https://www.azleg.gov/viewDocument/?docName=http://www.azleg.gov/ars/44/07902.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Parker_Ray
"David Parker Ray (November 6, 1939 – May 28, 2002), also known as the Toy-Box Killer,[1] was an American kidnapper, torturer, serial rapist and suspected serial killer. Though no bodies were found, Ray was accused by his accomplices of killing several women, and was suspected by the police to have murdered as many as sixty women from Arizona and New Mexico while living in Elephant Butte, New Mexico.[2] Ray was convicted of kidnapping and torture in 2001, for which he received a lengthy sentence, but he was never convicted of murder. He died of a heart attack about one year after his convictions in two cases, the second of which resulted in a plea deal.
Ray used soundproofing methods on a semi-trailer, which he called his "Toy Box", and equipped it with items used for sexual torture. He would kidnap about four or five women a year, holding each of them captive for around two to three months. During this period he would sexually abuse his victims and often torture them with surgical instruments, sometimes involving his friends, wife or even his dog. Then Ray would drug them with barbiturates in an attempt to erase their memories of what had happened before abandoning them by the side of the road." From Wikipedia.
Truly one of, if not the, most horrific criminal cases I have ever heard about. Thank God for the icepick Vigil used to stab and fight back against Hendy. Thanks to her incredible resilience this beasts, and their accomplices, were brought to justice...though tragically all of them (aside from Ray, who croaked in 2002) are free to this day. Still, despite that, Ray and his crimes were brought to light and the lives of who knows how many girls and women were saved. Thank you to Cindy Vigil and, if there is a God, may his mercy be upon all of the victims.
​
Ray & Hendy's Mugshot
​
The Heroic Cindy Vigil

What a smug POS.
From Ashley Holden at ABC15:
NEW DETAILS PRESTON LORD CASE: - Lord family attorney says witnesses were terrified/threatened into silence for months - MCAO Prosecutors allege suspects ran from the scene and also attempted to destroy evidence and collude on a story - Remember this is adult court, and we have others that have to first go through the process of juvenile court (Renner and Vigil) - Below is Taylor Sherman's initial appearance. The fifth arrest ABC15 Arizona is reporting. - All three that appeared this morning have a secured appearance bond of $1Mand will be in court in March 13th for their arraignment.
WITNESSES WERE THREATENED INTO SILENCE FOR MONTHS
Hopefully more will come forward now these individuals have been arrested.
Renner and Vigil mugshots to come later today.

'Gilbert Goons' gang is mostly white. Why were teens of color among early arrests?

Feb. 19th, 2024

When 16-year-old Preston Lord died after being beaten by a group of teens at a Halloween Party in Queen Creek, Kristine and Robert Brennan began paying close attention to videos of similar attacks circulating on social media.
It was obvious to the Brennans — and other concerned parents and southeast Valley residents who saw the videos — that most of the attackers appeared to be white teens. They were known as the "Gilbert Goons."
"Everything I had heard or seen around the Gilbert Goons, the majority of these kids that were committing the crimes in the videos I was watching, they were, honestly, they were white kids," said Kristine Brennan, 48, a Gilbert resident and business owner.
But when the first arrests tied to the Goons attacks were announced in January by the Gilbert Police Department, it was the mug shots of two young men of color — one Black, one Latino — that were splashed all over local and national media, quickly turning them into poster boys for a string of violent teen attacks in the suburbs east of Phoenix, primarily Gilbert.
The arrests of two people of color surprised and confused many, including the Brennans, who had seen video after video of packs of mostly white teens punching and kicking other teens in blitz-style attacks that occurred before and after Lord's death. No arrests have yet been made in Lord's homicide, although Queen Creek police have made multiple criminal referrals to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
​
"I just couldn't believe the first arrests were those two kids," Kristine Brennan said.
About 75% of Gilbert's 275,000 population is white. About 4% is Black, and about 17.6% is Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Gilbert's median household income is $105,733, considerably higher than Arizona's at $65,900, and among the highest in Maricopa County, according to the Maricopa Association of Governments.
📷

Because they're 18, teens of color become poster boys of those arrested

The case that led to Gilbert police's first arrests since teen violence became a major focus in that southeast Valley involved the beating of Richard Kuehner’s then-16-year-old son in the parking lot of the Gilbert In-N-Out Burger.
It is one of several attacks involving members of the Goons that Gilbert police set aside or failed to connect to the string of group assaults. Kuenher was one of the first parents of a victim to publicly criticize Gilbert police for failing to address the assaults.
On the night of Aug. 18, Kuehner's teenage son came home bleeding profusely and was visibly shaken, Kuehner previously told The Republic. Goons attacked him, and it was filmed, he said.
When police were called that night, Kuehner's son told them the name of a 16-year-old involved in the attack, court records state. That white 16-year-old, the stepson of a principal of an elementary school in Gilbert, was interviewed and pointed himself out in a video of the attack, saying he was running to watch. The juvenile had his arms raised, stood in a "bladed stance," and appeared to be preparing to participate in the assault, according to court records.
After police first interviewed the 16-year-old, officials were "unable" to establish probable cause to arrest, Gilbert police said. The attack video was sent to school resource officers at southeast Valley high schools, but police said they could not identify suspects.
Gilbert police listed the case as "inactive" in early October. They didn't reopen it until after The Republic inquired about the attack in December.
When the 16-year-old was interviewed again after the case was reactivated in December, he blamed most of the fight on unidentified people of color. He said “two Black kids” approached Kuehner’s son that night, then a “Mexican kid” hit him in the face, police records state. Then, three “Black kids” and a “white kid” chased the victim.
On Jan. 10, Gilbert police confirmed Christopher Fantastic, 18, who is Black, had been arrested in connection with the beating. Hours later, the department confirmed that three more people were arrested: Aris Arredondo, 18, who is Latino, and two juveniles. The four were suspected of assault and robbery.
Another adult, 19-year-old Deleon Haynes, who is Black, and a 17-year-old juvenile were arrested later in January for the same Aug. 18 attack, also on suspicion of assault and robbery.
Only the mugshots of Fantastic and Arredondo — the two adults — were released by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office on the day of the first arrests. The identities of the two juveniles arrested that day were not released by law enforcement and have been withheld by many news outlets, including The Arizona Republic, which does not typically publish the names of minors accused of crimes unless charged as adults.
After the Jan. 10 arrests, the story of suburban Arizona teens attacking other teens garnered wider interest. An article in the New York Post ran under the headline, "Affluent teen street gang ‘Gilbert’s Goons’ busted in string of caught-on-video attacks on high schoolers."
The Post story prominently featured photographs of Fantastic and Arredondo, which seemed to some readers to conflict with the headline, prompting racist comments.
"Affluent? Christopher Fantastic (really?) and Aris Arredondo don't look too affluent to me, they just look like the usual suspects," said one reader comment under the name Approve This.
"The pics confirm the stereotypes," said another reader comment under the name SlickWillies. "These 2 groups consistently" overrepresent.
The 16-year-old interviewed twice by police was among the three minors arrested in connection with the attack on Kuehner's son. But last week, Gilbert police said the Maricopa County Attorney's Office would not charge him. The police referral was "turned down," a police statement said.
Criminal cases are proceeding against Fantastic, Arredondo, Haynes and one minor, according to a statement Friday from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which did not specify the status of the case against the third minor arrested.
​

First arrests being people of color prompts lost trust, suspicion of police

Weeks later, parents, residents and civil rights leaders continue to raise questions about Gilbert police's handling of the Goons attacks, with some wondering whether police initially targeted two people of color to deflect public attention away from the white attackers and alleviate public pressure to take action.
At the time the arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo were announced, the Gilbert Police Department was facing withering criticism that it had been slow to respond and make arrests in the Gilbert Goons attacks.
"It kind of shows what kinds of white privilege is going on here," said Robert Brennan, 43. "Where you've got literal video evidence, you've got masses of people up in arms about this, and you go after the easier targets."
The quick arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo weakened his trust in the Gilbert police.
"It doesn't sit well," Robert Brennan said. "That wasn't who we were after. We were after these kids, but you didn't go after those kids. You went after some other kids."
Similar concerns were raised on social media.
"This is really not looking good. As the mother of black children, this is absolutely unnerving. Hold him accountable, yes. But what about the rest? This is just one disgusting injustice after another," Tamara Gooden wrote on Facebook under an azfamily.com article reporting the arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo. Kristine Brennan posted the article on a Facebook page named Lily Waterfield, which she uses to show support for the investigation into Lord's death, draw attention to the Gilbert Goons attacks and organize the community.
Katey McPherson, 50, does not believe the Gilbert police deliberately timed the arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo to deflect attention from white attackers. Nevertheless, that was the result.
"A lot of misinformation was put out due to the timing of the arrests," said McPherson, a youth mental health advocate who has become a major rallying force in the search for justice for Lord. "Because when you look across the span of the group, I would say 94% of them are Caucasian."
The false impression created by the timing of the arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo reflects an overall failure by the Gilbert police in handling the Gilbert Goons attacks, she said.
"They're not thinking or not mindful of the narrative, but they haven't been mindful of teenagers and teen violence in general anyways," McPherson said. "So, for me, it's just kind of a consistent pattern of incompetence."
"I was more like suspicious, wondering what is the spin that was happening," Sears said.
Sears said the arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo raise many questions. Were they among the first arrested because they stood out from the others? Did white attackers try to pin the blame on them?
Given the demographics of Gilbert, Sears also wondered if police were quick to arrest Fantastic and Arredondo to change public perception about the attacks, given that multiple people were involved in the attack.
"It was troubling that the first pictures posted were that of (people) of color," Sears said. "Was this a message being sent? Was there an intention? Was there an agenda?"
Were there people conspiring to create this perception that people of color were the attackers, Sears said, so "now the narrative changes ... where we no longer are saying that it's these white kids out here doing this?"

Race played no role in arrests, Gilbert police chief says

Fantastic was arrested after Gilbert police on Dec. 22 posted images of the Aug. 18 attack on social media, asking for the public's help identifying the attackers.
Tips received from the public helped Gilbert police identify Fantastic as the Black male "with a distinct Afro hairstyle" shown attacking the victim in the screenshot of a social media video of the attack, according to police reports. In the screenshot, Fantastic's face "is clearly identifiable based on prior police interactions," the police report said.
According to the police report, Fantastic was among multiple people who attacked the victim in a parking lot. In the video, Fantastic punched the victim numerous times while he was on the ground trying to shield himself from the blows with his arms, according to the police report. Fantastic then stomped and kicked the victim multiple times while the victim was still on the ground.
"As this occurred, multiple other subjects in the video also punched and kicked the victim," the police report said. The victim's shoes were also stolen during the attack, prompting the robbery charges, the police report said.
The victim told police he believed the attack was in retaliation for reporting previous threats by subjects in the group to a police officer at his school, the police report said.
Arredondo, meanwhile, arrived at the Gilbert Police Department and agreed to cooperate two days after police posted screenshots of the incident and asked for the public's help identifying the attackers, according to a police report. Arredondo admitted he can be seen in the video stills, though he denied being involved in the attacks, the police report said. But "multiple tips" the police received identified Arredondo as "the Hispanic male" in the social media screenshots, according to the police report. The victim also identified Arredondo as the person who punched him in the mouth and initiated the altercation, the police report said.
The Arizona Republic was unable to reach Fantastic and Arredondo. Public defenders are representing both.
Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg vehemently denied race played any role in the arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo.
"I want to categorically deny any insinuation that race plays a role in any arrest in Gilbert. Arrests are only made as new information becomes available and probable cause is established. Our primary focus is justice for all victims, the safety of our community and to put those responsible behind bars. To suggest otherwise is irresponsible and disheartening," Soelberg said in a written statement.
Soelberg said the Gilbert Police Department has long-standing relationships and partnerships with residents, organizations and businesses from all backgrounds.
"Under no circumstances is race ever a determining factor in the arrests of individuals by the Gilbert Police Department. Our officers take all reported crimes, investigations and arrests in our community very seriously," the statement said.
The Gilbert Police Department did not share the mugshots with media nor through the city's social media channels, Soelberg said.
The mugshots of Fantastic and Arredondo were released by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the agency responsible for booking and processing individuals brought into its custody, Soelberg said. The sheriff's office releases mugshots of adults who are booked.
Information involving juvenile arrest records is not releasable due to restrictions outlined in Arizona law unless and until the county attorney prosecutes the juvenile as an adult, Soelberg said. That's why Fantastic and Arredondo were identified on the day of the first arrests and the minors were not.

As more arrests are made, does the 'Goons' picture become clearer?

Floyd Galloway was president of the East Valley NAACP in the 1990s when a different gang, the Devil Dogs, formed in Gilbert and carried out similar attacks. The Devil Dogs later become involved in selling drugs with the Mafia.
Galloway sees parallels between the way the Gilbert police were criticized for being slow to respond to the Devil Dogs and the public uproar the department now faces in response to the Gilbert Goons and the quick arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo.
"With the Devil Dogs, it was white kids from affluent families that had the resources to try to protect their kids from the judicial system that these other kids (Fantastic and Arredondo) don't have," Galloway said. "Unfortunately, Gilbert to me has not changed much since the 1990s with the Devil Dogs because of this situation."
Galloway, a Tempe civil rights activist, also believes the Gilbert police handling of the Gilbert Goons attacks appears to reflect larger problems with policing in the U.S. in general, where white people with money are treated more favorably than people of color with fewer resources.
"Unfortunately, it's throughout this country where those who have money can get away with certain things until it hits a boiling point, but they'll use kids of color, people of color, as a scapegoat," Galloway said. "They try to paint a different narrative, and unfortunately, that's the same thing that has gone on in Gilbert."
Since the arrests of Fantastic and Arredondo, the Gilbert police have arrested about a dozen additional people tied to Gilbert Goons attacks.
Galloway said close attention needs to be paid to how the cases are prosecuted to see if bias becomes a factor.
Most of the additional people arrested are adults or juveniles charged as adults, so many of their names and mugshots have become public. That has presented a fuller picture of the attackers, said McPherson, the youth mental health advocate and community organizer.
"So if you have been following from start to finish, the story is pretty true," McPherson said. "The real truth is most of these children are Caucasian from middle- to upper-class families and have brutally attacked people for no apparent reason."
Galloway said he was unconvinced that public perception would shift from those first mug shots. He said he believed the images of Fantastic and Arredondo as the faces behind the Gilbert Goons attacks have been cemented in the public's mind.
"Yeah, the truth is coming out, but you still have that image, that stereotypical idea in the back of your mind of who was at the heart of it, which is untrue," Galloway said.
Reporters Elena Santa Cruz and Robert Anglen contributed.

Proof Photo
Not a lot going on, had a busy day so only adding a few things in here for people that like more modern stuff.

🚀🚀🚀 Bullion and Coins! 🚀🚀🚀

1. USVI 1oz A-Mark Ingot's. The finest vintage stacker to ever exist. Assay lots vary, but all should be from 1981. $40 each. 10x available. BIN all 10 for $375 shipped.
   
2. AnonymintPM PMG Gilded Crusader. Serial #422, some lucky dubs. A glorious crowned Apu with his stack behind him. Reverse features latin text and a crusader motif. $100
   
3. 2021 Niue Anakin Skywalker. Good hard to find modern piece complete with box and COA. $60
   
4. Tomstone Arizona, Historic Bird Cage Theatre. I'm not entirely sure how old this is, but it was in the same lot with a bunch of other stuff from the 80's. Could be a more recent one, who knows. $35
   
5. 2019 Apollo 11 1oz. 50th anniversary of the moon landing. $30
   
6. 1oz Dragon Bars. 2x 2021 Perth, 1x 2024 APMEX. $30 each.
   
7. Valhalla Vikings 1oz Round. Not normally into the modern stuff but the quality here is quite good. $28
   
8. Trump Mugshot 1/10oz Bar by Tormint. Tormint makes some cool stuff but I personally find this one absolutely hilarious. Cost you less than a "Trump Life" gang tattoo. $10
   
9. Assorted 1/10oz Fractional Rounds. $4 each. Egyptian sold. 6x 5x available.
   
10. 1961 Philippines Peso, Jose Rizal Centennial. $21
    

📿💎🎇 Sterling Jewelry and Misc. ✨⛓️💠

1. 13 Gram Sterling Flower Brooch. Good weight and size to it. Stones are a mystery so assume CZ, and that's probably not a pearl but I wouldn't know either way. $15
   
2. 9 Gram Sterling Funny Chicken Earrings. Come on, how can you resist? $10
   
3. Assorted Sterling Charms / Pendants. Bezel looks like it fits a US quarter. Most of these weigh between 3 and 5 grams. Key, Whistle, Alamo, Skull, Deer, Bezel, Slot Machine available. $5 each.
   

🪄🌋✨ Jasper's Frosty Pours n More ✨🌋🪄

1. 4.3oz Pour, Serial 051. $120
   
2. 1 Ounce Sea Turtle Rounds. A picture of the die used for these can be found HERE, as well as an example of an original 2oz bar it was used to stamp. The engraver is the legendary H Alvin Sharpe, master engravepainter and inventor of the Mardi Gras doubloon. This would have been used in his art studio in the late 60's / early 70's. The 2oz bars that were stamped with this die are extremely rare, costing upwards of $800 for a 2oz bar. This is the ORIGINAL die used on those bars. $32 each. Serial 073, 074 available.
   
3. 1 Ounce Elephant Rounds. A picture of the die can found HERE. This die was purchased from a former professional tool/die maker. He's since retired and sold off most of his spares, but he had this one and I couldn't resist. I just love what Elephants represent. Good fortune, abundance, protection strength, and wisdom. $32 each. Serial 061, 062, 063, 064, 065 available. 064 and 065 got some toning that can be cleaned off if you prefer.
   

🗄️🗄️🗄️ Supplies 🗄️🗄️🗄️

1. Cases for 1 Gram Valcambi Gold Bars. These have turned out to be a big hit so my 3d printer is running basically non-stop. Available in multiple colors and styles, and sized to fit inside an AirTite 1oz bar capsule. (Do note that due to the somewhat variable size in Grams from Combi-Bars, some bars may fit somewhat snug.) $5 w/ capsule. Black and White varieties available. Please specify color and style when ordering.

🚤🚤🚤🚤🚤🚤

Shipping will be $5 for First Class Ground Advantage and $10 for Priority in the US. Tracking included, insurance costs extra. I highly prefer Zelle and Paypal F&F (NO NOTES), but I also have Venmo and CashApp. I am not currently taking trades unless you have some old stuff from H Alvin Sharpe, South American silver bars, or potentially silver shot/rounds/bars at melt.

Proof Photo
Got a nice assortment of very rare vintage stuff, some fractional, some new watches and a bunch of random sterling. Check it out!

🚀🚀🚀 Bullion and Coins! 🚀🚀🚀

1. Gold Standard by Engelhard, 1oz Pebble Back. Less than 5000 minted, but I feel like I see this variety less than the mirror back type. Bar is in very good shape with nice luster. Check out the comps and current listings. $130
   
2. 1981 Hoffman & Hoffman Unicorns. Picked these 2 up recently in a lot I grabbed but I already have a nice 1981 so gonna let these 2 go. Both of these have pretty nice natural toning. For the uninitiated, H&H's logo is the alchemy symbol so its fitting they went with a unicorn. There's also a rumor that they were one of the companies that the Hunt Brothers sold silver through. $40 each. 2x available.
   
3. USVI 1oz A-Mark Ingot's. The finest vintage stacker to ever exist. Assay lots vary, but all should be from 1981. $40 each. 10x available. BIN all 10 for $375 shipped.
   
4. Tomstone Arizona, Historic Bird Cage Theatre. I'm not entirely sure how old this is, but it was in the same lot with a bunch of other stuff from the 80's. Could be a more recent one, who knows. $35
   
5. $7 Stardust, Las Vegas Nevada Token. 20 Grams of 999 fine silver, and a cool piece of Vegas. $18
   
6. 1oz Dragon Bars. 2x 2021 Perth, 1x 2024 APMEX. $30 each.
   
7. Valhalla Vikings 1oz Round. Not normally into the modern stuff but the quality here is quite good. $28
   
8. 2022 Niue 1oz Beskar Bars. $32 each. 2x available.
   
9. Trump Mugshot 1/10oz Bar by Tormint. Tormint makes some cool stuff but I personally find this one absolutely hilarious. Cost you less than a "Trump Life" gang tattoo. $10
   
10. Assorted 1/10oz Fractional Rounds. $4 each. Egyptian sold.
    
11. 1961 Philippines Peso, Jose Rizal Centennial. $22
    

📿💎🎇 Sterling Jewelry and Misc. ✨⛓️💠

1. 13 Gram Sterling Flower Brooch. Good weight and size to it. Stones are a mystery so assume CZ, and that's probably not a pearl but I wouldn't know either way. $15
   
2. 9 Gram Sterling Funny Chicken Earrings. Come on, how can you resist? $10
   
3. Southwestern Sterling Tea Spoons. No makers marks or purity stamps. The 2 lighter colored ones are 6 grams each, and the toned one is 8 grams. $10 each. 3x available.
   
4. Assorted Sterling Charms / Pendants. Bezel looks like it fits a US quarter. Most of these weigh between 3 and 5 grams. $5 each.
   
5. Sterling Denmark Souvenir Spoons. Blue is 46 grams, yellow is 47 grams. Gonna ask $1 per gram.
   

🪄🌋✨ Jasper's Frosty Pours n More ✨🌋🪄

1. 4.3oz Pour, Serial 051. $120
   
2. 1 Ounce Sea Turtle Rounds. A picture of the die used for these can be found HERE, as well as an example of an original 2oz bar it was used to stamp. The engraver is the legendary H Alvin Sharpe, master engravepainter and inventor of the Mardi Gras doubloon. This would have been used in his art studio in the late 60's / early 70's. The 2oz bars that were stamped with this die are extremely rare, costing upwards of $800 for a 2oz bar. This is the ORIGINAL die used on those bars. $32 each. Serial 073, 074 available.
   
3. 1 Ounce Elephant Rounds. A picture of the die can found HERE. This die was purchased from a former professional tool/die maker. He's since retired and sold off most of his spares, but he had this one and I couldn't resist. I just love what Elephants represent. Good fortune, abundance, protection strength, and wisdom. $32 each. Serial 061, 062, 063, 064, 065 available. 064 and 065 got some toning that can be cleaned off if you prefer.
   

🗄️🗄️🗄️ Supplies 🗄️🗄️🗄️

1. Cases for 1 Gram Valcambi Gold Bars. These have turned out to be a big hit so my 3d printer is running basically non-stop. Available in multiple colors and styles, and sized to fit inside an AirTite 1oz bar capsule. (Do note that due to the somewhat variable size in Grams from Combi-Bars, some bars may fit somewhat snug.) $5 w/ capsule. Black and White varieties available. Please specify color and style when ordering.

🚤🚤🚤🚤🚤🚤

Shipping will be $5 for First Class Ground Advantage and $10 for Priority in the US. Tracking included, insurance costs extra. I highly prefer Zelle and Paypal F&F (NO NOTES), but I also have Venmo and CashApp. I am not currently taking trades unless you have some old stuff from H Alvin Sharpe, South American silver bars, or potentially silver shot/rounds/bars at melt.

This is a bit of a long one, so buckle up.
I never imagined being in a toxic and abusive relationship but found myself in at least 3. And with that, I never imagined getting away from them, but this last relationship I had from 2018 was the worst. I'm F(35) and my ex is now M(35) as well. We'll call him "Sam". I was with Sam for almost 4 years and within those 4 years, I kept questioning my own sanity. We had dated a few months in summer of 2018, but I had the intention of not forming a relationship with him right away and had made that clear. I wanted to see how he would treat me along the way as I had a bad track record of dating toxic men. I eventually introduced him to my mother as she was a good judge of character, and she took a liking to him. Sam was an honest and polite man, and I became sweet on him. At first, but it was all a facade. Then as the months went on, he kept pressuring me to be in a relationship with him, causing me to pull away. He started to become frustrated, but I reassured him I wasn't dating anyone else, so Sam let it be for a while. Then one night, I began showing him more of my interests. I collected music boxes over the years and was gifted one from a dear friend; the one from the Anastasia film. He blew up on me suddenly and started to accuse me of cheating on him (mind you my friend is gay). Sam then went on about how no one gifted him anything and how unfair it was that I had a gift from a friend of the other gender. He then demanded to see my phone to go through and see if I was talking to anyone else. He went through my messages and became more infuriated seeing how I was talking to some of my male friends I've known for years, despite even having several female friends. Even coworkers! I've never seen anyone go into such a fit of rage. He stormed out of my room then came back and demanded that I go with him to the store to get supplies for his blood sugar as he was diabetic. I reluctantly went, afraid of what he would do or say if I didn't. We argued from 10pm until about 7am. I was exhausted, scared and terrified. I didn't know what to do but resulted him in threatening his own life if I didn't become his girlfriend. I should have just left and called the police but again, was so frozen in fear and guilt that he laid onto me, that I felt I had no other choice.
Now flash forward to the year of toxicity and guilt-tripping, the choice of moving to Arizona came up. Sam made it sound like if I didn't go with him, he would make damn sure my life would be ruined by him. I kept putting off the choice for about a month but eventually went with the empty promises he made for a better life along with bs apologies. He would be sweeter towards me and help me with my career and get us a home once we had settled. I gave in once more and dropped my entire life to go with him in the winter of 2019 before Covid had hit. We ended up packing up our lives, including his dog and cat, but I wasn't allowed to take mine. We then stayed with his mother and stepfather in their home, which ended up being for the next two years. We both got jobs but quickly had to go into nationwide shut down as Covid had finally struck in March of 2020. The next three months weren't too bad and when I went back to work, he couldn't hold any job he got. He fell too sick with migraines or low blood sugar so I became the one who had to take care of both of us. His mother then decided to start charging us for rent and help with groceries, so I did. I paid for his insulin, which at the time, was $300 a month along with paying a woman to look after his cat as his mom was allergic to her. So. I did. I paid whatever money I had in my pocket, praying for a better life that he had promised. Not to mention, I fully supported whatever choice he made, and even purchased him a better computer monitor and chair so he could be more comfortable in gaming. I even bought him 3 new Xbox controllers with special buttons, but he would constantly be breaking them. Oh, and those controllers were at least $300 a piece at the time. I kept telling him I can't keep replacing them, but he droned on how his hands constantly hurt and they were the only controllers he could handle for an extensive amount of time. The more I worked, the harder things got. I would start waking up to him going through my phone, or accusing me of sleeping with coworkers, at which point I should have, as people treated me way better than he did. But I didn't. I refused to mistreat him, despite him even taking out his phone to record me! He threatened to show my family and friends how I was acting crazy and went on how I needed to go to therapy and get on medication and "be better". I couldn't just find a therapist in this small town so I resorted to video appointments from an app. I would have the door closed but was worried Sam and his mom would hear me, so I didn't speak up.
Eventually, I couldn't afford therapy and had no help from Sam or his family and had to stop, which somehow came back to me as me not trying hard enough. I kept lying to myself that it would get better. But it kept getting worst. Sam would wake me up, either screaming at his mother over how he was poorly raised or be in my face about something I had no control over. Whenever I tried to speak up, he would put his hand over my mouth and pin me to the bed and scream to shut the F up. I've never seen someone with so much rage. His pupils would dilate, and he would foam at the mouth like an animal infected with rabies. His mom would always try to get us to stop and tried to comfort me but always made me be the one to apologize like I was always in the wrong, no matter what, so I always hated her trying to hug or comfort me because it wasn't out of sympathy at all. I couldn't call my mother up or anyone because I was afraid of what he would do or say, so I stayed until I could plan a way out of there and have enough money saved up to support myself, but there within lied the challenge.
It then came to the point in our lives to try and start a home business. And again, I did most of the funding alongside his mother. Things again got worst. Sam would fight with me that I wasn't helping out in any way, especially as bills kept piling up and my stress and depression really kicked in. I worked 40+ hours a week, and whenever I had days off to try and relax or catch up on sleep, he would purposely wait until then to make me do things for him or with him. Then his dog got sick and guess who had to pay for the vet bills? Yours truly. I just kept going, not understanding why he would be treating me this way no matter what I said or did. I kept going to work, despite the bruises on my wrists or neck or on my face. I cried to my coworkers and kept calling out as well when he refused to let me leave while he picked fights with me. I wouldn't do anything with him as far as watch movies or play family board games together. I couldn't handle his temper when he kept saying I was only thinking about myself. So again, I would do what he wanted. I failed at taking care of myself, always making sure he was comfortable. I'd be exhausted from work and wouldn't shower for hours before bed because he wasn't feeling well. When the fights ended, I'd lay in bed and cry, careful not to wake him. But when I did, he'd become more furious and go sleep on the couch, after giving some comment about me crying all the time, ignoring the fact he was the cause. I'd continuously wake up many times over him screaming at his mother early in the mornings, over anything, including a spat with their neighbors. I never saw a grown man throw a temper tantrum like a child not getting their way like that and thought: What did I get myself into? I would come out, seeing her shaking and cower from him with bruised wrists as well but she would just keep on defending him, saying it was somehow her fault.
There would be some days where I thought things were peaceful as we'd make a family breakfast together or had guests over or even celebrating the holidays. But it was all a ploy to keep me around. He kept me from my friends and family, lying to me and making me feel like they didn't want to see me or talk to me. Sam made me believe I was going insane, denying what he was saying or doing or go as far as to tell me I wasn't saying the things I said. I lost all grip with reality and would shut down and go numb and quiet. It came to one point where he would slap me across the face repeatedly when I had shut down on him and didn't respond. I was still afraid to call my family or even the police as he kept pulling knives or a gun on himself if I dared try. The worst part was that his stepdad and mom didn't do anything about this this whole time; fact is, his own mother threatened to even evict me if I didn't get better or go to therapy again. Of course, it was because of them, but they would deny it. I could even go into the gritty details about every fight, but you get the gist of it.
Now in June of 2022, I ended up having to go to the hospital. Turns out, I had a miscarriage, and his first thought was that it wasn't his, no matter what I said. However, he ended up staying with me in the hospital all day as I had suffered from blood loss. Sam was coy, playing nurses for fools as he was kind and worried about me. He did complain about his low blood sugar, and I told him to go and eat but he refused to. He wanted to make me feel guilty, like I had forced him to stay by my side but played it off as being caring. As we left and got to the car, I cried so hard but that only angered him more. When we got home, I went to bed, sobbing. His mother tried to comfort me, but I again loathed being held by her. Sam scowled and pointed at me, shouting, "If you had taken better care of yourself, you wouldn't have lost it!" I was secretly glad I did, as I'd be afraid of what kind of father he would be. It was those words alone that I knew he didn't care or loved me. I knew I had to get out but didn't know how without him doing something stupid. The more I pretended to love Sam, the more ideas I had on planning my escape without him knowing, despite not having much money to leave. It wasn't until I got a new job where things really changed. I worked security dispatch and had a lot of male coworkers with the exception of a few females. I remember how Sam kept begging me for reassurance, asking if I loved him and if I was just settling. I told him whatever he wanted to hear just to have peace.
Now this is where it gets good; this happened in August 2022, when I came into work. We had a nasty fight the night before and by morning, I saw his handprint on my face. I covered it up as best as I could with makeup and took myself to work. When I got in, I was awfully quiet and couldn't feign to be my chipper self. Two of my bosses, complete angels, had asked me how I was doing. That's when I broke down completely and began crying. Hard. They immediately became concerned and took me to the back office. I told them EVERYTHING. It got down to them bringing me to HR and having them help me get into a women's shelter and having the police involved. No more than an hour later, I show up to the house with an officer to get my things. I asked Sam to come out so I could talk to him. He hadn't showered and was all unkempt while playing the video games I had bought him. The color from his face drained when he saw the police officer standing with me. I told him I was leaving him and he threw his hands up. He didn't cry, he didn't beg me to work it out. He even had the gall to ask the officer about an order of protection against me, only because I was punching him in the back in defense to get him off me while suffocating me. I grabbed whatever I could, stuffed them into plastic shopping bags, with just the clothes on my back and was escorted out by the officer. I knew he didn't love me at all and never understood how he could do what he had done to me or to anyone. I stayed in a women's shelter for about a week, recovering from the abuse as I spoke to some of the other women. I was even more grateful I didn't have children with him. Shortly after, a friend and her mother-in-law offered me a place to stay until I got back on my feet.
I couldn't have been more grateful, as they didn't want me to stay in that shelter. In November of 2022, I got my own place and my life back. In February of 2023, I met the love of my life who never once raised his voice or hand at me. In June, I ran into his step-dad. He told me Sam was in jail. I was cautious about this man still, but asked him why. He then said he had hit his mother again. I had known that answer before I even asked. His stepdad had called the police on him and for that, was kicked out by his mother. I almost felt bad for him. As I got home, I needed proof. I looked up those recently booked and saw Sam's mugshot. I was relieved. He had 4 counts of domestic abuse and assault against him. I couldn't have been happier.
I want to thank you all for reading my story. I had been hesitant for a while and had confessed all of this to my friends and family. They were just glad I got out and was safe and moved on with a peace of mind. So, if any of you are in a toxic and abusive relationship, there is hope. There is the possibility of getting out. Don't stay, for the sake of it working out or for the children if you have any. I never knew what narcissism was until I looked up the causes and symptoms. It all made sense and I couldn't believe I was with one who suffered with it. So please, be safe. Talk to safe people. Get out. There is no reasoning with a narcissist. I feel better telling my story. You're not alone. You matter. Be blessed.

This is a bit of a weird post, but hear me out please. And I ask that you read this whole thing before you comment.
Trump's indictments are scary for the future of America. And no, this is not going to be a Trump defense post about how he's 100% not guilty and it's all a witch hunt or whatever. Let's be real here: None of us here have law degrees. None of us have read 100s of pages of dossiers and discovery. We don't know if he's guilty or innocent. So let's just look at possible outcomes of the next few years.
Let's be real about something: the nominees will be Biden and Trump. "Oh but back in 2016 Trump was in 8th" the leading candidate was at 20%. Trump has a 40 point lead. He is going to win the primary. So we don't need to examine scenarios where Trump isn't the nominee.

1. Trump is convicted, then loses in 2024.

If Trump is convicted, whether it was the right move or not, I am extremely fearful of what will happen next. Let's be real about something: even if the proof is 100% convincing Trump is guilty, at least 40% of the population isn't going to believe it. There will not only be riots, but there will be much worse. If you thought January 6th was bad, it's about to be way worse.
I don't talk about this much, but the underground networks of far right activists have been growing exponentially in the last 2 years. Patriot front, the proud boys, 3 percenters, active clubs, etc. These groups are currently fighting each other mostly. If Trump is convicted, this will stop. And they're not going to just riot. Right wing sleeper cells are extremely organized. It will be war. I could hear some people say that the right is too old to do a revolution, but young men are now 2/3rds identifying as conservative. There is a large following of young men willing to die for this.
And no, this isn't me saying this is good. Far from it.
Can the government maybe quell this in a month or so? Maybe. But the damage will be possible irreversible, and the country may never recover.
This is just outcome 1.

1. Trump is convicted, and then wins in 2024.

For this to happen, it would have to be some crazy scenario where right wing turnout was at an all time high due to the conviction, while democrats don't turn out due to it seeming like Biden has it in the bag. 2016 repeat pretty much.
Democrats will not believe this. They won't believe Trump wins Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, even Texas. Probably a narrative of voter suppression is thrown out there. Even if it was true, it would be incredibly divisive and crazy.
Riots would ensue. Likely less coordinated than right wing efforts, but it would be more than the riots of summer 2020. Every city would be in flames. I wouldn't be shocked if some right wing politicians kicked the bucket.
And then how does Trump govern? From prison? Will he be granted a release? It would be election by judges like 2000 was, and people would say it's unfair as the supreme court is plurality Trump appointees.
Again, an extremely terrible and scary scenario.

1. Trump is not convicted, and wins.

This would be similar to the second scenario. There will still be riots, but less so. And luckily it wouldn't come down to the court system (probably).
Still probably not a peaceful scenario, but the most peaceful so far.

1. Trump is not convicted, then loses.

This, in my head, is probably the best scenario. There again may be some civil disobedience from the right. But it would be very small in comparison to the other scenarios.
I say all this to just say I am exceptionally scared of what will happen next. If Trump is convicted, whichever way 2024 goes will be a disaster. If he isn't, many will believe justice wasn't served and will lose faith in our court system.
To the liberals on this sub, and I mean this genuinely: do you think the indictments are worth it? Do you think going after Trump will result in good? How worried are you for the future?
Scenario 1 is looking like the most likely scenario, and it's the most scary. I pray that we will get through this as a country. This is unprecedented, and could lead to disaster.
I know it's funny to look at his mugshot and meme it, but this shit is getting real.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-24-2023
[Note: There is a discussion of rape in paragraph 8.]
Today a former U.S. president and the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination turned himself in to be arrested in Georgia. He had to because a grand jury of ordinary Americans indicted him, along with 18 other defendants, for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
For the first time in U.S. history, there is a mugshot of a former president.
And, for that matter, mugshots of his chief of staff and key advisors. With noon tomorrow, August 25, the deadline for the defendants to surrender, they have been showing up since Tuesday, when Scott Hall, accused of breaching election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia, became the first of the defendants to surrender.
Since then, several of the lawyers behind the election scheme, including John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, and Rudy Giuliani have surrendered.
So have Mark Meadows, Trump’s final chief of staff, and David Shafer, the former chair of the Georgia Republican Party.
All but one—Harrison Floyd, the former executive director of Black Voices for Trump, who is charged with harassing election worker Ruby Freeman and who had previously assaulted an FBI agent—have been released on bail.
Trump is the first president to be charged with crimes, and he is facing an astonishing 91 counts in four different cases, two at the state level in New York and Georgia, and two at the federal level.
In addition, Trump, his two elder sons, and the Trump Organization are also facing an October trial in a civil fraud case in New York City, after which he has a January trial in a defamation suit from writer E. Jean Carroll for denying that he raped her (a judge recently agreed that his sexual assault of her was rape by common understanding, although the narrow definition of rape in the New York penal code meant that a New York jury in May did not find him liable for it).
And then there are the criminal charges. In New York he is charged with 34 counts surrounding an alleged hush-money scheme before the 2016 election.
He has been charged with 40 counts in the federal case concerning his theft and concealment of national security documents at his organization’s Mar-a-Lago property. In a separate federal case, he is charged with 4 counts of conspiring to defraud the government, obstruct an official proceeding, and take away voters’ right to have their vote counted.
In the Georgia case for which he was arrested today, he has been charged with 13 crimes under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute of Georgia, a law that permits a group working together for a criminal purpose to be charged as a criminal organization.
True to form, Trump appears to have timed his surrender to make the evening news. And then, after he surrendered, he posted his mugshot himself on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, telling his supporters “NEVER SURRENDER!”
In our system, Trump, like any defendant, is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
But here’s the thing: At last night’s Republican primary debate, all the candidates except former New Jersey governor Chris Christie (polling at 3.3%) and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson (polling at 0.7%) pledged they would support Trump as the 2024 Republican nominee even if he’s convicted.
In the 1960s, Republicans made a devil’s bargain, courting the racists and social traditionalists who began to turn from the Democratic Party when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began to make inroads on racial discrimination. Those same reactionaries jumped from the Democrats to create their own party when Democratic president Harry S. Truman strengthened his party’s turn toward civil rights by creating a presidential commission on civil rights in 1946 and then ordering the military to desegregate in 1948. Reactionaries rushed to abandon the Democrats permanently after Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, joining the Republicans at least temporarily to vote for Arizona senator Barry Goldwater, who promised to roll back civil rights laws and court decisions.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act was the final straw for many of those reactionaries, and they began to move to the Republicans as a group when Richard Nixon promised not to use the federal government to enforce civil rights in the states. This so-called southern strategy pulled the Republican Party rightward.
In 1980, Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan appeared at the Neshoba County Fair near Philadelphia, Mississippi, a few miles from where three civil rights workers had been murdered in 1964 for their work registering Black Mississippians to vote, and said, “I believe in states’ rights.” Reagan tied government defense of civil rights to socialism, insisting that the government was using tax dollars from hardworking Americans to give handouts to lazy people, often using code words to mean “Black.”
Since then, as their economic policies have become more and more unpopular, the Republicans have kept voters behind them by insisting that anyone calling for federal action is advocating socialism and by drawing deep divisions between those who vote Republican, whom they define as true Americans, and anyone who does not vote Republican and thus, in their ideology, is anti-American.
From there it has been a short step to arguing that those who do not support Republican candidates should not vote or are voting illegally (although voter fraud is vanishingly rare). And from there, it appears to have been a short step to trying to overturn the results of an election where 7 million more Americans voted for Joe Biden, a Democrat, than voted for Trump and where the Electoral College vote for Biden was 306 to 232, the same margin Trump called a landslide in 2016 when it was in his favor.
The Republicans on stage last night have abandoned democracy, and in that they accurately represent their party. It is no accident that in addition to the Georgia party chair indicted for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Wisconsin Republican Party chair Brian Schimming was also mentioned in the Georgia indictment as part of the conspiracy for his role in the scheme to use false electors to steal the election for Trump, though he was not charged; former Arizona Republican chair Kelli Ward is in the crosshairs for her own participation in the scheme in Arizona; and in a different case, former Michigan Republican Party co-chair Meshawn Maddoch has pleaded not guilty to eight felony charges for her part in the attempt to steal the White House.
State leaders have taken their cue from the top: Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel also apparently participated in Trump’s fake elector scheme to steal the presidency.
It is quite a thing to see leading Republicans—including a former president—in mugshots for their assault on our democracy and to know that party leadership supports their actions. Indeed, it is unprecedented, and for those who remember what a grand party the Republicans have been at times in their history—Lincoln, after all, was a Republican, and so were Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower—it is a sad end.
But an end it is. The authoritarians who have taken over the party have abandoned their history and are now building something altogether different.
—
Notes:
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/15/indictment-trump-prison-rico
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-fulton-county-georgia-08-14-23/h_3e279320f2ba518105782f61371e030f
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/nyregion/trump-letitia-james-deposition.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-attorney-general-letitia-james-trump-lawsuit-ready-for-trial/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-declares-donald-trumps-appeal-e-jean-carroll-case-frivolous-2023-08-18/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/07/donald-trump-rape-language-e-jean-carroll
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/22/trump-codefendant-surrender-georgia-jail
https://www.mlive.com/politics/2023/07/former-michigan-gop-co-chair-pleads-not-guilty-in-trump-electors-case.html
https://www.cbs58.com/news/state-gop-chair-named-in-latest-trump-inditement-heres-what-we-know
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/arizona-attorney-general-probing-alternate-electors-2020-presidential-rcna94113
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/will-arizona-be-the-next-state-to-indicted -former-president-donald-trump
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-jan-6-investigation-fake-electors-608932d4771f6e2e3c5efb3fdcd8fcce
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/23/willie-floyd-fulton-maryland-fbi-arrest/

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Apr 10, 2023 - Apr 16, 2023

Thank You

Thank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.

Rankers

sarcastic__ timmablimma americanadian98 rasera lang14 maxpowr9 copaceticvindication steckums hrint rawrberry_ eatingasspatties silkeystev offraindrop13 driftshade11 mukuu recockulous mdlt97 thatmikeguy429

Organizers

lang14 thatmikeguy429

Visualization

The visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /hockey opinion.
It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it here

Process

How does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.
The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /hockey!

Rankings

Ranking (avg)	Team	Delta	Overall Record	Record This Week	Comments
1 (1.06)	Boston Bruins	-	65-12-5	2-0-0	maxpowr9 says The last time the Bruins lost to the Coyotes, we won the Stanley Cup. Let's put the memes to rest and bring Stanley home to Bergy! Last Dance steckums says My East pick
2 (3.78)	Edmonton Oilers	0	50-23-9	2-0-0	eatingasspatties says Skinner will win the Conn Smythe, you heard it here first. .875 point percentage since the trade deadline is just nutty.
3 (4.72)	New Jersey Devils	1	52-22-8	2-0-0	silkeystev says Back in the playoffs. We're coming for you Rangers.
4 (5.06)	Carolina Hurricanes	1	52-21-9	2-1-0	timmablimma says Holding onto the Metro crown while losing Svechnikov after the deadline is a testament to this team's capabilities (and just how good the start of the year was). The penalty kill since Game 41 is over 90% and has given up just 11 goals since January 11th a period of 3 months. That's insane. This team will go how the defense and specialty teams go. We need goals and we're starting to come alive again, but we gotta keep them out. What undid us against the Rangers last year was the penalty kill going super bad, if it stays like that and we get timely goals from Aho, Kotkaniemi, Jarvis and our league leading defensive scoring, then we could go deep.
5 (5.11)	Vegas Golden Knights	-2	51-22-9	2-0-0	steckums says My West pick
6 (5.11)	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	50-21-11	3-0-0	offraindrop13 says The Leafs were able to give some key players some rest - including Ilya Samsonov while still signing Matthew Knies - which Bettman seemed to hate until he gave in because we were about to start an OHL goalie in a first round series preview vs the Lightning. Knies looks legit and I think he needs to be on the playoff roster. Willy Nylander had a career year with 40 goals and I think he is the gamebreaker in this first round matchup, as he is the 'big 4th' when Tampa really only has 3 in Kuch, Point and Stamkos.
7 (5.94)	Colorado Avalanche	-1	51-24-7	2-0-1	No Avs blurb to end the season, sorry.
8 (7.89)	New York Rangers	0	47-22-13	0-1-1	No Rangers blurb to end the season, sorry.
9 (8.11)	Dallas Stars	0	47-21-14	3-0-0	rawrberry_ says The Stars ended the regular season by winning six in a row. The Stars also ruined two fan bases fan apprection nights. Beating the Wings 6-1, I figure as payback for 2013. Then the Stars beat the Bloos in Missouri and and again the next night in Dallas. There were many things to celebrate this year. Robo became the first Dallas Stars player to score over 100 points. He also broke the Dallas Stars points record set my Mike Modano. Joe Palvelski scored his 1.000th career point when he tipped in a goal. Miro broke the Dallas Stars record for most points by a defensive player set by Zubov. There was only one really bad losing streak this year instead of the customary three. Everyone's favourite captain had a resurgent year. Overall lots of positive things for the season.
10 (10.83)	Los Angeles Kings	3	47-25-10	2-0-0	recockulous says Three things I think pulled the Kings up from mediocrity to playoff position: 1) the acquisition of Kevin Fiala, 2) having a healthy Drew Doughty all year, and 3) the tandem of Pheonix Copley/Joonas Korpisalo delivered where Jonathan Quick/Cal Petersen could not. Can they win their rematch against the Oilers?
11 (11.33)	Tampa Bay Lightning	-1	46-30-6	1-1-0	No Lightning blurb to end the season, sorry.
12 (11.5)	Seattle Kraken	-1	46-28-8	1-2-0	lang14 says Playing against the Avs is gonna be tough. They're missing Landeskog so perhaps there's a chance. Need Grubauer at his best!
13 (11.89)	Minnesota Wild	-1	46-25-11	1-1-1	recockulous says The Wild lose 5 of their last 7 to back into the playoffs.
14 (14.44)	Winnipeg Jets	1	46-33-3	2-1-0	rasera says The Whiteout is back in business! If you told me at season start that we'd finish WC2 and clinch on game 81, I would've told you "Yeah, that seems about right". The trajectory this season gave us showed so much more potential though. 5 wins in our last 7 games is a fine way to skate into the post season. And now, Vegas revenge tour! With Hellebuyck between the pipes, all things are possible. Game 1 on Tuesday, let's go Jets!
15 (14.5)	Florida Panthers	-1	42-32-8	0-1-1	copaceticvindication says Well it may have been uglier than Andrew Brunette's mugshot, but the Florida Panthers are back into the playoffs. Now our next job is easy, just beat a team that literally just had the best regular season uh... ever, should be a breeze. Now by all logic we will probably get sent to the gulag, but first of all through god all things are possible, so jot that down. Second of all, I hate Boston. This is all the evidence I need, Panthers in 6.
16 (14.78)	New York Islanders	0	42-31-9	1-1-0	thatmikeguy429 says The Isles are back in the playoffs! With two killer goals by Bock and the highest energy I have ever felt in UBS. The Isles can do it, with Barzal back in the lineup for game one it will hopefully give the extra push, that we need. It just takes One Game, One Period, One Goal, One Hit, One Save.
17 (18.17)	Buffalo Sabres	1	42-33-7	3-1-0	hrint says Best year in ten. See yall next time.
18 (18.72)	Nashville Predators	1	42-32-8	2-1-0	recockulous says For a team that sold at the deadline, they sure made an interesting stretch run.
19 (19.06)	Pittsburgh Penguins	-2	40-31-11	0-1-1	recockulous says Smell ya later, Hextall.
20 (19.94)	Calgary Flames	0	38-27-17	1-0-1	thatmikeguy429 says the flame has gone out for this season.
21 (20.5)	Ottawa Senators	0	39-35-8	1-0-1	driftshade11 says It’s been such a revitalizating year, regardless of how it ended, that I’m more excited to see next year’s team than this year’s playoffs. Big decisions are going to come regarding DeBrincat, new ownership, and the front office structure, but I know that our fanbase will be strong and ready to be proud to be fans of this amazing team. There’s spots to improve on with this roster, and we probably need a new coach too, but I can hopefully say we’re ready to take a big step next year.
22 (22.44)	Vancouver Canucks	1	38-37-7	2-1-0	recockulous says A Conor Garland OT winner to complete a hat trick is an interesting bow to put on that season.
23 (22.94)	St. Louis Blues	-1	37-38-7	0-2-0	No Blues blurb to end the season, sorry.
24 (23.78)	Washington Capitals	1	35-37-10	1-1-1	no caps blurb to end the season, sorry.
25 (24.17)	Detroit Red Wings	-1	35-37-10	0-3-0	americanadian98 says This season was promising, but ultimately the team fell short. Once they were eliminated it seems like they all bought in to the tank though, losing the last 5 and securing a spot on the Bedard lottery list. Let's see if all those years of bad luck can finally be made up for
26 (26.39)	Philadelphia Flyers	1	31-38-13	2-0-0	recockulous says Gritty's visit to the White House may have been the highlight of the season.
27 (27.11)	Montreal Canadiens	-1	31-45-6	0-2-0	mukuu says All the medical issues coming to light is extremely concerning. In a obviously dead season, why would you put so much risk on players long term health by having them play with injuries that have such high chances for reaggravation when played on? I do love the teams that have lots of media scrutiny that have to give statements on how the team did this year. St-Louis basically spent 15 minutes saying "yes we sucked, but next year... we also will really suck and potentially suck slightly less but probably not." Classic.
28 (27.67)	Arizona Coyotes	0	28-40-14	0-1-1	recockulous says The Yotes were supposed to be "historically bad" this year. The started the season with 20 of their first 24 games on the road, so its no surprise they ended the season with the worst road record. But the Yotes were 17th best at home, and Mullett Magic was real - the Yotes came from behind to steal wins and points in games they would have quit on last year. Clayton Keller emerged as the Coyotes' first point-per-game player in over a decade, and tied the all-time record for points in a season by a Coyote. Rookie phenom Mattias Maccelli turned heads as an assist machine. The team improved 13 points over its performance in '21-'22 and feels like a team with a winning rebuild formula on a slow rise. Finally, no team has more picks (23 of them!) over the first three rounds of the next three drafts than the Coyotes.
29 (29.06)	Chicago Blackhawks	0	26-49-7	1-1-1	sandman730 says Toews scored in his last game as a Hawk. That era is officially over. The Hawks finished with the 3rd-best draft odds. Long-time Hawks head athletic trainer Mike Gapski retired. Athanasiou finished with 20 goals and 20 assists.
30 (30.22)	Columbus Blue Jackets	1	25-48-9	1-1-1	steckums says This terrible season is finally over. Unfortunately our talent pipeline is better than a few of the other bottom teams (or fortunately?) so our AHL team we've iced in the last month picked up 12 points where as Anaheim has only picked up 4. Next season will be better as long as we stay healthy and hopefully the draft lotto will work out for the Jackets. Brad Larsen is going into his last year of his contract next season. I will not be shocked if the front office decides to run it back next year because of the injuries -- maybe this year was a fluke? If not though, I would expect some serious changes in the front office at this time last year if the Jackets don't get at least 35 wins.
31 (30.5)	San Jose Sharks	-1	22-44-16	0-3-0	recockulous says So many loser points inflate their positions in the standings, but a team that wins only 22 games in a season finishes dead last in my rankings.
32 (31.28)	Anaheim Ducks	0	23-47-12	0-2-0	mukuu says Ducks have put themselves in a great position to get a top tier prospect for their future. If they can get a few pieces they will be a Stanley Cup contender very soon. They need to be on the look for a couple goalies, 5-6 D including a top pairing, 3 centers, 7 wingers, and a new coach. Watch out Pacific here we come!

Curious if anyone has heard about a controller from the Arizona area that went to jail recently (last 5, 6 months) on felony aggravated assault and forgery charges? What would be the FAA's stance on this and job repurcusions? Will the FAA "save" your job at the place you're employed? The case is still ongoing with no conviction or acquittal.
The mugshot is available online and records available as well.
Any knowledge about this person, what happened, job status, protocol, etc.?

my friends wanted a girls trip, i didnt know where we were going so i fell asleep and when i woke up we were in arizona at an amusement park (im from illinois) so that was a far drive.
so in real life, i’m trying to find a job rn bc i’m unemployed, so in my dream, i saw this man cooking fish and selling it, and he was making soooo much money in the amusement park. so i decided that’s what i was gonna do.
i went fishing and caught as many fish as i could, and it tasted AMAZING. i became a huge hit, i was all over the news with how good my fish was and everyone was coming to eat it at this amusement park. not to mention i was making so much money.
then cops showed up and i was arrested while i was working, everyone was recording and confused while they told me my miranda rights.
they started being so mean to me and yanking me around telling me how illegal those fish were and they were endangered which i didn’t know. i kept telling them i didn’t know but they weren’t listening and being so mean to me.
the process took forever it was like nighttime at the jail and they were still going through ppl like mugshots and checking for things. i was still in line waiting for my turn. all they did was ask for my name which i told them.
something clicked in my head that i needed out of there. so suddenly i ran. the sirens in the place went off and i was hopping fences, my fight or flight was crazy.
i started running through neighborhoods and heard the sirens. i would jump from bush to bush and move when they got too close.
i got no sleep that night. just constant running and i called my mom to come get me.
i saw all on the news on my phone they were looking for perez, my name is payton so they heard my name wrong.
my mom finally came in the morning from that long drive. the cops seems to have settled and i told her we could go get food or something because fish isn’t that big of a deal and i bet they already forgot abt it.
when we went out to eat someone recorded me screaming perez and i started running again and told my mom to start the car and the cops showed up again.
i laid on the floor board and on my moms car radio they were talking abt wanting me a live or dead and if i run don’t be afraid to shoot me. so i start to panic and we drive home. i was the most wanted person and they didn’t even have my name correct but they would figure it out soon.
i woke up when i got home so idk what happened🤣

I once heard that each person in the world has seven doppelgangers. Seven people scattered all over the Earth who look exactly like you.
It all started when I lost my reading glasses. I couldn’t find them anywhere, and I was already late for work.
My wife Kelsey told me to check the master bathroom, or the chair in the living room, or maybe I’d taken them out on the porch to read morning cartoons to our four-year-old daughter, Ava. No luck. It was like they’d disappeared into thin air.
They weren’t imperative for me to live my life- they were just reading glasses, after all- so I kissed Kelsey and Ava goodbye, set the security system, and went off to work.
I hadn’t yet mastered the morning commute. We’d just moved to a small town in the Pacific Northwest about a month prior after living our entire lives in the Bible Belt, and I was surprised how tough it was to get acclimated. The trees were different, the air was different- even the traffic patterns felt alien to me.
Kelsey and I both grew up on a lot of land and that was non-negotiable for the new place. We ended up buying a nearly finished farmhouse outside the city- two stories, two garages, and thirty acres to call our own. It seemed like the perfect spot. Ava had her own room, and we even had a guest room for the first time. The realtor, Jamie, walked us through the place when we first laid eyes on it and made an offer.
“It’s a beautiful home. Very private.”
It had just been built, brand new, was a giant upgrade for us. I’d always wanted a basement, which it had, but Kelsey was planning to turn it into a library. I was hoping to set up a mancave somewhere but with Kelsey claiming the basement, the guest room set up for visitors, and no attic, I was out of luck. I’d have to settle for the family room.
Kelsey had never wanted to move up here, and I worried that she secretly resented me for making her. The truth was that I wasn’t too keen on leaving home either, but the opportunity was simply too good to pass up. The money was great and I figured that if we gave it a shot and hated it, we could just move back. Kelsey eventually agreed to give it a chance, but she’d hated it since the second we moved in. She hadn’t made an effort to explore or get to the know our new town at all. I could tell she was anxious about making friends, and she and Ava spent all their time at the house. I didn’t want her to be lonely and I was hoping she would come out of her shell over time.
This “too good to be true” work opportunity turned out to be just that- I was leading a team of engineers that were much less skilled than I was led to believe, and I ended up having to work late every night redoing their work and fixing their mistakes. We were under a strict deadline and, to make matters worse, the boss who hired me left the company just as I arrived. I was working for a new guy now, Adam, and he and I didn’t get along from the get-go. He seemed to confuse the engineers’ incompetence for my own, and the first three months on the job I was lucky to leave the office before 9PM.
Kelsey didn’t love this, but she knew it wasn’t my ideal situation either. We got up early together every morning and she would make breakfast while I read Ava the morning comics from the paper, but besides that, we were hardly seeing each other. Kelsey had started letting Ava fall asleep in our bed with her and by the time I was getting home each night, they were already passed out.
I was starting to develop a pathetic routine of getting home when it was dark out and my family was asleep. After a few nights of the garage door waking Ava, I had taken to parking out front and entering through the front door. It was quieter. I’d turn on the kitchen light, revealing Kelsey and Ava’s dinner plates in the sink and mine wrapped in saran wrap in the fridge. Every night I’d heat up my dinner, eat it as I started falling asleep, then wash all three dishes, set the security system, and pass out on the couch. Like clockwork.
But then I lost my reading glasses.
Kelsey swore she had seen me wearing them as I left the house the previous morning, and I figured I’d probably left them at work. That day, in between hour long meetings filled with bad news and personal meetings with Adam where he made his dissatisfaction with my performance clear (despite the lack of productivity not being my fault), I managed to get on my hands and knees in my office and search for my glasses. But no luck. They were gone.
The next few days at work were so stressful that I called in sick the next Monday and took the day with Kelsey and Ava. Adam was angry that I was sick because we had an important meeting with the heads of marketing about the project I was responsible for, but I needed a break. He could handle it on his own. Kelsey, Ava, and I went to the park and I finally got Kelsey into the city- she pretended that she liked it, but I don’t think she did. We ended up watching a movie with Ava that night and just as I was falling asleep, Kelsey woke me.
“I want to have another baby.”
The timing surprised me of course, but it wasn’t just that. The way she said it felt odd. Kelsey had never wanted kids before we started dating, and I practically had to beg her to be open once we got married. Now that we had Ava she was in love, but she had never said anything before to indicate to me she wanted a bigger family.
I knew the move had been hard on her and I was worried she didn’t actually want another child, she just wanted more company. I wasn’t making it easier by working all the time and I felt tremendous guilt for not being there for her during the adjustment period. I felt selfish.
Truthfully, now was probably the worst time to think about having another child but hearing her talk about the possibility made her so happy- I hadn’t seen her light up like that in ages. I told her it was a lovely idea as I set the security system, and she kissed me and took Ava to bed. I told myself I was going to follow her upstairs- our sex life had been nonexistent since we’d moved, and I was hoping this baby talk had her in the mood- but I fell asleep on the couch before I could even finish the thought.
The next morning, I was running late again. I was in a hurry to get dressed and was surprised to find my closet virtually empty. We’d thinned out our wardrobes for the move but I knew I had at least five dress shirts for work, because I’d been wearing a different one each day.
“Kelsey, did you do the laundry?” “Yeah, it’s up there.”
I went to the laundry room and found three dress shirts. I racked my brain for where the others could be while I buttoned one up, but when I asked Kelsey, she had no idea.
“I put the clothes in the laundry basket in the washer and dryer and I put them back. They’re here somewhere.”
I was slightly annoyed- they obviously are in the house, I thought, but it’s a mystery why they aren’t in my closet. As I grabbed my lunch and briefcase, bracing myself for another brutal pummeling from Adam after my sick day, something caught my attention.
“Kelsey...did you go outside this morning?” “No. Why?”
I asked Ava the same question. Kelsey said that Ava had been with her all morning. The security system had been disarmed.
“You probably fell asleep without setting it,” Kelsey said.
I knew I hadn’t. No matter how tired I was, being in a new place outside the city didn’t make me feel all that safe either. I made sure to set it every night and every morning.
I tried getting it out of my head because I had the morning commute to suffer through, and this morning was worse than usual. To cap it all off, when I arrived to the parking garage, I discovered my parking badge was nowhere to be found. Cars piled up behind me as I opened my door, anxiously moved my seat back and checked every inch of the car. I never took it out of my car- there was no need to. But, like my shirts and my reading glasses, it seemed to disappear into thin air.
A parking attendant eventually let me through, and I took the elevator up to my office- where I was surprised to find Adam waiting for me at my desk.
Not only did he had a few choice words about my late arrival, but he also berated me for my performance at the meeting with the heads of marketing the previous day- the one I missed while playing hooky with my wife and daughter.
“You looked like a zombie. How can you expect them to be excited about the product if you convey zero passion or excitement? You didn’t say a word.”
“Adam- I was sick yesterday. I wasn’t at that meeting.” He looked like he wanted to wring my neck.
Instead of dignifying my statement with a response, he instead told me he was going to bring another supervisor on board to help with the workload but made my responsibilities clear. We had a deadline coming up in three weeks and if we didn’t hit it, I would be fired.
My stomach was swimming with acid all day. I didn’t eat, didn’t drink, just worked and tore my hair out trying to problem solve. My team was behind and I felt bad being so hard on them, but suddenly I was worried that I’d just forced my family to move across the country only to be fired two months in.
I came home late that night again and did my routine, except I had no appetite anymore. I washed Kelsey and Ava’s dishes in the sink, set the security system, and decided to crawl into bed with them instead of sleeping on the couch. I didn’t care if I woke them- I needed company.
As I laid down and stared at the air vent on the ceiling, the worry and anxiety of my life started crushing me. I closed my eyes. My head was spinning, and suddenly I felt a burning sensation on my skin. That feeling you get when somebody is watching you.
I opened my eyes.
A pair of eyes stared back at me.
They were blue. Beady. Human. Staring straight down at me from the vent directly above. But the moment I saw them, they pulled back into the darkness and disappeared.
My heart skipped a beat. I waited for the eyes to return, to validate what I’d just witnessed, and felt a paralysis overcome me. But the eyes didn’t come back. For the rest of the night I debated whether I had even seen a pair of eyes in the first place or if it was just my sleep-deprived, stress out mind playing tricks on me. That vent led to nothing but a crawl space and the longer the vent remained eyeless, the more I was convinced I’d imagined it.
I ended up just buying new reading glasses because staring at the screens at work were giving me a headache. I tried to finish out that week strong and came home on Friday night more exhausted than I can remember being in my entire life. I was practically sleepwalking as I parked in the garage for the first time in a while- it was a Friday and I figured Kelsey would still be awake. On top of that, I was nervous if I parked outside, I’d fall asleep before I reached the front door.
THUMPTHUMPTHUMP.
As soon as I cut the engine, I heard them.
I was admittedly in a daze, but they sounded like footsteps. As if somebody were walking across the hood of my car, and stopped as soon as I cut the engine.
I listened for a few more moments but heard nothing.
I wondered if maybe it could’ve been Kelsey, but our garage didn’t have a floor above it. It was an A-frame attached to the house.
Which meant that somebody was on my roof.
I felt a surge of adrenaline and was suddenly wide awake. I tried to keep quiet as I turned on my phone light, found one of my golf clubs in the dark, and snuck out the side door outside.
It was silent with a chilling breeze rustling the trees that extended for miles around our property. I walked around the house a dozen times looking for a man on my roof or footprints in the grass but found nothing.
It had to have been in my head.
I walked in the door and checked the security system. It was armed. Kelsey and Ava were upstairs, safe and asleep in my bed as a kids show played.
As I washed their dishes in the sink, I stared at my pale, gaunt face in the window. I’d lost weight since coming here and I became very worried about what this job was doing to me. Adam had ridden me so hard since I arrived, I felt like I didn’t have a chance to make any friends at work. It was a bleak place that gave me a lump in my throat-
I stopped washing the dishes.
Because there were three of them.
I stared at them for a moment, confused- the plates were all covered in scraps of chicken and potatoes. Had Kelsey had someone over? She hadn’t mentioned making any friends. I opened the fridge to grab my usual saran wrapped meal when I saw it was empty.
Somebody else had eaten my dinner.
I fell asleep shortly after that and asked Kelsey the next morning as she made us breakfast who she had over for dinner the night before.
“Nobody came over.”
“There were three plates in the sink.”
“Because the three of us ate dinner together.”
She looked at me like I was an alien, coming over and feeling my forehead. “Honey, you feel hot. You don’t look very good.”
I looked over at Ava, who was waiting for me to read her morning cartoons, and she looked at me with the same sense of confusion. I didn’t think that Kelsey was lying to me, but I distinctly remembered pulling into the garage the night before and hearing the strange sounds from the roof.
“I was at work last night till late. You were asleep when I got home.” “No...you came home early. You parked in the garage, didn’t you?”
Normally, my car in the garage would signal me coming home early but I only did that because I was so tired. I remembered walking around the house the previous night in search of the source of the footsteps, and I remembered finding the dishes in the sink.
Was I losing my mind?
I could tell Kelsey was worried about me and my first response was to make her feel calm. She was already lonely enough in a new home in a new place, and I hadn’t made it any easier by being gone all the time. As unnerved as I was, I didn’t want to make her panic. I laughed off the exchange as being caused by some sort of stress-induced sleepwalking and took Ava outside to read her morning cartoons.
The next week went by without too much trouble. I felt like I was slowly crawling back on Adam’s good side and Kelsey and Ava took the train out of town for a few days to visit Kelsey’s old college roommate who was staying in a town nearby. I had a few days home to myself that I was looking forward to for a while.
The day before they left, I was squeezing a few seconds out my workday to scarf down the ham sandwich Kelsey made me for lunch when she sent me a text.
“I have a surprise for you when you get home :)”
I have to be honest- my initial hope was for some kind of gaming system. I desperately needed a hobby or distraction and I thought it’d be the perfect way to pass the time while the two of them spent the weekend away. I actually semi-convinced myself that I was right as the day went on and raced home for dinner, eager to see what it could be.
Kelsey made me wait until after dinner, a sly smile on her face the whole time as Ava told me about their day spent packing, until suddenly her expression soured.
I noticed. She was staring at me weirdly.
“What?” I asked.
She took a long sip of water and spoke quietly.
“Where is your wedding ring?”
I looked down at my left hand and to my surprise, my wedding band wasn’t staring back at me. Only a slight tan line where it used to sit.
I instinctively patted down my pockets and racked my brain. “Um...I don’t know, actually. Maybe I somehow...”
My voice drifted off. Truthfully, I was just as worried as she was. I never took my ring off and if I did, I certainly would’ve remembered. I tried to explain different ways it might’ve accidentally came off but none seemed to satisfy Kelsey. She was quiet the rest of the dinner.
That night, Kelsey tried to crawl into bed without giving me the present she’d promised. I was so desperate for any kind of care and attention from her that I begged her until she finally reached over to the nightstand, dug something out of the drawer, and thrust it in my chest without even looking at me.
It was a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test.
I stared at it in the dark as the hairs on my arms stood straight up. All the thoughts in my brain vanished at once and I heard only my heartbeat in my ears. Kelsey, awaiting a reaction, turned over in a fuss.
“That’s it? That’s your reaction?”
I looked at her with scared eyes, my mouth open but no words coming out. I wanted to be happy, to share this moment with her so badly...
But we hadn’t had sex since we moved here. How could we? I slept on the couch virtually every night and was such a ball of stress, sex was the furthest thing from my mind. It didn’t make sense to me how Kelsey could be pregnant. If she was, it wasn’t from me. The heartbreak of imagining her with someone else was matched only by my confusion as to why she would give me evidence of an affair as a present.
I looked in her eyes. She was waiting for me to be happy about our child, but I couldn’t shake myself out of my trance. Had I forgotten sleeping with her? Did we consummate a child and I was too whacked out of my mind by my job to even remember?
“I’m...I can’t believe it.”
That didn’t do it for her. As she threw the covers off and put on her jacket before grabbing the bags she packed for her weekend trip, I thought of how distraught she must feel. I thought of her wondering, taking stock of how she felt, going to the pharmacy, the feeling of seeing the positive test and the excitement to tell me. And then the heartbreak at my silence in the dark.
I knew I was driving her away. I begged for forgiveness as she told me she was going to take Ava to the train early, that she wanted some time away from me. As I tried to talk my way out of this, blaming it on the stress and the memory lapses, I felt the same sensation I felt a few nights prior.
I felt like I was being watched. I looked up at the air vent.
A pair of human eyes stared back. The same eyes I saw previous, only this time, there was enough light to see the outline of a man’s face just before he faded back into the dark.
“Hello?”
Kelsey was standing in the doorway, exasperated as I ignored her pouring her heart out to look up at the air vent.
I wanted to show her, but the eyes were gone- before I knew it, Kelsey had Ava over her shoulder as she rolled their suitcases out to the car.
The emotions that I knew Kelsey harbored finally came pouring out. She never wanted to move here and she hated it. She heard noises in the house when I was gone, and she didn’t feel safe. She missed her family and her friends, and I was working too much. I had no interest in her. I was mentally, physically, and emotionally absent to my wife and my child and after four months of feeling abandoned and forgotten about, she’d had enough. She told me she’d call when she felt better and let me say goodbye to Ava before driving off into the dark. I begged her to wait until the morning, but she was upset. And she had every right to be.
The first thing I did when I re-entered the house was grab a screwdriver and rip the airvent cover from the ceiling. I set the screws and vent on the bed and climbed on the nightstand until I could stick my head into the crawlspace.
It was too dark to see, so I bent down and turned on my phone light, stuck my phone in my mouth and stuck my head back into the vent space.
I only saw cobwebs and a small 2 ft x 2 ft space of ventilation. It seemed to extend a few feet in each direction until it reached a dead end.
There was no man. No animal. Nothing in there. Just space.
I had one more day of work before the weekend and I decided to sleep on the couch that night, but I barely dozed off. The heartache of being alone in the house kept me awake. It had been years since I felt that confused and hopeless.
I went to work the next day and managed to avoid Adam’s wrath. I felt I was being paranoid but just in case I wasn’t, I decided to call our realtor and get a blueprint of the house. She said she would email it over.
“Is something wrong?”
“Not particularly, I’m just worried we might have an animal in the ventilation system.” “Oh no. Have you smelled an odor, or just heard noise?”
“Just noise.”
“Well, be sure to check the attic.”
My blood ran cold. I was told when I bought the house, we didn’t have an attic. The blueprint came through just as I heard those words and I opened the email, scanned the build of the house with my eyes and, sure enough, there it was.
An attic. Right above the garage.
“You said we didn’t have an attic.”
“You don’t. Well, technically you do but it’s sealed off. Not accessible.”
“Then how could an animal get in there?”
“The vents. Outside of that, like I said- it’s sealed off.”
She was right. The only access point to the attic seemed to be the ventilation system.
I felt acid slushing around in my stomach. Maybe the eyes I saw were real. I thought of the footsteps I heard. I thought of the noises Kelsey complained about. I thought about the security system I armed every day to keep us safe.
I thought about how the security system wouldn’t work if someone was already inside.
I hung up the phone and left work without speaking to Adam. My car nearly ran out of gas as I pulled off the freeway, and I was so in my own head about what was awaiting me back at the house that I nearly didn’t see it until it was too late.
I pulled over at a gas station only to discover that I didn’t have my wallet. I was in such a rush to get home I was sure I left it at the office. Luckily, I had a few dollars stuffed in the center console and was able to nickel-and-dime just enough to get home.
I marched into the house and up the stairs. I grabbed a toolbox, unscrewed the vent, and this time-
I forced myself to crawl up inside. It was so tight that I could barely fit my body in it, but I fit. Both sides were dead ends and for a moment, I felt an extreme wave of claustrophobia. I immediately decided I did not like this and tried to thrash my way out, and as I twisted my body and tried to kick myself forward-
The wall behind my feet fell over.
I squirmed around and saw that what I had thought was a dead end was actually a thin piece of plywood that had been carefully placed to give the illusion that the ventilation tunnel stopped there. My phone was in my mouth, flashlight beaming, and I could see that this tunnel extended over the rest of the house.
I had nothing to lose. I knew I had seen something, and I was determined to prove to myself that I wasn’t crazy. That I knew what was transpiring in my own life, no matter how strange it may be.
I crawled for what felt like miles through cobwebs and darkness, occasionally stopping to look down through vents at the house. From this tunnel, you could see everything.
I shimmied until I eventually came to a real dead end. I pressed it with my hands, but it was solid. It took me a few seconds before realizing that the top of the tunnel had been cut open. A giant hole covered by carpet.
I pushed up through it...
And found myself in the attic.
The room was a little smaller than a prison cell. It was dusty and dark, and the pink insulation looked blood orange when my phone illuminated it. A rotting stench hit my nostrils and I pointed the phone towards the back corner.
A plate of chicken and potatoes, a few days old, was covered in ants. A fork and knife from our kitchen were visible underneath.
There was a small, tattered blanket on the scratchy floorboards and a trash bag filled with something that sat at the top of the blanket, like a pillow.
I swallowed. Knelt on the blanket. Carefully stuck my hand in the trash bag and pulled out the first thing I wrapped my fingers around.
It was a sweatshirt. I didn’t recognize it. It wasn’t ours from the move. I kept digging, kept pulling out articles of clothing I’d never seen before but all were wrinkly and dirty, as if they hadn’t been washed in months.
The next item I brought out was an envelope. I poured out the contents on the blanket.
They were polaroids. Immediately, I recognized my own face staring back at me.
There were about thirty of them, all taken over the course of our last year at the old house. Pictures of Kelsey and I taking Ava for walks, me on my morning commute, me going to the gym, taking Kelsey out to dinner, mowing the lawn. Intimate moments of our lives all on film, chronicled forever by somebody.
My breathing got shallow as I reached into the trash bag and fished around for the last item inside. It was a wallet.
I flipped it open, and immediately took out the driver’s license.
I recognized the face staring back at me, but not in the usual way. I had never seen this man before; except I had.
I once heard that every single person in the world has seven doppelgangers. Seven people scattered around the world who looked identical to each other.
I think I just found mine.
Our faces were eerily similar. His ID picture suggested he was a bit younger, the same blue eyes, a little more stubble. His nose was a little wider and his lips a bit thinner, but if you weren’t looking closely, the resemblance was remarkable.
SIMON CARTWRIGHT. PARADISE VALLEY, ARIZONA. DOB: 4/14/1991.
The name didn’t ring a bell. I’d never been West of the Mississippi until we moved here. I was born in 1987.
Who was this man? And how could he look exactly like me?
Seven doppelgangers.
Instead of money, he had a folded up piece of paper inside the pouch of the wallet. I smoothed it out and used the light to illuminate it.
It was a police record printed in black and white. Simon’s police record, to be exact. It had a mugshot dated eight months prior, where the tips of Simon’s lips were curled up in an indifferent smile.
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT. BATTERY. ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING.
In this more recent picture, Simon looked identical to me. I couldn’t believe it as I stared at the mugshot, horrified at what I was piecing together in my mind.
The garage door went up beneath me. I could hear the gears churning as a car waited patiently for it to open.
Kelsey. She came back.
I had to tell her immediately. She probably wouldn’t believe me at first- especially with my recent behavior, convincing her my doppelganger was living in the crawl space wasn’t going to be an easy task. But she’d believe me when she saw the room and the wallet and the police record and we’d call the police and high tail it back home. I was done with this house, this stress, this job and I had proof we were in danger.
I shimmied as fast I could through the ventilation tunnel towards our bedroom closet. I heard the garage door close as I crawled above the ceilings and between the walls, pausing briefly to look down through the slits revealing the rest of the house. Kelsey and Ava hadn’t come inside yet.
By the time I heard the door slam and the sounds of their voices in the kitchen, I was at our closet.
“Kelsey! Kelsey, come here!” I screamed.
I heard nothing.
I finally squeezed my body out of the vent and tumbled onto the nightstand.
“Kelsey! Kelsey!”
I bumbled out of the room and down the stairs, nearly tripping over my own two feet as I hit the first floor and burst into the kitchen.
Kelsey had ordered takeout and she’d set the table for dinner.
Ava was already seated, and her head snapped up with confusion as she saw me run into the room out of the breath, holding another man’s wallet and printed out police record, covered in dirt and grime and insulation.
Kelsey was seated next to her.
Simon was seated where I normally sat.
All was quiet for a moment as Simon and I made eye contact.
He was wearing one of my shirts- one of the ones that had magically vanished. My reading glasses sat atop his nose, which looked thinner than on his ID. It looked narrower now, like mine. The glasses fit him perfectly.
My wedding band was around his finger, and my wallet was on the table with the receipt for the dinner.
In my clothes, with my glasses and belongings, in my house, with my family- He looked exactly like me. There was no difference. He had been planning this.
Kelsey screamed as soon as she saw me and I dropped Simon’s wallet. It spilled out over the floor.
Kelsey instinctively grabbed Ava and Simon threw the two girls behind him as if they were the most precious thing in the world to him, and he would die before he let a stranger near them.
Simon grabbed a knife and stuck it out towards me.
He spoke in a voice identical to my own, as if he’d been practicing it for months as he listened to me through the vents.
His eyes narrowed with a faux scared expression and his smile curled the same way it did in his mugshot.
He took a step towards me. “Who are you?”