4/10. You dedicated whole rooms to Peter Parker but couldn't even put in a digital side panel for Paul, the most important character since Uncle Ben? Smh.

Hi, I (20’s F) live on my own in this little comfy apartment. I live in a small town w no family and close friends nearby (they live in other city or another country, i am latina and grew up in latam). Few months ago a new guy moved into the apartment next to mine. Cool! From the few small interactions i have had w him before I learned he is not from the US either and he seemed pretty nice.
Last time i had a convo w him was on december when he asked for a favor which i was not able to do and asked me if my ring camera works well and i recommended it to him. Few nights ago he knocked on my door and I answered (my mistake) He told me he fixed the lightbulb on the hallway himself (I didnt even know it wasn’t working btw, he did it by his own and didnt call maintenance for that). He then started asking about me and my ethnicity/nationality, after I answered he asked me my age. This was when i felt weirded out and lied about my age. He then was like “cool, also i got a ring camera too as you can see, ok good night!” And he walked into his apartment.
I thought this was extremely weird and my friends agreed too after I sent them the video of my Ring camera recording that convo. Part of me wonders if being this friendly is part of his culture. As I mentioned, he moved freshly from another country to here for work. As someone who has had similar experiences I can understand how something that seemed normal in my country may not be as common in the US, so I wonder if this is the case here too and im just being judgemental.
I told my dad about this and he wants me to do a complaint to the admin in my apartment complex, saying that isnt normal at all. So idk what to think. Prior to this I really havent had weird interactions w this neightbor, we exchange numbers once just in case and we never have really texted. Only time after I spoke w him the first time (which was when he was asking me for a favor and i learned he was going to spend the holidays at his homecountry) he texted “Im at the airport now (I helped him w directions to get there and told him to lmk when gets there and/or if he needs help) thanks again! Will miss listening to your music” and that was the last time other than me sending the link for the Ring camera.
I’m always cautious and protrtive of myself since I really don’t have immadiste family nearby and my best friends also live far. My biggest fear is something happening to me and no one being able to immediately find out something is wrong. I do have friends in the area who would notice eventualy, but it is still hard and something that make me anxious and sad at the same time.
Part of me wants to let this go until something else weird happens. Is he also feeling alone as I do and is this his attempt to make friends? idk if im being naive or trying to be understanding or if i should be cautious about him and talk w admin? I dont want to talk to admin since that might be a reach, but idk. What should I do?

Rockies @ Royals - Sun, Jun 04

Game Status: Final - Score: 2-0 Royals

Links & Info

• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

	Rockies Batters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG
1	Doyle, B - CF	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	.230	.271	.400
2	Profar, J - LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.229	.309	.371
3	McMahon - 3B	4	0	0	0	0	3	2	.258	.335	.479
4	Moustakas - 1B	4	0	2	0	0	1	1	.244	.327	.372
5	Jones, N - RF	4	0	2	0	0	2	2	.333	.355	.533
6	Castro, H - 2B	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.277	.290	.336
7	Montero, E - DH	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	.222	.258	.349
8	Tovar - SS	4	0	1	0	0	2	3	.247	.294	.404
9	Wynns - C	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.179	.250	.231
	Totals	35	0	8	0	0	14	17

Rockies
BATTING: 2B: Tovar (17, Clarke). TB: Castro, H; Jones, N 2; Moustakas 2; Profar, J; Tovar 2; Wynns. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Wynns; Tovar 2. Team RISP: 0-for-5. Team LOB: 8.
FIELDING: Pickoffs: Freeland (Massey at 1st base).

	Royals Batters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG
1	Pratto - 1B	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.293	.393	.440
2	Witt Jr. - SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.233	.269	.425
3	Pasquantino - 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.255	.335	.450
	Lopez, N - 2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.239	.357	.338
4	Perez, S - DH	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.278	.313	.507
5	Melendez - RF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	.214	.304	.367
6	Garcia, M - 3B	3	1	1	1	0	0	1	.267	.333	.389
7	Massey - 2B	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	.236	.289	.338
	Waters - LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.227	.261	.364
8	Fermin - C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.208	.283	.438
9	Bradley Jr. - CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.136	.191	.214
	Totals	27	2	4	2	0	2	2

Royals
BATTING: 2B: Melendez (11, Freeland). HR: Garcia, M (1, 8th inning off Freeland, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Garcia, M 4; Massey; Melendez 2; Pratto. RBI: Garcia, M (12); Massey (18). 2-out RBI: Massey. Team RISP: 1-for-2. Team LOB: 1.

Rockies Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-S	ERA
Freeland (L, 4-7)	7.0	4	2	2	0	1	1	89-64	4.06
Suter	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	11-7	1.77
Totals	8.0	4	2	2	0	2	1

Royals Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-S	ERA
Singer (W, 4-4)	5.2	5	0	0	0	7	0	95-65	6.45
Clarke (H, 8)	1.1	1	0	0	0	2	0	20-14	2.89
Chapman (H, 7)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	10-8	2.95
Barlow, S (S, 7)	1.0	2	0	0	0	3	0	17-15	3.52
Totals	9.0	8	0	0	0	14	0

Game Info
Pitches-strikes: Freeland 89-64; Suter 11-7; Singer 95-65; Clarke 20-14; Chapman 10-8; Barlow, S 17-15.
Groundouts-flyouts: Freeland 9-6; Suter 1-1; Singer 6-4; Clarke 1-0; Chapman 0-0; Barlow, S 0-0.
Batters faced: Freeland 24; Suter 3; Singer 22; Clarke 5; Chapman 3; Barlow, S 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Clarke 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Alan Porter. 1B: Jim Wolf. 2B: Mike Muchlinski. 3B: Sean Barber.
Weather: 88 degrees, Sunny.
Wind: 8 mph, In From RF.
First pitch: 1:11 PM.
T: 2:31 (:16 delay).
Att: 13,128.
Venue: Kauffman Stadium.
June 4, 2023

Inning	Scoring Play	Score
Bottom 5	Michael Massey singles on a line drive to right fielder Nolan Jones. MJ Melendez scores.	1-0 KC
Bottom 8	Umpire reviewed (home run), call on the field was upheld: Maikel Garcia homers (1) on a fly ball to center field.	2-0 KC

Team	Highlight
COL	Bullpen availability for Colorado, June 4 vs Royals (00:00:07)
KC	Bullpen availability for Kansas City, June 4 vs Rockies (00:00:07)
KC	Fielding alignment for Kansas City, June 4 vs Rockies (00:00:11)
KC	Starting lineups for Rockies at Royals - June 4, 2023 (00:00:09)
KC	A deep dive into Maikel Garcia's home run (00:00:09)
KC	Michael Massey's RBI single (00:00:23)
KC	Chapman strikes out McMahon (00:00:08)
KC	Maikel Garcia's first career homer (00:00:26)
KC	Scott Barlow nabs seventh save (00:00:11)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E	LOB
Rockies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	8	0	8
Royals	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1			2	4	0	1

Decisions

• Winner: Brady Singer (4-4, 6.45)
• Loser: Kyle Freeland (4-7, 4.06)
• Save: Scott Barlow (7, 3.52)

Division Scoreboard

CLE 2 @ MIN 1 - Final
DET 2 @ CWS 6 - Final
Next Royals Game: Mon, Jun 05, 05:40 PM CDT @ Marlins (1 day)
^{Last Updated: 06/04/2023 03:55:09 PM CDT}

Postgame Thread 6/4/2023

Final Score: Rockies 0, Royals 2

Line Score - Game Over

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
COL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	8
KC	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1		2	4	0	1

Box Score

KC		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
1B	Pratto	3	0	1	0	0	1	.293
SS	Witt Jr.	3	0	0	0	0	0	.233
1B	Pasquantino	3	0	0	0	0	0	.255
2B	Lopez, N	0	0	0	0	0	0	.239
DH	Perez, S	3	0	0	0	0	0	.278
RF	Melendez	3	1	1	0	0	0	.214
3B	Garcia, M	3	1	1	1	0	0	.267
2B	Massey	3	0	1	1	0	0	.236
LF	Waters	0	0	0	0	0	0	.227
C	Fermin	3	0	0	0	0	0	.208
CF	Bradley Jr.	3	0	0	0	0	1	.136

KC	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Singer	5.2	5	0	0	0	7	95-65	6.45
Clarke	1.1	1	0	0	0	2	20-14	2.89
Chapman	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	10-8	2.95
Barlow, S	1.0	2	0	0	0	3	17-15	3.52

COL		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
CF	Doyle, B	4	0	0	0	0	2	.230
LF	Profar, J	4	0	1	0	0	1	.229
3B	McMahon	4	0	0	0	0	3	.258
1B	Moustakas	4	0	2	0	0	1	.244
RF	Jones, N	4	0	2	0	0	2	.333
2B	Castro, H	4	0	1	0	0	0	.277
DH	Montero, E	4	0	0	0	0	2	.222
SS	Tovar	4	0	1	0	0	2	.247
C	Wynns	3	0	1	0	0	1	.179

COL	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Freeland	7.0	4	2	2	0	1	89-64	4.06
Suter	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	11-7	1.77

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
B5	Michael Massey singles on a line drive to right fielder Nolan Jones. MJ Melendez scores.	1-0
B8	Umpire reviewed (home run), call on the field was upheld: Maikel Garcia homers (1) on a fly ball to center field.	2-0

Highlights

Description	Length	Video
Bullpen availability for Colorado, June 4 vs Royals	0:07	Video
Bullpen availability for Kansas City, June 4 vs Rockies	0:07	Video
Fielding alignment for Kansas City, June 4 vs Rockies	0:11	Video
Starting lineups for Rockies at Royals - June 4, 2023	0:09	Video
Breaking down Brady Singer's pitches	0:08	Video
Brady Singer's outing against the Rockies	0:20	Video
Michael Massey slaps an RBI single to left field	0:23	Video
Aroldis Chapman K's Ryan McMahon on a 102 mph pitch	0:08	Video
Maikel Garcia cranks a solo home run to center field	0:26	Video

Decisions

Winning Pitcher	Losing Pitcher	Save
Singer (4-4, 6.45 ERA)	Freeland (4-7, 4.06 ERA)	Barlow, S (7 SV, 3.52 ERA)

TLDR at the bottom.
My (27M) mother-in-law (92F) is in the hospital for at least the next week getting treatment, her nephew (50 possibly 60 M) has been staying with her the last few months but as of late has been acting strange, & neither me nor my wife (26F) know him that well.
First off, my mother-in-law is my wife's adoptive mother. She adopted my wife's birth mother, then my wife at age 12 after her birth mother was deemed incapable of caring for her daughter. I'll refer to her as my mother-in-law or my wife's mom. Secondly, my wife is her mom's power of attorney.
My mother-in-law is infamous for being naive, letting people take advantage of her for my wife & I to come clean up the mess. We've tried to get her to move in with us, or move into assisted living near our home but she refuses. She's still of sound & mind about 80% of the time, she handles all her own finances, groceries, takes care of three cats & a dog, usually without help because she doesn't allow anyone to.
But if an outcasted family member (usually from drugs, being abusive, or both) comes along with a sob story, she opens the door & lets them either live with her or come in anytime they want. Currently it's her nephew, who at the time of letting him in, had recently made an attempt at his own life.
He used to be a contractor & actually spent most of his time fixing up things around her house, the main project being her fireplace. Since then he has started working on clearing out the garage, one that my deceased father-in-law had hoarded an unfathomable amount of junk in, along with possible sentimental or even valuable items. It's kind of like a few golden needles in the biggest hay stack I've ever seen.
While my mother-in-law has been in the hospital, he's continued to clear out the garage & also had two men we've never met before in her backyard. I confronted them & the other two men left, while her nephew became suddenly emotional about his aunt's wellbeing, & also about me being slightly suspicious of him continuing to clear out the garage while she's in the hospital. Any time it's brought up that we just want to make sure nothing of sentimental or monetary value owned by her is mistakenly hauled off, he thinks we're accusing him of stealing & begins to cry.
On top of that issue, according to my wife & my mother-in-law's sisters, he has been sleeping most of the day & up all night. He wouldn't even wake up when they first took her to the hospital, only after to be upset that the stray dog he'd picked up had been accused of trying to bite family members while trying to get all the pets out of the living room before the paramedics to showed up. He also claimed to believe that the next day my wife & her mom were sleeping in her room all day, & that he didn't know she was in the hospital.
I talked to him on my own, appearing more open so he would talk to me & most of everything he said contradicted what happened or what I had heard from my wife or her aunts.
He has somewhat of criminal history & drug abuse, currently has warrants in a different county for fishing without a license & driving an ATV on private property. My wife looked into his room, which is her old room when she lived at home that actually still has some of her stuff in the closet. She saw a few strange items (a torch, a butter knife, notepads with stuff scribbled all over & several pens, some sort of red light newly installed on the wall) & it was so messy the entire floor was occupied with stuff. But no actual proof, because she didn't want to search the room & alarm him.
Lastly, we found the deed to her home, another property she owns, & something called a "quit claim deed" that was blank, all in a plastic sack on her kitchen table this morning. This was not there yesterday. We took that with us on our way to the hospital today.
I may be leaving out some details, I spent about an hour typing this to make sure I got everything right, but it's been a long three days. My wife has dealt with her brother as an addict, & her birth mother before she passed away. But this situation is completely new to both of us & are not entirely sure what to do, or what we even can do before something goes wrong. We're also worried even if we do get him out of the house, that she'll let him right back in when she gets better. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
TLDR: My mother-in-law is in the hospital, her nephew is being suspicious as far as her property & what's on it, also is possible back on drugs. My wife is her power of attorney, & are looking for advice on what we can or can't do about getting him out of the house permanently.

State/Country of Residence: California, USA
Ties to other States/Regions: No ties
URM? (Y/N): N
Year in School: 2021 BS + 1.5ish years of post-bac
Undergraduate Major(s)/Minor(s): Bio Major
Graduate Degrees (if applicable): None
Cumulative GPA: 3.5
Science GPA: 3.41
MCAT Score(s): 507 (126/125/126/130)
Research Experience: N/A
Publications/Abstracts/Posters: N/A
Clinical Experience (paid or volunteer): 250 hours of hospital volunteering, applying for clinical jobs to work throughout the application cycle to gain more clinical experience (any advice on this would be appreciated!!)
Physician Shadowing: 24 hours of shadowing (14 in Neurology and 10 in private practice Peds)
Non-Clinical Volunteering: Secretary of a pre-health club & Event coordinator for a dance club
Other Extracurricular Activities: 200 hours college cheerleading
Other Employment History: 122 hours personal assistant
Immediate family members in medicine? (Y/N): N
Specialty of Interest (if applicable): Nothing set rn
Interest in Primary Care (Y/N): Maybe?
Interest in Rural Health (Y/N): N
School List:
MD Programs

• California Northstate University College of Medicine
• California Health Science University COM
• Rosalind Franklin University
• Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - Shreveport School of Medicine
• University of Arizona - Tucson
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Albany Medical College
• Commonwealth Medical College
• Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
• Drexel University
• Eastern Virginia Medical School
• Hofstra Northwell
• Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• New York Medical College
• Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
• University of South Carolina School of Medicine - Greenville
• Virginia Commonwealth University

DO Programs

• Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
• New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine-Long Island
• Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences
• Rocky Vista University
• Touro University (California & Nevada)
• Western University
• Kansas City University COM

So the breaker in my garage has been tripping a lot lately, if it trips it’s not able to be reset(instantly re-trips). It’s a GFI breaker, since the outlets in my garage weren’t GFI when it was built. It controls the garage door opener, several lights/outlets inside, and the exterior outlet out front.
It seems to be tripping afteduring rain… so my thought is it’s the exterior outlet somehow… should I swap a GFI exterior outlet in, so it will trip just that outlet if it goes? I feel like the outlet needs to be replaced anyway if it’s the problem, since the caulk seal looks fine, I’m assuming it might be the outlet caps/seals.

Hi All,
I have Craftsman 139.18458D 1/2 HP garage door opener. The sprocket snapped off and I was able to replace it using a gear and sprocket kit. After putting everything back together and testing the door, the chain became really loose on one side of the rail and the other side became really tight. I took everything apart and was able to get some slack before it snapped. I hope this makes sense lol.
I'm not sure what caused this so I'm hoping for some suggestions for what might've caused this.

Anybody know some good places to explore around KC? Also, how do you find out about places? word of mouth or a website? thank you for the help!

“I stared into the void, and stared back.” I’ve always liked that saying, very versatile in its uses. It can be a metaphor for a primal fear of the unknown, the great infinite of space perhaps, or even for staring death in the face. In my case it is the latter, I just know that I am so fucking dead and it hurts so god damn bad. Back to earlier however is probably a better place to get started.
So I was just minding my own damn business in my truck on the way home from a job interview in the city with the windows down and the smells of the forest in my face, pretty nice if I say so myself. When suddenly a flash out shinned the sun by about a factor of a hundred or so appeared, blinding, but not quite enough to do permanent damage. I slammed on my brakes filling my nose with burning rubber and my ears with that unholy sound, note, I was not going slow. I grunted in pain as I held my eyes shut with a hand over them, tears streaming out and I had that damn effect in my sight, like when you stare at a light bulb too long. After a minute or two letting my eyes recover the air was filled with a different noise, a slow building electric sound and after a few seconds the most earth shattering boom replaced it, the explosion was so powerful I felt winds whipping through my open windows and felt my teeth chattering. By this point I was able to open my tear filled eyes again as I frantically began looking around to see what the hell was going on, then I spotted it, a ship so colossal that it can only be described as biblical in proportion, as if it threatens to swallow the sky itself. I then look down the mountain to see the city I had just come from with huge pillars of black smoke streaking into the sky, like fingers grasping towards the alien craft in the sky, which had now begun falling apart? No those were shuttles, black oval shapes with streaks of blue contrasting the orange sky of the setting sun “... Fucking what?” was all I could say as the sight lay before me, all I could think is that this wasn’t real, there is no way that this could be happening it’s far to cliche, I mean come on a giant alien ship shows up with a flash of light and starts shooting fucking lasers, with god knows how many smaller craft descending upon the earth. Yet… Here I was, so I needed to run, or rather drive, as fast as I could back home, so that’s exactly what I did, wiping the water from my eyes. I punched it much to the protest of my old truck. As I picked up speed I stare into the rearview mirror trying to get a better view of the massive ship, it’s blocky in a vaguely rectangular shape with the middle being wider and falling in sizes by blocks as it moved to both sides with many reflective surfaces at the end of barely visible barrels, and various random glowing lights dotted around the ship. I soaked up as much of the sight as I could before the trees blocked my view of the sky as I sped faster and faster into the forest towards home.
A short drive normally now felt like eons to reach my home in the forest, it wasn’t deep in the woods but it wasn’t just on the border either. I slowed down as I spotted the old rusted mailbox in my gravel driveway before making a sharp left. As I heard the stones crunch beneath me I looked in the mirrors in attempts to spot any strange hunk of metal following me, much to my relief I saw nothing but trees and bugs. As I parked the truck I sat for a second, catching my breath and continuing to look around, my small one story house was tucked in the woods with only 20 feet between it and the tree line and with how the driveway turned there was no way you could see it from the road. I took one last breath and held it for a few seconds before swinging the truck door open and jumping out before running for my fucking life towards my front door, I heard the gravel crushing beneath my shoes and that's it, normally there's at least one bird or the beginning of a cricket’s chorus, but nothing. I came to a halt and quickly jammed my key in the front door, fumbling a couple times but getting it in eventually, it didn't help that my hands were sweating profusely and shaking. I flung the door open and myself inside making sure to relock the heavy ass door, before sprinting like a mad man for my room on the left side of the house. But then I heard it, the sound not too dissimilar to a hurricane outside, looking out the window through the kitchen I saw one of those pods I saw swarming down from the mothership, the body was vaguely oval shaped with a cockpit raised up front through a 45 degree incline, it also had deployed its landing gear and a large door on the left had opened. There was no fucking way I was going to make it to my room, open the safe, load the gun and fire, so I made a horrible decision, I lunged into my kitchen and grabbed the handle of my biggest knife with my left hand while I heard a small explosion at my front door. As I unsheathed the knife from the block I heard things being knocked over in my hallway, but no footsteps strangely. I turned and ran back into my hallway as I heard yelling in some strange language. I looked to my right and saw what can only be described as lamia’s in sci-fi armor pointing a big ass gun at me, the face unseen behind its visor, her visor? It has boobs, but maybe the males of the aliens have boobs and higher voices too. A loud crack and the most horrible pain in my left shoulder and time begins to slow down, and that's where I am now.
Adrenaline is quick to act in dulling pain, but not instant as I learned in this moment. As I look at the creature I see that it is at least 8’ 2’’ and god knows how long with its winding tail. My head is agonizingly slow as I turn to look left, all I see is red, my red spilling from the open wound, blood, that’s the word blood, my blood is spilling out of me in liters. I reach over to the wound and begin grabbing for the stump, there is yelling in the background, I cannot find something that obviously feels like my bicep so I just grab something, falling to my knees. It's hard to breathe now. Something is rising and falling in the wound, wait, that’s my lung, I release it as a horrible taste enters my mouth, I can taste my spleen, that's not good, I think as I slowly turn my head to my murderer. Fear, fear is all I can feel, fear, agony, and rage. There are two of them, maybe more, one is screaming its own lungs out at the one who shot me. I wait there for what feels like years before a third alien shoves both of them aside and slithers up to me, the air is cold now, I swear it was 90 just an hour ago. I fall on my ass as I try to back away from the thing approaching, I try to push away from it but I lack the blood in my body to move my muscles. It turns to the other two and screams at the fighting pair, it then turns to me and lowers its voice in a soothing manner talking to me. It’s hard to keep my eyes open, maybe death will be warmer than here. It opens a large white package and scoops blue goop out of it, I have not the strength to resist as it slathers the stuff all over the gaping hole in my ribcage. The substance makes contact and is unexpectedly warm, but it stings worse than any wasp. Time begins to make its way back to reality, seconds slowly feel like minutes before returning to their former perception. I turn to see my wound and am stopped by a gentle hand and a kind voice speaking an unknown tongue. I slowly close my eyes, surely this is the end, I am dying now, all turns to black as I feel tears I didn’t know I cried, roll down my cheek.

The writer has made use of many techniques and devices to describe Ugwu's impressions of the city.
Firstly, the author has utilised hyperbolic verbs to describe Ugwu's impressions ofㅓㄷ the city. The author writes, 'too choked with expectation' , 'itched to lay his ch eek.' The use of verbs like 'choked' and 'itched' are used by the author to greatly exaggerate Ugwu’s emotions of ecstasy and excitement, they serve as a method of telling the reader that Ugwu has positive impressions of the city.
Secondly, the author has excluded conjunctions in the first part of the extract. 'Ugwu did not believe…the back of his neck.' The author excluding conjunction[s] creates the impression that Ugwu is so amazed by the city as asyndeton heightens pace and excitement.
Thirdly, the author has made use of parataxis to show Ugwu's positive impressions of the city. 'But he did not mind. He was prepared to walk more in even hotter sun.' The use of short sentences places emphasis on Ugwu’s shock of the conditions of the city.
Finally, the author has made use of similes to convey Ugwu's amazement. The author writes 'like polite well-dressed men' ; ' like tables wrapped with leaves.' The use of similes with positive connotations, 'well-dressed', conveys the idea that Ugwu only has positive thoughts about the city, [this is supported by an absence of information stating otherwise].
_____
0 4
Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the source, from line 20 to the end. A student said, ‘From the moment he arrives at Master’s compound, the writer portrays Ugwu’s feelings of pure excitement, but by the end it seems that he may be very disappointed.’
To what extent do you agree?
In your response, you could:
• consider your own impressions of Ugwu’s feelings
• evaluate how the writer describes Ugwu’s feelings by the end
• support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
One way the author has conveyed this impression is through the way they ended the story. At the end of this extract they wrote 'Ugwu stood by the door, waiting,' this contrasts to the previous 'choked with expectations.' In the end it seems Ugwu’s expectations were grossly inflated which may in the end lead to him becoming very disappointed.
On the other hand, there are moments where it is possible that Ugwu may have been emotionally neutral. The author has written quite vaguely, not allowing the reader to truly know whether Ugwu was disappointed or not, however, judging as Ugwu’s expectations are based off of his imagination and greeness, it is likely that he isn't disappointed but instead shocked and as a result putting on a more realistic mindset. Ugwu is constantly amazed, although, his master doesn't seem very welcoming 'faintly distracted expression,' 'oblivious that he had just asked people in.' It has little to no relation to his expectations, ' something sweet,' 'good fortune,' 'like a necklace,''never seen a room so wide.' Ugwu still only being amazed shows that he as a matter of fact isn't disappointed.
Another reason he may not be disappointed is because of the reason for his excitement. Ugwu is excited to to be in a place so different from where he is from ,'thatch roof,', the author has portrayed Ugwu as not excited for for the job or for the master, but, for the new experience, this is evident throughout the extract, 'the lawn glistened,' 'shaped like slender hills,' the use of similes being used to compare the setting places emphasis on the idea that it is not the master or the job that excites Ugwu, meaning that he can't be disappointed with for having a lackluster master[, or for something he doesn't seem very keen on in the first place].
It could also be said however, that Ugwu is disappointed. Whilst this isn't said or *noticed* in the extract it can be inferred from the extract. This inference could be made from Ugwu’s master's response to him which almost demeaned Ugwu, 'the child?,' 'remember something more important.' The use of the comparative 'more important' means that the Master doesn't view Ugwu as anything important, and so the reader infers that in response to that Ugwu feels depressed and slightly disappointed as things might not be as 'sweet' as he had previously thought.
In conclusion, I do agree with the student's statement as the sudden juxtaposition/change in mood has led me to believe that before he was cheery and after he was disappointed or melancholic.
​
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Q2
If there are few moments in life that come as clear and as pure as ice, when the mountain breathed back at her, Zoe knew that she had trapped one such moment and that it could never be taken away. Everywhere was snow and silence. Snow and silence; the complete arrest of life; a rehearsal and a pre-echo of death. She pointed her skis down the hill. They looked like weird talons of brilliant red and gold in the powder snow as she waited, ready to swoop. I am alive. I am an eagle.
How does the writer use language here to describe Zoe’s feelings?
You could include the writer’s choice of:
• words and phrases
• language features and techniques
• sentence forms.
[8 marks]
The writer to describe Zoe’s feelings has made use of a variety of language devices and techniques. How the author has done so will be explored in this 8 mark question.
Firstly, the author has made use of a perspective switch to describe her feelings. The author writes 'she waited, ready to swoop. I am alive. I am an eagle.' The noun 'eagle' has connotations of of freedom and exhilaration. The author has switched the perspective to place emphasis on these connotations, saying that Zoe feels free and exhilarated,[additionally,] another way emphasis is placed on this is the switch to the first person perspective which personalises Zoe’s situation for the reader making it easy to understand that perhaps Zoe does feel free.
Secondly, the author has described Zoe’s feelings through the use of repetition. The author writes 'every where was snow and silence.' The repetition of 'snow' and 'silence' places emphasis on the idea that snow was all there was for her creating an impression of total serenity, making the reader think that Zoe is at total peace.
Lastly, the author has made use of parataxis and asyndeton. The author writes 'snow and silence; the complete arrest of life; a rehearsal.' The use of asyndeton and parataxis both create excitement and increase the pace of the story which may have been included by the author to replicate Zoe’s feelings, namely that of excitement.

Hey reddit, let me start out with an apology for any errors I make, I'm dyslexic, this is my first time posting here, and I'm still really anxious and upset about everything going on, in particular as I have diagnosed PTSD and G.A.D. It also is probably appropriate to give a trigger warning for just about anything one could be sensitive too, from assault, to cancer, to death, because my life has had it all lately.... This is the very long winded story of how my neighbor couple, who are a toxic combination of entitled and addicted to some kind of uppers, are trying to make my life a living hell, and, how I am not retaliating and it's somehow making them even more hateful...
Relevant backstory about me/my home situation- I (36F) bought my house all by myself (yah!) in 2016 before everything got super expensive. I am a career musician, but because what I make performing in an indie band and in royalties varies WILDLY from year to year, I also am proud to be the primary child care provider for my niece, and three other long time family friend's children who are now between the ages of 5 and 7 but have come to my home for daycare and even over nights and weekends sometimes since they were infants we're all like a little extended family. I live alone other than my little pets and the children who are often here.
In June 2022 I was misdiagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer (most deadly kind of breast cancer) and spent 6 weeks helping my parents and the kids and my friends get ready to help me... then lose me basically, before it was determined it was NOT inflammatory breast cancer (yah!) I just had Regular old precancerous tissue being made to look even worse than it was because the tissue had also developed an antibodic-resistant infection allll over the tissue under my breast. Ultimately good news except the very next day one of the moms in our little childcare group died instead. Like some kind of nasty joke God was making that wasn't funny and I'm still not over. Then, my insurance company decided to fight me over surgery to have the tissue and infection removed while cycling me through endless rounds of antibiotics and more invasive (but cheaper for my insurance) treatments. I did the best I could to keep up with my home and life and still help with the kids but I was *really really* sick until February of this year (2023) when I finally got my surgery, and I'm still really struggling with the lose of my friend both for myself and her son. I also have no money or savings or anything of a safety net left anymore. I had to access it all while I was sick and paying for my surgery/medical care (so you now know I'm American I suppose).
Now, onto the neighbors...
In August 2022, this couple moved in nextdoor and have been single handedly changing the block vibe from "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood where a few of the parents smoke weed here and there" to "Nightmare on Elm Street featuring Crack" and I am not sure that I have ever seen so up close and personal the inner workings of.... sociopaths? Or whatever the correct name for people who are habitual lairs and take pleasure in causing harm to others (and maybe each other?). They are heavy drinkers, heavy cannabis users (no shade, I got my med card before surgery and with edibles I didn't even need other prescription pain meds!! but anything can be a problem for some people), and most unfortunately they do some kind of pills or something that make them very "up". While the wife is typically too "out of it" to maintain work, the husband works from home as some type of an accountant and seems to keep it together, and make just enough money, to maintain their "lifestyle" which basically means they do a lot of drugs and super weird addict things, but with an aura of entitlement. It's a toxic combination.
The couple, who I will call Sackie (44F) and Jam(41M), originally presented themselves as an older couple with Sackie in particular having many health issues.... and I will admit I first mistook her for being older and originally assumed her manner of speaking (a bit low, mumbled and slurred, without a good awareness to social cues or appropriateness, like trying to talk to me about how her brother molested her but her mom payed off the law to make it go away or how later she started a business with said mom, but her mom started having an affair with Jam's boss and that's how they met... in front of the children and/or in maybe my second conversation with her) for some kind of stroke. It was only after many awkward rambling conversations with Sackie that I realized they were actually not much older at all, and her many health issues (more on this later) were fictional or simply from withdrawals/drug use. I did learn, however, that Jam and Sackie have a long, sorted, unpleasant history, with just about everyone they'd ever met... and somehow, it was always they who were the victims.
Now, I try very hard not to victim blame and I know from personal experience that sometimes good people have strings of unfortunate events in their lives-- but Sackie's recounts of events were often hard to understand, or contradictory to previous stories she had told, sometimes even within the same conversation. So I knew almost right away she wasn't a reliable narrator, but, with our houses being located about 12 feet apart, my original misinterpretation of them as an older couple, and with Sackie intentionally lying about some things to get my sympathy.... I had no idea how bad they both really were or what I was in for...
I first spoke with Sackie more than just saying hi in passing sometime around Thanksgiving (American Thanksgiving) when she knocked on my door to ask if she and Jam could give me an extra out door Christmas ornamental they had. I thought they were just being Christmasy and kind. I didn't have the kids at my house that week and Sackie smelled the cannabis I had been enjoying on my couch (a rarity honestly) and said, "oh is that what I think it is?" Paranoid that she was offended I blurted out, "oh yes I have a cannabis prescription, this is probably TMI but if you notice me home and slagging a lot it is because I am waiting for breast surgery."
Sackie's face lite up, "Thats not TMI, I'm waiting for breast surgery too! I had uterine cancer and now I'm waiting for a double mastectomy. And don't worry I'm a medical user too" Now, I have since learned this to be a lie, but at the time it definitely made me feel sorry for her and I was just relieved I hadn't been "caught" by a neighbor who was offended by cannabis.
However, once Sackie learned I had weed.... well, she wanted to be my best friend. In fact, she almost invented a fantasy friendship with me. Asking for my number in case they needed someone to look in on their pets during the holidays to quickly turned to her calling and texting pages and pages of messages-- about how Jam abused her, and was cheating on her, how she had nobody and was so scared approaching her (fake) upcoming double mastectomy, how he'd made sure her name wasn't on the house when they bought it and he'd locked her out of all their money... and could she please have some weed because she was so sick? Oh she had a seizure because she was so sick could she please have some weed?? It went on and on, always about wanting weed, rides places, confusing pages of texts about how she was watching "dead to me" and how it was so unfair she didn't have a friend like those characters?? Could I be that friend??
It was intense. And I didn't handle it well. I did my best to just respond to her slower and slower apart and just be nice but short and say no that I didn't have or couldn't do XYZ for her.
Her begging and neediness intensified rapidly, sometimes she would come to my door and knock and ask for weed and I would feel obligated to give it to her just to get her away. She was always on something a lot more intense than weed when she'd knock. It was scary and sometimes the kids were here. She started texting me asking if I had "anything stronger" than weed and when I was understandablely like "no I don't do those things" she sent me about four pages about how she just meant "xanxa" because she used to have a standing prescription for xanxa and it helped her so much but she had "quit all her medicine except good ol weed and seeing a chiropractor" and was doing oh so much better now but just needed some but it was okay because she found another friend to give it to her.
This was the first time I expressly told her no and not to ask me about that type of thing and where she started to turn her fantasy friendship into me into a fantasy feud.
Shortly after she sent me another page long text saying, "not to be a bitch but I'm done with our one sided friendship." I responded that I understood, at this point it was Dec 22nd (2022) and I was just trying to spend time with my family. I said something like, "I understand, I have some health problems that make it hard for me to make new friends or even keep up with my current friends, but I will see you around as a neighbor." And hoped to never hear from her again.
Oh, how short that hope was. Several days later I started getting pages of frantic apologies, but also trying to make me feel guilty, and more frantic apologies, and letting me know that Jam is not cheating on her and evil and leaving her with nothing, and they're both such great people and always here if I need anything!!!
It's honestly hard to explain how unstable even her "nice" texts would sound and I'm not sure if we can post screen shots in this sub, but trust me, this woman and her husband are just constant, intense, invasive drama. While she and Jam both made me uncomfortable, almost like watching for when I would first let my dogs out in the morning or when a friend left my house and texting me about it... waiting on their front porch chain smoking for me to come outside then rushing over to talk-block me into conversations about other neighbors they hated, Jam's bosses affair with Sackie's mom, to tell me how sick they were, about how Sackie had to quit multiple jobs because her bosses would always sexually harass her... And stupid me would just try to kinda smile and nod and get out of the conversation.
I was so uncomfortable and somewhat scared of them because of the way they would talk about other people and each other and... its hard to describe but if anyone has even been close with someone using something like meth, you know how crazy their behaviors can be, even if they are being "nice." But until April 2023, they were just a bother, not a danger.
April was when Sackie's fantasy friendship with me turned into a full blown fantasy feud...
In early April, I was supposed to be recovered enough from surgery that I could work again so I to started to watch the children every week again, and apply for music gigs again... but unfortunately got a staph infection in my left breasts wound. I ended up being in a lot of pain and back on antibiotics and pretty out of it on my couch for a few days, though I managed not to be hospitalized again (yah!).
During the few days I was pretty much out of it during the infection, Jam and Sackie decided it would be a good time to get really "uppered" to rip up all the ornamental ivy in our shares breezeway (fine) but also OFF THE SIDE OF MY HOUSE AND OUT AROUND MY FRONT PORCH. They pulled down wires on the side of my house and did this during rainy season meaning they exposed my homes foundation to massive amounts of water no longer protected by plants and top soil.
I was in total shock. They hadn't asked permission, or even mentioned disliking the ivy, and they were clearly on something and STILL trying to rip up things around my front porch.
My kind, 70 year old father was over on April 14th, to help me do some weatheseason appropriate yard work I was struggling to do one my own because of the staph infection and we decided we had to try to say something to them about it, because at this point they were out front talking about what they were going to do AROUND MY FRONT PORCH. But again, wanting to keep peace my dad and I went outside and my dad just politely asked Sackie about what they were doing and, said something along the lines of, "well okay, just please don't do anything else on our side because we are going to take care of that ourselves..." and before he could even finish Sackie suddenly, in her slurred speech, yells "Do you think I'm fucking Stupid??" at my dad.
Now, at this point I can't take it anymore. My father thought he was going to have to change my diapers while I DIED this year. He does not deserve to be yelled at by some methed out neighbor. So I said, "Sackie, don't speak to my father that way, he is just looking out for me."
At which point Sackie LOSES IT and starts hollering to Jam and possibly just herself about how my dad and I are "so rude and trashy" and how they can do whatever they want because, they want things to look nice, etc etc, at which point I was just like, "come one dad let's go inside."
My dad and I worked on some chores in the back yard, then he was like, "I know we didn't do anything wrong, but let's go apologize because you don't want to have neighbor issues."
However, when we went back out front Sackie was literally pacing back and forward in the breezeway ranting to herself about how she had every right to do whatever she wanted with what I can only describe as a look of pure and total unhinged insanity. You know how when actors play their first role on screen after doing stage acting for years and so their movements come across as completely over the top? That's a lot how Sackie looked that day stalking up and down alley talking to herself, like a director had just told her, "act really nuts!" Except Sackie wasn't acting. My dad said, "okay, well, we tried, some people just want to be upset," to me, and we went back to working on my house.
Keep in mind, I was still on heavy duty antiboditics and fighting a staph infection at this time, and was trying to get the house in shape for my kiddo who's mom had passed away to be able to sleep over at my house that night to give his dad a little break. I figured Sackie would bitch about me to Jam and whoever else she could get to listen (like how she would speak about others to me) but eventually get over it and go back to trying to have her fantasy friendship with me, because after all, she was able to nag me into giving her free weed occasionally, and all my dad and I had done was ask her not to do anything else on my property, right? How mad could she be?)
Well, apparently, something I have now learned, is when someone addicted to uppers decides you are their fixation, they are as addicted to causing you hell.
The following day Sackie (and Sam according to her texts) sent me pages and pages of texts, again I'm not sure on the character limits or screen shot policy here, but basically she sent me about 10 text pages about how my dad and I were so rude and disgusting and she and Jam had the right to do anything they wanted as the breezeway is "their's " (again, that is their property on that side but only up until a foot and half or so away from my house, and definitely not around my front porch) and how she and Jam have always been so nice to me and I'm just such a terrible person, and "YOU'RE WELCOME " for how that side of my house will look?
She used a lot more curse words and details than that, many of which were not even truthful and were hard to understand, and kept bringing up a Tupperware container and a cloth canvas bag that she had left some kind of soup she made for my friend (my friend who Sackie also made extremely uncomfortable but would try to be polite to her when she was outside smoking) when my friend had to stay with me for a few weeks after she had to get a hysterectomy and needed help recovering, and saying "and just throw out that Tupperware I gave you, you have no idea the kind of niceness I've constantly given to you!" (remember friends, even this major pushover knows-- kindness done with the expectation of something in return is just manipulation) Like, somehow this unwanted soup she'd left my friend when she was recovering here in March 2023, made it okay for her to do whatever she wanted on my property?
This also feels like an appropriate time to add that it was when my friend was recovering at my house that I learned the extent of Sackie's lies about her health. Remember how I said she'd gained my sympathy by pretending she had breast cancer and was waiting on a double mastectomy? Her story was that she had found out she had uterine cancer after a miscarriage and she'd had to have a full hysterectomy and the cancer had spread and so she needed a double mastectomy now but she was having trouble with her insurance and her husband, that is why she wanted to mold me into her "Dead to Me" friend, right?
Nope. Apparently not. As, she told my friend that, "she knew exactly what she was going through because she had just terrible, terrible, periods and has endometriosis too, just like my friend, but she hasn't been able to get the hysterectomy she needed yet because she didn't have a doctor because she didn't do Western Medicine anymore, all she needed was a chiropractor and weed... oh and the hysterectomy for her terrible endometriosis just like my friend." She also said something that implied her husband was getting her a boob job, for cosmetic reasons, and there had never been cancer at all. I have no idea if the miscarriage was a lie too or not, and it isn't really relevant other than to stress, that Sackie and her husband really have a hard time with the truth.
Anyway, after her round of nasty texts after the ivy incident, I sent her back an extremely polite and short text, saying I was sorry she felt so offended by my dad and I asking her not to do anything else on my property, and I was very happy to respect their wishes for us not to communicate and I wished them well.
The next two weeks or so, until April 29th 2023, Sackie and Jam made me uncomfortable but were manageable. They did things like intentionally stacking hay against my fence, talking loudly to each other about how "trashy" I was, and at one point in time even pretending to do yard work but actually just smashing the side of my house with shovels! They even had someone else over at some point they were intentionally loud explaining too about how disgusting the ivy was and what a favor they were doing "cleaning it up".... but honestly I didn't even really care.
My paralegal friend recommended I start documenting things though, because she said some of the worst people she's seen in court are functional, entitled, drug addicts and I should not assume they would return to reason, and that it would be a good idea if I let the Neighborhood Stabilization Officer know what was going on, start documentation, and draft up a cease and desist to send if they did anything else and man, she was right, so right in fact, we didn't even have time to send the cease and desist.
On April 24th, out of nowhere, she sent me another several pages of unhinged texts, once again talking about how I should thank her for ripping up my ivy, throw away her Tupperware, how I was a terrible person and she and her husband and everyone think I'm on the Spectrum (hey man, autism is highly under diagnosed in women and that isn't the insult they think it is, but I could tell she thought she was calling me the R word), and just nasty absurd abusive things.
I sent her a text simply saying "Do not communicate with me or anyone at my house or threaten me or my pets again."
I found that dumb Tupperware and canvas bag she kept bringing up like it was gold, and put them on a porch along with another letter saying the same as in my text.
Jam responded this time, by smashing the Tupperware and leaving it back on my porch....
Now on April 29th, while I was hosting a sleep over for 3 of the children, and, as bad as this couple had been, I honestly believed they weren't bad enough to cause me trouble when the children were here with me. Looking back, I can't tell you why I gave them that kind of credit. Sackie self published a childrens book in her early 30's, and spoke of volunteering at children's libraries, at least according to her, and I suppose I thought that meant she'd have a respect for kids even if they did not have respect for me.... once again, I was wrong.
Around 5 or 6pm, the kids and I went out onto my front porch to bring our pizza inside at the same time as Sackie was getting out of getting out of her drug dealers car with him, she began screaming profanities at me, saying I was disgusting, threatening the pets, and other things I couldn't really understand fully due to her slurred speech once again but verbally assaulting me but this time, in front of the children was the last straw I had.
I quickly got the kids inside, away from her, and served them the pizza. I told them not to worry about the neighbor, that she was a kind of sick that made people yell when they shouldn't sometimes and they should just ignore her. I made sure they were content talking amongst themselves and eating pizza and strawberries- and went to call the police and finally told them about all the ongoing harassment, threats, begging, drug use, and now screaming and profanities in front of the children and asked for help.
Then I got ahold of one of the other moms who came and picked up all three of the kids, and we just pretended that we decided it was a better idea for them have a sleep over at her friend's house than mine. The kids were fine, but as soon as they left I lost it. Just big gut crying. The months of being nagged for weed, rides, and favors, getting passive aggressive texts about not being Sackie's new insta best friend, feeling like I was being watched constantly, worrying about Sackie saying inappropriate things in front of the children, dealing with Jam's creepy stares and used car sales man persona, the past weeks of their new upper fueled obsession with my property line and being the new fixation of their abuse, trying to be kind to them even as I struggled with my breast disease and Sackie trying to me as an emotional punching bag and free weed. I was finally crying so so so hard, my neighbors on my other side (a lovely couple my age) heard and rushed out and had me come wait inside and were so so so nice to me while I looked insane (did I forget to mention I'd let the kids 'do' my make up, meaning they'd painted my whole face with eye shadow including giving me a sparkly beard?) until the police arrived.
Now I live in a really nice neighborhood, but I am in one of the highest crime cities in America and our politicians and police staff are internationally questioned, so I was actually really impressed that the police came, cared, and, that somehow in my state, I *still* apparently looked less insane than Sackie and Jam.
They responded fairly quickly, and patiently looked over the wild texts from Jackie, my accounts of her and Jam passively terrorizing me, and checked out the side of my yard which they had originally ripped up the ivy and started this whole insane fantasy fight with me over.
They very much believed me and said I should have called them sooner, which surprised me. Sackie refused to come out and speak with the police but Jam came out to speak to the police via using his back door so Sackie could keep hiding.
The police came back and let me know that if Jam was the lesser of my two issues that I needed to becareful because they couldn't do anything on "hear say" but that Sackie had refused to speak with them and Jam reeked of alcohol. They said they told them to leave me alone, and that I had already agreed to do the same, and to just leave me alone, but that if they did anything I needed to call them because of how bad Jam, the lesser of the two, looked.
They left, I thanked them and my kind neighbors and felt like, it must be over right? Because if you do things like send pages of rambling violent, threatening texts, destroy property, and take so many drugs that your speech is slurred 24/7, and the cops come and tell you stop bothering your neighbor, you'd be scared right?
Again, I was mistaken to assume that Sackie and Jam's line of thinking would be at all on the side of logic, even in terms of simple self preservation. As soon as the cops left, Sackie and Jam came into my front yard and began to loudly talk about how disgusting I was to each other again. At this point I have both of their numbers blocked on my phone, but Sackie must has used one of those apps that allows you to text people who have blocked you and messaged me... "Have a great weekend"
So I go ahead and call the police who again, I am both pleased, and surprised, and a little scared by how quickly they return because my city is very high crime and for them to pay any attention to my calls means they must have clocked the neighbors as actual threat.
Sackie and Jam did go inside before the police came back though, and this time they both simply refused to open the door to the police. I imagine they had done many more drugs at this point.
The police said that they couldn't do anything since technically nothing had a record yet, but suggested that I file for a restraining order and provided all of the information I needed to do so. I was still sort of wishy washy about having a legal issue with my neighbors, but after talking it over with a few close girlfriends, one of them messaged me passionately outside of our little group chat about how much this couple, Sackie in particular, was behaving like a lot like her mother, a meth addict with a sense of entitlement who made her neighbors and everyone around hers life hell, obsessing over property lines and turned down begging, until eventually went to prison for 13 years for stabbing my friends dad. He lived thankfully.
But she was right, and my earlier mentioned paralegal friend helped me put together my paper work and evidence for a restraining order which we filed that Monday (April 30th).
They were served their papers on May 4th and thankfully, that *did* scare them into leaving me alone. Jam and Sackie would still intentionally talk badly about me to each other outside when they knew I could hear, and I imagine Sackie was trying to tell anyone who would listen what a bitch I was, but as long as myself and the children were unbothered I felt fine.
The court date came and I made the mistake again of assuming court mediation would be enough. Sackie showed up using a cain and pretending to be feeble, sickly and older, like she had done to me when we first met. Jam still looked creepy but wore a suit. My lawyer, who is also my middle school boyfriends father as an aside, was pretty confident I could get a full restraining if we went to court, but they agreed to restraining order terms as long as it stayed off their record for the purposes of background checks.
The way this works in my city is if they violate the terms it then automatically becomes a full order of protection-- but if they don't it gives them a chance to keep their records clean. It also would save me some money, because even though my lawyer was handling things at friend prices he couldn't do it for free. So I agreed to that. They were to stay away from me, my guests, not contact me on any platform, not harm me or my pets, it all seemed pretty fair and reasonable to me.
But alas, Sackie and Jam are not reasonable people. Literally the moment they got home from court Jam began working on some kind of project in his back yard, cursing about me to himself and clearly back on some kind of upper, he assembled and drilled this... strange tarp thing to my fence ???? Yes, my fence, and yes, this is illegal but I didn't have any luck getting the police to come out this time.
It has continued on this way. Them trying to do everything they can to harass me as much as possible without technically violating the order.
They're still trying to make my life hell, and, I am pretty sure my only option is to wait for them to physically harm me, on camera, for anything to happen.
So yes. That is how I kept trying to give my neighbors the benefit of the doubt, and in exchange, they're making my life hell. As I type this now Jam is out in the front yard, hovering on our property line, watering the grass, breathing heavy, grunting, and giving my ring camera dirty looks.
I don't have a good way to wrap this up, but, it felt good writing it all out to share anonymously. Thankyou reddit.
neighborsfromhell

[This is a translated excerpt from Clemens Traub’s “Future for Fridays?”. It’s a reflection about his time as an activist in “Fridays for Future” – the German branch of “School Strike for Climate”. The specific problems of western environmentalism adressed therein is germane to the issue of dysfunctional leftism often discussed on stupidpol and as far as I can tell nothing of this unique to Germany. The book is from 2020 and by now the movement “Fridays for Future” basically defunct. Meanwhile, the preferred tactic of current activists is it to glue themselves on main roads during rush hour. This protest method obviously affects working class people most, who usually have to physically show up at work (and often have to use cars to do so), and is less disruptive for the WFH email caste. The result of this is, surprisingly, a staggering 80+% disapproval rating for the climate organization “Last Generation” which is doing this.]
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I know the typical milieu of most “Fridays for Future” protesters well. In a way, it's my own and that of my current circle of friends: metropolitan, left-liberal, hip. A space for the daughters of doctors to meet the sons of lawyers. Gin tasting and discussions about plastic-free shopping and zero waste are equally high on the agenda. Veganism is as much part of the unspoken code of being trendy as frequenting second-hand shops. And the organic grocery store around the corner naturally enhances the location of your own home.
The offspring of the professional class keep to themselves. Does the climate movement represent a cross-section of society? Not even close! Fridays for Future is the rebellion of the privileged, and the movement offers them the perfect opportunity to flaunt their own cosmopolitan lifestyle and talent.
Many of my climate-concerned friends are questioning whether the social background of the demonstrators matters at all. Isn't that absolutely unimportant? The main thing, they are convinced, is that the earth is saved. It doesn't matter by whom. The population has been silent for long enough, and now it is finally time to stand up.
I admit that the consistency of this chain of thought was extremely appealing to me and that using social origin as an argument against a group is of course nonsensical. The outlined combative spirit also enthralled me at first. At the beginning of my participation in "Fridays for Future", saving the world was the only thing that counted for me. It didn’t matter who stood by my side. And it still wouldn’t matter for me today.
But what matters to me is the behavior and reasoning of the people protesting with me. And here the circle closes, because the social background reveals more about the movement than the demonstrators would like to admit.
In fact, I take the view that the exclusive social background of the young protesters is the actual birth defect of "Fridays for Future". But because the movement was far too homogeneous, far too elitist and correspondingly far too aloof right from the start, its members remained oblivious to it. Ultimately, only those who are doing well in material terms have the time and leisure to consider climate protection as the most important and also the only political issue of our time and to subordinate everything else to it.
Located in its ivory tower, the movement doesn't even notice that its criticism is leveled at the lifestyle of many economically disadvantaged people, who for financial reasons do not always have a choice. They are denounced as climate sinners because they don't shop in health food stores but at discounters. It never occurs to the demonstrators that there are people whose worries about ever-increasing electricity bills and rental charges make a discussion about forgoing air travel irrelevant from the outset.
And how could they? In their sheltered world, all of that is very far away. But that is exactly what makes the movement a risk, because it jeopardizes the already fragile cohesion of our society. For a large part of the population, however, other, more pressing everyday concerns prevail. For those who are afraid of being affected by job cuts in view of the announcements by the industry, the slashing and burning of tropical rain forest is currently of secondary importance.
Likewise, the extinction of exotic animal species is very far away for someone who worries every day about their tenuous retirement arrangements. That doesn't mean that everyday worries should completely obscure the problems of climate change, but it does explain why climate change is not the first priority for people with existential concerns.
It also explains why measures to save the climate must take economic concerns into account. And it explains why more and more people are wondering whether protesters will finally also take to the streets to deal with their everyday distress: lack affordable housing, declining pensions... plenty of issues exist.
The entire political discourse, both between the parties and outside of parliament, on the street, completely ignores the reality of life for many people in Germany! And I can well imagine that that's not a good feeling for many. The public discussions, which are often far removed from everyday life, exclude less privileged people. The result: we are all sitting on a social powder keg.
I don't originally hail from this metropolitan milieu, but grew up in a region that is often dismissed as "rural backwater". Publications such as "Landlust" and "Landleben" [trendy magazines promoting life in the country side] fulfill the longing of city dwellers for pure nature, but this dream only seems to apply to those people who consciously decide to have a weekend house in the forest. However, anyone who grew up in a rural environment will hardly benefit from this.
My parents live in the Palatinate. I grew up there too. My heart clings to the region, it is scenically beautiful with rows of wine-growing villages. But for an urbanite in pursuit of self-actualization it has to be the worst nightmare. In case your are unfamiliar with Palatinate’s culture: Schlachtfest instead of whiskey tasting. Very few apartments are actually furnished in this “country style” featured in the magazines. My home village isn’t shooting location for documentaries about gentrification. Maybe a camera team will get lost in one of our many hamlets at a Saumagen-centered village festival. But that would be pretty rare.
Drowsy villages provide the perfect backdrop while growing up. An ideal, idyllic world. But the older I got, the more I was drawn to the big city. I longed for a place that was more vibrant than the Palatinate and which could offer me more adventures and opportunities on the way to adulthood. Precisely this big, wide world I longed for. And I today I indeed enjoy its advantages. Whenever I drive home today, I have a feeling that two worlds that don't really have much to do with each other are colliding.
Shortly after attending my first Fridays for Future rallies, I paid another visit to my old homeland – these are becoming less and less frequent. When I enthusiastically told my acquaintances there about my experiences at the recent "Fridays for Future" demonstrations, I quickly realized how little they were interested. Out of pure friendship and politeness, they listened to me with half an ear.
I was quite surprised by that. What was the most hotly debated topic of recent weeks in my university town was met with absolute indifference among my old school friends here. They were more interested in the last day of the Bundesliga match or their last Tinder date than in the great climate revolution.
To be honest, I was initially disappointed and then increasingly angry at this lack of interest. While we young people in the big cities are trying to save our planet, the people in my home village are letting us down, I thought. Don't they understand that they too only have one planet at their disposal, just like us from "Fridays for Future"? Luckily, out of politeness, I kept those thoughts to myself.
In the days that followed, I started hearing disparaging comments about Fridays for Future with increasing frequency. In the eyes of my old friends, the movement was an "eco-sect", the self-promotion of big-city, left-wing weirdos. Someone called Greta Thunberg a "deranged menace". In addition to insults, they appeared to become increasingly bothered by the patronizing demeanor of many Fridays for Future protesters, who seem to perceive ICE-car drivers and meat eaters as second-class citizens.
The more often this happened, the deeper the wedge was driven between my current city life and my origins in my home village in the Palatinate. Between my old and my new world. For the first time in my life, I was just happy when I was able to drive back to the big city: finally the ideal world again, even if it was on the verge of collapse.
Ever since that visit, I've been quite hypersensitive whenever my enthusiasm for "Fridays for Future" wasn't shared 100 percent. In my eyes, there were simply only climate heroes on the one hand and climate sinners on the other. The absolute good or absolute bad – and nothing in between! It was only later that I realized how much I was already influenced by the “Fridays for Future” movement.
At first I could only offer my my old acquaintances reproaches. I accused them of being apolitical and uninformed about the world anyway. A mechanism of exclusion that is very common in "Fridays for Future", as I later realized. After all, at university I even mocked my old acquaintances as provincials, something I had always hated myself when my new metropolitan friends teased me about it.
But it was so much easier to just dismiss them as uninformed "provincials" than to argue with them and take them seriously. I didn't ask why my friends from my old home country saw "Fridays for Future" as arrogant or aloof, I didn't care at the time. Possible self-doubts could not arise in the first place.
I didn't anticipate, that this would actually fiercely play up in me over the coming weeks! I thought more and more about the experiences in my home country. It just wouldn't let me go. Where does the rejection of “Fridays for Future” come from, I asked myself. Where does the indifference in the face of urgent global climate problems come from? How could it be that my friends didn't see those and that they didn't comprehend the seriousness of the situation? I looked for answers but couldn't find any.
For several weeks, every Friday, there was no longer any plastic dishware in the university cafeteria. This gesture, following the "Fridays for Future" demonstrations, was intended to set an example for environmental protection. What should have caused storms of enthusiasm in theory, however, meant a very special kind of chaos in practice: balancing a piece of raspberry cake on your bare hand without a plate is more difficult than it might sound. Once the first piece of cake hit the floor, a discussion about the plastic boycott quickly broke out in the canteen.
It immediately turned out that the cashiers could only laugh at what they considered to be an idiotic ban on plastic. Their statements shocked many of my fellow students, who are big "FfF" fans. Instead of relaxed humorous small talk, my fellow students reacted with deadly seriousness. In the heat of the moment, the cashiers were even treated with extremely condescending insults. I will never forget how my fellow students lost all human decency that day in the supposed fight for climate protection. For the first time I noticed how fanatical and arrogant many of my "FfF" acquaintances had long since become.
After that event, something actually changed in me. But I didn't want to admit it to myself at first. But the more often I demonstrated at "Fridays for Future", the more alien the movement became to me. Today I know: It took an event like the one in the university canteen or a stay in my old home country to open my eyes and to realize how important sincerely attempting to understand other realms of experience before applying crude labels to people. Due to its exclusionary megalomania, “Fridays for Future” is incapable of this realization. But only a person who approaches other people, takes them seriously and wants to understand their everyday lives will be listened to. Only those people can actually affect something. They might even, in the best case scenario, save our planet!
While "Fridays for Future" was unable to make inroads my home village’s community, the media was showed more interest. Interviews with activists became more and more frequent on television. The talk shows couldn't get enough of them. "Markus Lanz", "Anne Will" or "Hart aber Fair": All of them had at least one "FfF" activist to visit. The more I saw them there, the more their arrogant demeanor bothered me. I suddenly switched off people who I still saw as inspiring personalities a few months ago. They kept raising their index fingers admonishingly. Looking down from the ivory tower at anyone who disagreed.
Finger wagging was slowly but surely becoming the hallmark of the movement. Their image of the enemy was crystal clear. Their worldview is dangerously one-dimensional. My big city friends suddenly fought everyone they saw as being complicit in the misery of the world: the meat eaters, the plastic bag carriers, the ICE-car drivers, the short-haul fliers, the long-haul fliers, the cruise tourists, the farmers, and of course the evil SUV owners. But honestly, don't we all belong to one of these groups from time to time?
Once they suddenly started cursing anyone who accidentally commits a tiny climate sin, even if it's just incorrect sorting of trash, I felt like they were in the ultimate battle against the rest of humanity. Elitist hubris everywhere I looked. In their moral arrogance they were (and still are) completely unaware of how many "normal" people they alienated by doing so. My assessment that "Fridays for Future" is primarily a movement of socially privileged young people has now been backed up by corresponding figures. The Berlin “Institute for Protest and Movement Research” got to the bottom of the social composition of the climate movement. On March 15, 2019, it surveyed “Fridays for Future” protesters at rallies in Berlin and Bremen. The study was financed by the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen-affiliated "Heinrich Böll Foundation".
The study’s results were illuminating: More than 90 percent of those surveyed stated that they had at least completed their Abitur (or advanced technical college entrance qualification) or were currently striving to do so. An overwhelming majority of 90 percent! Not even 1 percent of the demonstrators attended secondary schools [which prepare pupils for non-academic vocational training]. Almost two-thirds of the students considered themselves to be in the upper-middle class. Even before that, I had no doubt that "Fridays for Future" is a movement of the affluent. But what I read in this study surpassed my estimated. "Fridays for Future" does not in any way represent a cross-section of society, as has often been claimed.
I was surprised how little the sobering result of the study was then discussed. Society had to be informed about the privileged background and the resulting aloofness of the young protesters. Doesn't this change the entire perspective on the defining social debate of the last few months?
The figureheads of the movement in particular all come from the “most bourgeois” background. For example, we have Luisa Neubauer, the best-known German "Fridays for Future" activist. She grew up in the relatively expensive Elbe suburb of Iserbrook in Hamburg. Everyone in Hamburg knows: Not exactly a residential area that is known for its social housing. She did her Abitur in Hamburg-Blankenese. It is Hamburg's villa district par excellence. Sightseeing buses now offer tours through the district to present the magnificent villas to curious tourists. She is a scholarship holder of the party-affiliated foundation Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and is also a member of the party. So nothing stands in the way of a career in politics, she says so herself. "I don't want to rule out a career in politics," she told Zeit Campus, for example. [Neubauer is, in fact, a scion of the oligarchical Reemtsma clan; so is her cousin, another figurehead of the movement]
It’s less a rebellion from below and more a case of perfect self-marketing. But now cracks do appear in this underdog stage production. Today Luisa Neubauer can only be reached via her management. Demonstrators as pop stars! And of course you can't just talk to them on the street when you're demonstrating together. At least not with “Fridays for Future”. Please, what a naive notion! Although there are also critics of the excessive portrayal of people within the "Fridays for Future" movement, there is no real change in sight.
In the meantime, the climate movement has become one thing in particular: a career springboard for ambitious young elites. "Fridays for Future" is the perfect stage to make a name for yourself. Many of the educated offspring of academics are of course aware of this. The more media attention, the more attractive it is to be in the front row. Supposedly idealistic activism can now be marketed very well.
But not only the figureheads like Luisa Neubauer want to get some of the public spotlight. More and more "Neubauer disciples" are trying their luck in the "Fridays for Future" profiling machine. There we have, to name just a few examples, Linus Steinmetz, Carla Reemtsma or Sebastian Grieme.
Getting an appearance on a talk show or at least being able to read your name in the newspaper - all of this can become an opportunity of a lifetime. Being in the front row not only feels incredibly good, it is also a kind of free ticket for later professional life. And as if that wasn't enough: A flood of new Instagram followers is of course also a fantastic side effect. With this in mind: full speed ahead!
Who could object? Everyone is looking for recognition. Doesn't everyone want to take advantage of the opportunities in their life? And finally, every society needs ambitious young people who will later enrich politics, business and culture.
At best, people who want to be the center of attention also bear responsibility for themselves and others. So far no problem, you might think at first.
But how will many people with limited financial resources feel when those rebels who constantly lash out at the lifestyles of others take advantage of it for themselves? While many citizens have to accept new climate costs in their everyday lives, they also experience how Luisa Neubauer is offered a position on the supervisory board at Siemens. In view of this, the suspicion of many people that climate activists are making careers at the expense of other citizens is all too understandable.
I have other concerns as well. In our time, the frustration with the elites is growing. The "enraged citizen phenomenon" has become one of the most discussed topics of this decade. Intellectuals around the world are concerned about the cause of this worrying development. Our society is currently experiencing a "rift" between two major population groups. In an anthology they edited, the political and social scientists Wolfgang Merkel, Ruud Koopmans and Michael Zürn differentiate between “cosmopolitans” and “communitarians”.
There are those who benefit from the future and are therefore relaxed about it. Above all, they see opportunities in it and view the globalization of our world with optimism. This group is referred to as cosmopolitans. But many people are also afraid of change. They believe that the future will not hold anything good and, potentially, only the ever-possible economic decline. Given the "opening" of the world, communitarians see the dangers in particular. They often have the feeling that they are not really noticed by society's elite.
The well-known distinction between “anywheres” and “somewheres” by the British journalist and author David Goodhart supports this finding. Goodhart distinguishes "anywheres" who are educated, wealthy and will feel at home in their circles around the world, and "somewheres". They belong to completely different social milieus and are relegated to a specific place where they work, live, have their friends and struggle to assert their status.
Most "Fridays for Future" activists know: the future belongs to them. Many have the classic biography of a cosmopolitan. Because of their social background, they were born with everything they needed to benefit from our system. Everything is just right: the appearance, the social environment and of course the education.
Although they face the end of the world as a constant threat, their future does not scare them. Why? The doors are wide open for them. They master the complicated rules of our individualized knowledge society very well. You will do your internship in Brussels and not in Bottrop. Better the EU Commission than retail, a sector without future anyway. And also: cultivate connections! Your English vocabulary is usually larger than German. Perfectly prepared for the future, come what may - because they are the elite of tomorrow. The dangerous thing about it: most of the demonstrators are not even aware of this.
The well-trained "Fridays for Future" activists prefer to see themselves as misunderstood outsiders in society. Being an outsider is what makes rebellion sexy. At the same time I say to myself: What must a socially disadvantaged person think when suddenly wealthy cosmopolitans like to play the role of the outsider! And they don't just like it the role. No, they are really putting effort into staging it.
The classic distribution of roles between "perpetrator" and "victim" in the social context is thus turned upside down in a negligent manner: no longer the single mother and multi-jobber is seen as a victim of the existing social conditions, but the climate-conscious scholarship holder who has to experience how the consumption of affordable meat endangers our environment.
But that's not all: instead of listening to the concerns of hard-working people, they blame them for their environmentally unfriendly diesel car, which they need for their daily commute to work.
Instead of considering questions of justice with "Fridays for Future", the movement reduced itself from the start to questions of lifestyle. In my circle of friends, too, the extinction of species is simply cooler than poverty in old age and the issue of gender is hipper than low basic pension.
Above all, the privileged know the social code of the new “morally good” life. The new green-bourgeois bearing regulates the friend-foe scheme of the climate debate. A mechanism of exclusion that often pushes fellow citizens who are already worse off even further aside. A good person has long been only someone who can show an ecologically sound certificate of good conduct. The existential feeling of many that they just have to somehow make ends meet does not exist in the living environment of the (upper) bourgeois offspring. In the climate debate of the last few months, worlds have collided that couldn't be more different. Worlds that are moving further and further apart.
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[The author doesn’t mention it, but the social milieu that makes up the bulk of the climate movement is also very fond of importing Anglo-inspired race discourse. Towards the end of its decline, they were increasingly caught in purity spirals. For example: should white musicians with dreadlocks be allowed to play during happenings?
The study from “Institute for Protest and Movement Research” also examined ethnicity of the protesters: they are predominantly of ethnic German stock, much more so than the average German citizen. Who could have known?]