I can't find the name of this novel if you recognize it please let me know I'm looking for the source novel of this audiobook I've been listening to for 839 episodes that's almost 112hours of playtime, Thay stopped uploading it in the middle of the story it been 9 months since the last update and I can't find it's novel This is the discretion, the name of the characters may have been changed
"Ken downloads a Super App that could turn all his fantasies into reality, and make his boring life into a diamond-studded, high-flying dream. With this new app in hand, no dream seems too big for Ken! He becomes a bodyguard to a beautiful business tycoon named Stephanie. He protects her from harm, while each task assigned to him by the app, makes him stronger!"
the app that the main character downloaded is used to duplicate items and scan animal and plants to get ther genes to get some of their abilitys
Thank for your help.

Nancy Brooks was the first victim. She was a popular cheerleader, & an energetic one at best. Everyone enjoyed her bubbly personality. So you can imagine the shock and despair that swept over our school and the entire town when she was found dead.
They said she was found in a dumpster at the back of the local pizzeria. The cause of death was nasty. A large gaping hole in her chest. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that her heart was missing. This means that whoever did this had ripped her heart out with their bare hands in some brutal fashion.
The police questioned us, asked if Nancy had any enemies, and asked if there was anyone who wanted to hurt Nancy, but we couldn't think of anyone who would like to harm her. It wasn't like she did anything to warrant hatred from anybody. They continued to investigate, even with the few suspects they had, and the few amount of evidence they had.
Meanwhile, the community was in uproar over who would kill an innocent teenage girl like Nancy, and in such a brutal manner. While a memorial at Nancy's locker was made, and a vigil was held in honor of her. Rumors spread throughout the hallways over who the culprit might have been.
"I still can't believe she's dead," My friend Stanley said as we sat on his front porch. His voice was a little shaky. "It's just, how could something so horrible happen to someone like her?"
"I don't know," I said, staring at the road as cars passed by here and there. Although my face didn't show it, I felt paranoia, slowly growing in my body. It was like a seed that had just been planted into the ground and started to grow.
"They'll probably find the culprit," I told Stanley. "They'll probably find them..". The way I said it made it sound like there was hope, but at the same time, I felt like they would never catch the person responsible for killing Nacy.
Unfortunately, my prediction was proven right, they never caught the culprit. After 2 months, Nancy's case went cold. It wasn't long until the next murder happened though.
This time it was Grant Reese, a smart and slightly chubby guy. Although naive, he meant well, and some students respected him for that. He was found dead in his backyard in the same gruesome manner as Nancy—a large gaping hole in his chest.
School was canceled again, the police investigated again, and they questioned us again. But nothing turned up, again.
Eventually, the media started to dub the killer "The Heart Thief" due to how he "stole" his victims' hearts from right out of their bodies. This however didn't stop the fear and paranoia seeping over the town.
Stanley was more on edge after Grant's murder. He was more paranoid now, and who wouldn't be, there was a deranged killer on the loose, tormenting our town. And the police haven't caught them yet. But still, it was disheartening watching Stanley slowly start to become a shell of what he used to be.
Whenever I saw him, I noticed that the dark circles around his eyes seemed to grow larger, he began even to be afraid of his own shadow. Every time I talked to him, he'd always spout out a fake smile, but his eyes told a different story, they showed terror, terror of being killed by a lunatic. I still tried to make him feel safe, I still wanted to make him feel like everything was okay, even though at the back of my mind, I knew it wasn't. I was just as scared as Stanley, but I couldn't tell him about my invulnerability.
A month after Grant's murder, the Mullins twins were found dead at the local park, their hearts both missing. Even worse, only 2 weeks later, two teenage lovers, Whitney Rowe, & Troy Osborne were found dead in Troy's car, and in the same manner as Nancy, Grant, & the Mullin twins.
If Nancy and Grant's murders caused Stanley to be paranoid, this made that paranoia worse than before. He eventually stopped talking to people, he'd subsequently stop coming outside. My fear was still growing, but Stanley's was more rabid. I wasn't any better. My sleep schedule started to falter, I'd lie awake at night, trying to get rid of the Heart Thief from out of my head, and go to sleep. But I just couldn't. I couldn't get the thought of a psychopath looming over our town, killing innocent teenagers.
Eventually, Stanley stopped texting me. I wasn't too worried, but I was still concerned, but it was just for one day. He just stopped texting for one day. That wasn't much of a big idea. Was it?
Then he didn't text me the next day or the following day.
After the fourth day of not responding, I decided that I would have to check on him in person. That wasn't so bad, go to his house, ask his parents if he's okay, and check up on him. Easy job-
What if he's dead?
I shook the thought out of my head. No, he can't be. He's fine. He's fine.
"He's fine," I mutter as I walk up the steps and touch the door handle. My eyes slowly widen as the door opens. Why is the door unlocked? That doesn't make any sense-
What if the Heart Thief got him?
NO. No. He's fine. He's fine.
I carefully tread through the house, my footsteps being soft due to the shoes I'm wearing.
"Stanley...?" I said, in a hallowed whisper.
I walked forward, my heartbeat started to beat more and more. My heart rate slowly started to shoot out like a bottle rocket. Then I saw something.
Stanley's parents. They were strung up on the floor. Their necks were both snapped, and their eyes hung lifeless. I couldn't focus on the scene for long when I heard a terrible noise from upstairs. The sound of something being ripped.
I went up the stairs, my heart surged as I reached the top, and I went to Stanley's room. My thoughts were frantic as I reached his doorway.
Then my body stopped. My breathing paused as I was taking in the scene before me.
Stanley was on the floor, puking out blood as a hole was punctured through his chest. His crazed, horrified, and tearful eyes turned to mine. But then something impossible happened.
Somehow, Stanley's heart was pulled out from his chest, and it hung in the air like something was holding it. Some invisible force was holding onto Stanley's heart. Then it held it up high and then dropped it. It vanished like it fell into a mouth, and was consumed in one big gulp. I couldn't comprehend what I was witnessing. I couldn't understand how any of this happened. I just stared at what was left of my friend as the life escaped his eyes. He croaked out one final word before dying though.
"Alec....."
I just stood paralyzed, unable to do anything, my mouth hung dry as I tried to get a word out.
Then I felt a presence right next to me. It made me sweat even more than I already was at the sight of my dead best friend. My breathing grew more rabid as I felt like someone loomed over me. But no one was there. Nothing was there. But it felt like someone was. It felt like something was. Something horrible.
Then I heard a "Shhh" noise being whispered into my ear.
Suddenly, I didn't feel that terrifying presence. It left Stanley's room. It was gone, but Stanley's body wasn't.
My stomach felt sick as I exited Stanley's house, dialing 911. I only managed to mutter about finding my friend dead in his home, before I collapsed from shock on the front porch.
I eventually woke up in the hospital. My parents were tearfully thankful that I was okay and safe. Two detectives visited me too. They asked me questions about Stanley, and I answered them wearily. But even then, I couldn't tell them what I saw. I couldn't tell my parents about what happened in Stanley's home.
They did find Stanley and his parents' bodies though. Some people wondered why the Heart Thief went out of his way to kill two adults, some were still angry that the psychopath had claimed another victim. But regardless of that. I still couldn't recover from the events that unfolded in Stanley's house.
I attended his funeral, and I gave a heartfelt speech, bottling up my sadness in an attempt to look stable. But I wasn't.
Some neighbors and classmates look at me with pity on their faces, and some of them look at me funny. I could hear the whispers about me behind my back. Some of them were filled with remorse over how I lost my best friend, some were filled with suspicion over how I could have killed Stanley, or maybe even the other victims. The rumors didn't help either.
I've had to take therapy three times a week now, I feel like it's helping, but at the same time, I feel like it isn't. Nothing will ever help me recover from what I saw that afternoon.
Ever since Stanley's death, I've started to slowly become a shell of what I used to be. I began to become more aware of my surroundings, and I started to become more jumpy. My sleep schedule started to become worse too. I've had many nights where I'd lie awake at night. My mind constantly replays what happened at Stanley's house over and over.
"This is probably how Stanley felt before he died," I say, as my eyes stare at the ceiling.
The paranoia that was once set inside me has evolved into something bigger, something worse.
But that's not just it, I know who the Heart Thief is now, I know how he manages to kill his victims without ever getting caught.
I don't know why he still hasn't come for me yet. I was a direct witness to one of his murders after all. So why hasn't he come after me yet? Why hasn't he killed me? Was this all just part of his plan? To watch me break into a panicked state? To watch me devolve into a cowardous human being?
Because if this is his plan, it's working.

Attended the PFFA convention this week and Mesa Fire spoke about how they found a pay discrepancy when a 56 hour suppression employee is assigned to do something outside of their suppression job duties (ems only box, pub ed events, etc). Something along the lines of having to adjust pay to 40 hours and pay an adjusted OT rate 2.1x instead of 1.5x. Apparently many departments are not following this law and now IAFF legal is looking into it with Mesa. Wasn’t able to connect with the guys who spoke on this but in looking for more information if anyone is educated on this? Thanks.

Hello,
I've got a new role as a Data Engineer in a small/mid (less than 100 people) scale-up company.
In the next months, I'll be responsible for designing the Data Engineering architecture for the company.
At the moment, some statistics are computed and provided to users through a custom frontend, but the computation is done in a non-optimal way and there are a lot of limitations.
Even if it is still premature, I've started to think about the technologies that I could introduce and I've thought of this stack:

• Dagster for workflow management and syncing the Data Warehouse with the Databases
  
• DBT for data transformation
  
• Redshift or another columnar database as hour Data Warehouse
  

It'll be mainly me and myself to manage all of this, with the help of some backend guys when needed.
At the moment, the most important data is modeled as events about the users. My idea is to ingest these events and the corresponding dimension tables into Redshift (bronze), denormalize/transform data (silver), aggrand gate data for consumption (gold).
Now, all of these technologies are new to me and I'll be doing some experimentation before putting them into production.
So, I want to ask you:
1) What do you think about this stack in general? Does it make sense?
2) Could introducing these 3 new technologies be too much overhead for me to manage? In general, how is their learning curve?
3) Are there any caveat that I should be aware of? Things that might not be possible to do with these tools (mainly concerned about Redshift) that might be a big limitation or induce big costs in the future?
Thanks

Hello, thanks for clicking on my post.
I am a 36 year-old female living in Izmir, Turkey. Working as an assistant professor of architectural history, I have a quite busy life. Yet, I have a relatively small circle of friends. Therefore, I am here. I can describe myself as someone serious, kind, sophisticated, caring, honest, loyal, friendly, calm, and respectful. To me, integrity is very important. I am also an introverted person who enjoys being alone, doing my own thing. My hobbies revolve around reading, watching tv shows, movies, cycling, playing video games, or cooking by trying new and simple recipes. I am a huge crime geek who likes anything related to crime, fiction or documentaries. I also like to play word games, both in English and Turkish. I might beat you in Scrabble. That might be a challenge there.
I would like to meet a single man who is between 29-42 and educated, preferably from Turkey, Europe or North America. He should have similar traits as me so that we can connect. I'd like to share anything about anything in life and create a fruitful bond. I like texting, writing and all kinds of communication. As I said, I often feel alone and sometimes also feel the urge and need to talk to someone, maybe meet in real life. I am open to any possibility.
I really don't care about material possessions or physical features, but I have some photos of mine on my profile. Please don't hesitate to send me a message or start a chat if you think that we could be a good match. I look forward to be reached by the right person. Thanks for reading so far.

Hello, thanks for clicking on my post.
I am a 36 year-old female living in Izmir, Turkey. Working as an assistant professor of architectural history, I have a quite busy life. Yet, I have a relatively small circle of friends. Therefore, I am here. I can describe myself as someone serious, kind, sophisticated, caring, honest, loyal, friendly, calm, and respectful. To me, integrity is very important. I am also an introverted person who enjoys being alone, doing my own thing. My hobbies revolve around reading, watching tv shows, movies, cycling, playing video games, or cooking by trying new and simple recipes. I am a huge crime geek who likes anything related to crime, fiction or documentaries. I also like to play word games, both in English and Turkish. I might beat you in Scrabble. That might be a challenge there.
I would like to meet a single man who is between 29-42 and educated, preferably from Turkey, Europe or North America. He should have similar traits as me so that we can connect. I'd like to share anything about anything in life and create a fruitful bond. I like texting, writing and all kinds of communication. As I said, I often feel alone and sometimes also feel the urge and need to talk to someone, maybe meet in real life. I am open to any possibility. In addition to English, I also know some German and I might visit Germany sometime. So meeting a German gentleman would be extra nice.
I really don't care about material possessions or physical features, but I have some photos of mine on my profile. Please don't hesitate to send me a message or start a chat if you think that we could be a good match. I look forward to be reached by the right person. Thanks for reading so far.

Disclaimer: I do not speak Korean. This is purely translated by machine with a lot of cleanup afterward. With that in mind, I am open to criticism to improve these translations. Enjoy!
​
Chapter 427
​
On a December night, as winter's chill deepened, an unexpected snowstorm swept through the streets.
​
The snow fell thick and fast, confounding those who had expected clear skies based on the latest weather forecasts. Confusion reigned among pedestrians hurrying home, and even the meteorological agency was caught off guard.
​
"What’s going on? Where did this come from?"
​
"We’re analyzing it now. There shouldn’t be an issue like this."
​
"With snow as thick as hail pouring down, how can you say there shouldn’t be an issue? Stop the nonsense and bring the data. You must have real-time observations!"
​
"I’m looking into it right now... Oh, it seems there's been a surge in mana in the Sichuan region of China causing these abnormal conditions. The expected snowfall is no joke."
​
"Sichuan? Damn it. Is that bastard Arch Lich now controlling the weather too?"
​
Ever since the Great Cataclysm, the agency's forecasts had become near prophetic, enhanced by the integration of magical insights.
​
However, this unexpected storm suggested something far more sinister.
​
Within an hour, after frantic recalibrations and re-observations, a national heavy snow warning was declared. The agency predicted a historic blizzard, the likes of which hadn't been seen in decades.
​
But as people stopped to take shelter, their attention was captured by an announcement on the large public screens across the city centers.
​
- On this day, I am thrilled to bring you this news.
​
The screen showed an elderly Asian man.
​
Sitting behind him were leaders from countries that are members of the UN Security Council, and the President of the People's Republic of China, with reddened eyes and a shaky voice, parted his lips towards the numerous microphones.
​
- The Arch Lich has been extinguished. We ... have won.
​
Victory.
​
That one word was enough. For 34 days, an unprecedented monster wave had continued.
​
The news that the great war, which had troubled the world beyond Sichuan Province, had finally ended left people gaping, and soon after, they let out a massive cheer.
​
"Wowwwww!"
​
"Wait! Hold on. I didn’t catch that. What did you just say?"
​
"It's over!"
​
"What?"
​
"Look at the subtitles!"
​
"The extinction of the Arch Lich... oh, it's true! Wowwww! I thought I was going to be fucking drafted!"
​
The joyous uproar drowned out the subsequent thirty-minute address by President Shao Yang and further explanations from the UN spokesperson.
​
With the Arch Lich's fall, his undead legions crumbled, extinguishing the looming threat and ushering in the long-awaited peace.
​
"Mom, it's me. Uh, did you see the news? No? Watch it now. Yeah, yeah!"
​
"That's it. Mr. Kim, let's go for a third round!"
​
"A third round? There's a server update tomorrow. Manager Noh is going to freak out."
​
"Manager Noh is also coming. He's bringing the corporate card."
​
"Ugh, I really don't want to see that guy's face. Alright, let's go."
​
"Reporting. Yes, Commander. This is Lieutenant Lee Jun-Beom. I would like to extend my leave for just one more day... No, I apologize."
​
Despite some initial reservations, the jubilant energy in the streets proved infectious. People who had cautiously stayed indoors, fearing another calamity akin to the Great Cataclysm, now flooded out to join the revelry.
​
Pubs filled to the brim with celebrants, and the cheers continued unabated even as the night turned into the early hours of the morning.
​
The next day, and for several days thereafter, the atmosphere remained electric.
​
The monumental victory announcement had the world buzzing with excitement, like a cauldron set ablaze on an open flame.
​
Each day brought a flood of new articles in countless languages, discussing the events more than even the unusual weather patterns that had seen snow cover Korea for three consecutive days.
​
And there was one name that appeared in every single one of those articles.
​
​
​
[The New York Times, 'A Momentous Victory Introduces a New Hero to the World'] [Note: USA]
​
[The Times, 'Eastern Promise: A New Hero Rises, With Connections to Prince Felix?'] [Note: UK]
​
[The Asahi Shimbun, 'Jin Tae-Kyung: Asia's Beacon of Hope, But Japan's Elite Hunters Could Surpass Him!'] [Note: Japan]
​
[People's Daily, 'A Young Korean Hero's Bravery Celebrated Amidst National Tragedy, Death of Wu Hei-Xing'] [Note: China]
​
[China Youth Newsletter, 'Jin Tae-Kyung, A Descendant of the Ming Dynasty General Chen Lin - Soon to Be a Chinese Citizen?']
​
[Korea Goryeo Daily, 'Uncertainty Shadows Ares Guild as Vice Guild Leader Lee Jeong-Ryong Goes Missing']
​
[DAS Patch Korea Official, 'We've been investigating Jin Tae-Kyung for months but couldn't find out anything. His relationships with women were surprisingly clean.' When asked by a reporter whether his past relationships had all ended amicably, he replied "No, that's not it. I've been single since birth."]
​
​
​
For the various media outlets, the existence of Jin Tae-Kyung was nothing short of a Christmas present.
​
All spotlights were focused on him, and stories about him flowed endlessly.
​
The material was inexhaustible. Not to mention the so-called 'Winter War,' this recent monster wave, his past actions, and even minor personal details became fodder for the news.
​
Typically, such sensationalist articles would have been scorned and cursed at, but now they captured interest.
​
Such was the global attention drawn to this new hero who had led this great victory.
​
But not all of that attention was positive.
​
From the tight internal security, little bits of leaked information had begun to raise doubts.
​
​
​
[Revealed: What Lies Hidden Behind the War's Great Victory? Growing Suspicions Cast Shadow on Jin Tae-Kyung]
​
[Mystery Deepens: Tragic Deaths of S-rank Hunters Lee Jeong-Ryong and Wu Hei-Xing Raise Questions as New Hero Emerges]
​
[Top Military Officials Question Battle's Intensity: Lack of Injuries on Jin Tae-Kyung Sparks Potion Use Probe; Clarity Expected Upon His Awakening]
​
​
​
Though these conspiracy theories were few and often dismissed, they managed to sow seeds of doubt among some, igniting fervent online debates.
​
The controversial articles were swiftly overwhelmed by waves of criticism and reports, but the questions they raised lingered in the public consciousness.
​
Now, all eyes were on Jin Tae-Kyung, waiting for him to step forward and address the swirling rumors.
​
When would he appear?
​
​
​
* * *
​
​
​
Beep. Beep.
​
The room, reserved for a select few, was filled with the mechanical hum of the latest medical devices.
​
Concerned faces looked down at Jin Tae-Kyung, who lay unconscious, an oxygen mask covering his face.
​
「How is Mr. Jin's condition?」
​
Choi Min-Woo responded to President Shao Yang's question.
​
「It's always the same. Everything seems perfectly normal, yet strangely, he can't regain consciousness.」
​
「Did both of them say the same thing?」
​
「Yes. They can't determine the cause.」
​
「Hmm. If that's the case, it must be certain... But why can't he regain consciousness?」
​
President Shao Yang sighed.
​
The two experts he referred to were leaders in their fields.
​
One was a civilian doctor revered as a modern Hua Tuo, and the other was a world-renowned healer. [Note: Hua Tuo was a famous ancient Chinese physician. He is reportedly the first person in China to use anasthesia during surgery.]
​
If both specialists they had brought in to treat Jin Tae-Kyung had said so, it must be true.
​
「I heard his family has come.」
​
「Our Peace Guild is taking good care of them. Fortunately, they are getting some rest at the moment.」
​
「That’s good to hear. Might I be able to see them, even for a moment?」
​
「Hmm... I will ask, but the family's wishes are most important...」
​
「I understand. Who wouldn't feel the same, seeing their blood relative unable to wake up? I’d be grateful if you'd think of it as nothing more than an old man's foolish worry.」
​
「Not at all, Mr. President. We appreciate you thinking so.」
​
「Appreciate it? No need for such words. If it weren't for Mr. Jin, a much greater disaster would have occurred. Though I am an old man and may not have much time left, I will take this gratitude to my grave.」
​
President Shao's words were sincere.
​
Four days had passed since then, and a global team of experts investigating the Arch Lich's last stronghold uncovered traces of a Gate.
​
The remnants of its immense magical power indicated a potential catastrophe.
​
「If Mr. Jin hadn't stopped the Arch Lich that day, not only our country but all of Asia, perhaps even the entire world, might have become a battlefield.」
​
「It's a very real possibility.」
​
Although the statement was slightly exaggerated, it held substantial truth.
​
Choi Min-Woo therefore acknowledged it with a nod.
​
He saw no reason to shy away from the praise or to downplay the deep gratitude expressed by a leader of over a billion people.
​
Indeed, gratitude, once extended, often yields rich dividends.
​
「By the way, Mr. President, recently there have been some unfavorable rumors circulating about Mr. Jin Tae-Kyung... Are you aware of them?」
​
「Are these internal issues, or external?」
​
「They are internal. It would be more accurate to say they involve the upper echelons of the Communist Party, or rather, the Princelings.」
​
President Shao Yang nodded knowingly.
​
「I am well aware of those matters.」
​
The matter concerned the death of Wu Hei-Xing.
​
The investigation had uncovered his severely damaged body, fueling conspiracy theories both domestically and internationally.
​
「There are those who suspect Mr. Jin Tae-Kyung. They point to a slight argument he had with Wu Hei-Xing at their first meeting and the fact that there were no significant injuries on Mr. Jin when he was first found.」
​
There were two main theories circulating among these rumors.
​
The first suggested that Jin Tae-Kyung, harboring resentment towards Wu Hei-Xing, had orchestrated his death and attributed it to the Arch Lich.
​
The second theory proposed that Jin Tae-Kyung used Wu Hei-Xing as a scapegoat, potentially alongside Lee Jeong-Ryong, who is missing or presumed dead, to eliminate the Arch Lich.
​
President Shao Yang, well aware of these narratives, had already formed his own judgement.
​
With a stern voice, he assured Choi Min-Woo.
​
「These are nothing but groundless slanders and conspiracy theories.」
​
「Thank you for your trust, but...」
​
It was a good response, but it was not enough.
​
Choi Min-Woo hesitated, then added thoughtfully.
​
「It seems the leader of the Princelings has a different view from yours, Mr. President.」
​
Within China, these theories, seen by many as national disgraces, resonated with a father mourning his son.
​
Wu Hei-Xing's father, the head of the Princelings and a figure wielding immense power within the Communist Party, was propelling these rumors forward.
​
He didn't stop at just speculation; he had initiated an independent probe to investigate further.
​
「If Mr. Jin Tae-Kyung regains consciousness, the truth will come to light. But for such high-ranking politicians to lead the spread of these absurd conspiracy theories...」
​
As Choi Min-Woo's words tapered off, President Shao Yang's lips curled into a subtle smile.
​
'No hesitation, I see.'
​
Despite the young man's impressive feats, his circumstances differed markedly from those of President Shao Yang.
​
Yet, here he was, confidently voicing his views, adeptly balancing his tone and stance.
​
'Was that story true?'
​
Recalling some personal details about Choi Min-Woo, President Shao Yang tapped the armrest of his chair thoughtfully.
​
「Alright. It seems my explanation was insufficient, so I'll say it again.」
​
「I'm listening.」
​
「My comrades and I already know everything about it and have made all the necessary preparations.」
​
「All the necessary preparations...?」
​
「He will be put on trial before he appeals for his son's death.」
​
The Arch Lich's fall wasn't the only outcome of this conflict.
​
Widespread corruption and fraud have come to light, necessitating the dismantling of the Princelings.
​
Choi Min-Woo's expression softened into a calm smile.
​
「Is that answer sufficient?」
​
「It is enough.」
​
That concluded their discussion for the day.
​
After a few more exchanges, President Shao Yang exited the room, leaving Choi Min-Woo alone. He murmured to himself thoughtfully.
​
"So, it is done."
​
Suddenly, someone's eyes snapped open.
​
"Ah, fuck. I thought I was going to die from frustration."

NEW - STANDINGS RESET FOR JUNE

Tie-Breaker Point Tweak
Hey Everyone! Welcome to the Cardinals Reddit Daily OveUnder Contest! I’ll post these daily as long as I’m able to, but I’m sure real life will get in the way here and there. This is all for fun. No prizes other than bragging rights.
 

Rules:

• Each question must be answered, including the tie breaker.
• Entries must be submitted before 1st pitch (I’ll do my best to turn off accepting responses at game time).
• Editing is turned off for the form entry. Duplicate entries will all be disregarded.
• At least 5 entries must be made for points to be earned for the day.
• All questions regarding the named probable pitcher will default to the starting pitcher for that team in the event that the probable pitcher does not make the start.

Scoring:

1st Place: 3 Points
2nd Place: 2 Points
3rd Place: 1 Point
Closest to Tie-Breaker: 1 Point
10/10 Correct: 1 Point
0/10 Correct: 1 Point
 
I'll keep a tally and post the results as a comment in that day's post and link it in the next day's contest thread. Points will keep accumulating throughout the season. I will be using MLB GameDay and ESPN for official scoring.
Good luck, everyone! I hope you enjoy! I'm also always open to feedback on how to improve or suggestions for questions (it can be tough trying to get enough variety!).
 
Not required for entry, but I’d appreciate leaving a comment/vote for visibility on the page
 

OveUnder Contest: June 1st

 

At Phillies, 6:15 CT

 

Sonny Gray Vs Ranger Suarez

 

OveUnder Form Link

 

May 31st Results

 

May Standings

Reddit Username	Points
u/DSchibler	13
u/fujiesque	10
u/more_whales	9
u/ski_mom	9
u/SomethingAvid	9
u/dan81989	8
u/Flimsy-animator756	8
u/Kevindoesnotcare	7
u/Weezy2337yadude	7
u/PCBangHero	6
u/dquizzle	5
u/gonelikecommonsense	5
u/Nurlitik	5
u/3236-on-MC	3
u/EE89	3
u/FKACaptainFlaherty	3
u/Ghost_TTV_1	3
u/jmikesyo	3
u/mogli9998	3
u/newtickled	3
u/Pantherspats	3
u/SGT_Apone	3
u/StrangerFront	3
u/VicksMyDawg12	3
u/zap_the_frank	3
u/Implied_volatility84	2
u/InternetGoodGuy	2
u/jacksonfake	2
u/jessner88	2
u/Xerowaltz	2
u/MissouriOzarker	1

 

Overall Standings - Full End of May

Reddit Username	Points

Reddit Name Points u/DSchibler 28 u/more_whales 15 u/Dan81989 12 u/InternetGoodGuy 12 u/zap_the_frank 12 u/gonelikecommonsense 11 u/PCBangHero 11 u/SomethingAvid 11 u/fujiesque 10 u/StrangerFront 10 u/Flimsy_animator756 9 u/NotGordan 9 u/Nurlitik 9 u/ski_mom 9 u/jacksonfake 7 u/Kevindoesnotcare 7 u/MVPBaseball2069 7 u/Weezy2337yadude 7 u/EE89 6 u/jmikesyo 6 u/Paulspike 6 u/SGT_Apone 6 u/theredd636 6 u/dquizzle 5 u/seattle_lib 5 u/Nerp_Rufflez 4 u/3236-on-MC 3 u/aga1397 3 u/FKACaptainFlaherty 3 u/Ghost_TTV_1 3 u/iamfluffhead 3 u/JayBSmith 3 u/kyla__ren 3 u/LookitstheMeta 3 u/mogli9998 3 u/newtickled 3 u/No_communication101 3 u/ohforschern 3 u/Pantherspats 3 u/Pizzayolo96 3 u/tehmeat 3 u/TronaldDumpsLogs 3 u/Vasego1 3 u/VicksMyDawg12 3 u/Actually_Actuarially 2 u/Bigdaddyice69 2 u/Clueless_in_Florida 2 u/Da_Choppa 2 u/defiant_edge 2 u/Implied_volatility84 2 u/jabbernut56 2 u/jessner88 2 u/MissouriOzarker 2 u/PhaedrusThaSquatch 2 u/PTF_Voidwalker 2 u/Redflanehot 2 u/rjaspa 2 u/thachiefking47 2 u/untitled5a1 2 u/Waystonebb 2 u/Xerowaltz 2 u/7thton 1 u/Abyss_in_Motion 1 u/Da_Munchy76 1 u/FrogsOfWar14 1 u/Lefty808 1 u/UnlikelyCheddar 1
 

Full Standings Spreadsheet

 

OveUnder Questions for later reference:

1) Pitches Thrown by Sonny Gray - O/U 92.5
2) Hits Allowed by Ranger Suarez - O/U 5.5
3) Strikeouts Pitched by Both Starting Pitchers Combined - O/U 13.5
4) Max Exit Velocity Allowed by Ranger Suarez - O/U 107.95 MPH
5) Total Team At Bats for Phillies - O/U 34.5
6) Total Bases Earned by Designated Hitters for Phillies - O/U 2.5
7) Total Pitchers Used by Both Teams Combined - O/U 7.5
8) Pitches Seen by Cardinals SS - O/U 15.5
9) Inherited Runners Allowed to Score by Cardinals Bullpen - O/U 0.5
10) Total Pitches Thrown in the Game - O/U 264.5
Tie Breaker: Official Attendance at Citizens Bank Park

TL DR at last.
My friend (8th sem) got an internship in an product based startup, which was work from home, since beginning the company owner likes the work of my friend, and is consistently insisting him to stay in his company even ehen he has shown his disinterest as he already got placement in a company.
Now our college requires internship completion certificate to give the provision letter which is important for joining in any company.
This company owner despite the role having wfh, called him to Bangalore , and assured him that he will pay his rent for PG and other bills, now even in Bangalore he is trying that my friend stays in his company. The owner Restricted him to add any info about his work in the college presentation, and when asking on internship completion certificate he is procrastinating and is making excuses, and if certificate is not present in the college report then my friend won't get provision letter and won't be able to join the company, on explaining the issue to this owner he directly said , don't worry you can join my company as full time.
Now on asking and insisting again and again for the letter he now is saying that he will take exit interview at sharp 11AM when my friend is not available due to personal reasons, on trying to explain unavailability he is saying that it's then or never as he will go to Japan that evening.
It seems like he doesn't want to give my friend the internship completion letter. What can my friend do in this current situation please help experienced folks.
TL:DR - my friend required internship completion certificate to get provision letter from college to join in any company, but apparantly the owner of this company likes the work of my friend and wants him to join his company by hook or by crook and is procrastinating to give internship completion certificate so that my friend fails to show it to college on time and couldn't get the provision letter required for joining the company from which he got PPO. Kindly give your valuable suggestions as seniors what could be done in this situation ?
Thanks in advance.

Hi guys. I really need your help. I’m pregnant with my first. I don’t know the gender yet but I’d like to be as prepared as I can be so I don’t stress about it.
It took me and my husband forever to land on a boy name but we both like Miles. Yesterday I proposed spelling it with a “Y” to kind of match with his sister… if we ever have a girl, her name is going to be Camryn for many reasons - part of my moms name, can spell my name Amy and my husbands name Ray with the letters, and sounds unisex.
Do you think Myles is too unique/trendy? I can totally see him having to correct people’s spelling and having to repeat “It’s Miles with a Y”. Honestly feels like I could go with either spelling.
Thanks for your help.

TL DR at last.
My friend (8th sem) got an internship in an product based startup, which was work from home, since beginning the company owner likes the work of my friend, and is consistently insisting him to stay in his company even ehen he has shown his disinterest as he already got placement in a company.
Now our college requires internship completion certificate to give the provision letter which is important for joining in any company.
This company owner despite the role having wfh, called him to Bangalore , and assured him that he will pay his rent for PG and other bills, now even in Bangalore he is trying that my friend stays in his company. The owner Restricted him to add any info about his work in the college presentation, and when asking on internship completion certificate he is procrastinating and is making excuses, and if certificate is not present in the college report then my friend won't get provision letter and won't be able to join the company, on explaining the issue to this owner he directly said , don't worry you can join my company as full time.
Now on asking and insisting again and again for the letter he now is saying that he will take exit interview at sharp 11AM when my friend is not available due to personal reasons, on trying to explain unavailability he is saying that it's then or never as he will go to Japan that evening.
It seems like he doesn't want to give my friend the internship completion letter. What can my friend do in this current situation please help experienced folks.
TL:DR - my friend required internship completion certificate to get provision letter from college to join in any company, but apparantly the owner of this company likes the work of my friend and wants him to join his company by hook or by crook and is procrastinating to give internship completion certificate so that my friend fails to show it to college on time and couldn't get the provision letter required for joining the company from which he got PPO. Kindly give your valuable suggestions as seniors what could be done in this situation ?
Thanks in advance.

Phil Aston: Hello and welcome to the Now Spinning Magazine podcast with me, Phil Aston. And in this episode, I’m absolutely delighted to have with me Tony Martin, one of the UK’s most underrated rock vocalists. You’ve had a really varied career, but what we’re going to talk about today specifically is Black Sabbath and the new “Anno Domini” box set. So, welcome, Tony. Thank you so much for joining me.
Tony Martin: Thank you. And thank you for having me on the show. Very cool.
Phil Aston: A bit of context, because I think this is kind of helpful for you. My son is 30 now, but when he was 15, he set up a Facebook group, kind of saying, “One day, please can we have the Tony Martin Black Sabbath albums released?” That was 15 years ago. He was still at school, half his lifetime ago. And I think in the early time when he set this up, he may have reached out to you and you might have said something like, “I don’t think it’s gonna happen, Dan.” And here we are, all these years later, and it’s not only happened, but it comes out this Friday. How does that feel to know that these albums are now going to be available again?
Tony Martin: Well, first of all, well done to your son. It took 15 years, but he got it done. To be honest, there’s been a few periods when I didn’t think it was happening. In fact, about a year ago, Tony Iommi’s manager called me and said, “You know what, this is just so complicated. I don’t think we can do this.” So I was resigned to it not happening myself. It’s all to do with band politics, really. There are so many people involved or have their fingers in the pie that they all have to be on board. And there were allegiances changing all over the place, left, right, and center. So in the end, it was getting a bit tiring, but well done to Tony Iommi and BMG. My God, the patience they showed to get this thing together and actually get it out there. Wow. But how does it feel? It feels brilliant, to be honest. I’m very excited. I haven’t actually had these albums in my own hands physically for the past 25 years. I gave all mine away thinking I’d be able to get some more, and I didn’t. They just stopped making them. So to actually physically hold them again is really cool. What a great job they’ve done of it. So I’m thrilled and excited. And I’m helping out now because I’m not in the band, obviously, anymore. So I just offered my help to promote it and they said, “Great, let’s do it.”
Phil Aston: Isn’t it amazing? Because I’ve done quite a few reviews about Black Sabbath box sets and stuff, but this one, within about 12 hours, there’s literally 12,000 views of the review. The love for this period of Black Sabbath is actually huge. It’s grown. It almost feels as if the profile is higher now than it was at the time.
Tony Martin: Yeah, there is a kind of reason for that. Partly people have got over the “it’s the new guy” thing, and also it’s been 25 years since. So now we’re reaching out to a whole other group of people, in addition to those that were already there. But to the outside world, it looks like there was a huge gap, and to me it felt like a huge gap. But actually, the fans were always there. I’ve been waiting myself as well to get this back out there. And it’s just band politics, really. That’s all it is.
Phil Aston: Because you had that period when it was almost as if this part of Sabbath’s history was hidden because of band politics. None of this really happened, which I think probably stirred up more interest and kind of people wanting to find out more.
Tony Martin: Yeah, it could be. It’s an old famous thing, you know, if something ain’t around for a while, people start talking about it. But yeah, it’s a strange thing, the music business. You’re either in fashion or you’re not. But I am just thrilled that they’ve got around it. Just the patience they’ve shown to actually put this together. At one point they were just saying, “We can’t do it.” But I’m really chuffed anyway.
Phil Aston: I imagine there’s been compromises along the way. Lots of fans probably don’t understand how complicated the politics and all the different licenses and everything that goes on over the years, they become more and more entangled. People say, “Where’s Eternal Idol?” But of course, that was a different record label. Different people own it.
Tony Martin: Yeah, absolutely. It’s owned by somebody else. And also Eternal Idol, or “Eternal Idiot,” as we call it, was kind of reissued not that long ago. Really.
Phil Aston: That’s right. With the two CD version, wasn’t it?
Tony Martin: Yeah. So they were kind of thinking, “Well, there’s no real panic because that’s already been done and let’s just move on.” Because that would have wrapped them up in contracts for centuries, I think. I can’t even think that they’ll ever get them to let that go. But they were struggling to get the people involved with these four albums to make up their minds and do stuff. I’ve been all for it all the way along, I have to say. Obviously, because it’s my career, my history. It’s not just the band’s history. It’s ten years of my life that went AWOL. So, yeah, I’ve been up for it all the way along, but some people don’t and it’s taken them a while to get on board.
Phil Aston: I think it’s fantastic. The first one was Headless Cross. You joined one of the biggest rock bands with all that history behind it. You were an established singer with the Alliance. But this was a chance, as you say, with Eternal Idol, you went in and it was already prepared. You sang it, but this one was where you could really put your mark on it, your personality lyrically as well as musically. Can you remember what it was like actually being at the beginning of that? Did you feel comfortable around Iommi and Powell and thinking, “Right, what kind of lyrics am I going to do by Headless Cross?”
Tony Martin: Yeah, I was comfortable by then. Well, kind of. The thing is, with Eternal Idol, if I can just backstep a little bit. The Eternal Idol wasn’t the first call up. The first call up was in 1986 when they were doing the Seventh Star with Glenn Hughes. And that scared me to death because I can’t sing like Glenn Hughes. Nobody can sing like Glenn Hughes. They put me on standby back then, so I’d sort of tentatively had an introduction to Tony Iommi. Then in ’87, they got me in for the audition, and that was the next introduction to Tony Iommi. But because Eternal Idol was already written, that gave me a whole year plus a bit more to find out what this thing was. What the hell was I supposed to do? So just doing Eternal Idol like that was fine by me because I didn’t have to discover anything myself back then. It gave me a chance to get my feet in. So by the time it got to Headless Cross, now I know all the guys, and I kind of know what’s expected of me. I still had to find the “me” that I needed to find. I went around it the only way I could, by focusing on things I was interested in. I couldn’t do the lyrics and melodies that Geezer was writing for Ozzy because that was a generation before me. The stuff that Ronnie was doing was fantastic, but I couldn’t get inside his head. So I had to think about what I was going to do. I had an interest in the old gothic death stuff, like Dracula and Frankenstein, Mary Shelley type writing, and of course, in England, we have Shakespeare. Nobody speaks English like that anymore, that old English text. I thought, “Old English text, gothic death, and Black Sabbath. That might work.” So I put them all together and came up with Headless Cross, which is where I lived. I lived in a village called Headless Cross.
Phil Aston: Yeah, you put that on the map. They weren’t pleased about it. The most recognition I’ve got is my name on a bus stop. And Cozy Powell thought the album needed more death, didn’t he?
Tony Martin: Oh, that’s true. That’s actually true. We were recording “When Death Calls,” and he was in the studio playing, and he suddenly stopped. We went, “You alright?” He went, “Yeah, just remind me, what’s this song called again?” I said, “It’s called When Death Calls.” He said, “I don’t think there’s enough death in it.” And he carried on playing. So, okay, maybe he’s taking the piss, but isn’t it such a great sounding album? As Tony Iommi says, he never left Black Sabbath. So when people criticize him, saying, “You should change the name or whatever,” he never left. So it was still Black Sabbath. The riffs, the guitar sound was reaching new peaks of excellence around this time.
Because when it was just him and Ozzy, for example, it was guitar, that was it. When Geoff Nichols joined during the Dio period, it introduced a few more keyboard things. That allowed Iommi to play solos against those keyboard pads and chords. And then you come along and start sticking 50 tracks of vocal harmonies on it, like in Anno Mundi and stuff like that. It just kept developing. Sabbath isn’t really known for vocal harmonies and keyboards, but underneath that was still Tony Iommi. And it still sounded like Sabbath. We were happy to do that. We just wanted to make Tony happy and do the best for him. It was his band. So we were happy to seek out that Sabbath sound and make sure it did what it said on the tin. A couple of times, like with the Seventh Star thing, he ventured a little bit away from it. Songs like Heart Like a Wheel don’t really make the Black Sabbath sound, but it’s still good stuff. I have great respect for all of the eras that went before. I had to sing all of the songs. So I do have great respect for it. And it’s been an honor, you know, like being part of the whole story. But he was the only one that stuck it out. And we respected him for that. You’re right, they did ask him to change a couple of times. He said, “No, I can’t change now.”
Phil Aston: The next one, if I pronounce this right, it’s Tyr.
Tony Martin: Yeah.
Phil Aston: Because when it came out, me and my friends, actually, because there was no Internet back then and nowhere to go and check it, we did call it Tyr. To be.
Tony Martin: Yeah, Tyr.
Phil Aston: Watch you find in Birmingham. You know what I mean? So it actually rhymes with beer, doesn’t it?
Tony Martin: It is, yeah. Actually, it’s Tiw, which is Scandinavian for the son of Odin or something.
Phil Aston: Well, this is almost as close, probably, to Sabbath getting into almost a concept album. Isn’t it? This is a collection of songs that in another time and space you probably as a band would have gone out and performed the whole thing.
Tony Martin: Yeah, it wasn’t meant that way, but they were struggling to find a name for the album. We were recording and getting towards the end and the management called us up and said, “We really need a name for this album.” And Cozy said, “I’ve got one. Let’s call it Satanic Verses.” We went, “What, like Salman Rushdie thing?” He said, “Yeah, it would be great publicity.” We said, “Yeah, but we’ll all be dead.” So we did struggle, but they happened across the artwork. We’d done Anno Mundi, we’d done Gates of Valhalla and all that sort of stuff. They went, “What if… Tyr?” It was fine by me. So it took on the Viking sort of theme. By that time, I was thinking, once I’d done Headless Cross and started to have an interest in the Vikings and stuff. As you know, the Vikings haven’t been particularly good for us. They came over and stole all our women and sheep and whatever. But I had an interest in them as well. So I was thinking, every culture, every religion has its dark side. There’s always a devil type in a god type. I thought we could go around the world and I could do this. You could pick up on all sorts of cultures and pick out the dark side of various things. But it was the last kind of… I still did that with various other songs and various other artists. But Tyr was leaning towards that theme.
Phil Aston: It’s an excellent album. Then of course, the strangeness of the politics in Sabbath. Dehumanizer comes along and Dio re-enters the scene. You obviously had an opportunity because every cloud has a silver lining. You can go off and do your solo album at this time. But you did kind of like… It sounds like it was almost a forced relationship, the way that he was and he wasn’t. I mean, how was that period for you? Because you did demo some of the tracks, didn’t you?
Tony Martin: Firstly, it was a shock. I didn’t see that coming at all. Literally just walking out the door to the next writing rehearsals. My managers called up and said, “They don’t want you to go.” From what I recently found out, although I had my suspicions, Tony Iommi said the record label just wasn’t supporting it. They weren’t getting behind us at all. Then they started banding about all different names and stuff, and Ronnie’s name came up. They thought they’d give it a go. He said it was all on and off all the time. After they let me go, it wasn’t too long before Tony called me back and said, “Can you come back?” I said, “No, I can’t. I’m doing my solo album.” More time went by, and he called me back again and said, “Are you sure you can’t come back?” I said, “I’m doing my solo album. I really can’t.” He said, “Do you want to come down and try?” So I did. I went down and tried putting my voice on some of the songs, but it would have meant rewriting everything, and they weren’t going to do that. So I said, “The best thing is if you finish this with Ronnie, get this done and out of the way, then maybe we can talk again later.” So that’s kind of what happened. By that time, I’d done my solo album, which I wanted to get as far away from the Sabbath thing as I could at the time. I went back to doing what the Alliance and some of the bands I’d been with, that middle-of-the-road AOR type stuff. But when they called me back to Sabbath, Polydor dropped my solo album like a brick. They said, “We can’t do this if you’re going to go back with them.” So that got stopped. It’s so confusing. By the time I got back with the guys to Cross Purposes, it didn’t feel that much of a gap for me, because I’ve been talking to them and working with them through the Dehumanizer thing.
Phil Aston: Stylistically, that album, because it was on the IRS label, I know some people have said, “Well, it should be in there.” Stylistically, musically, it’s very different. I mean, you take it out. These four albums in this set, excluding Eternal Idol, they sound like a progression. Dehumanizer sounds like a kind of sidestep. Even the way the riffs are done in the songs, it’s changed. You take the vocalist out, but the music continued. You took you out and it was very different.
Tony Martin: I suppose it does a bit. If I go back and think over it, I guess that’s what it was. It was kind of an interruption into the flow of things. When we were doing Tyr, I thought we were doing really well. I thought we were onto something. Dehumanizer, in that sort of respect, does feel a little bit like an interruption. But there was some good stuff on there. Ronnie’s always been a good singer. I don’t quite know how they feel about it, but it was kind of nothing to do with me. I just let them get on with it.
Phil Aston: After that, Cross Purposes is probably, out of the four albums in this set, my personal favorite. Geezer’s back in the band now, so you’ve got his bubbling bass in there. And again, lyrically, it’s all you. Did you feel any kind of, “Oh, Geezer’s back. Will he want to help out?”
Tony Martin: I did ask. He just said, “No, you can do it.” So I just carried on.
Phil Aston
The reason why I love this album is that it’s varied. A lot of people think of Black Sabbath as the Godfathers of heavy metal, and heavy metal is always heavy metal. But if you think back to albums like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in the seventies, they weren’t all heavy metal. There were all sorts of things on there. There were keyboards and light and shade. This, I felt, connected to that album, because you had light and shade on it. So there were more dynamics in the lyrical delivery and the song delivery, in the way that Iommi is weaving his riffs around the melodies. What are your thoughts looking back on this album now?
Tony Martin: I think you’ve just summed it up. It did sort of shift up a notch. Not only that, but the sound they were getting with Leif Mases producing it, it sort of grew up. It lifted somehow out of what they’d done before. It felt like, “Oh, this sounds good.” The songwriting and the exploring we were doing with the songs and stuff. At the time, Geezer Butler said that’s the best album he’s ever been on. He never said that again, but he said it at the time.
Phil Aston: I can imagine him saying just that.
Tony Martin: But it was good. Having Bobby Rondinelli in the band as well. Technically amazing. Brilliant player. His drums close in, and he plays with his wrists. Very technical. Whereas Cozy’s drums are stretched out far and wide. He’d lean over and hit them. But great to have them both in. What an honor. I mean, it’s Geezer Butler as well.
Phil Aston: When you got to South America, Bill Ward was in for a few gigs, wasn’t he? That must have been quite surreal. Bill Ward and Geezer playing songs like Headless Cross, which they had nothing to do with.
Tony Martin: They had nothing to do with. We were kind of weird because once we’d started to get Geezer and Bill back in, they wanted to start doing more of the older songs. That just makes you look, read between the lines going, “What’s going on? Where’s this going?” Once it’s happened to you, you know it. Then you’re reading between the lines. You start to feel it. Then you go, “Ah, right.” You can feel it. They’re clearing up. I did ask if they were going to do a reunion with Ozzy. Iommi was always denying it. Said, “No, no, we’re not doing that.” But I didn’t mind. The reason for that is because I knew what I could do in the future then. I thought, “Well, if they just tell me, that’s fine. Cause then I can plan.” The first time it was a shock and I didn’t know what to do. But I was kind of keyed up for it the next time. But he kept going. They got Bill in. I love Bill. I think he’s brilliant. We did some shows with him. But for some reason, and I don’t know what it is, I mean, I can tell you Iommi loves Bill. He regaled so many stories about when they were out there and how funny it was. I never understood why they never gave him time to get back in it. When you think of Def Leppard, they made a drum kit for a one-armed drummer.
Phil Aston: Yes, very true.
Tony Martin: Surely they can find time to get Bill settled back in. Whatever problems they’ve got. I mean, come on.
Phil Aston: You would think, yeah, very true.
Tony Martin: Get on with it. I thought, “Right, this is going to go south again.” But it didn’t. We carried on with Forbidden, and then Cozy came back after his accident. It was really up and down. Confusing. People in and out. During the time I was in the band, there were eight different lineups.
Phil Aston: It was very much a revolving door, wasn’t it? Before we move on, I just want to ask, because I know a lot of fans ask this. In the booklets in these box sets, there’s an image of Cross Purposes Live. That was a VHS tape and a CD. Is there a reason why that wasn’t included in some way? Is that game politics?
Tony Martin: I did ask about that, and they were just keen to get on with it. They said, “Come on, let’s go, let’s do it.” What they told me was that they’re going to take their time now to see what else they can gather and do an additional thing to this along the way with more of that in it. With the Cross Purposes Live and some other stuff. There’s a track that I recorded with them when Eddie Van Halen came and did Evil Eye.
Phil Aston: Yes, yeah, Evil Eye, wasn’t it?
Tony Martin: Yeah. I used to take the track out. I had it everywhere. Writing sessions, recording sessions, rehearsals. I just happened to be there. I didn’t even know who was coming. Iommi just turned up with Eddie Van Halen. I went, “Holy hell, it’s Eddie Van Halen. What’s he doing here?” He did some rehearsals with us and then disappeared. Never saw him again. But I got the recordings of the rehearsals that we did.
Phil Aston: Oh, wow.
Tony Martin: So I sent them to Tony Iommi. I said, “Use these. Get these on.” He said, “No, no, we can’t.” The reason they said was anything that has the slightest newness about it looks like a new Black Sabbath track or album track. They’re not allowed to release anything new under the Black Sabbath name. So even if it’s historical, they couldn’t allow it. It’s really weird.
Phil Aston: That means there must be lots of live stuff recorded. More bands were recording live stuff from the nineties onwards that you just couldn’t work on because it would go out under the Black Sabbath name.
Tony Martin: Not just live stuff. I’ve got about eight tracks that we never released. Just from the writing sessions and rehearsals and stuff that we used to do. They just can’t get out. They just won’t allow it.
I don’t understand. Well, I kind of understand. When you’re trying to protect your name, your mark, your image, your everything, which is where the band politics comes in, they won’t allow you to do anything that they think. And there’s all kinds of… Everybody from Ozzy to Dio to everybody. They don’t want their thing to be diluted or taken away. I do understand that. There are people involved all along the way that have an objection of some kind or another.
Phil Aston: But I guess, hopefully, this box set’s going to sell out really quickly and will show there’s a demand for this material and for this part of Black Sabbath history. There’s a lot of love for it. A lot of people worked really hard within it, like yourself. They’re great albums, wonderful songs. If there’s other music waiting in the wings, whereas we all get older, thinking through the eyes of the fan, it would go down so well, wouldn’t it? But I am, as you are, very grateful that these four albums have arrived in a box.
Tony Martin: Yes, it’s an important thing for me. It’s an important thing for the band, and it’s a great thing for the fans. I’m thrilled. It’s been an honor to be part of the story. I love the fact that it’s out there now. They did say there is no limit to the box sets. They have sold out on day one.
Phil Aston: I’m not surprised.
Tony Martin: They said the way they do it is they tend to poll the outlets and stuff and say, “How many do you think you can sell?” And they put their numbers in, and they’ve gone way past that. So now they’ve got to go back and produce more. There’s no limit to it. I love what they’ve done. There’s more in the box set than just the albums. Posters, programs, and everything.
Phil Aston: And then Forbidden. I’ll be honest, Tony, when I heard this for the first time back in the day, I didn’t like it. I tried, but I didn’t like it. My son liked it because I think probably because his dad didn’t. But now the remix, it’s as if someone’s released the drums and the guitars. It sounds like a Black Sabbath album. It sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?
Tony Martin: It does. It’s brilliant. I love the fact that they’ve dismantled it and put it back in a way that they couldn’t or didn’t with the other three. Forbidden needed it for all kinds of reasons. It was done under a sort of cloud where a lot of us weren’t really into it very much. But it was also an attempt at trying to give Sabbath a kind of acceptable twist to the youth. It didn’t work.
Phil Aston: The nineties were weird, weren’t they? The nineties were strange for heavy rock.
Tony Martin: The problem was we were fast heading towards great new bands like Nirvana and eventually Green Day and Metallica doing stuff. We were going and they were trying to change the sound to fit in. It didn’t work. We didn’t think it would. But there are people out there that love Forbidden as it is. I said that to Iommi. Last time I saw him, there are people out there that love it. He said, “They’ll probably love this version now.” But shaking the chains, guilty as hell, rusty angels, forbidden. And of course, “Loser Gets It All” is a great track. That wasn’t even on the album originally.
Phil Aston: It’s brilliant.
Tony Martin: Yeah. Strange. I absolutely love it now. It does sound like a Black Sabbath album. It sounds like it should be there in amongst the others. They’ve done a great job. Tony and his engineers have really pulled it together. It’s slightly more guitar and slightly less keyboard. They’ve done Cozy’s drums. Fantastic job on those.
Phil Aston: They’re just unleashed, aren’t they?
Tony Martin: Yes. They haven’t changed anything. They’ve mixed it and given it a new attitude, which is brilliant. They’ve given it more space. It sounds bigger. I just love what they’ve done to it. I’m really proud of it now. I didn’t like it then. There’s still a couple of tracks where I would love to have gone back in and…
Phil Aston: Yeah, you know.
Tony Martin: I thought at the time, because I was that off it at the time, my head just wasn’t quite there. A couple of tracks I thought I could have done better. I did sort of say when they were doing it, “Can I go back in?” They said, “No.”
Phil Aston: I suppose because that might edge towards it being a new recording then.
Tony Martin: Yeah, tricky. I’m not going to tell you which tracks it is, but there were a couple in there that I wasn’t quite happy with. But on the whole, it’s a great job they’ve done.
Phil Aston: Because when you were playing live, there were more songs from your period in Sabbath coming into the set, weren’t there? You were a unique vocalist in many ways for the band. You could cover Ozzy, Dio. You probably could have done Ian Gillan. Anything. You could have the ultimate set list, really, going through every era.
Tony Martin: That was a bit of a mistake. I told them I could sing anything, really. They thought, “What can we give him to sing?” They threw all sorts of stuff at me. I had a shot. Fortunately, I’ve got the kind of voice that can get around most things, and that’s a result of being in so many different kinds of music. I’ve been involved in everything from reggae to rock.
Phil Aston: Who were your key vocal influences growing up? As you say, outside of this Black Sabbath badge, your voice can go in any direction. So who were your influences? Was it blues, soul, rock?
Tony Martin: It kept changing. Everything I listened to, I thought, “That’s good. That’s good.” Each couple of years, something else took my attention. I’d really pour my soul into it. When I started off with reggae, believe it or not, I worked with Musical Youth and Dexys Midnight Runners in the studio. I was a guitarist back then. Then I loved blues. I got into prog rock bands like Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull. Then it shifted to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. That led to Rush and bands like that. Then I had to come down out of that prog rock technical stuff because Sabbath is much more honest and basic and straightforward. To a point. When you’re in the band and you find out how he does it, it’s stunning. I never even gave it a thought. I thought, “It’s got to be easy.” It wasn’t easy at all. Iommi can put seven, eight different riffs into one song, and each one of the riffs could be a song on their own.
Phil Aston: Very true.
Tony Martin: So, wow. You get your head around it. It’s weird. Plus, the time signatures he was throwing at us. There was a 14/4 and a 15/8 or something he was throwing at us. How he gets his head around it, I just don’t know. When I saw him a few weeks ago, he said, “You did a really good job on this.” I said, “Thanks, man.” He said, “I actually don’t know how you sang over some of this stuff.” I said, “Neither do I.”
Phil Aston: Just mad, isn’t it? You could try anything. I might have thought, “That means you might be able to put some of the songs in that Ozzy couldn’t do into the set. Or I can try something that I’ve never been able to do before because Tony says he can do anything.”
Tony Martin: It’s because I showed willing. I told them I’d have a go. And I did have a go. I did put into it. The songs, the writing, the live shows, whatever. I kind of made a rod for my own back in some ways because it was hard flicking between all of the different vocal techniques. But I did my best. It sort of came across okay. The problem is when you try to do stuff like that, it can sound a bit like a tribute act. But we got it nailed, I think. Especially having people like Cozy Powell, Geezer Butler, and all those guys in the band. We were willing to seek out that Sabbath sound, and we were conscious of it. So we were all aiming for the same thing. From outside, it might have looked like a chaotic mess. But on the inside, it all had a focus. We were all willing to give it a go. That’s what I think they saw in me. I knew they liked my voice, but I think that’s what they saw, a willingness to have a go and see if you can make it work. All those different time signatures and riffs that I had to go, looking back, to me, it’s Black Sabbath. Like,
Phil Aston I’m a Deep Purple fan, and every lineup of Deep Purple is still Deep Purple. I know Black Sabbath, there’s lots of politics in the way some of the fans look at it. But I think, which is why they had Heaven and Hell later on instead of Black Sabbath, because of the politics. But listening to these four albums, one after the other, you brought to life Viking mythology and song. More death. Just your passion and the way you projected the lyrics and your phrasing makes these albums unique. An important part of the Sabbath story. Finally, do you feel like this outpouring of love for this lineup is validating everything? Any doubt that might have been back then?
Tony Martin: Yeah, doesn’t it just? The biggest validation is from Tony Iommi himself. It wasn’t regarded that highly until he sat and listened to it without the bickering going around. When I went down a few weeks ago, he said, “You did a great job on this. There’s fantastic songs on here.” I said, “I know.” It’s just that validation that he gives it. The fact that the fans are returning to it. The fact that we’ve got new fans coming to it. Whole new record labels. I think it’s Rhino in America. It’s BMG in the UK, Europe. The record labels are coming back to it and getting behind it. They see something in it. The management sees something in it. So it’s all coming together. Which is a shame because I’m not in the band anymore.
Phil Aston Who knows? Maybe you and Tony will think, “It’d be great if some of this other stuff can come out at some point and we don’t have to wait another 25 years.”
Tony Martin: If he was going to do that, he’d say, “Let’s just write some new stuff.” But from what I’ve been told, Tony’s touring dates are done now. He won’t be going out on the road again. That’s probably out of the question for writing. I did tell him I was interested if he wants to do something. But he’s got so much going on. He’s still busy. Doing stuff. He had that ballet, the Black Sabbath ballet.
Phil Aston: Yeah, that’s true.
Tony Martin: Never saw that coming. No, he’s working on all kinds of stuff. He’s writing new material for something else now.
Phil Aston: So what about you, Tony? Have you got any plans for another solo album?
Tony Martin: I never actually stopped. For the past 25 years, my career took me into the studio and writing for people. My voice appears on 89 albums and projects now. It’s been good for me. I owe everything to Black Sabbath because that’s how the world got to hear my voice. People know what they’re talking about when they talk to me. “Can you write, can you sing on this?” They already know what they’re hearing or expecting. I always try to make it better than what they give me in the first place. A lot of that is me in the studio, and I’m happy, and I still am, happy doing that. But I do tend to choose what I do these days.
Phil Aston: Yeah, that makes sense.
Tony Martin: So I’m still doing the odd thing for people now. I did have a solo album a couple of years ago called Thorns.
Phil Aston: Great album.
Tony Martin: Yeah, totally unknown guitarist from America, Scott McClellan. I only met him because he kept badgering me on Facebook. He kept sending me stuff. I was like, “Go away.” He said, “Listen to this. What about this one?” In the end, I listened to it and it was brilliant. So I gave it a go and it turned out really well. But then Covid interrupted that and we couldn’t get out there with it. Some countries were saying, “Yeah, you can come,” and other countries were saying, “No, you can’t.” It all got distracted. I haven’t finished with Thorns because they wanted to do a vinyl for it. They said we had to take some tracks off to get it to fit on the vinyl. I don’t want to take any tracks off.
Phil Aston: Make it a double.
Tony Martin: Yeah, make it a double. Write some more. I wasn’t prepared for that. I’m pacing up, trying to write some new songs. Scott has sent me loads. We’ve got enough tracks for Thorns 2, but I haven’t finished Thorns 1 yet. I’ve got to come back to that. I do want to finish that off and get that done. Then if we can do the next Thorns thing, who knows? We’d like to try and get it out on the road. Getting out on the road for me is so different to the Sabbath thing. The Sabbath machine is huge. They only have to mention it and all the cogs start turning all at the same time all the way around the world. It all starts fitting into place within days, within weeks. On your own, it’s different. I can’t do that. I have to hire other musicians to go out on the road and rehearse the whole thing and start again with a brand new show. It’s a lot harder for me, but I would love to get back out there. My career took me into the studio, so I’ve got more to do. But I just tend to choose now.
Phil Aston: If people want to get Thorns, is it DarkstarRecords.net? Is that the best place?
Tony Martin: No, Battle God. They are the main label. Darkstar were involved and they’re still there, but they’ve had some troubles in the past couple of years. They were on board and I did two versions of it from between the two territories. I liked that. But mostly now, Battle God is the label to grab hold of it. It’s still available and I’m still signing them. People send me the stuff to sign.
Phil Aston: But I haven’t finished yet, so there’s more to come.
Phil Aston: Brilliant. Well, thanks very much, Tony, for all of your time today. Everybody, make sure you go and get a copy on CD or vinyl of this Black Sabbath Tony Martin years box set, “Anno Domini.” It’s absolutely superb.
Tony Martin: Yeah, it is good. I’m just smiling. I think it’s brilliant.
Phil Aston: No, that’s it, isn’t it? Whatever anyone thinks, these albums are available again. People can hear just how awesome this time for Sabbath really was.
Tony Martin: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Phil Aston: All right, take care, and hopefully I’ll talk to you again in the future.
Tony Martin: Thank you. All right, Phil, thanks, mate. Cheers.
Phil Aston: Well, a huge thank you to my guest, Tony Martin. That was fantastic. I’m almost lost for words in knowing what to say to sum up that interview because I know a lot of you are really interested in this box set, “Anno Domini” by Black Sabbath, which is out on CD and vinyl. Just as I thought, it’s sold out already, but there’s going to be another pressing. I was able to ask some of the questions I know some of you have been wanting to know, like why weren’t there extra tracks? Why wasn’t the live Cross Purposes included, etc. So now you know. Some of it is really exciting because it means there might be a companion set with some outtakes or live stuff as well. That’s really exciting.
Tony Martin is a fantastic vocalist, really passionate, really imaginative with his lyrics and his vision of how he writes his music. These four albums are essential. They’re Black Sabbath albums, okay? That’s what they are. They sound like Black Sabbath albums. Wasn’t it interesting that Geezer Butler said Cross Purposes is the best album he’d ever played on? It is a truly remarkable album. But they all are: from Headless Cross, to Tyr (which I can now pronounce correctly), Cross Purposes, and Forbidden, which has been given a new lease of life. Seriously, it is incredible. Just stunning.
Thank you again to Tony Martin for joining me here on the Now Spinning Magazine podcast. Please keep spinning those discs, whether they are vinyl or CD. Check us out on the podcast. We’re on every platform you can think of, from Apple to Spotify to Amazon. Of course, we’re on YouTube. Please subscribe and check out the website at nowspinning.co.uk. Remember, music is the healer and the doctor. So take care and I’ll see you all very, very soon.
Watch the full interview here
Phil Aston Now Spinning Magazine

F50, SW 225, CW 194, GW 145 (3 months since starting)
Hopefully this will help someone. I was hardheaded the first month and thought I knew it all 🙄 …I absolutely DID NOT!!
On day one, be prepared with a few things that will make your transition using this med a whole lot smoother for you. I learned these over the course of the last 3 months the hard way.
Hydration, protein, and fiber are essential. If this med affects your sleep (it does me), see below.
ELECTROLYTES: Get yourself some electrolytes that you like and will take daily. I don’t like sugary things, and use ‘HRDWRK (electrolytes powder that is sugar free with magnesium, potassium, and sodium)’ once or twice a day. I discovered how essential this was by getting dizzy 2 times to the point of nearly passing out when trying to garden. It was my own fault because I hadn’t eaten enough and plain water wasn’t enough. Electrolytes stopped my dizziness completely (was even happening just bending over) and occasional headaches. I take this first thing in the morning before I do anything else. Sometimes, if I had a super busy day, I will drink another glass of it in the evening.
PROTEIN: After thinking I could possibly get enough protein through food only for 6 weeks, I finally gave in and got some readymade protein drinks. I use ‘Lean Body’ strawberry and vanilla (others taste too sweet to me). This has really helped with my weight loss and not losing muscle. I drink them for lunch only now (with some fruit on the side), which frees up my lunch hour to go to the gym. Never in a million years did I think that sentence would apply to me!!!
FIBER: Constipation for many on this med is a daily reality. Get a good fiber routine. I use ‘NOW: psyllium husk powder’ once daily in the evening and it helps tremendously. Fruit and other things help, but I still find I need the supplement daily.
SLEEP ISSUES/INSOMNIA: I have always had sleep issues, but had finally gotten them worked out before starting on this journey. That ended with the first shot. After several types of trial and error and 4-5 hours of sleep for 6 weeks (!!!!), I finally found the combination that works for me - Magnesium with Zinc combo that also has Vitamin D for absorption PLUS a TIME RELEASED melatonin. I took regular melatonin before and woke up like clockwork at 3am. The time release changed everything. This has helped me get back to 7+ hours of sleep consistently. I take the Magnesium supplement in the morning and then take the melatonin (3mg) when I’m completely ready for sleep…not just getting in bed, but turning everything off and going to sleep. I also got a blue screen protector for my phone because I like to read on my phone for about an hour while in bed. These things have been a game changer for me in the sleep department.
My last suggestion is to set a weigh and measure day each MONTH (with photos, because it’s an amazing transformation). I see so many posts on here where people weigh every single day and get discouraged because the scale goes up a couple of pounds. This happens naturally in our bodies depending on so many factors. None of us need any discouragement when it comes to getting healthy. It’s a process that is individual for each of us. I will say since starting I have not one single time been discouraged or disappointed when seeing the numbers on the scale after a month of waiting. The number is always less…and that is a HUGE win!
I hope this helps someone - best of luck to all of you. I really enjoy seeing everyone’s progress and stories. It’s how I end my night every day, seeing how great everyone on here is doing and I especially love the transformation photos. These posts really keep me encouraged and positive!! And thanks to all the amazing people on here who have shared all of this information with me through their posts. This is such a supportive community.

I am currently applying for ILR via the 10-year long residence route with the super priority service. I attended my biometrics appointment yesterday, and I received the following email just now:
"Thank you for your application for permission to stay in the UK.
Although we would normally decide your application by the end of the next working day from enrolling your biometrics, unfortunately this is not going to be possible in your case.
This is because there are outstanding policy issues which need to be resolved which could affect the outcome of your case.
I am sorry for the delay in dealing with your application and for the inconvenience this is causing. Please be assured that we are doing all we can to make a decision on your case as quickly as possible.
We will keep you updated once we receive more information on the matter. You will be refunded the priority fee once we are able to conclude your case."
I am wondering has anyone here encountered similar issue? How long will it take eventually to have the application approved? I am extremely worried as I have to travel abroad towards the end of July. I really would appreciate anyone who could shed some light on this.

TL DR at last.
My friend (8th sem) got an internship in an product based startup, which was work from home, since beginning the company owner likes the work of my friend, and is consistently insisting him to stay in his company even ehen he has shown his disinterest as he already got placement in a company.
Now our college requires internship completion certificate to give the provision letter which is important for joining in any company.
This company owner despite the role having wfh, called him to Bangalore , and assured him that he will pay his rent for PG and other bills, now even in Bangalore he is trying that my friend stays in his company. The owner Restricted him to add any info about his work in the college presentation, and when asking on internship completion certificate he is procrastinating and is making excuses, and if certificate is not present in the college report then my friend won't get provision letter and won't be able to join the company, on explaining the issue to this owner he directly said , don't worry you can join my company as full time.
Now on asking and insisting again and again for the letter he now is saying that he will take exit interview at sharp 11AM when my friend is not available due to personal reasons, on trying to explain unavailability he is saying that it's then or never as he will go to Japan that evening.
It seems like he doesn't want to give my friend the internship completion letter. What can my friend do in this current situation please help experienced folks.
TL:DR - my friend required internship completion certificate to get provision letter from college to join in any company, but apparantly the owner of this company likes the work of my friend and wants him to join his company by hook or by crook and is procrastinating to give internship completion certificate so that my friend fails to show it to college on time and couldn't get the provision letter required for joining the company from which he got PPO. Kindly give your valuable suggestions as seniors what could be done in this situation ?
Thanks in advance.

My recording: https://voca.ro/1d4dw9aGG53J
I've been married to a Portuguese for five years and living here for two years. I can read Portuguese really well and understand most people okay, but I have a lot of problems speaking to people in my daily life. A lot of Portuguese people just look at me blankly and don't understand a word I'm saying, or ask me to repeat myself constantly.
We live in the middle of nowhere in central Portugal but my husband is from Algarve and I've been told he has a strong Algarvian accent. I learnt most of my Portuguese from him and he is the person I speak to most, so perhaps that, combined with my foreign accent, is making me sound funny.
He says I am perfectly understandable but he really doesn't give me any feedback or constructive criticism.
Out of curiosity, where would you guess I am from based on my accent?
I want to improve so that people understand me better as we are hoping to run a business dealing with mainly Portuguese clients. I'd also ideally like to be able to get the point where I can sound like a native speaker... how far off am I? (Be brutal!)
Thanks!
[Script: https://lingua.com/portuguese/reading/a-familia/\]

I need some advice and/or opinions on the current state of my life. I'll explain:
I am 27 male, I live in Canada for reference. I am in good physical shape with low body fat and noticable muscle definition. I have a full time job and a weekend bartending job for extra money and because it's kind of fun. I have $100,000 in the bank, but no investments and make roughly $90,000 before tax. I own a regular old car, a decent sports car, and a motorcycle. I have no debt. I don't own a house, I rent with 2 friends similar age. I don't really go out or hangout with people. I mostly just work, go to the gym, and stay home. I have lots of side hobbies. I won't list them all but I keep myself busy and try to stay productive. I am very healthy and focused, however I normally drink alcohol and do c*caine once a week during my bartending job. I don't go overboard. I don't spend all my money on drugs and don't feel like I have an issue with it. I think I keep it under control. I don't have a gf, and seem to struggle in that area. I would consider myself quite handsome, above average but nothing crazy. I'm not a perfect specimen.
I'd like to think I'm in a good position in life, but sometimes I feel like I am behind or I should be in a better position. I know comparison is the theif of joy, but I'd like to use it as a sort of gauge to see where I'm at..
Am I doing good compared to the majority in my age group? Is $100,000 saved and no debt at this age something to be proud of or should I have more? I know some of my friends have double that, but tbh they grew up with good family's, with money, education etc..they had an advantage in life over me for sure.
Sometimes I feel depressed with my situation even though I know I shouldn't be. I feel like something is missing or I'm doing something wrong. Idk..would love some opinions from strangers. I guess I'm looking for validation lol but honest opinions would be greatly appreciated even if they are harsh.
Thank you

This might read more like a relationship advice post, so forgive me if this isn't the appropriate avenue, but I really need insight from people who have experienced this type of grief. This is a little long, so please bear with me.
10 months ago my wife and I (early 30s) lost our baby boy at 21 weeks due to TFMR. He was very much wanted and very much loved. It's been hard on both of us, but obviously my wife has been having a harder time. I've since returned to hobbies and friendships, but she has taken the route of isolation. Now, it feels like just about everyone we know is announcing pregnancies. Of course I'm reminded of what we should have and it makes me sad, but I'm also happy for those people and want to share in their joy. My wife, however, wants nothing to do with any of them. That's totally valid and she can do what she wants, but it does make sad that it feels like she's shut out most people in her life right now.
Just under two months ago, I told her that I was planning on attending my friends' baby shower. I've known these friends for almost 20 years, but she doesn't like them, and I try not to bring them up to her. I didn't expect her to be thrilled about me going, and I would certainly never expect her to go with me, but her reaction was far more explosive than I anticipated. She essentially forbade me from going as it would be too triggering for her and I was expected to know as much. The fact that I even brought it up told her I didn't care about her feelings and that I was putting my friends over her. If I decided to attend, she "would have to seriously think about our marriage". We had a huge fight but ultimately came to a compromise that I could take them to dinner in lieu of attending the shower. It was my understanding that the shower was the main sticking point and that anything after that was fine.
Just a couple days later, we found out we were pregnant again. Unfortunately, that joy was shortlived as we found out the pregnancy was ectopic after only two weeks. Thankfully we caught it early, and my wife's health is okay. The emotional pain isn't as severe as when we lost our son last year, but loss is loss, and the pain is still fresh. The baby shower came and went, and I wasn't in the mood to set up the dinner the time, so it never happened.
Fast forward another several several weeks and my friends have their baby. I inform my wife of the birth since I don't want her to get blindsided about it from somewhere else. She was upset I even told her, so I ask how to better navigate the situation to which she responds that I'm doing my best but she just wants them out of her life, by them "either moving away or dying." We fight again and it's apparently a problem that I got so hung up on her wording.
Almost two weeks later, I tell her I'm planning on visiting them. Again, I didn't expect her to be thrilled, but I thought we agreed everything sans baby shower was fine, and we even visited her sister's newborn shortly after our first loss, so I thought it would be more or less "okay". But her reaction was even more explosive than last time. My ears were ringing from the volume of her voice. More accusations of not giving a shit about her, putting everyone else above her, etc. Apparently during our last argument she said she'd need time after their birth, which is probably true but I'm sure I lost that detail among the heightened emotions. Once again she says she'd seriously rethink our marriage if I'm willing to ignore her feelings and visit them anyway. She says I can't see them until she's felt like she's processed the news of their birth. Not only that, I'm being told I'm not to acknowledge their existence or even text/talk on the phone with them if she's around. Since she's home all the time outside of work, my interactions with them are essentially to be limited to business hours. I ask how long this is supposed to last and she thinks it's unreasonable to ask for a timeframe on her healing, but maybe after we get back from a trip in two months at the earliest (which coincides with the anniversary of losing our son). She feels like she's being generous by even giving me an estimate.
She says she shouldn't be asked to sacrifice the progress she's made, but I feel like I'm the one being asked to make a sacrifice. I recognize that these things are triggering for her but I don't feel like it's my responsibility to help her avoid feeling this way by me not engaging in these big life moments. I've suggested that she get back into therapy but she says she's working through it on her own just fine and it's insulting to suggest that therapy is required to navigate her feelings. I've also suggested we get back into couples counseling but since she doesn't even want to acknowledge these friends and this situation, she says talking about it will only delay her healing.
I feel so lost. And like I'm in a box, with the walls slowly moving inward, crushing me. My friends are important to me and I want to celebrate these big moments in their lives, but I think I will lose my wife if I do so. She says there are other ways to celebrate them without being there in person, and if people who don't live close to each other can still celebrate and maintain friendships, I can too. Except these friends only live 20 minutes away. She says she'd never ask me to cut them out of my life but it feels like the goalposts keep moving closer and closer in that direction. How can I be sure that she won't change her mind about this in two months? Another close friend that I've known for even longer will be going through IVF in August and I'm terrified of how my relationship with them will be impacted if it's successful (at least she likes this friend).
I don't know what to do. We've both gone through something awful, but I'll never know the feeling of losing a child that I was carrying in my body. I know she's grieving (as I am still too), and I'm trying to be empathetic to that grief, but I think too much is being asked of me and I'm becoming resentful. She doesn't care if what she's asking is logical or not, she's my wife and she says I should put her first. I should just do it because she's asking. I want to reiterate that I think it's totally valid to have these feelings and I'm not trying to diminish them or try to get her to not feel them, but these feelings are now affecting me and my friendships. I also realize I'm presenting my biased view of events, but I'll try to answer questions if there are any.
Has anyone been through a similar loss and have any insight to give here? Am I not giving her enough grace during this time of pain?