So I’m really reactive to smells, especially of lately due to burnout, even with smells that didn’t bother me before bothers me and I have a really strong sense of smell. So I have two cats that are indoor so they have litter boxes and I used to be somewhat able to tolerate the smell so change and clean out the box, but now I can’t stomach the smell whatsoever, I can’t even be near the rooms they are in because the smell instantly makes me nauseous. The thing is my partner has been kinda stuck with the cleaning of them for the last while and they are kept clean (no one else seems to smell it around except me) but I don’t want to leave him with doing it every time, I just no matter how much I try hold my breath or just deal with it I instantly gag and feel nauseous. Does anyone else have similar issues and have hacks that could help me at least tolerate it?? I hate that I can’t just do it I feel so useless.

I'm a female,14, and I'm in 8th grade studying for my final exams so I can enter a proper high-school(I'm Romanian),basically the years I went to school I didn't really get along with my classmates mostly because bullying was a big thing when new people appeared in the class or just small jokes about appearance would come up and you couldn't really do much about it.I made a friend there and she is problematic but I didn't start misbehaving since I met her.
My mother complains alot about me having no friends and my only friend being her.When she'd bring people up I would just tell her I don't care about them because,to be honest,I don't. It's just because she knows their mothers and gets along with them and considers that i should be friends with their daughters.Basically shoving people to be my friends when I don't think they even like me.
Fast forward,talks about a final party for 8th grade come up,and all my class decided to rent a place where just us we could party.I don't like them alot and sincerely I wasn't pleased to go at that party but I thought we should end up on good terms and have fun (?). Apparently they decided to make a group chat with only some people and the other class to plan a party together. But me and my friend weren't invited on that gc. Basically excluding us and other 2 girls. And after we found out we weren't very happy and decided to tell them we're not going to attend since they don't seem to care about what we want.
I was pretty mad and feeling excluded so I decided to tell my mom.I didn't want her to intervene I just wanted some comfort because I was feeling down. And I told her the whole story and she said that in her words "If other people were invited in that group and you weren't it means there's a problem with you" and I was kinda shocked because,wtf,how could you tell your child that?! I ofc didn't say anything and my father and her kept saying shit about me and how I don't have friends,I'm arrogant and narcissistic. And my mother said "I never forced you to be friends with anyone" and It got on my nerves because she litterally did,so I yelled that out,I told her that "You did" and my father just slapped me across my face and send me to my room.Ive never expected that from him.He never laid hands on me. Yes he would tell me shit but never hit me.
I went to my room in litterally shock. It wasn't enough for them but their continued with a lecture to my two brothers that I'm a problem.And my friend is a bad influence. I slept crying and I can't really tell anyone because that would be stupid

Okay so I need some serious help and guidance. This is going to be a bit of a story, so i apologize for the length.
Info: 23 yr old male, gay, 5”5, 130 pounds-ish
(Sidenote: I used to be a fat child so I’ve always had body image issues, and in high school I was anorexic/ bulimic for a few years. The issue I’m going to be discussing is separated from these past occurrences, but I thought my past with eating disorders was worth mentioning as it’s related).
My issues began about 3 years ago. I started getting more into fitness for aesthetic reasons. Before this decision I was already very healthy (exercised about 3 times a week, no alcohol, lots of Whole Foods, good sleep, and have been a vegan for many years beforehand). Once I made this decision to get more into fitness, I developed an eating disorder over time and bad body dysmorphia. I over-exercised and under ate, I was not fueling or recovering properly from lifting sessions, which made me lose a lot of weight that I did not need to lose as I was already skinny beforehand. Eventually after about a year and a half i realized my issue and began eating more, which lead to great results both physically and mentally. However it seems that since recovering from the eating disorder, the over exercising has come back. I’m no longer afraid to eat enough, but i just am doing wayyy too much. I’ll put my full current routine below, but to sum it up I’m working out everyday, at least an hour and a half. I have two hardcore leg days (Mon/Fri) along with a lighter leg day that is combined with one of my 2 arm days (Weds), 2 arm days (Weds/ sun), and 3 abs/ core/ full body yoga days (Tues/ Thurs/ sat). I do lifts at home using dumbbells, kettlebells, and resistance bands, as I don’t like working out with others. My current routine gives me the aesthetic goals I want, which is strong legs/ glutes, a toned waist, and toned arms, but this routine is taking away a lot from my life. I don’t want to progressively overload with weights as I already did this going from a 20 to 30 to 40 pound dumbbell I’m currently using, plus I’m ok with my current muscle size. I just want to modify my current routine to give me similar results but not have it take over my life. I wake up between 4:30 and 5AM every day since i workout in the morning, as this is the only time i can do so. I have to wake up so early because the workouts I listed above take so damn long. My 2 hardcore leg days (Monday and Friday) used to only take 2 hours, and now they’re 3 hours. I get results, but the rest of the day I feel weak, exhausted, and like I’m running on stress hormones. This is the major issue I’m having, as my main goal with weightlifting was to have juicy thighs/ glutes, which I’m getting, but at what cost. My remaining lighter leg day (Wednesday) is also combined with arm lifts and a 45 min walk. For 2 of my 3 abb days (Tuesday/ Thursday) I do an hour and 20 mins of stomach vacuums, an intense 25 min core/ full body yoga video, and then a more relaxed 30 min full body yoga video, which ends up being about 2 1/2 hours counting rest and bathroom break. For the remaining 3rd abb day (Saturday), I do the vacuums, the intense core/ full body yoga, and then a 10 min jog ending in a sprint (about two hours total). My remaining day (Sunday) is just arms and a 45 min walk which I have no issue with.
Current Routine: (5:20-8:20)AM LIFT: LEGS Monday-10 x 4 (40) reverse lunges, 12 x 4 (48) squats, 9 x 4 (36) deadlifts, and 20 x 3 (60) glute bridges. ALL USING SINGLE 40 LB DUMBBELL
(5:30-8:00)AM VACUUMS/ABS/YOGA Tuesday- floor vacuums, 25 min core yoga, 30 mins full body yoga.
(5:40-8:10) AM LIFT: ARMS/ LEGS/ WALK Wednesday- arm lifts, 30 glute kickbacks (each leg) with 20 pound, 15 x 4 exercise- band hip abductions, 10 x 4 (40) glute bridges, 45 min walk. ALL USING SINGLE 40 LB DUMBBELL
(5:30-8:00)AM VACUUMS/ABS/YOGA Thursday-floor vacuums, 25 min core yoga, 25 mins full body yoga.
(5:00-8:00)AM LIFT: LEGS Friday-10 x 4 (40) reverse lunges, 12 x 4 (48) squats, 9 x 4 (36) deadlifts, and 20 x 3 (60) glute bridges. ALL USING SINGLE 40 LB DUMBBELL
(5:00-7:00AM) VACUUMS/ABS/JOG Saturday- floor vacuums, 20 min core yoga, 10 min jog with spring at finish.
(5:30-7:00)AM ARMS/ WALK Sunday- arm lifts, 50 min walk.
⚫️I need help in reducing this routine. It is taking over my life. I have to go to bed by 9:30 every night in order to sleep enough for a morning workout everyday, which has drastically killed my social life. This exercise disorder has killed my libido, and I’m almost certain my cortisol levels are too high because I go through days of water retention/ bloating most likely due to constant physical & mental stress. My Goal is to restructure and lessen the entire routine overall to be more sustainable, but my main focus is to reduce the length of time for leg days.
⚫️I need help Specifically with shortening the mon/ fri leg days so they don’t take 3 hours. Theoretically I understand it shouldn’t take 3 hours, but because of the large number of sets & reps, I need to take more rest periods in order to finish the full leg workout. I like the leg exercises (reverse lunges, squats, deadlifts, and glute bridges), but just not the excessive reps. Ive accepted that reducing these leg days may result in some muscle loss. I just need to find a way to still do these 4 leg exercises with similar results I have now, but not taking as long. I’ve heard that excessive reps actually hinders muscle development. Are my rep numbers considered excessive? and would reducing my rep numbers cause muscle loss, even if they’re excessive?
⚫️Is two leg days (instead of 3), enough to maintain my current muscles? I want to cut out the additional 3rd day of leg lifts on my Wednesday arm day, but I’m worried that cutting out these lifts will make glutes smaller.
⚫️ Is 2 abb/ yoga days enough for tone? Would cutting off the 3rd day negate or improve my goal of have a defined but slim torso? I’m worried this 3rd abb day I’m currently doing could eventually overdevelop my core, which I don’t need as my torso is already square shaped. However I’m also worried that only doing 2 abb days a week will make me wide torso less defined. This 3rd abb day is on Saturday, the day after one of my intense leg days, so I always feel depleted and exhausted for this workout.
⚫️LASTLY…. I need outside perspective. I’ve already spoken to my cousin about this as she’s a personal trainer, and she Told me I was really overdoing it. Ive already reduced my Reps for leg days to my current routine, but it still feels like too much. I know I’m overdoing it, I’ve known for a while but I just feel stuck and that I’ll lose my results if I modify my routine to be more sustainable. I love fitness but this is taking a toll on my life. I know that I need to lessen this routine, I just have no idea where to start, and no idea how to restructure it in a way that still gives me similar results to what I have now. Please any help is helpful, I’m desperate.

this has been going on for five days now. every waking moment is extremely painful and anxiety inducing. It all started when someone I know posted about how they weren’t doing too well and was gonna take a break from social media (I’ve made sure to check in on them, they have their families support and a therapist I promise I am not trying to make this about myself, I feel so self absorbed making this post) and I just completely broke down. I feel so anxious and so much stuff is resurfacing from my childhood and I’m in so much pain. I don’t have access to a therapist or anything, I begged my mom to admit me into a hospital because I was having bad thoughts but she said I would ‘get over it’. I feel like the only break I have from my feelings right now is sleep, and I can barely sleep aswell. I don’t know what’s going on with me, I wish I did. I don’t know how to make it better. I don’t have any support and I feel so miserable.

I apologise if i come off a little evasive i am homestly a bit scared n i don't know what counts as a stupid question.
So some1 in my family was accused of a crime and arrested. it was an assault charge but i think there might be something in there about s*exual assault attempt. i am no confused because my whole family beleieves that this person is lying and went to police with a lie but when i asked him why they would do that he said it was money. That in nsw you don't have to even be proven to be a victim like they dont have to have successfully prosecute and charge you that you can just be given compensation and he says they get it up front now. i said that sounded so crazy because even if you were on the dole it coukdnt really be that much money, right?
And he said they could get a lot and that the victim person was over 18 and knew how to work the system. but when i ask more questions my mum gets upset at me because he is in a really bad place Rn and he needs our support.
But this as well as some many other things arent making perfect sence in my head. so i thought maybe other people would know if this is likely? do victims in nsw get enough money that it makes sense to file false charges and claim compensation? that they will get a big lump payout? so sorry if this is not the right place i just don't know who to ask and i am so confused.

Trigger warning: self-degrading; comparing oneself, taking relationship with F/O at an extreme face value, controlling
I want to make it clear that I’m not (exactly) asking for help on this, I’m already receiving help for many things and I plan to for this, too. I just want to vent about my crippling feelings and outlook for F/O with a community that revolves around folks who have feelings for fictional characters and the impacts it has. Maybe someone else here can relate and feel seen or heard. Putting this on a throwaway.
“You’re not F/O’s type,” “You wouldn’t be the first choice,” “You know F/O wouldn’t love or get with you,” “F/O’s not real,” “Fanon > Canon F/O!“ “I love shipping F/O x canon!” Yeah. I know.
I’ve loved him for over a year. He’s the most influential and powerful F/O I’ve ever had in my young (16-18) life so far. He’s given me strength, something to care and love as profoundly as I do when I’ve lost hope in the real world from everything I’ve been through. Yet after all this time, all the changes I went through, I still am deeply, deeply bothered with almost anything correlating to him.
Does he have traits I never expected of him? I have mixed feelings on him. Specific headcanons? Annoyed. What about relationships with other characters? Especially implied feelings? My mood is ruined. He’s not real, he’d never love you the way you want him to, and you’d not be his first choice? (You’re inferior to him and any love interests or ships; they’re all better than you.) It can take me days to go back to feeling better. I’m sorry, but the lengths of impact it has on me goes beyond things I wish to dive deeper into; “bad” is an understatement.
It’s like I have an urge to go back to my old habits and control my partner, the relationship, other people. But I do what I can to resist; because that’s not right. Regardless, what’s left behind is this extremely painful, especially physically, hollowing feeling of sorrow in my chest.
Denying the reality that he’s fictional wouldn’t feel right. Him being fictional is what makes the relationship feel special unlike anything else. But being told, “he’s with you, now! You’re the one he chose. In another universe, you two are together!” Doesn’t help ease any pain. In my eyes and beliefs: no. He hasn’t chosen me, he’s not with me; he’s fictional. He literally can’t consent or not consent, tell me his real feelings about my situation, me.
Our relationship is 100% without a doubt, one-sided. It’s like dating a celebrity but they have no idea about you; like I’m some parasocial stalker. I am willing to believe that yes, there is a chance he’d chose me (due to some of his choices being player-oriented), but I wouldn’t be his first. Especially since he meets others way before me—a living, breathing human—that catch his eye in source. That is a fact. In my heart, I wish to treat him as if he were physical, but my mind knows it cannot deny the truth.
Any time I feel horrible about this, I just consume more of him to feel better. Greed, gluttonous, anything of the sort.
Maybe I’m being too harsh on myself and have severe low self-esteem. Maybe I’ve gone too deep into escapism all my life. I’m probably projecting with a clouded mindset rather than remembering how he is as a person. But I want our relationship to be transparent for what it is in this universe, this reality. I’m sorry for rambling or for anything that was “too much said,” but I can’t keep any of this bottled for another year or however long.

This was years ago. I was in my final stretch of the bachelor's degree and had to do an internship for a semester to graduate. I looked around but in the end I decided to just do it at the local internet Cafe I was hanging out at. I knew the owner, I had spent a considerable amount of time there so it seemed like the easiest path.
The owner, M., had two guys for IT support but they were working remotely. They had the PCs almost automated, loading a prepared image when needed or on each boot and they would come down every three months for some checks. So I thought I could learn from them, they always seemed cool. And he needed someone a little more technically capable than the current employees. I would do the usual, make coffee and tend the registry but also help customers or repair hardware when needed so that he wouldn't have to ship it to the pair of IT guys.
Everything was peachy. Besides the usual creeps and some GPUs that were failing (managed to "fix" some of them by putting them in the oven, having found an article about it) it was excellent. I worked nights, which was quiet and just counted the days to the end of the internship so I could go and find a real job.
At some point, about two months in my internship, things started happening. It was at a time where there was no reconnecting to an online game, not most of them anyway. And Dota was popular. Like the actual warcraft 3 map. So customers were rightly pissed when connections started dropping like flies. They would play and then nothing, network would drop them.
The IT guys immediately said we need to change the switch in the server rack room (more like a rack closet). But that was expensive and not a guaranteed solution. So the boss stonewalled until customers threatened to leave and go elsewhere. He tasked me to find one online which I got from ebay for half the price. It was shipped, received and the guys guided me on the phone on installing it.
For a few days it was okay until the issue returned. And I had limited experience so I did my best. Went online, tried several things but nothing. It went on for a couple weeks more until I had the idea to do some data mining. Nothing much, but I just started writing down details about when the disconnections happened. Soon it became apparent to me that it only happened when there were more than a number of customers in the shop. About 20 or so but it wasn't an exact number. I did some research and found a setting on the network card for each computer (they were loading an image, remember?), related to high stress or something. I can't recall the name or where it was, but essentially when the network reached a certain bandwidth it shut down the Lan port. It was just a bloody check box.
The IT guys fixed it, repaired the images as well with the new setting and we all went on to playing Dota like nobody's business. But I still use it in some interviews when asked how I handle problems.
(Excuse the formatting and grammar. I wrote this while waiting for a train on my phone.)

I'm 36(M). I'm 5yrs+ sober now, and long may that last. I came home to visit my folks as it's both my Dad and Mom's birthdays in the last two weeks, so figured it'd be nice to come see them.
We played in a charity golf day, with most holes sponsored. Most sponsors had loads of snacks and drinks (heavy focus on shots, cocktails, or they had drinking games (e.g. down a beer, then flip the cup, and if it lands upright, your playing partner goes)). Luckily I'm able to now not worry about the booze on offer, so I really wasn't phased by that aspect - they all had water or soft drinks too.
Anyway, we get to the one hole with the flip cup game, and my dad awkwardly pulls the promotions lady aside and in a stage whisper pretty much announces "we've got a problem here. [My name] can not drink. We need to make a plan", and she sort of scrambled to get a new cup without booze in it. It was so fucking awkward and unnecessary, and as we drove off in the cart after teeing off, as I was about to start speaking to him about it, he said "I know, I know. Sorry."
I explained to him that he needn't make a thing of this, and it is no different to someone ordering a normal drink. Like it's not "special" that when I order, it needs pulling people aside, whispers, pre-checking what options are available (I.e. literally saying: "what drinks do not have alcohol, we need alcohol-free drinks" rather than just asking what soft-drinks they have).
Anyway, I was frustrated at first because I'm living (well, with a good job, healthy lifestyle, happier life) in a different country, and there is no concern when I'm not with them etc., it's like he just panics when I come visit. But I also thought to myself, that I process my alcoholism and recovery lots in my own life/world, but I suppose my folks went through terrible trauma as a result of my problems, and maybe haven't processed it for themselves yet. So I tried really hard to be understanding, but it was still incredible awkward knowing that this shadow may never leave me in their eyes.
So that's a bit of a shit feeling, but I can't control how he thinks. I do really worry that my father is developing memory problems, and I really fear that he may "remember me" from when I was going through dark times (just because those memories are seemingly prominently stuck with him) than who I am now.
Alcoholism will forever be my biggest shame, and because I'm part of quite an old-school minded family/friendship group, it will also be probably something that those closest to me probably feel too. It sucks. Short of upping and leaving, I suppose this is something I'll just have to live with. Anyway, appreciate anyone reading my frustrated ashamed vent. IWNDWYT

2 days ago I was selling the phone and the guy really tricked me and somehow I forgot one of my rules for a few moments: never take the account out of the phone and give it before you see the actual money
As soon as I arrived home , I was like “ f** , how I did let this happen ? I’m so stupid”
I didn’t care that much cause I have insurance and I would just get a new one, but still , what a dum move..
Yesterday after lunch for some reason I went search for some ads and found an Ad with a 15 Pro Max , exactly same specs as mine , invoice from same place , date of purchase same and 3 little scratches I have , all the same
I saw this and I was like “ I need to do something about this”
So I called a friend of mine that works as a police and he advised me how I should handle the situation
Then called to a friend of mine that leaves nearby the location they was seelling the phone ( it’s a big shopping kinda), he went there and talked with the police about all this before I go ( I live a bit far away & I wanted to confirm the intervention could be done)
They arranged 2 undercover cops , sent my friend and just waited for the other guy to sit there
As soon as they meet , that 2 cops intervened from behind , one on each side , they show the badge and start pressuring the guy
After a few minutes they confirmed it was my phone and started making more pressure on the guy
Turns out he had more +- 20 stolen iPhones/iPad’s at home … they went there and confiscated all of them
I’m happy all of this ended in a good way and I still helped the cops in some way.

A time ago, a poster asked about ALL THE PRETTY HORSES thus:
". . .JGC seems to have this supernatural knowledge of his father. At one point in the prison (during the fight I believe) he realizes that he knows everything about his father that he ever will. Then out in the desert while escaping Mexico, he realizes his father is dead. I know this doesn't need an explanation, but what do you all make of that?"
Just finished ATPH and I have questions... :
My answer then was that the novel is a holograph, with different levels, that it fit different interpretations according to what level you looked at it. Yet if you collapse the hologram and just look at the surface level, there is still an explanation for John Grady Cole to suddenly know that his father was dead.
And it goes back to THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.
In Garry Wallace's memoir involving professional poker player, Betty Carey, he recalls Cormac McCarthy meeting with them in El Paso back in March, 1989, to talk with them about a memoir of her gambling adventures. Wallace had been helping her write it, but they'd thus far been unable to obtain a publisher. Their conversation reveals much about McCarthy's reading and writing and character. You should read Wallace's entire essay.
The scene shifted across town where Betty, McCarthy, and Wallace joined up with their mutual friend, professional gambler and evangelist Frank Morton. Garry Wallace says that it was then that the topic of conversation turned to spiritual matters:
"Frank related a number of personal religious experiences that he had had over the years, pointing out the flaws in other people's lack of faith. I challenged him, saying that one day science would understand these unexplained phenomena for what they really were.'
"McCarthy commented that some cultures used drugs to enhance the spiritual experience, and he said that he had tried LSD before that drug was made illegal. He said that it had helped to open his eyes to these kinds of experiences.'
"Betty recounted having seen the image of Christ on a bus while in Costa Rica. This had been at a time following the casino scam when Betty had been on the run. She said that her experience was as real as our sitting together in the motel room. It had not been a dream or a hallucination.'
"Always the skeptic, I said 'But how does that prove Christianity? Why not Buddha or Allah? You saw Jesus because you were raised in Jesus-land.' I looked to Frank and McCarthy. Their expressions were sympathetic."
McCarthy then spoke about spiritual experiences and asked Wallace if he'd ever read William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience. "His attitude seemed to indicate that in this book were the answers to many of the questions posed in our evening discussion. I was nonplussed."
Months later, Garry Wallace wrote McCarthy, "completing a few thoughts I'd been unable to that night we discussed spiritual experiences. Sometime later, I received a reply."
"He said that the religious experience is always described through the symbols of a particular culture and thus is somewhat misrepresented by them. . .He went on to say that he thinks the mystical experience is a direct apprehension of reality, unmediated by symbol, and he ended with the thought that the inability to see spiritual truth is the greater mystery."
So that scene in ALL THE PRETTY HORSES was meant to be the straight experience of John Grady Cole, just like Mark Twain's experience with his brother, and like all who testified to William James about their own experiences, included in THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.

So I'm looking for plugin recommendations because everything I can currently find provides too much functionality. I'm trying to build an 'view availability' page that just lets site visitors see a calendar that is colour-coded for "free days" and "not free days." Ideally, the calendar plug in would look at an Outlook calendar, and if there are any events in Outlook for a given day, the website calendar would grey out that day.
So, kind of like how a booking page calendar works, only I very specifically do not want anyone to be able to make a booking or in any way add to/amend the calendar. I just want them to be able to see whether a day is free or not, and for it to automatically live update as I add to my outlook calendar. It's also important that the website calendar just blocks out entire days and doesn't show the literal calendar events that are in Outlook.
Has anyone come accross something like this? The closest I could find was the simple booking tool for wordpress, but I don't think that auto-syncs with Outlook and has to be managed separately. Also it's built for wordpress not Squarespace so kind of a moot point.

Feel free to chat if this looks familiar.
For as long as I can remember, I have never felt like I belong. Never really appreciated or enjoyed anything. You know that feeling when you are watching a show / genre that’s just simply offputting to you? That’s life for me. The world is fundamentally dull.
But that’s just depression. Here’s the curse:
Ever since I could talk, I would always ask ”why” after ”why”. No explanation was enough if there was more behind it to see. I absolutely have to get to the base of everything. And when I eventually do reach a stopping point, I am left with an empty feeling. I need something that so perfectly meets and goes beyond my grander-than utopian standards, and even then, it will not be enough. Be it a ”soulmate” or meaning of life, I don’t know anymore. I am ”grass is greener on the other side”, personified. Nothing amazes me, as everything is after all, very rational, as that’s what I must make it. In gutting any and all concepts and people alike into ”whys”, they inevitably lose their charm.
In this endless longing, I need something supernatural, something out of this world. And it’s excruciatingly contradictory, as I am very rational and will never accept religion nor dogma. I also absolutely won’t allow myself to find a subjective meaning, as that’s like settling for me. It’s irrational, I know. I need an objective meaning in a truly subjective world. The stongest childhood memories I have is me wishing that I found Narnia, or that a Venator class -Star destroyer landed and swooped me into the clone wars. Finding the Isekai genre later didn’t help much.
In my mind, I have gaslighted myself this far. ”Maybe you will find something truly magical next time”. Endlessly peeking around the next corner, knowing what’s there, but expecting more. Self imposed dissapointment. The only thing that’s kept me going this far is the fear of missing out in case something actually were to show up. Chasing ghosts.
It’s not like my life is bad, on the contrary: In my endless search, I deemed the best option to keep most doors open, and managed to do excellently. My life is even a priviledged, ”prestigeous” one. That’s why I wanted to remove possibilities of shelteredness, and looked to war and the military to feel. Nothing there either, be it how good or bad, no experience fazes or is enough for me.
Despite all this, I feel like I am in a movie, but the main plot is going on somewhere far away, and I am cursed to never cross paths with it. A longing, a persistent melancholy. I belong somewhere, but not here. Every day I search, even ritualize things to the point of OCD, you name it, just to get there. It’s like a masochistic engine, running on psychological torture and the carrot on the stick is just a mirage. The driving feelings are tragicomic grit and spite. Looking for that place over the rainbow. And deep somewhere I know, that it only ever existed in my mind.
And I know that the day I fully accept this will be my last. That’s something I will make sure of. That day just seems to come ever closer, as I’m running out of energy.
Tl;Dr: A combination of insufficient pleasure hormones, and a paradoxical worldview. I don’t really think there are words that will help here. Just wanted to write this down somewhere. I’m still very young, so I’ll hang around for about a year or two at least. That’s as far as these winds can blow.

So I'm looking for plugin recommendations because everything I can currently find provides too much functionality. I'm trying to build an 'view availability' page that just lets site visitors see a calendar that is colour-coded for "free days" and "not free days." Ideally, the calendar plug in would look at an outlook calendar, and if there are any events in Outlook for a given day, the website calendar would grey out that day.
So, kind of like how a booking page calendar works, only I very specifically do not want anyone to be able to make a booking an add to the calendar. I just want them to see whether a day is free or not, and for it to automatically live update as I use my outlook calendars. It's also important that the calendar blocks out entire days and doesn't show the literal calendar events that are in Outlook.
Has anyone come accross something like this? The closest I could find was the simple booking tool for wordpress, but I don't think that auto-syncs with Outlook and has to be managed separately. Also it's built for wordpress not wix so...

I was always an animals perosn , birds, dogs , cats .....etc
When I saw cute animals I just want to cuddle and hold them , they just make my heart melt with all their innocence and vulnerability, want to protect and take care of them for a lifetime
Now as iam taking care of a mother cat and 4 kittens , iam so in love with everything they do , they just so adorable, I can't help not loving them so much
But with brats , cant care less , just imagining all th work , sleepless nights and that I will be washing their shit for some years and I feel like checking out from the whole thing
I remember my cousin who was 5 or 6 years old then asking me ( I was a child too ) how do mothers wash ther kids shit ? I got disgusted by my own shit all the time 😂
Now he wants kids and want to be a father because he wont be the one washing the shit
So yeah I cant wait to be a cat lady , cats over shit , pregnancy and sleepless nights , anytime

I'll try and explain as much as I can because I don't know where to turn at this point.
I've always struggled to get to sleep, I got diagnosed with ADHD a few years back so I assume it's down to that (or in part anyway)..
So I struggle with the "if you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes, get up" as I've never fallen asleep within that time, no where near(!)
For the last 2 years (maybe a bit more) I've had an even harder time. It was usually down to my cycle so the week before my period I'd barely sleep (couldn't get to sleep, nor stay asleep, but was at least getting 5 broken hrs), then that crept up to 2 weeks of misery, then 3.. Now in the last 2 months it's been constant & I've also gone from 3-4hrs down to 1, sometimes 45 minutes.
I've had 7hrs in as many days. Everything is hard. My ADHD feels unbearable cognitively and I'm struggling to do anything, I don't feel healthy or well and I feel like I'm never coming back, all I do is cry, drag myself through the days while the nights hang over me. I don't drive anymore, I've had to have a break from work.. I'm miserable.
Im perimenopausal so presumably it's down to hormones, but I get a strong feeling there's something else going on as well. I wake up feeling like I'm choking.. I've done it multiple times in the past, just sat bolt upright, gasping & swallowing.. I always assumed acid reflux although I didn't get sore throats or heartburn.. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it's something else.
I think I was running on adrenaline as I felt wide away at the start of the last 2 months, but in the last week I do feel sleepy, so I can't understand how I'm not sleeping for more than an hour as I know my body must be exhausted by now. That said, I feel drained in the daytime but wouldn't be able to sleep (so that doesn't seem to fit with sleep apnea as it appears ppl with that could fall asleep at any moment from what I've read?)
My GP refuses sleeping tablets. He gave me Mirtazepine but that only gave me restless legs, a dry mouth, a frequent need to urinate and left me agitated & unable to lay still.. hrs later, sometime after 6am I got my (now) usual 1 hour sleep. I haven't tried again.
My GP insists I need to exercise. I was walking but granted it was only half an hour. He insisted it needs to be an hour and I "have to push myself to the point of exhaustion" ( the fact I'm already there didn't seem to matter), however I do as Im told but I feel like I'm going to pass out and after a while my leg muscles tense up to where its painful to walk at all... I'm assuming my body is just exhausted and not repairing itself??
I've done all the supplements, all the sleep hygiene, I don't drink, I take hrt but it's not touching the sleep.. I took 30mg Amitriptyline last night and that did make me feel sleepy, but even when I woke up (still sleepy) I couldn't didn't get back to sleep... Every single time I did drop off I had to swallow (or my hand/foot twitched), like I'm refusing to let myself sleep! It's beyond frustrating.
I did recently come off Amitriptyline after a decade on it (only 10mg).. It crossed my mind the insomnia had something to do with that, but it was getting worse while I was on it daily anyway.
I've considered doing a sleep study but fear it will be a waste of money as I'm only sleeping an hour in my own room where I've got all-sorts (fan, nice mattress, pure silence.... Etc etc). I worry I wouldnt get any sleep somewhere else and I certainly wouldn't be able to sleep on a schedule as it takes an age as it is.
I don't know what to do, if anyone can spare a suggestion I'd greatly appreciate it.
I feel for anyone who's going through this, especially ppl who've been tormented with it for years, I honestly don't know how you cope

My solo indie game just reached the 10000 wishlists last week (10484 to be exact). I never thought I could reach that number on my own without a proper marketing team, budget or big following.
I'd like to share with you what worked and didn't in the hopes it can be helpful to you too.
Disclaimer: I did sign with a publisher two months ago, and while they are already working on marketing stuff, nothing has been published yet. Those numbers are 100% from my own "marketing" efforts. There are people way better at this than me! I'm just sharing my experience here and I'll let you judge if it's helpful. Some things that did not work with me might work with others (and vice versa)!
Let's sort what worked out the best for me. Steam Events > Influencers > Reddit > Twitter > Devlogs (I can't put image on this subreddit, but you can take a look at my wishlist graph with key notes on my original free patreon post)
It might sound obvious, but take the time to check your wishlists regularly, especially whenever you're trying to give visibility to the game with a post/video/announcement/mail. It will allow you to know what works and doesn't. I usually check out youtube and twitch for gameplay videos or press articles whenever there's a bump while I'm not in an event or did not post anything.
Keep posting stuff on social networks. I know it takes time for a small reward, but it's good to have those regular wishlists. It also shows development is alive and you never know when it will reach an influencer or press. When I stopped sharing my stuff for a while, wishlists completely dropped, I was even loosing some everyday! Reddit is harsh, but very rewarding.
I publish devlogs on my youtube channel. I got ~200 wishlist from more than 100k views that took me weeks of work. I don't think publishing devlogs is an efficient way to promote your game, UNLESS you go viral or that your videos also target players by being more accessible without too much technical stuff (mine are definitely targeting game devs for now). I'm only speculating here, but I think game developers are mostly interested in learning from your journey than actually wishlisting/playing your game compared to players which results in less wishlists. So do it only if it makes you happy and you want to share your journey (and be careful not to overwork while doing it)!
Influencers are great for 3 reasons:

1. They give your game visibility.
   
2. They give you feedback to make your game better.
   
3. They are usually keen to do it for free to help small indie devs.
   

Build yourself a press list: a list of press and influencer that might be interested in playing your game. Find their mails online, on their website, channel page or social networks. When you have something very interesting to show them (a new demo, event or announce) send them all a mail (but don´t spam them)!
Here are two accounts you should follow to get tips about how to properly reach to influencers (and other game marketing in general): Clemmy and Wanderbot (subscribe to their newsletters!)
Events are huge for wishlists. It's easy and it does not take time to submit and they are usually free. But there are two big issues with events:

1. You have to find them.

The best free place to find most events is on the HTMAG discord created by Chris (@AdventureMtn). There's also this amazing calendar with all the events (thanks to u/mreliptik for sharing this with me)!

1. You have to be accepted.

You need a demo, quality marketing assets to share and a good steam page. Again, Chris has some awesome tutorials (free and paid) to get a great steam page up. Consider supporting him if his tutorials helped you!
WARNING Do not submit your game to the steam next fest too soon like I did. You want to submit as late as possible, ideally just before your release. Each game gets one shot at the steam next fest, and the more wishlists you have going in, the more wishlists you'll get. I made that mistake because I thought I would release the game 2 months later (lol).
On a side note, you will have tons of wishlist deletions. Don't worry about it, that's perfectly normal (I won't lie, the first 1000 deletions still hit me hard though).
I think the best time to create your steam page is as soon you have a small trailer, screenshots and interesting description that do not look like a prototype full of placeholders. The sooner you have it, the sooner you start collecting wishlists! With the steam page also comes the whole steam community package, which is a plus to keep in touch with people who like your game. I don't really see any disadvantage in having a steam page early, but you might want to plan the communication around the page release to maximize visibility right away. Do not release it without telling anyone! When you demo is out, you can update your page and announce it everywhere too (try to give the exclusivity to a big showcase if you can!).
Things that did not work for me: devlogs, replying to influencers asking for games on twitter, using those spammy hashtags to promote your game (#wishlistwednesday etc...), posting uninteresting stuff about the game developement EVERY day, reposting the same content, posting on the popular subreddits, sharing my game on those "share your work" channel on discord servers, paid ads and plenty of other little things I wasted my time on because I was desperate to get more wishlists.
I hope this was was a nice read! Just to make this clear, this is my experience and it might work very differently for different type of games and game developers. If you'd like to try the game for yourself, you can play the demo on steam. And if you'd like to keep following my journey, you'll find all my links/socials/newslettepatreon stuff here.
Don't hesitate if you have questions, I'll do my best to find time and reply!

Hello,
I've used the calculator and my measurements are as follows:
Loose underbust - 101cm
Snug underbust - 97cm
Tight underbust - 87cm
Standing bust - 112cm
Leaning bust - 116cm
Lying bust - 113cm
It calculated 38F in UK sizing.
I pretty much hate how large my boobs are (I know there are many people that have bigger but mine make me uncomfortable), and I would like to try and minimise them as much as possible - I know a good fitting bra can help (I have NOT been wearing a 38F! 🤣), but if I can also minimise them a bit more with a minimiser bra, that would be great.
Also, with a minimiser bra, do I buy a 38F or are they designed differently which meant I would need to buy a different size?
Thanks for any advice/suggestions.

Hi! I was doing an exercise and I came across this sentence that I'm not entirely sure how to translate it:
"Jeg er ikke klar for å dra på ~strand~a i helga. Jeg er nødt til å male huset."
I know that "være klar for" means "be ready to" but in this sentence doesn't make much sense, I looked it up online and one source says that it can also mean "be up for (doing) something" but I only found one source so I'm not totally convinced that it can also have this meaning! Can somebody clear it up for me?
Takk!!

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Peace be to you all.
Let's proceed to refute the second part of his "rebuttal," providing a brief yet precise rebuttal that will further expose his ignorance in the Hebrew language, and his knowledge of the Bible as well.
He writes:

The prophecy so closely matches those events that even scecular scholars agree which is the primary reason secular scholars date Daniel to just after these events. Their idea is the book is actually recording history but pretending to present prophecy.

But it doesn’t. Not even close. The chapter is about a prophet/messenger of God who brought a Holy Covenant. His successors fell into dispute over who was the rightful heir to his kingdom. The rightful successors were supposed to be his descendants (his followers), but that turned out not to be the case according to what verse 4 states. This is strikingly similar to how Islamic history played out.
He writes:

I'm not sure where Exion found this translation.

I found it here: biblehub - Pulpit's commentary. Literally a direct copy and paste. Not sure how he missed it.
Regarding the "The prophecy describes a sequence of events" thing he pointed out, I had already revised each verse from part 1 in part 2, and it now makes perfect sense. He should read part 2.
He writes:

A few things here. The verb is עמדים. The same verb is used in verse 3 and again in verse 4. Both cases it's referring to a king rising to power rather than rising against someone/somthing else. That context suggests the same meaning for the kings in verse 2. We also see verse 2 describing a king being against a nation when it says "he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece." This is a different verb and preposition.

Yes, I agree. 'Umar was the first king to rise in Persia when he fought the Persians and won. 'Uthman and 'Ali were the second and third kings, and Mu'awiyah was the fourth, the wealthy king. I'm not sure what he thinks he is refuting here because I literally wrote:
"This 'rising' could either be in support of Persia or in opposition to it. Remarkably, this aligns perfectly with the historical narrative of Islam, and here's why:..."
In other words, both interpretations align perfectly with the historical narrative of Islam. I believe he misunderstood that part; regardless, let's move on.

The Hebrew word is גִּבּוֹר which means strong/mighty not righteous

You also missed the part where I said that this would be made clear later in the chapter, specifically here:
Daniel 11:30:

• "...and he will be crushed, and he will return and be wroth with the holy covenant, and he will succeed, and he will return and contemplate those who abandoned the holy covenant."

The Holy Covenant was brought by the mighty king, of course. However, he completely missed this point and is portraying the Bible as if it prophesies random historical secular events and secular kings, like a history book, rather than a Holy Book foretelling the era of a prophet and a king, much like King David. He claims that secular scholars date Daniel to just after these events and believe the book is recording history while pretending to present prophecy. What a silly assertion. Don’t you think people would generally reject such false "prophecy" and declare them deviant liars, especially if they depicted events that had recently happened and everyone knew about? Both you and these secular scholars need to rethink your position because it is very unlikely (almost impossible to be true) and rather ridiculous, if I'm being very frank.
The chapter is about a prophet who brought a Holy Covenant from God, which is why it is literally called "Holy."
Definition of "Holy":

holy / ˈhəʊli / adjective
1.dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred."the Holy Bible" Similar: sacred, consecrated, hallowed, sanctified, venerated, revered. (Source: Google)

The Bible is considered to be the Words of God (or inspired Words of God), and these Words literally call this Covenant "Holy." Meanwhile, you are deviating from this description by portraying an erroneous picture of a bunch of atheist ancient kings fighting each other over various kingdoms.
He writes:

The specific word is וּכְעָמְדוֹ. The וּ is the conjunctive. It's not a vav relative in this case since the verb tense isn't the perfect or imperfect The כְ is a Hebrew proposition added to the verb. The verb is עָמְד and the וֹ is a possesive suffix. The verb form is the infinitive construct. When that verb form is combined with the preposition כְ it indicates a temporal clause which is where the "as soon as" comes from. The possesive suffix indicates the subject of the verb which is where the "he" comes from. Combined with the verb we get as soon as he has risen. Exion's translation ignores the preposition and possesive suffix on the verb.

I will respond to each claim by giving it a short name and my rebuttal next to it:
Regarding: Conjunctive וּ: It is agreed that the וּ functions as a conjunctive "and" or "but," connecting phrases. This conjunction alone does not necessarily indicate a temporal clause.
Not a Vav Relative: Correct, this is not a vav relative case.
Preposition כְ: The preposition כְ does mean "like" or "as." While it can form a temporal clause in combination with an infinitive construct, this temporal interpretation must be contextually supported rather than assumed.
Verb עָמַד and Possessive Suffix וֹ: Correct, the verb עָמַד means "to stand" or "to arise," and the suffix וֹ indicates possession, translating to "his."
Infinitive Construct: Agreed, the form is an infinitive construct.
Temporal Clause Interpretation: While כְ combined with an infinitive construct can imply a temporal clause, translating it as "as soon as" is an interpretative choice. A more literal translation is "when he stood" or "as he stood," and any temporal implication would be derived from what you believe is the context.
Possessive Suffix: Agreed, the suffix וֹ indicates "he" or "his."
Your interpretation that it is saying "as soon as he has risen" adds a temporal nuance that is contextually based rather than explicitly stated in the preposition and verb form. My translation aims for a more direct rendering of "when he stood" or "as he stood," which also respects the grammatical structure without adding interpretative elements not present in the original text.
Let's move on.
He writes:

It can also refer to the 4 generals after Alexander the Great. He came after the Persian kings, conqured all of Greece, had a mighty dominion, shortly after he conqured Greece he died, and his kingdom was divided among his 4 generals none of which were his decendents.

No, it can't, because this is about a Holy Covenant. I genuinely hope you can understand this because I know you tend to repeat the same misunderstandings and rarely admit when you are wrong. However, this is explicitly clear:
The phrase is: "על־ברית־קודש"
Breakdown:

• Word: על־ (ʿal)
  
• Preposition
  
• Meaning: "upon," "on," "over," "concerning"
  
• Word: ברית־ (b'rith)
  
• Noun - feminine singular construct
  
• Meaning: "covenant," "treaty," "alliance"
  
• Word: קודש (qodesh)
  
• Noun - masculine singular
  
• Meaning: "holiness," "sanctity," "sacredness"
  

Literal Translation:

• "Upon the covenant of holiness"

Neither Alexander the Great nor anyone else you mention (or anyone related to Alexander) anything to do with a Holy Covenant. This is beyond ridiculous, and I couldn't believe your scholars were claiming this. I thought it was so absurd that it didn't even need refutation. Yet here I am, refuting you because you actually hold this view.
He writes:

That fits better than Exion's interpretation for a few reasons. First this king came after the 4 mentioned in verse 2. If those in verse 2 are the Caliphs this king can't be Mohammed who was before the Caliphs.

What makes you think that the mighty king came after the 4 kings? The 3rd verse only said:

"And a mighty king will arise and will rule a great dominion and do according to his will."

Are you claiming that this must be in chronological order just because the four kings were mentioned before the mighty king? If so, this is the first time I've heard such a claim. Please provide your proof for this supposed Biblical rule; I'd like to read it :). You won't provide any because none exist. But claiming that it does gives you something to "expose," so I understand your motive. However, in the real world, you're just making statements that aren't true.
The 4th verse says:
"...but not to his posterity, and not like the dominion that he ruled, for his kingdom will be uprooted and to others besides those."
The posterity refers to the Rashidun Caliphs, while "to others besides those" refers to Mu'awiyah and those who followed him. Do you know what "posterity" even means? Posterity literally means future followers or descendants. Lol. The mighty king is the one with the followers, which is why he is the one who brought the Holy Covenant from God, not the four other kings. Had you known what posterity means, you would never have written this in the first place, but we will look past this mistake. Now you know a new word and won't repeat this mistake again. Let's move on.
Regarding "The king of the south is prophet Muhammad" I had revisited this verse in part 2.
He writes:

This is false. The source Exion links doesn't give any English meaning. The BDB does give the English meaning. For the former it means sprout/branch, the latter means root.

Noun נֵצֶר (nétser) m (plural indefinite נְצָרִים, singular construct נֵצֶר־, plural construct נִצְרֵי־) [pattern: קֵטֶל]

1. stem, shoot
2. (literary, collectively) scion(s)

References:

• H5342 in Strong, James (1979)
• “נצר” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

The other word (i.e. שרש):

Root: שֹֽׁרֶשׁ (m.n.)

1. root.

2. source, origin.

1. bottom, lowest part.
   
2. root, stem (Heb. grammar).
   

Source: מקור: Klein Dictionary
I don't know if you know this, but stem and branch are synonymous words, they essentially mean the same thing. And lowest part, bottom could also mean stem. Dictionaries define both words similarly:

Word: שֹׁרֶשׁ, שׁוֹרֶשׁ (m.) (b. h.; apocope of שרשר
, v. שָׁרָר) [chain, knot,] root. — Pl. שֳׁרָשִׁים, שֳׁרָשִׁין; constr. שָׁרְשֵׁי, שׁוֹרְשֵׁי. B. Bath. V, 4 העולה … ומן הש׳ וכ׳ that which shoots forth out of the trunk, or out of the roots, belongs to the landowner (v. גֶּזַע), expl. ib. 82ᵃ כל שאינו … זהו מן הש׳ that which does not see the light of day (when it shoots forth) is out of the roots’. Y. Ab. Zar. III, 43ᵃ top; Y. Taan. I, 64ᵇ ש׳ חטה the roots of wheat; ש׳ תאנה of fig-trees. Tosef. Shebi. VII, 17; ‘Uktsin I, 4, v. קוֹלָס. Ab. III, 17 וְשֳׁרָשָׁיו מרובין whose roots are many; a. fr.

Source: מקור: Jastrow Dictionary
Either way, let's pretend you're right (even though you're not) it still doesn't matter because a branch out of her roots did sprout, which came to be a sect called Khawarij. This was explained in part two. The ones that assassinated 'Ali were initially Shiites that later turned against 'Ali and assassinated him. It's interesting how Pulpit commentary writes:

"The version of the LXX. is very different here also, "And a plant shall arise out of his root against himself,"

He writes:

Edit: I just noticed another problem with Exion’s interpretation. They take Ali as both the commander mentioned in verse 5 who is one of commanders of the king of the south, and also as the king of the north mentioned in verse 6. That can’t be since the commander isn’t also the king of the north.

Revised in part 2 already.
He writes:

They show rather than trying to first establish the historical facts and show it lines up with the prophecy they are willing to misrepresent the historical facts to fit their interpretation of the prophecy and as their interpretation of the prophecy changes their claims about the historical facts change to match their new interpretation.

This is just your faulty conclusion and presumption. I speculated that they might have lied about 'Aishah being his wife. However, I'm not satisfied with speculations, so I revised the entire post of part 1, and it turned out to be even more accurate.
This marks the end of his part 2 post.
Thanks for reading, /Your bro, Exion