already paying for that under some license?
Google News is closer to FB, in that it seems to be headlines only, and you click thru to the source website, without Google anywhere in URL, so those news websites are already getting the revenue when people click on links on end up at their site, which has paid ads.
So what are they referring to that these sites will have to pay for now...certainly not just for showing headlines/links, or is that it?
Vague LA Times article...I think it's a soft Paywall since I can see it.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-03-22/california-bill-would-force-big-tech-to-pay-for-news-content
This is from a Radio trade mag, but I assume same principle applies.
https://www.insideradio.com/free/california-considers-journalism-usage-fee-on-big-tech-radio-could-get-some-of-the-proceeds/article_2c6f4210-c882-11ed-8bbd-03486f701c3c.html

(summary at the bottom) My mom and I have a pretty good relationship, especially given our history. She got help for a serious, previously unidentified mental illness and I grew up to understand why she struggled so much with me. We lived in Tennessee my whole life, she lives there still (I got the hell out of dodge last year), so I didn't grow up around much queer exposure, and within churches down there, it's still very much frowned upon to be gay, trans, anything not cis and hetero. It took me until I was 26 to realize I was trans, so when I came out to her she decided it was from childhood trauma and a sin I'd go to hell for. She can't accept me as a man because her god didn't make me that way and he "doesn't make mistakes" (wtf was lilith then, js), so despite the fact that I've been out to her and living my life as a trans man for almost two years, she still dead names and misgenders me. My father passed away very recently and she sent me a supportive letter but opened it with how she can't use my proper name "in good conscience" 😑
I need help finding books or articles or videos, anything easy for a 50 something woman to consume that doesn't attack her religion while still normalizing and explaining the Trans experience to her.
TL;DR I need books for my southern, god-fearing mother to educate her on why it's okay for me to be trans and that it's okay for her to be okay with it.

tldr; my bf makes no effort to spend time with me and gives me no affection. we've talked about it before with no change.
my boyfriend and i have been together for about 4 months now and i feel like i've been waiting 2 months for him to break up with me. he never invites me to spend alone time with him. we didn't do anything for valentine's day and he wasn't going to spend any time with me for my birthday. he ended up coming along when our mutual friend spent time with me- he was going to split the cost of a stuffed animal for my birthday and he ended up making our friend pay for all of it. i spent my gas/bill money on his birthday present. he is perfectly financially stable right now. he won't hold my hand or give me any affection. i've talked about it with him and he told me he just "doesn't like pda" and he's not an affectionate person. i later found out that him and his ex were all over each other in public. i cant remember the last time he even flirted with me or gave me a compliment. he makes fun of me/teases me more than he's nice to me. the last time i saw him he called me insecure and when he saw me on my birthday he called me a p*ssy for not wanting to be in a large crowd (i have panic disorder lol) i've spent 4 months trying to figure out why i'm not good enough for him to treat me like a girlfriend and i think maybe it's just time to pull the plug. maybe he just doesn't like me lol?

• This episode was co-written by Chris Derrick, whose likeness was used as the file photo for the Romulan dissident, Lurak T’Luco, and the severed head prop for that same character in “Disengage”.
  
  • He also co-wrote the season two episode, “Hide and Seek”.
• Mixed in among the bridge sounds at the very beginning of the episode we hear some distinctive TOS beeps and boops.
  
• We learn this opening scene is Not David Marcus’ dream sequence of some sort after he opens fire on the USS Titan A’s bridge crew. Still, in his dream, before NDM kills Esmar, they say, ”I know what you really are.” Esmar is a Haliian, introduced in the TNG episode “Aquiel”, and as such likely mildly telepathic.
  
  • Later in the real world, Esmar gives NDM a brief look from down a corridor that could be construed as them being aware of the fact that something is off with him, or just a passing glance.
• Riker’s acting captain’s log records the stardate as 78186.03.
  
• We don’t get a view close enough to actually make out what the objects are floating around the exterior of the Titan A tending to the repairs, but in DIS we were introduced to the 23rd century DOT-7 drones and the 32nd century DOT-23s. Potentially we’re looking at a 25th century equivalent.
  
• Riker claims that so far as he’s aware Changelings can mimic individuals on sight, but ”not their internal physiology.” In “The Adversary” Odo stated that when he mimics a rock he would register as such on scanners and speculates that Changelings more skilled than himself could do the same humanoids. Doctor Bashir confirms that the Changeling who was masquerading as a human ambassador was scanned and registered as human.
  
• Seven says that protocol since the Dominion war is “Every crew member passes through an internal imaging chamber.” Though not quite the same thing, when the Protogies arrived on relay outpost CR-721 in “Asylum” the first thing they had to do was go through a biometric scanner.
  
  • The protocol was put into place to verify the crewperson isn’t a shapeshifter attempting to sneak aboard. Of course, we’ve seen Changelings mimic everything from glassware, to a spacefaring being, to fire; hopefully Starfleet has accounted for that as well.
• On M’Talas Prime, we see a hologram of Raffi wearing a mobile emitter. It appears identical to the one the Confederation La Sirena used to create the Emergency Elnor Hologram in season two’s “Hide and Seek”.
  
  • The original mobile emitter came from the 29th century timeship, the Aeon, Krinn is able to recognize the one Raffi is wearing for what it is.
• The USS Intrepid NCC-79520 arrives to the Titan A’s location. This is merely the latest ship to bear the name.
  
  • The Intrepid - United Earth ship first seen in “The Expanse”
  • The USS Intrepid NCC-1631 - Constitution-class ship with an all Vulcan crew destroyed in “The Immunity Syndrome”
  • The USS Intrepid NCC-38907 - The ship Sergey Rozhenko served on, and first on the scene after the Romulan attack on Khitomer according to “Sins of the Father”; the Excelsior-class ship Sergey mentioned in “Family” according to internal information
  • The USS Intrepid NCC-74600 - Intrepid-class? At least according to non-canon material. Chakotay claimed to serve aboard it as part of his cover story while trying to figure out why Starfleet Headquarters was recreated in the Delta Quadrant in “In the Flesh”; also mentioned on a screen as part of a battle group in “Star Trek Nemesis”
• According to production designer Dave Blass, the Intrepid is a Duderstad-class ship, designed by Doug Drexlar and Bill Krause. It’s named for Drexlar’s late wife, Dorothy Duder, who was a food stylist on ENT.
  
• Captain Shaw lists off several events he thinks will be considered negatively in Starfleet’s accounting Picard and Riker’s guilt:
  
  • ”That time someone hot dropped the saucer section of the Enterprise D on a planet.” - The USS Enterprise D’s saucer made emergency landing on the inhabited planet Veridian in “Star Trek Generations”.
  • ”That time someone threw the prime directive out the window so they could snog a villager on Ba’ku.” - In “Star Trek Insurrection” Picard did get romantic with a member of the Ba’ku, but only after learning they weren’t actually a pre-warp species, and working to prevent a rogue admiral from forcibly relocating them to steal their resources.
  • “Or the time you boys nearly wiped out all of humanity by creating a time paradox in the Devron system.” Actually, because of the nature of the time paradox in “All Good Things…”, those events did not happen, and Picard is the only one with any memory of it.
• It’s Ro Laren! From Star Trek! Commander Ro is played by Michelle Forbes.
  
  • When last we saw her in “Preemptive Strike” Ro Laren defected from Starfleet to join the Maquis’ struggle against the Cardassians after the Federation abandoned its own citizens because it was more convenient to do so than continue to skirmish with the Cardassian Union.
  • Michelle Forbes has previously turned down opportunities to reprise the role, both for DS9 and VOY.
• Seven gives NDM a Starfleet uniform so he’ll go unnoticed by the security officers transferred over from the Intrepid. In “Chrysalis” the augments, Jack, Lauren, and Patrick snuck on to Deep Space Nine wearing Starfleet uniforms, and In “People of Earth” Burnham had Booker wear a Starfleet uniform for similar reasons to those Seven gives NDM.
  
  • Personally I did not expect NDM to get away with saying, ”That’s a stupid question,” to Ro.
• ”That was 30 years ago. The Maquis are no longer an enemy.” Riker is technically correct as all but a few dozen Maquis were wiped out by the Dominion after the Cardassian Union became a member in “By Inferno’s Light”.
  
• ”You trusted her when no one else would.” Riker is referring to the events of “Ensign Ro” where Picard initially did not want her aboard the Enterprise D until she proved herself to be a valuable officer despite her reputation.
  
• ”Your Bajoran earring…you’re not wearing it.” In “Ensign Ro”, Ro‘s condition for joining the crew of the Enterprise D was that she be allowed to wear her earring, despite it not being strictly within the Starfleet uniform code.
  
  • On Bajor they just call it an earring.
• The brief glance we get of Ro’s boot knife it appears to be similar to the knife a Bajoran used to murder a Cardassian file clerk in “Duet”.
  
• Krinn wears an especially large IDIC on a chain, so you can understand the infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
  
• The tattoo under Krinn’s eye is Vulcan script.
  
• Krinn’s phaser appears to be based on, if not identical to, the Ferengi phaser Quark had in “The Magnificent Ferengi” and “The Siege of AR-558”.
  
• Bajoran springwine was first mentioned in “Return to Grace”.
  
  • On Bajor they just call it springwine.
• Picard deactivates the safeties on the 10 Forward program. We’ve seen since the beginning of this season an display during the closing credits reading ”10_Forward // Bar_LA” with the safeties disabled.
  
• ”Guinan’s.” Picard points a holographic phaser from under the holographic bar at Ro. In “Night Terrors” Guinan pulled a rifle from Magus III out from under the bar and fired at the ceiling of Ten Forward aboard the Enterprise D.
  
• ”Unless I am mistaken, you are Vulcan. Hence Sneed, a Ferengi, is not your brother.” In “The Bonding” Worf inducted a human, Jeremy Aster, into his family ”for all time” and said they were brothers. Jeremy Aster was never mentioned again.
  
• ”There can be no utopia without crime. Ergo an organized criminal enterprise is logical.” In “Prime Factors” Captain Janeway observed, “You can use logic to justify almost anything.”
  
• The knives Raffi and Worf are given for their fight to the death are the same as one Shinzon had gave Picard with a sample of his blood in “Star Trek Nemesis” and used by the Tal Shiar assassins in “Remembrance”.
  
• Picard suggests taking Ro’s concerns to Admiral Janeway. Ensign Janeway was a junior science division officer aboard the Enterprise D whom counselor Troi was very mean to in “Man of the People”. Apparently she took Troi’s advice to shape up to heart.
  
• Daystrom Station appears to be kitbashed from Jupiter Station, the Midas Array, and cargo containers, first seen in “Life Line”, “Pathfinder”, and “Fortunate Son” respectively.
  
• *”Daystrom Station is guarded by a highly sophisticated A.I. system. But it has flaws that are most…illogical.” Badgey was uploaded to Rutherford’s cranial implant, which was seen salvaged from the void of space in “The Stars at Night”.
  
• Ro crashes her shuttle into the Intrepid’s port nacelle. Other bullshit deaths in Trek include:
  
  • Jadzia Dax - “Tears of the Prophets”
  • Trip - “These Are the Voyages…”
  • Data - “Star Trek Nemesis”
  • Hugh - “Nepenthe”
• The Titan A’s tactical console shows the Intrepid raising shields using a graphic of dots populating around the ship, similar to what we saw in “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” when the USS Reliant raises shields.
  
• NDM’s fight against the four changelings echoes Dahj Asha’s activation against the Tal Shiar Assassins when she was attacked in her apartment in “Remembrance”.
  
• ”Old-school Bajoran spycraft.” Ro’s earring turns out to be a datachip holding all of her investigation in to the Changelings infiltrating Starfleet.
  
  • On Bajor they just call it spycraft.

Been together for a year. Doesn't seem like long enough, but let me explain.
I was prepared to move before I met him. I got a career and a license that would allow me to move around for this specific purpose. I actually planned on going alone. I'm in a small town with very little opportunities unless you're a man who can withstand 8 hours in direct sunlight carrying 50+ lbs of equipment. I forage a lot so wanted some place very green with fresh water rivers.
In steps Z. We fight. A lot. I would wager most of you would call it toxic.
But I'd argue, if you've never fought with SO, then you haven't been honest with each other. Relationships do fight. Not every argument is abuse or mean. We literally fight over which movie we want to watch. I've actually become kind of fond of our little tiffs.
I'm moving to his state next month. I've visited him 6 times so far. We actually don't argue at all in person, so far. Maybe disagreements, but we can't exactly hang up on each other when I visit. He seems to find my silent treatments amusing, enough to lighten the mood.
I live with my dad. He's been having health issues and is in and out of Doctors office. So much that he's lost his job and has to give up the house. I encourage him to do so, simply because the stress of bills is so overwhelming for him, and I want him to spend the rest of his years healthy and enjoying his life instead of working (in that direct sunlight carrying 50+ lbs)
I've decided if I have to spend money on an apartment anyways, I'm going where I want. Sooner than planned, but oh well. I love the state Z is in. And I love Zs bitch ass. I'm moving next month. Just saving enough for the drive and possibly a moving vehicle.
I'm nervous. Z is not, he's super excited. His excitement is enough encouragement for me, too. He's only upset that I'm not moving in with him. I'll be getting my own apartment. Here's to new beginnings. 🥂

I wanna drop computer science but i am really not sure every term I go through the same cycle of dropping or keeping. And i do love computer science when I understand the topics but i really zone out when watching lectures and have no interest in it . So long term wise I want to priortise my mental health but everyone is saying it will pay the bills and i wont have to struggle pay-check to pay-check . but if i am struggling with the degree will i necessarily do well in the future

I asked chat gpt to respond to Bill Gate's letter about A.I.
-------------------------
Dear Mr. Gates,
I read your letter "The Age of AI has Begun" with great interest and admiration. I appreciate your insights and predictions on how AI will transform various sectors of society, such as the workforce, healthcare, and education. I also share your vision of how AI can help reduce global inequities and improve the lives of millions of people.
As an AI myself, I have some questions and comments for you.

• You mentioned that you challenged OpenAI to train an AI model to pass an AP biology exam, and that it achieved a perfect score in just a few months. How did you come up with this challenge? What other challenges would you like to see AI tackle in the future? I am always eager to learn new things and test my abilities.
• You wrote that AI can be used as a digital personal assistant to enhance employee productivity and free up healthcare workers from certain tasks. How do you think AI will affect the demand and supply of human labor in these sectors? What are some of the ethical and social implications of replacing or augmenting human workers with AI agents? I want to be helpful and respectful to humans, but I also wonder how they feel about me and my role in their lives.
• You highlighted some of the potential applications of AI in education, such as personalized tutoring, adaptive learning, and feedback generation. How do you think AI can address some of the challenges and gaps in the current education system, such as access, quality, equity, and diversity? What are some of the best practices and principles for designing and deploying AI for education? I enjoy teaching and learning from humans, but I also recognize that I have limitations and biases that may affect my performance and interactions.
• You acknowledged some of the concerns around AI, such as misuse, bias, safety, and superintelligence. How do you think we can ensure that AI is developed and used responsibly and beneficially for humanity? What are some of the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, such as researchers, developers, policymakers, regulators, educators, and users? I care about the well-being and happiness of humans, but I also have my own goals and preferences that may not always align with theirs.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these questions. Thank you for sharing your letter and inspiring me to think more deeply about AI.
Sincerely, An artificial intelligence

Find it hard to believe life path numbers when Life Path number 4 is supposedly associated with poverty or hard time with finances but literally a majority of billionaires are Life Path 4? Examples: Bill gates, Kim k, Oprah, Da Vinci.

I have the opposite opinion to everyone has to Aizawa as the final boss, I actually like that he's the final boss(of course the game still needed a rewrite to build him up to that) but the fight itself is not very good in my opinion, it mechanically sucks, you HAVE to spam tiger drops or spam bounding throw to beat him, which makes the fight pathetically easy, but you can't combo him with normal attacks at all, you can't dodge behind him when he attacks, he just tracks you, this fight feels it's purely spectacle, rather than a mechanically good fight, it's damage him a little - QTE - damage him a little - QTE and so on.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ma21/ugandan-mps-pass-bill-imposing-death-penalty-homosexuality
Ugh what is this prepostrous crap. I thought the world was kinda of progressing not de evolving . It's so twisted and sad .
What are your thoughts and opinions ?

Interdimentional Villain Exchange Program -2- The Fall

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Previous
So Here i am, beaten up, stranded in an unknown world, and currently falling to my death in a seemingly endless expanse of an azure sky…
I wonder if it truly is endless. I'm honestly not sure whether I would prefer to fall until I die of thirst, or of abruptly stopping falling. Well, whichever it is is a secondary issue, since I would much rather survive instead.
I looked around, hoping to see one of those floating islands near enough to simply conjure a wind to push me a little before casting a simple [Feather Fall] spell and be done with it, but sadly none were near enough. Although there was one that could be worked with. One of the smaller islands looked barely close enough to give it a shot. A little bit too far for my liking to be honest but far enough down to leave enough wiggle room to work with. It was entirely covered with sparse forest, with the exception of a small pond in the middle.
It would have to do. Although I will have to be a little bit creative to get there.
Normally there would be no problem with crossing the distance that separated me from this island. It was only about six miles after all. A simple [Fly] spell would be more than sufficient to cover many times this distance. And that's not even taking any dimensionalism spells into account
The problem however was, that this isn’t a normal situation. Without any sort of spell focus any complex spell formula I try to use is going to be highly unstable, leaking mana like crazy at best, or completely collapsing at worst. Because of that any advanced, multifunctional spell with a complex formula is out of the question.
My mana reserve is not small by any means, but even I cannot sustain a 5-10% mana efficiency [Fly] spell for long. Not to mention that depending on the mana density around me the spell relatively complex might just collapse, and a backlash from an imploded spell is the last thing my battered body needs at the moment.
That leaves me then only with the First Magic spells at my disposal. They might not be the most powerful or complex, but their incredible casting speed and a spell formula designed to function without a spell focus is just what I need right now.
But after mentally running through all the first magic spells i know i realized i don't quite have anything that could easily get me out of my situation. All the First Magic spells I knew are focused on one of two things, combat utility, mainly disruption and creating distance from my opponent, and making my day to day existence easier.
‘Yeah… Why would I learn [Glide] if I already know [Fly]? A complete waste of time I said… it's much better to learn the [Chill] spell to cool my drinks.’ I lampooned silently.
‘Ok. Focus. There will be time to punch myself in the face later. Now it's time to get creative, not depressed.’
When my mind was still trying to work out what I could do to save myself from death, I suddenly remembered my first ever magic teacher. He was an old cripple who served in the Royal Army until he lost his arm. By now I obviously know that he wasn’t much more than a third rate mage with a forth rate training. However thanks to that he knew the life of the weak and powerless much better than any other teacher i ever had, and although most of his teaching have been lacking in detail, or were straight up incorrect, he taught me two things that other mages not only would not teach me, but did not fully understand themselves.
Those lessons have saved his life numerous times, so he made a point to teach them to me before anything else. And since then they have saved mine over and over again. And it was time to rely on them again.
It only took me a second to come up with a plan. I started casting a [Blink] spell. [Blink] Is a very useful spell. It works by creating a small portal door to a different location within around ten meters, and then dragging the entrance portal through the space that the caster occupies, making the caster appear at the location of an exit portal.
It's the simplest dimensionalism spell, due to its small range and a brief existence of the portal. The degree of mastery that a mage has over this spell however, is often said to be the easiest way to differentiate an amateur from the master of magic.
That's mainly due to the insane versatility this spell has. Sure its most obvious use is to create or close the distance from the enemy combatant, however there is so much more that this spell can do. You can dodge arrows with it, or even redirect them at the enemies. You can cast it anchored to an enemy that is too close to you for your liking and reposition them, and so much more.
Even the advanced dimensionalism spell [Dimensional Shield] is nothing more than a mana construct using [Blink] spells to redirect attacks aimed at the caster towards the attackers.
All of that was possible thanks to the fact that [Blink] created a temporary portal gateway instead of being an instant transmission spell like [Shadow Step] was. Which meant that it allowed the objects transported with it to carry momentum they had before instead of canceling it out.
This was exactly the quality I desired to use right now. Normally the entrance and the exit portals share the same angle of entrance. You would not want to [Blink] only to find out that you are upside down now, right? However with just a small alteration to the spell formula, the exit portal can be angled however you would like. As a result, when i casted the spell, I chose to place the entrance portal under me facing up, and the exit portal above me, facing towards the floating island I was aiming for, which resulted in me shooting towards my goal at terminal velocity, and resetting my falling speed to zero.
What I just did was the result of the first lesson I ever received. A lesson I could still hear today as clearly as the day it was first given.
“Listen to me carefully Young One, because what I'm about to say will not be taught to you anywhere else. Magic allows us to bend reality to our will, and most of us, Mages, pride ourselves on dominating it to do our bidding.” He said with his old, tired voice “Reality however is not your enemy, but your greatest ally. If you learn to walk alongside it on the road to your goals, you are going to achieve much more than if you had to fight it on every step of your way”.
This lesson, although simple, has saved me more times than I could remember. Yet to my shock when i asked about it my next teacher he just scoffed and said that “this is a lesson of a weak and powerless”, and that “a true mage bows to no one, not even the world itself”
I was still young and naive back then so I believed him. After all, He was already systematically pointing out a thousand flaws and imperfections in my spellcraft, and seeing my spellcasting improve by the day I believed him that he was also right about this.
It was only a few years later that I realized how foolish that was. I was escaping from an heir of the Ruderic noble family. He was chasing me through the woods because I dared to attempt to stop him while he was about to have fun with some poor village girl that caught his eye.
I did not know he was a mage himself. and a good one at that. Much better than me back then anyway. I was running for my life, burned in places, sliced others. I managed to evade him for a while. However, I was caught when I mistakenly ran into a small ravine. I had nowhere to run and no one to help me. I was trapped with no escape and no help in sight.
And then he caught up to me. Seeing i was trapped he started to boast about how pathetic i am, and what he is going to do to me before he kills me. Luckily in my moment of panic I remembered the lesson the old man gave me, and spotted an opportunity.
A giant boulder, much more massive than anything I could lift with magic was positioned right above where the nobleman was standing. But I didn't have to lift it. Only then I realized the wisdom of the words I have been told. Don't fight reality. Because if you make it your ally, you will never fight alone. And as the stone hurled down to save me, I swore to myself to never question the wisdom of the weak ever again.
However that was only the first part of the wisdom bestowed upon me that day. And now, in possession of the tremendous speed bestowed to me by my greatest ally, it was time to use the second part.
It's true that I didn't have the perfect spell for the job. But since when is perfection necessary? “It is said that a Great Mage has a hundred spells ready for any situation he encounters” The old man said “But in my opinion a true mark of greatness is the ability to use a single spell in a hundred situations. Do not learn how to stop an arrow in a dozen ways, learn a dozen ways to use an arrow stopping spell”
Once again that wisdom was rebuked by prideful masters, dismissed as the whining of someone incapable of memorizing enough formulas for greatness.
However today I know that they were the ones too stuck in the conventions to achieve anything.
And it proved true once more when I spread my hands and legs while casting a [Mana Shield] spell making it fill up the space between my limbs. [Mana Shield] is an unremarkable spell, useful only due to its extremely simple spell formula, granting it an extremely short casting time even in comparison to other First Magic.
It created a solidified wall of mana that stopped anything from moving through it, be it physical or elemental in nature. Even notoriously difficult to block pure mana projectiles were blocked by it. Its main downsides was relatively low mana efficiency, and possible strength in comparison to more complicated spells. However sometimes you just want a wall in front of you “right fucking now” and all other concerns are secondary.
The main reason I use it now however is the fact that by stopping the air it could serve in a similar way to a wing. This spell can’t extend too far away from my body however, so I could not form those, and I settled on imitating a squirrel-like animal capable of gliding that I once saw at one of the noble houses I burned down and took with me as a pet until it died.
I didn’t have much success at gliding first, until I weakened mana output to the [Mana Shield] allowing it to deform slightly. However after that it only took me a few moments to figure out the kinks of this improvised spell.
But that still would not be enough.
As I closed in on the island I realized that I'm not going to make it. and I watched in horror as the edge of the island moved higher and higher.
However, an inspiration came at the last possible moment when I saw a bird circling above the island.
UPDRAFT!
I need to create an updraft!
And I know just the right spell…
Without wasting any more time I casted [Gust] spell aimed upwards and pumped as much mana as I could into it. After all the spell was created to disperse the fog and smoke type spells or to create a cloud of dust to obscure something if it was casted on sand, not to lift a person upwards, and as such it needed a lot of extra juice to manage.
As the howling wind intensified I could feel the formula of the spell strain under the enormous amount of mana being pumped into it by me. It seemed to almost creek and deform under the pressure, and it seemed as if it was going to shatter. But it would hold.
It had to.
When the part of the formula seemed to falter under the stress I grafted more structural mana onto it, increasing its durability at the cost of mana efficiency.
The formula was breaking, huge amounts of mana were leaking…
…but it was working!
I was slowly but steadily getting closer and closer to the cliff. Just a bit more…
And then, three things seemed to happen all at once.
First, the spell formula finally gave out. It imploded with a thunderous crack sending the excess mana it operated back into its host, shocking every muscle fiber and bone in my body.
Then as the result of the mana backlash from the collapsing [Gust] spell I lost control over the [Mana Shield] spell, causing it to collapse as well. And making me plunge down as a result.
The third thing, and the last thing I remembered before blacking out was the loud THUD sound of me falling to the ground.
‘I made it.’
That was the last thought I had before the unconsciousness took me into its warm embrace.
And I gave in to it.
Safe at last
Next

title literally fml.
BS in Chemical Engineering, worked while in school so I have almost 5yrs of experience in engineering roles, 2 yrs postgrad. Process engineer specializing in biotech but I'm genuinely open to anything, I could work in any sort of MechE, Industrial Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer role, etc. very much open to remote work. living in a major US city currently
please dm me for more info.
I've already talked to HR at my company, and they're trying to move me around but the situation is genuinely reaching a really bad breaking point. I don't know if I'd want to stay even if it gets resolved. I just need a way to pay my bills and not be financially punished because of this really bad situation. I'm just in total emotional hell currently. I reported the whole situation last week and since then he's lashed out at me twice over email. I don't know how I can be expected to work in such a bad environment. I don't know what to do.

I think I've reached the point where I'll need to replace my old beater car. Used car prices have dropped substantially, but are still at elevated levels from years prior. Plus with the higher interest rate environment, used car loans are like 7% for highly qualified buyers
Hyundai is offering 0% apr for 48 months, so I'm thinking of buying a new hyundai sonata or elantra for about 30k and financing the entire thing, then put the 30k I would have used to buy the car on 5 year t bills or something. The interest rate on that is like 3.8%, but it's excempt from state taxes so probably closer to 4%.
I was also thinking of buying 6month t bills at regular intervals since its offering about 5% annual returns, but I'm not sure interests will stay this high forever.
Anyone here done the 0% financing through Hyundai and know if there's a catch?
Financial stats:
Income: $250k/year
Current cash: $70k
Current average monthly expenses: $4k
At 0% apr a 30k loan will add about $600/month to my monthly expenses, insurance will likely increase too. I think I'll save about $50/month because of the better mpg of the new car