Nursing home documentation forms

Hi Everyone,
First time posting as I wanted to share our experience of duodenal atresia and found this sub incredibly helpful when I was preparing for our little one to undergo surgery and be in the NICU. As duodenal atresia is fairly rare, I wanted to share our experience as the few stories I did read were incredibly informative.
For context, I was 32 weeks pregnant when at our third trimester scan a ‘double bubble’ was spotted on the ultrasound. My OBGYN thought it was most likely duodenal atresia and spoke to myself and my husband about further genetic testing as the condition is linked to Downs Syndrome. He also advised that our baby would need an operation soon after birth and I would likely develop a condition called polyhydramnious which would make early labour a possibility. All of this information was shocking and sudden as I had a fairly uneventful pregnancy up to this point.
My amniocentesis showed negative for Down Syndrome however, the double bubble persisted on my future scans so we prepared for a duodenal atresia diagnosis at birth.
I had a c-section at 37+4 (due in part to polyhydramnios) and our son was born weighing 8lbs 2oz. He was immediately taken to the NICU and we were able to go and see him later that day. Seeing him needing oxygen and with wires was something I had not fully prepared for but the NICU nurses were incredibly supportive and talked us through our son’s care in the lead up to his operation.
Our son had his operation on day three - the surgeon said his duodenum was larger than average post surgery - so we would have to wait to see how quickly he would progress. This was the most challenging part as until our son’s digestive system showed signs of working, he would not be able to come home. We were assured that this would take time but it didn’t make the wait any easier.
Our son began breast milk feeds on day four post surgery. He began on 3ml every three hours with the intent to gradually increase. His aspirate levels were checked at feeding times and he had a TPN line to ensure all his nutritional needs were met. This was a slow process and we needed lots of patience whilst celebrating the small victories of his feeds increasing and his aspirate reducing.
Ultimately, it was not until day eleven that he had a motion. However, this proved to be the turning point in his recovery and his progress rapidly improved. His aspirate began decreasing and within five days was almost at 0. His surgeon and paediatrician increased his milk levels in the morning and evening. Twenty one days after he was born and eighteen days after surgery, our son was consistently being fed 50ml eight times a day, having regular motions and no longer needed TPN or additional fluids. Finally it was time for him to come home.
For any parents facing a diagnosis of duodenal atresia, having your baby have major abdominal surgery so soon after birth is an incredibly challenging experience. I was assured by the high success rate of the surgery and valued the posts I found from other parents who had been through the experience. Happy to answer any questions from parents facing something similar.
Our baby is now four weeks old and thriving at home!

Hello; really loved the interaction with my first post, so thanks so much for that! I'll just reiterate: spoilers for all Star Trek, and everything is just my opinion.
900) Unnatural Selection (1989)
TNG 2x7
Writer: John Mason & Mike Gray
Director: Paul Lynch
We've seen this idea done before and better. Yeah, it's a little bit different this time: it centres around children genetically engineered to be free of disease (isn't that illegal in the Federation?). But the actual plot of the episode is little different from TOS' The Deadly Years, with Doctor Pulaski aging and trying to find a cure for the condition. An uninspired repeat of a TOS episode that wasn't even that good in the first place.
899) We'll Always Have Paris (1988)
TNG 1x23
Writer: Deborah Dean Davis & Hannah Louise Shearer
Director: Robert Becker
Bored me stiff. I'm not always a huge fan of time travel stuff in general, and this is one of the least dynamic uses of that story type I've ever seen. Picard also has some weak character development, in his reminiscence about the girlfriend he left behind to join Starfleet, after he runs into her in this episode. The resolution with Data is fine, though, and I do like that they used him, as somebody less affected by the Maddox Effect, to solve the problem. Functional, just really dull.
898) Angel One (1988)
TNG 1x13
Writer: Patrick Barry
Director: Michael Rhodes
I will say that, as a teenage boy and as a young man now, this episode did give me empathy for what women go through in real life: being dismissed as weak and soft and barred from meaningful work. Beyond that, however, this episode really says nothing. It feels like it wants to be a deep and compelling exploration of gender roles, but apart from that feeling of empathy it gave me it doesn't accomplish anything of the kind. It's just a rote story about an oppressed section of society trying to combat their oppressors, and Riker saves the dissidents from being executed with a dull speech.
897) Silicon Avatar (1991)
TNG 5x4
Writer: Jeri Taylor, story by Lawrence V Conley
Director: Cliff Bole
Oh, just what I always wanted: the return of the Crystalline Entity from Datalore! Most anticipated villain return ever! But seriously, this could have been an interesting episode exploring a decent creature, but all that ends up happening is the Enterprise chasing the Crystalline Entity while Data has conversations with the mother of one of the victims of its attack on his colony. I will say that her hatred of Data got some genuine emotion out of me, as I raise my hackles against anyone who dares attack that loveable android, and seeing her come round to him was reasonably satisfying. But I still wasn't intrigued by their conversations, or the story of her seeking revenge for her son's death. The actual murder of the Crystalline Entity was done with a decent weight, but the episode takes forever to get there, through a slog of boring conversations and virtually no emotional investment for me.
896) The Outrageous Okona (1988)
TNG 2x4
Writer: Burton Armus, story by Les Menchen, Lance Dickson & David Landsberg
Director: Robert Becker
An aimless, artless story of a rogue caught between two fathers hounding him for his misdeeds. I don't find Okona amusing or charming, so his heavy presence in the episode doesn't do anything for me, and the story surrounding him is weak too. Data's stand-up comedy stuff is quite funny; Brent Spiner plays it brilliantly. I particularly enjoy the scene where he's trying out his act on Guinan, and it's just so bad. Also love Whoopi Goldberg's delivery of 'No' after Data asks her if his act was good. But this B-plot has only a flimsy connection to the main story, and therefore its presence leaves the end product feeling messy as well as weak.
895) Bounty (2003)
ENT 2x25
Writer: Hans Tobeason, Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong, story by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
Director: Roxann Dawson
An A-plot and B-plot that are both very bad. The story of Archer getting kidnapped by a bounty hunter is rote and uninspired, and definitely feels like it was one of the last ideas the writers came up with for the season. They were just filling time with a poor sequel to the earlier episode Judgement. His interactions with the Tellarite do not interest me at all, and I do not care about the Tellarite's lost ship. The B-plot with T'Pol prematurely going through the Pon Farr sees some of the worst sexualisation of the character, plus some cringey dialogue between her and Phlox. Archer's ending escape from the Klingons, with the Tellarite's secret help, is solid, though.
894) The Omega Glory (1968)
TOS 2x23
Writer: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Vincent McEveety
Goes from mundane to insane. For much of its runtime I would give this my label of dull but functional: there's a rogue Starfleet Captain trying to discover the secret to eternal youth on a pre-warp planet, and there's a lot of fighting with some of the savage natives. It's all very boring... until the last quarter.
It gets revealed that this is (yet another) TOS Season 2 Earth parallel, with the savages representing the US and the village people the Communists. There is no explanation given for how the aliens ended up with all the exact paraphernalia of that time on Earth, from the US flag to the American Constitution; it's all just ludicrous.
The crowning weirdness of the episode is Kirk's lauding of the American Constitution as the greatest thing ever invented. Now, I don't just not like this because I'm English; I would feel the same if the British (unwritten) Constitution was being lauded like this. I consider myself a pretty patriotic person, and I believe that every country has equal reason to celebrate themselves, but I feel it is utterly inappropriate in Star Trek for any one country or group to be held up as the ultimate shining example of civilisation. This is because Trek is meant to represent a future where everybody's come together under one banner. There's a lot to praise about the American Constitution, but it's inappropriate for it to be held up as the 'One True Way', if you will. Kirk's final admiring look at the US flag is so cringeworthily saccharine. So, yeah, this episode is boring for most of its runtime, and it certainly isn't in the end... it's much worse.
893) The Muse (1996)
DS9 4x21
Writer: Rene Echevarria, story by Rene Echevarria & Majel Barrett-Roddenberry
Director: David Livingston
The DS9 Lwaxana Troi episodes are largely not a good time, and this is the absolute worst of them. The story of her pregnancy feels so hammy and forced, and the drama with her and Odo doesn't interest me at all. She also doesn't feel like she has much of a presence in the episode, which is shocking given how she came on so wonderfully strong in TNG. The other plotline with Jake is also uninteresting. It's at least not as bad as the Lwaxana storyline, but it's still so very uninspired (you see what I did there?). Annoyingly our last Lwaxana appearance; they really should have stopped her episodes after TNG's Dark Page; that was the perfect ending for her character.
892) When the Bough Breaks (1988)
TNG 1x16
Writer: Hannah Louise Shearer
Director: Kim Manners
Gene Roddenberry did like his kiddie episodes, didn't he? The idea of 'Atlantis-but-a-planet' is interesting, but the episode wastes the concept on a tiresome kidnapping story. The kids are fine I guess, but I'd also rather not be watching them. Wesley feels kinda out-of-place among them, to be honest, considering how noticeably older he is. I will say that Picard's reaction to the abduction: 'You have just committed an act of utter barbarity!' is a superb bit of acting from Stewart, but other than that there's nothing else I'll praise about this outing.
891) Pen Pals (1989)
TNG 2x15
Writer: Melinda M Snodgrass, story by Hannah Louise Shearer
Director: Winrich Kolbe
This always feels like a short to me, despite its forty-five minute length. No time is spent building up Data and the alien kid's relationship; we just see the kid's first communication, then jump into Data confessing to Picard he's been in contact with a pre-warp individual. So I have no investment in this relationship, which is a shame because Data-plus-kid had the potential to be really sweet. They just didn't put the legwork into it. The resolution is fine.
890) Unforgettable (1998)
VOY 4x22
Writer: Greg Elliot & Michael Perricone
Director: Andrew Robinson
Got to be the most ironic title in Trek history, since this episode is extremely forgettable. It's also mind-numbingly boring: Trek does not have a good track record with single-episode romances, and this has got to be one of the worst. I feel zero connection to the guest character and zero investment in her relationship with Chakotay. The idea of a species that you forget after they've been gone for a while is intriguing, but it is wasted on this insipid romance. This was one of the longest forty-five minutes I've ever sat through.
889) Transfigurations (1990)
TNG 3x25
Writer: Rene Echevarria
Director: Tom Benko
Speaking of dull one-episode romances, here's another one. The idea of a species going through a butterfly-like transformation, that is feared and suppressed by the authorities, is again intriguing. It reminds me of the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story The Mutants, if anyone's watched that, except it's done less well. Again, the good concept is wasted on a boring romance, this time between Beverly and her patient. This is another one that feels much longer than forty-five minutes.
888) Bread and Circuses (1968)
TOS 2x25
Writer: Gene Roddenberry & Gene L Coon
Director: Ralph Senensky
At this point in TOS Season 2, I just thought: 'Really, Mr Roddenberry? Another Earth parallel? I know you like them, but this is getting ridiculous!' Not only is this a tired repeat of an already done idea, but no explanation is given for why this planet parallels the Roman Empire. In A Piece of the Action and Patterns of Force clever reasons were given, but in this it's just presented as a weird fact. That doesn't fly with me.
And even if they had come up with another clever explanation, they have done this idea, which I don't like very much anyway, way too many times this season. I did have some minor interest in the concept of a Rome that never fell, but not enough to sustain me for fifty minutes. Boring and uninspired to the highest degree. I will say there's one really great scene between Spock and Bones in a prison cell, though, when Bones confronts Spock about how he keeps all his emotions carefully concealed.
887) How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth (1974)
TAS 2x5
Writer: Russell Bates & David Wise
Director: Bill Reed
Similar to Who Mourns for Adonais?, in that it gives us an omnipotent alien, who was once worshipped as a God on Earth, and has returned to take charge of his wayward children, only to ultimately discover they don't need him anymore. This is a much weaker version of that story, however, with a less sympathetic godlike character and less runtime to flesh out the idea.
The episode also takes a weird swerve halfway through, from the setting of Kukulkan's city (a nice location, I must say) to his zoo, which I find much less appealing. This episode had an idea, but it wasn't quite sure how to tell the story. Kukulkan genuinely scared me a little, though, and I did feel sorry for him when he flew off, knowing that his former worshippers had outgrown him. But again, that was done better in TOS.
886) Resurrection (1997)
DS9 6x8
Writer: Michael Taylor
Director: LeVar Burton
Michael Taylor is a curious writer for me. He has written both some of my favourite and some of my least favourite episodes, with little middle ground. This falls hard into the latter category. It's interesting to have someone from the Mirror Universe cross into the Prime Universe, rather than the other way around as normally happens, and it's doubly interesting to have that someone be Mirror Bareil. But the episode falls flat on its face: every scene is just so interminably dull, and, unlike his Prime Universe counterpart, this Bareil has no chemistry with Kira. So boring, so pedestrian, and the absolute worst of the DS9 Mirror Universe episodes.
885) The Paradise Syndrome (1968)
TOS 3x3
Writer: Margaret Armen
Director: Jud Taylor
I think this is the epitome of functional but dull. The story makes sense, the characters' motivations make sense, but that doesn't mean the episode is interesting. I do like the idea of the Preservers, beings who transplanted members of endangered peoples, here the Native Americans, to other planets, but the episode flops. Kirk's memory loss leads to a yawnworthy stay among the Native Americans, filled with predictable tensions and conflicts, and a bland romance. The Spock and Bones B-plot is also boring. I feel a little something for Miramanee's death, but only a little something.
884) Assignment: Earth (1968)
TOS 2x26
Writer: Art Wallace, story by Gene Roddenberry & Art Wallace
Director: Marc Daniels
Star Trek without the Star Trek. Deciding not to focus on the main characters for an episode isn't a bad idea in and of itself, but the characters put in their stead hold little interest for me. The same is true of the plot they work within. This was of course a backdoor pilot for a spin-off that never manifested, and maybe if it had come about I would like this episode much more, but as it stands I find the characters unintriguing and the plot uninspired. The climax is particularly poor, with about seventy different shots of the rocket going into orbit, while the characters mill about and do very little. I want me my Kirk, Spock and Bones back.
883) The Red Angel (2019)
DSC 2x10
Writer: Chris Silvestri & Anthony Maranville
Director: Hanelle M Culpepper
Down here for the same reasons as previous DSC Season 2 episodes I've put on this list. It engages heavily in the twin foul-ups of the Spock's sister storyline and the Section 31 portrayal. I hate the base concept of Burnham being Spock's sister, for reasons I've explained in my previous post, so I despise all their scenes together, that build out this relationship that I wish had never been. And Section 31 continues to be portrayed as a public wing of the Federation, with ships and resources provided by Starfleet, which is godawful.
I will say, however, that I do kinda like the sequence where Burnham has to strap herself to a chair and bare herself to the planet's toxic atmosphere in order to summon the Red Angel. And the reveal that the Angel is not herself but in fact her mother is cool. But this is still a really bad episode.
882) The Storyteller (1993)
DS9 1x13
Writer: Kurt Michael Bensmiller & Ira Steven Behr, story by Kurt Michael Bensmiller
Director: David Livingston
A really messy, weak outing. The A- and B-plots have nothing to do with each other, which isn't automatically bad, but here it just makes the episode feel untidy. Of the two, I prefer the Jake and Nog subplot; it's funny seeing them mooning over the female teenage leader of a settlement who comes to the station. Their getting in trouble to impress her is charming. The A-plot sucks, though: the whole business of O'Brien having to become the protector of this village, from an amorphous cloud villain, is just lame, and the resolution is whatever. It is funny to see O'Brien and Julian in their first episode together, though, and witnessing how much O'Brien doesn't care for the good Doctor at this point. Oh, how times will change.
881) The Arsenal of Freedom (1988)
TNG 1x20
Writer: Richard Manning & Hans Beimler, story by Maurice Hurley & Robert Lewin
Director: Les Landau
A ramshackle adventure with a medley of different storylines, all of which are underwhelming. The best is Geordi's plotline, where he asserts himself as commander of the Enterprise over the *rsehole Chief Engineer of the week, but the other two don't really have any redeeming qualities. The Riker and co storyline is repetitive and the Picard and Beverly storyline is dull. I do like that the threat is resolved when Picard agrees to make a purchase from this dead civilisation, though.
880) Move Along Home (1993)
DS9 1x9
Writer: Frederick Rappaport, Lisa Rich & Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci, story by Michael Piller
Director: David Carson
OK, so I said this wasn't the worst of DS9, but it's still really bad. Though I have to say that, after I watched this with my siblings last year, and had such fun doing so, I've never been able to see it quite so badly. It's bad, yeah, but it's so, so much fun. The best-worst bit is of course the alien hopscotch scene, and I also really have to give credit to Alexander Siddig for playing some brilliant cringey comedy with Julian. The scene where he's trying to wake himself up from a nightmare by screaming? So funny. These (sort of) praises made, this is still a stinker of an episode, with a messy plot, too-silly events, and some serious overacting from Armin Shimerman at the end. Definitely something best watched with friends or family.
Allamaraine, count to four,
Allamaraine, then three more,
Allamaraine, if you can see,
Allamaraine, you'll come with me!
879) Justice (1987)
TNG 1x7
Writer: Worley Thorne, story by Ralph Wills & Worley Thorne
Director: James L Conway
I love the basic idea of this episode: Wesley runs afoul of a law on another planet and is sentenced to death by their draconian justice system. Then Picard has to struggle with whether to obey the Prime Directive or save his life. But the episode is dragged down by some weird costuming choices and, most of all, the addition of an omnipotent entity that watches over the planet's people. This should have just been an episode about Picard struggling between duty and conscience; the addition of a mega-powerful being steals screentime from this fine idea.
878) A Simple Investigation (1997)
DS9 5x17
Writer: Rene Echevarria
Director: John T Kretchmer
Uuuuugh; another boring single-episode romance. It's an interminable chore to sit through, from beginning to end, with tired, uninspired romantic scenes and an unexciting criminalistic plot surrounding the Orion Syndicate. I also don't like how the Changelings' linking is equated with sex in that one scene. There are a few fun scenes with O'Brien, Julian and Jadzia when they're playing the spy holosuite program (Jadzia's 'Ooh, somebody stop me!', or O'Brien's 'Hi, Odo!'), but that's about it.
877) Such Sweet Sorrow Part Two (2019)
DSC 2x14
Writer: Michelle Paradise, Junny Lumet, & Alex Kurtzman
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi
DSC wasn't merely content to introduce a sister for Spock who weakened the story of his childhood and family life. They had to make that sister so important in his life that he'd be willing to go with her into the future and leave his life behind. I hate that Kurtzman and co made this decision, as it makes everything in TOS, SNW etc feel like Spock settling for second-best, when in reality he is fulfilling his life's purpose in those series.
I also never connected with any of the DSC original characters, except for Saru, and even with him I don't feel any emotion at their grand final 23rd Century adventure to stop Control. As I've said before, this evil sentient AI story is a tired, repeated idea, and its connection to the terrible portrayal of Section 31 makes it worse. As a result of all this don't give a single crap about any of the grand-scale action in this episode, and I feel nothing for the loss of the Discovery crew to the far future. I will say that this episode did at least propel DSC into the 32nd Century, which would end up saving the series from being irredeemably awful, and it sets up the phenomenal SNW (although we didn't strictly need all this for SNW to work).
876) Vis a Vis (1998)
VOY 4x20
Writer: Robert Doherty
Director: Jesus Salvador Trevino
A vapid story about Tom feeling dissatisfied with his life on Voyager, and getting replaced by a shape-stealing alien. The concept for the alien is solid, but the execution doesn't fly. It ends up being a limp episode that drags quite a bit, with a bland character arc for Tom at its centre. Shoutout for the appearance of Dan Butler as the alien's main form, though; he played the testosterone-fuelled Bulldog Briscoe in my favourite comedy, Frasier.
That's it for now. Thank you very much for reading, and Live Long and Prosper!

Hi everyone,
My wife and I are in a bit of a bind and could really use some advice. We need to move out of our current rental in less than two months because our landlady is selling the house. We're searching for a new place to rent in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, but we've hit a major roadblock.
Here's what happened:
We found a property that seemed perfect: two double bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen with a living room, and the rent is €2460 per month. We attended the viewing, applied immediately, and submitted all the required documents. The agent asked for a deposit and a filled-out form, which we provided right away. Initially, everything seemed fine.
However, the agent called us later, asking about the ages of our children. We have two boys, aged 8 and 2. The next day, we received an email saying the landlady thinks the apartment is too small for a family of four and requested our IBAN to return the deposit.
We don't think the apartment is too small. The space seemed adequate for our needs, and we were prepared to make it work. I emailed the agent to express our surprise and asked for clarification. She mentioned that most residents in the building are older and might have "particularities." She also suggested that our 2-year-old would soon need his own bedroom and that the second bedroom is too small.
When I asked for more details about these "particularities" and any regulations regarding children needing separate rooms, the agent did not respond to my questions and only asked for our IBAN again.
We now feel discriminated against based on our family status. Everyone living in Ireland is aware of the housing crisis, and we are in a precarious situation needing to find a new place within two months. It's not that we can't afford the rent; there just aren't many available places. We want to stay in our current area because our older child goes to school here and the younger one is in a crèche, which took us a year to get into.
We feel we are being put at a disadvantage because we have kids.
We will continue searching for a new place, but we also feel obliged to report this to the Workplace Relations Commission. This was advised to us by Threshold, an organization in Ireland advocating for the prevention of homelessness.
Thank you in advance for your insights and advice!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this situation:

• Do you think this is discrimination based on family status? If not, why not?
• To what extent can a landlady decide if a house is big enough for a family?
• Are there any regulations prescribing minimum size requirements based on the number of people?
• What might be the reasons people don't want kids around in their building?
• Should I mention that we have kids on our next rental application? Am I required to disclose this?
• Any advice on dealing with the Workplace Relations Commission?

I've got really complex feeling but then again, when is divorce easy and simple. I caught my husband (stbx) cheating when the ER nurse gave me his phone to hang on to. This would be the second hospital stay for a stroke in 5 months - noncompliance is biting him in the ass. He was always chatting with someone and would immediately shut down the chat when I came too close. Turns out he was catfished into giving hundreds of dollars away to god knows who when he's been unemployed since January.
Now that he's been released from the hospital, (sigh) he ended up in my living room on an air mattress because he would be homeless otherwise. This was not my first choice by any means. None of his friends want him in their homes either.
I have cameras in my apartment so I can see when I'm away. He's more active when I'm away. When I'm home, he looks like he's helpless. I know this manipulation now, but it took me years to learn.
I got a lawyer, emptied the bank account so no more money can be "lost". I filed, put the car in my name only, and am planning on sole custody of the dogs. I am the only bredwinner.
It appears that he has some sort of diminished capacity. I still feel bad overall due to his health. Someone please slap me up the side of the head.
What else should I be doing? He has no benefits due to my income. Another reason to divorce him.

Debit/Credit Cards Accepted No Closing Costs Cash Price: $2,300 Finance with $200 Down and 24 Payments of $105 Per Month No Credit Check, No Income Documentation, No Prepayment Penalty 

Hey everyone, this is my first post on this community page. I've been a newly qualified nurse in the NHS for 6 months, and I'm contemplating leaving my first RN position. My parents don’t speak English, so I help them with daily responsibilities, which can be very stressful. I worry about them while at work in case of an emergency. My sister and I have sought help from the council and social services, but their support is limited, so we handle most of it ourselves.
I work in the ophthalmology outpatient department, which has a high patient flow. We see about 250-300 patients a day across various clinics. While I love my supportive team, the management is problematic. Four months in, I was put on call after a long day, totaling 15 hours, with another long shift the following day. I was reassured I wouldn’t be on call until I felt confident and that it was unlikely to get called out at night, but that wasn't reassuring. By that stage, I wasn’t confident. When I told my line manager this, she said I’d be fine. I don’t understand how they allow on-call for nurses who do long days and may need to stay late, then get called anytime at night. It’s inhumane hours. I understand night shifts on wards as you know what hours you’ll do.
Another problem is that staff have raised issues about clinics numerous times to management, but they seem to shrug it off and not sort things out. During my supernumerary period, I initially received support, but after getting some things signed off, I was left to work on my own. Although I have a preceptor, I rarely get to work with her now. Initially, I loved this job, but after 4 months, it’s overwhelming due to the high patient volume. I feel deskilled as my tasks are limited to checking visual acuity, intra-ocular pressure, blood pressure, blood glucose, and instilling eye drops. I've had to take time off work due to stress at home and work, and I have recurring gastrointestinal issues under investigation by my doctor.
I loved community nursing and the minor injuries unit in my third year student nurse placement. I was offered a community post but declined it for this current job due to worrying about car wear. I now regret it because community nursing offers a lot in terms of skills, learning opportunities, and career progression. I’ve realized I want a nursing job with transferable skills and a variety of clinical tasks, which ophthalmology doesn’t offer. I'm constantly looking for other job opportunities, including community and practice nursing, though practice nursing is very competitive and I was declined.
I’ve just been put on bank/locum to potentially do extra shifts in the department, but they also said I can do shifts around the hospital. I'm terrified because I don’t give medications besides eye drops, do IVs, bloods, or catheterizations, which some places need. I’ll likely just be doing healthcare jobs which I’m fine with but areas may want a nurse with those skills.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Where to begin, I really this year to be a year I become something for myself so I wanted to go back and finish off my studying, only problem is that I live in a different country to where I am a citizen in so I tried to apply for a citizenship but when I was applying for it I didn't have the required proof that I was currently staying at the country I am living now so I was kinda devastated that I wouldn't be able to get my citizenship on time before university started. Because of that mental health got worse, I was getting depressed, I was jobless and it felt like no matter what I tried to make things better for myself and wanting to go somewhere with my artwork, nothing good happened, I just got so overwhelmed with everything that I became really tired of just doing anything. Then the worse thing for me could happen, my fiance of 4 years broke up with me without any warning, I guess in my own words she said I wasn't doing enough even though I tried to do more where I can, it just wasn't enough. My world just felt like it turned upside down from that point on, before then I would've done anything for her to now knowing her as the person who left me high and dry when I was at a low point without any form of warning, the worst part, she told me that if I tried and sorted myself out that she would consider getting back with me so I did, one of my best friends/ sister in law who witnessed the whole thing told me about a free therapist for under 25s so I went to therapy, sorted my art portfolio out, applied for jobs seeing that freelance art was no longer a viable option, anything to be self sufficient. When she found out I was doing all of this what was her response? "Why didn't you do any of this earlier?" It honestly crushed me when I heard those words from her like no matter what I do, it was never enough.
Now to mention all the other stuff that's been happening during those 4 months after the breakup:
.I applied to all the studios that I wanted to get into, even though I've been told by people and professionals that my art is good, I got rejected from all of them.
. My ex Fiance was still using my bank account, she was putting money in there to buy her own things but didn't even ask me to use my account and there were still subscriptions that were going into my account for stuff she used and I didn't, so I had to cancel my card.
. I am still jobless, even though I've been applying anywhere I am able to that I have experience in, and still had no response from anywhere I applied for.
. I've lost contact with most of my friends, whether it be from me being radio silent after the break up or some of my friends cutting contact with me because my ex got to them first
. A family member passed away
. I found that all of the things I've do or been feeling is because I have autism and that I might have high risk psychosis (I already knew I was austitic for a while now, I don't think I do have hrp, still that's not really something that you wanna find out through a study that you're involved in)
. My birthday recently passed, but I wasn't able to do anything because I was sick and almost all of mine and my ex's friends are on her side and haven't talked to me after the break up
. My ex broke into my place to get her stuff even though she agreed to do it when I'm home, twice.
. My mother, brother and sister in law are helping me wherever they can (brother and sister in law live in the same place as me) and I can't ever thank them enough, but at the same time I always feel like a burden.
. Tried other methods of getting new clients for freelance or find other ways to get into the industry even for something entry level or as a first step into getting in, but nothing was available.
. Applied for the required documents for my citizenship so that maybe I'll have a chance to go to uni next year, got rejected.
It just feels like no matter how much I try to make my life better or turn things around for myself something always have to get in the way and it's becoming too much now, doing art feels like a chore like no matter what I do I still won't get in, I don't feel safe in my own house because my ex has a key and I don't want to talk to her for a while after what she has been doing, I feel useless because it's been 4 months and I haven't been able to get a job, I can't even apologise for how much of a burden I've been to my mother, brother and sister in law, and overall no matter what I do to try and make things right for myself, something is always there to stop it. I wanted 2024 to be the year that I make something for myself, and now it's just become the worst year I've lived through recently. Maybe I deserve it, maybe I don't, either way I'm tired and I want to give up on everything.

I have been applying to consultant roles like crazy and I'm not making any headway. Can anyone think of ways I can improve what I have below or what other career avenues I should pursue?
EXPERIENCE
Homecare Homebase, LLC, Dallas, TX Implementation Training Consultant, Jan 2022 - Present
Provide quality implementations and ensure the adoption of products within health agencies across the country,
Guide customers and internal training teams through the deployment of the software for multi-site locations across the United States, Lead clients through training of the software and support clients throughout onsite and remote deployment,
Assist in making customizations to clinical content (i.e., visit types, pathways, and assessments) to ensure the environment is ready for testing and training,
Collaborate with internal staff on training preparations for assigned projects, including completing preparation of training database prior to customer deployment,
Communicate effectively and understand the customer's needs, goals, and strategies, as well as communicate those needs to the internal HCHB project team for action and/or resolution,
Independently researching customer inquiries and determining sources of issues. Independently researching data functionality and reporting problems to the customer support team with needed steps for customer resolution,
Maintaining product knowledge as new enhancements and functionality are released in the application,
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, DIVISION OF ADVANCEMENT, Denton, Texas Student Assistant, May 2019 - Aug 2020
Operate office equipment such as fax machines, copiers, and phone systems, and use computers for spreadsheets, word processing, database management, and other applications,
Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals,
Set up and maintain paper and electronic filing systems for records, correspondence, and other material,
Maintained scheduling and event calendars, Operate electronic mail systems and coordinate the flow of information, internally or with other organizations,
CORELOGIC, Irving, TX Operations Specialist, Jul 2014 - Jul 2018
Conducts research of data, perform factual analyses of loan histories to assess appropriate resolution and compile all corresponding supporting documentation for review,
Leverage all available resources such as existing databases, third-party sources, and/or public information on the internet,
Utilize tools to analyze, query, and manipulate data according to defined business procedures,
Extract and enter appropriate data onto application, other form, or database, Process payments that may require preparing, balancing, and submitting complex wire disbursements for mass manual payments,
Proofread documents for grammatical, mathematical, typographical, and composition errors adhering to standards and guidelines, Perform root cause analyses of all discovered errors in order to identify areas requiring development or enhancement of training, policy, or procedures,
Adhere to all required company and client driven Service Level Agreements, Perform duties such as maintaining all levels of files, searching and investigating information contained in files, processing departmental documents requiring more specific knowledge of functional operations, and entering report results into tracking systems,
Track progress and provide status report to management on achievement of daily and weekly team goals,
Act as Subject Matter Expert on internal and client projects, making recommendations to these processes,
Able to develop and maintain business relationships with individuals representing other departments and/or representing outside organizations,
Maintain detailed and comprehensive records for all complaints, including error findings, during the complaint investigation process and document corrective actions taken,
EDUCATION
University of North Texas Denton, TX
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) History (Apr 2021) GPA: 3.2
University of North Texas Denton, TX
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Digital and Print Journalism (Apr 2021) GPA: 3.2
Relevant Coursework: Strategic Social Media, Principles of Public Relations, Applied Design for Advertising and Public Relations,
ADDITIONAL SKILLS Microsoft Office MSP Fiserve Black Knight HTML Search Engine Optimization Adobe Suite Oracle ERP BlackLine

I'm interested in creating a local union focused on hospitality workers. I live in a tourist town and a primary part of our economy is tourism that occurs during a very limited window of time in the summer months. This creates a huge demand for seasonal workers, but we live in a very rural county with a low population and we are not located on the path to anywhere. Basically if you aren't coming here for the tourist season, you aren't coming here at all. This leads to a lot of exploited workers, people who are often part of federally protected classes but still vulnerable to predatory employer practices. The season is short, as little as 13 weeks, and even at $20 hour that only comes out to $10,000 a year. That's not enough when rent here is $1,500-$2,000 a month. So the only people who can take these jobs are vulnerable employees; Highschool and College kids on summer break, disabled workers who receive disability payments and need a few more thousand dollars a year to survive, J-1 visa are also common employees here, they're students on break from university in their country and they come here for work. While it may be good money back home, they're still being exploited while they're here.
This over reliance on tourism also leads to a mindset that it needs to be protected, sometimes at an unreasonable cost. This manifests itself as insufficient government oversight and enforcement of safety and health codes. There's only a handful of people in the whole county that enforce codes, and there's thousands of businesses. The county cannot even fill empty positions in it's government services, close to half the positions that are required for a functional government remain unfilled, and the yearly turnover rate for the positions that do hire is about 125%. Ultimately what this leads to is public officials who are susceptible to bribes, and a big issue that I want to fight against.
Specifically, I want to target one employer and use his labor violations as reasons to persuade his employees to join the union. I was previously employed there and was fired for multiple reasons that can be summed up as me complaining about unsafe/illegal workplace practices and reporting them. I reported these violations to multiple local and state agencies who refuse to enforce labor laws or safety codes. Ultimately i made a complaint with the NLRB who brought a charge against my employer for violating me and my coworkers right for concerted workplace activity. So i have the support of the federal government already.
I intend on setting up an information booth about this union on public property near the business. I spoke with local government officials and police about this, and nobody there knows if I need a permit to do it. I told them I will be excercising my federal rights, and a lot of it will be protesting local government corruption, so I believe they cannot legally stop me, and I told them as much. The targeted business operates an underground kitchen that has not been approved or passed any application process. Basically they opened a restaurant 30 years ago, and then 10-15 year ago decided to expand into the basement. But the basement does not and never will meet codes, it's a colonial era building. So they openly bribe the inspector to allow them to operate.
My goal is to entice these employees to form/join a union and use their collective power to walkout until these safety issues are repaired. I've already complained to the officials who are tasked with enforcement and they won't do their job. I've talked to county code enforcement, State labor board, State Fire code enforcement, and my local representative in the state legislature. None of them will help or do their job. I have made complaints to OSHA and the NLRB, both agencies responded and subsequently enforced my workplace rights. But federal rights are limited and I need State and County enforcement. And until they step up and do their job I believe an employee union threatening to walkout in the middle of the limited tourist season is the only way to force the employer to follow the law.

Using reqres api and ran into following problem: my client sends a request to server and then gets this response(400):
{"error":"Note: Only defined users succeed registration"}
here's the payload of my request:

1. email: "example@gmail.com"
2. password: "1234"
3. username: "John Doe"

here's the code:

import axios from 'axios'; import { useState } from 'react'; import styles from './RegisterPage.module.css'; const RegisterPage = () => { const [formData, setFormData] = useState<{ username: string; email: string; password: string }>({ username: '', email: '', password: '' }); const handleInputChange = (e: React.ChangeEvent) => { const { id, value } = e.target; if (id === 'fullname') { setFormData({ ...formData, username: value }); } else { setFormData({ ...formData, [id]: value }); } }; const handleSubmit = async () => { const res = await axios.post( 'https://reqres.in/api/register', formData, ); if (res) { console.log(res); } else { console.log('error') } } return ( <> 
 
 
 
 Имя Фамилия  
 
 Логин  
 
 Пароль  
 
 Зарегистрироваться 
 
 
 
  ); } export default RegisterPage; 

Checking api documentation doesn't help me much.

11/20/2017
Log book of Det. Ryan Snow
Case #2798: The Appalachian Murders
When I woke up, I was in such a haze that I couldn’t make out where I was at first. My vision was a blur and all I could hear was the sounds of rushing water. I tried to move my limbs, but each muscle down to my little finger felt like lead weighing down on me, making it hard to breathe.
It felt like forever before the ringing in my ear was slowly swallowed out by a voice crying out from what sounded like a distance only to grow louder as it seemed to approach me from the void I had woken up in. It wasn’t until I heard my name that I recognized it was Kate’s voice, pleading and filled with tears.
I blinked away the blur, finding myself staring up at a water damaged ceiling, a single yellow light brightening the room. My head was pounding and my body still felt heavy, but I moved my head enough to turn and see where Kate was calling from. It took a moment, but I soon realized that she was lying on her back, strapped by her arms and legs to a metal table, looking to me with wide terrified eyes.
“Detective, please help!” She cried out. “Please don’t be dead! Please help me!”
“Bl-Black…Well…” I groaned out as I tried, painfully, to pick myself up off the stone floor, “Black…Well… Ah… Shit… Shit! Ms. Blackwell-“ I was gaining consciousness minute by minute as I finally took in the situation and got to my feet. However, the moment I had gotten to my feet and began running to Kate only to immediately fall back to the floor once again, my ankle getting caught by something heavy. I turned to see my ankle had been shackled to the floor by a cuff and chains. I searched my person to find my coat, along with my Glock had been taken, blood decorating my pants and sleeves. I placed a palm to my forehead to find blood when I lowered it down to look at the warm liquid slithering down from my scalp.
“Ms. Blackwell,” I returned my attention to her, examining what I could from my place on the floor, “are you alright, are you hurt?”
“I… I… I don’t… Don’t think so…” she managed to whine out.
“Where’s Mr. Raines?”
To this question, Kate looked away from me, sobbing being her only verbal response.
I went back to the shackles on my ankle and began trying to yank the chains off from the floor, but they had been well maintained and were too strong for me to simply yank out of the stone. I then quickly looked around the room to find we were in a different basement from the one in Cabin #3, though it had the same kind of layout, the table the only major difference. I also took note of the blood stains that trailed from the sides of the table and the dried pools below.
“I want my mom!” Kate cried out, her voice echoing in the empty room.
“I’ll get you to her, I will, I promise,” I assured her, trying to find something, anything to get us out of this, “do you remember how we got down here?”
“I… I… I just re-remember… Remember you g-getting knocked out… Knocked out by someone and them… Them putting a rag over me… Then everything went black… Then I woke… Woke up… H-Here…” Kate answered, trying to breathe with each sob she let out. “I… I th-thought… y-you… You were d-d-… Dead!”
“I’m not, I’m very much alive and I’m going to get you out of here and back to your parents,” I vowed as I continued looking for a way out of this situation, “we’re going to get you out of here, get you home, and we’ll make sure no one ever gets hurt here ever-“
The sound of the basement door from the splintered wooden steps cut me off. I listened as feet descended down the steps to the basement below, Kate’s ragged breaths the only other sound. The person who came down was a woman. The same exact woman from the photo I had found in her house. She looked as if she had not aged since that photo was taken, despite how long ago it seemed the photo was taken. She had the same exact long, white hair, same tired looking eyes, and same disgustingly pale skin as in that photo and on her profile picture. It was Mrs. Larson.
“Deeeeeetectiiiiiiive,” she spoke in a hoarse voice mixed with what I assumed was her own and several others, both male and female, adult and child, “youuuuuuu shouuuullld haaaaaaaaave juuuuuuusssssst giiiiiven herrrrrrr toooooo meeeeee… Youuuuuuuu diiiiiiiiid nooooooot haaaaaave toooooooo ssssssseeeee thiiiiiissssss…”
“Fuck you!” I shouted, beginning to charge at the elderly woman only to be yanked back by my shackles. “Let us go, right now!”
“Nnnnooooo,” Mrs. Larson replied harshly as she stepped over to loom over Kate.
“Stay away from her!” I barked, trying desperately to break free of my shackles.
She ignored me as she ran a shaky hand down along Kate’s trembling face. “Ooooooooohhhhh, Kaaaaaate… Sweeeeet, sweeeeeeeet, Kaaaaaaaaaate…” Mrs. Larson cooed as she went on stroking Kate’s wet cheek. “Doooooo noooooooot crrrrrrryyyyyyy, dooooooonnnnnn’t thiiiiiiiiiinnnnk oooooofff iiiiiiiit aaaaaaaassssss dyyyyyyyyiiiiinnnnng, thiiiiiiiiinnnk ooooooooffff iiiiiiit aaaaaassssss ssssssssaaaaaaaaaviiiiiiinnng aaaaaannnnoooootherrrrrrrrr liiiiiiiiife.”
“I-I… I d-don’t… Don’t under-understand… w-what th-that… That m-means…” Kate cried, her hands gripping the sides of the metal table beneath her, “P-Please, d-don’t… Don’t kill me… L-Let… Let us-us go!”
“Nnnnnoooooo,” Mrs. Larson answered in the same harshness she used on me, “IIIIIIIII neeeeeeeed youuuuuuuuuu,” she then shot a death glare my way through tired, silver eyes, “aaaaaaaannnnnnd heeeeeeeeee’ssssssss beeeeeeeeeennnnnn nnnnnnnoooooooothiiiiiiiiinnnnnng buuuuut aaaaaa thooooooorrrrrrnnnn iiiiiiinnnnn myyyyyyyyy ssssssssiiiiiiiide siiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnccccccce youuuuuu eeeeeessssssscaaaaaaped meeeeeeee.” She then looked back to Kate with a softer look. “Aaaaaaaassssss fffffoooooorrrrr whaaaaaaaat youuuuuuu caaaaaannnn’t uuuuuunnnnnnderrrrrrssssssstaaaaaaannnnnnd, IIIIIIIIII nnnnnneeeeeeed yourrrrrrrrrr heaaaaaaaarrrrrt tooooooo ssssssssaaaaaavvvvvvve myyyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiiisssssssterrrrrrrr.”
“The fuck does that mean?” I demanded, still trying to vain to pull my ankle from the chains. “How the hell will Kate’s heart save your sister?”
“Diiiiiiiiidnnnnnn’t nnnnnnneeeeeeed toooooo beeeee Kaaaaaaate’sssssss,” admitted Mrs. Larson, “buuuuuuuut sssshhhhhheeeeee hiiiiiiiiid theeeeee ooooooootherrrrr giiiiirrrrrrllllll ffffffrrrrroooooommmmm mmmmmeeeeee.”
“S-Son… Sonja…” Kate sniffed, the tears still streaming down her face.
“IIIIIIII oooooooonnnnnlllllyyyyy neeeeed fffffffeeeeeemmmmmaaaaallllle,” Mrs. Larson dismissed Ms. Greymoore’s name, “ffffffeeeeeeemmmmmaaaaaallllle heaaaaaaaarrrrrrrtsssss toooooo rrrrrrreeeeeetuuuuurrrrrrnnnnn mmmmmmyyyyy ssssiiiiissssssterrrrrrrrr toooooo theeeeeeee giiiiirrrrrllllll ssssshhhhhheeeee uuuuuuuusssssed tooooo beeeeeee.”
“That’s a fucking joke right?” I asked. “The hell makes you think eating a female heart will turn your sister back into a human woman? Have you seen what’s happened to your sister?”
“IIIIIIIII knnnnnnnooooooow beeeeeeecaaaauuuuusssssse iiiiiiiiiiit wooooooorrrrrked ooooooonnnnn mmmmmeeeeee,” Mrs. Larson explained, “IIIIIIIIIII waaaaaasssss aaaaaaablllllllle toooooo reeeeeeetaaaaiiiiiinnnnnn thiiiiiiiiiisssssss huuuuuummmmmmaaaaaannnnn fffffffooooorrrrrrmmmm ffffffrrrrrooooommmm eeeeeaaaaatiiiiiinnnnnng theeeeeeee heaaaaaaaaarrrrrtsssss, sssssspecifffffficaaaaaaallllllyyyyyy fffffffeeeeeemmmmmaaaaallllleeee sssssssooooooo IIIIIIIIII mmmmmmaaaaaayyyyyy rrrrrreeeeetuuuurrrrrnnnnn toooo beeeeeiiiiinnnng theeeeeeee giiiiiirrrrrrrllllll IIIIIII uuuuuuusssssed toooooooo beeeeeee.”
“You were dead,” I pointed out, “they found your body up here, you were buried.”
“Theeeeeessssssse sssshhhhheeeeeellllllsssss arrrrrrre mmmmmeeeeeerrreeeellllyyy veeeeeessssssellllllssssss ffffffoooooorrrrrr theeeeeeee sssssspiiiiirrrrriiiiiitsssss weeeee hiiiiiiiiiiide beeeeeneeeeaaaaattthhhh,” Mrs. Larson responded, finally turning her gaze to me, “IIIIIIII haaaaaaad tooooooo maaaake peeeopllllle beeeelieevvvve IIIIIII haaaaaad diiiiiiied tooooo keeeeeep frrrrroooommm theeeee poooooollllliiiiicccce ffffrrrrrrooooommmm pooookiiiiiinnnng aaaaarrrrouuuuuunnnnd aaaaannnnnd rrrrruuuiiinnnnniiinnnng eeeevvvveeerrrrryyythiiiiinnnng.”
“So, let me just get this whole thing straight,” I began as I started rubbing my temples, "when you and your sister starting into… Whatever the hell that thing you call your sister is-“
“Ooooouuuurrrrr sssssspiiiiiirrrrrriiiiiit,” Mrs. Larson corrected.
“Whatever!” I shot. “You found out that eating female hearts turns you two back into human women and to keep police from suspecting you, you pretended to be dead and… What? Just hope a shitty real estate agency would buy your property and you could just… Kill people, people with lives and families outside the mountains?”
“Thaaaaaaaat iiiiiiisssss cooooorrrrrreeeeect…” Mrs. Larson admitted, narrowing her eyes at me.
That’s when I began laughing hysterically, holding my sides that hurt with each harsh breath of a laugh I took. Both Mrs. Larson and Kate looked to me as if I had lost my mind and at this point I was starting to believe I had. Everything I had seen and heard about this entire case would put anyone in the looney bin. And I’m the damn fool who dug too deep into something he had nothing to do with.
“Whaaaaaat’s ssssoooo ffffuuunnnny?” Growled Mrs. Larson, stepping around Kate to stand between us.
“I don’t know what’s fucking funnier, honestly,” I chuckled, running a hand through my hair, “the fact that you thing people won’t be poking around even more when they discover not only is Blackwell missing, but so is a detective and escaped convict all of whom now have ties to these fucking mountains and those cabins, or that you thing I’m more afraid of what you plan on doing with me more than I am when her father finds out I got her in this situation in the first place!”
“Heeeeeee wooooonnnnn’t beeeee aaaaabllllle toooooo doooo aaaaaannnnnyyyyythiiiiiinnnng aaaaaaafffffterrrrrrr IIIIIIIII’mmmmm dooooooonnnne wiiiiiiiith booooooth ooooooooffffff youuuuuuuuu,” Mrs. Larson hissed as she inched closer, “fffffffiiiiiiirrrrrrssssst, IIIIIIIII waaaaaannnnnt youuuuuuuu toooo waaaaaatch mmmmmeeeee kiiiiiiillllll herrrrrrr,” she turned her head to look to Kate who was now just shaking, her eyes seemingly gone dry from the crying, Mrs. Larson then looked back to me, “sssssseeeeecooooonnnnd, IIIIIIII wiiiiillllll ssssssaaaaave youuuuu fffffooooorrrr mmmmmmyyyyy sssssiiiiiisssssterrrrr, oooooonnnnne heeeeaaaaart wiiiiilllll nnnnoooot ssssssaaaaaatissssfffffyyyy herrrr huuuuuunnnnnger.” She took another step. “Uuuuuuuunnnnnllllliiiiiike sssssssoooooommmme ssssssiiiiiibllllliiiiiiinnnnnngsssss, IIIIIIIII caaaaaarrrre aaaaaaboooouuuuut mmmmmmyyyyy ffffffaaaammmmiiiiilllllyyyyyy.”
She stared into my eyes, expecting a reaction and while my blood did somewhat boil at the accusatory statement, I didn’t fully understand what she was getting at. Not until she used that voice. Not until she relived that day with those two familiar child-like voices.
“Screw you, Liam!” She cried out in a voice I remember from my childhood. “I hope you drop dead!”
“Stop.” I demanded.
“Piss off, Ryan!” She shot back in a second boy’s voice.
“I said stop!” I began shouting.
“Help me, Ryan! Please, help me! I’m sorry! Please, Lucky Dime, help me!”
I then lunged toward her, reaching my hands out toward her neck only to be stopped by the shackles as she swiftly, almost without even moving, stepped just out of my reach.
“Fucking bitch!” I screamed out.
“If only you really cared about me, Lucky Dime,” sighed Mrs. Larson as she turned and began making her way to the side of the room where a cart stood in the shadows. She pulled it over to Kate’s side, the cart covered in rusted medical tools.
“P-Please,” Kate wheezed, “p-p-please… I… I d-d-don’t w-want… Want t-to d-d… D-Die, I… I w-w-want m-m-m… My m-mom!”
“Dooooonnn’t woooorrrrryyyyy,” Mrs. Larson soothed, using that mix of different voices, “mmmmmmaaaayyyyybeeee sheeee wiiiillll cooooommmme loooookinnnng ffffooooorrrr yooouuuuu aaaaannnnnd sheeeeeee caaaaannnnn joooooiiiiiinnnn youuuuuuu.”
Kate began to sob, begging and pleading for Mrs. Larson to let her go, thrashing around in her restraints. Telling the older woman that there was no saving her sister and that she was too far gone for this sick ritual to work anymore. I tried to yank at the chains once more, trying to loosen it at least enough to break free and grab at Mrs. Larson.
“Rrrrrrreeeeellllllaaaaax,” Mrs. Larson ordered as she began filling a syringe with some kind of clear liquid from a small bottle, “yoooouuuuuu woooooonnnn’t eeeeeveeennn fffffeeeellll iiiiiiit, thiiiissssss wiiiiiillllll puuuuuut youuuuu toooo ssssssllllllleeeeeep aaaaaannnnnnd wheeeeeennnnnn youuuuuu waaaaaake uuuuuuuup, youuuuuuu’lllllll beeee iiiiiinnnnnn heeeeeaaaaaaveeeennnnn… Uuuuuunnnnnnnllllllessssss youuuuuuu weeeerrrrrrre aaaaaa haaaaaarrrrrlllllooooooot, iiiiiiinnnnnn whiiiiiiiich caaaaaassssssseeeee, mmmmmaaaayyyy Goooooood haaaaaaaave mmmmmmmmerrrrrrrcccccyyyyy ooooonnnnn youuuuuur ssssssoooouuuuullllll… Aaaaannnnnd baaaaaaasssssed ooooonnnn hoooooow youuuuuu drrrrressss aaaaannnnnd theeeee coooommmmpaaaannnnyyyy youuuuuu keeeeeep,” She added as she eyed me, “IIIIIII ssssssaaaaaayyyy youuuuu haaaaaave aaaaa lllllloooooot ooooooffff fooooooorrrrgiiiiiviiiiinnnnng tooooo dooooo.”
Kate continued to cry as Mrs. Larson pushed the needle of the syringe into her arm, pushing down on the plunger as it pierced the flesh. Kate’s loud screams soon turned quieter and her red eyes began to glaze over, but she continued to stay awake, tightening her grip on the table and still begging to be let go.
“IIIIII waaaaannnnt youuuuu toooo waaaaatch, Detective,” Mrs. Larson spat out my title in Mr. Blackwell’s voice, “IIIII waaaaannnnnt youuuuu toooo waaaaatch herrrrrr fffffaaaaaade aaaaaannnnnnd mmmmmeeeee rrrrreeeemmmmooooove heerr heeeaaaarrrrrt toooooo ffffffeeeeeed tooooo mmmmmmyyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiiissssssterrrrrr,” she then pulled out a recorder, “theeeeennnnnn wheeeeeennnnn IIIIIII ssssssuuuuummmmoooooonnnnn herrrrrrr aaannnnd sheeeee fffffiiiinnnniiiishessssss oooooofffffff heeeerrrrr heeeaaaaarrrrrt, youuuuuuu’llllllll beeeeee neeeeeext.”
“Fuck you,” I snarled, “I hope you and your sister burn.”
“IIIIIIIII’mmmmm gooooonnnnnaaaaa gooooo aaaaallllllerrrrrrt mmmmmyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiissssterrrrrr,” Mrs. Larson turned and began making her way to the basement steps, “ssssseeee youuuuu boooooth ffffffoooooorrrr diiiiiinnnnnnerrrrrrr.”
She then pressed the play button on her recorder and a small, little girl’s voice echoed in the room before Mrs. Larson vanished up the steps.
“I’m here… I’m here… I’m here…”
Then the door slammed shut.
“De… Tec… Tive…” Kate squeaked out, her breathing slowing.
“Stay awake, Blackwell,” I ordered her gently, looking around frantically for anything to get us both out of this alive, “I’ll get us out of this, I promise, just stay awake, we’ll get out of here, I just need-“
“I’m… S… Sorry…” she breathed out. “I’m… So… Sorry… For… Get… Getting… You… In… To.. This…”
“No, no, this is not your fault!” I assured her. “That psychotic bitch got us both into this shit and I won’t stop until I get us out and put her and her fucking sister are six feet under!”
“W…Wha… What… H… Hap… Happened… To… To L… Liam…?”
I stopped struggling with the chains and turned to look to Kate. Her head was turned to me, her face wet, hands clenching as hard as they could to the table beneath her, the light in her eyes slowly fading second by second. She was trying desperately to stay awake. The medication Mrs. Larson taking hold of her as the minutes ticked by.
I dropped the chains that were in my hands, looking away from her, wanting to stare at anything other than another person I had failed.
“He was killed,” I answered, “we were fishing at a lake nearby… Lake Gaagige… We got into a really stupid ass fucking fight about how which fishing pole we were going to use. I wanted to use our dad’s, but Liam was older and said only men could use dad’s fishing pole… I told him… To drop dead and stormed off… When I got home, my parents dragged me back to the lake and scolded me for leaving him…” I trailed off, swallowing all the tears and screams I’d bottled up since that day. “When… We found… Him… The autopsy… Said he was mauled by a bear… I’ve blamed myself for leaving him there alone… For letting him die and getting killed like that… The last thing I ever told him was to drop dead… I was a shitty brother and now I’m a shitty detective…”
“Is… Is he… Why… You became… A… Detective…?”
I took a deep breath and swallowed the tears again. “No, Blackwell,” I answered, “he’s not why I became a detective… I already knew what had killed him… It was my fault… If I hadn’t been such a brat and stormed off… He might still be alive… And now… What that bitch said…” I replayed Liam’s screams that escaped Mrs. Larson’s mouth. “I’m starting to think I’m getting what I deserve. Karma’s back to kick my ass…”
“H… How… Old…?”
“I was six… Liam was eight…”
“N… N… Not your… F… Fault…”
I turned to look to Kate, her eyes on mine, however faded.
“Y… You were… Only… A k… Kid…”
I took another intake of what little air there was down in that basement. I had spent years trying to convince myself of the same thing, but those moments never got easier for me when those thoughts returned.
“I think you’re just being nice,” I laughed painfully, “but I’m afraid I- and my folks- don’t share the same sentiment.”
I was staring down at where the chains were coming from in the ground, Kate not saying a word for over a couple of minutes. I spun to see if she had fallen asleep and immediately tried to find out how to wake her up again. However, once I our eyes met, I saw that she was still fighting sleep, the last of her tears rolling down across the bridge of her nose and into her hair.
“I… I… I had… Had a c… Crush… O… On… J… Jasper…” she confessed, her voice getting quieter and higher. “P… Paul and… And Son… Sonja knew… I never… Never c… Cared f… For Luke… But I’m… Sure… S… Sonja t… Told him…” she looked like she was going to sob again. “I… I never g… Got the… Ch… Chance… T… To tell J… Jasper… I… Was… Scared… He… He and… P… Paul were friends… And I… I kn… Knew… How P… Paul f… Felt… A… About m… Me… I… I did… Didn’t wa… Want to… R… Ruin… Anyth… Anything…” She took a gulp of air. “I… I ha… Hated L… Luke… I… A… Always… Kn… Knew… He… He was a… Player… B… But Sonja… Said… Said she was hap… Happy… So… So I did… Didn’t wa… Want to g… Get in… H… Her way… B… But Luke d… Didn’t l… Like h… How cl… Close… We… Were… I d… Didn’t w… Want him to make… Make her th… Think I… I was l… Leading her o… On… T… To get them… To b… Break up… Th… Then… That n… Night… Sh… She w… Wanted to… To leave…” She let out two pained gasps of breath. “I… I let them down… I let them all down… Luke pro… Probably thought… Thought I w… Was the one who… Who f… Filled Sonja’s mind… With thoughts of… Of him ch… Cheating… Th… Then I… I got them… All killed…
I… I didn’t deserve them, d… Detective…” she went on, looking away from me to stare up at the water damaged ceiling, “I… I… I was a… Terrible… Terrible friend…”
“Did you read their guest book entries?” I asked.
“N… No… D… Didn’t w… Want to… To r… Read any… Anything p… Private…” Kate answered.
“Jasper didn’t blame you,” I assured her, remembering what he had written in his entry during his time watching Mrs. Larson just outside the cabin, “even when he heard the voices- when he heard Mrs. Larson- telling him to, he didn’t. I don’t think the others blamed you either. You didn’t do anything wrong, Ms. Blackwell, there’s no way you could have known any of this would happen.”
“K… Kate…”
“What?”
“C… Call… Call me… Kate…”
“Aright, Kate,” I let out what little laughter I had left inside me, “so long as we’re the last people we’ll be chatting with, call me Ryan.”
“R… Ryan…”
“If we at all live through this, I’m going to need a long vacation after this,” I said as I turned to look at my shackles again, looking around myself to try finding anything to Get free since a vacation sounded like something to die for at that moment, “do you know any good vacation spots I can book for the fall?”
“Y… You’re… You’re a… Dick…” Kate struggled to laugh.
“I also enjoy pineapple on pizza,” I winked as I reached down to my ankle, ready to break it just to taste that sweet combination of tomato sauce and fruit.
“G… God… I… I c… Can’t… Believe… I th… Thought y… You w… Were c… Cute…”
I sat down on the floor, grabbing my ankle with both my hands. Needing to hype myself up enough to do what I was going to do, I began removing my shoe and sock from the foot, rubbing and squeezing my way up and down the ankle to my toes. I had never broken a bone in my life before this and I definitely never thought I’d do it of my own volition, but this was a desperate time and it definitely called for desperate…
“Wait what?” I turned to look to Kate, finally registering what she had said.
However, just before I could be sure of what I heard, the sound of a hunting rifle going off just above our heads right before we heard the door to the basement swing open and immediately be slammed shut. Both Kate and I turned to see someone stumble down the wooden steps, his clothes torn and body scratched and cut to a nearly deadly degree. I was even shocked he was still breathing.
“M… Mr… R… Raines…?” Kate gasped out.
“What’s left of me at least,” Mr. Raines grumbled as he limped over to Kate and quickly began undoing her straps to the table, “damn thing almost ripped my head off, but one swing of the barrel to its eye and I was able to get away… Can’t say it didn’t do its damage though… I’m… Getting really fucking hungry…”
He shook his head violently before limping over to me. He then raised an eyebrow at me when he saw how I was positioned still on the floor with a bare foot in my hands shackled to the floor.
“I… I was… I… I thought you were-“ I stammered.
“I am,” Mr. Raines interrupted, “at least, I’m on my way there anyway.” He then retrieved my Glock from his back pocket. “I don’t know what that thing did to me, but I’m not gonna make it out of this alive, or the way I came in. It’s a massacre out there by the way. Lot of men in blue bodies out there… Very… Hard to ignore… Sure more will be on their way. So.”
With that, Mr. Raines pointed at my chains and pulled the trigger on my clock, barely giving me time to cover my ears as the sound rung out loudly in the basement. I shook my head, trying to undo the blurry and ringing side effects of the sound of a gun going off near your head. I gave the older man a glare before standing and snatching my Glock from his hands. That’s when I saw Kate shifting herself to the side of the metal table she was no longer tied to, trying to get her limbs to comply with her to help her off and on to the floor.
I ran over and grabbed her just as she nearly stumbled face first to the floor and lifted her up to her feet, her body heavy with lack of keeping herself up.
“Do you think you can walk?” I asked, trying to keep her on her feet.
“I… I don’t… I…” Kate stammered as she tried to push herself off of me while also using using me as a crutch until she could stand on her own. However, she didn’t seem to be able to put any kind of pressure on her legs without falling down.
“Kate?” A girl’s voice called out from above us.
Feeling Kate shudder, I realized that it must have been the sound of Sonja’s voice and Mrs. Larson was using her to keep Kate from running. I quickly swung my arm down behind her knees, pressing the other down on her back as I lifted her up off the floor, my Glock at the ready as I kept it pointed in front of me while my arm held up Kate’s knees.
“She must have heard the gunshots,” I pointed out, “how’d you get past her in the first place?”
“I set the other cabins on fire,” Mr. Raines answered as if it were the simplest of answers, “I had to distract her somehow and give those bodies she’d been eating a better fate than becoming her shit.”
“Are you planning on setting this place on fire too?” I asked.
“‘Course I am!” Mr. Raines exclaimed, seemingly offended I’d even ask. “I already doused it in gasoline, I ain’t wasting all that time!”
“Kate!” Sonja’s voice cried out, getting closer to the basement door. “Are you seriously leaving me here to die alone again!”
“Please… Make it… Stop…” Kate sniffed as she gripped my shirt and burying her face into the fabric.
“Let’s get you two out of here.” Mr. Raines began leading the way to the basement stairs, cocking his rifle as he did so.
“What about you?” I asked, immediately following after him.
Mr. Raines didn’t answer as he stomped up the stairs and kicked the door open to the first floor of the cabin. The stench of the gasoline he had spilled hitting me harshly in my face.
“Kate!” Sonja’s voice, along with a different crescendo of male voices shrieked out as Mrs. Larson appeared from the corner of the hallway where the basement was located.
“Leighton?” A different woman’s voice asked the moment the old woman’s eyes spotted Mr. Raines. I then watched in both shock and confusion as it almost looked like the very skin on the woman melted off to reveal a much younger woman. The woman I recognized as Bonnie Collins. “Leighton… Love is that you?”
Mr. Raines kept his rifle on the vision of the woman he once loved before her murder, but didn’t move or speak.
“Darling, I’ve missed you so much!” The fake Bonnie cried out as she began making her way to Mr. Raines with arms open wide to hug him.
Mr. Raines then lifted his gun up higher, placing his finger on the trigger which caused the vision to stop in her place.
“Leighton?” The fake Bonnie asked. “Baby, it’s me… Bun-Bun… Don’t you recognize me…?” She began to tear up.
“You’re not my Bunny,” Mr. Raines growled before he shot once at the woman.
The fake Bonnie swiftly dodged the bullet, an inhuman hiss coming from an unhinged mouth, revealing a row of long, sharp teeth. The skin of Bonnie then melted off to reveal another woman, a lot younger than the first one it intimidated. The face of one of the victims upon being brought on this case.
“Kate,” the fake Sonja called out, “Kate, what are you doing? Who are these men? Why are they trying to hurt me?”
Kate let out a sobbing gasp, her nails digging into my shoulder with her arm wrapped around my neck.
“Didn’t I suffer enough?” The fake Sonja asked. “First my boyfriend and now you? Why don’t you want to be with me anymore?”
“Shut up!” Kate demanded. “You’re not Sonja! You killed her, you killed all of them! I don’t care what happens to me, but I’m not letting their memories end with you!”
Kate then snatched my Glock from my hand under her legs and shot directly at the fake Sonja’s head. Again the shot missed as the fake vision of the girl slithered out of the way, a frustrated growl of a dog and human escaping it’s mouth. It then zipped to the side, cowering with its back to us on the floor.
“Lucky dime…” A child’s voice then took over. The vision’s skin melting now to a much smaller figure. “Is this what you want? To kill me all over again?” He turned to look up at me, Liam’s face forever eight-years-old staring up at me. “It’s no wonder mommy and daddy hate you now… You were always a shitty brother… Now, I’m gonna starve to death because you’d rather help a couple of strangers.”
“I’m sorry, Liam,” I replied, everyone, including the fake Liam looking to me in surprise, “I left you alone out here and that’s what got you killed by that thing out there and I’m sorry. But, if I’d stayed it may have been both of us and then mom and dad would have no one left to blame but each other. If you had left and I was the one killed, you’d probably be in my shoes instead. I’m sorry for letting you get killed, but I’m gonna make up for it now.”
I then took my Glock back from Kate and pointed it to the vision of Liam.
“Good bye, Liam.”
I shot the gun once again, missing the creature again, however, this time I just kept shooting, Mr. Raines following after. Our different bullets just kept firing, the thing dodging and trying to get closer to us. The creature screeched out at us in a myriad of different voices both familiar and unknown. It wasn’t until one shot from my Glock struck the creatures shoulder and Mr. Raines’ rifle struck its head when the skins of everyone it was trying to turn into all melted off, revealing Mrs. Larson once again.
However, this time, she looked shriveled, older than she looked before. Her face looked deformed, beginning to grow furry, her eyes growing nothing but red, no irises, no pupils, just red. Her hair grew longer, branches like antlers growing painfully out from her skull, breaking the skin as they grew larger. The lower half of her face grew elongated, turning into that of a muzzle of fangs and a drooling mouth.
“You… All… Have no rrrrrrriiiiiight!” A different, unknown voice snarled out from what used to be Mrs. Larson. “People liiiiiike you all… Abandoned me and myyyyyyyyy sister!” The fur growing around this thing grew out short and shaggy, the cloths it was using melting off with the skin and flesh it was wearing. It now didn’t look anything like a human woman. It now took the form of a large wolf mixed with that of a deer, it’s body dog-like with hooves, antlers, and a long, scraggly tail. “You lot abandoned us here! You left us all here to diiiiiiiie!”
Guilt was weighing down on me with each syllable it was growling. Kate looked away from it, burying her face in my neck as Mr. Raines lowered his rifle.
“Nooooow, you’re bringing more here to just leave and let die out here!” It went on, it’s horrifying, broken body shuddering. “Why let them just vanish and die up here when they can bring people like my sister and I back? Give me Kate’s heart and fix what you threeeeeeeeee failed!”
Mr. Raines then handed over his rifle to Kate, placing it down on her stomach as her hands were still wrapped around my neck. The older man made his way over to stand over the thing, its neck creaking like a rusted door as it turned its wolf-like head to look up at him.
“Leighton…” Bonnie’s voice came from the creature. “Give mmmmeeeee her heart aaaannnnd we can be togetherrrrr again… If you eat the deeeeeetective’s we can saaaaaave you tooooooo…”
“My Bunny’s dead,” Mr. Raines told it as he dug in his pocket and took out a carton of matches, “and so am I.”
“You’d burn your wife?” A mix of Bonnie and Mrs. Larson’s voices shrieked as it glared at the match he took from the match box.
“You’re not my wife,” Mr. Raines told it, “and I’ll never see her again.”
“Fooooooool,” Mr. Larson’s voice chuckled, “you’llllllll killllllll us both!”
“With the shit I’ve done in my life, I know you’re taking me to Hell with you,” Mr. Raines growled back as he struck the match on the box, “so I’m sure as fuck not afraid to burn here on Earth with you!”
Mr. Raines then dropped the match to the floor right before the creature and everything around the two of them immediately went up in flames, the fur of the creature catching quickly and engulfing it. An agonized shriek echoed out all around us, the creature thrashing in the fire it had gotten swallowed up in. Mr. Raines then grabbed it by it’s long, furry throat and swung it down back flat the floor, jumping to pin it down.
“Get out!” Mr. Raines cried out to me. “Leave here!”
Not needing to be told twice, I held onto Kate tightly and bolted past the two burning bodies, jumping over the fire as it began growing fast throughout the cabin. I quickly got to the front door and stopped to look back to see Mr. Raines fighting the creature and preventing it from coming after us, it begging for me to bring Kate back and that it would die without her.
“I’ll clear your name,” I called back, trying not to reel back in horror as I saw Mr. Raines skin begin to melt off, “I’ll let people know you didn’t kill Bonnie!”
“I’ll let people know you didn’t… Kill… Liam!” Mr. Raines’ voice called back, him thrashing around with Mrs. Larson as he said my brother’s name in my voice.
I turned back and kicked the front door open, rushing Kate out of the burning cabin. I ran until I got far enough from the smoke, turning back to see all three cabins now on fire, the area around them all ablaze. The only place untouched was Mrs. Larson’s house, all the evidence remaining. I could hear sirens in the distance coming closer. The sounds of shouts from the surviving officers sounding much closer.
“I’m here… I’m here… I’m here…”
I looked to the front porch of Mrs. Larson’s house where her recorder continued to call out for her sister. I set Kate down at the base of a nearby tree and ran to snatch the recorder, shutting it off. I searched around, looking for any signs of Prudence, but it appeared that the fire and the sounds of sirens and voices had scared her off. I ran back to Kate, her eyes closed and her not responding to me calling to her, but after checking her pulse and breathing, I found that the medication Mrs. Larson had given her had finally taken over and she was now fast asleep, the rifle Mr. Raines gave her still sitting on her rhythmically rising and falling stomach.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I leaned against the same tree I set Kate down on and slid down to the ground next to her. The first two cabins were already practically nothing but ash, the last still blazing as I heard the slowly fading screams of Mrs. Larson and Mr. Raines coming from inside.
When the screaming ended all together, the smoke turning blacker as it rose from the flames, I got to my feet and took out my pack of cigarettes as I approached the fires, staying far enough away not to get burned. I opened the pack up before stopping myself as I reached for one of the ten remaining cigarettes inside. I then flung the entire carton into the fires without taking one.
“Save one for me down there, you old bastard,” I told Mr. Raines before making my way back to Kate’s side.
It wasn’t long before the remaining officers found us, looking in confusion at the fires and to me with a sleeping victim in a homicide case on the ground. I told them we’d need to call an ambulance for Kate and that we needed to keep the flames from getting to Mrs. Larson’s house as it held evidence on the case. One officer retrieved his radio and called for an ambulance while a group ran to the house and another went to try controlling the fire as best they could by yanking out any bushes near by and throwing them away from the area around the house.
Luckily, the fire trucks were called long before the fire spread too far, residence noticing it practically the moment Mr. Raines set the first cabin on fire.
As I sat there, keeping Kate held up against the tree we sat under, I listened to the crackling of the fire, the sirens of fast approaching fire trucks and the ambulance, and the sounds of distance, coyote, almost human, howling.

Hey everyone, this is my first post on this community page. I've been a newly qualified nurse in the NHS for 6 months, and I'm contemplating leaving my first RN position. My parents don’t speak English, so I help them with daily responsibilities, which can be very stressful. I worry about them while at work in case of an emergency. My sister and I have sought help from the council and social services, but their support is limited, so we handle most of it ourselves.
I work in the ophthalmology outpatient department, which has a high patient flow. We see about 250-300 patients a day across various clinics. While I love my supportive team, the management is problematic. 4 months in, I was put on call after a long day, totaling 15 hours, with another long shift the following day. I was reassured I wouldn’t be on call until I felt confident and that it was unlikely to get called out at night, but that wasn't reassuring as my colleagues on call have been called out. By that stage, I wasn’t confident as I’ was still new. When I told my line manager this, she said I’d be fine. I don’t understand how they allow on-call for nurses who do long days and may need to stay late, then get called anytime at night. It’s inhumane hours. I understand night shifts on wards as you know what hours you’ll do.
Another problem is that staff have raised issues about clinics numerous times to management, but they seem to shrug it off and not sort things out. During my supernumerary period, I initially received support, but after getting some things signed off, I was left to work on my own. Although I have a preceptor, I rarely get to work with her now. Initially, I loved this job, but after 4 months, it’s overwhelming due to the high patient volume. I feel deskilled as my tasks are limited to checking visual acuity, intra-ocular pressure, blood pressure, blood glucose, and instilling eye drops. I've had to take time off work due to stress at home and work, and I have recurring gastrointestinal issues under investigation by my doctor.
I loved community nursing and the minor injuries unit in my third year student nurse placement. I was offered a community post but declined it for this current job due to worrying about car wear. I now regret it because community nursing offers a lot in terms of skills, learning opportunities, and career progression. I’ve realized I want a nursing job with transferable skills and a variety of clinical tasks, which ophthalmology doesn’t offer. I'm constantly looking for other job opportunities, including community and practice nursing, though practice nursing is very competitive and I was declined.
I’ve just been put on bank/locum to potentially do extra shifts in the department, but they also said I can do shifts around the hospital. I'm terrified because I don’t give medications besides eye drops, do IVs, bloods, or catheterizations, which some places need. I’ll likely just be doing healthcare jobs which I’m fine with but areas may want a nurse with those skills.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hey there friends, in an upcoming campaign I plan on playing an Oath of Vengeance Hexadin. Nearly all resources that talk about Hexadin suggest PAM, rightfully so too as it’s incredibly powerful. However, I intend for my character to use a classic sword-and-board, and am looking for alternate feats or paths to take that don’t rely on PAM.
The intent of the character is to have the capability of demolishing combat encounters, but he doesn’t go all-out unless his target is someone included in his Oath, or directly connected with someone of that description. So in normal combats he’ll play a more support role, while if he runs into one of his Oath targets he’ll play aggro and go all out.
I’m also curious what you guys think about story beats. This part is long, so if you want to just respond to the above that’s fine too. What I came up with was this (informed by my DM’s history):
Ever since he was capable, he has always been a Paladin. In his early life he became an Oath of the Crown Paladin, swearing his Oath to the King of his home nation and serving as a peacekeeper and guard for royals. At this point in his life I would describe him as an “Oath of Redemption flavored”, as while that isn’t his Oath, he really treated everyone as though he was, and only used force or fighting when absolutely necessary. Over the years he found a wife, and had a daughter, and was paid well for his services. Overall, he was a very happy man.
The neighboring nation was constantly in some form of conflict with my character’s home nation, and over time had many agents infiltrate the capital (where my character lived). One day, a large attack took place that destroyed many influential buildings as well as large areas of civilian housing. Many people died in the attack, including my characters’s family.
In response, my character’s King declared a war against the neighboring nation, with the intent to capture and occupy their lands and eliminate the hostile government. My character was released from his Oath in return for swearing a new Oath: An Oath of Conquest. He was a Commander in the war, and was a cruel and vicious adversary. Driven by the pain and grief of losing his family, his company gained a a reputation for being ruthless. It was this reputation that, while tracking down an enemy General, caused the General to break down and give lots of information in exchange for being killed quickly. His wishes were met.
The information my character gained from that General began to sow the seeds of doubt. My character began to track down targets outside those given to him, to gather information from sources more than just the enemy. Over time, he began to piece together the puzzle that hung over his head. This hostile nation was nothing more than a puppet state, controlled by him home nation. Every conflict, every attack, every death was orchestrated by his own nation’s government to fabricate a feeling of fear and anger that allowed them to control their people. His own government was who killed his Wife and Daughter.
He went rogue, briefly becoming an Oathbreaker before one night he swore an Oath in the dead of night. He swore it into the darkness, to any powerful being that would listen. An Oath of Vengeance, to slay all those who had a hand in this political puppet show and all those who played a major part in spreading the pain and misery from it - a group that he included himself in. He was surprised to quickly learn that there was indeed a powerful being listening that night - and it offered him a deal. It would bestow him with even greater power, to help him in fulfilling his Oath. In exchange, when his Oath was fulfilled - or, more likely, he met his untimely demise - his soul would serve this being as a champion, for eternity. My character, viewing himself as one of the very people he was swearing his Oath against, gladly accepted. This being became his patron, and on that night my character became a Hexblade Warlock as well.

South African applied for french Citizenship through marriage. major challange was the long lead times to obtain the documents from South African Home office, have them apostilled and translated and then have all the documents submitted to be within the 3 month validity period. It led to me having to apply for documents several times. I used Lexidy to assist me in the application, and they were absolutely fantastic and I would not have been able to complete the process without them.
Here is my timeline and an indiction how events unfolded:
26/04/2022: Start engagement with immigration lawyers (Lexidy).
08/12/2022: Submission of the documents to french Embassy.
07/01/2023: All documents returned, application declared incomplete. Reason for incompleteness is that proof of spouse's French nationality is insufficient. We submitted the application with my wife's French Passport and French Birth Certifficate, however the birth certificate did not state she was French. Lexidy did indicate that this could be a problem and advised us beforehand that we may have to apply for a CNF for my wife.
27/03/2023: Submit CNF application. I the meantime I had to collect all my South African and Brtish documents again as they have expired in terms of the 3 month validity rule. It was a administrative nightmare.
31/03/2023: Resubmit french Citizenship Application with proof of CNF application. This was a gamble as they may return the application without the CNF being issued.
12/04/2023: Email from french Consultate that the application for french Nationality is again incomplete. New requirements on documentation were demanded. Although the documents were mostly the same, some of the requirements are now different. The biggest issue was related to my South African Divorce Decree, in that the embassy required an apostilled and translated decree, with the aposille containing the name of the Officer of the Court, rather than the notary that verified the copy. Small detail, but in terms of administration in South Africa, a major issue. We were given a 3 month deadline to resubmit the documents.
12/05/2023: Due to the extreme timelines it takes to get anything from South Africa, Lexidy requests an extention from the embassy. A few days later the embassy responds and say that the deadline is lifted, but all documents must be valid at time of receipt.
03/10/2023: Receipt of my wife's CNF.
07/11/2023: All documents received and verified against new requirements from embassy. All documents are less than 3 month old as well. It also seems that the French Government extended the validiity period of some documents to 6 months, which gave me some breathing space.
08/11/2023: All documents submitted again.
21/11/2023: Invitation for interview at French Consulate in London.
06/12/2023: Inteview at French Consulate. This was extremely stressful, as my wife, a French Citizen, does not speak French. I am a fluent speaker though.
10/05/2024: Email: nationalité française par déclaration.
16/05/2023: Email: Consulat général de France à Londres - NATIONALITÉ FRANÇAISE - Cérémonie et demande de passeport.
30/05/2024: Citizenship Ceremony at French Consulate. Appplied for passport and national id card on the same day. Was super quick and efficient.
If you have any questions or are going through a similar process, feel free to ask me anything.

Hi folks, could someone suggest a cost effective lawyer or law firm for notarization of a power of attorney document I need to send to my home country? Thanks in advance!

Spoiler for the NYT Mini crossword for 6/1!
Clue was “A nurse’s workmate, informally” three letters.
I tried “aid” first, even though the spelling was off. When that didn’t work I tried HHA (home health aide). Then I’m sitting for a hot minute thinking MSW? LPN? BSN? FNP?
…it was doc. 🤦‍♀️ Apologies to my hospice MD… I swear you’re a valuable member of our team!

My boomer father and I have a complicated relationship. He hasn’t worked in over 20 years, living off first money he siphoned from his sock mother, then an undisclosed inheritance he received after his father died. Now that he’s run out of money, he’s on normal SSI, and still has the audacity to parrot back phrases such as “nobody wants to work anymore,” or “they need to raise SSI amounts because we worked our whole lives for this and it’s barely anything to live off of.” 🤦‍♀️ But I digress.
He started having health problems about 9-10 years ago, mostly involving gastrointestinal issues. They found he had severe GERD and some precancerous polyps in his esophagus so he has to go get them cauterized via endoscopy every 3-6 months. While it’s an in and out procedure, he is insistent a “blood” relative has to take him, since he goes under anesthesia and is unable to drive himself home. Until recently, since he lives alone, my sister and I were always pigeonholed into taking him which caused friction between the two of us, because last year I ran out of PTO when it was “my turn” and she was going away on vacation. Luckily his sister has retired now, so she can help, but it’s still a hassle. Now he needs a full knee replacement in a few weeks, and while I don’t mind helping in some capacity, I don’t intend to spend full days there fetching him water or being his gopher. Even though I work remotely, I am extremely busy all day and don’t have the bandwidth to be doing that. He told me the other day “I’m going to need a lot of help fe you guys, and your aunt might need to go out of town right after I have surgery, so I’m not sure how we are going to do this.” He has been trying to imply someone move in with him for a bit after his surgery and I immediately shut that down. I said that’s not happening, and it’s unnecessary. Furthermore, he always demands this of me, not my sister, citing her always being “so busy.” She’s single. She only does social things and has herself tone concerned about. I have a family. He then tries to counter by saying “that’s why we had you kids,” and I shut that down too. I told him that is absolutely not why people have kids. If they’re having kids with the intent to be backup caretakers they seriously need to reevaluate their life choices. He’s very manipulative, and is good at making my sister feel guilty, which then makes her angry with me and accuses me of not ever wanting to help even though he’s “our dad.” I’m at the age where IDGAF who he is anymore and no one is going to manipulate or guilt me into anything. Unfortunately, it’s still extremely stressful. So, wish me luck I guess. Also, any advice would be appreciated on how to handle “helping” going forward.
TL;DR: Father thinks we had kids to help be his live-in nurse while recovering from surgery.
Also, so sorry this was super long. Also, “helping” kind of sounds like I want to off him but that’s not the case 😂

I'm having mental health issues and have a therapist who is helping me. The therapist is not part of my healthcare network.
My STD administrator is asking me to fill out a form to release my medical info from "any health plan, any physician, hospital, lab, etc." to the administrator so they can evaluate my case for STD.
I asked a Case Manager from the Administrator and they said it would only pertain to my therapist and not anyone else, but the document sounds like a blanket authorization.
My question is, will my employer or the STD Administrator only pull info from my therapist, or do they typically pull ALL my health info, including com my health plan?

Edit: The downvotes have begun but hopefully that means people are reading till the end too. Will have to try the BridgertonRants sub as that seems more accepting of discussions and debates. : )
Would super appreciate it if everyone reads this long-ass thesis of a post with an open mind and to the end...its me being vulnerable in an anonymous reddit sub because i think these things matter in the larger framework of a uniquely special show and the big, bright, beautiful, multicultural gorgeous world we all as humans live in. My last post in this sub was downvoted to hell which btw totally ok...and i dont depend on reddit currency for my livelihood so its all good. I just care about my posts being read...specially this one.
Some context:
I'm very new to this community and reddit as well. Currently have time off work and going ham on reddit and venturing very scared into the deep dark of world of rabid fandoms and small niche communities. Getting a little burnt along the way but also learning from some super talented fans with their own eye-opening ideas and funny posts. Fans of all kinds, Im peeping into profiles, so white, black, brown multicolored rainbow of the world right here.
I'm also an aspiring writer and well...some of my best ideas have come from reddit lurking on cool and active subs with bridgerton sub being new for me. Jet lagged, anxious and just a tad bit antsy, I'm trying to go down and deep and maybe open some deeper discussions here.
I am Indian and lived primarily in India my whole life and now for the last 10 years between London and Canada (why am I sharing all this like and am I also going to tell you my weight, my height etc too...No but hopefully you'll understand this revelation as you read ahead without me spelling it out)
So I've been trying to figure out why fan wars as they pertain to this show prick so personally, so particularly.
I think fandoms anywhere in every country are full of insane people, obsessive chronically online people who find comfort through living through their faves..your beyonce stans, your rihanna stans, your Taylor Swift stans, your harry styles stans, your k pop stans, etc etc..
This show also has some rabid fans..But there is a conversation I want to open up only because I think it's important...Is fighting extra hard for your poc fave because you know their representation in pop culture is limited, their getting jobs is limited, subconscious biases exist even though we have been making great strides and even eradicated overt biases in employment, in accessibility, in government service etc etc ..and their culture not as dominant, their worlds not as seen or coveted.
Our ideas of beauty are framed by the extensiveness and longevity of colonial rule across the world.
there are shit people across all ethnicities religions and genders and nationalities. Barbarians, conquerors, invaders, pillaging villages raping women destroying livelihoods suppressing the peasant class, mutilating and diluting cultures- exist in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, East asia, middle East etc so not just Britain. Basically being brown, black or East Asian and Middle Eastern doesnt grant you moral superiority over white people and you can be racist and casteist and colorist and bigoted and biased and just all around shitty and criminal as a black, brown, east asian middle eastern etc etc person just as much as white people.
So now that thats settled, lets look at specific issues that POC only face because that eventually streams into the show and its politics and its discussion as well.
But for whatever reason ...the British were able to colonize on a scale that the other countries and ethnicities were not able to.. African and the Indian subcontinent's conquests and invasions were limited in area and time period...their scale of conquest limited to a small radius around their own countries...and not foreign lands travelled via sea etc.
As a result and only as a result and not because and I cannot emphasize enough that black, brown or east asian invaders, rulers etc were morally superior, kinder, less assholes...the culture that became dominant was white british culture..or european culture...if Indians had conquered the world, they would have imposed their culture on the lands and countries they invaded, if different African countries invaded the world to the extent of the british colonists, same thing...the dominant culture that would have been forcibly imposed by the people of african ethnicity would be their culture... Black skin would have been considered beautiful, white fair skin would not have been the standard....thats history....thats something we know to be true even through modern wars...the victor dictates...But that simply didnt happen.
it's not because t Africans or Asians or basically non white people are morally superior, more virtuous, incapable of terrorist acts or colonizing or I don't know were like we don't invade and conquest, we so good. But because that's history. They just didn't manage it. thats simply our current historical reality.
Being that the country or countries that did manage to conquer the world or close to 9/10ths of it were Europeans or more specifically British white nationals..which means as would happen even if another nationality had managed to invade the world, the culture that is dominant across the world is a west/white slanted world..
Colorism as a concept didnt exist until colonization: Why would it? If everyone existed under the same harsh sun, had the same skin color with minor variances...why would they think fair is more beautiful. Its because they wouldnt...the first blond haired blue eyed people would have been introduced to India via early traders of east india company in India and dutch colonists before them...Its like if everyone around you is brown, you assume thats just how everyone else looks like...thats the only reality you know...you simply havent seen anyone look any different..you havent seen blue eyes or anything else....same for africans and within that framework as humans are wont to do you create ideas of beauty.
So yes. POCs across the globe had just as arbitrary ideas of beauty as white people (chiense mutilated young women feet cuz small feet more beautiful, in africa genital mutiliation) because humans are humans and humans mess everything up...and animals are so much better...but color as a construct is a colonial one and one which managed to find deeep deep roots because of the extent of the rule, the sheer longevity, For context, India has been independent for the last 75 years..from over 200 years of colonial british rule...Not even the length of the life of a single human. Not even as long as Britains former queen was alive. It will take some more time for that in fighting and ideas of colorism deeply penetrated from the inheritance of our rulers to get dismanted...and totally thrown own...because you can freee from literall bondage more easily, the mind takes longer to adjust and form independent thought. But it will happen.
White people are not more or less racist than POC. Thats not a thing. There are shit people and you can find shit people anywhere...I have shit people right in my own home country, bigots, destroying the diversity of India by bullshit tactics...
But as it stands...because this cultural superiority of British and white people took over, the framing of beauty, of whats fashionable, of whats cool, of whats civilized is all seen through the lens of white culture...eating with hands which many cultures across the world do uncivilized unhygienic, paris fashions and made in italy...mark of excellence...made in India and China...cheap, low quality, scammers and shit people, (thats not to say shit people and scammers dont exist in India and China and there arent industries of scammers across these poorer nations but there is also denying the equisite craftasmanship across fashion and beauty in both countries-China and India.
Brown skin bad, even darker skin even bad etc etc...We wear clothes that our colonial masters did across the world, you wont find people in china wearing Chinese clothes, same for India, african countries etc...everything from clothing, to beauty, to furniture, to houses everything indigenous was changed to a foreign ideal from our rulers. The same would have happened whoever whichever ethnicity had invaded the world...like i said above..
Now and thanks for reading whoever read till here and I hope a lot of people did-on to to the show...
There is this frequent refrain and accusation of oppression olympics that I read about when it comes to this show, in general online discourse and also this insanely disgusting article fat shaming Nicola Coughlan in The Spectator.
And i really really want to open up this conversation...cuz race gets discussed a lot on this sub and other bridgerton subs and therefore a perfect place to have that conversation...Do Non-POC really believe in the concept of oppression olympics and that all kinds of biases are equally treacherous to navigate?
So I was overweight in my teens...I had a close friend who was wheelchair bound. my life was hard and I was bullied but surely surely I do not think that my plight was the same as my friend in a wheelchair...In class 10th, a close friend's father passed away, the same year my grandmother passed away, surely, surely, I dont think we are experiencing the same pain the same setback to our life...Class 10th in India is akin to A levels in Britain and SAT in the USA..
You know why I didnt think any of this and why if I had i was wrong, because there is a hierarchy to opression, .to loss, to struggles. There simply is. Opression Olympics is rooted in reality.
Pain is pain, loss and bad foundations suck ass...but privilege is a thing and some pains some loads just lighter compared to others. I could lose weight and get over the oppression I was facing because of my weight in school. My wheelchair bound friend didnt have that option..I wouldnt get my grandmother back...but my fathers loss would have a more immediate affect on my life and my friend who lost her father and her loss was just simply deeper. She needed more support, more help, more people crowding around her saying you've got this Niharika..well make sure your life doesnt change permanently cuz youlve lost your dad.
So when show fandom compare Jonathon Baileys struggle to Rege Jean George or say Victor Ali, they are simply pointing out that yes while Jonathon Bailey is gay...there is a difference between being white and gay and being black and gay or simply harder being black. And therefore there is a hierarchy. Why POC are less loath to crticize the average acting of their POC faves because they know the opportunities for them are limited. Lets do an exercise name 5 shows led by a POC in the USA or Britain or Canada-any POC..brown, black i dont care. And im not talking about black or brown actors in a show or film, im talking leads...
Also biases are self perpetuating....When black or brown led films fail, the opportunities immediately dry up because it shows that its just fairness and the numbers dont lie..Except this is not maths.....Maths would be first making equal amount of shows starring black or brown people, and then comparing...Now if the end result is white led shows do better-that would be correct math...but ratios and comparisons and statistics need to first start with an even scale...thats not even me taking about diversity...thats just math formulas...
If lets say there are 500 actors who are white in hollywood and 200 who are Black in hollywood, and lets say all 200 black actors are shit...would you say the statement...god white actors are so much better than black actors...no cuz the maths is not adding up...you compared 500 actors who were white of which 300 were excellent 200 bad and you made that into the conclusion that white actors are better because you were comparing only with 200 black actors to begin with...the actual math formula yieled equal number of bad and good actors..
Why people defend Kanthony harder...or wanted Simone Ashley to be promoted as much as Polin is because (lets go with my Math analogy again) all things being the same) unless Nicola and Luke are really bad actors compared to Simone Ashley, theyll still have it easier in acting...they simply will. they wont have to change their confusingly, long foreign sounding name, they wont have to work at assimilation in other ways, lets say they were muslim they wouldnt have been trying hard to sell themselves as Im just as liberal as you, im not a threat. And I love Luke Newton and Nicola Coughland-both seem like throughly, likable, personable, kind hearted beans..
Now my own experience. I have stated in an earlier post on this sub that I'm a Shonda Rhimes fan...because I have personally benefitted from the diversity she has included so naturally, so elegantly in all her shows. My own ideas of beauty, have been tested and transformed. In fact I know exactly the moment it happened...watching Christina Yang as a 14 year old...and thinking god meredith is so beautiful and I want to see more of HER and Izzie but then seeing christina again and again and again over each episode over hundreds of hours of binging, school, college, masters, big move outside India, my own constant this show..my brain was soft mushy and impressionable and christina yang, korean Sandra Oh became suddenly but actually slowly and then all at once became beautiful to me...I dont know when it happened but like the book Colin telling Penelope I dont know when or how and why others dont see it but you ARE beautiful in the book carriage scene. I found her hot, I found her cool. I cared to learn more about her Korean mother and her Jewish father and it didnt matter that the show never covered that culture..Christina was atheist and could handle her shit..even around racists.. But I still wanted to learn more about HER..a woman I simply didnt think was beautiful comparable to meredith and Izzie..me an impressionable 14 year old..just made that turn because of a show.,..a fluffy...not that deep soapy as hell show.
But it was only possible cuz I saw 24 episodes day in day out,...over many many years....for that to happen. I had many more years of falling asleep to dawsons creek joey and dawson, joey and pacey, gilmore girls rory and jess rory and dean rory and logan..i imagined and dreamt of windswept Mr. Darcy...and of course I luckily had my own countrys pop culture cuz I grew up and lived in a country where I was repped plenty eveywhere... So i found bollwood heroes hot and I found White americans or british people hot...my brain simply didnt have a framework for East Asians hot. And I needed to seem them constantly and frequentlyn and in Hot front and center, desirable covetable-their culture, their families all respected, admired again and again and again over many years for that switch to happen.
So why do we fight for our POV faves.. fight hard (some fight really ugly too which....they are not my people ( as in I dont know them) so sorry for that)....because we know how much more repping they need...we know how much MORE MORE MORE important it is to see POC culture done right...because it simply is not accessible,...cannot be to people outside..
K POP is making waves super..., people love themselves some MANGA and kimchi...so good and progress...but a lot of countries pop culture is in the native tongue...people outside of it cannot access it...in the same way one would English language content-books, podcasts, news, films, shows etc etc. And hollywood does our culture wrong, played up for laughs, stinky curry, stinky indians, scamming Indians, uncivilized heathens, oh so funny that Sofia Vergara and her funny accent (The Ellen Show), niche shows that dont become popular behemoths because it stars all ethnic casts-Fresh Off the Boat.
You simply will not understand how brilliant and gorgeous my country's embroideries, temple art, clothing and fashion, actors and sculptors, museums and writing and authors are...not because YOU are racist..but because you dont speak-my language and my culture isnt dominant or wide spread enough-insert again-my above explanation of colonialism and dominant and suppressed cultures. History made one culture the most widespread...again not because white people, bad and racist...brown and black people good and not racist and benevolent..but they simply were the victors...for centuries...plural.
We want to fight harder for Rege and defend him leaving the show (im not even black but when you live outside of your home country, all POC seem like a united underrepresented group and you find kinship everywhere) because any potential cancellation or quote unquote unlikeability and hes difficult accusations would hurt him far far more than Nicola Coughlan, Luke Thompson, Newton, Phoebe etc. for the same crimes. And there just arent enough of us to begin with to lose even one. For what is quite honestly a mid Netflix show with seeds of promise but a lack of ambition.